The Moment You've Been Waiting For... New Music Monday

Okay Mondayers, I'll admit it, I haven't been posting NMM. Not only did I miss one week, I missed two! Super sorry awesome readers, but I have lots of good excuses that I won't name here! Either way, I'm back, and have an amazing song for you this week from an upcoming and coming band with a name that sounds like a children's book and a sound that reminds one why they love indie music. Because who doesn't love indie? Right? Right????



The song is "Tonight's the Kind of Night" by Noah and the Whale. I love the fun vibe of this song mixed with what can only be described as youthful energy. Noah and the Whale, overall, is definitely a great band to cheer you up on a rainy spring day! Their new album, Last Night on Earth, will be released March 7th and this song won't be released as a single until May, so you almost definitely heard it first here! Cheers mates!

-Whitni

Quickie Review - Come Together (An A Capella Tribute To The Beatles)

I listened to this album, which is an A Capella Tribute To The The Beatles called Come Together. I was really excited about this, since I adore The Beatles and have recently got into A Capella. Here is a quick, song by song review of this most interesting album.

Twist and Shout sung by The Knudsen Brothers: Pretty good song. I would have liked more ‘Woo!’, but overall, good, but not iPod worthy. Rating: Medium.

All I Got To Do sung by Toxic Audio: Mmmhmm…It’s okay. I’m funny about women singing guy songs. Not iPod worthy. Rating: Medium-Low

If I Fell sung by The Essentials: Best song early on in the album, but not the best song on the album. Good vocals :) Possible iPod worthiness. Rating: Medium-High

Eight Days A Week sung by M-Pact: First song I really didn’t like. I could see this group doing other songs well, but not this one. In the beginning, I couldn’t even name the song. Not iPod worthy. Rating: Low

Yesterday sung by Swingle Singers: First song I skipped. Eh, I’m really funny about Yesterday, and this just didn’t cut it. The singer sounds like he’s trying too hard. Not iPod worthy. Rating: Medium-Low

Drive My Car sung by Cadence: This song is sung quite poorly. The vibe was all wrong, and it just sucked. Sorry guys. Not iPod worthy. Rating: Quite Low

Tomorrow Never Knows sung by Five O’Clock Shadow: This, among a couple of other songs, saved the album! The beginning? Magnificent! The singer gets the trippy quality of this song, and they just hit it on the head. iPod worthy. Rating: High

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band sung by Kickshaw: Mixed feelings on this one. The beginning sucked, and the singer sounds like he’s trying to be in a 80’s rock band. It’s really the background singers, who are doing the instruments, that save this show. Possible iPod worthiness. Rating: Medium

I Am The Walrus sung by Tufts Beelzebubs: I liked this one a lot. I have heard this group before, and I liked them. Singer’s voice goes along well, background singers do great. Overall, impressive cover. iPod worthy. Rating: High

Strawberry Fields Forever sung by The Bobs: No. This is a bad cover. The guys voice is really squeaky like, he sounds like Urkel. The background is pretty good, but…no. Not iPod worthy. Rating: Medium-Low

Blackbird sung Beachfront Property: I tried really hard to accept the fact that they had changed it, but it was hard. There are really good moments, and they sound like a good group. Someone else would probably like this, but I couldn’t. Not iPod worthy. Rating: Medium

All You Need Is Love sung by The House Jacks: If you can get past the first 45 seconds, you can hear genius. The chorus is incredible, but the verses! They are trying to do to much, and it overwhelms you. The end of the song is really great though, so try to hold out. Possible iPod worthiness. Rating: Medium-High

Come Together sung by Spiralmouth: I liked the beginning bit, which features “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”. Then it just goes downhill. The singer’s voice is only okay, but its the background I really don’t like. Not iPod worthy. Rating: Low

Let It Be sung by The Nylons: This is the way a Beatles cover should be done, with real respect for the original artist’s work while infusing your own talents in. The feel is that of a gospel choir, and it just makes this a masterpiece. iPod worthy. Rating: High

In all, I was mostly disappointed. This should be an album of greatness, with spots of okay(ness), not the other way around. Maybe I’m just an anal Beatles fan, but I did, and will continue to, expect great respect, care and talent in Beatles covers.

Who Will Win? (Really, It's Who We Want To Win/Should Win)- Grammy Predictions From Your Favorite Blog

Yes, the Grammys are on Sunday. Yet another year of the same people getting the same awards, with the exception of a few upsets (Zac Brown Band beating out MGMT. Not that ZBB is bad, but come on. MGMT is the shit). However repetitive the Grammys might be, we as music bloggers must still report our predictions and general ideas of who really should win this year (not just the popsters, aka Lady Gaga).

So here it is, genre by genre. Oh, and, disclaimer: It would be impossible/ridiculous for us to try and hit every genre since we don't listen to every genre. So we'll just hit the ones we know. The rest is up to you. We'll put who we think will win in bold, and who we think should win in italics.

Best Alternative Music Album:

The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Infinite Arms - Band Of Horses
Brothers - The Black Keys
Broken Bells - Broken Bells
Contra - Vampire Weekend

Best Dance Recording:

Rocket - Goldfrapp
In For The Kill - La Roux
Dance In The Dark - Lady Gaga
Only Girl (In The World) - Rihanna
Dancing On My Own - Robyn

Best Short Form Music Video:

Ain't No Grave/The Johnny Cash Project - Johnny Cash
Love The Way You Lie (Explict Version) - Eminem & Rihanna
Stylo - Gorillaz, Mos Def & Bobby Womack
Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga

Best Recording Packaging:

Brothers - Michael Carney (The Black Keys)
Eggs - Malene Mathiasson, Malthe Fischer, Kristoffer Rom, Nis Svoldgård & Aske Zidore (Oh No Ono)
Hadestown - Brian Grunert, Anaïs Mitchell, Peter Nevins (Anaïs Mitchell)
What Will We Be - Devendra Banhart & Jon Beasley (Devendra Banhart)
Yonkers NY - Andrew Taray (Chip Taylor)

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance:

King Of Anything - Sara Bareilles
Halo (Live) - Beyonce
Chasing Pirates - Norah Jones
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream - Katy Perry

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance:

Haven't Met You Yet - Michael Buble
This Is It - Michael Jackson
Whataya Want From Me - Adam Lambert
Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars
Half Of My Heart - John Mayer

Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals:

Don't Stop Belivin - The Glee Cast
Misery - Maroon 5
The Only Exception - Paramore*
Babyfather - Sade
Hey Soul Sister (Live) - Train

*This song deserves a Honorable Mention. They also deserve to win!

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals:

Airplanes, Part II - B.o.B, Eminem and Haley Williams
Imagine - Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare
If It Wasn't For Bad - Elton John & Leon Russel
Telephone - Lady Gaga & Beyonce
California Gurls - Katy Perry & Snoop Dog

Best Pop Vocal Album:

My World 2.0 - Justin Bieber
I Dreamed A Dream - Susan Boyle
The Fame Monster - Lady Gaga
Battle Studies - John Mayer
Teenage Dream - Katy Perry

Best Rap Solo Performance:

Over - Drake
Not Afraid - Eminem
How Low - Ludacris
I'm Back - T.I
Power - Kanye West

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration:

Nothin' On You - B.o.B & Bruno Mars
Deuces - Chris Brown, Tyga & Kevin McCall
Love The Way You Lie - Eminem & Rihanna
Empire State Of Mind - Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
Wake Up Everybody - John Legend, The Roots, Melanie Fiona & Common*

*We sincerely believe this song belongs in the category of R&B, not Rap.

Best Rap Song:

Empire State Of Mind - Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
Love The Way You Lie - Eminem & Rihanna
Not Afraid - Eminem
Nothin On You - B.o.B & Bruno Mars
On To The Next One - Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz

Best Solo Rock Performance:

Run Back To Your Side - Eric Clapton
Crossroads - John Mayer*
Helter Skelter - Paul McCartney
Silver Rider - Robert Plant
Angry World- Neil Young

*This song deserves an Honorable Mention. This was also awesome!

Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals:

Ready To Start - Arcade Fire
I Put A Spell On You - Jeff Beck & Josh Stone
Tighten Up - The Black Keys
Radioactive - Kings Of Leon
Resistance - Muse

Best Rock Song:

Angry World - Neil Young
Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons
Radioactive - Kings Of Leon
Resistance - Muse
Tighten Up - The Black Keys

Best New Artist:

Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence + The Machine
Mumford & Sons
Esperanza Spalding

Song Of The Year:

Beg Steal Or Borrow - Ray LaMontagne
Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
The House That Built Me - Miranda Lambert
Love The Way You Lie - Eminem ft. Rihanna
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

Album Of The Year:

The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
Recovery - Eminem
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
The Fame Monster - Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream - Katy Perry

Record Of The Year:

Nothin On You - B.o.B ft. Bruno Mars
Love The Way You Lie - Eminem ft. Rihanna
Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
Empire State Of Mind - Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

These are what we think will/should happen, so it's just our opinion. Thanks :)

-Raivynn & Whitni

MGMT Shoes

We decided (after seeing some Tumblr chatter about this) to make some MGMT shoes, that you should definitely check out. If we had the money, we would definitely buy three pairs- one for Raivynn, one for Whitni and one for Andrew Vanwyngarden.

I designed this at Converse.com

Help Is Here! New Music Monday

This week's new music comes after an explosive weekend. I know a lot of people don't watch the Superbowl, but we here at The SMP do, and were happy to watch the Green Bay Packers celebrate their victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I (Whitni) am sad for the Steelers, but Raivynn says f**k 'em. So much love.

Onto the music, today's song comes from a well known punk rock band I happen to love called Rise Against. Their new album, Endgame, is due in March and this is a single off that album.



The song is "Help Is On The Way" by Rise Against. I really like this song, despite the screaming that seemed to throw off some Youtube listeners. But Rise Against seems to find a balance between singing, screaming and awesome guitar riffs. I wouldn't be surprised if I heard this on the local hard rock radio any day now.

-Whitni