Song of the Month: Nirvana Cover by Big Scary

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dzi733o7gUA/maxresdefault.jpg

A great song that I love is Big Scary's Cover of the Nirvana Song 'Come as you are' within the cover program 'Like a Version' by the Australian Radio Station Triple J.
I think it's very brave to pick a song by Nirvana but Big Scary definitely do it justice. They put their very own spin on the song which I love because they don't try to follow in the footsteps of the band.
I think it's one of the best cover's of the 'Like a Version' series and also one of the best songs the band has released.

You can check the song out below:

Introducing an Artist: Billie Eilish

Today I want you to get to know 16 year old American Pop Singer Billie Eilish.

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Billie Eilish is a highly talented girl who was born in Los Angles. Her music and lyrics are more sophisticated than you'd ever expect from a 16-year-old. Nevertheless, she still manages to meet the  vibe of today's grungie-pop youth. Her songs have high hit potential with some catchy tunes and some cynical lyrics.
In 2015, she released a few songs on Soundcloud, including her first single under the name Billie Eilish  'Ocean Eyes', which earned her a record deal with Interscope Records.
On August 12th, 2017 Eilish released her debut EP 'dont smile at me' with 9 songs on it.
Added to that, she wrote the song 'bored' for the soundtrack of Netflix series '13 reasons why'.
Some of her songs remind of a younger and more quiet version of Halsey so if you like her you should definitely check out Billie Eilish. But you should check her out anyway because in my eyes she's an incredible talent who is sure to be one of Americas' next pop sensations.

Eilish is currently touring Asia and Oceania. After that she'll be heading to Europe and North America but most of the tour dates are already sold out. You can go and check them out on her website at http://www.billieeilish.com/.

Below you can find the video to her single 'bellyache' and the links to her social media accounts.
Enjoy! :)

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBRi6aZJGj4

Youtube
Spotify
Soundcloud
Instagram

Introducing an Artist: Tom Grennan

In this post I want to introduce you to one of my newer discoveries: British Aritst Tom Grennan.
This is my early christmas present to you, so I hope you enjoy! ;)

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With just over 20,000 fans on facebook, he's still undiscovered. But I can assure you, that he won't stay unknown for long! In my eyes, there's no doubt that he will very fast be a popular upcoming talent. You wanna know why?
First of all, his music has something very refreshing. It's nothing that you feel like you've heard before, his music is very special indie pop but yet all of his songs are real earwigs and are very easy to get into.
Most of the songs from his -so far- 3 EPs are guitar-based and have a very strong melodic guitar to underline his wonderful singing. Tom Grennan, who sings with an authentic and very nice britisch accent, was blessed with a very unique, husky voice which is in no way unpleasent but makes his music even more interesting! It fits perfectly to the raw stories he tells in his songs through some great and personal lyrics.
Thus, all of his songs have a high potential to be the next big hit. It was also a very hard decision which video to link below because I love all of his songs dearly and I coulnd't decide which one was best to introduce him to you.
On March, 9th next year, the 21-year-old will release his debut album "Lighting Matches" via the british record label "Insanity Records". It looks like 2018 is going to be a promising year in the music industry ;) I definitely can't wait for the release and the upcoming tour!
Tom was currently touring Europe and is heading to America next. You can find his tour dates on his page http://www.tomgrennanmusic.com/.

Below you can find his social media links and watch the video to his song "Praying", which was released on his second EP "Release the Brakes" in March this year. I hope you Enjoy!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAwzP095AeA

Spotify
Youtube
Soundcloud

Introducing a band: City of the Sun

 

https://www.billboard.com/files/media/City-of-The-Sun-Press-Photo-2016-billboard-1548.jpg 

Today I want to talk about one of my favourite bands "City of the Sun".
City of the Sun is a trio from New York, consisting of the two guitarists John Pita and Avi Snow and the percussionist Zach Para.
Their music is completely instrumental which I love. The trio is able to create such a magic atmosphere and convey a story solely through their instrumental music. When you listen to one of their songs you really get emotionally and mentally drawn into their music.

The band was touring this year but since I was in Australia at that time, I sadly missed their concert in Berlin. But since they started their musical journey with busking on the streets of New York, they know how to catch and keep the attention of people walking by. Therefore I imagine their live shows to be very captivating and unique (as you can already imagine when watching one of their live videos).
So if you get the chance to see them play you should definitely go! Their next show will be on February, 23rd 2018 in Brookly, New York.
You can check out their tour dates here.

Their debut album "To the sun and all the cities in between" was released in March 2016 via the American record label "Chesky Records".
Their Album is a mixed genre piece with 13 brilliant songs on it. City of the Sun are best described as an indie-post rock trio, but they don't really fit into one specific genre since they are inspired by many different ones, such as jazz, rock and flamenco. This is one aspect which makes their music so special.

Below you can watch a live video from their "Sofar Session" in New York, covering "Intro" by the XX and find the links to their youtube, soundcloud and spotify accounts.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIdKbSeAueY 

 

Yotube: https://www.youtube.com/user/cityofthesunTV
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4DkYxtaASIKQnk4Gj0TB7k
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cityofthesun

Album review: "Revival" by Vancouver Sleep Clinic

Another gem that I was dying to introduce to you is the Brisbane-based five-member band "Vancouver Sleep Clinic".
On Friday, April 7th, they finally released their long awaited debut album "Revival". In contrast to the prior released EPs, "Revival" is a collection of more uptempo songs. But nevertheless, the band manages to bring across the same emotions as before and remained true to it's original, atmospheric sound.
If you don't know the band, I think their sound is best described as more quiet, ambient and electronic music. Their music is a mixture of different genres and therefor reminds of totally different artists, such as "Bon Iver", "James Blake" or some songs by "Bastille". So if you like any of these or similar artists you should definitely give Vancouver Sleep Clinic a listen.
To me, their music is something very special and touching.

There are eleven songs on the album of which four had been released as singles prior to the album. These four singles are "Lung", "Killing me to love you", "Someone to Stay" and one of my favourite songs from the album "Unworthy".
In my opinion there are many strong songs on the album that have the opportunity to be the band's breakthrough, for example the more uptempo songs "Whispers", "Killing me to love you" and "Empire" but also some quiet songs like "Unworthy" and "Sleeping World". 
I feel like the music puts you in a state of a calm mind where you can worrilessly think about life or even not think at all.
With a good mixture of uptempo and slower songs, some beautiful lyrics and a just as beautiful artwork for the album cover, I think Vancouver Sleep Clinic managed to create a very beautiful and convincing debut album that shows a development of the band but still reflects the band's earlier songs.

You can find the album on itunes and spotify. Let me know what you think of it!

Below you can check out the album cover and the band's tour dates for North America in May:

Song of the Month: 'Jungle' by Tash Sultana

This month I want to introduce one of my favourite songs to you. The song I'm referring to is 'Jungle' by upcoming Australian artist 'Tash Sultana'. The song is taken from her 'Notion' EP which is overall an amazing piece of art. All of the songs are guitar based, atmospheric, quiet songs and aren't comparable with anything I've heard before. The song 'Jungle' has a pretty long guitar intro and has a touch of reggae to it.
Especially when you get to know that 21-year-old Tash Sultana taught every instrument herself, her gutar skills seem even more terrific.
Her vocals are also very remakable since she has a very unique and strong voice. In some of her songs, Tash even beatboxes. So you see that she is very open-minded and eager to try new things when it comes to her music. And I think that's overall what makes her music so special.
Additionally, she accompanies her instrumental music with wonderful and very meaningful lyrics. When you listen to her words closely, you hear that Melbourne-based artist Tash has a lot of life experience in her young age already. But nevertheless, the lyrics don't weigh heavily on the otherwise blithe music but are able to create a dreamy atmosphere together.

I would definitely recommend to you checking her out! In my eyes, she is a musical genius. While she is not well-known outside of Australia yet, her fancount within Australia is steadily rising. So if you want to be one of the first people in your country to fall in love with her music, watch the following video:

 'Jungle' by Tash Sultana

Introducing a Band: Ry X

The Australian singer-songwriter Ry X has been my favorite musician for a really long time. I didn't post anything about him yet, because his music is very dear to my heart and I wanted to keep it to myself. But for the new year I decided to share his amazing music with you guys. Ry X's music is best described as reduced, atmospheric, experimental guitar or indietronic music.

In May 2016, Ry X published his debut album 'Dawn' via the swedish record label 'Dumont Dumont'. In my opinion, 'Dawn' was definitely one of the best if not even THE best album in 2016. Every song on the album and Ry X's prior EP 'Berlin' is very soulful and has very deep and meaningful lyrics that you can completely get lost in thought over.
 

Ry X' soft and very special voice creates a magic and intimate atmosphere around the words he's singing. Along with the atmospheric instrumental music that's quite different in every song of the album, Ry X manages to produce very unique music that can truely be called art.

Ry X is also part of the electonic groups 'The Howling' together with Frank Wiedemann from the German electronic duo 'Âme' ; and 'The Acid' along with Adam Freeland and Steve Nalepa.
I'm also a big fan of those two projects but they are only focused on electronic music whereas Ry X's music is a mixture of different genres.

Below you can find the youtube video to his indietronic song 'Haste'. Enjoy!

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI1sQtRmIJU

 

Ry X is currently touring Australia and will play in Berlin on April, 8th together with a german orchestra.
You can find his music on youtube, soundcloud, itunes and spotify.
Since Ry X is my favorite musician, I'd be interested to know what you think of his music so feel free to leave a comment :)

Song of the month: 'Pilgrims' by Boo Seeka

One of my favourite songs has been Boo Seeka's cover of MØ's 'Pilgrim'.
Boo Seeka is an Electro-pop duo based in Sydney, Australia. The duo consists of the lead singer and guitarist Ben Gumbleton, called 'Boo' and Sam Croft, who plays the electronic instruments. The band is an incredible good live band. I think I even like their live performances better than their records.
During their shows, the band creates a carefree atmosphere and is able to put the audience in a very good mood. That's one reason why I love their live cover of  MØ's song Pilgrim so much. They put their own spin on the song and I love the bohemian sound they create. Additionally, Boo has such a soft voice that gives me chills and I could listen to him singing all day long :)
The band recorded the song within the cover series of triple j. Triple j is an Australian radio station. In their 'Like a Version' - sessions, the radio station invites different bands each week to cover a song of their choice. You can listen to the song below:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57f3wCH1ewM

The band is currently on tour and will be joining the bands 'Cherub' and 'Frenship' on their national tour in the USA in October. You can find the tour dates on their website.

Bands in Concert: El Vy

Sunday night (December, 12th), El Vy played at the Astra Kulturhaus in Berlin-Kreuzberg.

The room fits about 2000 people and as far as I know, the concert was sold out.

About half of the people were there to watch the preact 'The Penny Surfs'. The songs they played were quite different to one another, starting off with a slower song then going over to rocky songs and finally to soft psychedelic songs. Therefore they reminded me of different bands such as Placebo and Tame Impala   

Even though some of the music was very different to the actual act, the crowd seem to enjoy their performance.

The actual concert of El Vy was with about 50 minutes a bit shorter than most concert, but I wasn't really surprised since they only have one album yet. Their performance was very powerful and atmospheric which the light show increased even further. 

It seemed as if the band had been playing together for several years when in fact it was one of their first shows.

When they covered "She drives me crazy" the crowd really did go crazy. Especially Matt Berniger's performance made the cover at least ten times better than the original song; he put so many emotions in the song while rocking the stage. 

Very impressive were also Brent Knopf's skills, who was playing the guitar and the keyboard, both very well. During some songs he had to switch between the instruments which he was doing with an ease that really was incredible.

Overall, I can say that the concert was really enjoyable and musically on point. It was definitely a concert I won't forget so fast. 

Bands in Concert: The Neighbourhood

On Monday, November 16th, the Neighbourhood played at Postbahnhof, a venue that fits about 1000 people.

The preact 'Tunji Ige', an American rapper, started on time and fit to the music of The Neighbourhood hence the crowd was enjoying his performance very much. He was accompanied by a DJ, whose music helped entertaining the crowd even further.

After 40 Minutes of waiting, The Neighbourhood finally came on stage. Their entrance was musically underlined by the Intro of their song Ferrari, a song of their new album 'Wiped out', which was released October, 30th. It was a really good intro to the concert and made the crowd heat up even more.

Their concert was overall a good mixture of some old songs and songs from their new album. They played 14 songs of which 6 were taken from their new album.

Through out the whole concert, the band created a very special atmosphere and the lead singer Jesse made a very own version out of all of the songs. Due to that, the band rhythmically stuffed up once, but they didn't make a big deal out of it, they just confidentially interrupted the song and started anew. 

The band was also doing a great and very entertaining performance with a nice light show which I really enjoyed. Nevertheless, they still managed to focus on the emotions of each and every song and so it was a great balance of emotions and entertainment.

The only thing I found surprising was  that they didn't comment on the attacks in Paris even though the concert was only 4 days after. But maybe they just wanted the crowd to forget about it for a while and therefore didn't say anything. 

All in all, I can say that the concert was really enjoyable and unique. Due to Jesses very personal performance it was even better than I expected.

If you want to see 'The Neighbourhood' as well, go check out their website for tour dates. They will be touring some German cities next year in March, and the pre sale has already started. 

Song of the month: 'In your Bones' by Crooked Colours

Today, I want to show you a song from a band that I've been loving for the last year. The band I'm talking about is the Australian electronic-trio 'Crooked Colours'. The Perth-based Trio fromed in 2012 and they only started releasing their Music early last year so they are still known by only a few people. The first song they ever released is 'Come Down', a very chill electonic song with incredibly nice singing. The Singer, Philimon Slabb, has a very soft voice that's capable to give you goosebumps and makes their Music even more special.
This month's song 'In your Bones' is the title song of the first EP the band has released. It's a great song that'll definitely get stuck in your head! The song has a very nice, summery vibe to it and is perfect for dancing and to forget about all your problems!
Usually, I've been only talking about alternative Music but I've really been getting into electronic Music, so if you like this band, I'll also post some similar Music in the future! :)

You can check the song out below. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dsnoef8y-Q

You can also check out their social media accounts below:

Youtube, Soundcloud and Facebook

Album Review: 'Letters'

Last Thursday (July,23rd), Nick Cunningham dropped his debut EP 'Letters' with 6 songs on it.

The Album is a great mix of more quiet and powerful songs that you can listen to, no matter what mood your in.

To me, the EP is an easy summer listen that I can imagine listening to while on a road trip.

Nick Cunningham is an Australian Newcommer artist who is currently playing at bars and a few shows in Byron Bay in Australia. The Singer-Songwriter also played at the Australian Music Festival 'Splendour in the Grass' this year and last year as well.

In my opinion, Nick's Music is comparable to Ben Howard's and Matt Corby's so if you're a fan of either one you should definitely give him a listen. Due to Nick's unique voice and 6 guitar-based heart-warming songs, 'Letters' is definitely a set part of my this year's summer playlist.

You can find his music on iTunes, Spotify and Soundcloud.

To get your hands on a hard copy of the EP, head to his webpage: nickcunningham.com.au 

Introducing a Band: Oslo Parks

Stevie McMinn and Jeremy Lloyd form the Brighton based band 'Oslo Parks' together. Their indietronic music strongly reminds of some great 80's music (especially their song 'Fiction' from their 'Fiction-EP') and has a very atmospheric, remarkable sound. In my opinion, their music is well fitting for a listen during hot summer days and nights.
The band is signed to the recordlable 'X Novo' via which it has released it's debut single, including the two songs 'Twin' and 'The Night'.
With only 1200 likes on facebook, they're one of my insider's tips.
You can find their music on youtube, spotify, itunes, soundcloud and hypem.com.
7 days ago, Oslo Parks has released their new song 'Slipping Away'. You can find it on soundcloud here: 'Slipping Away' by Oslo Parks.

Introducing a Band: Satellite Stories

In 2008 the four Finns Esa Mankinen, Marko Heikkinen, Jyri Peson and Olli Pekka Ervasti formed their indie dance rock band 'Satellite Stories'. They are signed to the independent recordlabel 'XYZ Berlin', and have released 2 Ablums so far:
Their debut Album 'Phrases to Break the Ice' was released September, 21st 2012 and they released 5 Singles from it, such as the songs 'Anti-Lover' (Track 1) and 'Family' (Track 9).
Their second Album 'Pine Trails' was released November, 1st 2013 and they are currently touring with it. The first track 'Campfire' was released as a Pre-Single October, 18th 2013.Additionally, they've released 3 EP's and the Single 'Scandinavian Girls'.
All of their songs have the same sound but are still very different to one another. They all have very nice guitar riffs and are very catchy. To me, their music has a summer atmosphere and always puts me in a good mood. I also really like the lyrics of their songs and the lead singer's, Eda Mankinen's remarkable voice. If you like one of their songs, you're probably going to like all of them.
You can find their music on youtube, itunes, amazon, spotify and soundcloud.

Following is the official video to 'Campfire':

                                      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt43vyqoRHY