Those of you who are country fans might enjoy this little ditty by Jim White called "Crash into the Sun." It's classic 60s-70s country with a contemporary, alternative twist.
Below you can stream Coldplay's new single entitled "Violet Hill." Coldplay is always quality, but I really like this song in particular. It's in the same style as "X&Y" but doesn't sound as deja vu as a lot of rock bands' music does these days.
Robyn is pretty much unknown here in the US (her only hits this side of the Atlantic were back in the 90s), but she continues to be huge in Europe. Now here she is with a remix of Snoop's "Sensual Seduction." Will she make an international comeback? Who knows. At least we get a free track out of it, though.
Check out this song from up-and-coming rapper Tyga. It's his debut single, "Coconut Juice," and while the title may be pretty raunchy, it's actually a fairly nice urban/reggae jam in the style of Sean Paul. Expect this to be a pretty decent summer hit. Get it now while it's free.
John Legend is preparing to release his third studio album this summer (there's a tentative June release date). In interviews, he has described his new music as more mainstream and more pop, with lots of drums and synthesizers. Sounds pretty cool. He's worked mostly with producer Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas), although there is also a collaboration with Kanye West called "It's Over." Other confirmed track titles include "Green Light," which features Andre 3000 and is rumored to be the lead single, "Satisfaction," "Everybody Knows," "No Other Love" featuring Estelle, "Cross the Line," "This Time," "Good Morning," and "Aim High."
When it comes to promotion, it should begin soon - meaning we should have a lead single shortly. John has been reaching out lately to some non-music promotion and advertising firms, hoping to come up with some creative and original ideas to make this release more commercial than his previous work, "Once Again," which sold a disappointing (for him) 1.2 million.
Here's a nice track from Cat Power called "Metal Heart." It's from her new covers album entitled "Jukebox." To the casual music listener Cat is probably most recognizable as the singer of "How Can I Tell You," which was used in a diamond commercial a while back.
01 01 NO AIR Jordin Sparks [#1 for 5 weeks] [6] 02 02 BLEEDING LOVE Leona Lewis [#1] [6] 03 03 4 MINUTES Madonna [#3 for 3 weeks] [6] 04 04 WITH YOU Chris Brown [#4 for 4 weeks] [6] 05 13 LEAVIN' Jesse McCartney [#5] [5] 06 08 DAMAGED Danity Kane [#6] [6] 07 05 TOUCH MY BODY Mariah Carey [#5] [6] 08 10 TAKE A BOW Rihanna [#8] [6] 09 06 SEE YOU AGAIN Miley Cyrus [#4] [6] 10 07 LOVE SONG Sara Bareilles [#3 for 3 weeks] [6] 11 -- FOREVER Chris Brown [#11] [1] 12 17 REALIZE Colbie Caillat [#12] [2] 13 11 IN LOVE WITH A GIRL Gavin Degraw [#11] [6] 14 12 FEELS LIKE TONIGHT Daughtry [#10] [6] 15 16 SAY John Mayer [#15] [5] 16 -- SHAWTY GOT LOOSE Lil'Mama [#16] [1] 17 -- OUR SONG Taylor Swift [#17] [1] 18 18 ELEVATOR Flo Rida [#18 for 2 weeks] [4] 19 -- STOP AND STARE OneRepublic [#19] [1] 20 15 BYE BYE Mariah Carey [#15] [2]
BUBBLING UNDER
01 BEAT IT Fall Out Boy 02 PICTURE TO BURN Taylor Swift 03 WHAT ABOUT NOW Daughtry 04 HOLLYWOOD'S NOT AMERICA Ferras 05 BREAK THE ICE Britney Spears
INTERESTING MOVES
Greatest Gainer Returning Top 10: LEAVIN' Jesse McCartney (+16) Greatest Gainer Returning Top 20: LEAVIN' Jesse McCartney (+16) Greatest Fall Top 10: SEE YOU AGAIN Miley Cyrus (-9) Greatest Fall Top 20: BYE BYE Mariah Carey (-13) Highest Debut: FOREVER Chris Brown (+27)Chri
What would happen if you combined an alternative rock group with a rap group? I imagine they would sound something like the Flobots. Below is their new single "Handlebars," which is currently charting in the iTunes Top 100. If you like it you should try the album "Fight With Tools."
Since music news seems to be a little slow today, check out these two tracks from the group Plantlife. Especially if you like funk music, which is their specialty. They definitely have a throwback, Prince sort of feel. Not for everybody, but if you like the style make sure you look them up on itunes.
This video is over a year old but not many people know about this artist yet, so I thought I'd post it anyway. His name is Fionn Regan, and he's probably my favorite folk artist. He reminds me a lot of Dylan. They'll be some free stuff of his coming soon, so stay tuned.
01 01 MERCY Duffy [#1 for 4 weeks] [4] 02 02 I FEEL IT ALL Feist [#2 for 2 weeks] [3] 03 03 REASONS TO LOVE YOU Meiko [#3 for 2 weeks] [3] 04 04 WHO'S GOT A MATCH Biffy Clyro [#4 for 2 weeks] [3] 05 05 MAKE YOU FEEL MY LOVE Adele [#5 for 2 weeks] [3] 06 06 ALL I'VE EVER DONE Lex Land [#6 for 2 weeks] [3] 07 -- 1234 Jack Penate [#7] [1] 08 09 WHISPER Ernie Halter [#8] [2] 09 -- WHERE I STAND Missy Higgins [#9] [1] 10 08 U & I Emily King [#7] [4] 11 07 MASOCHIST Ingrid Michaelson [#2 for 2 weeks] [4] 12 10 SOBER Kelly Clarkson [#10] [4] 13 12 MADLY Tristan Prettyman [#12] [2] 14 11 KILLING THE BLUES Robert Plant & Allison Kraus [#3] [4] 15 13 AIN'T GOT YOU Kevin Michael [#6] [1] 16 14 RUN Gnarls Barkley [#5] [4] 17 15 THE UNDERWOOD TYPEWRITER Fionn Regan [#10] [4] 18 -- DREAM Alice Smith [#18] [1] 19 -- UNDERNEATH Alanis Morisette [#19] [1] 20 18 HOMETOWN GLORY Adele [#4] [4]
INTERESTING MOVIES
Greatest Gainer Returning Top 20: WHISPER Ernie Halter (+1) Greatest Fall: MASOCHIST Ingrid Michaelson (-4) Highest Debut: 1234 Jack Penate (+14)
WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT WEEK
Duffy and Feist continue to battle for #1. Some switches amongst the Top 5. Increases for 1234 and Madly.
As many already know, Kelly Clarkson sang "Ave Maria" for the Pope when he visited New York last week. Here's the audio of the performance. Kelly's voice was absolutely gorgeous.
Raven-Symone has an unfortunate problem, and that's her baggage.
Disney.
That's right - the same thing that has made Miley Cyrus a star in the past twelve months will almost certainly keep this girl and her newest album from having any substantial success. The one-time star of "That's So Raven" and a dozen other Disney market-manipulating cash cows tries valiantly on her new self-titled album to establish herself as a credible artist. She's gathered some of the hottest producers (Sean Garrett, The Clutch) and tailored her sound to be more mainstream. However, my guess is the tactic (to erase her image by creating a new, jolting, urban, hinting-at-naughtiness sound) will do about as well as it did for fellow Disney child stars Lindsay Lohan and Hillary Duff (ie not well).
Her one chance on this LP is "Green," an amazingly catchy and hard-hitting urban track by beatmaster Kwame ("Kwame did it"). "Anti-Love Song" and "What Are You Gonna Do" sound ok as well, though a little generic. "In Your Skin" and "Hollywood Life" . . . not so much.
It's been a great day for free music. Check out this gorgeous cover of Yael Naim's "New Soul" by acoustic-pop singer Tristan Prettyman. Tristan's new album, "Hello," was released to iTunes last week, so check that out if you like her voice here.
The Alternative/punk band Tokyo Police Club released their new album, "Elephant Shell," this past week. The track below is "In a Cave," which is currently their best-selling single on itunes. Lucky for you, you can now grab it for free courtesy of the wonderful CNET.
Not only that, but we have a second free track from the album, this one courtesy of MTV. It's the song "Tesselate." You can preview both of these songs on itunes, and check out the rest of the album while you're at it.
