Saturday, July 31, 2010

Seriously Not Serious

   Ok So I'm posting this for a multitude of reasons. To preface this, I'm currently in North Carolina driving back to Florida from New Jersey, where I've been for almost two and a half months; with that lead in you'll understand one of the reasons for the following video. The second reason is due to a hilarious experience on the Jersey Shore that I had a couple of weeks ago. If you read my non-musical blog you'll have seen it..if not check it out HERE. Finally, Enrique Iglasias secured his spot in the badass hall of fame, and this blog, by doing THIS. So, it is with those three reasons that I give you the Enrique Iglasias I Like It (Jersey Shore Version). Jersey Shore: America at it's finest.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Boris Yeltsin? Waves? Maps? Big Update!

    So I've been sitting here for the past hour mentally fighting myself about updating but there's just too much to write about so this has to happen. Side note before I begin, whatever movie is on right now, John Cena just jumped from an exploding helicopter into a pool and started kissing some girl. If he wasn't so ridiculous, I'd say that's my life goal. But onto the music! First is a band I've been listening to for a while and, seriously, I think this is one of the most underrated bands. Does the long winded name Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, or SSLYBY for short, ring a bell? No? Well it should from now on. This band has been rocking for just about a decade out of Missouri and man their music is good.
   The sound is kind of a calm, upbeat, electric acoustic folky mix with some nice picking action through most of the songs. Their 2008 album Pershing is, in my opinion, on of the best albums around to just hangout and waste some time to. The band had a song on The O.C. before that gem of a serious was canceled (seriously, listen to some of the music in The O.C., Josh Schwartz is a genius), but the band has been mildly silent the past few years. Anyway, SSLYBY has a new album coming out on August 27th and I'm pretty stoked for it. Now, I haven't even attempted to get my hands on an mp3 from this album but if you go to the band's MySpace: http://Myspace.com/boris you can download one of the singles. Do that. Anyway, I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs by the band from the 2008 album.SSLYBY has some hilarious videos on the YouTubes also, if you have a moment.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Boring Fountain

      On a second note, The Narrative, a band this blog loves, dropped their album today. Go pick it up!
http://www.myspace.com/thenarrative 

   Ok onto the next band. Washed Out is the "lyrical/minimalist" name of Ernest Greene who's been creating chillwave music from Georgia and has been gaining some play and popularity lately. Greene's song tend to make my brain totally zone out - and I love it. Check out You and I below:
Washed Out - You and I

   Next, a band I've been unsure about for a while but more sure than unsure about. Maps & Atlases is a great band that has released a couple EPs, but recently released their first full length album. As I was researching the band to do a write up I came across an amazing review by a blog called The Giant Panther. Head over to their website and read this great write up of the band. In the meantime, check out the song Pigeons from Maps and Atlases's Perch Patchwork below. The Giant Panther - Maps & Atlases - Perch Patchwork
Maps and Atlases - Pigeon

   Finally, if returning readers know anything about me, it's that I'm a massive sucker for pop-punk. Well, a friend suggested that I look into a New Jersey band named Catch Me If You Can. Right now, I guess that's a local band for me, and if you know anything else about me, it's that I'm always for the underdog and the little guy. So, that said, let's get into it. Catch Me If You Can has the good ol' All Time Low-ish vibe and some great melodies that spell big-time for these guys in the future. The band has an EP out entitled If You Can't Stand the Heat... Stay Out of the Kitchen on iTunes and a music video as well. Seeing as the band has only been together for two yearsish, I'd say these boys are doing well for themselves. So, take a look at Catch Me If You Can. Here's their video for Baby, If You Were A Melody:

OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO- "Baby, If You Were A Melody" Catch Me If You Can from Inspire Me Pictures on Vimeo.

   Lastly, I know the mp3s on the site are screwed up in recent posts. I'm working on a fix, so stay tuned.
-Jack

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Ra Ra News!

 So as my time here in New Jersey draws to a close I'm finding myself ridiculously busy in the last week. So, this may be my last post for about a week - and it should have come a few days ago. Anyway, if you're friends with me on the Facebooks, you'll know I wasultra excited the other night for something. That something? New Ra Ra Riot. Ra Ra Riot is great and when it leaked out that they had new music coming out, it made my day. So the band has given us a little teaser and released a three song EP named Boy - and I love it. Here's the single, Boy
Ra Ra Riot - Boy


famoussoundingwords (I attempted to reblog this from Pretty Much Awesome)
Ra Ra Riot - “Boy” download


In other news I'm pretty sure there was definitely some new hellogoodbye on Royal Pains last week.

Finally, check out Little Joy. They're a band out of Los Angeles and appropriately were form by Rodrigo Amarante, the singer and guitarist from Los Hermanos and Fabrizio Moretti, the drummer of The Strokes. They have a unique, great sound - check it out:


Finally, this means that all of The Strokes have their own separate projects. New music soon next year, they say, I'm interested to see the result.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

In a Dance Party Mood

So as the title may hint at, I've been in a bit of a dance party mood lately. Some of this I heard on the radio (I'm sure a lot of you have already) and the others I found while I was sitting at home letting my brain rot out from boredom. Well, I've really got nothing else to say...let's get to it.
There's not too much known about this girl. She seems to be getting a lot of attention with her new (and only?) single Better Than Her.
Here's Matisse...

Nexties! Ok, everyone at some point in their life has liked Weezer (unless you're hitting 50+ golden years of age...). Unfortunately, Weezer hasn't put an actual album out in about a year and a half. B.O.B on the other hand seems to have another single out every damn time I turn on the radio. What happens when you mix a hit rapper with the lead singer of Weezer, Rivers Coumo? Magic. Damn I'm corny.


Git Fresh (unfortunately, yes, that's how they spell it...) recently put out a song called She Be Like (Bom Bom Bom). It's catchy as hell, and it's only the SIXTH song to sample Suzanne Vega's Tom's Diner. Which is creepy as hell, if you actually watch the original video. Anyways, here's the song.


Finally, I'm sure most people have already heard this song, so it really needs no introduction. So, I'm going to do it anyways. Taio Cruz, Dynomite.

Fin

Feist Narrative

  So it's another slow music day, but fear not: I've got two things for you.
   First we have a band called the The Narrative. Head over to AbsolutePunk to hear an exclusive track entitled Winter's Coming from their upcoming self titled album The Narrative. The song is a great track and reminds me of the old piano driven Something Corporate with some Death Cab-y influence.
   Also, for some more music, check out The Narrative's website and MySpace at:
www.thenarrativemusic.com and
http://www.myspace.com/thenarrative
I don't know about you guys, but when the new self-titled album drops on July 27th, I'll be ordering a copy..(I suggest you do the same).

   Next is a song from Feist entitled My Moon My Man off of The Reminder. Now, I know this album came out in 2007, but I'd never seen the video before today...and it's brilliant. Notice the first two minutes or so are all one shot. Awesome:

Here's the MP3: Feist - My Moon My Man

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Live Desk Job

Here's an awesome stripped down performance by Phoenix doing some songs off of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix for NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts. It's really great.

Hump Day Post

Man, slow work day, slow news day, slow music day! Luckily I've still got a little music to save your day if you're having an equally as slow day as myself. The First thing I have for you is A Silent Film. And no, not an entire film, they're a band; and a pretty good one at that. Check out their single You Will Leave A Mark of of The City That Sleeps below.
A Silent Film - You Will Leave A Mark

Next, I've been debating posting some funky remixes that I've been hearing lately but let's just do it. Everyone has been trying to remix Two Door Cinema Club lately, but Jean Tonique has put out one of the better remixes that I've heard:
Jean Tonique - What You Know (Two Door Cinema Club Remix)
Now, we have a remix of Metric's Help I'm Alive by The Twelves. Personally the original version of this song didn't strike me as good or bad, but this funky remix is great. The Twelves and Aeroplane are two remixers that never disappoint:
The Twelves - Help I'm Alive (Metric Remix)

Finally, Pretty Much Amazing recently posted their favorite albums of 2010 so far..and it's a pretty good
list. Head over there to hear a single from each album and see what you should be listening to if you want people to actually like you. Pretty Much Amazing's best albums of 2010


  Check back as the day goes on! More music may just pop up!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Throwback Jam!

It's throwback jam time! I heard this song earlier today and remembered it's a pretty great. How can you not like whistling and crazy hand drums? I remember hearing this song on the FM talk radio's indie weekend music show when it first came out and remember whistling it for days after. So, here's Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folk

Monday, July 12, 2010

Through The Cracks

I have no idea how I let this slip through the cracks. Tokyo Police Club, or a band this blog loves, has a new video for their single Wait Up off of Champ. I love fun videos, and dogs, and Tokyo Police club so this video makes me smile. Check it out!

Also through the cracks: Remember Brandon Flowers solo project we posted about a while ago? Well the video for Crossfire ,the single, is out - and its also awesome. Ninjas and Charlize Theron? I'm pretty sure my dreams just came true watching this video. Also, apparently Brandon Flowers can't fight his way out of a paper bag - but hey, if Theron would save me in that situation, I wouldn't fight either.


Woo Breaking Update! Best Coast, Kid Cudi, and Vampire Weekend have made a song together! It's for Converse's Three Artists One Song campaign. Check it out over at Spin: Spin and download the single from Converse's website: Converse So much good music today!
Three posts in one day! Unheard of!

Is California Gurls Tik Tok ?

I don't normally post things like this, but it's pretty interesting. I mean, you can't expect dance-y club songs to sound too different. But a dj mixed the songs on top of one another and, well, check out the result!


It's not unthinkable that these songs could have been ripped off each other, but its highly unlikely that either one copied the other for a multitude of reasons but simply time as well. Tik Tok has been plugging the airwaves since August of last year believe it or not - while California Gurls was dropped in early May of this year. California Gurls was written in response to Empire State of Mind which dropped in October last year which, admittedly is 2 months after Ke$ha's song dropped, but I call nay upon this

Scary

So, as a rule I don't really listen to Of Montreal. Why, you ask? They're just so outgoing and excited about making music. How un-indie. They scare me a bit. My friends that like them, scare me a bit. Their songs tend to scare me a bit. But if you're a frequent reader here you know I don't really not listen to things. It's just not in the genetic make up over here. So, while listening to some music I came across Coquete Coquette by Of Montreal, and I have to say. It sounds different from what I've heard from them. It's got a great bass line and some catchy lyrics. I admit, I really like this song. I'm sure that the band will have some insane video and performance to go along with it, but taking the song at face value - I'm down with it. I'm actually in the midst of maybe getting a new media player for this website so with that said I'm just going to leave a static YouTube video of the song. Even the picture they put up is scary. Fish and guns? That's like surf and war. Check out the song below:

Friday, July 9, 2010

Executive Officers

Yesterday, as I was mindlessly driving home I heard a song from a band I had never heard of before. Now, I don't know a lot, but I know a lot of bands, so to discover something totally new, that actually sounds pretty good is exciting. It's actually one of the most exciting things I do: because I love finding new music. Doing so just keeps life exciting. Anyway, so the band I heard was CEO which is apparently a new solo project from Eric Berglund of The Tough Alliance. The song I heard was entitled Come With Me. Now, I'll usually write down something I heard and like so that I can look it up, but rarely do I actually remember to look it up, or continue to write it down so I don't forget. But this time I did! And man, I'm pretty happy about it. The song Come With Me has a neat sound, and an interesting sample that I can't figure out if I like or not. Give it a listen and tell me what you think.

CEO's album White Magic is out now.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Ya Know, Just Some Beats

Well hello everyone. I hope your 4th of July was great, I definitely got my American Pride on; I can only hope you did as well. So, it has been ages since we here at Attempts At Hip did a review of a band/album so when Benny Loco got in touch with us about his upcoming album Just Some Beats Vol. 1 we jumped.
Benny Loco hails from good ol' Boulder, Colorado. Does that ring a bell? Well, 3OH!3 hail from the same place. So, whether you like 3OH!3 or not, you know people in that town know how to put some beats together. Anyway, let's get to our main character here. Benny Loco has an electronica/hip-hop sound that blends together in a masterfully complicated way. There's no harmonica+iPhone app+bathroom vocals+Garageband anywhere near this one. And I know that's what you thought when you first saw electronica too - so kick that thought out and let's get down to business. Just Some Beats Vol. 1 is a strong 15 track album full of beautifully layered songs that never seem to disinterest the listener. I've been writing on various blogs for about three hours now and every time the album kicks off I'm actually a little frustrated because I can't figure out which song to start with again.
Now, I'm not an enormous eletronica/hip-hop combo fan for the exclusive fact that I'm about as scatterbrained as if a bird were to take 5-Hour Energy, do some illegal substances, and then try to do some math. What I'm say is: I get bored easily with boring music. This is not boring music. And that's a great change. The music honestly reminds me sometimes of Ratatat except more percussion and synth driven whereas with Ratatat you get heavy midi guitars. Which are great, but sometimes boring, honestly. The first song on Just Some Beats is entitled In Demand and really starts the album off strong. Every layer to the song is interesting and gives you that "I'm not 100% committed yet but I can't skip this" feeling. You know the one I'm talking about. A couple other stand out songs on the album are Bike Ride and Meta-Blap both of which demand your attention when they come on.
So that is Benny Loco at a glance. My synopsis: Badass electronica/hip-hop. I'm 99% sure this is going to be my go-to for some good work music and music I don't have to crane my neck to listen to. This is good stuff. Just Some Beats Vol. 1 is out soon so pick it up asap. You can download the album soon from Hairy Sloth Records which I'll link below. I'll leave you with a stream of In Demand and  Champions. Check those out as well as Benny Loco's MySpace below:
http://www.myspace.com/bennylocomusic
http://hairyslothrecords.com/
Benny Loco - In Demand
Benny Loco - Champions


Finally, I'm apparently on Twitter now. So if for some reason you cannot get enough of me, or Attempts At Hip, or the myriad other pieces of my web-life. Follow along @JackKellyIsHip (http://twitter.com/JackKellyIsHip)

Friday, July 2, 2010

Maroon's Misery

Welp, a video just dropped for Maroon 5's Misery. I'm definitely into this song. Check it out:
Somewhat a typical Maroon 5 video with Adam Levine getting beat up by a gorgeous girl. I guess an upbeat song about being miserable should have a video like this but, A few things to be inferred:
1)This smokin' girl really hates Maroon 5
2)Maroon 5 really hates Chevy Cavaliers
3)Maroon 5 really likes to be hit by cars
Whatever, just nice to have a video.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Gymnastics

Um. This is a video teaser for someone..for some album..coming out..yesterday, I think? Wait, were there even words in that video?