Priestess - Lady Killer

Nowadays, straight up metal is hard to come by.  It seems that any new metal is from a band that has "screamo" vocals, or a band that is already established and have been making music for many years.  Lady Killer is a song from the Canadian metal band, Priestess.  The song is from their second album, Prior To The Fire.  This is new metal.  Not "nu-metal, but actual metal.  The song sounds like an updated version of something that Iron Maiden or Megadeth would do.  The drums, rhythm guitar, and solo are heavy.  The vocals, on the other hand, aren't anything spectacular.  It's easy to hear their influences in this song.  In the end, even though I compared Priestess to such legendary metal bands, they still have a long way to go before they can compete with those bands.  But with time, they may find success.

Orianthi - According To You

Orianthi is an upcoming guitarist and singer who released her album, Believe, late last year.  But before her solo career, She was Michael Jackson's guitarist during the rehearsals for his This Is It tour.  She has performed with huge names such as, Carlos Santana, Steve Vai, Carrie Underwood, and Adam Lambert.  Although she has the guitar skills to play in the heaviest of bands, she chose to perform radio-friendly pop music.  According To You is all you could ask for in a fun pop song.  It has a solid chord structure, the "verse-chorus-verse" song format, and memorable, yet somewhat cheesy, lyrics.  The one element that makes it recognizable from other similar songs, is the guitar.  The song is filled with mini solo's and breakdowns.  These small bits lead to an incredible tapping solo.  The solo is reminiscent of a classic rock song.  If you take out the guitar track, the song becomes kind of generic.  After listening to the song, I wonder what would have happened if Orianthi had chosen a different musical route.  In the end, the "Pop Star" road isn't for everyone.

The xx - Basic Space

The xx is an indie rock band from London, England.  They released their debut album, xx, in the summer 2009.  They quickly caught the attention of many major music publications and critics.  Some sources (Pitchfork, NME) even put them towards the top of their "Best Of" lists.  All this attention must mean they're something special, right?  I listened to their song "Basic Space" to see for myself.

First of all, the song is very low key.  It's not distorted or heavy, very smooth.  The back and forth male-female vocals work very well.  The song definitely isn't my "usual playlist" kind of music, but that doesn't mean it's bad.  I actually like the song quite a bit.  It's very recognizable and stands out in it's genre.  I also like the guitar that plays along with the melody, it adds a lot to the song.  In my reviews I usually say, "Give it a listen if you like...", but honestly, I can't find a single artist to compare The xx to.  That's something every artist should strive for.

Ludovico Einaudi - Andare

I believe this is my first blog post about a song of the classical genre.  I felt I was obligated to talk about this song in particular.  Andare is one of my favorite pieces from a contemporary composer.  The song is written and performed by Ludovico Einaudi, an Italian composer and pianist.  This song, which is from the album Divenire,  contains a sole piano and minimal strings.  It sounds as though there is a violin, viola, and a cello, maybe more.  It's a lengthy piece, clocking in at over seven minutes.  The piece isn't an overly complicated piano exercise with a full orchestra behind it.  I think that's what makes it good.  It's very modern in style, but it still has a lasting appeal.  The emotional tone of the song changes frequently.  At parts it sounds like anger, sorrow, and despair others motivation and maybe even relief.  It captivated me the first time I heard it.  After listening to it, you might be left in awe... or not.  It all depends on if you're really listening.

Playlist - 30 Seconds To Mars, Madina Lake & more

30 Seconds To Mars - 30 Seconds To Mars

This is the band's debut album, which is extremely different from their other albums.  I already knew a lot of their songs from the "A Beautiful Lie" album, but had never heard any of the songs from their debut.  I guess it's less, mainstream?  There's less screaming from, singer, Jared Leto.  Overall, it can get kind of repetitive, but it's still pretty good.

Madina Lake - Welcome to Oblivion

This is the only song I've heard from them, so comment if you know some other good tracks from them.  I really like this one.  The chorus is great.

Lady GaGa - Speechless

Amazing song.  It's tremendously different from her usual pop songs.  A full review of her newest album is here.  Speechless shows off her songwriting abilities and vocal talent.  It's also my current favorite song to play on the piano, really good melody.

Vampire Weekend - Contra

The entire album is amazing.  Check out my full review here.  I have a feeling I'll be listening to this album for a long time.

Here's a couple more songs that you should listen to...

The Raveonettes - Last Dance
Bat For Lashes - Seal Jubilee
Chiodos - Two Birds Stoned At Once
Billy Boy On Poison - On My Way
AFI - Medicate

As always, comments are more than welcome.  Tell me what you've been listening to...