Category: NEW MUSIC

Hamilton – First Burn

A recent release from Lin Manuel Miranda as part of his #Hamildrop music releases. This “early draft” rendition of the song in the musical Hamilton by 5 women who all played Eliza Hamilton in releases in the USA and UK is both haunting and powerful. I can’t wait for more.

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The Greatest Showman – From Now On

I stumbled upon this video describing the read-through for getting this film made and something about it just stuck with me. Not only is it a great song, but the excitement of the moment and the people in the room is hard to get out of your system. I’m not even a big fan of musicals, but this one definitely works for me.

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Helios – Nothing It Can

The top comment on the SoundCloud page for this song states: “I’ve never cried this much to a song. Absolutely beautiful… I’m passing through hard times, and… My bf and this, is the only thing I’ve got… Thanks for this masterpiece.” That’s certainly more from the heart and better than I can put it. Enjoy…

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Vera Blue – Lady Powers

This is such a funky song. Is it RnB? Hip Hop? Pop? I’m really not sure. There is no music video for this at the time of posting. All I can find are a bunch of different choreographers doing dances to this track. How does a track first gain popularity as the backing music for dance routines? That’s a bit of a mystery to me; all I can say is that this song definitely makes you want to get up and move, so maybe that’s the only answer there needs to be.

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HAIM – I Want You Back

After years of touring, HAIM have released what amazingly is just their second album. The rawness and uniqueness of their debut album is offset by the obvious advancement of their craft in the followup. This is a really solid album. I highly recommend you listen to the whole thing, but their first single is certainly a standout in its own right.

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Porter Robinson & Madeon – Shelter

Another track I should have posted awhile ago, but I figured it would turn out to be a much bigger song than it ultimately was. Lately I’ve found quite a few people that I assumed had heard it, and I know would enjoy this track, that had never experienced it. For that reason I’m posting this inevitably good collaboration between young American producer Porter Robinson and young French producer Madeon. Honestly, combining the genius of these two could either produce a fantastic track (although not necessarily mainstream) or something so very obscure that very few could appreciate it. Luckily it was the former.

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Ed Sheeran – Castle On The Hill

I held off for awhile before posting this as it seems almost pointless. I’d be amazed if someone hasn’t heard this song yet as it’s been #1 or #2 in the UK and USA for quite some time, but I have to admit that it gave me a real respect for this songwriter for the first time. I’d of course heard a few solid songs off his last couple albums, but none of them spoke to me like this track did and I think he’s really reached another level of songwriting on this latest album. Forgo the fact that he delayed release to consult Rick Rubin (of countless masterpiece albums fame, seriously, if you don’t know who he is, google his name and prepare to be impressed), I’m giving Ed Sheeran a lot of credit for his new direction. I also love that there is no snare drum. Seriously, name the last popular rock/pop track with no snare drum anywhere in the track…

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Starley – Call On Me (Ryan Riback Remix)

I always wonder if artists get annoyed when a remix turns out to be more popular than the original. The interesting thing with this track is that it was specifically commissioned along with 5 other remixes as an small remix album to compliment the main release. Turns out though that Ryan Riback pulled out the best parts of the track, added some great house piano, sped it up a bit, enhance the beat, added some synth backing layers and voila! 4 million views on Youtube versus just 46 thousand for the original. Maybe that was the point of the remixes to begin with though: as a backup in case the original doesn’t quite hit the mark.

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One Ok Rock – We Are

While this is a great song off their newest album, the live version of the song performed below really surprised me. I’ve never seen a band integrate their fans into a live performance like these guys did for this song. It’s really incredible to watch. I hope more artists try similar things as I think the result is quite powerful. Enjoy the video!

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