here they are:
"Bad Blood" by Bastille: In an ever growing revolution of indie-pop bands that fall between electronica and rock, Bastille joined their ranks in summer 2013 with their smash hit, "Pompeii". Their latest song, "Bad Blood", also has an electro-pop/rock sound, but its minor key sound makes it considerably darker than "Pompeii", which was written in major key. One thing that both songs have in common is that they are both about the downsides of adolescence. "Pompeii" is about disillusionment, while "Bad Blood" seems to be about losing a friend. Sometimes, to get through the darkest of times, you gotta sing about 'em too, right?!
"Digital Witness" by St. Vincent: "And you may find yourself...listening to a song by St. Vincent!!" St. Vincent's first big breakthrough might have been with the enigmatic, Bjork-ish "Cruel", but it was her project with David Byrne that seemed to really bring St. Vincent (a.k.a. Annie Clark) into the limelight with many people (including Stephen Colbert!) St. Vincent's latest song, "Digital Witness", seems to have that fun, quirky blast of electronica-meets-funk-meets-jazz-meets-rock sound that Byrne typically has, both with and without Talking Heads, so perhaps Byrne's influence rubbed off on Ms. Clark!! St. Vincent is also just as enjoyably mysterious as ever in the lyrics of "Digital Witness", with one lyrical phrase asking, "What's the point of doing anything?", and another demanding to "give (her) all of your mind"!
"Girl You Look Amazing" by Nicole Atkins: "Girl, you SOUND amazing" is more like it (though Nicole certainly looks amazing too)!! Nicole's seemingly effortless combination of disco and indie-pop really shines through on this song just as it did on her debut from 5 years ago. The song also offers an empowering message to women everywhere to have a good, healthy sense of self-esteem. It's funny I mentioned David Byrne in my previous review for this week, because the inspiration behind "Girl You Look Amazing" was (guess who?!) David Byrne!! Apparently, Nicole had a dream where the Talking Heads frontman was singing a song called "Girl You Look Amazing" at a discotheque, and she just snatched the song out of her dream and into reality!!
"Say It, Just Say It" by The Mowgli's: Is there anything The Mowgli's can't do to win people over with their charming, fun, friendly music?! Between this song and their springtime megahit, "San Francisco", I would say that the answer to that question is "no" - there's nothing these guys can't do to make me and thousands of others break into a big grin!! "Say It, Just Say It" is a love song, pure and simple, but its bouncy melody and infectious harmonies seem to make it more than that! And then there's that cute little claymation video that would melt Gumby's big green heart just watching it!! The video for the song can be viewed here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRn8Sl6-sRo
