Lady Gaga at Pepsi Center

Five songs I’m loving this week

1. Awolnation “Knights of Shame” – This song is three years old, but I only recently realized Awolnation was far better than the “radio band” I had dismissed them as, so I’m sharing this in case anyone else did the same. As a big Grateful Dead and Phish fan, I crave seamless transitions, and this song manages to do so a dozen or more times; they effortlessly bounce into different themes and musical genres while maintaining a solid mid tempo beat that lets the other segments fit like perfect pieces of a puzzle, one after the other.  On top of all the Gorillaz style ambiance, the lyrics are simple and soulful, touching and distant. “Waiting on a heartbeat, can any body hear me?” gives me a beautiful but empty feeling the way David Bowie does in “Space Oddity”:

2. BABYMETAL “Doki Doki Morning” – When this J-Pop wondertrio opened for Lady Gaga in Denver, I was really excited expecting saccharine sweet melodies and choreography. They brought all that, however, the drum kit with double bass drums showed that there was something more to the mix and once the music started it filled the entire stadium with a furious tribal pounding. This music is probably not for everyone, but for me it’s the perfect mix of soft/hard that I crave in pop music:

3. Wand “Flying Golem” – Signed to Ty Segall’s God? Records, Wand brings an extra hooky, jubilant side to the roster. When they explode it’s powerful, as evident on their single “Flying Golem” that has been on steady repeat all summer:

4. Yung Gleesh “Since When” – The first time I heard Yung Gleesh I thought it was some of the worst music I had ever heard. Yet I kept searching for more songs and next thing you know I think the guy is a comic genius. Something about his leaned out marble-mouthed voice does it for me, and I can’t help but crack up watching his videos. “Since When” is his latest song, using his upper and lower registers almost as if they are two different characters:

5. Wampire “Wizard Staff” – Anyone who was a fan of their first album will instantly recognize that these guys and their sound have completely grown. Adding three members obviously makes their sound much larger, and they sound like they are having a lot more fun:

A few months ago I took a chance and met up with Tsunami Publicity to see if they would teach me the ropes of Music Public Relations. It’s been a whirlwind of learning and hard work, culminating into the very successful ARISE Music Festival in Loveland, CO a couple of weekends ago. On my list of goals is “have a radio at the show”, so it was exciting to cross that one off the list. Can’t wait to start representing bands and helping them reach their full potential, I’ve still got a lot to learn, though.