What's Hot Now!

So there is a lot going on in my music world. First off, I have some great concerts coming up that I am truly excited about. One of my New Years Resolutions was to see one concert a month. Since I made this commitment mid January, I had some catching up to do. However, I am doing pretty well. Here is my schedule so far:

Friday, February 3rd: Skrillex
Friday, February 17th: Sleigh Bells
Monday, April 2nd: Andrew W.K.
Sunday, April 29th: Rammstein
Wednesday, August 8th: M83

So I have no March concerts yet, however Nero tickets for March 31st go on sale this Friday at noon so that might be an option.

Some things that I am into right now—Swedish House Mafia. Someone I work with introduced me to SHM. I was completely underwhelmed when he was telling me about their performance at Madison Square Garden. Then he showed me a short video he had taken of their last song and I suddenly realized they might be worth checking out. So . . . I downloaded one song and then another and then another. They released “Antidote” featuring Knife Party at the end of last year. It is amazing. They definitely capture good club music in this song. I am not sure a person could have a bad time listening to this song. “Save the World” was released in the beginning of last year, another good song that keeps club music simple.

I just bought a few days ago, “One.” There are two versions of this song, the better one features Pharrell. It is sexy and simple. “You just killed me/could you at least do that?/I want to know your name.” I love the lyrics--so sassy.

Anya Marina has also recently caught my attention. Why? Because this Michelle-Branch-Taylor-Swift-Natalie-Imbruglia-motha-fucka did a singer/songwriter cover of T.I.’s song, “Whatever You Like.” Are you kidding? I love this sweet sugarcoated voice gently serenading me with lyrics such as “late night sex so wet and so tight.” Genius! It is like the first time you hear a child say the word “FUCK!” You want to think it is wrong but there is a certain humor and enjoyment to it too. That is how I feel with this song. A similar vibe is in “99 Problems” redone by Hugo, or The Fray’s “Heartless.”

Another notable music item: I recently watched the movie, Red Riding Hood staring Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman. The film was bad as all get out. However, there was a song that definitely caught my attention. Fever Ray’s “The Wolf.” It is a crazy sound. Like if Enya got drunk one night and had sex with one of the guys from Slipknot—this is what it would sound like.

I also have been listening a lot to “International Love” by Pitbull featuring Chris Brown. Pitbull is my guilty pleasure, I think he is talented, sexy and always makes me want to be a Latino slut . . . and I think that is a good thing . . .I think.

One bone I have to pick though is with iTunes. In particular, the Top Songs in the Rock category. I looked at the list today and number one on this list is “Beekeeper’s Daughter” by The All-American Rejects. Number seven is “Drops of Jupiter” by Train. And there are three songs by The Fray also in the top ten. Who ever said these bands were rock? The All-American Rejects are as Rock as Good Charlotte is punk. And Train? After they came out with “Hey, Soul Sister” there is no way they can ever re-enter the rock scene. Don’t get me wrong, that song makes me want to jump on gumdrops and ride unicorns, but it is not rock. I do believe iTunes need to revisit what qualifies as rock music and re-do their list.

Stay tuned for the Skrillex concert review!