Tag Archives: album

Jason Mraz readies fifth studio album ‘YES!’

I come bearing very exciting news for Jason Mraz fans. The wickedly talented artist also known as Mr. A-Z is releasing his fifth studio album this summer! This will likely come as a surprise to his fanbase because in the past Mraz typically took 3 to 4 years to release new collections of material and it’s only been a little over 2 years since his last major release Love is a Four Letter Word.

Jason’s new album is titled YES! and it’s a very special release because it serves as a collaboration between himself and indie pop-rock-folk all-women band Raining Jane. The Sacramento Bee has the full scoop on the collaboration, but in a nutshell it goes like this:  Raising Jane is a band featuring four talented ladies: Mona Tavakoli on percussion, Mai Bloomfield on guitar and cello, Becky Gebhardt on bass and sitar, and Chaska Potter on guitar, mandolin, ukulele, and glockenspiel. Raining Jane opened for Mraz in 2007 at a show in SoCal and he was immediately impressed by their musicality. They began writing music together that year; they co-wrote a total of 50 songs, 15 were recorded, and 12 in all will be included in YES!. You can preview Raining Jane’s music at their YouTube channel. You may recognize enthusiastic drummer Mona Tavakoli (on Jason’s immediate right in the photo above); she’s toured with Mraz for the last two years. Following the release of YES! Jason and the girls of Raining Jane will go on a brand new tour together.

So what do we know about the new album so far? Jason’s been unveiling details piecemeal on his website; every day something new is unlocked. 5 of 7 locks have been cracked and they’ve included the name of album 5, possibly the album cover featuring five birds in flight, the 14-song track list*, and hand-written lyrics for one of the tracks titled “Love Someone” which may end up being the album’s lead single.

Head over to Jason’s YouTube channel to get a taste of YES! as we wait for the final two locks to open up; perhaps a preview of the single and a firm release date are coming soon.

*According to the SacBee 15 tracks in total were recorded by Jason and Jane; here’s hoping that the missing song not included in the tracklist ends up releasing as a bonus track!

Update: Called it! Jump after the break to hear Jason’s brand new single “Love Someone;” in addition to the standard audio track you’ll also get to experience a live performance of the song performed by Jason and Raining Jane from The Om Studio at Mraz’s very own Organics’ Avocado Ranch. YES!, an album “containing songs about love, friendship, healing, hope, and consciousness” is out July 15. If you preorder the album today at iTunes you’ll receive a new song every Monday leading up to release day. Has anyone coined the term “Mraz Monday” yet? In a blog post Mraz also commented on tour plans: “We’ll be touring across the U.S. later this summer before heading to Europe, Asia, and Australia in the fall and South America in 2015.” Continue reading Jason Mraz readies fifth studio album ‘YES!’

Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover drops rap album ‘Camp’

Community star Donald Glover is a rapper, if you didn’t know. After submitting data into a Wu-Tang Clan name generator, he decided to make the result his alter-ego rap name: Childish Gambino. Glover has been making music since 2008, outputting mixtapes and albums and headlining national tours over the years. Today his latest studio album Camp released and it includes 13 tracks. The lead single “Bonfire” has a music video and it’s embedded above. Before starring in the NBC sitcom and writing for 30 Rock, Glover made viral videos with his troup Derrick Comedy. Dan Eckman, a member of that comedy troup, directed the clip for “Bonfire.” Fair warning: the lyrics contain lots ‘o expletives. For an actor-rapper, the production value hold up pretty well, and Glover is gifted with hustle and flow. The music video includes a story and twist ending that is well worth your time; visually it’s enticing and at the same time it’ll introduce you to Glover’s rap style. Need to hear more before you purchase Camp at iTunes? NPR is currently streaming the album in its entirety.

Actor Bryan Greenberg’s album releases next week, ‘How To Make It In America’ season 2 in production [Update: Stream single here]

Bryan Greenberg, the star of HBO’s How To Make It In America, is about to drop his debut album.  It’s called We Don’t Have To Wait Forever and it releases January 18.  It’s being described as “a fresh collection of introspective narratives and soulful ballads” and it features a track called “You Can Run” that features Kid Cudi.  Back in June Cudder dropped by a live Greenberg performance and laid down a freestyle and joined in on the chorus.  In an interview with Complex Magazine Greenberg shares the story:

“I did have one [song] in mind for him and he did it live. He came to my show like a year ago in New York, when I was on tour. He jumped on stage for a little freestyle. When he heard the song he was like, “I really like it and that’s why I’m going to do it.” I was really honored by that. I thought he was going to rap, but he sang. It was cool. He’s really a true artist.”

Looking forward to the second season of HTMIIA?  In that same interview Greenberg talked about what’s in store for Ben and Cam.  “[The show] hasn’t reached the tipping point at all. I’m going back to L.A. next week and we’re going to do read-throughs of the first four episodes. I’m super excited. It’s going forward a couple of months and the business is growing…it’s like, how does this guy become Ralph Lauren? How does it happen? We take if from the street, like early, early sh– to like…that’s the goal, you know? It’s going to take years to develop.”

Preview the album’s lead single “Walk Away” in the video embedded above.  How to Make It In America season 2 is currently in production and is expected to air this summer.

Update: The acoustic-based single “You Can Run” featuring Kid Cudi’s singing voice is now available to stream!  Listen to it below and download it here.

Download: Bryan Greenberg – “You Can Run” (Featuring Kid Cudi)

[audio: Bryan Greenberg – You Can Run (Featuring Kid Cudi).mp3]

Fun fact. The inspiration for the song actually stems from Greenberg’s character Ben from HTMIIA.  “I was kind of writing from the point of view of Ben and being scorned by Rachel and that just being a reason to succeed in life,” he says. “I did notice that a lot of successful people in this world, they always say that it’s about the art or it’s about the work. But when it comes down to it, [what drives them is that] they were made fun of in high school. Or there was a girl that dumped them and they’re trying to get back at them. I was coming from that mentality.”

[Via DatNewCudi; Complex; EW; HipHopUpdate]

Kanye West x Jay-Z EP ‘Watch the Throne’ is now a full length album

Told you the Kanye West news was far from over.  In an interview with MTV, Kanye West revealed that the upcoming collab EP with big brother Jay-Z will in fact be a full length album.  ‘Ye said, “We did like five [songs] so far, and then a few of them kind of were out there, and I put them on my album. Sorry, Jay!”  He’s most definitely talking about G.O.O.D. Friday turned My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy tracks “Monster” (Featuring Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver) and “So Appalled” (Featuring Jay-Z, Pusha T, Swizz Beatz & CyHi Da Prynce).  West continued, “But we’ve got some more, and we’re going to the south of France at the end of this month just to record our ideas.”  See Kanye fans?  Fantasy may contain a bunch of songs we’ve already heard, but ‘Ye and Jay-Z have many more tunes up their sleeves.  Looking forward to it.

[Via MTV; EW]

Jed Whedon’s debut album “History of Forgotten Things” out now

Jed Whedon, the man behind all the catchy tunes from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, released his very first album unto the world on August 10.  Hopefully you previewed three tracks from the album History of Forgotten Things when I shared them with you a few weeks ago.  If you did you would know that the album has no connection to his cheery, catchy hits from Dr.H.  (Except for the fact that Felicia Day lends background vocals and violin strings to a number of tracks.)  Instead it takes a more personal, grounded journey that covers many bases ranging from traumatic experiences to character-study songs.  In a humorous interview led by his brother Joss, he listed Paul Simon, Brian Eno, Jane’s Addiction, and Pink Floyd as influences on the record, categorized the album as “alternative/singer-songwriter/ambient/rock”, explained that the cohesive theme is nostalgia, and talked about the nature of the album title:

“The title comes from a few things — the terrifying feeling that we are forgetting our life as it rolls along. My obsession with all the history that was never documented (though in the digital age, that may be over). As well as the sensation that history can give you. A feeling that is indescribable. That feeling of connection through the ages. It is related to nostalgia. Sometimes, when I pass through a town I have never seen before, I long to not only live there, but to have lived there my whole life; to be nostalgic for it. I get the same feeling from history. I yearn to have lived during all those times. And, of course, in the future.”

Jed plans to continue his music career by releasing some EPs “soon” and another album “in the future.”  “But first”, he says, “I am going to start fleshing out some DH2 stuff.”  You hear that, Dr.H fans?  The sequel really is being worked on!  Too bad Joss is busy working on other projects at the moment (ahem–The Avengers).

History of Forgotten Things is available to download at the iTunes Store.  So stop reading this and listen to it right now.

Kanye West braces for new album by previewing new songs at Facebook, joining Twitter [Update: Rolling Stone visit]

After spending some time out of the limelight, Kanye West has returned to entertain us with his slick, emotionally-driven raps and different side of his thumping ego.  On Wednesday Kanye visited Facebook HQ in Palo Alto, California to preview four tracks from his upcoming album.  He donned a fresh suit and rapped a capella atop a table inside a fluorescently lit conference room in front of Facebook employees.  He starts with a “fun rap”, that’s the one embedded above.  It rocks.  “Kill the hypocrisy/This is an aristocracy..I’m Socrates/But my skin more chocolatey.”  The next rap is rather short; it may just be a freestyle, but it’s got a sick line in it: “Lost in this plastic life/Let’s break out of this fake-ass party, turn this into a classic night.”  The next song likely titled “Chain Heavy” is dipped in politics and contains this humorous line: “They try to tell me that aliens built the pyramids/I swear life’s on bitch on a period”; it concludes with my favorite line I’ve heard this far: “This is the making of a masterpiece/So we broke out the chains and told our master, ‘Peace’.”  The fourth song is called “Mama’s Boyfriend” and it’s an extremely emotional track about Kanye’s late mother Donde West.  In it he journeys back to the days when his divorced mother started dating other men.  “I’m my mama’s boyfriend/I’m her little husband…Keep your hands off my mama” he screams.  Apprently this track took him 33 years to write and it clearly means a lot to him.  ‘Ye drops so many uses of the n-word in this track, but he says, “I’m allowed to use it.”

Later that day he posted this message targeted to the Facebook employees:  “Many times in life I’ve had to deal with moments of doubt. And as it’s been a minute since I’ve performed any fresh material in front of an audience, this could’ve been one of those moments… but it wasn’t. Your energy was a gift so electric, so genuine, that it really helped me give my best. The energy was so inspiring I had to keep going!  I just hope you got as much from me as I got from you…which was everything!”  Be sure to look after the break to listen to all the tracks.

From one popular social network to another, Kanye finally caved in and joined the Twitterverse.  And you know what?  He actually comes across a non-egotistical funnyman.  Peep his first tweet: “Up early in the morning taking meetings in Silicone Valley.”  This was followed almost immediately by: “Lol I spelled Silicon wrong ( I guess I was still thinking about the other type of silicone ITS A PROCESS!! : )”  Then came some important news regarding his upcoming album: “The album is no longer called “Good Ass Job” I’m bouncing a couple of titles around now.”  Just confirming our suspicions, Kanye.  After giving a handful of shoutouts to various blogs for reporting his Facebook HQ visit, he started to notice how quickly he was garnering a following.  In less than two days he managed to gain a following of nearly 300,000 (he’s currently at 293,687 followers).  With tweets like these: “My thoughts on Twitter so far… at the end of the day, God damnit I’m killing this shit!!!” and “I think Twitter was designed specifically with me in mind just my humble opinion hahhhahaaaahaaa humble hahahahhahaahaaaa” you might think ‘Ye is stroking his ego again, but I think he’s actually starting to satirize himself.  He’s finally realized that he “has the power to let power go” and he’s learning from his past mistakes.  Hilarious comic (and one of Kanye’s friends) Aziz Ansari started trending the hashtag #PredictingKanyeTweets, and Kanye simply retweeted jokes that were on him.  “Damn I wish Hermes made edible snacks, Cheezits just ain’t dope enough for my mouth”, tweeted Ansari.  The fact that he’s not retaliating but instead having fun with his new lease on life through Twitter makes me believe that he’s turning a corner for the better.  But don’t take my word for it.  Follow @kanyewest and form your own opinions.

At the end of the day, it appears as if Kanye wants to begin a new chapter in his career.  After coming out of hiding he decided to tease some tracks and open up his fanbase using the power of social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter.  It’s an interesting and unconventional route to take but it’s one I can commend.  Welcome back Mr. West.  September 14 come now please.

Update: Later in the week Kanye visited a bunch of magazine headquarters including XXL and Rolling Stone.  A video surfaced on YouTube from his meeting with the latter outlet.  Look for it after the break.

[Via KWBlog; KWTwitter] Continue reading Kanye West braces for new album by previewing new songs at Facebook, joining Twitter [Update: Rolling Stone visit]

Dr. House wants to sing the blues

House fans, listen here!  Hugh Laurie, aka Dr. Gregory House, wants to record a blues album and he’s going for it!  It was announced Monday that Laurie signed with Warner Music Entertainment to make a New Orleans-inspired blues album.  “I am drunk with excitement at this opportunity,” Laurie said in a press release. “I know the history of actors making music is a checkered one, but I promise no one will get hurt.”  Joe Henry has signed on to produce.

He’s finally got the chance to share his piano and guitar skills he often flaunts on the show with the rest of the world.  And if you were wondering, Laurie is apparently a self-taught pianist due to “creative differences” with his childhood piano teacher.  Oh, House.

[Via EW-MusicMix; USAToday]

Jed Whedon previews upcoming debut “History of Forgotten Things”

Jed Whedon is ready to go solo.  After teaming up with brothers Joss (Buffy, The Avengers) and Zack (Fringe) to create the amazingness that is Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and composing last year’s Guild smash “(Do You Wanna Date My) Avatar“, the youngest Whedon is prepping his solo debut album titled History of Forgotten Things.  He posted three tracks from it onto his SoundCloud profile page, and they’re embedded above for your convenience.  Since he had a significant hand in the making of Horrible and its catchy, high production value hits, I have little doubt his foray into the music biz will go unseen.  Frustrated, angry, or having a bad day?  After previewing Jed’s soothing tracks you will feel much better.  Side effects include the sudden anticipation of his album which drops on August 10.

[Via Whedonesque]

Owl City’s Adam Young fesses up to old side project, alter ego Sky Sailing

You all know about Owl City (aka Adam Young) and his chart-topping song “Fireflies” and album Ocean Eyes.  But did you know that before Owl City there was Sky Sailing and he had an album called An Airplane Carried Me To Bed?  Here’s the story behind what’s being called a “side project” in Young’s words:

Three and a half years ago, I recorded a collection of songs in my parent’s basement during the bleary-eyed hours of night when sleep and I could not bring ourselves to meet. I was a metalworker, working 6 AM to 4 PM at a warehouse in my little southern Minnesota town. I was writing, creating, thinking, imagining and breathing music with every second I had to spare. Music has always been my dream, but at that point in time, it was merely a feather tossed to the wind. Regardless, my spirits were far from dampened and I created music as fast and as furiously as I could. In my little basement bedroom, I had an old Dell computer, Reason 2.5, a friend’s borrowed Behringer C-1 condenser, a Behringer 8 channel analog mixer and my uncle’s old Alvarez. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing but I was a dreamer and music was my escape so I gave it everything I had. Never expecting my music to be heard anywhere but by my parents through the floorboards above, I wrote for my own ears. I was both artist and audience and I called myself Sky Sailing.

It’s true–the Sky Sailing’s vocals are very similar to what we hear on Ocean Eyes today.  What differenciates the two alter egos is that Sky Sailing trades in Owl City’s current crop of synth-infused tracks for those that feature acoustic guitar and standard piano keys.  Young explained to Billboard, “It was clear early on that it needed to be separate from Owl City.  Overall, this piece is disconnected enough to be its own thing.”

On July 13, the 11-track An Airplane Carried Me To Bed  was released to iTunes exclusively; it hits stores in physical form tomorrow (7/27).  Although Young has done little to promote this new album, it quickly climbed the charts and sold thousands of copies during its initial digital release week.  If you’re a fan of Owl City, you’ll want to preview what Sky Sailing has to offer.  Feel free to preview four tracks from Airplane on his MySpace page.

[Thanks, Brian]

Mr Hudson’s debut album finally releases stateside

It’s been a long time coming for British musician Mr Hudson.  Though you’ve probably heard of him from Jay-Z’s recent single “Young Forever”, Hudson has been in the music biz since 2007 when he dropped his first album A Tale of Two Cities.  Back then he was in a band called Mr Hudson & the Library.  Having listened to his debut album and working alongside him at his Glow in the Dark tour, rapper Kanye West fell in love with Hudson’s sound, and so he decided to sign him to his G.O.O.D. music label.  Hudson graciously accepted and started to work on his debut solo album Straight No Chaser, which would be executive produced by Kanye.  The 12-track album includes singles “There Will Be Tears“, “Supernova” (Featuring Kanye West), “White Lies“, “Everything Is Broken” (Featuring Kid Cudi), and “Anyone But Him” (Featuring Kanye West).  It released in the UK way back on October 19, 2009.  After numerous delays, it was finally made available to purchase and download in the U.S. on June 29, 2010.  The UK version contains two additional tracks (“Lift Your Head” & a Calvin Harris remix of “Supernova”).

The best way to describe Mr Hudson’s music is alternative hip hop/electro-pop, if that makes any sense.  Straight No Chaser is a breakup album, so naturally it features heavy bass thumping tracks with softer ones to balance it all out.  Hudson is a fan of auto-tune, and so a number of the tracks include him using it.  Interestingly, he eliminates the use of auto-tune when he’s touring; he finds it to be a fun and useful tool when working in the studio.  Having listened to the album only once all the way through, I am not ready to formally review it yet.  However I can say that Mr Hudson is going to be huge.  He is a gifted artist with a knack for writing and beatmaking.  I’d really like to see him perform live someday.  Just read these choice words from collaberator Kanye West: “I believe Mr Hudson has the potential to be bigger than me, to be one of the most important artists of his generation.”  Again, that comes from Kanye West!

Be sure to look after the break for some more Hudson content.  You’ll find music videos for “Instant Messenger” and “Central Park”, plus there’s a short trailer that celebrates the U.S. release of the record. Continue reading Mr Hudson’s debut album finally releases stateside

Music video: David Guetta – Memories (Featuring Kid Cudi)

“Memories” is the latest single (following “Sexy Bitch”) off David Guetta’s fourth album One Love.  iTunes has the album; the single; and a new Memories EP that features the single, an extended version, and a remix.  To be honest the music video is EH, but I’m diggin the track.

[Via DatNewCudi]

Glee’s Matthew Morrison’s upcoming album will have “substance”

Will Shuester–er, Matthew Morrison–is taking it to the next level.  He plans on releasing his own album sometime this year with Mercury Records.  “What I’m creating has yet to be defined yet but I want it to be something very diverse. For me, music is about creating a mood. The best songs for me are songs that I just lose myself in.”  He adds, “I don’t wanna put out a crap CD. I want it to be with substance. I don’t wanna be singing about money or handbags.”  Question is, what will it sound like?  “I’m drawing my inspiration from like Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr.  All those people that kind of did it all: film, TV, Broadway. I’m just so influenced by that music.”  Sounds good to me.  I’m picturing Michael Buble-esque sound with a Matthew Morrison touch that only he can blurt out.  If it sounds anything like we’ve heard from him on Glee–but more mature–I think I might be satisfied.  We’ll have to wait and see.

[Via EW-MusicMix]