27 Songs for Spring 2013

It’s Spring. Everybody is seeking out new music. I always am! So here’s a list of 27 songs that you might love for Spring this year, if you haven’t heard them yet. And if you have, then great. Its an eclectic mix but I think you’ll love it. Highest rated are last, lowest rated are first!

27. Shine (Wild Belle)

26. Riptide (Vance Joy)

25. Diane Young (Vampire Weekend)

24. Love in 100MB (Sand Tiger)

23. Childhood’s End (Majical Cloudz)

22. Every Night (Lane 8)

21. On Your Own (Fryars)

20. Big Things (Fiction)

19. Float (The Ecstatics)

18. You Can’t Be My Girl (Darwin Deez)

17. Brown Bear, Brown Bear (Bronze Thesaurus)

16. Loh Dalum Bay (Baobab)

15. Close (Atu)

14. Light & Love (Teen Daze)

13. I’m Not Through (OK Go)

12. Made To Stray (Mount Kimbie)

11. Darling Are You Gonna Leave Me (London Grammar)

10. Cut To Black (Lemaitre)

9. Lady, You Shot Me (Har Mar Superstar)

8. Say When (Generationals)

7. If You Didn’t See Me (Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.)

6. My Orbit (Coma)

5. Holding On (Classixx)

4. Little Numbers (Boy)

3. Ocean’s Deep (Born Ruffians)

2. Treehome95 (Tyler, The Creator)

1. Hard on Me (Robby Hunter Band)

Little Numbers (Boy)

These two ladies, a Swiss-German duo comprised of Valeska Steiner and Sonja Glass, have a sound that reminds me of a mix of Sara Bareilles and Leslie Feist, combined with some undertones of more celebratory music stylings. They’ve got a great sound in “Little Numbers”, which begins with anticipation and curiosity in the underlying piano line, perfectly capturing the moment of waiting for a phone number.

I love the shift of sounds in this track – from the initial nervousness, the bridge resolves into something more definitive and quiet, before exploding with celebration about how fantastic this potential relationship could be (in theory, of course, if this exchange of phone numbers actually happens).

These two ladies are on the Nettwerk label and although they’ve been playing together for five years, were recently signed and are now seeing more and more publicity.

Keep following these two to see where they end up, but in the meantime, enjoy their single “Little Numbers” and let me know what you think!

The Latest

We Need Love (Johnny Osbourne)

This groovy tune is a classic in my easy-listening repertoire and makes me feel incredible everytime. I can’t believe I haven’t shared it yet. Old, or new, is irrelevant because this song is timeless.

Enjoy the groove and feel the breeze.

Inner Ninja (Classified feat. David Myles)

I heard this song and IMMEDIATELY thought about how badly I need to share this. Its got an intensely catchy hook with a pace that moves with energy but maintains a laid back feeling. The David Myles-Classified combo kicks ass. And the message in this song and the amount of people who can connect to the lyrics is huge. I love that its uplifting, inspiring, and also hilarious.

This song is the first in quite a while, that I actually heard and knew it was “the one” to share next. I’m totally into music that is stripped down, bare, and not too produced…the kind that hits your gut in ways that sometimes you just really need to experience. And on the flip side, I love (what I call) my sunshine music, which is exactly like this tune, and many of the others I’ve posted on earphone adventures. The songs that undoubtedly make you dance or at least lift your mood.

So boom-shakalaka, here is another great tune for you to bust it out to. Or at least groove a bit.

Enjoy, music fans.

Some Chilled Out Shazam Tags

Suit and Tie (Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z)

After a seven year hiatus from the mainstream music scene, JT teamed up with Jay-Z and brought us back this kick-ass track with a nice, smooth R&B base and some groovy retro sounds. And come on, it makes you move!

Timberlake is one of the few, or maybe I should say the only, artists to escape from the “boy band” era with a legit music career. And even if his talents shone, he faced criticism during the release of Justified. With his previous release of Future Sex/Love Sounds with Timbaland, JT has total credibility as an independent artist. CLEARLY. JT is a super talented vocalist with an ear for a good beat and a business sense to match himself up with some of the top producers. As a result, we get this groovy-ass track featuring Jay-Z.

And of course, almost anything that Jay is involved in is successful. So that’s right, match two legends in their own respects, who bought have an amazing sense of rhythm and unique ear for producing phenomenal beats, and here we go. Magic.

Maybe this track doesn’t really hit it off with you. Maybe it does! But for me, this track re-establishes Justin Timberlake in the music scene and gets me excited to hear what’s coming up on his yet-to-be-released album, The 20/20 Experience.

So what do you think? Is this track a hit? Its already sold 400 000 singles in a week. That’s huge!

Let me know your thoughts on Twitter or on the comments below! Get involved and let’s start some conversations in 2013! And to my fellow friends who love to bust-a-move (you know who you are), ROCK OUT.

Latest Shazam Tags

Luxury (Azealia Banks)

Most of your probably know Azealia Banks from her unbelievably dirty yet phenomenal track released last year, “212“. Yeah, you know tit. And if you don’t, then click that link and check it out.

Now, you need to check out a new track (or at least new to me) by Miss Banks. “Luxury”. Produced by Machinedrum, “Luxury” is off her July 2012 release of the Fantasea mixtape. So really its a few months old, but I just heard about this track now. Azealia’s producers are amazing because they seem to capture her young, edgy and devious side keeping her in the realm of what is socially acceptable. “212″ hit the music scenes hard due in part to shock of the lyrics and also the kick ass beat that underscored the whole track. “Luxury” is not nearly as dirty…at all.

“Luxury” has a smooth house sound that makes your blood pulse a litter harder, and it also maintains a little bit of grunge in the drum track to keep that off-beat, slightly dirty, fresh sound to Azealia’s music. I like it.

Check out this track and let me know what you think.

Purple (California Wives)

The Summer is quickly turning to Fall and the nights are getting cooler and cooler. With the temperature change comes a difference in the wind: its also cooler and brings in the feeling of Summer nostalgia.

This morning I turned on Songza at work, to listen to some new and fresh tunes, and I discovered “Purple” by California Wives. Its a little different than what I normally post on here, but I thought it would be a nice fresh change. I’m coming to the end of my time living on Jeju Island in South Korea and I’m about to embark on a three month trip through South East Asia. To me, the beautifully filling guitar tracks in “Purple” create the feeling of soaring. When you combine it with the first lyric of the song “It’s all purple and blue on the top of the wall”, it creates an image of being high above the ground, looking down reflectively and taking it all in. I love it.

California Wives are a Chicago-based band that recently partnered with Sharpie to debut their video for “Purple”. You can check it out below. Support them if you love them.

Enjoy the falling leaves and the cool breeze.