The past few weeks have been crazy in the music world with many new releases and upcoming announcements. Some new and unfamiliar acts have had singles charting on the Hot 100 that are quite surprising to me. Also, can we expect new material from the Foo Fighters and Lana Del Rey this year?!
I’ll start with the album updates. Twenty-seven-year-old mysterious songstress Lana Del Rey has been tweeting hints of her new album in the past few weeks which has been driving me nuts. Finally, she has previewed the album artwork and the release of “Ultraviolence” which will come out June 16. The album will be available in vinyl, CD, digital download and box set including a picture disc with art prints.
The Foo Fighters have unexpectedly announced a new album is in the works to come out this fall along with their own HBO show that will document their travels to various recording studios to record the album. There is currently no name to the series or album, and release dates have not been set yet. This is something I highly look forward to because Dave Grohl is a god in the music business.
Some songs have been catching my eye on the Hot 100 as of late. Right now, Australian rapper Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” featuring indie pop darling Charli XCX is No. 3, while Ariana Grande’s song “No Problem” featuring Iggy Azalea is No. 4 this week. The latter song makes Hot 100 history as the highest charting debut for a collaboration of woman soloists. Azalea is also the first female rapper to have two songs in the top five.
DJ Snake & Lil Jon’s “Turn Down For What” has really surprised me. Lyrically there’s really nothing there, but trap music seems to be creeping in on mainstream electronic dance music recently. Paramore have been around 10 years, and have finally scored their first top 10 with “Ain’t It Fun.” EDM producer Calvin Harris doesn’t sing much, but his new song “Summer” is all about him as it reaches No. 14 this week.
British edm brothers/duo Disclosure have their first American hit with “Latch” featuring Sam Smith, who is also featured in another hit song called “La La La” on the charts as well. Sia is back with a new song titled “Chandelier” which debuts at No. 65.
Recently, my friend Maria and I attended a big concert in Camden, N.J., May 11 for a radio station’s birthday bash. It was held at the Susquehanna Bank Center, which is a beautiful venue inside and outside. New Jersey local band We Speak In Sounds went first and they were surprisingly awesome. Following them was Brooklyn musician St. Lucia, whose psychedelic tropical indie pop sounds excited me the most. I literally felt like I was in a daze after his performance.
Kongos performed while we took a lunch break, which also meant our time in the pit area was over. When we got back, Cage the Elephant took to the stage to perform a kick a$$ show which including stage diving. After them were Third Eye Blind, which didn’t appeal to me whatsoever except for their old hit songs “Semi-Charmed Life” and “Jumper.” Following them were Bastille. The new British band blew the roof off the place with an atmospheric performance leading my friend Maria to be stuck in awe for her love of Dan Smith the lead singer. Her exact words, “I just want to take a nap in his hair.”
Foster the People were the main act, and while I didn’t like some of their new songs, I really enjoyed their show as a whole. Mark Foster sometimes can’t sing live very well, but he was on his A game that night. To beat traffic we decided to leave as soon as “Pumped Up Kicks” started to play. We figured we would leave that song for all the basics who were there to enjoy.
Speaking of which, if you’re going to a concert is there a need to dress up like you’re attending a fashion show?! So many basic chicks and neon bros were there I wanted to throw up. It wasn’t the kind of concert that required you to show up wearing tons of neon and trying to look like a wannabe hippie of the 1960s. Sorry, but you probably went back home and continued to wear your Hollister and Aeropostale clothes.
Have a nice week!
