New Music Tuesday : Gym Class Heroes, Safetysuit, Grace Potter, and Alan Jackson

"ASS LIKE THAT"        GYM CLASS HEROES with NEON HITCH

Following up "Stereo Hearts" with Adam Levine, Travie McCoy is back with a more rock infused track for the second hit single off their new CD.   Featured here, the recurrent theme of an artist on the road and distance taking a toll on a relationship.  UK singer / songwriter, Neon Hitch, shines in the video as Travie's love interest and sings the memorable hook, "Get your ass back home!"   

"SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO LOVE ME ANYMORE"  ALAN JACKSON

Alan Jackson is the master of singing songs that cut to the emotional heart.   Whether it's songs of 9/11, tributes to legends like Hank Williams Sr, memories of the start of a new love, to this raw, sensitive track about ending a relationship.  The guitar solo perfectly blends with Alan's lyrics of broken hearts and opportunities lost.  Tear in your beer country music songs have been around for years and it's great to hear Alan Jackson keeping "real" country alive and well.

 


"THESE TIMES"              SAFETYSUIT

Great video!  Christian rock artist, Safetysuit, debuts a relevant new anthem about although life can be tough and current economic times are depressing and hitting so many hard, "these times will pass".  Everyone has their own issues crippling them at times (as the video demonstrates) but the hopeful conclusion to the video shares an uplifting, enduring message of recovery.  Think of when you were at the lowest moment of your life, then think of NOW, those bad times do pass.   

"DEAR PRUDENCE"                   GRACE POTTER

From her iTunes session live, Grace performed her bluesy hits like "Paris"  but also took on the challenge of covering two of the biggest musical artists of all-time, The Beatles and Madonna.  Her "Like A Prayer" rocks harder but on the White Album classic, Dear Prudence, Grace treats the classic with reverence and adds her feminine touch to the Beatles masterpiece.   Love the simple line:  "the sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful and so are you, dear prudence, won't you come out and play"!

While My Guitar Gently Weeps: India.Arie,Carlos Santana, Shalamar, Laura Branigan, Rock Kills Kid

 "WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS" INDIA.ARIE, SANTANA, YO YO MA

Reinventing a Beatles song is tricky ground.    Adding in Yo Yo Ma's violin, the neo-soul silky voice of India.Arie, and Latin guitar hero, Carlos Santana, the classic "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" gets a 2011 makeover extreme.    The Eric Clapton / George Harrison song has never sounded so JOYFUL, hopeful, and the jazzy interpretation takes your mind drifting to a mellow happy place.    As usual, Carlos demonstrates his amazing talent to combine restraint with dynamic fury.     Brilliant!

"THE SECOND TIME AROUND"          SHALAMAR

Jody Watley and Jeffrey Daniels were two of the highlight dancers on Soul Train in the 70's and 80's.    Jeffrey was known for his popping and locking moves that influenced Michael Jackson!   Jody Watley went to #1 with solo hits like "Looking For a New Love".    But when the two of them were combined with the amazing vocal talents of Howard Hewitt, they became Shalamar and live on in music history as one of the underrated R&B bands of all-time.   "Second Time Around" has a retro 80's synthesizer beat, slick dancing moves, and a feel-good vibe.

"TI AMO"                     LAURA BRANIGAN

Must be an 80's mood today!     "Gloria", "Solitaire", "Self Control", early MTV videos that took Laura Branigan to the top of the charts.     Her incredible voice could hit four octaves and her dramatic tone was never more evident that on the yearning love song "Ti Amo" from her second CD.   Incidentally, both "Gloria" and "Ti Amo" were originally huge hits in Italy by Umberto Tozzi but to us in the US, they are Laura Branigan songs now.   Sadly she died at the age of 47 in 2004 of a brain aneurysm.  

"HIDEAWAY"  ROCK KILLS KID

Each week, I-Tunes offers up a few free tracks of new music.   Usually they're new artists looking for exposure and after one or two listens, they're deleted.   One exception was this emo-rock jam from 2006.   Rock Kills Kid sound like the Killers mixed with Echo and the Bunnymen.    Haven't heard any new music from them, but this song is a favorite.