Thursday, May 16, 2013

Bands That Hipsters Like, Vol. 1

DISCLAIMER: I am not specifically labeling any of these bands as "hipster bands," per sé – a label which might positively or negatively stigmatize them, depending on one's perspective. I am also not saying that all hipsters – whether they identify themselves as such or not – like all of these bands. But some degree of correlation can be drawn between the majority (if not all) of these bands and the so-called "hipster movement." That being said, I – who in no way, shape, or form could even remotely be deemed a hipster (not that there's anything wrong with them) – enjoyed "discovering" a lot of these bands throughout the course of my "research." Do I like bands that hipsters like? Yes, some of them, but not all. Then again, I enjoy music in just about every genre and style imaginable. So, my tastes can't really express anything definitive about the positive or negative aspects of "hipster music." Anyway, I've rambled on long enough. On with the music. Enjoy?  ~  JH''



1)  Animal Collective  ~  "My Girls"




2)  Arctic Monkeys  ~  "Fluorescent Adolescent"




3)  Grizzly Bear  ~  "Yet Again"



4)  Belle & Sebastian  ~  "I Want The World To Stop"




5)  Electric President  ~  "The Violent Blue"




6)  Jens Lekman  ~  "Become Someone Else's"




7)  Neon Indian  ~  "Polish Girl"




8)  Margot & The Nuclear So And So's  ~  "I Am A Lightning Rod"




9)  Arcade Fire  ~  "The Suburbs"




10)  Daft Punk  ~  "Da Funk"




11)  LCD Soundsystem  ~  "Movement"




12)  Bright Eyes  ~  "Easy/Lucky/Free"




13)  The Postal Service  ~  "The District Sleeps Tonight"




14)  The Knife  ~  "Heartbeats"




15)  Death Cab For Cutie  ~  "A Movie Script Ending"




16)  MGMT  ~  "It's Working"




17)  TV On The Radio  ~  "Will Do"




18)  Sleigh Bells  ~  "Comeback Kid"




19)  The Decemberists  ~  "O Valencia!"




20)  M83  ~  "Wait"


Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Songs By Bands With Pronouns In Their Names

Because – THAT'S why! Enjoy!  ~  JH




1)  He Is We  ~  "Blame It On The Rain"




2)  She & Him  ~  "In The Sun"




3)  You Am I  ~  "Good Mornin'"




4)  Us3  ~  "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)"




5)  HIM  ~  "Right Here In My Arms"




6)  Me In Motion  ~  "Losers"




7)  They Might Be Giants  ~  "Birdhouse In Your Soul"




8)  My Chemical Romance  ~  "Helena"




9)  Our Lady Peace  ~  "Starseed"




10)  We Were Promised Jetpacks  ~  "Roll Up Your Sleeves"




11)  Take That  ~  "Back For Good"




12)  Those Darlins  ~  "Screws Get Loose"




13)  Anything Box  ~  "Living In Oblivion"




14)  Everything But The Girl  ~  "Missing"




15)  Ours  ~  "Sometimes"




16)  All-4-One  ~  "I Swear"




17)  Themselves  ~  "Roman Is As Roman Does"




18)  Sixpence None The Richer  ~  "Kiss Me"



Monday, May 13, 2013

Awkward Moments In Sports


Awkward Moments In Soccer:




My bad, dude. I was going for the ball.



Uncle! Uncle!



Show-off!



Ouch.



Down for the count.



Well, have a seat!



Dude, let go of my pants!



How did we end up like this?



Awkward Moments In Baseball:



Take that, overpaid baseball player!




Dude, don't touch me there!




That's not where you're supposed to catch it.



Hey, don't judge!



Every pitch is a split decision for him.



You're supposed to hit it before it hits you.



Awkward Moments In The Olympics:



Oh no, she didn't!



Constipation and diving do
not go hand in hand.



That's one for Mom's scrapbook, to be sure.



I don't think you're supposed to skate like that.



Um, aren't you forgetting something, dude?



That's gonna leave a mark.



Awkward Moments In Other Sports:



Dude, don't lick me there!



I hate Mondays.



"I'm not getting it. That ball is icky!"
"Well, I'm not getting it. It's on your side!"



Dude, where'd my head go?



See the ball. Be the ball. 
Or just let it hit you. Whatevs.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Things I Find Fascinating: Amazing YouTube Cover Songs

In the digital age, it's easier than ever for unknown talent to get their work out there on video-posting sites like YouTube.com. Often, the easiest way to make yourself accessible to the public – where people will want to click on your video and watch it – is to "cover" a song previously recorded and made famous by someone else. Sometimes, a good cover song will generate millions of "hits", which can lead to the cover artist's original songs getting millions of hits, which can lead to them becoming an internet star. These days, internet (specifically YouTube) stardom can lead to mainstream success as well, including signing to major record labels – which has happened more often than you might think. Some of the artists below have already had that type of success, some are writing their own stories via the independent music scene, and some are content to make music for the masses whether they get famous or not. Regardless of their stories, here are 20 of the most amazing YouTube cover songs that I could find. Some of these versions are, in my opinion, as good as or better than the originals (most of which I am familiar with, for comparison's sake). All of them deserve to be heard and to be recognized. Enjoy!  ~  JH


NOTE: The original artist is listed in (parentheses) after the song title.



1)  Karmin Music  ~  "6 Foot 7 Foot"  (Lil Wayne ft. Cory Gunz)  (Note: They cleaned this one up considerably – no objectionable content)



2)  Pentatonix  ~  "We Are Young"  (fun.)



3)  Vazquez Sounds  ~  "Rolling In The Deep"  (Adele)



4)  Maddi Jane ~  "Jar Of Hearts"  (Christina Perri)



5)  Heather Rhea  ~  "Near To You"  (A Fine Frenzy)



6)  Noah ft. Christina Grimmie  ~  "Somebody That I Used To Know"  (Gotye ft. Kimbra)



7)  Megan Nicole  ~  "Live While We're Young"  (One Direction)



8)  Peter Hollens & Tyler Ward  ~  "It's Time"  (Imagine Dragons)



9)  Sam Tsui ft. Kurt Schneider  ~  "Mirrors"  (Justin Timberlake)



10)  Mike Tompkins  ~  "Firework"  (Katy Perry)  (Totally a capella = WOW!)



11)  Boyce Avenue  ~  "Ho Hey"  (The Lumineers)



12)  Alex Goot & Against The Current  ~  "Catch My Breath"  (Kelly Clarkson)



13)  Jason Chen  ~  "Grenade"  (Bruno Mars)



14)  Sophie Madeleine  ~  "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"  (Bob Dylan)



15)  Jess Moskaluke  ~  "Drops Of Jupiter"  (Train)



16)  Julia Sheer  ~  "Stay"  (Rihanna)



17)  Katy McAllister & Jeff Hendrick  ~  "Lights"  (Ellie Goulding)



18)  Helena Maria  ~  "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"  (Taylor Swift)



19)  Meghan Knight  ~  "Fallin' For You"  (Colbie Caillat)



20)  Greyson Chance  ~  "Paparazzi"  (Lady Gaga)

 

Songs By Katies, Katys, Kates, One Katherine, And A Kat

Don't ask why. Just enjoy some good music by a bunch of women with basically the same first name! ~  JH




1)  Katie Melua  ~  "Nine Million Bicycles"




2)  Katie Costello  ~  "How Do We Know?"




3)  Katie Waissel  ~  "Fight For Love"




4)  Katie Sky  ~  "Sweet Sweet Melody"




5)  Katie Cole  ~  "Lost Inside A Moment"




6)  Katie Herzig  ~  "Lost And Found"




7)  Katie Armiger  ~  "Scream"




8)  Katy B  ~  "Broken Record"




9)  Katy Perry  ~  "Wide Awake"




10)  Katherine Jenkins  ~  "Love Never Dies"  (this one's almost too classy for this collection)




11)  Kate Bush  ~  "Running Up That Hill"




12)  Kate Nash  ~  "Mouthwash"




13)  Kate Winslet  ~  "What If"  (yes, that Kate Winslet!)




14)  Kate Havnevik  ~  "Mouth 2 Mouth"




15)  Kate Miller-Heidke  ~  "The Last Day On Earth"




16)  Kate Voegele  ~  "Only Fooling Myself"




17)  Kate Micucci  ~  "Walking In Los Angeles"




18)  Kate Earl  ~  "Melody"




19)  Kate Tucker  ~  "Everything Went Down"




20)  Kat Edmonson  ~  "Be The Change"