Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Discovering New Music & Artists @ TheSixtyOne.com

Over the past 18 months I have discovered a lot of new music and artists, many of them obscure and relatively unknown at TheSixtyOne.com music sharing website. Nearly all the songs and artists there are independents. Many genres are featured and a lot of it is crap. However there are many good songs and artists which I have "favorited" and featured on TheSixtyOne.com website as well as on this blog and my music site.

There are a small handful of mainstream established artists there ranging from golden oldies such as The Kinks and Gary Numan to current bands such as The Shins and The Ting Tings.

That all said, I have come to like several of the previously unknown artists and their songs a lot.

My most recent song and artist discovery is a musician from California by way of Oklahoma and Lousiana who goes by the name "AM". From his bio at TheSixtyOne.com, it states:
musician
"Is this the new classic rock? Echo Park indie artist AM brings a heady brew of twinkling Anglified folk-rock-pop to his new album “Future Sons & Daughters” being released on Filter US Recordings (Fontana/ Universal Distribution) exclusively on iTunes on August 11th, 2009. AM does all this with an acute, finessing ear for the ancient art of real, true songcraft. With, arguably, some of the best bridges and choruses in the bizness, drawing from the Beatles and Badfinger or Curtis Mayfield and Jorge Ben, AM demonstrates over and again the simple fact of songwriting life: that imagination and taste is what it's all about. If you watch the tele maybe you've heard AM's tunes on HBO's "Big Love" MTV "The Hills", ABC's "Brothers and Sisters"."

Most notoriously, AM probably prides himself on the fact that his professional name is hard to find on major search engines such as Google and even on TheSixtyOne.com site itself.

That I believe.

AM has dozens of songs posted at TheSixtyOne.com website. He must have been there for quite some time. However in the last 18 months since I been on the service, his name or music has never shown up until last night. I'm probably not listening to the music at the site often enough or whenever I listened to The Rack, his music never came up. Until yesterday when I clicked on the "new music" tab to see just what was recently added.

It was then that I found my first AM track and possibly my favorite song of his so far, "Self Preservation." It is a wonderful pop rock track with good vocals, lyrics and guitar work. It's off AM's new album Future Sons & Daughters which is slated for an August 11 release on iTunes only. If the album is reasonably priced, I'll probably get it. The six tracks I heard from the album are all outstanding.

I hope that the album will also be available on Amazon.com. I'd like to get it on a standard CD if possible. AM's earlier albums are available on Amazon.

AM is the latest SixtyOne.com find that I like and will place into high rotation on my iTunes as soon as I get the music. He joins other artists from TheSixtyOne.com that I think are extremely good and should be getting mainstream exposure and airplay on more venues. Those artists include Meiko, Shannon Hurley, The NuRu and Darrin Kohavi. All have music that I enjoy and tracks that have been previously featured at this blog and on my website.

For all to enjoy now, here are some of my favorite tracks from AM:













Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Mel's Weekly Top 20 & more



MEL'S WEEKLY TOP 20 | July 19, 2009

Camera Obscura scores the top spot with their single track "French Navy". Yes, the song is not played on mainstream radio, but I surely think it should. It is a wonderful pop-rock-alternative-folksy tune. Check out the video above and listen to the song. The rest of the chart is posted below.

This Week - Song Title - Artist - Last Week

1. French Navy - Camera Obscura - 3
2. Fallin' For You - Colbie Caillat - 4
3. I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas - 1
4. Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas - 2
5. Free To Be Me - Francesca Battistelli - 6
6. Goodbye - Kristinia DeBarge - 8
7. Two Hands - Jars of Clay - 5
8. 21 Guns - Green Day - 12
9. I Just Want You Around - Anuhea - 10
10. 1, 2, 3, 4 - Plain White T's - 9
11. Led To The Sea - Jenny Owen Youngs - 11
12. 99 Times - Kate Voegele - 7
13. Never Forget You - Noisettes - 18
14. Funny The Way It Is - Dave Matthews Band - 16
15. Mykonos - Fleet Foxes - 19
16. Panic Switch - Silversun Pickups - 15
17. Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns - 14
18. Know Your Enemy - Green Day - 13
19. You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift - new
20. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight - U2 - new

MEL'S TOP 10 OLDIES OF THE WEEK
As submitted to Plannine's Classic Top 30 site.

1. Revolution - The Beatles
2. Pretty Lady - Lighthouse
3. Too Much Time on My Hands - Styx
4. Who's Loving You - Jackson 5
5. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
6. Don't Ever Leave Me - Connie Francis
7. Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep - Middle of the Road
8. My Old School - Steely Dan
9. Sylvia's Mother - Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show
10. When You Walked In The Room - The Searchers

My only question here is why hasn't The Beatles' "Revolution" reached #1 yet? It has been stuck at #2 on Plannine's for several weeks in a row as other records took the top spot.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Mel's Weekly Top 20, etc.

I did not publish a chart last week, so this week we have two of them.

MEL’S WEEKLY TOP 20 * July 13, 2009

This Week - Song Title - Artist - Last Week

1 - I Gotta Feeling (4th week @ #1!) - Black Eyed Peas - 1
2 - Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas - 2
3 - French Navy - Camera Obscura - 6
4 - Fallin' For You - Colbie Caillat - 14
5 - Two Hands - Jars of Clay - 5
6 - Free To Be Me - Francesca Battistelli - 7
7 - 99 Times - Kate Voegele - 3
8 - Goodbye - Kristinia DeBarge - 9
9 - 1, 2, 3, 4 - Plain White T's - 4
10 - I Just Want You Around - Anuhea - 11
11 - Led To The Sea - Jenny Owen Youngs - 13
12 - 21 Guns - Green Day - 16
13 - Know Your Enemy - Green Day - 8
14 - Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns - 10
15 - Panic Switch - Silversun Pickups - 15
16 - Funny The Way It Is - Dave Matthews Band - 20
17 - California - Shannon Hurley - 17
18 - Never Forget You - Noisettes - new
19 - Mykonos - Fleet Foxes - new
20 - Failure - Operation Aloha - 12

MEL’S WEEKLY TOP 20 * July 5, 2009

This Week - Song Title - Artist - Last Week

1 - I Gotta Feeling (3rd week @ #1!) - Black Eyed Peas - 1
2 - Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas - 4
3 - 99 Times - Kate Voegele - 2
4 - 1, 2, 3, 4 - Plain White T's - 3
5 - Two Hands - Jars of Clay - 6
6 - French Navy - Camera Obscura - 9
7 - Free To Be Me - Francesca Battistelli - 8
8 - Know Your Enemy - Green Day - 5
9 - Goodbye - Kristinia DeBarge - 11
10 - Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns - 7
11 - I Just Want You Around - Anuhea - 13
12 - Failure - Operation Aloha - 12
13 - Led To The Sea - Jenny Owen Youngs - 16
14 - Fallin' For You - Colbie Caillat - new
15 - Panic Switch - Silversun Pickups - 19
16 - 21 Guns - Green Day - 20
17 - California - Shannon Hurley - 15
18 - I'm Just Here for the Music - Paula Abdul - 10
19 - What's So Bad (About Feeling Good)? - Ben Lee - 14
20 - Funny The Way It Is - Dave Matthews Band - new

MEL'S TOP 10 OLDIES July 9, 2009
As submitted to Plannine's Classic Top 30 site.

1. Revolution - The Beatles
2. Pretty Lady - Lighthouse
3. Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep - Middle of the Road
4. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
5
. Too Much Time on My Hands - Styx
6. Who's Lovin' You - The Jackson 5
7. Don't Ever Leave Me - Connie Francis
8. Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin
9. See Forever Eyes - Prism
10. Feelin Stronger Everyday - Chicago

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Charts For This Week

Have a safe and happy 4th of July holiday. Celebrate freedom, Celebrate America! USA Today!


God Bless America

Here are my charts for this week:


MEL’S WEEKLY TOP 20 | June 28 - July 4, 2009

http://macpro.freeshell.org/music/WTop20.html


This Week - Song Title - Artist - Last Week


1. I Gotta Feeling (2nd week @ #1!) - Black Eyed Peas - 1

2. 99 Times - Kate Voegele - 3

3. 1, 2, 3, 4 - Plain White T's - 2

4. Boom Boom Pow - Black Eyed Peas - 11

5. Know Your Enemy - Green Day - 4

6. Two Hands - Jars of Clay - 8

7. Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns - 5

8. Free To Be Me - Francesca Battistelli - 10

9. French Navy - Camera Obscura - 17

10. I'm Just Here for the Music - Paula Abdul - 6

11. Goodbye - Kristinia DeBarge - 15

12. Failure - Operation Aloha - 13

13. I Just Want You Around - Anuhea - 14

14. What's So Bad (About Feeling Good)? - Ben Lee - 7

15. California - Shannon Hurley - 9

16. Led To The Sea - Jenny Owen Youngs - 20

17. Electricity - Elton John - 19

18. I'm Not Over - Carolina Liar - 12

19. Panic Switch - Silversun Pickups - new

20. 21 Guns - Green Day - new


MEL’S TOP 10 OLDIES | July 1, 2009.

As Submitted to Plannine’s Classic Top 30


1. Revolution - The Beatles

2. Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin

3. Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep - Middle of the Road

4. Pretty Lady - Lighthouse

5. Too Much Time on My Hands - Styx

6. Billie Jean - Michael Jackson

7. Jennifer Eccles - The Hollies

8. Don't Ever Leave Me - Connie Francis

9. Lazy Day - Spanky & Our Gang

10. Who's Lovin' You - The Jackson 5