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:

"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:

Mel's Weekly Top 20 - 5/10/2009

Shannon Hurley hits the #1 spot on Mel's Weekly Top 20 after spending several weeks climbing the chart. The track is a staple at The SixtyOne music website and elsewhere online should be getting national airplay on modern rock, pop and AC radio formats. The track is that good. Listen to "California" by selecting it from the player below:



Here's a little more information about Shannon Hurley from her SixtyOne web page.

"Handpicked as one of Rolling Stone’s top 25 best bands on MySpace, Shannon Hurley has released her highly anticipated debut full length album. “Ready to Wake Up” is already receiving airplay on Indie 103.1FM and XM Radio. “I put my heart and soul into this record. The reason it took so long to release a full length, quite honestly, is because I wanted to wait until I had a good enough collection of songs to make it worth the listener’s while. I think I accomplished that”, she says. Her alternative pop style has often been compared to Aimee Mann and Sarah McLachlan, but her songwriting and singing have lifted her to a place that is completely her own."

Here are Mel's Weekly Top 20 song charts from the past 2 weeks:

THE TOP 20 HITS Week of May 10, 2009

This Week - Song Title - Artist - Last Week

1. California - Shannon Hurley - 2
2. I'm Not Over - Carolina Liar - 1
3. People Got a Lotta Nerve - Neko Case - 3
4. Know Your Enemy - Green Day - 10
5. Poker Face - Lady GaGa - 4
6. No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand - 6
7. Please Believe Me - Darrin Kohavi - 8
8. Halo - Beyonce - 9
9. 1, 2, 3, 4 - Plain White T's - 11
10. Show Me What I'm Looking for - Carolina Liar - 17
11. Is Anybody Out There? - The Downtown Fiction - 5
12. Natalie - The NuRu - 7
13. 99 Times - Kate Voegele - 15
14. Focus - Cyndi Harvell - 16
15. Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat - 12
16. What's So Bad (About Feeling Good)? - Ben Lee - 19
17. Two Hands - Jars of Clay - 20
18. The Show - Lenka - 13
19. Major Tom - Shiny Toy Guns - new
20. I'm Just Here for the Music - Paula Abdul - new

THE TOP 20 HITS Week of May 3, 2009

This Week - Song Title - Artist - Last Week
1. I'm Not Over (3rd week @ #1!) - Carolina Liar - 1
2. California - Shannon Hurley - 2
3. People Got a Lotta Nerve - Neko Case - 4
4. Poker Face - Lady GaGa - 3
5. Is Anybody Out There? - The Downtown Fiction - 6
6. No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand - 5
7. Natalie - The NuRu - 7
8. Please Believe Me - Darrin Kohavi - 9
9. Halo - Beyonce - 10
10. Know Your Enemy - Green Day - 14
11. 1, 2, 3, 4 - Plain White T's - 12
12. Lucky - Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat - 13
13. The Show - Lenka - 15
14. Magnificent - U2 - 8
15. 99 Times - Kate Voegele - 18
16. Focus - Cyndi Harvell - 16
17. Show Me What I'm Looking for - Carolina Liar - 20
18. Time Lapse Lifeline - Maria Taylor - 11
19. What's So Bad (About Feeling Good)? - Ben Lee - new
20. Two Hands - Jars of Clay - new

More songs by Shannon Hurley:

Mel's Weekly Top 20 - 3/22/09

Neko Case sings her latest hit "People Got a Lotta Nerve" (currently at #8 on the Weekly Top 20) in this week's video showcase feature. The song is from Neko Case's new album Middle Cyclone. The video was recorded for QTV.

The list below contains 20 of my favorite current tracks that are playing on my iTunes and iPods. These are some of the songs radio should be playing if they're not already.

Rank Song Title - Artist - Last Week

1. No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand - 3
2. Working On A Dream - Bruce Springsteen - 1
3. Poker Face - Lady GaGa - 4
4. My Lucky Day - Bruce Springsteen - 2
5. Gives You Hell - The All-American Rejects - 5
6. Magnificent - U2 - 8
7. Time Lapse Lifeline - Maria Taylor - 9
8. People Got a Lotta Nerve - Neko Case - 11
9. Still Have My Heart - Caitlin Crosby - 7
10. Get On Your Boots - U2 - 6
11. I'm Not Over - Carolina Liar - 17
12. Is Anybody Out There? - The Downtown Fiction - 18
13. Natalie - The NuRu - 15
14. The Rake's Song - The Decemberists - 14
15. Boys With Girlfriends - Meiko - 13
16. Just Dance - Lady GaGa - 16
17. My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson - 10
18. California - Shannon Hurley - new
19. The Fear - Lily Allen - 12
20. Good Days Bad Days - Kaiser Chiefs - new

I found several new tracks on TheSixtyOne.com that I'd also like to feature today. Click on the player links below to listen to these wonderful new tracks.



Shannon Hurley's "California" makes its debut on the Weekly Top 20 at #18 this week. It's a wonderful new track by a talented and largely undiscovered singer. I read she is popular on MySpace.com.



The NuRu's track "Natalie" is a longtime and largely ignored fixture at TheSixtyOne.com. I think this is a terrific song that in some ways reminds me of a Hootie and the Blowfish track with underpinnings of The Corrs' "When the Stars Go Blue" in song structure.



If there was a song that paid tribute to the late George Harrison, this could be it. Darrin Kohavi's voice reminds me of the late George as he cites The Beatles and the late Jim Croce as his musical influences. He does a good cover of Croce's "Operator" and has released an EP a few weeks back. This is a song that I am certain will reach my Weekly Top 20 soon.



Chanel Campbell's track "Cry Cry Cry" should be a radio standard someday. It is newly discovered and not too many people have heard it.

Frankly all 4 tracks should be regular staples on adult contemporary radio.

Mel's Weekly Top 20 - 3/15/09

These are the 20 most popular current songs that are being played on my iTunes and iPods. Note that not all of these songs are the usual top 40 radio hits. Some are indie releases, alternative tracks that I think radio should be playing.

Rank / Song Title / Artist / Last Week's Position

1 Working On A Dream (2nd week @ #1!) - Bruce Springsteen - 1
2 My Lucky Day - Bruce Springsteen - 3
3 No You Girls - Franz Ferdinand - 10
4 Poker Face - Lady GaGa - 6
5 Gives You Hell - The All-American Rejects - 5
6 Get On Your Boots - U2 - 2
7 Still Have My Heart - Caitlin Crosby - 9
8 Magnificent - U2 - 15
9 Time Lapse Lifeline - Maria Taylor - 8
10 My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson - 4
11 People Got a Lotta Nerve - Neko Case - 14
12 The Fear - Lily Allen - 7
13 Boys With Girlfriends - Meiko - 13
14 The Rake's Song - The Decemberists - 16
15 Natalie - The NuRu - 18
16 Just Dance - Lady GaGa - 17
17 I'm Not Over - Carolina Liar - new
18 Is Anybody Out There? - The Downtown Fiction - new
19 The Sun Ain't Shining No More - The Asteroids Galaxy Tour - 11
20 Lost+ (with Jay-Z) / Viva la Vida
(Live At the 51st Grammy Awards) - Coldplay - 12

Three songs this week are featured on TheSixtyOne.com music site. They are:

Four Tracks

Here are four new tracks that I added to my favorites at TheSixty-One.com.

New Finds of the Day from The Sixty-One

Here are some new tracks that I added to my growing roster of Sixty-One favorites:










Enjoy!

Playing on The Sixty-One

The Sixty-One is a fairly popular new music website where many unsigned artists publish independent music for people to listen to and vote on. Every song posted to the site is a full length version. All genres are available at The Sixty-One including rock, pop, alternative, jazz, hip-hop, classical, instrumental, country and more.

While there are some very well known songs and artists on The Sixty-One website, most of them are people and groups that you never heard of. Some are very good, others are not. If you are adventurous and want to listen to fresh new music, this is the place to be. Some of my favorite undiscovered artists at the Sixty-One site include The NuRu, Meiko, Chairlift, Joe Sibol, Tegan & Sara, Rebecca Ann and The Nobodies to name a few.

Lastly songs that you discover, listen to, favorite and share are compiled into a point system that are part of a "game" that I really don't keep up with. Some people like the game aspect of The Sixty-One where the only aspect of the game is to pile up points and achieve certain levels of coolness and possibly respect among your peers at the site. I don't go to the site often enough to make my measly collection of points matter.

Besides listening to free streaming music, the features that I like about the Sixty-One are free downloads of some tracks. links to Amazon.com to purchase other tracks, favorite lists and the ability to share tracks on other websites and blogs. I have my own page at The Sixty-One.com as well as a Sixty-One Jukebox page at my music charts page. There is also a Hawaii Ning site where people can go to discuss The Sixty-One and share tracks there too.

Here are a few tracks that you can listen to right now by clicking on the song links below:











I will be featuring more songs on this blog from The Sixty-One.com in the weeks and months ahead. Stop by my Sixty-One page and jukebox to listen to more music.