February ´13 Music Box

The shorter the month, the more songs uploaded. Here are my February favorites.

1. iremembertapes. - I Met You
This new track is a mixture of 80s dance and 90s euro dance, and it actually works. #ElectronicMusicIsKing



2. HAIM - Falling
I already see them in the very top of  every single music site's "Top 2013 Everything".



3. James Blake - Retrograde
Another album to be waiting for...



4. ME - Vampire!! Vampire!!
Damn catchy and the voice of Luke is brilliant. Yes.



5. Alkaline Trio - The Torture Doctor
Hey! Ho!



6. Darwin Deez - You Can't Be My Girl
First I was like "damn VeVo", but then I was like " aa, haha".



7. Crystal Fighters - Separator
An interesting tune from the Londoners. Like they say themselves we like many styles.



8. Iron and Wine - Grace For Saints And Ramblers
One of my favorites getting jazzier every second.



9. Franco and the Dreadnought vs. James Gill - ?
Only now I noticed that this track doesn't have a name, but it doesn't matter, cause it's good.



10. Tree feat. Shelf Nunny & Kirsten Rosenberg - Tully
Great to have Tree back, this song and video is rather dope.



11. Shelf Nunny feat. HOLM - Wave Of Phases
Equally dope as the previous one.



12. Fun. - Why AM I The One
Featuring the band's determined suit case.



13. El Perro Del Mar - I Was A Boy
Simple, but lovely.



14. Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra - The Bed Song
The Bed Song is one of my favorite songs by Amanda Palmer, but you have to watch the video. Pick of the month right here. #tearjerker




What were your favorites of February? You can comment below, on Facebook or tweet to @InJallusWords

Top 10 Albums of 2012

I knew it wouldn't be easy to find full albums for you to stream. Legal ones so to speak. But thanks to Bandcamp and musicians' better awareness of music streaming, I'm glad to be able to let you hear these great albums. Though, there are a couple, which you need to stream from fan-made playlists. That's not bad. Bad is when a band uploads all the songs, but don't put them in order.

For me a best album is something, which works as an entity. Not all songs have to be out of this world, but they're linked to each other to comprise a masterpiece. The albums chosen below do just that.


10. Chairlift - Something




9. Crystal Castles - III




8. fun. - Some Nights




7. Team Me - To The Treetops!




6. Reptar - Body Faucet




5. Oberhofer - Time Capsules II

Click here to listen.


4. Grimes - Visions




3. Polica - Give You The Ghost




2. Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra - Theatre Is Evil





1. Baroness - Yellow & Green




What were your favorite albums of 2012?

November's Music Box

November has been exceptionally good. Many female musicians and mainstream pop. Aiming for the Christmas market perhaps?

Haim - Don't Save Me

The second video from the LA sisters. Their debut albums is the one I can't wait to have next year.



Haim - Send Me Down

B-side to Don't Save Me.



Ellie Goulding - Figure 8

Second single from the sophomore. That's 2 out of 2 great pop tunes.



Lana Del Rey - Bel Air

Just as I was thinking what happened to LDR, this video came out. Such a beautiful tune, which I can imagine in Edward Scissorhands.



Ke$ha - Die Young

My friend started to freak out when I told her I really liked this song. It's catchy.



Florence and the Machine - Lover to Lover

This is the second video to the song, which really highlights Florence's amazing voice.


Florence and the Machine: Lover to Lover on Nowness.com.

Zola Jesus - Diamonds

Here's the unique Zola Jesus covering Rihanna.



CSS - I've Seen You Drunk Girl

Brazilian electro rockers poppers bringing it.



Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra - Do It With A Rock Star

Not suitable for children and conservatives.



fiN - Lucky You

Britain's Incubus. I think.



Purity Ring - Lofticries

Not their best song, but worth putting here. Can you figure out the video?



fun. - Sleigh Ride

Ending the list with a Christmas song. I dislike people who dislike Christmas songs. Here's fun.'s version of Sleigh Ride.

September´s Music Box

For a moment I was worried that September wouldn´t have anything to offer us, but towards the end things exploded. Here are my favorites of the month.

1. Crystal Castles - Plague

The video is made by a fan, which the band liked so much that they decided to make it official. It´s taken from an 80´s movie, and the scenes are quite creepy.



2. Crystal Castles - Wrath of God

Two days later after Plague´s video was released the crazy Canadians released another song



3. No Doubt - Push and Shove

It´s not their best song, neither video, but it´s still No Doubt.



4. Amanda Palmer - The Killing Type

It´s simple, catchy and she´s got good face expressions.



5. The Kills - Wild Charms

The band finally got their own YouTube channel and they celebrated it by releasing the shortest song of their latest album.



6. Muse - Madness

In this song you can really hear how good Matt´s voice is.



What were your favorite songs/videos of September?

Friday Feature: Amanda Palmer

During my internship in London, I'd ask every day a colleague what their favorite song of 2011 was and share it on our Facebook page. One day when one of our bands were recording at the studio, I asked their front man Felix what his best of 2011 was. He surprised me by saying that he really doesn't know, since he really listens to only two artists (?!), of which the other ended up on our page and the other now on my blog.

I remember watching Amanda Palmer's Astronaut video and thinking how slightly creepy she was, although brilliant, but creepy. The song anyways got stuck in my head, as did many other tunes from her debut album. However, as usually nowadays, I didn't delve fully into the record, so it became one of those *play a few songs from it, when you feel like it on Spotify*. 

This continued until Steve Albini (big shot artist/record producer/music journalist) called Amanda Palmer an idiot. Those, who know this story are probably tired of it already, but in short Albini didn't like how Palmer wasn't planning to pay money to those professional-ish horn and string players she was inviting to play with her touring band on stage. Palmer then replied in a length, which is like half of my thesis, basically saying that it's no one's business how artists decide to share their talent and time. You go girl!

Though, this whole ping pong match ended in Palmer and her management deciding to pay the volunteers after all. Admittedly, I was disappointed by this. I mean, if I was able to play those instruments, I'd be the first to be on stage. You bet, I'd do it for beers, hugs, high-fives and merch. Hell, I'd do it only for beers.

Of course people are naturally concerned of "poor musicians not being compensated by the rich". But if you're so damn worried, then stop torrenting and get your ass into a record store or gig. And before you call me a hypocrite, yes I did download Palmer's newest album for free, but at least it was legal and I'll buy the album when I have the money, go see her show when I have the chance and buy merch if they're nice/affordable. Then of course spread the word by tweeting, sharing on Facebook, Tumblr and blogging here. She might hate my words, but at least they're out there.

Before this gets out of hand... Theatre Is Evil might be my favorite album of 2012. I've been listening to it for a week now, which is a lot, when nowadays the average listening time I give a new album is a couple of days. That shows quality. 

But still I didn't become a fan because of the music, but for her brains. I think the other half of my thesis will be quoting examples of how Palmer brilliantly uses social media tools to engage with fans. Some ignorant people call it exploitation(e.g. fans preparing food for the tour crew, it really isn't about "uuu free food, but hey not only do we save a bit in costs, but most importantly we get to spend time with fans who get to experience something unique with their favorite artist and buzz about it to everyone they know"). Why don't you try to have a music career with a positive budget, which doesn't really come from record sales, but from how you've successfully turned your fans into evangelists by simply spending time on/offline listening and talking to them. And still play music, sleep and eat too.

Get Theatre Is Evil legally for the price you want from here.

thanks to felix for recommending