Josh Groban - Illuminations Cover, Release Date & Tracklisting!

Its here, finally! Josh Groban's long awaited new album, Illuminations will drop on November 15! Its been 4 years since Awake and the album is produced by the legendary Rick Rubin. The first single, Hidden Away is available on itunes so make sure you go pick it up if you haven't already.


Tracklisting

Wandering Kind (Prelude)
Bells of New York City
Galileo
L'Ora Dell'Addio
Hidden Away
Au Jardin Des Sans Pourquoi
Higher Window
If I Walk Away
Love Only Knows
Voce Existe Em Mim
War At Home
London Hymn
Straight To You

Ryan Star - Head Like a Hole - Billboard.com Mashup Mondays

Check out Ryan Star's acoustic cover of Nine Inch Nails hit Head Like a Hole. It was featured on Billboard.com's Mashup Mondays. I've heard this live before - it was fantastic. I'm kind of hoping it might eventually get recorded!

Jimmy Gnecco & Lukas Rossi - I'm a Monster, Nashville 9.22.10

Last night in Nashville, Lukas Rossi, who won Rockstar Supernova in 2006 joined Jimmy on stage at Mercy Lounge to sing I'm a Monster. To be honest, that's not a song of Jimmy's that I loved immediately -  it took some time to grow on me. But hearing Lukas join him and for them to sing it together was fabulous. It gave it an entirely new dimension, which is one thing I love about Jimmy's music - the more I listen to it, the more layers are uncovered. I'll be seeing Jimmy next Tuesday the 28th in Boston at the Hard Rock and next Saturday, October 2 at Don Hill's in New York City, so expect recaps with pictures and more than likely video from both of those. In the meantime, here's the video of I'm a Monster!






Thanks to John, who was in Nashville last night, for this!

MWK News!

For those of you who don't know who MWK are, they're the band that Neal Tiemann and Andy Skib played in with David in Tulsa. Anyway, Neal told us on twitter a few days ago that there would be an announcement regarding MWK coming by Friday, 5pm pacific time. This is what we got.

Just announced on Twitter:

@nealfingtiemann: Live, uncut, instudio, acoustic session release from MWK coming soon! More info to come. #MWK
6 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone


From nealtiemann.com:

17 September 2010
Neal and Andy to Record a Collection of Live, Acoustic MWK Songs
News

In some extra time Andy and I have from our main gig, we are going to be hitting the studio for a live session. We’ll be playing a batch of songs acoustically that span our MWK career. You may already know the titles of the songs, but we’re going to throw in some twists and turns that I know no one (not even me yet) has heard. And, for those still not satisfied, we will do early versions of some new material we’ve been working on for future, full-band releases. This session will be available soon in some form – we’re still discussing that part. There will also be music from this that will be streaming exclusively on nealtiemann.com and myspace.com/mwkmusic. I hope everyone will get as excited for this as we are to release it!


-Neal

Thanks to @honestys_easy on twitter for the picture. :)

David Cook - America The Beautiful, US Open Men's Final, 9.13.10

David Cook sang America the Beautiful at the US Open Men's Final in NY today. The match was postponed from yesterday due to weather, but it didn't seem to matter if he sang yesterday or today. I thought he did a great job - it was beautiful stripped down and acoustic.

Check out the video!

Josh Groban - New Single - Hidden Away

Josh Groban's new album, Illuminations is dropping in November and Hidden Away is the first single off of it. Upon first listen, I'd forgotten how much I love his voice and why I fell in love in the first place. I really love how it's just him and the piano - a little bit of falsetto, a lot of soaring baritone. Its the simplest things that I love in a song. This song live will be amazing - whether he adds strings and full band into it, or just keeps it simple with the piano - its going to be gorgeous.

Check it out and let me know what you think! Once the album drops, I'll definitely do a first reaction blog, so keep an eye out!

Download Hidden Away

Kris Allen & Keith Urban 9.5.10 Oakdale Theater, Wallingford CT

Sometimes the best things and times in life are the unplanned, spontaneous ones. Yesterday was one of those days. It was the last show that Kris was doing with Keith, and the end of his summer tour, so on a whim, a friend of mine and I decided to go to Wallingford. I'm not a huge Keith fan at all, but I wanted to see Kris since the last time I had seen him was in December. Needless to say, it's one of the best concerts I've been to - ever.

Reenie and I arrived early and I texted Mer and Kathy, as they were coming to the show as well and we'd discussed dinner. We ended up meeting up with everyone at a great little place in town - out of everyone, I'd only met Mer before, and it was awesome to see her again and to meet Kathy, Barry, Emjay, Laura and Erin. After dinner, we headed back to the venue, and after a few wrong turns and sitting in traffic, we managed to get into our seats at 7:20, and at 7:30, the lights in the theater went down and the show started on time.

Songs of the Summer

With September starting tomorrow (where the HELL has summer gone, really?), I thought I'd share a quick list as to what I've been listening to this summer. It's been a good one, music wise, with new albums by Ryan Star and Jimmy Gnecco with releases upcoming this fall by SafetySuit, Josh Groban, and David Cook among others. Here's my quick list of drive with the music down songs to check out.

• Ryan Star - Start A Fire
As if there was any doubt I'd start with a Ryan Star song. Or at least include one on here. But this song is amazing. Its sexy, fun, catchy, and is going to be the next single releasing to radio on September 13. There's no way you can stay still while listening to it. And its incredible live.

• Ryan Star - 11:59
This song starts out slow but picks up in the middle with the band kicking in - and once it does, its rocking. "Don't let the moment pass us by, put the windows down and drive.." It's really for me, a mantra to live by, a reminder to live in the moment, always.

• B.O.B Featuring Hayley Williams - Airplanes
I hadn't really heard this song before mid-June. Then Ryan sang it mashed up with Back of Your Car, so I had to check out the original. However, it really is a great song. Its catchy and it quickly became a favorite to turn up and jam to. Plus I kind of love the video.

• Kris Allen - Alright With Me
This is a song that's grown on me. It was never a favorite of mine when I first heard it on the album, but the more I listened to it, the more I loved it. The 'yeah yeah yeah' intro and the crashing guitar chord make the song what it is. I hit repeat on this song more often then anything else on the album.

• Katy Perry - California Girls
As is typical with first listen on many of her songs, I hated this at first. Hated it. Changed the station every time it came on in the car. But it kind of worked its way into my head and won't leave me alone. Then I saw the video and I thought it was a great concept. Now this song really is just fun and catchy and everything a great pop song should be. Her new song, Teenage Dream is also immediately catchy, poppy, and fun. Surprisingly, I didn't want to stab my eyes out with a spork when I heard it.

• Jimmy Gnecco - Gravity
This is one of my favorite's off of Gnecco's album, The Heart if not for the fact that it's just so happy. It makes me grin like an idiot when I hear it, and I just want to sing along and forget about anything in my life that's not happy for those 4 minutes. 

• Seventh Room - Good or Bad
This song by a local Boston band isn't happy go lucky per say, but its intriguing. The droning guitar chords that open the song draw me in immediately and make me stop and listen. There's not many songs like this out there. It's a bit of a throw back to the early 90's grunge rock, but with some modern tweaks to it, which is what makes it so good. It's not out on an album yet, but I've heard it live a few times and its the one song I constantly want to listen to.

So there you have it. What are some of your songs that grabbed you this summer?

Class of 2014 Beloit College Mindset List

Came across this on a friend's journal and had to share.  It's interesting, kind of frightning, and made me feel old. What do you all think?

Beloit College in Wisconsin comes out every year with their annual Mindset List. The list was developed by an English professor and the college's public affaris director, and its purpose is to help professors "craft lesson plans that are more meaningful" and "to remind teachers that cultural references familiar to them might draw blank stares" from this fall's incoming freshman, most of whom were born in 1992.

Direct from the Beloit website  I present:

The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014

Most students entering college for the first time this fall—the Class of 2014—were born in 1992. For these students, Benny Hill, Sam Kinison, Sam Walton, Bert Parks and Tony Perkins have always been dead.

Ryan Star - 11:59 - First Reaction

The day that we've all been waiting for is here - the much anticipated 11:59 from Ryan Star. I have to preface this by saying that I have heard about 90% of what is on the album already, thanks to the EP and also to seeing Ryan live a bunch over the last year. So I've been familiar with it. But what I wasn't familiar with was the new mixes that we got on a few songs. And I was so excited to see that We Might Fall and Losing Your Memory from Songs from the Eye of an Elephant made it on. And I really love the new arrangements on them.

Hands down, the most powerful track on the album is We Might Fall. I love the simplicity of it with just the piano, and then the drums kicking in later. I love the backing vocal. The title track, 11:59, I  knew was going to make me cry last night. And it absolutely did. It rips my heart out and its really truly a reminder to live in the moment and to make the most of it all.  Brand New Day, Right Now, and This Could Be the Year have been my mantra songs for a long time, so its nice to hear Brand New Day and Right Now start this album off in the best possible way. And what to say about Last Train Home - that song struck a chord with me the first time I heard it - and I can't ever let it go. It's passionate. And beautiful. That song right into Breathe is a seamless transition, and as a whole, this album is laid out perfectly.