Song of the Day: "Place to Be" - Surreal and the Sound Providers

This is some great Christian hip hop.  I'm a huge hip hop fan and this is seriously one of the illest songs out there.  The soulful beat is so fresh and Surreal's lyrics are so smooth and flowful.

Song of the Day: "Midnight City" - M83

Such a great new song from M83.  I love the band and I'm looking forward to their new album.

Album Review: "Circuital" - My Morning Jacket

7.5/10

This week's album review is for My Morning Jacket's new album, Circuital. To be honest, this is the first album I've ever listened to by MMJ and I absolutely love it.  MMJ has been around for well over ten years and this is their sixth studio album.  This was released on May 31, 2011 and debuted as #5 on Billboard, which is the highest the band has ever been.  So, here's my reveiw.

Song of the Day: "Go Outside" - Cults

This song is great!  I originally heard of this song in the winter, but the Cults album just released today.  I'm not really in the mood to write a lot.  But, this song is magical.  Enjoy!

-Spencer

Song of the Day: "Our God" - Chris Tomlin

Happy Sunday!  Today's song comes from an amazing artist, Chris Tomlin.  I've had the privilege to worship with Chris and his band a couple of times at a big Student Life camp in Florida and was amazing.  Chris is an incredible musician and writes incredible songs.  This song is one of my favorites and we played it at my church today.  It's so powerful when people worship God and sing, "And If our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?  And if our God is with us, then what can stand against us?"  These lyrics definitely come from the book of Romans when Paul writes, "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)"  Anyway, I hope you guys have a great day.

-Spencer

Song of the Day: "A Place We Like" - Hooray for Earth vs. Twin Shadow

Today's song comes from a band I love, Hooray for Earth.  I'm not a huge of Twin Shadow, but this song is just amazing.  Apparently this song was written by Hooray for Earth and included as a bonus track on Twin Shadow's latest album.  Twin Shadow provided some vocals and guitar.  This song is super catchy and definitely has a summer feel because of the steel drums and the vocals.  Overall it's a very fun song and definitely recommended.  Pitchfork gives it away for free on their site so go and get it.  Click here to get the song

-Spencer

Song of the Day: "Crystal Vases" - The Last Royals

Today's song is from the new band, The Last Royals.  They released their self titled EP in November of 2010, so they aren't really brand new.  However, I recently heard this song for the first time and I'm pretty sure most people haven't heard of it, so I posted this.  The singer's voice is very pleasant in this song, as well as the acoustic guitar.  This is one your typical, clean rock songs.  I find it very catchy and this song kind of reminds me of the Strokes.  Enjoy.

-Spencer

Album Review: "Helplessness Blues" - Fleet Foxes

9.5/10

Today I'm reviewing Fleet Foxes' second, and most recent album, Helplessness Blues, which was released May 3, 2011.  This album was anxiously waited by many people because Fleet Foxes hadn't made a new album since their debut back in mid 2008.  I first heard of Fleet Foxes a couple of years ago on Pandora radio.  I was instantly hooked and amazed.  I'd never heard a sound like theirs before and immediately bought their album off of Target's website.  I fell in love with Fleet Foxes and they easily became one of my favorite bands ever.  I too was very anxious for their new album and I preordered it off of Target's website.  Once I got it and listened to it a couple of times, I fell in love with it as I did with the first.

Song of the Day: "Blue Cassette" - Friendly Fires

The band Friendly Fires just released their second album, "Pala", about a week ago on May 24, 2011.  Today's song comes from this album.  Initially, the intro to the song reminds me of Neon Indian and Gold Panda.  Then the singer enters and the song seems to explode with the chorus.  The chorus reminds me of Yeasayer and is very catchy as the singer repeats, "When I hear your voice, it sets my heart on fire."  This song definitely has a Yeasayer feel because of the singer's echo-filled voice and the pattern on the drums.  Overall, this song is a big standout on the album.

-Spencer

Song of the Day: "Corsicana" - The Antlers

Today's song comes from the Antlers.  This song comes off of their new album, "Burst Apart", that released May 10, 2011.  This song is definitely one of my favorites off of their new album.  It's a very simple song that follows a pattern on the guitar and bass.  The singer's voice reminds me a lot of the Band of Horses' singer and it creates an eerie sound.  There is a ton of echo in this song which adds to the eerie sound and the singer's humming/wordless singing at the end create a powerful sound.  The whole album is great as well, but this song seems to stick out the most to me.

-Spencer

Song of the Day: " The Stranger" - Lord Huron

Well, sorry for not posting in a few days.  I was out of town and had no access to internet.  But, I'm back now and I decided to choose the song "The Stranger" by Lord Huron as today's Song of the Day.  This song is very chill and sort of haunting.  The video seems to portray a man and his friend carrying the body of someone they killed and one of the characters is haunted by it.  In the end, he tries to kill the hallucination of the man they killed, but it turns out he actually killed his friend.  This band currently has two EPs on iTunes.  Check em out.

-Spencer

Song of the Day: "You and Your Heart" - Jack Johnson

In honor of Bro Day, I chose Jack Johnson for the Song of the Day.  This man is one of the greatest bros to live on Earth.  He makes chill music, gets chicks, and surfs at the beach all day.  So chill.  Enjoy your Bro Day.

-Spencer

Song of the Day: "Last Night at the Jetty" - Panda Bear

What a chill song.  Panda Bear (aka Noah Lennox) is actually part of the great band Animal Collective.  You can definitely tell that the two bands have similar styles.  Panda Bear has released four albums, including his debut, self titled album.  His latest album, Tomboy, was released in mid April of 2011 and is very, very good.  Well, I hope you enjoy Panda Bear and look more into his stuff.

-Spencer

Song of the Day: "The Heart in Your Heartbreak" - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

This is definitely my favorite song off of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's new album "Belong".  This song was released as a song in December, 2010, but the album released in late March of 2011.  It's a great song for sure and it has a catchy chorus as well.  I particularly like the bass and the drum part in this song.  The steady eighth notes on the bass guitar seem to work with the steady eighth notes played on the snare rim, or wherever they played it, to produce an upbeat feel.   The whole album is great as well.  I'd get it if I were you.

-Spencer

Song of the Day: "True Loves" - Hooray for Earth

This song and and it's video are amazing!  The video seems to symbolize a man seeking his true love and realizing that he was running away from it the whole time.  Hooray for Earth is a very new band and they definitely have talent.  They released their EP "Momo" in June, 2010 and their new album "True Loves" is planned to release on June 7, 2011.  The album will probably be great after hearing this single off of it.  "True Loves" is available on iTunes as a single and some remixes are available too.  Check it out.

-Spencer

Album Reflection: "Oracular Spectacular" - MGMT

9/10

I decided to reflect on one of my favorite albums as my first blog post; Oracular Spectacular by MGMT.  I remember buying this a couple of years ago.  I initially heard "Time to Pretend" on satellite radio and instantly fell in love with MGMT.  The next day I went to Target and bought this album.  It was the first album I really loved and it was my first step into the world of Alternative music.  So, without further adieu, here's my first reflection on MGMT's first album.