Will Pugh of Cartel

First, I’m not a fan of Crocs. I don’t wear Crocs, I’ve never owned Crocs, and I will never buy anything by Crocs. No matter how comfy they are, you can find a better pair of shoes with just as much comfort that are actually stylish. But I have to admit–when Crocs decided to sponsor the Next Step Campus Tour and bring out Cartel, Yung Joc, and MC Lars, I was definitely ready to buy my concert ticket from them (emphasis on just my concert ticket)!

The Crocs Next Step Campus Tour is basically an event where they give out a bunch of free gear and give you the chance to rock out to three pretty diverse bands. I tried to find out more about the tour to see if there was any underlying cause (maybe sustainability for example?) but I couldn’t find anything. I guess it’s more of a “use my product!” sort of tour, but hey, with a lineup like the one they had, I wouldn’t mind buying a Croc shirt (I kind of take that back).

At any rate, the show was full of energy and MC Lars, Yung Joc, and Cartel delivered to the max degree as usually. For all you Bay Area kids, MC Lars unfortunately did not play “White Kids Aren’t Hyphy” (his latest single) and Yung Joc seemed to play everyone else’s songs but his own (e.g. M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”, T-Pain’s “Buy U a Dank”, Lil Wayne’s “A Milli”, etc.). Cartel played a good mix of the songs off their major records (”Cartel” and “Chroma”) along with some new songs from the record they will be recording after the tour.

We have some photos for you guys who were unable to make it out. Please spare the quality and enjoy!

Click through for photos! Continue Reading »

While we’ve been on an indefinite hiatus this past month, we’re finally back and ready to catch you up to speed on all those upcoming artists and bands that need your love! This time, we’re giving you the heads up on Jazmine Sullivan, a very powerful, soulful, take-your-breath-away singer. She’s the type of artist that could go right up there with Jennifer Hudson and Christina Aguilera in terms of women who have unbelievably talented voices, and it won’t be long before she’s on everyone’s radar.

Here is a clip of her singing “In Love With Another Man” for imeem in San Francisco.

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As Jenn and I attended our first classes of the semester today, it sadly signaled the end of summer. We’re not quite sure where this summer went, but it would be great if it came back because we have one final song on our Top 8 for the Summer of ‘08 list!

For a while, we debated whether to add this song to the list because it would be yet another female fronted track–not that there is anything wrong with that, but we didn’t want you guys to say we were biased and in to the whole “girl power!” mentality a bit too much. But after listening to the track and seeing how receptive other fans have been, we just couldn’t resist! The track is pretty smooth with just the right amount of pop, and the solo “rap sessions” in between with Kanye West of course make you want to get up and dance. If you can’t figure out who this lady is by the not-so-subtle clue we just gave, we can say that she will be touring with Gym Class Heroes in the Fall, so all you GCH fans will have a chance to see her live!

Now, before we go revealing who this “mystery” person and track is (it’s not really a mystery since they play this song all the time on VH1 and in H&M), here is a recap of the songs we have featured this summer:

Song #1: Driver F–“Two Words, Mr. President: Plausible Deniability”
Song #2: Thee Armada–”Rock Shock and Load”
Song #3: Ludo–”Love Me Dead”
Song #4: Katy Perry–”I Kissed a Girl”
Song #5: Janelle Monáe–”Many Moons”
Song #6: Lady GaGa–”Just Dance”
Song #7: Little Jackie–”The World Should Revolve Around Me”

So who are we talking about and what is the final song on the list?! Continue Reading »

The baddest chick in punk rock just came back with a whole new sound (and blonde hair)…

Who could forget that harsh, raspy voice and that spikey jet black hair and dark red lipstick? Brody Dalle, the lead lady of The Distillers (R.I.P.), was definitely a force to be reckoned with–and hey, she still is! After the band’s last record in 2003 (Coral Fang, which FYI, was amazing), many Distillers fans have been waiting to hear songs from Dalle’s and Tony Bevilacqua’s new band, Spinnerette.

Depending on how much you enjoyed the Distiller’s angsty, in your face punk rock sound, the Spinnerette’s new single, “Valium Knights”, will be hit or miss for you. Don’t listen to it and expect to hear the Distillers or “the old Brody Dalle”…but do expect to hear a catchy song with an awesome baseline and just enough punk to get you rocking.

Click through to listen to “Valium Knights”! Continue Reading »

To follow along with Morningwood and Santogold, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head released a new music video for their song “Sophisticated Side Ponytail”. It’s a pretty fun and danceable track, aside from the bizarre, “Did they really just say that?!” lyrics and the epileptic seizure inducing music video. But hey, NPSH is so awesome that they could have just stood blankly in front of a camera and I’d still dance around to their song like I was at a late ’80s disco.

Click through to watch “Sophisticated Side Ponytail!” Continue Reading »