Upcoming Concerts:

Phoenix will be performing on October 2^nd in Brooklyn, New York. They will also be performing on October 3^rd in Columbus, Ohio. The next concerts after that will be for Fitz and the Tantrums. They will be performing on October 22^nd in New York City, New York and on October 24^th in Toronto, Ontario. For further concert dates, go to one of my first blog posts. The list of concert dates goes through November 15^th. I will post more dates about a week before the November 15^th Fitz and the Tantrums concert.

My Top Ten:

1. “Afraid”- The Neighbourhood

2. “Bring Me to Life”- Evanescence

3. “Hello”- Evanescence

4. “Out of My League”- Fitz and the Tantrums

5. “Wake Me Up”- Avicii

6. “No Light No Light”- Florence and the Machine

7. “Take a Walk”- Passion Pit

8. “Ours”- The Bravery

9. “On Top of the World”- Imagine Dragons

10. “Panic Station”- Muse

One of the Original Alternative Bands…Duran Duran!

Duran Duran started out in 1978 when the keyboarder, Nick Rhodes, and the bass player, John Taylor met. Two years later in 1980, Simon Le Bon, Roger Taylor, and Andy Taylor joined the band. Duran Duran was now complete. Simon Le Bon is the lead singer, Roger Taylor plays the drums, and Andy Taylor plays guitar. They are a British band that toured, in their early years, in Birmingham and London. They got EMI’s and Polygram Record’s attention; they eventually signed on with EMI. Duran Duran was the name of their debut album that was released in 1981. It sold over 2.5 million copies. They decided to tour in America. They played all over the country, including Los Angeles and New York City. Many hit songs, tours, and band member changes later; Duran Duran was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1993. Duran Duran has been around for 28 years, and they are still creating amazing music. The band broke up, one by one, and got new members. Eventually, they came back together in order to perform like they did back in the day. Right now, Duran Duran is still together, and it doesn’t look like they’ll be breaking up anytime soon. They are definitely a role-model alternative band, or at least a band to look up to.

Top Songs:
1. “Royals”-Lorde
2. “Demons”-Imagine Dragons
3. “Out of My League”-Fitz and the Tantrums
4. “Ways to Go”-Grouplove
5. “Pompeii”-Bastille
6. “Sweater Weather”-The Neighbourhood
7. “Safe and Sound”-Capital Cities
8. “Come a Little Closer”-Cage the Elephant
9. “Elephant”-Tame Impala Elephant
10. “Supersoaker”-Kings of Leon
 
Fitz and the Tantrums Biography:

Currently, the third most popular song in the alternative music world is “Out of My League”. Really, who couldn’t like it? The lyrics are beautiful and empowering, and the music is catchy. I sing this song almost constantly because it’s always stuck in my head. This band is a septet (seven people creating music together). Fitz and the Tantrums first started off when Michael Fitzpatrick bought an old organ as part of a neo-soul project. Michael Fitzpatrick bought the organ to inspire him since he writes songs and is obviously the lead singer. The band was originally just called The Tantrums. Fitzpatrick recruited James King, an old friend from college, to add an arrangement for horn to his first solo album. After that, the band grew to include all of the members that it has today. The members include, (in addition to Michael Fitzpatrick and James King) Noelle Scaggs, Joseph Karnes, John Wicks, Jeremy Ruzunna, and Ethan Phillips. The band originated in Los Angeles, and it was born in 2008. They changed their name to the name we all know today around this time. Their debut album was Pickin’ Up the Pieces, and it was released in August 2010. Most of you are familiar with their new album More Than Just a Dream which was released May 7, 2013. “Out of My League” is from that album. Fitz and the Tantrums have become wildly popular, especially after the world heard “Out of My League”, as it is still in the top ten of the best alternative songs. I love this band, and I can’t wait to hear more of their music!

My Top Ten:

1. “Afraid”- The Neighbourhood

2. “Bring Me to Life”- Evanescence

3. “No Light No Light”- Florence and the Machine

4. “Wake Me Up”- Avicii

5. “Out of My League”-Fitz and the Tantrums

6. “Take a Walk”- Passion Pit

7. “Ours”- The Bravery

8. “Madness”- Muse

9. “On Top of the World”- Imagine Dragons

10. “Ain’t it Fun”- Paramore

Random News in the World of Alternative Music:

            The ten bands that are topping the charts are: Atlas Genius, The Black Keys, fun., Imagine dragons, The Lumineers, Mumford and Sons, Muse, Of Monsters and Men, Passion Pit, and Silversun Pickups. Each band has its own unique style. For example, Passion Pit’s style is high-energy music while Of Monsters and Men’s style is a mix of indie folk and Celtic rock.

            This Friday, Vampire Weekend is performing in their hometown of Brooklyn, New York! They will also perform on September 23^rd in Columbus, Ohio. Sirius XM’s (an alternative radio station) is offering a chance to win two tickets to Grouplove’s road tour. They will be performing twice in nine different cities this fall. The tour is called “The Seesaw Tour” Sweepstakes. Sirius XM is also offering a chance to win a trip to Seattle to see Pearl Jam. Arctic Monkeys had two concerts this past week. They performed on September 15^th in Toronto, Ontario, and in New York City on the 16^th. The other concert that is coming up soon will be on September 24^th in Cincinnati, Ohio. Atlas Genius will be performing! 

Popular Alternative music includes: Pearl Jam, Metric, Imagine Dragons, Paramore, The Bravery, Young the Giant, WALK THE MOON, Passion Pit, Mowgli’s, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Churchill, Electric Guest, Gotye, Linkin Park, Mute Math, Neon Trees, Owl City, Capital Cities, Coldplay, Vampire Weekend, and Fitz and the Tantrums.

           

           

Top Songs for This Week: 
1. “Royals”-Lorde
 2. “Demons”-Imagine Dragons 
3. “Out of My League”-Fitz and the Tantrums 
 4. “Ways to Go”-Grouplove
5. “Safe and Sound”-Capital Cities 
 6. “Pompeii”-Bastille 
 7. “Sweater Weather”-The Neighbourhood 
 8. “Come a Little Closer”-Cage the Elephant 
 9. “Elephant”-Tame Impala Elephant 
 10. “Harlem”-New Politics

IMAGINE DRAGONS BIOGRAPHY:

                Imagine Dragons’s song “Demons” is currently the second most popular song in the alternative music world. Imagine Dragons includes a lead singer, guitarist, bassist, and a drummer. The lead singer is Dan Reynolds, the guitarist is Wayne Sermon, the bassist is Ben McKee, and Daniel Platzman is the drummer. They started out in Los Vegas playing in any available buildings. One time, they played at a small casino at three a.m. during the week. That was when the members of the band realized that their band was really coming together. Imagine Dragons went unrecognized for a while, until this year actually. They were first recognized when they released their album Continued Silence. The breakthrough single of this album was “It’s Time”. Other songs from this album that have become popular are “Radioactive” and “Demons”. The band’s main goal is to take their personal, emotional struggles and put them into the music. This creates uplifting songs with powerful messages. One of the many reasons why Imagine Dragons is so popular is that anybody can relate to their songs. They have an “unvarnished emotional sound” that seems to draw people in. Nightvisions is their newest album. Some of my favorite songs from this album include “Bleeding Out”, “On Top of the World”, and “Tiptoe”. All of the band members, except for Dan Reynolds, attended Berklee College of Music in Boston. Reynolds makes music by going with what sounds right, and the others bring their education/technical skill. Together, these two different approaches to music make the band’s unique sound. Layering electric and acoustic percussion on top of each other is one of the ways that sets them apart from other bands. Imagine Dragons is one of my favorite bands, and I can’t wait for them to release another album!

                                                                                                                                                                    

My Top 10:

1.       “Bring Me to Life”-Evanescence

2.       “Out of My League”-Fitz and the Tantrums

3.       “Afraid”-The Neighbourhood

4.       “Wake Me Up”-Avicii

5.       “Speed the Collapse”-Metric

6.       “On Top of the World”-Imagine Dragons

7.       “No Light No Light”-Florence and the Machine

8.       “Best Day of My Life”-American Authors

9.       “Monster”-Paramore

10.   “Believe”-The Bravery

Concert Information:

Performers	Date	Location
Franz Ferdinand	Tues. Oct. 22nd Thurs. Oct. 24th	New York City, NY Toronto, ON
Fitz and the Tantrums	Wed. Oct. 23rd Fri. Nov. 15th	New York City, NY Cleveland, OH
Arctic Monkeys	Sun. Sept. 15th Mon. Sept. 16th	Toronto, ON New York City, NY
Vampire Weekend	Fri. Sept. 20th Mon. Sept. 23rd	Brooklyn, NY Columbus, OH
Phoenix	Wed. Oct. 2nd Thurs. Oct. 3rd	Brooklyn, NY Columbus, OH
Atlas Genius	Tues. Sept. 24th Thurs. Oct 10th & Fri. Oct. 11th	Cincinnati, OH New York City, NY
Grouplove	Wed. Sept. 25th	New York City, NY

Alternative Music Is Older Than You Think:

Alternative music first came about in the 1980’s. Many popular bands from back then are Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Dinosaur Jr., New Order, R.E.M., Nirvana, The Smiths, and many more. Some of these bands are still together and still performing.  In the United States in the 1980’s, most alternative music was an “underground phenomenon”. Sometimes a song would pop up on the radio but for the most part, alternative music wasn’t widely known. Artists/bands had to tour a lot in order to gain recognition and followers. By the 1990’s, alternative music had become extremely popular. One of the most famous bands in the world at this time was R.E.M. because they had outlasted most of the other bands. However, Nirvana’s single, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, from their album Nevermind changed people’s perspectives on music; Alternative music was finally getting recognition. By the end of the decade, this music lost popularity and didn’t regain it for another decade. Alternative music is coming back to rival rap and pop music now.        

What is Alternative Music?

Some of you might be wondering what alternative music is. Most of you probably know and just want to know about the latest and most popular songs. Alternative music is mainly rock music, but it also contains many elements from different genres of music like pop, heavy metal, punk, etc.

Top Songs This Week:

1.      "Royals"-Lorde

2.      " Demons"-Imagine Dragons

3.     "Out of My League"-Fitz and the Tantrums

4.    "Ways to Go"-Grouplove

5.     "Safe and Sound"-Capital Cities

6.     "Sweater Weather"-The Neighbourhood

7.     "Pompeii"-Bastille

8.     "Harlem"-New Politics

9.     "Supersoaker"-Kings of Leon

10.   "If So"-Atlas Genius

Information about the Top Band…Lorde!

Lorde is the first woman to top alternative songs in 17 years! Her real name is Ella Yelich-O’Conner, and she is from New Zealand. Ella was born on November 7^th, 1996. Since she’s an incredible singer/songwriter, you’d think that she would be older than she really is. Ella is 16! I find that amazing. She enjoys singing about what is going on in her life because it is crazy and more relatable. In her spare time, she enjoys reading (fiction/fantasy books), fishing, diving, and swimming since she lives by a beach. When did Lorde starting writing music you might ask? She started writing it when she was 12. Before that, she actually wrote short stories. Ella has grown up in the same town all of her life, so she finds a little strange to be out of the area. This is her first time in the States! How did she pick a stage name? Well, she was looking for an aristocratic title, and she liked Lord. However, she found it too masculine and that is where the “e” at the end comes into play. If that wasn't enough, Ella was just featured in Teen Vogue this month. Lorde’s debut album Pure Heroine is going to be released on September 30^th.  I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely going to be buying it!