sky sailing - a little opera goes a long way

let me start off by saying that i think adam young is a musical genius and the greatest songwriter of our time (in terms of popular music at least). you may know him better as owl city, but he recorded songs during nights of insomnia. a year after releasing ocean eyes, adam decided to release those old recordings under the name sky sailing. it sounds a lot like owl city, but it places more of an emphasis on acoustic instruments rather than electric ones. i highly recommend checking that album out if you like owl city at all.

"a little opera goes a long way" is a very special song to me because i was listening to it when i decided i was going to ask out my girlfriend. the lyrics had nothing to do with it; it was just the sound that moved me. maybe if you listen to it, something important will happen to you too! even if nothing happens, i still hope you enjoy this song.

listen to "a little opera goes a long way" on grooveshark

these hearts - denial is not just a river in egypt

i love these hearts. i never got to see them live, but i actually got to meet two of their members at warped tour. if i'm lucky, they'll be near me on a tour stop with broadway and i'll finally be able to watch them perform. anyways, this is a remake of one of their songs. i liked the original, but i REALLY like this remake. it's so heavy, but it still sounds like the band. i'll definitely share another song by these guys in the future.

listen to "denial is not just a river in egypt" on soundcloud

watch the music video for "denial is not just a river in egypt"

owl city - enchanted

owl city and taylor swift are my two favorite not heavy artists. i can go on and on about why i like them so much, but i'll save that for another day. anyways, taylor swift's song, enchanted, is supposedly about adam young (owl city), so adam responded on a valentine's day 2011 by covering the song to show that the affection was mutual. unfortunately, that didn't lead to an awesome new musical relationship. damn, their babies would've been so talented.

owl city

taylor swift

chumbawamba - tubthumping

i should really lay off the 90s songs, but i can't help it!

did you know that chumbawamba did break up until this year?

watch the music video for "tubthumping"

ne obliviscaris - xenoflux

to be honest, i wasn't excited for any of this week's releases, so i had to go explore some bands that i haven't previously listened to, and i'm glad i did. ne obliviscaris really bring a neat metal sound. i'm really not able to classify their subgenre, but that's probably my fault for not listening to enough real metal. their whole album sounds really good because they really don't just stick to one kind of sound throughout any of their songs.

listen to "xenoflux"

meshuggah - bleed

bleed is a heavy song. 20% slower bleed is even heavier.

watch the music video for "bleed"

20% slower

crystalyne - weapon

i really want this band to take off. crystalyne is a female-fronted pop punk/alternative/whatever band from canada. i really love their stuff because none of their songs sound the same, they incorporate some heavier groovy parts, and strings and piano too. plus, her voice is killer. "weapon" is my favorite song by them mostly because of the first part of the vocals. the little melody to the words "there's a hole in my heart" causes me to have a crush on her for like 3 seconds because it's probably one of the most beautiful 3 seconds of singing i've ever heard. of course, the rest of the song is good too. you should really check out their other songs too.

listen to and download "weapon" on bandcamp

watch the official music video for "weapon"