My Top Female Artists

(In no particular order)

Katy Perry
Meg & Dia
Schuyler Fisk
Meiko
KT Tunstall
Lights
Lily Allen
Juliet Simms
Rachel Yamagata
Joss Stone
Kate Voegele
Alison Sudol
Mandi Perkins
Adele
Jessie Baylin
Fiona Apple
Ingrid Michaelson
Corinne Bailey Rae
Missy Higgins
Bess Rogers
Allie Moss
Lenka
Tegan & Sara
Anya Marina
Kate Nash
Fiest
Imogen Heap
Liz Phair
Lisa Loeb
Alanis Morissette
Zooey Deschanel
Rachel Taylor(from He Is We)
Sara Bareilles

Albums to check out:

John Mayer-Battle Studies

"Who says I can't get stoned/Plan a trip to Japan alone/Doesn't matter if I even go/Who says I can't get stoned" He's probably means it as a metaphor, maybe. I like this album a lot, the main reason is that he goes back to his original acoustic sound. For you Taylor Swift fans out there, she actually sings background in one of the songs called, "Half Of My Heart".

Say Anything-Say Anything

It's Say Anything. Nuff said.

Fitz and The Tantrums-Songs For A Break-Up Vol. 1

Fitz and The Tantrums is currently the opening act of Maroon 5 during their nation wide college tour. How do I know this? Because I went to see Maroon 5 last night. This band is amazing live. They have a very classic soulful style, they're like The Temptations mix with a little James Brown.

Artist Focus: John Nolan

Today's Artist Focus is John Nolan. The lead singer/guitarist of Straylight Run and he also use to be co-vocalist/guitarist for Taking Back Sunday. I know, this dude is part of and has been a part of two awesome bands, which means naturally he would be just as awesome going solo with his new album called "Heights". The Cd just came out last month. What I always dug about John Nolan is his lyrics, "Well, they dragged me from the party, kicking and screaming, clawing at the carpet, chewing up the scenery, and talking to my friends with no regard for decency." This guy writes deep, I find all of his lyrics intriguing. You'll find his solo work has a little hint of Brand New-ish, which is no coincidence because on this album he worked with producer Mike Sapone (Taking Back Sunday, Straylight Run, Brand New). He is currently on tour with another band I like, Person L.

So check him out:

http://www.purevolume.com/JohnNolan

http://www.myspace.com/johnnolanmusic

Song of the Day:

Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys-Empire State of Mind

http://www.myspace.com/jayz

Artist Focus: David Choi

Artist Focus is when I recognize a music artist or artists, it's almost like a "shout out". David Choi is known for doing a lot of cover songs and you can see most of it on youtube. In addition to performing other artist's music, he's a pretty good songwriter himself. His first official music video is "Won't Even Start" but I also like his song called "Uneasy", so I'm putting it both up so you can check it out. David Choi, my first Artist Focus.

Songs of the Day:

Silversun Pickups-Substitution
Brand New-Daisy
Regina Spektor-Eet
Albert Hammond, Jr.-Gfc
Hellogoodbye-When We First Met
Loomis & the Lust-Break on Love
Weezer-I Want To
The Maine-Into Your Arms
Shaimus-Turn the Other Way

Albums Coming Out Tomorrow Oct. 27:

Wolfmother-Cosmic Egg
Train-Save Me San Francisco
Tegan And Sara-Sainthood
The Swell Season-Strict Joy
Devandra Banhart-What Will We Be
Michael Jackson-This Is It
Brian McKnight-Evolution Of A Man

5 Artists of Today

No particular order:

1. He Is We
2. Parachute
3. State Radio
4. The A-B Theory
5. IYAZ

He Is We

He Is We is made up of two people, Trevor Kelly and Rachel Taylor from Tacoma, WA. It's kinda interesting how I came upon these guys, but not really, their names where pretty much splattered all over purevolume.com. Purevolume has this Top Songs feature on its website, it basically list 150 top songs daily. Well I came upon He Is We four weeks ago, and during that time they were ranked 50ish. I thought to myself that this was a nice sounding band, it reminded me of a slower more acoustic/indie version of Paramore. I check purevolume Top Songs list everyday, and I noticed that they were slowly going up the chart, and recently they took the number one spot. I think now they're still top 5, which is well deserved. Songs to check out: A Mess It Grows, Happily Ever After.

Parachute

Parchute is currently touring with Kelly Clarkson right now. What I like about this band is that they have their own unique soulful style, they're not full blown pop. My favorite songs from these guys are "Words Meet Heartbeats" and "Ghost", but I recommend buying their whole album Losing Sleep.

State Radio

If you like your bands to have a little mix of rock and reggae, I would recommend State Radio.

The A-B Theory

Jesse Smith makes up this incredible one man band. His lyrics to me is like modern pop poetry, mixed with digital beats and a dash of electronica. He has own style, but if you had to compare it to someone, it probably be a mix of Hellogoodbye and the voice of Ben Gibbard(Death Cab For Cutie). Smith's 2008 album Illusions may only have 7 songs, but it's 7 incredible songs.

IYAZ

It's either IYAZ or I.Y.A.Z., either way I predict this guy will eventually join bigger names like Akon and Sean Kingston. He currently has a single out called "Replay"