“]

Image From: Slope Media Group [slopemedia.org

Let me start by just saying this: neither this nor any review can fully do fun. justice when compared to seeing them perform a live show. I write this piece from The Java House in Iowa City, a mere block and half from The Blue Moose Taphouse, where this time tomorrow night, fun. will be performing in front of a very familiar and packed-out venue. I have had the pleasure of seeing them perform at that particular venue twice in the past 4 years, as well as once more at the University of Iowa Memorial Union. Every time, they have exceeded my expectations on every level and blown away audience after audience with their exuberant and elevated passion for making music that they love for people they love. In short, if you consider yourself a fan of fun., you are doing yourself no favors by holding back on that $20 ticket. Though their current tour is sold out at nearly every show from here on out, you best have your wallet ready they next time they announce a show near you.

Now, let’s attempt to meander our way through this new album of theirs, Some Nights.

Two and a half years ago, fun. exploded onto the indie pop-rock scene with Aim and Ignite (2009), a refreshing take on a very familiar genre of music. The album’s success would grow and grow as fans spread the word and Nate & Co., toured around the world. Then, with thousands upon thousands of people clamoring for Nate, Andrew, and Jack to up the ante and release a second record, the guys got together and recorded what Sound and Vision Magazine has called “that rare modern album that you want to set loud, keep loud, and sing along at the top of your lungs.”

And I’ll be damned if that isn’t exactly what I’ve been doing with Some Nights, even before it was technically released. (Disclaimer: I did not in fact pirate the album. I would’ve tossed my laptop out the goddamn window before I let myself do that. Fun.’s label, Fueled by Ramen, had the album streaming on Soundcloud and on fun.’s website for the entire week before it was released. Totally legit, I swear)

I rest my case. But, I’ve got plenty more to say about the album, that’s for sure.

Despite the fact that this record has been on loop in my headphones for weeks, I’ll admit (with some chagrin) that I still haven’t been able to provide even myself with a comprehensive track-by-track commentary, much less enlighten you wonderful people with such insight. However, I have managed to pinpoint  a few of the more outstanding aspects about the album as a whole, as well as come up with a general critique on my favorite tracks. So, here goes:

Much like, Aim and Ignite, this record tends to lean in a lyrically philosophical direction, albeit with a common vernacular that is both refreshing and engaging. Like all bands approaching the creation of their sophomore album, they had to be tenacious and precise. Each track manages to bring with it a new perspective, whether it be instrumental or lyrical; and with that, fun. has put together a successful transfusion of lyrical potency and instrumental diversity that is at once filled with both mellow energy and passionate determination. It’s clear that the creative trio behind fun. wanted to push themselves with Some Nights, focusing heavily on layered instrumentation and bringing in different aspects of each of their backgrounds with various, successful outfits. The record is distinctively pop-rock, but it also has elements of grunge, jazz, soul, anthem rock, and even choral arrangements.

The title track, “Some Nights,” both introduces and encompasses the concept of soul-searching, a theme that runs in and out of each track, almost like a narrative thread that connects the audience to the band in a way that only fun. can seem to manage. The song is an anthem; it’s beat-driven and  clap-able; it’s simple and straightforward to sing along to; and it kicks ass when played at high volume.

Who the fuck wants to die alone all dried up in the desert sun?

“We Are Young” features the wonderfully sultry Janelle Monae, and was the first single to be released off the album. And in all honesty, if you’re reading this review, you’ve heard the song. You’ve fallen in love with it. You’ve heard it overplayed, stopped listening to it, and then heard it at some bar and fell in love all over again. So I’m just going to tell you I’m right there with you, and leave you with this:

Tonight, we are young
So let’s set the world on fire
We can burn brighter than the sun

One of the most outstanding tracks on the album for me was “It Gets Better.” I really saw this song as a turning point on the record. It showcases the different elements of each bandmember’s background with bands they were in before fun. came along. The Format, Anathello, and Steel Train all shone through in little ways, and yet it still maintained that poppy ever-so-uniquely fun. feel to it. I wouldn’t by any means say that this was my favorite song on the album, but it definitely piqued my curiosity and kept me listening.

Another big turning point for me was the horn section-heavy “One Foot.” Nate let out a bit more of his Format-angsty side with the vocals here, lending a beautiful edge to his voice that suitable complimented the percussive, repetitively stomping beat that led the song. It makes sense, given how the chorus goes:

I put one foot in front of the other one.
I don’t need a new love or a new life just a better place to die.

Now, I wouldn’t say that I can call any particular song on the album bad, per se. I really love the band too much to do that. Plus, I really can appreciate the craftsmanship that went into the creation of Some Nights, which includes the strange turns they may have taken at times. But I will say that, out of all the songs on the record, “One Foot” was probably my least favorite. It was just slightly repetitive, and a little too circular for me to go 100% on.

All in all, Some Nights proved to be not only a solid sophomore album for fun., but a fantastic predecessor for what is sure to come. Since I saw them open for Anberlin and Taking Back Sunday back in 2009, they have exploded onto the music scene with a mushroom cloud to boot. There’s no turning back now, not for these guys. With every tour date sold out from now until… well, pretty much whenever, it’s clear that there is a huge future for fun. And trust me, you’re going to want to be a part of it. So if you haven’t picked up your copy of Some Nights yet, go do it right now. Like, stop reading, go to iTunes, and buy the CD.

And to the rest of you, I’ll sign off with this one last piece of advice: don’t let fun. out of your sight.

Sometimes, as a writer, you sit down to pen a new poem, article or story, and you write for ten minutes (or in this case, an hour or so) only to discover later that you have written something completely different from what you set out to accomplish.

This is an eternal and inevitable frustration that comes with the writing territory, though. So you think that as a writer, I would be used to it by now, but no. It still tends to catch me off guard and at the most inconvenient of times. This week, I sat down on Tuesday to churn out (what I pretentiously thought) would be a poignant and witty review of fun.’s newest album, Some Nights. After all, I had promised to do so. Alas, I stumbled around for a bit, jotted down some notes, and eventually decided that it would be better just to lump an album review into a concert coverage piece for when they come play at the Blue Moose in a few weeks.

But then I was left with an empty slate, fucked for ideas and shooting blanks with every story I started. And then this one just sort of… came out. So I hope you enjoy the rambling musings of a music lover, and maybe through some fateful turn of events, this will be just what the doctor ordered for your weekend.

At heart, I am a narrative writer. I am obsessed with the stories that lie within every moment and every detail of life, no matter how big or small. Music, as I’ve mentioned before, is a beautiful synthesis of lyrical and narrative moments, captured within the essence of harmony, melody, language, tone, audience, etc. Every aspect of a given piece of music has its own part to play in creating a unique and personal experience for the listener. That experience can be more or less effected by music, and more often than not, the relationship is more symbiotic than it is coercive.

Recently, I have found myself in an admittedly anxious emotional quandary. Just a few months from now, I will be uprooting myself once again and moving to a new city. Sure, the prospect of a fresh start is hopeful and imaginative, but any mark of starting somewhere new indicates a simultaneous cutting-off of the old place–for all purposes, that new start is an ending as much as it is a beginning. Much in the same way as music interacts with its listeners, the details of that relationship are fuzzy and subject to any number of perspectives.

The music I’m sharing with you this week comes from my reflection on that idea of how endings and beginnings relate. It is, in a sense, a playlist of moments, compiled as I’ve had time to sit and listen, to reminisce and remember, as well as ponder and wonder about what the future holds. It’s in times such as these that I find myself sinking deeply into the layers of music, discovering the simple humanity that comes from an artist’s need to share what he/she is thinking. This is not by any means a comprehensive playlist, nor is it necessarily representative of the only kinds of music that have the raw emotive power I speak of. Rather, it is simply a personal playlist, shared from me to you, in an attempt to connect us all as part of the larger musical audience that is found in the universality of basic Humanity.

Enjoy.

Link to Spotify playlist 

And no, that’s not a typo.

Some people might say that naming one’s own band simply “fun.” is a wee bit pretentious. I mean, “fun” followed by a period? It’s not even a suggestion; it’s more of a command. “If you don’t have fun while listening to our music, you’re doing it wrong.”

But for the particular group of incredibly talented individuals who have come together to make fun. happen, no other word could be more fitting. From their immensely successful, catchy debut album Aim and Ignite (2009), fun. has been an inspiration to people across the world, young and old. Frontman Nate Ruess brought with him a unique blend of punk and folk music, pulling from his collaborative effort on The Format with longtime friend Sam Means.

Check out some of the more popular hits from The Format’s two studio albums.

After putting the band on hiatus in 2008, it only took a little over a year for Nate to team up with Jack Antonoff (of Steel Train) and Andrew Dost (of Anathallo). I personally have seen fun. here in Iowa City three times in as many years, and I plan on going to see them again in a few weeks when they come “home” to the Blue Moose Taphouse. And if you’re really lucky, I just might catch up with Nate and the gang and snag an interview. Stay tuned on that…

The important thing for you to know, as a fellow music lover, is that Mr. Ruess and Co. bring to the stage an immensely energetic presence. Their live shows capture the essence of their music, an revelatory attempt to conjoin the audience and the artists in pure, innate, and unflinching honesty. Nate himself is at the fore of it all, consistently embodying a tour-de-force of humanity and passion. Every song is indeed “fun” in its own way; yet each song also consists of layers to be unraveled, images created through lines and melodies that work in sync to underscore fun.’s collective desire to make music meaningful.

The newest bit of fun. to be released is in the form of Some Nights (2012), fun.’s second studio album, set to be released February 21st, this Tuesday. And as if the anticipation building up amongst fun. fans isn’t enough of a tease, Nate and the gang have arranged for FBR to stream the entire album through Soundcloud leading up to the release date. I for one cannot wait to hear them perform this set live at Blue Moose on April 9th. But I understand you may have to decide for yourself, so hit the link below to check it out, and get pumped for the Tuesday release of Some Nights.

Oh, and be on the lookout for a full review of the album, right here on the Hook Up, when it drops on Tuesday!

Soundcloud stream of Some Nights.

Just to give you guys an idea of the passion and personality that goes into fun.’s music, here’s a note from Nate on the band’s official website, writing to fans about the release of Some Nights.

…Two days later, [Jeff] and I went into the studio and spent till 4 in the morning recording ["We Are Young"]. I remember, I went home, sent out the song to Andrew and Hack, anxious to hear what they had to say in the morning, and then tried to fall asleep by convincing myself that this was all just a dream anyways.

This time though, we get to send this whole album to you. Over the moon about what you’re about to hear and falling asleep knowing that as soon as I wake up, this will no longer be a dream.

Featured Image from: www.slopemedia.org

More often than not, the music world can be a rough and tumultuous place. Some people would argue that anyone can make music, much like the Ratatouille motto, “Anyone can cook.” But the fact of the matter is that, when it comes to art, there is a distinct difference between simply “doing” the art and actually “being good” at it.

We are turning in the circle of the sun / We are falling into our new forms / I feel light I feel sent / Catch me racing / Across the skyline – from “Red Arrow (John)” off of Breakers (2011)

Modern music, along with the increasingly popular ideological masthead of social tolerance, has conditioned us to blur the lines of that distinction. With the advent of personal/home recording studios, the availability of music production software, and with the vast majority of people who in some way, shape, or form have played an instrument, we have come to understand that music is as common an artistic venture as the Pixar-motto approach to the virtues and successes of life. We accept any and all musical endeavors on equal primary standing, allowing for the term ”indie” to become something of a token modifier for all things alternative, as-yet-unknown, or just straight-up unclassifiable.

This is not to decry the validity of personal artistic pursuits; nor is it an attempt to redefine just what music should or should not be in modern culture. I simply want to raise a common awareness to the fact that “indie rock music” has become an altogether-too-common of a label, aimed towards musical art that people either don’t understand or are too lazy to properly and studiously classify. With the help of a rather fantastic band as an example, hopefully this SOIC artist profile will help us all begin to reclaim a little bit of the noble sensibility that comes with the unique privilege of being a music listener.

Enter Gem Club.

Hailing from Somerville, Mass., this mesmerizing duo is making some serious waves in the music community. Both classically trained musicians, Christopher Barnes (pianist and lyricist, vocalist) and Kristen Drymala (cellist, vocalist) use their storied backgrounds and extensive experience to lend a richness and ephemeral beauty to their music that is both bold and rare in modern culture.  Driven by the heart-melting melodies of Barnes’ piano keys, and harmonized exquisitely alongside Drymala’s cello, Gem Club’s sound shimmers hauntingly through lyrics that echo into your very soul. Their “atmospheric, bedroom-dream pop” (Bandcamp) is everything you could ever want from the overcategorized, roughly defined genre that is indie rock music. Gem Club’s music stands as a symbol of refreshing relief, a stamp of stark contrast to any and all standing cliches of indie culture, mostly through the moods and methods that it operates. It captivates you with its melancholy revelry, which is both solemn and cinematic in its simple approach to a deft and diverse balance between harmonic instrumentation and lyrical poignancy. In a time and genre left to the swaying vicissitudes of the masses, Gem Club comes to you from a place entirely of itself. Their songs reverberate in your ears with the faint allusion that their music just might have been recorded inside a cave by the ocean, where although they remain confined by earthly means, they send a message that carries out onto the horizon.

I’m building lovers in our bed / I feel no real danger / I’m filled with desire / The back of my head split wide open / And I saw the look of lands changing / Are there riders coming through the dark – from “Lands” off of Breakers (2011)

Here you’ll find the link to Gem Club’s Bandcamp profile, where you can stream their full-length album, Breakers, as well as their 2010 EP, Acid and Everything. Also, check out their official website, here, and show them some love on Facebook.

Image from: gemclub.bandcamp.com

 Lyrics and images from: http://gemclub.bandcamp.com/

Mondays suck. It’s more than a common sentiment: it’s a law of nature. Mondays are simply not allowed to be at all decent; no exceptions, they just suck.

But there’s another day of the week that is almost as horrid as Monday. Some might even say it’s worse than Monday (again, not possible, but for the sake of a comparable illustration, let’s humor the unmentioned “some.”)

That day is Wednesday. Hump Day. “The-middle-of-this-hellish-week” day. The day that makes you go, “Wait, I thought it was Thursday… fuck.”

But, you see, Wednesday doesn’t necessarily have to be bad. In fact, I’m here to tell you of a way to make it one of your favorite days of the week. Maybe even more of a favorite than Friday. Ok, I shouldn’t go that far, but I promise you this: follow my instructions, and I guarantee that one week very soon, you will find yourself thinking (on Monday, naturally), “Dammit, why isn’t it Wednesday yet? I just want it to be Wednesday!”

The method? Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you Wobbly Steppin’ Wednesdays.

The idea is that, every Wednesday night, you force yourself–oh God, the horror!–to find a few friends, get some beer (liquor is an acceptable, perhaps even preferred, substitute), and go get yourselves absolutely wobbly. You can go to the bars, stay in, go to a friend’s, run around Iowa City in your unmentionables with a bottle of Jack–honestly, I don’t care how you do it. All I’m saying is, you will feel a hell of a lot better going through the week if you practice this honorable and truly therapeutic tradition. Your weeks and days will go by unbelievably quickly. Your friends will be much more understanding when they can blame your Thursday absences on hangovers as opposed to laziness. It may not be much of a swap, I understand, but it’s definitely something. And I mean, come on, it’s a perfectly wonderful excuse to get plastered mid-way through the week, to do it with your friends, and then give you all a chance to share in the anticipating, hungover wait for Friday together. Or Thursday afternoon, if you’re into that kind of thing (like I tend to be). Seriously, just stop daydreaming about it, and give it a try tonight. Then get back to me and tell me you didn’t have a fucking awesome time. I dare you.

Oh, and one more crucial element to making Wobbly a sure success: music! Naturally.

So a few of my buddies and I very consistently and seriously carry out the duties of Wobbly Steppin’ Wednesdays every week. We’re what you might call “slightly religious” about it. But the main thing that always makes the night a solid Wobbly experience is the music. Whether it’s five dudes and two cases of PBR, or a twenty-person double-kegger–no matter the size of the party, the music playlist is the same. Party anthems, dubstep, trance, electro house, dutch, rap. You know, anything you can shake your ass to and/or/also get drunk to. Run of the mill stuff for a party, really.

Anyways, I’ve published a Spotify playlist of some of the more basic (and, erm, legally available) tunes that you might find on our Wobbly playlist. By no means is this a handbook; they’re more of what you might call “guidelines” (POTC reference, anyone?) So if you should decide to partake in the regal and bawdy rituals of Wobbly Steppin’ Wednesday this evening, maybe throw this mix on to get things started and see where things go from there.

I’ll give you a hint: the typical direction is… well, a little bit of everywhere. Enter the Wobble-Step.

Get Wobbly, yo.

Sometimes it takes something akin to an act of God to revive your interest in a past phenomenon.

(Side note: Evidently it also sometimes takes an act of God to get my deadlines on cue… apologies).

Procrastination aside, I find myself often reflecting on the power of music. Through observation and experience alike, I’ve discovered that music is about as close to an act of God as many people ever get. Music has a revelatory and reflective power quite unlike any other medium of art. The stimulation that we receive from music can and does affect us in any number of ways, depending on the surrounding circumstances and atmosphere.

But, much of the time, I find myself going through phases with my musical tastes and choices. Much like religion, music tends to speak to us in times of severe need or desperate desire; the rest of the time it just sort of stands in the background, filling whatever gaps in your life you leave unoccupied by other, higher-priority interests.

Over Christmas break, those gaps became vast and numerous. Spending an entire month alone in a college town in the dead of a Midwestern winter will do that to a man. I began to shift away from writing about music and transition back into a hobby that I picked up years ago, one that had since faded into the dusty filing cabinets of memory and practice: making music.

During my self-imposed frozen solitude, I found the time and resources to, erm, “download” a few programs to help me get back in the music-writing game. As much of a fan of electronic music as I am, I felt right at home scouring the annals of PirateBay and other such “libraries” of program resources. I finally snagged Ableton (a music editing software platform), as well as a few synth generators, such as Massive and Absynth.

Unfortunately, due to the flighty nature of programs found in such “libraries,” Ableton crashed on me just 3 days later (a sad day indeed). But I was hooked once again. I was sucked back into the world of musical creation, and those three days gave me enough time to rediscover the wonderful world of music production and see its intricacies for the beautiful puzzle pieces they really are. I reveled in the challenges that came my way, relished the complex task of creating a beat and finding a perfect synth to match it, then adding in vocal samples and finding a badass party track waiting for me at the end of the line.

Since then, I’ve found myself slowly merging back into the real world, one that consists of predominantly writing about music as opposed to attempting over and over to master the act of creating it. But my rediscovery fueled and inspired me in ways I haven’t quite yet been able to fathom. I realized that music is not so much about just matching beats and instruments and layering vocals and making it all “sound good.” That’s simply how you make music; it most certainly does not follow that a method dictates an identity. Just as a person is defined and enabled by more than how or what they do, so music is defined–or rather, left undefined–by the compounded butterfly effect that follows any given event of listening. What does the music make you feel? What does it inspire you to do? To say? To think? I’ve been unable to shake the thought that, much of the time, we as listeners completely miss the point of music. We glaze over the undeniable fact that, just by listening to a song, we empower it beyond its own existence. We give it meaning, power, and sustainability. And through that, music becomes one of the most powerful art forms out there. It’s an art of complexity and passion. It’s a convoluted, symbiotic network between artists and an audience. It’s a reciprocated, unspoken respect for the mutual empowerment and inspiration that is innate to the very idea of music. Music is, in its most basic and magnificent components, the art of rediscovery and revelation coexisting with the inspiration of previous passions.

The playlist I’ve compiled for this post is once again on Spotify; the link’s at the bottom of the post. You’ll find a smorgasbord of genres and styles scattered throughout the playlist. I just wanted to create an atmosphere for you guys, across the board, to show you a few of the songs that I’ve felt have particularly contributed to this newfound awareness for music that I’ve been harboring. Music can electrify you, depress you, make you smile, make you wanna “drop it low,” make you bob your head, and in some cases, make you feel like you could fly.
(Spoiler alert: You can’t. Sorry, guys)

Enjoy the music, Hooker-Uppers, and I hope you soon begin to see it for the truly magical experience that it is.

Link to the playlist on Facebook

Photo Cred: www.wallpaper-music.com

Hey there, Hooker-Uppers! Long time no see, eh? Sorry for the hiatus… these past few weeks have been pretty crazy, and I suppose we all need a little break at some point. Unfortunately, I left you high and dry all break long with no new music (GAH!), but thankfully, the wonderful musicians of our planet Earth did not take a break, and we’ve got all sorts of great music news coming for you in the next few days as we catch up. And I know for certain that Iowa City is going to be sporting some great concerts this Spring, so keep checking in with us and we’ll be sure to hook you guys up.

Alright, onto the music:

So tomorrow is MLK day, and then classes here at the University of Iowa start up bright and early on Tuesday morning. In itself, the beginning of Spring semester can be pretty stressful. Add in the bipolar winter we’ve been having, and you’re bound to be left frustrated out of your mind.

But thankfully, The Hook Up is here for you, and Sounds of Iowa City is ready to bring you the tunes you need to mellow out and forget all about how much procrastination you’re about to engage in for the next 5 months.

Growing up on the beaches of Florida, I got pretty used to seeing a lot of alt-rock and country-hick venues packed out on any given night of the week. Hip hop and electronic music have risen to domination in the concert/party scene for the last decade or so, as with pretty much everywhere else in the US. But as of the past 2-3 years, there’s been a new music scene taking over, at least in the Florida Panhandle. And I unabashedly admit, I’ve been swept up in the craze… yep, that’s right — I’ve got reggae fever, yo.

And I’m about to spread it all over this wintry wonderland Midwest town.
(PS: No vaccine available; I’ve got you guys in my sights…)

All intentions aside, I honestly never really was that into reggae music. I just didn’t really get it, I guess; it all kind of sounded the same to me. But nevertheless, catch the fever I did.

I first started getting into these island-jam tunes back in March of 2010, when I went home to Panama City Beach for Spring Break. I went to this bar called Reggae J’s, located in Pier Park out on the West end of Panama City Beach. The band was set up on the restaurant’s second floor, which was really just a massive open air balcony with a bar along one side and a dance floor in the middle. With the venue located right across the street from the beach, with the stars over head and the ocean lapping in the background, you really felt like you were down in the Bahamas or chillin’ on a beach in Jamaica. The dreadlock-sporting quartet was fairly decent, and as far as my first live reggae show went, I left with a CD and a bumper sticker, so I guess I had at least subconsciously enjoyed their blend of soft jazzy reggae pop and upbeat groovy jives.

Little did I know that the infectiously vibrant harmonies of this incredibly smooth and artistic genre would soon become my new fascination, one bordering on obsession. For the entire summer of 2010, I went to as many reggae shows as I could, became a regular at all the local venues, and loaded up my Grooveshark channel with as many reggae songs as I could find. It was a strange time, I must admit… I suppose that was the first time that I understood the emotive caution that lies underneath the absolutely spot-on terminology of “reggae fever.”

Fast forward to 2011 (and now 2012). With the glorious advent of Spotify, I have become once more enthralled by the wonderful tones of reggae music, both native and abroad. One of my more recent favorite artists has been Swedish musician Kapten Röd. He has the fast-paced vocals that have emerged as something of a trademark for modern ragga and reggae artists; he’s got the trickling electric guitar; he keeps the beats hopping around in that lovely happy-go-lucky reggae tone with simple kick drums and high-pitched toms. Overall, he’s a fairly classical reggae musician, with a bit of a modern twist. So if you’re looking for some new music to just chill to, to destress yourself before the real pressure of Spring semester hits, definitely give this guy a listen.

Here’s the link to the Spotify playlist on Facebook, with his CD Fläcken Som Aldrig Går Bort (2011)

The development of reggae across the years has led to some very interesting blends of musical and formal composition. Modern reggae is much less of what you would call “ska” (Bob Marley type reggae) and more of a electronic, club-friendly collaborative production between producers and musicians. It’s not that one kind of reggae is objectively “better” than the other; it’s just that sometimes you’re in the mood to chillax, and sometimes you’re in the mood to grind with anything that moves. One might liken it to the evolution of country music over the past 30 years, tweaking itself from a more folksy, backwoods sound to an occasionally poppy, mostly rock-centered sound. But I digress. Back to the reggae.

One of the more modern dancehall-reggae artists you should become familiar with is Vybz Kartel, a Jamaican-based rapper/producer. Despite the violently public controversies surrounding his varied and culturally-infectious career, Kartel deserves a nod for his talent as a rapper, a musician, and an entertainer. Ironically, his infamous rivalry with fellow Kingston-based rapper/dancehall artist Mavado has made them both symbiotically explode in the musical sphere. Between their slew of “diss tracks” released over the past 5 years, and the streetside cult followings that ensued on both sides, both of these Jamaican stars have created a massive following down on their island in the Caribbean, with their fame spreading to the States as collaborations with chart-toppers such as Rihanna, Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, and Lil Wayne abound.

Link to the Spotify playlist

And of course, one does not simply walk into the world of reggae music and not mention the name Bob Marley. Modern reggae music–arguably reggae music period, outside of Jamaica–would not exist in the capacity it does if it weren’t for Mr. Marley and his Wailers. He epitomized what it meant to be a cultural icon: be more than just a musician, more than an entertainer, more than just a man with a guitar and a microphone. He had something to say, and say it he did. Through his ska/reggae music, and with the explosion of the Rastafarian movement, Bob Marley used his artistic talent to spread both the love of reggae music and a revolution of peace across the globe. I couldn’t even begin to declare a comprehensive tribute to the monumental change that he accomplished in his lifetime, so how about you just take a listen to his music, and I’ll let you feel it for yourself instead.

Link to the Spotify playlist

Note: You’ll notice on the playlist that I added a few bonus tracks at the end, just to get you back in the mood with that classical, head-bobbing sound so unique to reggae. I threw in a Ziggy track (kind of necessary, don’t you think?) and a couple by Ini Kamoze, who’s honestly been another one of my favorites as of late. Definitely give ‘em both a listen!

Post some comments below or hit us up on Facebook if you have any feedback or questions. We’d love to hear from you guys!

And that is precisely what you get on Welcome Reality, the newest album drop from London electronic music duo Nero. You probably have been hearing the Skrillex remix of their hit “Promises” all over the place. It’s a pretty incredible remix, and the original is itself absolutely mindblowing. But it’s only one of fourteen tracks on the record, which as a whole is a musical piece of genius akin to a religious experience.

Between the frequencies and wavelengths of synthesizers and aerated vocals, this composition is more a brilliant narrative than just another electro production. Daniel Stevens and Joe Ray have solidified themselves as both professionals and artists in the ever-popular, constantly expanding genre of electronic music. Welcome Reality is just the most recent masterpiece they’ve come up with. The first two tracks (“2808″ and “Doomsday”) blend together perfectly to create an atmosphere of transient reverence, setting the mood for what builds into an epic DnB club banger. Orchestral strings layer the background, the year 2808 remains a thematic reference to the futuristic nature of Nero’s music and their constant focus of reaching beyond common popular mass-market dance music.

While the heavy emphasis on instrumentation may not be for everyone, it certainly lends a validity to the musical prowess etched into the very foundations of what this duo aims to achieve through their music. It’s clear that the sounds of their British predecessors (Skream, Chase and Status, Rusko, etc)–and now cohorts–of dubstep and DnB inevitably influence the tone and mood of Nero’s music, but these guys really make their mark on the music scene by making every single symphonic note and wobbly bass drop unique and emphatically precise.

Whether it’s the ethereal opening track (beautifully bookended by its epilogue counterpart), or the vocally eviscerating, bass thrumming beat on “My Eyes,” or even the 80s pop-esque groove on “Must Be the Feeling,” you’re sure to find something on this record that you find appealing. And if electro isn’t really your thing, well go ahead and take a listen anyway. Like I said, this music could very easy be compared to something of a religious experience. And who knows, maybe some Nero is just what you need to make the conversion.

So take a listen tonight, and indeed welcome some new reality into your life: Nero is kicking serious ass in the music biz.

PS: Just a forewarning, if you toke up while listening to this record straight through, I wash my hands of any and all side effects that the combined result entails… This shit is potent. But it’s also fucking awesome.

As with the last post, I’ve published a Spotify playlist on Facebook with Welcome Reality on it, as well as some Skream and Rusko tracks, just to give you an idea of where these guys are coming from, on a musically historical standpoint.

Bonus:

So, you guys have got to be feeling that stress of finals week by now… at least a little bit, right. Admit it. Yes, I’m talking to you, you invincibly studious nerds. So whether you’ve still got 3 finals left, none, or that one nasty bitch of a final that was scheduled on Friday at 7:30 pm, I’ve thrown in a little treat for you down below. It’s a mashup of some of the best dance hits out there right now, electro/dubstep/house–a little bit of everything. Oh, and I suppose a little shameless self-promotion can’t hurt: this particular mashup happens to be compiled by yours truly. I threw it together over the past few days, and even though it’s still rough, I think it’s got enough kick to get your blood boilin’ and ready for a good long Christmas break.

Check it. And if you feel like it, comment below and let me know what you think. I’m fairly new to the production side of music, but it’s a fascinating hobby.

Fingertips (TFS Bootleg)

Just a midday quickie for all you music and/or film buffs out there.

Many of you may have heard of Cameron Crowe’s newest film project in the works, We Bought a Zoo, starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Elle Fanning, Patrick Fugit, Stephanie Szostak, Maggie Elizabeth Jones, and Thomas Haden Church. The movie comes out on December 23rd, after a soft release back in late November. And of course, given Crowe’s impeccable talent with both cinematic and narrative filmmaking, this is an exciting event in and of itself.

An even more exciting fact you may not be aware of, however, is that the one and only Jon Thor Birgisson (aka Jónsi, frontman for Sigur Ros) has composed the soundtrack. Birgisson is no stranger to the cinematic nature of his Icelandic band’s music, due to the immense success of their own films: Heima (2007) and Inni (2011). Both of these films focus on the performance of Sigur Ros’ music in different settings. Director Cameron Crowe has admittedly been a long-time fan of their musical genius, and when he began playing their music on the set of We Bought a Zoo, the cast and crew immediately fell in love.

Yesterday, Rolling Stone featured a piece on their website dedicated to this monumental soundtrack. The best part? They are providing to us an online stream of the entire soundtrack… FO FREE!

So head on over to Rolling Stone‘s website and check out this absolutely incredible piece of composition from Mr. Birgisson. If you love it as much as I think you will, be on the lookout for the soundtrack on both Amazon and iTunes next week, and hit the theater over Christmas break to watch Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo.

Link to Rolling Stone’s Exclusive Streaming Soundtrack

The September trailer for We Bought a Zoo

Hit me and I guarantee you’ll feel the same…”

Thus goes the opening track (“3 Hours”) on Emika’s debut self-title album, which came out earlier this Fall. “3 Hours” is a superb choice to open the record with, with its pulsating bass throbs and haunting vocals. Emika’s digitized reverberating vocal inflection helps create a mesmerizing blend of musical lyricism and harmonic orchestration. She can hit high and low notes; she can use simple phrases and stirring metaphors (“Professional Loving”); she can highlight a dance track with some DnB (“FM Attention”) or chilling dub (“Be My Guest,” “The Long Goodbye”), and she can infect you with the intoxicating shrillness of her crystal voice–she is by any and all standards, an artist of the music that both propels and perplexes her.

I’m focused on the world of sound and the power of the human voice, the instant connections it makes with listeners of music.”

Emika’s viral passion for her music and the power it possesses shines through every single track on her record. As a student of both classical performance piano and composition, she crafts each song to instrumentally achieve a certain goal. She pulls from her British background, specifically the culture from Bristol and Berlin (where she has spent the majority of her life), to create a unique ambiance within her music. As human beings, she understands that we are innately drawn to the beauty within music. She doesn’t so much exploit those connections as she does enhance them; her lyrics effectively complement and enforce the music she creates. Whether she’s dealing with a groovy underground club banger, or a searingly ethereal stoner track, Emika thoroughly examines her process and crafts both her music and her lyrics to fit the intellectual and artistic mold of music as an aspect of primal humanity.

I start with an idea, a story, and then I seek to find the sound-world that best dramatises my story, making it into a song. I try very hard to stay faithful to my narratives and not fall into the trap of genre conventions, which is why I’m shy of genre references.

I, for one, must applaud her here, for this succinct and sincere defense of true art: the nonconformity and blatant rebellion against modern Top-40 pop music. Music in any form is still music, absolutely; but as an art form, music must be so much more. It must be linked to humanity in ways both reflective and creative. It must both shape and be shaped by the society it resides within. Emika accomplishes this level of art within music almost without effort. And in a world of electronic music that has come to be largely defined by techno acts such as Daft Punk and dubstep artists such as Skrillex, Emika truly takes on a challenge as she struggles to maintain faith and integrity within her art.

If I were pressed to choose, I would have to say that my favorite track on this debut would probably be “Drop the Other.” It begins with a showcase of Emika’s background in classical performance piano, and slowly moves into a type of subliminal dub bass line, glitched-out with a melodic background synth and R&B drum beat. As the song swells through the first verse and second chorus, you will find yourself involuntarily begin to move with the beat (if you have already, props for your good taste). It’s a spine-rattling chillstep track, enhanced by a distorted choral synth pad that flows in and out of the background, but the varied and impeccable production are just too precise and elegant to chalk up to any level of “chance.” This right here, ladies and gentlemen, is a rare album–both grimy and exquisite, alluring and disconcerting, fresh and unique. Don’t pass up a chance to discover one of the most talented, current- and future successes to come out of the electronic music scene. Whatever “it” is for you, Emika is where it’s at.

“Like” Emika on Facebook and check out her website.

Bonus Artist!

Speaking of fresh, experimental electronic musicians from South West England, take a minute to check out Joker, the newest project from Bristol-based DJ Liam McClean. Under the villainous pseudonym, McClean also released The Vision, earlier this Fall. More emphatically rooted in hip-hop and vocal instigation, Joker’s music is laced with dub influences more reminiscent of Skream and Caspa, who both relied heavily on the massive popularity of both hip-hop/rap and emergence of dubstep in the early- to mid-2000′s. Joker’s synth lines reflect the edgy conglomeration of those genres, allowing him to come across slightly more alluring in the club scene than the aforementioned Emika might. McClean is, after all, first and foremost a DJ.

Photo Cred: CMJ.com

But he is also an incredible musician, much in the same orchestral and classical sense that Emika may be categorized. From the cinematic “Intro” to the difficulties of syncopated rap beats on “Lost,” McClean showcases and solidifies his talent as producer, composer, musician, and artist. Take a listen, and throw some Joker on the next time you feel like having a chill party or just need some musical motivation to help you study for finals.

Note: I’ve decided to try a new route for sharing music, while I figure out this Soundcloud plugin bullshit. I’ll publish a Spotify playlist on both my Facebook, and on The Hook Up’s Facebook page to correspond with each piece written. Hopefully this will help you all out, since a lot of these new and awesome musicians don’t have their stuff all over the web. Comment below if you have any problems!

Shout out to Matt Battaglia for his work on this piece. Keepin’ it real, like a boss.

Early ’90s young ‘uns have come to be collectively referred to as the pioneers of the InterGen. The Internet Generation. Generation Z, if you’re feeling cryptic. News, music, social media–the very idea of which exists because of the Internet–and pretty much any aspect of life as we know it can be lumped into some categorization of the World Wide Web.

For instance, where would we be without YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook? How would we have ever been introduced to the kid who likes turtles or the phrase “Boom goes the dynamite”? What would we do in order to put off studying for an extra couple of hours? If I can’t update my status about how I don’t want to study, how on earth will the world ever know every thought I am thinking? If it wasn’t for YouTube, parents couldn’t exploit their children for singing Nicki Minaj as cute toddlers. Do you think I want to have kids for the sake of it? No. I want to be able to gain marginal fame from filming my son all drugged out after going to the dentist. This generation owes a round of applause to such sites as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Justin Bieber absolutely owes a huge “thank you” to the creators of YouTube for their aid in his being discovered (though I would bet that many people would be inclined to say just the opposite to YouTube for this).

One of the latest talents to be hittin’ YouTube is that of Timeflies. This music duo keeps it simple: Cal works the vocals and Rob (aka Rez) works his magic as producer. Although they’ve been releasing singles for just over a year, their first album only just debuted in late September of this year and is entitled Scotch Tape. The album is a brilliant compilation of hip-hop, rap, dubstep, electro, and rock. Timeflies’ stylistic diversity lends an incredible amount of versatility to both their music and the audience(s) they appeal to.

More recently, they have created a YouTube playlist called “Timeflies Tuesday,”  where they release a new freestyle or cover every Tuesday. Such covers have included that of Disney’s “Under The Sea,” King Harvest’s “Dancing In The Moonlight,” Kansas’ “Carry On My Wayward Son,” and many more. They’ve established themselves as a solid musical act, both popular and talented, and have already kicked off a very promising career. Their videos alone attract hundreds of thousands of hits (per video), and Scotch Tape hit number eight on the iTunes overall chart just 24 hours after its release. Talk about legit.

So no matter what task you find yourself doing this Tuesday, whether it’s studying, pregaming, showering, or just walking to class, you should definitely tune in to their YouTube channel to see what these guys come up with. And the next time you find yourself typing into the search bar, “kid getting kicked in the nuts,” think about it… then check out Timeflies instead. You won’t be disappointed. You may even want to kick yourself in the nuts for not giving these guys a listen sooner.

Show some love: follow on Twitter and check out their Facebook.

“Lose My Mind” – Timeflies

“Never Grow Up (feat. Loggy and Mike Stud)” – Timeflies

“Cars, Money, and Fame” – Timeflies

Bonus music!

In the spirit of diverse electronic-hip hop music, it would be an absolutely horrendous crime to leave Jay Fresh unmentioned. Just last week, he dropped his mixtape The Delta Project, which takes various Pretty Lights tunes and beefs ‘em up with spitballin’ lyrics. I’m already a huge fan of Pretty Lights’ musical style, but the depth and talent that Jay’s lyrics add to the melodic riffs are, simply put, fucking rad.

“Just a Dream”

“WaWWa”

“The Story” 

This piece must begin with something of a confession: I last wrote of my pining for home as the holidays approach, and I admitted that I would not be able to make it home this year for said holidays. I confess now that I was in a sense forced to lie to you, my readers. For I did, in fact, go home to Florida (suck it, y’all) for Thanksgiving. I just was planning on surprising my family, so I couldn’t exactly broadcast online that I would be going home, now could I? It was a necessary evil, if you will. But as such, don’t hate me too much for the picture attached to this piece… (Besides, even if you do hate me, I for one still got to enjoy a week of 80-degree weather on the sandy beaches of Florida’s Gulf Coast. Bitches be hatin’.)
In any case, I digress. Let’s talk travels, shall we?

I do not dislike traveling. In fact I think I could remain honest in saying I enjoy a certain amount of traveling. I’ve driven the 21-hour behemoth of a roadtrip that it is to go from Iowa City to Panama City. That’s not so fun, but it’s doable. What is not doable, however, is the abso-fucking-lutely ridiculous 40-hour Greyhound bus trip that I had to take in order to financially afford the surprise Thanksgiving trek home. Utterly shittastic, that’s what that was.

But once again, I suppose that I must confess: It wasn’t all bad. I just had to be a bit more creatively optimistic than normal. For example, I find that one of the most enjoyable parts about traveling by bus is the fairly universal absence of responsibility. There is something oddly comforting about the security of not having any obligation other than that of getting myself from Bus A to Bus B. Everything else was out of my hands. Which, as it turned out, wasn’t always such a good thing.

On the trip down to Panama City, I got all the way to Tallahassee—38 hours out of 40 total for the trip—and Greyhound (somehow) lost my luggage going from Tallahassee to Panama City. Whether the bag was jacked by some random asshole, or if Greyhound just placed it under the wrong bus, I don’t know. I’m still waiting to hear any sort of confirmation about where exactly my bag is. But besides that major stress-inducer, I enjoyed a thoroughly relaxing and much-needed vacation, as well as the trip down. For the most part.

Some buses had AC/heat, outlets, wireless internet, and plenty of leg room, and yet most buses were, shall we say, “less accommodating” with their flickering lights, mumbling drivers, drafty windows, “aromatic” bathrooms, and torn seats.

However, if someone were to ask me what my favorite part about traveling is—excepting, of course, the two “Thank-Jesus-Christ-and-all-that-is-holy” moments when you safely arrive at your destination—I would without a doubt say, “Listening to music.” Sure, sure, you may accuse me of replying out of obligation, given my job. But the reason for my answer is really so much more basic than that: I already love listening to music (durr). And when you’re traveling, particularly taking a road trip, there is something almost sacramental about carefully choosing what soundtrack accompanies your road trip.

Music is both a mood-setter and a mood-reflector. We listen to certain artists and songs because we want to feel a certain way, and we think that the particular choice we make in any given moment can accomplish this goal. However, in any given moment we also presently feel a certain way, and thus our natural, subconscious predispositions direct our musical selections.

Music, therefore, becomes a metamorphic organism of shifting moods and passing moments. In addition, music must be a type of philosophical element, inasmuch as it is an artistic pursuit. And like all artistic pursuits, if done right, music can be the absolute pinnacle of perfection to cap a scintillating moment of beauty.

As I rode those buses from Iowa to Florida and back, I rediscovered justsuch an ongoing moment of beauty that I am reminded of every time I travel: It is impossible to deny the sobering splendor that comes with staring out a clear glass window while the day slowly grows from night into day.

What I’ve given you below is by no means a comprehensive list of everything I listened to during the course of my trip. In all honesty, I initially and pretentiously thought it possible to record every single song I listened to, and then share that playlist with you… Right. Like that was actually going to happen. But I mean, in all honesty, I know for a fact that my iPod (which has almost 6500 songs) underwent multiple cycles of kill-and-recharge, and I’m fairly certain I listened to most, if not all, of the 7600+ songs on my computer. So in a way, I think I helped us both out by not being quite as vigilant as I had planned.

The playlist below is more or less an expression of how my mood and taste changes across time and between circumstances. Whether it’s playing Modern Warfare 3 with your brothers (hence the dubstep and heavy rock), or cooking 6 pies with your dad (the laid back, alternative rock), or carving a 22-pound turkey with your mom while sipping on a gin lemon-drop at 11am (the more Rat Pack-esque tracks), or just ridin’ the rubber on the road—no matter what kind of moment you feel you’re in, I think you can find at least one song from the list below that will adequately satiate your any given mood.

Listen away, my good reader, and enjoy your musical travels.

Apology: As you will see, these are not links, as I have previously entered songs into these pieces. The two reasons for this omission are 1) because I was overdue on my deadline already, and 2) well, I just didn’t really feel like looking up all of these songs in their copyrighted form, linking them through the proper text channels, etc. So, sure, you can call me lazy. But then again, I’ve done half the work for you already…

Afrojack and Quintino – “Fucking Party (Selecta & MAKJ Edit)”
Angels and Airwaves – “Surrender”, “The Revelator”
Athlete – “Second Hand Stores”
Avril Lavigne – “Tomorrow”
Beirut – “The Penalty”, “The Shrew”, “Prenzlaurberg”
Ben Folds – “The Luckiest”, “Still Fighting It”, “You Don’t Know Me (feat. Regina Spektor)”
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – “Atlas Hands”
Between the Trees – “Darlin’ “
The Black Keys – “The Wicked Messenger”, “Modern Times”
Blackmill – “Let It Be”
Bon Iver – “Wash”, “Michicant”, “Blindsided”
Bowerbirds – “House of Diamonds”
Breaking Benjamin – “Dance With the Devil”, “Had Enough”
Brett Dennen – “Nothing Lasts Forever”
Brown Shoe – “Late Nights”
Chairlift – “Bruises”
Colbie Caillat – “Stay With Me”
Cut Copy – “Strangers In the Wind”
Dashboard Confessional – “Even Now”, “Hands Down”, “Dusk and Summer”, “This Ruined Puzzle”
Dido – “White Flag”, “Stoned”, “Sand In My Shoes”
Ella Fitzgerald – “Let Yourself Go”
A Fine Frenzy – “What I Wouldn’t Do”, “Electric Twist”, “Elements”
Flume – “Over You (feat. Anthony for Cleopatra)”
The Format – “Dead End”, “On Your Porch”, “Tune Out”
Frank Sinatra – “One for my Baby”
Frightened Rabbit – “Poke”
fun. – “Walking the Dog”, “Take Your Time (Coming Home)”
Generationals – “Trust”
Gramatik – “The Monolith”, “While I Was Playin’ Fair”, “The Drink Is Called Rakija”
James and Evander – “Constellating”
Joe Dassin – “Les Champs-Elysees”
John Heart Jackie “When You Were Mine (Prince Cover)”
Josh Groban – “Cinema Paradiso (Se)”, “Un Giorno Per Noi”
Kaskade – “Let Me Go (ft. Marcus Bently) (ICE Version)”, “Room for Happiness (ft. Skylar Grey) (ICE Version)”
Kill the Noise – “Deal With It (KOAN Sound Remix)”
Lemâitre – “Blue Shift”
Maroon 5 – “Harder To Breathe”
Michael Buble – “You and I”, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”, “Some Kind of Wonderful”
Milo Greene – “1957”
Nat King Cole – “ ‘Tis Autumn”
Sammy Davis Jr. – “Sam’s Song (feat. Dean Martin)”
Sarah McLachlan – “Dirty Little Secret”, “Rivers of Love”, “Bring On the Wonder”, “Wintersong”
Skrillex – “San Diego VIP”, “Syndicate”
St. Lucia – “All Eyes On You”
Stray Dogg – “Dart”, “Break”, “She Said”
The Submarines – “Shoelaces”
Tin Sparrow – “The Boat”
Two Door Cinema Club – “What You Know (Feed Me Remix)”