Keeping It Fresh

Today I have some really cute and sweet music for you by the South African singer-songwriter Christoph Kotze. The first time I heard this song was in a movie called The Road to Your Heart. It was such a sweet movie, one that was easily predictable but still incredibly heart warming. This was the first South African movie I have seen, and the first movie to be spoken completely in Afrikaans. I thought that was super cool, and only enhance the movie to be something beautiful and wonderful. This is a sweet and adorable acoustic song, one that reminds me of some of my comfort artists like John Mayer and Jason Mraz. This song has an overall feel-good vibe to it, making the song something that I really enjoy. While this song does sound like quite a few other songs out there, the thing that sets it apart from the rest is the lyrical content. I just found the words in the song to be very pleasant and endearing. Not to mention, I love how unique and darling the title of the song. It just gives ...

Today I have some music for you that comes off the soundtrack of a movie I watched recently. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a movie that started out as an independent film, and grew to be a cinematic sensation after its release. I had put off watching that movie for a very long time, for reasons that I can't really explain. Maybe I was too preoccupied or didn't want to risk the chance of crying, or just didn't want to see it because everyone else was watching it. But in the end, I am so glad that I did get see this film. When you watch a trailer for the film, it can come across as one of your run-of-the-mill adolescent movies, the journey of coming of age for kids in high school. Little did I know that this movie is so much more than that. This is a film that has more monsters than Harry Potter ever had. This is a movie that brings up so many of the demons that teenagers face daily.From emotional to physical to mental issues, this movie covers so many different kinds of...

Today I have some music for you by a band that has been around for a little while, and is a band that has been with me for quite a few years. Switchfoot has been a band that has jumped around from a lot of different genre labels. One day they are rock, the next day they are Christian rock, and the day after that they become a pop band. But out of all of these genres and labels and categories, I think it is important to point out how transcendent their music is. The thing is, while Switchfoot is capable of being a member of all these groups, there is one style of music that they will always be defined as for me- heartfelt music. Every song by Swtichfoot that I have fallen hopelessly in love with, has been a song full of soul and passion and heart. You can hear the joy of playing music, being musicians for the sake of creating something wonderful and beautiful and maybe even life changing. Last week I talked a little about five songs that changed my life or had a significant impact on my...

Today I have some really fun music for you by the duo known as Two Worlds. This is a group that is most definitely a fantastic and different underground sound. Normally when people think about underground and lesser known music, their minds go immediately to rap and EDM and synth pop kinds of music. But what is really cool is that this song is not along those lines whatsoever. This song is full of pop, funk, and soul! This is a song that is really great and summery and has this all around feel good sound to it. There is this groove to this song that you absolutely cannot shake. Even if it is raining outside, your socks have gotten wet, and tour grocery bags have ripped, this song can still lift your spirits. There is just this amazing energy to it, one that reminds me a little of Jason Mraz. There is this nice dance vibe to it as well, the kind of dancing you would do when your making breakfast in the morning, and just jamming out. I think one of the best ways to describe this song is ...

Today I have some really fun music for you! This song is originally by Coldplay, and was the first single to be dropped from their newest album. But, the catch with this song is that this is a remixed version of the song, and is done by Audien. Now if there is anything to be said about Audien, is that he knows how to make crowd jumping music. I mean this song had me wanting to bounce around and go crazy and jump and dance. This song was already a pretty inspirational and freeing song, but Audien turned it into a spectacular menagerie of color and sound. The thing is, when I listen to this song, I see so many bursts of color and paint and these fantastical frames of doing all the things that make me really feel alive. Which was the original point of the song, and something that Audien preserves so well with this remix. Whether it makes me think about splashing around and running wild on the beach at night, or going crazy at a festival, or dancing the night away in a concert hall with th...

Today I have some really great music for you from some phenomenal movies. This first song comes from the movie Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. This movie was an absolutely beautiful movie for many reasons. First of all, the entire movie is all about the human experience, and what it means to be a human. The movie starts out with the day to day job that most of us have. It begins with the story of a man and woman who work office jobs, behind a desk, only to come home to a lonely existence. But as the movie progresses, the characters evolve, learning more about themselves and learning that there is so much to offer the world and that there is even more to receive. Even when things go wrong, or the unexpected arises, we have to look forward and keep our spirits high. Because at the end of the day, there is nothing more spectacular and wonderful than our own ability to believe. This is where the song of the day comes in. This song is the most perfect auditory description of this feeling. It i...

Today I have some chill and calming music for you. This song is by Opia, a duo out of the United States. Now this is a duo who has recently started making their way to the forefront. This is the first debut single from the R&B duo, and I have to say it is quite impressive. They show a mastery over the electronic and alternative side of R&B, and that is something that does not come easy. This song has really nice smooth and silky sounds, giving the song a completely relaxed and chilled out vibe. There is no sense of urgency or excessive energy. If anything, this song carries a little bit of a sensual vibe to it, and I am such a fan of that. This is a duo that shows us immense talent through this song. As a debut single, a lot rides on the way that the song goes over with the masses. And I have to say, I think this song has gone over extremely well. This song has a nice funk to it, one that lives in the mix of R&B and electronic music. There are some elements of the blues in ...