Tag: playlist

Music Monday – Volume Eighty Five

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1) Nate Ruess – Brightside

Quirky yet utterly beautiful pop song which makes full use of Ruess’ idiosyncratic vocals over a backdrop of jazzy piano chords, squeaky string sections and eerie music box sounds. Dreamy and magical.

2) One Direction – History

Bittersweet Pop track which serves as a perfect ‘goodbye’ (at least for now) to fans. Considered by many as an update of Toy Story classic ‘You’ve Got A Friend In Me’, acoustic guitar strums and a sing-along Chorus make this a perfect Pop anthem.

3) Rihanna & Drake- Work

Rihanna returns with this laid-back reggae-pop track, aided by Drake. It’s rhythmic and catchy with Rihanna’s heavily auto-tuned vocals sliding effortlessly over clever production.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/clips#p03grqg5

4) Ellie Goulding – Army

Stunning synthpop track in the same vein as material on Goulding’s debut ‘Lights’. Over jittery guitar samples, crashing percussion and simmering synths, Goulding sings of her best friend.

5) Zayn – PILLOWTALK

Sexy and sultry alternative R&B track comprised of thunderous beats, eerie electro elements, broken vocal samples, wailing guitars and soaring melodies.  It’s a far-cry from Zayn’s One Direction days and conveys a far greater depth of maturity, mostly through its sexual themes.

6) Lion Babe – Where Do We Go

Funky disco-themed neo soul track from New York City duo Lion Babe.

7) Taylor Swift – Out of the Woods

Dramatic synthpop track comprised of broken vocal samples, gated percussion and Swift’s almost whispered vocals. One of the highlights of Swift’s ‘1989’ album, it’s perhaps the best representation of the album, utilising scatty samples and ’80’s electro sounds.

8) Lawson – Money

Lawson return after a period of instability in terms of musical output. The release of the band’s second album has been repeatedly delayed but they are now preparing or its release in March. ‘Money’ is its lead single (excluding last year’s single ‘Roads’), a catchy pop-rock track in a similar vein to ‘When She Was Mine’ and ‘Brokenhearted’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGgFZufBB20

9) Dawin – Dessert

Catchy, jittery and squeaky pop track by American singer and producer Dawin featuring a rap from Silento.

10) Tom Parker – Lost In Your Love

Ex member of The Wanted Tom Parker impresses on this catchy house track which he has also produced.

Music Monday – Volume Eighty Four

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1) Rationale – Something for Nothing

Soulful R&B track featuring fluttering synthesisers, jittering guitars, broken samples and funky bass lines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q79owpLDjo

2) Beachbaby – Sleeperhead

Energetic guitar-driven indie track from four-pieced band Beachbaby. It’s a moody but powerful track, integrating other genres such as shoegazing, Pop and post-punk.

3) Field Music – Disappointed

Low-key indie rock track from Sunderland band Field Music.

4) Walk The Moon – Avalanche

Energetic, catchy Pop-py track from US pop-rock band Walk The Moon. Indie-guitar riffs, synthpop synths and a driving beat makes it particularly reminiscent of the ’80’s and it works beautifully.

5) Travis Mills – Don’t Need Much

Dirty house track featuring little more than club beats, a funky bass lines and Mills’ rap. Incessantly catchy.

6) Craig David & Big Nastie – When The BassLine Drops

Craig David returns to his roots with this huge Garage track, aided by grime artist Big Nastie. It’s reminiscent of his 1999 début ‘Re-Rewind’ and is a welcome return for David after six years away from the music industry.

7) Selena Gomez – Hands to Myself

Saucy, steamy and sultry dance-pop track, reportedly inspired by Prince’s signature sound. Gomez whispers over minimalistic instrumentation comprised of little more than bouncy percussion, hand clips and tribal-pop elements.

8) Reba McEntire – Just Like Them Horses

Sweet piano-led Country ballad by American country music singer Reba McEntire from her twenty seventh album ‘Love Somebody’.

9) Nate Reuss – Take It Back

Gentle waltz-like ballad by Fun. frontman Nate Reuss. Dreamy, reserved with a delicate sprinkle of Reuss’ quirky, idiosyncratic vocals.

10) Walk off The Earth – Hold On (The Break)

Uplifting, inspiring and catchy Pop track from Canadian rock band Walk off the Earth. Ascending bass lines, clinking percussion and gorgeous layered harmonies result in an epic arena anthem.

January Mixtape

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After adapting Music Monday to make it strictly about current and new music, we realised that there was no way to draw focus to older music on this blog. So we have decided to publish a mixtape (or Spotify Playlist) of 20 songs on the first day of every month.

This makes January’s rather late but with no further ado, here’s the Music Box’s January Mixtape:

Music Monday – Volume Eighty Two

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1) Busted – Meet you There (Abbey Road Session)

Busted perform a beautiful rendition of fan-favourite ‘Meet You There’, a track originally from their ‘A Present for Everyone’ album. Strong vocals and perfect harmonies blend perfectly with minimal instrumentation provided solely by an acoustic guitar and piano.

2) Raleigh Ritchie – Bloodsport

Dramatic and emotive alternative R&B track from up-and-coming artist Raleigh Ritchie. Ritchie’s deep vocals soar over sweeping strings as he contemplates the many trials of love.

3) James Bay – If You Ever Want To Be In Love

Blues and Soul music are both at the core of this catchy indie rock track by James Bay. Rich harmonies, funky piano riffs and Bay’s powerful vocals all result in a perfect love song.

4) Chris Brown – Back To Sleep

Drawing upon 80’s pop & smooth 90’s R&B, ‘Back To Sleep’ is the third single from Brown’s latest album ‘Royalty’. Sleek and sexy.

5) Chris Brown – Make Love

One of Brown’s biggest successes in his music has always been his ability to mimic 90’s R&B slow jams. This is no exception; a gentle and chilled-out love song and a long-awaited return to R&B by Chris Brown.

6) David Bowie – Lazarus

Made all the more poignant by the unexpected and hugely saddening news of David Bowie’s passing, it’s likely this gentle jazz-influenced track will become Bowie’s epitaph.

 

7) Coldplay – Amazing Day

Gorgeous piano-led ballad from Coldplay’s latest album ‘A Head Full of Dreams’. Wailing guitars and pretty piano arpeggios form the songs primary instrumentation is a similar vein to previous song ‘Us Against The World’ but also sounding bizarrely similar to Grease’s ‘Beauty School Drop-Out’ in places. It’s Coldplay at their best, however, full of power and emotion.

8) Coldplay – Up&Up

Aided by Noel Gallagher on guitar, this epic feel-good rock anthem is the perfect conclusion to the band’s ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ album.

9) Troye Sivan – Youth

Troye Sivan encapsulates both the naivety and fun of teen love in this jittery R&B track. Broken pitch-moderated vocal samples are the basis of one of the catchiest hooks in Pop music ever.

10) Troye Sivan – DKLA

Perfect dark R&B-inspired track from Troye’s incredible début album ‘Blue Neighbourhood’. Squeaky synths, trap-influenced beats and clinking keys provide the instrumentation whilst Sivan declares “I don’t keep love around”. It’s the perfect anti-love song.

Feel-Good Friday

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Every Friday, we are adding three tracks to our Feel-Good Friday Spotify playlist. The aim? To create a definitive playlist featuring the best uplifting, feel-good tracks in the world!

Check here every Friday to check any additions!

FOLLOW the Music Box to never miss an update again.

Changes to The Music Box in 2016

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Hello all!

I set The Music Box up in 2013 after numerous other failed attempts at blogging. This year, we became solely a music blog with all other posts exported to an additional personal blog.

2015 has seen The Music Box go from strength to strength. We have received hundreds of likes and shares and our review of Markus Feehily’s ‘Fire’ album was tweeted by the man himself . We are hoping for this success to continue throughout 2016 and wanted to share some of our new developments with you for the next year.

Music Monday

To date, Music Monday has involved a selection of ten songs, both old and new that we have been enjoying immensely in the past week. They are usually accompanied by a short excerpt on why we love them here at the Music Box.

From 2016 onwards, this will be changed to ten new or current songs which we consider to be the hottest records in the world.

*NEW!* Feel Good Friday

Every Friday, we will be adding five tracks to our Feel Good Friday Spotify Playlist. There will be opportunities for suggestions too.

*NEW!* Artist Feature

Artist Features will be pieces dedicated to an artist. Generally to promote little-known or up and coming acts, these are to raise the profile of genuinely talented artists.

Themed Playlists

These will continue as usual.

Album Reviews and Live Gig Reviews

These will continue as usual.

Thank you so much for all of the follows, likes and shares of our posts and for the support this year. Please continue to share our posts and blog to help us out!

We don’t earn any money from this and do it purely for our love of music.

Thanks for every read, like, follow & share.

Love.

Music Monday – Volume Seventy Eight

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1) George Michael – Edith & The King Pin

Gorgeous jazz cover of Joni Mitchell’s 1975 ‘The Hissing of Summer Lawns’ album. George has always produced wonderful covers and this is no exception.

2) Anastacia – Left Outside Alone

Killer pop-rock track released eleven years ago (I know, I can’t quite believe it either!) Co-written by Anastacia with hit songwriters Dallas Austin and Glen Ballard, this was a huge pop hit upon release and remains a brilliant song.

3) Anastacia – You’ll Never Be Alone

Lovely, if slightly slushy, pop ballad by Anastacia. She truly is one of the most underrated pop acts in the world. What a voice!

4) Anastacia – Take This Chance

Uplifting and inspiring new track from Anastacia’s Greatest Hits compilation album. She’s still got it! Awesome song.

5) Carly Rae Jepsen – Tell Me

Carly Rae Jepsen’s debut album did not receive much attention upon release. I only came across it this week and fell in love. It’s different to the stuff she’s become well-known but each song is hugely enjoyable. This is a great acoustic-based ballad.

6) Carly Rae Jepsen – Sunshine on my shoulders

Lovely and relaxing cover of the John Denver track.

7) Carly Rae Jepsen – Worldly Matters

Another acoustic based pop track. The entire album is a hugely enjoyable listen – full of sunny & chirpy pop tracks.

8) Coldplay – Everglow

Classic Coldplay ballad but with greater electro elements. This is a promotional track for the band’s upcoming ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ album.

9) The 1975 – The Sound (Live)

MY GOD THIS IS GOOD.

Catchy as hell. I am SO ready for this next album.

10) The 1975 – Somebody Else (Live)

Cartchy 80’s-esque indie-pop track comprised of broken vocal samples, funky bass lines and slamming percussion. The 1975 at their best and a teasing insight into how the new album is going to sound.