Jennifer Johnson

James Blunt is one of my new favorite artists. It seemed like over night he went from being semi-famous to a house-hold name within days. He even guest appeared on the Opera Show!

He served in the Army for four years, upon returning started writing awesome music that would soon embrace the whole world with great melodies and lyrics. James Blunt first was discovered upon appearing at the 2003 South By Southwest, winning the crowd. In 2005, “You’re Beautiful” spent five straight weeks as number one in the United Kingdom singles chart.

This picture is from his video “You’re Beautiful.”

The Fray is a Denver-based band that I recently found. I’m actually obsessed with every single one of their songs! The band was formed in 2002, with Isaac Slade (vocals, piano) and Joe King (guitar, vocals). They later had two members join Ben Wysocki (drummer) and Dave Welsh (guitarist). They signed with Epic Records in 2004 and released their debut album, How to Save a Life, in September 2005.

A few of their songs I suggest everyone download:

Over My Head (Cable Car), How to Save a Life,

Their music is compared to Counting Crows and Jimmy Eat World.

After going to spring break in Daytona,Fl. one of the top played songs every club played was S.O.S. by Rihanna. Rihanna created an album called, Music of the Sun. She couldn’t come up with a better name for her album! Her S.O.S. is a great song to hang out to while out in the sun. I learned this first hand while on the beach in Fl. Her music is compared to having a Caribbean-styled dance-pop genre. Basically, her music makes you want to spring up off your chair and start dancing. Rihanna signed a contract with Def Jam and began to succeed.
Rihanna is originally from Barbados, Rihanna gives us Americans exactly what our ears want to hear. In summer 2005, Def Jam released “Pon de Replay”, the lead single from Rihanna’s debut album, Music of the Sun.

If you ever in need of a good work out song or something to really shake your tail to, download a few of the many songs Rihanna has out there. I promise you, you will want to get up and dance the night away!

The Afters made their big break after gaining the main theme song, Beautiful Love, for MTV’s new hit television show “8th and Ocean”. The Afters are a Texas-based band with a whole bunch to sing about. They first started playing at an acoustic show at a church. The band was shocked at how much the crowd loved their music, asking for which song they were going to play next.

They later started playing at a hot night club called The Door in Dallas. The crowd absolutely loved them and wanted more. In 2000, The Afters recorded their first six-song EP selling 2,000 copies in a few weeks, earning enough money to return to the studio and finish their first debut, When the World is Wonderful.

Two years, The Afters signed with Simple/INO Records to record their follow-up album, I Wish We All Could Win. Epic Records agreed to sign with The Afters and agreed to re-release the album in winter 2005.

I suggest everyone buy their CD or download all of their songs, because they are all great! My favorite is “Little House”, but they are all very good and worth purchasing.

I absolutely love the Killers. Currently, my favorite Killer’s song is “Andy, you’re a star”. Their debut album is “Hot Fuss” and is a great album. I suggest everyone to go out and buy it.

The band was first formed in 2002 by Brandon Flowers who was inspired by an Oasis concert. It took the band a long while to write all of the lyrics and perfect the melodies, but they did it. Their success continues to grow and each fan are full of anticipation for a new album that will be just as great as their last.
If you after listening to the Killer’s songs and like them, you might also enjoy Franz Ferdinand, Interpol and the Dead 60’s.

I have discovered a new band that I like a whole bunch. They are called Pinback and sound a lot like The Postal Service. My 3 favorite songs are: Penelope, Syracuse and the yellow ones. They have a few good videos on MTV. Their type of music is catorgized as postmodern indie pop that is quite a sensation on the West Coast.
If you download a few Pinback songs and enjoy them, you also might be interested in Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse, a couple more of my favorite bands.

Matthew Miller is a man who strongly belives in living a Lubavitch Hasidic lifestyle, while abiding by the Jewish Law. He raps about faith and spirituality with a consistent flow that is very pleasant to the ears. His top hit at the moment is “King Without a Crown.” It is a great song and I encourage everyone to download it! He sounds like a mixture of Bob Marely and Shlomo Carlebach.