Cherry Vynil

The fact that folk rock bands are becoming a big thing in South Africa makes me a really happy blogger. I first saw Cherry Vynil at the Waterfront when they were competing in Take The Stage for an opportunity to share the stage with South Africa’s biggest musicians at the new year’s eve concert.

Cherry Vinyl was established in 2008 and started busking in Cape Town to make a living and now they perform on stages all across the country.

The sound of Cherry Vinyls music is timeless and I didn’t feel like any sound was repetitive as there were so many variations and layering in their music. Everyone looked comfortable on stage and they looked like they were actually enjoying themselves rather than worrying about the technicalities. I don’t know if that comes with all the years of experience or if they just really enjoy what they are doing. I believe it’s the latter. I enjoyed the fact that they do not come off as pretentious or arrogant. The band is professional and a joy to watch.

The lead vocals were really on point and there seemed to be an ease with which he sang. There is also a very rare quality in the vocalist voice that is quite hard to explain, it’s a crisp, controlled and soothing sound which also exudes his likable personality – I don’t know if that even makes sense but I like it a lot.
The other band members (lead guitarist, bass guitarist and drummer) play off of eachothers energy when lead vocals are busy. There is also an unspoken connection that they have and they know exactly when and what to do at any moment.
I am surprised to hear that they are still unsigned.

Please do follow them on all their social media accounts and also don’t forget to check out their stuff on iTunes.
https://itunes.apple.com/za/album/busking-cape-town/id918580482
https://www.facebook.com/cherryvynil/
@cherryvynil
www.youtube.com/cherryvynilband

JUNE PLAYLIST

I usually find myself in a constant battle of searching for new music. Today I have decided to share my phones playlist with you so that your battle is made easier. Most of the songs that I am currently enjoying are a few of my old tunes, that I unfortunately forgot about, but now they are alive again and still appropriate to my life.
That’s the thing about good music; it’s timeless.


1. The Kooks – Sofa Song
2. Christina Perri – Arms
3. Bowling for Soup – 1985
4. System of a Down – Aerials
5. The Neighbourhood – Afraid
6. All Time Low – Walls
7. All Time Low – Therapy
8. Trampled by Turtles – Alone
9. Blink 182 – Always
10. Bombay Bicycle Club – Always like this
11. Arcade Fire – Ocean of noise
12. Arctic Monkeys – Are you Mine
13. Justin Bieber – Bad Day
14. Eminem – Beautiful
15. Union J – Beautiful Life
16. Blink 182 – After Midnight
17. One direction – Best song ever
18. Hands – Brave Motion
19. Breaking Benjamin – Breath
20. Foster the People – Broken Jaw
21. Lawson – Brokenhearted (ft. B.o.B)
22. Marina and the Diamonds – Buy the Stars
23. Foster the People – Call it what you want
24. The Vamps – Can we dance
25. The 1975 – Chocolate
26. System of a Down – Chop Suey
27. 30 Seconds to Mars – Closer to the edge
28. All Time Low – Coffee Shop soundtrack
29. Arctic Monkeys – Crying Lightning
30. Breaking Benjamin – Diary of Jane
31. The Saturdays – Disco Love
32. Guns N’ Roses – Don’t Cry
33. Foster the People – Don’t Stop
34. Arctic Monkeys – Fake Tales of San Francisco
35. The Neighbourhood – Female Robbery
36. The Neighbourhood – Flawless
37. All Time Low – For Baltimore
38. The Kooks – Fuck the world off
39. Bowling For Soup – Girl all the bad guys want
40. Trampled by Turtles – Help you
41. Avril Lavigne – I miss you
42. Googoo Dolls – Iris
43. John Newman – Cheating
44. Lawson – Juliet
45. Fall out Boy – Just one yesterday
46. Linkin Park – Burn it down
47. Little Mix – Little Me
48. Kodaline – Love like this
49. Nirvana – Man who sold the world
50. Blondie – One way or another
51. Bowling for Soup – Punk Rock 101
52. Bombay Bicycle Club – Rinse me down
53. The Neighbourhood – Say my name/cry me a river (cover)
54. Marina and the Diamonds – Scab and Plaster
55. The Kooks – See the sun
56. Bombay Bicycle Club – Shuffle
57. All Time Low – So long, and thanks for all the booze
58. Arctic Monkeys – Still take you home
59. One Direction – Teenage Dirtbag (cover)
60. Troye Sivan – The fault in our stars
61. Marina and the Diamonds – The outsider
62. The 1975 – falling for you
63. All Time Low – Time bomb
64. Blink 182 – Time to break up
65. 5 seconds of summer – Don’t stop
66. Olly Murs – Dear darlin’
67. All Time Low – Weightless
68. The xx – You got the love (remix)
69. 5 seconds of summer – She looks so perfect
70. One Direction – Better than words


I hope you all find something in my current playlist that you love. There are some absolute gems in there.

Calling All Astronauts

If you have not heard of them yet, you are seriously missing out. CAA is a London based “Electro Goth Punk three-piece” band. If that description does not intrigue you then I don’t know what will, I mean, it’s all inclusive.

The vocalist, programmer and producer is David B.
The guitarist , J Browning
The Bassist, Kristi Bury

CAA have achieved many things as a band, they topped the Twitter Music Charts twice in 2012, were number 1 in Reverbnation’s Alternative Chart and they have been gaining support from all across the globe.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN LUST (released 11/02/14):
My first thought as I pressed play is that they sounded so full of energy and I could only imagine the song being played live in front of me. The song is so electrifying, with so many things happening at the same time, so many sounds, it entranced me instantly. I was sitting in a crowded café and as I pressed play the sound completely overcame me. I was taken away.
The song “It could have been lust” integrates so many genres and crosses all borders. Exactly as they described themselves, “Electro Goth Punk”

The music sounds mainly rock and metal with influences of electro which is not overpowering at all.
If any of the afore mentioned genres intrigue you, I definitely propose you listen to Calling All Astronauts.

Calling All Astronauts:
www.callingallastronauts.com
www.reverbnation.com/callingallastronauts
callingallastronauts1.bandcamp.com
@CAA_Official

Sam Garrett Music

I first discovered Sam Garrett on Ben Brown’s vlogs as he was usually the backing track to the vlogs and then Ben shot a music video for Sam. The sound of Hope fascinated me so much that I had to find out more about Sam.

Sam Garrett is a 23 year old singer songwriter from the UK. He is currently living in London but he grew up by the countryside. Sam grew up in a family with strong musical inspiration. His parents met in a recording studio and his father was in a band in the 70s and 80s. I would assume that his surroundings were musically strong especially with his parent’s vinyl collection.
As a child, Sam was very inquisitive and creative and he managed to teach himself how to play the guitar and even started writing a few lyrics at the age of 8!

Sam draws inspiration from “nature and life itself”. Personally I find this inspirational as Sam mentions that people have become detached from nature and that we take a lot of things for granted. Our lives have become so fast paced and we hardly take a moment to stop and take a step back and just appreciate what’s around us.

“I believe it is important to be truthful and to do only such actions which are beneficial to you and your fellow beings”.

Now for the music part:
Sam Garrett’s “Be Easy” EP is the perfect remedy for distressing and unwinding at the end of a long, stressful day or a long journey. It is an easy listen and very relaxing.
Sam uses only his voice and guitar to create delicately crafted melodic tunes. This gives his music a certain rawness which I enjoy tremendously.

I do not want to spoil anything for you. I want YOU to go on this journey as it is a musical experience. My personal favourites include Hope, River and Don’t let go.

Please do check Sam’s links and if you are impressed, check him on iTunes.
Twitter, Soundcloud and Facebook: samgarrettmusic
Youtube channel: Sam Garrett

SUPPORT GREAT MUSIC :)

My Red and Blue

Ben Eggebrecht, also known as MY RED AND BLUE, is a pop/rock singer from Nashville.

I think it’s about time that I share one of my favourite artists with you. Yes, I admit that I have purposefully hidden him away because I feel that his music is just too treasurable and I did not want to share. I have given a few hints though, on my tracklists of must haves.

The first time I stumbled across his music was when I was on soundcloud and decided to search all the singers/groups that follow me on twitter. I came across My Red and Blue… and it just stuck. I could not search further.

The song Midnight Gown just kept playing and playing and I found myself pressing repeat for about an hour and a half. This was the first song that I found and it entranced me. His voice is so fascinating, it is comforting and it takes me back to my childhood. This song reminds me of all the fairytales that I love and allows me to relive those memories.

Most of the other songs are a bit more upbeat and pop/rock. I am incapable of describing the complexities of his music as I do not that much musical knowledge besides knowing what's good and what isn't, however I can assure you that his music is worth the listen and you will not regret it.

From what I can tell with the odd twitter mentions, he is a very humble person and I don’t think he knows how talented he is.

Everyone should listen to him. Soundcloud him and buy his stuff.

Something like kites

I usually write my own posts by researching artist’s bio’s on the internet then putting those facts into my own words. But this post will be a bit different as this artist has already done that for me. No, I won’t just copy and paste the whole thing but I might lift pieces of the original to place in the middle of my own work.

Something like kites.
Yes that’s the band’s name. The first time I saw it, I wondered what was meant by it. “we are all free in life, but tied down by constraints and subject to others. A kite is free, tied down by the string and subject to the wind all at the same time” – I think that was the most beautiful description I have ever read.

Jake Hyndman-Whittier is the only member of Something Like Kites. Yes. A one man band that produces a variety of layered sounds. It’s an amalgam of acoustic, hip-hop, pop and electro sounds. He usually says if you like Owl City or Ed Sheeran, then you’ll probably enjoy his music. I disagree with this, only because I believe he should say he draws influences from them and he shouldn’t compare himself to them. I believe that he has a very distinct sound and it can range across many genres (as I stated above) therefore, many artists as well.

This Canadian singer-songwriter plays piano and guitar and has the knowledge of electro-synths and combines all of these to create the striking tunes I love to hear.

“I’ll be here” is one of my favourites as the lyrics are comforting and it’s a tranquil listen – by this I mean, there isn’t too much going on and I usually sit and try to pick out everything that happens from the backing vocals to each individual sound that is happening.

“In my arms” is such a pick-me-up pop song and it gets me in a better mood. Especially on those days when I am in a slump and feel as if I cannot face the world on that day.

I suggest you take 10 minutes out of your day to look and subscribe to his youtube channel and sound cloud page. I guarantee you’re going to stay a lot longer than 10 minutes, so give him a listen and like his facebook page, or follow him on twitter – you can also get free songs! BONUS!

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/something-like-kites
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/SomethinglikeKites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SmthnglikeKites
Download Album: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/make-it-happen/id683573824
Instagram: Look up ''SOMETHINGLIKEKITES''
Website: www.somethinglikekites.com
T-Shirts: http://www.districtlines.com/Something-Like-Kites
Myspace: https://myspace.com/something.like.kites
Bandcamp: http://somethinglikekites.bandcamp.com/album/make-it-happen

Without music, life would be a mistake

Hi everyone.
So I assume by the number of hits on the previous post of this theme, it was enjoyable? I certainly do hope so.
So I am here today to mention a few other artists and songs by them which I think are essential to any playlist.
I do hope you like it.

1. Matthew Mole – The Home We Built (CD) >> the entire CD is a must! Can be purchased on iTunes or at any good music store! Get it

2. Woodstock Mafia – Trigger and Gun >> DEFIANCE (CD) is now out – www.woodstockmafia.com

3. JJXO – Too Much, Nothing To Let Go, Built To Destroy, On The Leash, Get Used To It

4. The 1975

5. My Red & Blue >> can everyone just please do themselves a favour. This is brilliant. I am not even exaggerating

6. Mighty Oaks

7. Foals

8. Bastille

9. Thomas Krane

10. Al Bairre >> They personally gave me their CD and after replaying it 100000 times, I still enjoyed it as much as the first time. Timeless music is real music.

11. Gangs of Ballet >> Yes/No/Grey is their new CD. I went to their launch in Cape Town and oh my did I enjoy it. Such extraordinary stuff coming from them.

12. Lawson – Juliet, Brokenhearted, Taking Over Me, When She Was Mine, Learn To Love Again, Standing In The Dark

13. San Cisco

14. Sleeping With Sirens – Iris (cover)

15. Puppet Rebellion – Chemical Friends, The Greatest Lie Ever Told, The New Twenty

16. The Fleet – Last All Night, Get Up And Run, Change Your Mind

17. Cruskin

18. Fox Comet

If you have no idea where to get this music to just listen to, everything here is on my soundcloud page. If you do like the songs, please click the link to buy them on iTunes.
www.soundcloud.com/kerbelker_s

Support excellent artists. Support brilliant bands. Support stunning music.