Must Hear: Song In D – Mock Orange

Photo by Chris Strong

There are many, many indie artists I check out weekly, and three things help catch my eye – (a) an interesting band name, (b) a funky album cover, or (c) a very good band/artist picture. Mock Orange struck gold with two out of the three.

Having no idea that their name was derived from a flower (or that the band has actually been around for at least a decade), I paused mid-scroll and read the brief review of their track Song In D. Next to the review was a thumbnail of the album cover for Captain Love, the awesomeness of which suffice it to say I have no words to describe, so I’ll just add it to this post.

As aforementioned, I love rock. On my first listen to Song In D, I was hooked just by the intro riff. The video is quite bizarre but if you can wrap your head around it and just enjoy the song, it’s definitely worth at least one watch.

To Write Love On Her Arms

The good people at WordPress have partnered with SocialVibe to support multiple causes, including hunger, poverty, illiteracy, and illness.

I’ve chosen to support To Write Love On Her Arms, a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for those struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. It’s fairly simple and I encourage you all to help those in need by simply clicking on the badge to the right – it does not take you away from this page, all you have to do is rate a video, and Sprint makes a donation to TWLOHA on MI’s and your behalf.

To know more about TWLOHA, visit their website.

Must Hear: Dark Blue – Jack’s Mannequin

Photo by Keaton Andrew

I’ve been sitting on Jack Mannequin’s Dark Blue for about three years now. I first heard the song in 2005 or 2006 because my friend Veronica (who loves Something Corporate) suggested the band to me, and although I haven’t heard it for a while my iPod decided I needed a reminder and the played it on the random setting.

The solo project of Something Corporate frontman Andrew McMahon, Jack’s Mannequin is borne out of the music he writes that doesn’t quite fit the Something Corporate sound. McMahon fronts the band, which released their first album Everything In Transit in 2005. Dark Blue is the second single from the album, and boasts of an extremely catchy guitar riff and a sound that just makes you want to sing along. The piano – one of McMahon’s many skills – also adds a unique element to what was in danger of becoming any other pop-rock song.

Artist Alert: Passion Pit

There’s nothing I love more than discovering a new band that’s just so darned good they make it to the list of my most played songs within a matter of days. Passion Pit managed that with not just one, but two songs from their debut album Manners.

Making electronic music since 2007, Passion Pit is a band from Cambridge, Massachussetts, consisting of Michael Angelakos, Ian Hultquist, Ayad Al Adhamy, Jeff Apruzzese and Nate Donmoyer. They found a loyal fanbase early on, largely due to their 2008 EP Chunk of Change, which featured my favourite Passion Pit song Sleepyhead. In May 2009 they released Manners, which includes Sleepyhead, Moth’s Wings, and The Reeling, among many other fabulous songs.

Even John Mayer is a fan. Enough said.

Artist Alert: Miike Snow

For the longest time, I thought Miike Snow was some guy who decide numerology worked for him and so changed the way he spelled “Mike”.  Unimpressed by numerology and the hype that surrounds it, I stayed away from all the mp3 streams I found.

Thankfully, curiosity got the better of me a few months later when I couldn’t stop reading about Miike Snow everywhere I went, and I thought, “Miike Snow seems to have good taste in music himself, seeing as he collaborates with bands like Passion Pit and Peter Bjorn and John”.

Turns out Miike Snow is not one person but three – Andrew Wyatt, Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg – who, seven years after they first met, formed the group in 2007 and set on a band name influenced by Japanese director Takashi Miike. Their debut album was released by Downtown Records in May 2009 and includes two absolutely fabulous songs – Animal and Burial. Do check out Burial, which has a very interesting video that was filmed in India by Daniel Wirtberg and Jonas Rudström.