This week, ShockYa highlighted one of the latest musicians to make their mark on the pop/rap/rock scene, Baby E. If you listened to Baby E’s single, “Sugar Don’t Let Me Down” on SoundCloud and loved it, the music video for “Sugar Don’t Let Me Down” is now released! We’ve got the video for you below the post; check it out and see what you think! As we said earlier this week, Baby E is a Florida native who, after initially fronting a Virginia Beach-based metal band, switched gears and has broken into the music scene with his unique combination of genres. Baby E said to Vibe, “I write all of  [ Read More ]

Since my teenage days of geeking out over the “aggressive” sound of Paramore, I am eternally drawn to female-fronted bands. Hayley Williams assisted in transforming the barely clothed pop artists of the 21st Century into rockers with a “who cares?” attitude. No longer robots in the industry, female musicians have made considerable strides in the professional world and along the way have opened doors to up and coming artists. One newly crafted path led to the Los Angeles based outfit, Stars In Stereo. Consisting of Bec Hollcraft (vocals), Jordan McGraw (lead guitar), Just Siegel (bass), Frogs McCormick (rhythm guitar) and Drew Langan (drums), the rock group has recently released an  [ Read More ]

Partial to suggestions from Rolling Stone and bands who originate in the south, it was only a matter of time till the Austin based rock group, Courrier, graced the pages of Shockya. The Texas natives dropped their sophomore album, “Cathedrals of Color”, on March 12th and have recently been featured in the Mumford & Sons’ cover issue of Rolling Stone. The outfit did a photo shoot for the magazine at Gruene Hall, which is the oldest continually running dance hall in Texas. You can check out a behind-the-scenes look of the Rolling Stone feature here. As a dedicated hard copy owner of the magazine, I took a liking to the  [ Read More ]

Genre-defying songwriter Nat Osborn might be an eclectic musician who dabbles in tons of different styles, but his new album “The King And The Clown,” created along with his band, The Nat Osborn Band, brings a big orchestral sound to pop music. Osborn, a native of New York, has a dedicated following both in the States and in Europe. The artist, who describes himself as a “funky Rufus Wainright,” has been writing music and leading bands for over 10 years. But in the middle of 2011, Osborn put aside all of his various bands and projects in order to make a dream come true–marrying huge sound with 21st century sensibilities.  [ Read More ]

If you, Shockya readers, decide to form a band, I suggest auditioning your siblings. There is an undeniable charm about “family” bands. Just knowing the outfit is a group of brothers and/or sisters, I automatically think “aw” and typically once the band plays, the music is so naturally in-sync it’s hard to forget. My “family bands are awesome” case can be further supported by memorable albums from Kings Of Leon, Oasis (before the Gallagher brawl), Veronicas, Jackson 5, INXS, Bee Gees, My Chemical Romance, Radiohead, AC/DC and 30 Seconds To Mars. I think I’ve made my point. Los Angeles rock band, Canto, will hopefully fall into these legendary sibling footsteps.  [ Read More ]

I think we could all use some happy music in our lives, right? If you’re feeling down or you just need a pick-me-up to get you through the rest of this morning, perhaps “Celebrate Tonight” by Allen Stone will do it for you! The fun music video was directed by Jon Jon Augustavo, the director who has gotten more than 160 million views for his Macklemore & Ryan Lewis videos for “Thrift Shop” and “Same Love.” Stone is an up-and-coming artist who has a soulful, mellow sound tons of music lovers will enjoy. Here’s more about Stone: “Stone, a 25-year-old musician from the tiny backwoods town of Chewelah, WA, was  [ Read More ]

Individually to you, Shockya readers, Thursday can mean a lot of different things based on your current professional and social statuses, but collectively, it translates to nearing the freedom of the weekend. So, let’s celebrate the welcoming of TGIF with the latest music video from synth pop princess, Casey Desmond. The “Voice” alum released the video for the Zebbler Encanti Experience A/V Remix of her single, “Déjà Vu”. Simply put, Desmond’s video creates a “raver’s” version of utopia, full of kalediscope images, vibrant colors and mystically spirited dance movements. “Déjà Vu” is the title track off her last album, which dropped on November 26th via Sound Museum Records. You can  [ Read More ]

Belvedere Vodka and Noisey‘s six-part Music Video Project have tapped Snoop Lion’s video for Iza Lach, “The Princess of Polish Pop,” as the project’s second installment. The project pairs musicians with unexpected directors and premieres their collaborative videos along with behind-the-scenes interviews and the making of the videos. Snoop Lion, formerly known as Snoop Dogg, filmed the music video in Lodz, Poland and features Lach’s track “The One Who Leaves” from her upcoming full length film, “Birds of a Feather.” This is Snoop Lion’s first music video. Snoop Lion discovered Lach six months ago and collaborated between Los Angeles and Krakow through Skype. The Music Video Project allowed Snoop Lion  [ Read More ]

If you’re looking for new music to latch onto, perhaps the indie rock band Falling Still is the band for you. The Los Angeles based band, consisting of Eric Podnar (vocals / guitar), Brett Hamilton (bass / vocals) and Jeremy Cull (drums), is set to release their self-titled EP on Feb. 26. “Falling Still” includes six anthems that are full of grit and heart. If you’re already a fan of their previous releases, you’ll be excited to know that the upcoming EP channels the energy from those releases and intensifies it, thanks to band’s producer and engineer Michael Parnin (Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Rage Against The Machine), who also  [ Read More ]

While I respect mostly every music genre, except electronic dance music, my complete admiration lies within the walls of rock n’ roll. Overtime, the progression of this category has continuously left me satisfied, only if you don’t count the off course traveling of rock into the pop realm, producing outfits, such as All Time Low. Steering clear of that direction, rock n’ roll continues a promising path with Grammy winning artists like The Black Keys, Jack White and Foo Fighters leading the contemporary way. As rock n’ roll pushes on, it includes the elements that shaped it during the classic rock era as well. Artists from previous decades re-emerge with  [ Read More ]

With artists churning out singles rapidly, the music industry has given birth to numerous fleeting solo and group acts. Nowadays, a talent can produce a “hot” single, drop it, make sales and then disappear with the rest of the Sisqós. Holding onto that success is the most taxing job and is largely determined by how cultivated an artist’s sound is. Categorizing an outfit as a “band to watch” simply means the group has a transcending sound that will diversify one track from the next, steering clear of the typecast, “one hit wonder”. Alternative rock quartet, Diamond Youth, possesses this innate quality and is therefore deemed as Shockya’s “Band To Watch  [ Read More ]

Praising the year’s cinematic achievements, The Academy Awards will air this Sunday, February 24th. With honors given for “Best Picture”, “Best Actor”, “Best Actress” and “Best Director”, the award for “Best Original Song” tends to get overlooked amongst the batch. While I can name recent winners of the four titles above, the same cannot be said for the latter category. Titanic’s “My Heart Will Go On” and Three Six Mafia’s iconic win for Hustle &Flow’s “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” are my only secure bets on past victors. So, I’ve decided to stop my continuous unfamiliarity with “Best Original Song” and acquaint you, Shockya readers, and myself with  [ Read More ]

Thanks to the Internet, unearthing new bands has become the norm, but coming across a band worthy of your fan support is not an everyday occurrence. If an artist is denied from one website, chances are their tunes will appear on the page of another. The expression, “there are plenty of other fish in the sea”, is extremely applicable to “Internet rejection” in the music industry. One band that doesn’t have to worry about this website denunciation is the Los Angeles garage rock band, Canto. With the strum of a string and the utter of a note, Canto had me sold. Having both an edgy and vulnerable sound, the outfit  [ Read More ]

With 18 albums released, Black Sabbath continue to persist within the music industry they helped transform for the better since the 70s. The heavy rock legends are back with their new album, “13”, which will drop sometime in June. The upcoming album will be Black Sabbath’s first album with the King Of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, in 35 years. In support of “13”, Black Sabbath has released a video of them inside the studio. Osbourne and his fellow long-term band members guitarist, Tomy Iommi, and bassist, Geezer Butler reunited in a Los Angeles studio, alongside drummer Brad Wilk of Rage Against The Machine and producer, Rick Rubin, who is a seven-time  [ Read More ]

The Internet is buzzing with its fair share of past Grammy Award moments, but these lists are typically specific to either performances, wardrobes or outlandish occurrences. I’ve decided to condense the “Top Ten” selection even further and group all the Grammy moments into one read. Since the iconic award show is today, I expect you, Shockya readers, to be preparing for your Grammy parties and not surfing the web for too long. So, use your Internet time wisely and check out the brief list below. 1. Eminem & Elton John, “Stan” Performance, 2001 Still bitter about Eminem’s “Recovery” snubbed for “Album of The Year” in 2010, I, now, find myself  [ Read More ]