music recommendations
2017 has come to an close. With the end of a year comes year-end lists, and this is a list of my personal top twenty favorite albums of this year.
There were so many great albums that came out this year, and this list took awhile to put together. With all of that being said, here are my top twenty favorite albums of 2017,
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Northshore are a pop punk band from the U.K. Their most recent single, titled “Father,” was released on December 28th, 2017. What I like about this band so much is that they dare to be different with their music and each song stands out from the others, and this new single is no different. It’s a bit more slowed down compared to the tracks on their debut EP “Alternative Futures,” but nevertheless, the emotion and energy is still there as it always has been. The catchy guitar parts in the beginning start off the song on a strong note. The two vocalists of this band both have great chemistry and it shows when they switch off during the verses and show off their individual talents, but also in the chorus when they both sing together and their voices work together so well. In said chorus, the melody is catchy and memorable as ever and one that’s been stuck in my head since I first heard the song. As far as the instrumentation goes, I already mentioned the catchy guitar parts in the beginning. As well as that, the drum parts impressed me, especially in the second verse. The lyrics show as much emotion as the performances do, and that’s just one of many reasons why I like this song so much.
The Veer Union, a rock/metal band from Canada, recently released a compilation album of songs that they released between 2006-2016, along with a few acoustic versions of tracks, including “Seasons.” This was my first time hearing the song and I was really impressed. I hadn’t heard the original version of this song before, so I can’t really make any comparisons between the two, but I will say that I enjoyed this version a lot. The dark intro grabbed my attention immediately. The melodies on here are really well composed and the vocals, shown off best in the bridge, are incredible as well. The bridge also had some of my favorite lyrics on this entire track. After hearing this acoustic version, I definitely want to check out the original version of the song and more songs by this band. Red Winter are a punk rock band from the UK. Their latest single, “Worst Band In The World,” was released on October 28th, 2017. This song has a lot of energy from beginning to end. The instrumentation (particularly the bass and drums parts) in the beginning starts the song off really well. The overall instrumentation in general on this track is great. It really drives the track and keeps the energy up throughout its entirety. As far as vocals go, I really like the tone the vocalist has to his voice and his style and performance really fits well with the style of rock music that this band plays. If you’re a fan of punk rock music, then I would highly recommend this song to you.
SLACKRR are a pop punk band from the UK. Their debut single, titled “Closest To Perfect,” was released on November 3rd, 2017. The guitar parts in the intro immediately caught my attention and the song as a whole had me interested from beginning to end. This track is so catchy and just a really fun track to listen to. It’s a very strong debut single from this band and one I definitely see myself coming back to for repeated listens.
It's February 2016. Mario Mitchell, better known by his stage name Purple Hearts, had just released his debut single, "Love And War," and was constantly sharing his music with anyone who would listen.
Fast forward over a year and a half later, he's released two EPs, been on a co-headlining tour, picking up new fans and gaining so much more exposure and recognition along the way. If you've been here since the very beginning, you may remember that he was one of the first people I ever did an interview with - back when I didn't exactly know what I was doing. I originally found out about his music right when Love And War was released, and since then, I was hooked. Once Live A Little Bit Louder was starting up, we did an interview (which you can read here). I got to chat with him again a year ago about his debut EP, "The Dark Carnival" (click here to see that article). Two things that I really love about Purple Hearts and his songwriting style are his honesty and his ability to tell a story so well with his well-written lyrics. He gets more detailed and descriptive in the lyrics of some of his songs, but it's still something a wider audience can connect to. Purple Hearts is one of the very few artists that I can say I've been supporting since the beginning - and I say that with pride. Since early 2016, he's come so far and accomplished so many things, and I'm excited to see what the future has in store for him. |
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