Now Hear This, Volume 1

I'd like to make this a regular feature here at The Savvy Guyde. Part of being a savvy guy is being hip to music that doesn't suck monkey balls. Any assclown can listen to the local Top 40 station & hear the same ten or fifteen songs that the record labels want you to hear regurgitated on a 60-minute loop. That takes zero effort and zero imagination. You're above that chicanery, else you wouldn't be reading this blog.

I've lived a lifetime assiduously eschewing the drivel of average Top 40 pop music and listening instead to what used to be called New Wave and Alternative and then became Modern Rock and EDM (Electronic Dance Music). As I've matured into the Virtual Wingman that I am, I've found it a daunting challenge indeed to find new music that I can get into before it becomes popular and thusly ruined by overplay as it gets Top 40 rotation. As I find stuff I shall endeavor to share them with you in a timely manner. A savvy guy does not listen to Justin Bieber. A savvy guy does not listen to Taylor Swift. No, not even as bait to get laid. Ever. Again, you're above that.

That said, listen up and get savvy.

Capital Cities-- Safe and Sound

Found this gem from Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian (the duo who make up Capital Cities) by accident listening to Sirius a couple weekends back and it was absolutely love at first listen. Great beats, catchy hooks, impossible to keep from dancing while listening to. This is my new jam for Spring. Even features live trumpet instead of a sample, courtesy of young virtuoso Spencer Ludwig, and it really makes the song. Look for the full album out June 11th. This is just one of several clever videos out there for this song.










Icona Pop--I Love It (I Don't Care)

Great techno-pop dance music from Sweden, where good dance music seems to grow on trees. Caught this for the first time last week on Sirius as well. I dare you to sit still while listening. It demands to be blasted at peak volume with the top down.



 The Airborne Toxic Event--Timeless

Another accidental finding on Sirius (Detecting a pattern yet?). A few years back I fell head over heels with their song "Sometime Around Midnight" and even named it one of the best songs of 2008 on another blog site. This one grows on you rather quickly.



Radioactive/It's Time--Imagine Dragons

Took me awhile to finally get into these guys. I've been let down by so many newer alternative/modern rock bands that I'm reluctant to get into bands that are heavily hyped on alternative radio. You've probably already heard these but if not, you need to. Both of these songs are really great.





 Tegan & Sara--Closer

Twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin have been around awhile, an indie staple and a closely guarded secret of sorts.  I think I first heard them in 2004 with their song "Where Does The Good Go". This is a great pop track that should break them huge.




Metric--Breathing Underwater

It's not often when I can say I first heard a band by watching Carson Daly's bland late night tv show. I usually fall asleep before it comes on and even if I'm still awake, his show will put me to sleep before the first commercial. As a band, Metric has been hanging around in the background for awhile, and this is from their fifth album. Still, it's a damn sight better than the sizzurp-soaked , shinily polished turds they try to feed you on commercial Top 40 radio. Kinda reminds me of 90s shoe-gaze bands like Lush.




Pet Shop Boys--Axis

The first single off their upcoming "Electric" album, not due till July 15th, Axis is the kind of intelligent dance music that I've come to expect from a band that I've listened to since 1986. This looks to be a great return to the dancefloor epics I knew & loved from PSB after a couple of hit-or-miss albums that were sort of on the mostly mellow and tepid side. Oddly, it's damn near an instrumental, with muted, minimal vocals. Don;t watch the video if you're seizure prone.




And, of course, there's new Depeche Mode.....

Disclaimer: Yes, I am biased. Depeche Mode is my favorite band of all time.

The new album is called Delta Machine, and while I'm sad that it wasn't close to the glory that was "Violator" despite claims that it was a return to that sound, there are some good tracks on it and the new single is in my opinion the best track of the whole CD. Whereas the first single "Heaven" was an austere minimal (damn near funereal) ballad, "Soothe My Soul" is a dancefloor stomper with a dark, murky, sensual edge, just the way a Depeche Mode song should be. Play it LOUD, friends, and see what a 32-year career as the cutting edge of music brings to the table.




Who's got your back? I do.