Archive for the 'commercial' Category

BOTM vol 11

The end of the month draws nigh, and I have sought only to serve the blogosphere what meager offerings I could find.  In my endless search of great music there are, on occasion, songs that fall through the cracks.  Sometimes they’re brand new tracks, in other instances they are old and almost forgotten.  It is for this reason that each month I present to you my Best of the Month series.  Enjoy the tracks below, I’ve done all I could to bring you only that which is worthy of your precious time.  If you’d like to peruse all the other BOTM volumes click this link.

All the tracks in one zip file : here {zshare = left click}

mp3 : Arcade Fire - Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs Cover)
It’s almost a sure bet that when one of my favorite bands covers one of my favorite songs it’ll be worth listening to.  This cover comes from the wonderful year 2005 and it’s still hot.

mp3 : Coldplay - Death Will Never Conquer
The four boys from England gave this track away for free on their website.  I’m not sure if it would qualify as a b-side, as a hidden track, or whatnot.  Regardless of nomenclature it’s a nice slice of Coldplay.

mp3 : Enur (feat Natasja) - Calabria 2008
Yes, this is that song, from the Target commercial featuring two undergrads setting up their dorm room {with an appropriate amount of dance off panache}.  It’s good, trust me.

mp3 : Jack White and Alicia Keys - Another Way To Die
Could the upcoming bond be as good as this summer’s Batman movie?  A large part of me thinks it will be impossible, but I can always hope.  This is for certain, Jack White makes amazing songs.

mp3 : Kanye West - Love Lockdown
It’s been remixed to shreds, already, and to be honest I hope Kanye realizes his albums sell because of his rhymes, not his vocals {however computer aided/distorted they are}.  As a single song this track is nice, I would cringe if it filled out an entire album.

mp3 : Katy Perry - Electric Feel (MGMT Cover)
Katy Perry ranks right down about the same level as Rhianna or Amy Winehouse on my list of those who shouldn’t have a recording career.  But even broken clocks are right twice a day.  Or in Katy’s case, once.  This cover proves yet again that anyone can sound decent when they’re playing someone else’s song.

mp3 : Mystery Jets - Bleeding Love (Leona Lewis Cover)
While my mind is as of yet undecided about whether Leona Lewis is talented or not, one thing is for certain.  Mystery Jets have yet to do something that disappoints me.  This track is superb.

mp3 : Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better
I’ve often thought of Phoenix as the much much more talented version of Maroon 5.  See Maroon 5 is terrible {always}.  Phoenix, on the other hand, seems to be getting better and better with each and every album they produce.

mp3 : Snow Patrol - Take Back The City
It’s officially a toss up whether or not the upcoming Snow Patrol album will be amazing or terrible.  I like the progress they’ve made with their latest two albums, although I know some fans would vehemently disagree.  This song shows promise.

mp3 : The Kooks - Kids (MGMT Cover)
If you skipped over the Katy Perry cover of MGMT {which you rightly could do, she’s not that talented} then this is definitely a track you should hear.  One word comes to mind when I listen to this track, and that word is love.

mp3 : The Postal Service - Grow Old With Me
Will they ever release another album?  Not likely.  If they do somehow get the tracks together and release an album will it be epic?  Probably not.  Probably not even close.  It’ll probably disappoint as much as the second half of Weezer’s latest disc {and I really wanted to love that one}.

mp3 : TV On The Radio - Family Tree
Their latest album is solidly in the running for best album of the year.  Honestly, every track is brilliant off this album, and Family Tree is one of those tracks.

mp3 : Yannis Kamarinos - Money Shot
Yes, this is that song from the AT&T techno twins commercial.  I had to search high and low for this little slice of danceable goodness.  You are welcome.  The next volume in the Best of the Remix series should hit tomorrow.

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Sia

If you live in the States, and have been watching the olympics at least half an hour a day {and really, with all this coverage how could you not?}, you’ve probably seen this recent Coca-Cola commercial.  For those of you who won’t or can’t click through to that youtube link the commercial features inspirational music with a steady montage of famous olympic and special olypmpic moments.  Each and every time I saw the commercial one thought nagged on my brain.  What is that song?  I knew I had heard it, I knew it was familiar, but I felt as if something was just slightly off.

mp3 : Sia - Breathe Me

Turns out I was right about everything {as I usually am}.  The song is Breathe Me from Sia’s 2006 album Colour the Small One (amazon) (itunes).  In all actuality the music they use is really an instrumental edit of the song.  Basically they’ve taken the instrumental interlude and linked that first fifteen seconds together with a clip from the instrumental bridge which starts at about 3:15 into the track.  Overall it’s a great commercial and it’s nice to see Sia getting more exposure {even if they cut her vocals from the ad}.

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Saul Williams

Saul Williams has recently jumped in popularity largely due to his song, List of Demands, providing the spot on background for the new Nike Sparq Training commercials {see youtube}. That song hails from a 2004 effort Saul did, entitled simply Saul Williams (iTunes), and I must say the rest of the album is far and away terrible. It never approaches the driving brilliance of this one wonderful shining moment.

mp3 : Saul Williams - List of Demands (Reparations)

However, all is not lost in the career of Mr. Williams. He recently released a free download album consisting of covers. You might still be able to download the album, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust, and the from his website {here}. Below are my favorite two tracks from the album. He takes an interesting look at a NIN track as well as one of the most famous U2 songs of all time.

mp3 : Saul Williams - Gunshots by Computers (NIN Cover)
mp3 : Saul Williams - Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2 Cover)

When I first heard the NIN cover I had to quickly check my sources as I could’ve sworn this was a track from the old Rage Against the Machine days. The U2 cover is also well done. It’s obvious Saul has the musical talent to make great music, maybe he lacks the creativity and/or writing habits to make his own album full of winners.

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Ben’s Brother

So I’ve seen this commercial a lot lately and everytime I think that it sounds like such an amazing song. So I looked it up and found a copy of it, and it is a good song. So here you have it. The Dentyne Ice commercial featuring this band I had never heard of: Ben’s Brother.



I checked out their myspace and their other songs were decent, but not as good as this one. Luckily this is their “new mix” so hopefully they are evolving into this new sound.

mp3 : Ben’s Brother - Stuttering

EDIT : This file will now work with Windows Media Player. I know many of you were having issues getting the file to play using this atrocious media player, but now those should be sorted out. Enjoy the music and if there’s ever a problem feel free to leave a comment.

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