For today’s Spotlight I snagged a song that last week was featured on iTunes as the Free Single of the Week: Owl City’s “Fireflies.” I first downloaded the song from iTunes last week and have since been getting calls from their label and management about playing it. All this week I’ve been listening to this song incesantly, and finally decided that I would play it for you.
Wow, am I glad I did!
The response to this song was possibly the best of any song featured on the Spotlight to date. Scott said, “Fireflies rocks,” adding, “I love the song!” Denise said the song was “different and refreshing.” While Kelly said, “it was kinda nerdy, but I liked it.” The text response was out of the park, too. Many of the texts agreed with me that there is a similarity to Death Cab For Cutie and many of them said things like, “Love it!” or “Very cool!” So I think it’s safe to say you liked this one.
If you missed the Spotlight, you can hear “Fireflies” on the Owl City MySpace page. You can also find Owl City on Facebook, Twitter and their official website. And because Universal Republic doesn’t understand the value of embedded video, you’ll have to head to YouTube to watch it.
What do you think of the song?
Sonic Youth have been making noise for almost 30 years now. They’ve only really had one hit in “The Diamond Sea” from their 1995 album Washing Machine. And they’re probably more than okay with that. Their latest foray, The Eternal, was their highest chart debut of their illustrious career hitting number 18 the week of its release. Today’s Spotlight, “Antenna,” is the latest single from that album.
K’Naan, a former Somali child soldier and current resident of Canada, was on the final commercial jet to leave Somalia as the war-torn nation imploded in civil war. Now he makes poignant music that tells the tale of struggle and loss in a voice that is pure and heartfelt. His song “Wavin’ Flag” from his latest album Troubadour was today’s Spotlight.
NeedToBreathe (they like it as one word) is a band hailing from South Carolina. They have their third album coming out August 25th, and we have them coming to Salt Lake for a free show at the State Room on Tuesday, August 4th. It’s a 21+ show, and did I mention it’s FREE?!
Depeche Mode will be filling the E Center with their synth-sounds on 
Five For Fighting, the brain child of John Ondrasik, is back with the fifth studio album under the moniker. Slice will be available on October 20th, but the first single, “Chances,” is already available. Back in the mid-90s, when Ondrasik was becoming a professional musician, he was told that the singer/songwriter thing wasn’t going to work and that he needed a proper band name. He’s an avid hockey fan and went with Five For Fighting. Now, as singer/songwriters are again huge, he’s “stuck” with the name.
