New Music Spotlight #168: Phoenix

Phoenix has been featured on the New Music Spotlight twice before. We first featured them back in April, right after they performed on Saturday Night Live, and now they’re being featured in a new Cadillac commercial and the song was used in the pilot episode of Cougar Town with Courtney Cox.

Reaction to the song was fairly positive, again. Curt called in and said he loved the song. Maddie sent a text that read, “ooh i liked it!! It was awesome!” Another person said, “i liked it it was a cool song but not my favorite”.

If you missed today’s Spotlight, you can hear “1901″ on the band’s MySpace page. You can also find Phoenix on Facebook, Twitter and their official website.

What do you think of the song?

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Pearl Jam Play Epic Show at E Center

Eddie Vedder, the venerable front man of Seattle grunge rockers Pearl Jam, noted early in the set on Monday night at E Center that the band hadn’t been to Utah in eleven years. Judging by the reaction from the crowd during and after the show, they more than made up for lost time.

With a set that featured songs from every album the band has released, except Riot Act, and a handful of b-sides and other non-album tracks, the set was very representative of the band’s career, and the E Center crowd ate it up. During the first encore, after the band played their ode to the girl in Blind Melon’s “No Rain” video, “Bee Girl,” Vedder stopped the show for a special moment. A gentlemen, using the crowd as a prop, proposed to his girlfriend. They were then serenaded by Vedder and company with a heartfelt version of “Just Breathe” from the band’s new album, Backspacer.

I was surprised and elated to hear “Satan’s Bed,” a song PJ had only played 20 times prior to last night. The entire crowd seemed to be as in to the surprise inclusion as I, and many of them sang every word with Vedder.

I took a few videos of the show, you can see those and the full set list after the jump.

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New Music Spotlight #167: Switchfoot

Switchfoot, who broke out in a big way with their singles “Dare You To Move” and “Meant To Live” are back with their seventh album, Hello Hurricane, featuring today’s Spotlight, “Mess Of Me.” This song displays a bit of a different sound for these SoCal Christian surf-rockers. They seem to be going in a much heavier direction than previous albums. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I think it works on this song, but it’s not what one might expect from Switchfoot.

Reaction to the song was mostly positive, but mixed. Steven called in and said “that was a good song.” Justin voiced his opinion saying, he’s “liking that song by the Switchfoot.” Natalie said she “loved it.” Texters were a bit more critical with Pauly saying it was “way to heavy for a near 40 (year old) listener.” Bekah “really liked it” and gave the song 4 stars. An anonymous texter said, “they’re trying too hard to be muse. It’s not working…”

If you missed today’s Spotlight, you can hear “Mess Of Me” on the band’s MySpace page. You can also catch up with Switchfoot on Facebook, Twitter and their official website.

What do you think of the song?

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New Music Spotlight #166: Eric Hutchinson

Eric Hutchinson, whom I think is the nicest guy in rock music today, has released his third single from Sounds Like This. After “Rock & Roll” and “OK, It’s Alright With Me” we now have “Oh,” which is today’s New Music Spotlight. If you still haven’t seen the video of the song he created for the concert-goers in Minneapolis called “Who Is Eric Hutchinson?” you should check out the video.

Reaction to “Oh” was mostly positive. Darliegh called in and said it was “really catchy” and that she was “grooving in her car.” John said, “I love that song, Eric Hutchinson is the bomb!” Jakob said, “it was okay, I didn’t dislike it. It was nothing new.” And Bill said, “it rocked!” Texters gave a similar response. Chris said, “catchy song, I like it.” Others said, “I liked it. Very catchy and singable.” And to keep the balance, one person call it “Painful elevater music.”

If you missed today’s Spotlight, you can hear the song on Hutchinson’s MySpace page. You can also find Hutchinson on Facebook, Twitter and his official website.

What do you think of the song?

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David Gray “Fugitive” Video

David Gray will be coming to Kingsbury Hall on November 2nd with Lisa Hannigan. Tickets are available now through Smith’s Tix. His new album, Draw The Line, was released on September 22nd.

Find out more on David Gray at his official website, davidgray.com.

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You Have No Idea How Happy I Am Right Now

Most of you are probably aware that I crashed my bicycle two weeks ago. It was a pretty gnarly wreck, I went to the hospital and had seven stitches and four staples put in my face and head.

When the firemen and paramedics were taking care of me at the crash site, one of them locked up my bike for me, and then didn’t give the key back to me. I hadn’t been able to track down that key and today I noticed something awful.

My bike wasn’t there any more.

I thought for sure someone had stolen it, but before calling the police to report a theft, I decided to talk to the property owner and see if they happened to do anything with it. So I called Kings Row to get the number of the company that does the enforcement of the parking permits in their lot. The woman who answered the phone was very helpful and put me in contact with Ty at Price Realty.

I gave Ty a call and explained the situation and he immediately told me he had my bike. He cut the lock yesterday and has it at his shop.

You have no idea how happy that made me!

Instead of having to deal with reporting a theft, and likely never seeing my bike again, Ty has it safe and sound. Sweet.

I’m going to get it back on Monday. Then I can start the process of getting the front wheel fixed (it looks like a pie with a piece missing), and seeing if there is other damage that needs to be fixed (crossing my fingers that there isn’t).

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New Music Spotlight #165: Parachute

This band was featured on the New Music Spotlight way back in #16. Fast forward almost 150 Spotlights and we have them on again with their new single “Under Control”. These guys right some amazing songs, and this is another example of that skill from their album Losing Sleep, which is chock full of great songs about love and heartbreak.

Reaction was a little luke-warm on this one. Jason called in and said he thought the song was the kind that would need to grow on him, but that he wasn’t giving up on it yet. Texts were a little more positive, with one reading “Great song” and another reading “love it!” but others having the same frame of thought as Jason. One saying, “it’s okay, I’ll have to listen to it again.”

If you missed today’s Spotlight, you can hear the song on the band’s MySpace page. You can also catch up with Parachute on Facebook, Twitter and their official website.

What do you think of the song?

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New Music Spotlight #164: Snow Patrol

Snow Patrol have been making music to melt women’s hearts for years now, and they’ve decided to put a retrospective “best of” album out in November. The 2-disc set will feature a disc of familiar tracks, singles and the like, and a second disc that will have live cuts and songs from Gary Lightbody’s pre-Snow Patrol band. As any good hits collection does, this one includes a new song, “Just Say Yes” is just that.

Reaction to the song was very positive on the phone, but split via text. Jason said he like the beginning but was left feeling “this is it?” by the end of the song. Another Jason said, “you can play more of that” after hearing just the tail end of the song and liking what he heard. Jeff said, “that was really REALLY good song.” Kimm texted, “Normally i like snow patrol, but this song lacks the emotion that is usually found in their stuff.” Another person said, “didn’t like it.” While another said, “that song rocks! I love the whole feel of the song and band!”

If you missed today’s Spotlight, you can hear “Just Say Yes” on the band’s MySpace page. You can also find them on Facebook and their official website.

What do you think of the song?

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New Music Spotlight #163: Foo Fighters

Earlier today, I posted the full track listing for the upcoming Greatest Hits from Foo Fighters. The album will feature two new songs, today’s Spotlight, “Wheels,” and “Word Forward.” The hits album will be available in standard and deluxe editions on November 3rd.

Feedback on “Wheels” was pretty decent. Tony said, “I thought that was a pretty cool song. Pretty typical Foo Fighters, which is better than about 90% of what’s out there.” Tammy said, “I loved it. It kind of game me goose bumps!” Texters also liked the song. CJ said, “I’m really diggin all these well known artists coming out with these simple jams. Kudos to Foo Fighters”. Sally wasn’t as excited though, saying, “The song was ok, nothing new. It may grow on me if I hear it again.” And via Twitter, @WndrKtty said, “This seems different for FF. I like it, but I can see getting sick of it soon.”

If you missed today’s Spotlight, you can hear “Wheels” on the band’s MySpace page. You can also catch up with Foo Fighters on Facebook, Twitter and their official website.

What do you think of the song?

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Robert Siegel’s “Big Fan” Looks Amazing!

I don’t know how I managed to only find out about this movie just now, but I’m already really looking forward to seeing Big Fan after watching the trailer once.

The movie, written and directed by The Wrestler‘s Robert Siegel, portrays Patton Oswalt as Paul Aufiero, a super fan of the NY Giants and their star player Quantrell Bishop. Aufiero sees Bishop purchase drugs and is beaten into a coma for it. Aufiero then grapples with the consequences of taking action against Bishop and the affect his loss will have on his favorite team.

It looks totally amazing.

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