VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Help I'm Alive, by Canadian indie rock band Metric. Metric comes out of Toronto originally, and have moved base-locale a few times to London, Montreal, New York, and Los Angeles. The band consists of vocalist Emily Haines (who also plays the synthesizer and guitar), guitarist James Shaw (who also plays the theremin), bassist Josh Winstead and drummer Joules Scott-Key. Metric has won a couple of Juno Awards for past albums, as well as a 2006 Polaris Music Prize for Canadian album of the year. Help I'm Alive is the first song off of their Fantasies album (released in April 2009). Now Metric is actually a band that has received some airplay here on the mainstream radio stations and I've actually heard another good song of theirs off of the Fantasies album titled Gold Guns Girls played on the radio a few times, which surprised me, in a good way. I was pondering making a tribute with this song, but I don't really like the movie that comes to mind to mix it to, so we will see if I make it or not. Big ups yoself!

#94: of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!

Welcome back to VJ Samsonite's top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown! Today we are presenting #94 of the top 100 countdown! And the song is....Voices Carry, by Boston new wave band 'Til Tuesday. This band first gained attention just six months following their formation in 1982 with their single release Love in a Vacuum. It was later released on the album titled Voices Carry, which unpredictably also became the feature track of the album and smashed up to number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. Its original lineup was bassist/vocalist Aimee Mann, guitarist/vocalist Robert Holmes, keyboardist Joey Pesce, and drummer Michael Hausman. The songs success (according to wikpedia) is said to have lead to an argument and subsequent breakup between Mann and Hausman before the album's official release. As you will notice, the music video depicts an bully-boyfriend attempting to conform his lower-caste girlfriend into his upper-crust lifestyle. However, it was noticed that the song was actually written as one women to another, indicating a lesbian relationship, which angered the band's record company at the time and was countered by a video depicting an oppressive boy-girl relationship. Despite the debate surrounding the video and the song it won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist that year. Now some would not, but I still consider this band to be a One-Hit-80s-Wonder. Some would also debate as to whether this song constitutes as a "dance hit," but I consider it to be a slow-dance hit with a steady beat. Totally Rad!

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Paper Romance, by UK electronic duo Groove Armada. Groove Armada consists of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay.  Now I would be highly surprised if you've never heard of Groove Armada, as they have been around since about 1996 or so, and have released six studio albums over that time. It is also interesting to hear that they released a greatest hits album back in 2004, but continue to make new stuff and collaborate with artists, I guess that retirement isn't all that its cracked up to be. Paper Romance comes off of their latest album titled Black Light (released January 2010). I personally enjoyed their past album Lovebox, and recommend all to check it out too if you haven't already. A man needs a code.

And the Random Old Music Post of the Day is...

...Get Away, by New Zealand roots reggae band Katchafire. Katchafire formed originally in 1997 as a Bob Marley tribute band before they began writing and recording their own songs. The band has had many lineup changes throughout the years, and currently consists of seven members. Get Away comes off of their Revival album (released in 2003) and is full of smooth island reggae. This is a great album to put on during those hot summer days, especially if your at the beach somewhere. I highly recommend checking out the rest of their work, including their latest album. S'all in the game.

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Wayside, by Canvas Kites. Canvas Kites are an Aussie guitar band coming out of Sydney Australia. The group formed in April 2009 & consists of Thom Moore on lead vocals and electric guitar, Alex Knight on drums, and Brett Adrien on bass guitar. And that's about all I could find on the band. Naturally they have a myspace page here, and a brief intro at last fm.Thom Moore also features in a band called Mercy Arms. Wayside (released in July of 2009) is the bands first release and will most likely star on their EP, when it is released, but there doesn't seem to be any info on when the EP-release will be :-( Check it out!Mercy Arms

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Always More, by London-based electro duo Autokratz. Autokratz are a relatively young duo, and had their original debut just 2 years ago in 2008. They are signed to a French electronic label called Kitsuné Music. The Autokratz have a definitive heavy electronic sound with dark undertones, in that it is not upbeat eletronica, but lends something more towards a robotic-industrial-techno-esque sound (thus the name Autokratz), but it is one of those things that is difficult to desribe, and in the end you just have to listen to it yourself. Always More has some definite post-apocalyptic energy to it as well, and it was released originally as a single in 2009, later to be added onto their studio album release entitled Animal. Well, enjoy the song and try to get a bit supasonic, or something like that...Ahghh!

#95: of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!

Welcome back to VJ Samsonite's top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown! Today we are presenting #95 of the top 100 countdown! And the song is....Dirty Love, by Canadian singer-songwriter and producer Tim Feehan. Now many, if not most of you are going to be saying "who the fark is Tim Feehan?" Well, Tim graduated from the University of Alberta in 1984 where he was part of a college band called Footloose, that's right, the band's name was Footloose (not referring to the Kenny Loggins song here). Now, Footloose had a an unexpected hit on the Canadian charts called Leaving for Maui, which incidentally also became a big hit in Hawaii. Tim made some big connections after this (including Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, and David Foster), then released his self-titled debut album, which earned 5 ARIA Awards. The first song (which is a killer song btw) was Where's the Fire, which was chosen as the theme song for the 80's cult-classic (starring Charlie Sheen & Sherilyn Fenn) The Wraith. Dirty Love, which I have chosen as #95 on the 80's Dance Hits Countdown, was a single released in 1989 by Tim, and was featured on the Timothy Dalton James Bond flick License to Kill. Further than that Tim continues to make songs for various TV series and you can check out his wikipedia page right here. I have indeed created a movie tribute with this song, and hope to share at some point in the future. So now you can say you know a little bit about Tim Feehan, but I invite you to check out his other stuff too...what it is!!! (ps, sorry no video, but the song is there anyways ;-o)

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Honolulu, by Aussie indie rock band Last Dinosaurs. The Last Dinosaurs come at us out of sunny Queensland, from the city of Brisbane (aka Brissie!), which is not far from the sunshine coast there in Australia. The band consists of Sean Caskey (vocals/guitar) Lach Caskey (guitar) Danjuro Koyama (drums) and Sam Gethin-Jones (bass). This song comes off of their EP called Back From the Dead, which was released in March 2010. This band has it! They have a pretty basic indie-rock sound, nothing too fancy, but there is something else to their stuff that makes it..oh I don't know.. "delightful" and "upbeat." Anyways, there is not much info about them, but naturally they have a myspace page HERE, and if you sign up to their mailing list you get a free mp3 download, so don't miss that! The video is just a picture, but the song is decent quality, all I could find on good old youtube, Woot!Back From The Dead

And the Random Music Post of the Day is...

...The World Was a Mess But His Hair Was Perfect, by London-based indie-rock group The Rakes. The title says it all doesn't it? I had the pleasure of seeing this band at the 2008 V-Festival in Melbourne, and they are quite a good live act, as many are. This song comes off of their Capture/Release album, which I recommend, clearly. Big Ups Yo-self!

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Memories (feat. Kid CuDi), by French DJ/House Producer David Guetta. Kid CuDi (whom I have made previous new music posts about) is a U.S. rapper coming out of Chicago. David Guetta is actually the first French artist that I have posted on here (and don't discount the French, they brought us the trail-blazing group Daft Punk, and for that I will ever be grateful to the French music industry). David Guetta originally was a big-time DJ in 80's and 90's, has since co-founded label Gum Productions and has since released many albums, collaborating with heaps of big name artists, including his recent release featuring Senegalese-American rapper Akon called Sexy Bitch, which became a top 5 hit in the US, and is played literally every 5 minutes on the mainstream radio stations. Kid CuDi is a very talented young electro-rap artist, and I encourage everyone to check out the previous posts I've made of his work (and there will be future ones as well no doubt!). What it is!!

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Mexican Mavis, by Aussie folk-rock collaboration Boy and Bear. Boy and Bear (formerly known as Dave Hosking), are a Sydney-based band built on the collaboration of three front men from separate bands. Mexican Mavis is a single and was released in October of 2009. There is not much info out there about them as they are a collaboration, but you can go HERE to see their myspace page and download the free mp3 of this song on that same page. Woot!

#96: of VJ Samsonite's Top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown!

Welcome back to VJ Samsonite's top 100 80's Dance Hits Countdown! Today we are presenting #96 of the top 100 countdown! And the song is....Living on a Video, by 80's-Candian-electro-space-synth sensation Trans-X! Now if this song isn't synth, then I just don't know what is. I have always considered Trans-X to be a highly influential electro-trance pioneers. This group was pretty much a one-hit-80's-wonder. Living on a Video was an instant hit in their home country of Canada and worldwide when it was originally released as a single in 1981. The single sold over 2 millions copies and reached the top ten charts in both the USA and the UK. The single was later added to the 1983 album release by the same name. Most of you will no doubt have heard this song at some point, but may not be able to put a song to a face, or something like that. It is funny, looking back now on how the electro-synth music era transformed into the 90's-00's techno-trance (with artists like The Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, and the legions of DJ's from The Ministry of Sound)  and how its now come back full-circle to a sort of electro-indie rock era we see now (such as with artists like The Presets, or La Roux, or Van She, Cut Copy, etc.). There are just so many different flavors to music, and an endless way of rehashing and remixing and reblending... blah!!! Anyways, enjoy #96, as 95 is just around da corna!

VJ Samsonite's "Hot New Music" song of the day is....

...Sometimes, by Aussie electro-pop group Miami Horror. Miami Horror hails at us out of Melbourne, Australia (an amazing city with heaps of amazing new artists I might add). This band does an excellent job of sticking to the groovy synth-blips and beats (so characteristic of the electro-genre) along with occasional vocals, although many of their songs don't include much in the vocal department. Miami Horror has an LP coming out this year (TBA), and have released an EP in 2008 called Bravado. Sometimes is a single which was released in 2009. They have collaborated with another Melbourne electro-pop group called Gameboy/Gamegirl and have produced a collaborative EP with them as well called Golden Ghetto Sex. Without further ado, da song...o