Otep

Otep is not only the name of the band but the name of its female vocalist, Otep Shamaya. The band formed in 2000 and has 5 full length albums and 2 EPs.

Before they were even a signed band, they were invited to play at Ozzfest after Sharon Osbourne had caught a little bit of a live performance by them. Since then, Otep has played Ozzfest a couple of times.

In 2002, Otep released their first album called Sevas Tra on Capitol Records. Then her second full length House Of Secrets was released in 2004 also on Capitol Records. Three years later, The Ascension was released. Shortly after in 2009, Smash The Control Machine hit the shelves and got to the spot of number 47 on the charts. But most recently Atavist was released and is currently at the 61 spot.

Otep may seem a little scary at first with lyrics like in the song Remeber To Forget 'I hope you die like swine surrounded by starving dogs, I'm stained by your sin like the blood soaked boards of the cross' to stabs at the government in Smash The Control Machine 'Two pigs wearing suits brought the news that I'm wanted by the bank, They say the rent is due Caesar's onto you So you better remember your place' and a some softer lyrics like We Dream Like Lions 'We dream like lions below and above, the wooly little lambs that look a lot like us, we dream like lions'

Otep falls in the genre of Nu Metal and Alternative Metal. She also has a published book of poetry called Little Sins.

Otep, I think, has a very aggressive sound but it's good. There is screaming and then there's just her regular old singing voice. She is very good at what she does and she should continue making the music she does.


Remeber To Forget
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZx0GKq0HOA

Nick Minaj

Nicki Minaj is a rapper and singer-songwriter from New York City. Minaj has 3 mixtapes and one studio album. She was discovered by rapper, Lil Wayne and signed her to Young Money Entertainment.

As a child Minaj’s parents fought a lot and therefore Minaj created alter egos to help deal with it. ‘Cookie’ was her first identity then went to Harajuku Barbie and now Nicki Minaj. With her debut album came another alter-ego, Roman Zolanski. Roman is said to be the equivalent of Eminem’s Slim Shady and in the song Roman’s Revenge, the 2 rappers brought them together.

Her first 'album' is Playtime Is Over and was released in 2007. Then a year later in 2008 she released another mixtape Sucka Free and a third in 2009 called Beat Me Up Scotty. But most recently in 2010 Minaj released her debut album Pink Friday.

Pink Friday was a success and shortly after the records release, it was certified as a platnum record. Minaj had 7 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the first artist to do so. She also became the first female artist to top the chart since 2002, unaccompanied and the first female artist to be included on MTV’s Annual Hottest MC list.

The singer-songwriter has had 20 singles, 13 of which as a featured artist, 20 music videos and one promotional single. Being featured in songs of other artists, Minaj has earned 14 appearances on the Billboard Hot 100.

Her first single was Your Love and landed number 14 on Billboard Hot 100, topped the rap charts and 7 on the Hot R&B/ Hip-Hop Songs.
Starting this summer in June, Minaj will be a supporting artist for Britney Spears’ tour, Femme Fatale Tour, along with Jessie and The Toy Boys and Nervo.

The Pink Spiders

The Pink Spiders are a garage punk/ power pop band formed in 2003 and are based out of Nashville, Tennessee. With Matt Friction (vocals & guitar), Jon Decious (bass) and Bob Ferrari (drums), the band has 2 EPs and 3 full length albums to their name.

The Pink Spiders released their first album The Pink Spiders Are Taking Over! in 2004 on SPAT! Records. It was announced that on Fristion's label, Mean Buzz Records, the album would be re-released in 2008.

Then in 2005 the bands debut album Hot Pink, which has a 50's rock vibe to it. A few songs were re-recorded and put on their second debut album. With Hot Pink, The Pink Spiders toured nonstop and became used to life on the road and the chaos that came with it.

Another year went by and in 2006 Teenage Graffiti was released. This album was the bands biggest success with the single Little Razorblade. Little Razorblade was the first single and first music video. Then the music video for Modern Swinger came out shortly after. AP Magazine named The Pink Spider in '100 Bands To Know In 2006'.

After a few years into 2008 The Pink Spiders released Sweat It Out. The first single off the album was Gimme Chemicals. In that same year Decious & Ferrari left and The Pink Spiders still continued shortly after.

While on the Tapped Kegs, Spread Legs & Fertilized Eggs Tour, the band released a tour-only EP, Subterranean EP, which included previously unreleased versions of Gimme Chemicals, Knock Knock, Teenage Graffiti and Sleeping On The Floor.

In 2008, Friction announced that the band was going on an extended hiatus. In that time Friction started focusing on two other projects, Matt Friction & The Cheap Shots and The Dozen Dimes. The Dozen Dimes released their debut album Get Real Gone With The Dozen Dimes!

But most recently in 2010, The Pink Spiders reunited for a concert at The Viper Room in West Hollywood. In March of 2011, The Pink Spiders announced that they would be playing together again. Currently they are on the 2 Legit 2 Quit Tour. They also released the Cherry Chapstick/Sad Style single in March as well.

-Gimme Chemicals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5CniK4_Lc0

Panic! At The Disco

It's hard to believe that it has been six years since P!ATD's release of their first single I Write Sins Not Tragedies off their debut album A Fever You Can't Sweat out. In 2008 Pretty. Odd was released with singles Nine In The Afternoon and The Green Gentleman. But in 2009, half the band went separate ways and left Spencer Smith and Brendan Urie to do what they wanted to musically. And most recently with Smith and Urie Vices & Virtues was released on March 8.

Former member Ryan Ross and Brendan Urie were the main song writers in the band and when they started writing new songs neither of them were on the same page. Ross and other former bandmate Jon Walker wanted to do one thing while Urie and Spencer wanted to another. Neither group wanted to work on each others' songs and eventually Ross and Walker left the quartet.

When the band announced the departure of Ross and Walker, was a total shocker. In an interview with AP Magazine, Ross stated that he was shocked to find out that Urie and Smith were going to keep the Panic! At The Disco name. He also said that they [Urie and Smith] would rather play someone else's material instead of writng their own. But Urie didn't take that personally and was a little shocked himself that Ross would say that.

Vices & Virtues take elements from the bands previous records. The theatricality from A Fever You Can't Sweat Out and the not so theactrical style from Pretty. Odd.

                                                                 
The Ballad Of Mona Lisa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOgpdp3lP8M

Lady Gaga

Love her or hate her, Lady Gaga is everywhere. With 2 records (The Fame and The Fame Monster), Gaga is about to release her third record; Born This Way. Just a month ago on February 11, 2011 her first single Born This Way was released and played every hour on the hour an radio station 96.5 the whole weekend.

Gaga's great success started in 2008 with Just Dance, Poker Face, Paparazzi and Love Game. The Fame debuted as number 17 on the Billboard 200. After going up and down on the charts the album finally hit number 4 and topped Billboards Dance/ Electronic Albums chart. And then came The Fame Monster in 2009.

The first single off the new album was Bad Romance. Bad Romance premiered on the final show of Alexander McQueen's spring/ summer fashion show in October of 2009. Shortly after Bad Romance came Telephone ft Beyonce and after that was Alejandro. In January of 2010, the album was officially certified as Platinum. The album also came in at number 5 on the Billboards 200.

Now every fan of Lady Gaga is awaiting the release of her third record; Born This Way which the world wide release date is set for May 23, 2011. On February 11, many fans woke up early that morning to finally hear her new single. On March 2, 2011 Gaga revealed a short remix of the song Government Hooker. The anticipation is getting harder to handle but in the end, the album will definitely be worth the long wait.

In March of 2009, Gaga kicked off her first tour The Fame Ball to help promote The Fame. Just as The Fame Monster was released, The Monster Ball Tour started shortly after that same month in November of 2009 and is still going. The tour consists of 8 legs and will end on May 6, 2011.

Lady Gaga is a fantastic musician. Enough said

LoveGame:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mB0tP1I-14

Sonny Moore

The 22 year old has been making music for almost a decade. Before he was recruited as FFTL frontman, Moore had a few Street Punk bands at the age of 13. His first band was The Riots, which he started at age 13. Then is second band was Hazel-rah, which was more ambient rock and the last band before From First To Last was At Risk.

Starting at the age of 16, Sonny Moore began his journey as vocalist for post-hardcore band From First To in 2004. While with FFTL, the band released two albums; Heroine and Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count. Sonny originally went to try out for a guitarist and came out as the singer. Then in 2007 Sonny decided to leave From First To Last to pursue a solo career and because of the damage done to his vocal chords. Moore and the rest of the bands are on good terms.

Sonny released his first solo album Gypsyhook in 2009. Moore is a professional DJ known as Skrillex. Under the name of Skrillex, he has released two EPs: My Name Is Skrillex and Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites both in 2010. Since Moore's departure from FFTL, his musical style has changed since his post-hardcore days. Going from post-hardcore to a poppy/ electronica/ powerpop and dubstep sound, is quite a difference.

Sonny has been going on tour with bigger bands such as Chiodos, Hollywood Undead, DeadMau5, and helped out with vocals on English metalcore band Bring Me The Horizon. At Moore's concerts his backing band is known as The Blood Monkeys.

Sonny-Mora:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA98SU7Qe4A


Skrillex-This Is A Shark Attack:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVUnpkvgHaw&feature=related

Big D & The Kids Table

Big D is a third wave ska/punk band that formed in 1995. The Boston natives formed their Fork In Hand Records and released their first album Shot By Lammi. In 1999 Big D & The Kids Table was signed to Mark Park's Asian Man Records and their second album Good Luck was released. The band also won Outstanding Ska Band at the Boston Music Awards in 1999. A few years later in 2002 the band's third album The Gypsy Hill LP came out.In 2003 the band released another album on their own label called Porch Light. As 2004 rolled around, Big D released How It Goes and was signed to Springman Records. The fourth album Strictly Rude was released. In 2009 Fluent In Stroll was released. And we can't forget the EP's that were released in between the studio albums; Live EP in 1998, Gypsy Hill EP in 2002, Salem Girls in 2005, Noise Complaint in 2007, Wicked Core Christmas in 2009, and 2 Songs 1 Download in 2010. And just announced on March 1, 2011 Big D & The Kids Table is now in the studio working on their newest album The Damned, The Dumb and the Delirious.

If you're tired of listening to the same songs being played on the radio and want a little more excitement go and listen to Big D & The Kids Table. I highly suggest the songs Noise Complaint, L.A.X, My Girlfriend's On Drugs, and If We Want To. With each passing year Big D's albums just keep getting better and I just can't help myself by listening to them all the time. Big D & The Kids Table was the first ska band I actually heard and fell in love with. I've always known about the ska genre but I never really liked it until i heard Noise Complaint a few years ago. If you're into music and looking for something new, this is where it's at.

Band Members:

-David McWane: Vocals, Melodica, Guitar

-Steve Foote: Bass

-Derek Davis: Drums
-Ryan O'Connor: Tenor Saxophone
-Dan Stoppleman: Trumpet
-Nick Pantazi: Guitar
-Paul Cuttler: Trombone

-Noise Complaint:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I0GtIXvoDw

Bring Me The Horizon

From across the big pond comes a band called Bring Me The Horizon. Forming in 2004 the band is from Sheffield, England and is made up of singer Oli Sykes, guitarists Lee Malia & Jona Weinhofen, drummer Matt Nicholls and bassist Matt Kean.



The bands first album Count Your Blessing was released in 2007, then in the fall of 2008 Suicide Season hit the shelves. This past October of 2010 the third album There Is A Hell Believe Me I've Seen It, There Is A Heaven Lets Keep It A Secret was released. Over the summer BMTH went on tour with Vans Warped Tour, where they put on an amazing show. They were the best ones there. The band also a part of the fall AP Tour with bands This Is Hell, The Polar Bear Club, Emarosa and August Burns Red on November 28th.

The band experimented a little bit more with this new album. They still have all the stuff that we love (the guitar riffs and the monster breakdowns). The album also features vocalists Josh Scogin (The Chariot) and Josh Franceschi (You & Me At Six). Sonny Moore (former From First To Last singer) contributed the electronica part of the album and additional vocals. LIGHTS also added some vocals on songs Crucify Me and Don't Go.

I think this is the band's best album. I think that by adding the electronica and the softer vocals and keeping the breakdowns and guitar riffs gave the album a little something extra that all the fans have been waiting to hear from Bring Me The Horizon.

-It Never Ends:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltbt9MaepFY

Closure In Moscow

Closure In Moscow comes right to us straight out of Melbourne, Australia. This Australian progressive rock band consists of members: singer Chris De Cinque, drummer Salvatore Aidone and guitarists Manny Zennelli and Michael Barrett. The Penance and the Patience was their first self-proclaimed 'album' in April of 2008. Then in May of 2009 Closure In Moscow released their debut studio album First Temple. In Australia the band was signed to Taperjean Records and now signed to Equal Vision Records. "high school friends, one guy stolen from another band and a dude from a hair salon," is said to be the formation of this amazing band.



I first heard this band at a show on October 29, 2009 at Peabody's. They were on tour with Fact (a band from Japan), A Skylit Drive and Senses Fail. Peabody's is a rather small concert venue, so where I was standing was right up against the stage. They really do put on a good show and when they perform live, I can definitely tell that they hardly use auto-tune. Not only do they get up there and play awesome music, Chris De Cinque puts on his own show by wearing different costumes. Not only does he wear costumes but the whole band goes without shoes while performing. I think that really adds to their uniqueness.Closure In Moscow was also a part of Vans Warped Tour 2010 and could be compared with bands such as Dance Gavin Dance, Brand New, Circa Survive and Jonny Craig.

A few months ago, former drummer Beau Kimber and basssist Brad McKee departed from the band. Brad left the band to have a future with his fiancee in the United States and Beau is now a producing engineer at Frequency Studios back in Melbourne, Australia. To replace Beau, Salvatore Aidone stepped in to do the job.

I am in love with Closure's sound and style, no doubt. If you're into the progressive rock/ alternative-rock genre, then I highly suggest that you listen to Closure In Moscow. They even did a cover of Ginuine's My Pony, and did a fantastic job of it. My song suggestions are Sweet#hart, Night At The Spleen, Breathing Underwater and Kissing Cousins.

-Night At The Spleen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1XFtLYfgr0

A Skylit Drive

Based out of Lodi, California the sextet is awaiting the release of the forth upcoming album Identity On Fire on February 15, 2011. The band consists of Michael Jagmin on vocals, guitarists Nick Miller and Joey Wilson, bassist/screamer Brian White, Kyle Simmons on Keys and drummer Cory La Quay.

While waiting for February 15th, the band hit the road on January 20th with Underoath, Thursday and Animals As Leaders. But before going on tour the band released the third song on the album Xo Skeleton. Just a few short weeks later a music video for Too Little Too Late was released on the band's Myspace and yesterday on February 1st Ex Marks The Spot was released.

A Skylit Drive went into the studio in the fall of 2010 with producer Cameron Webb. "I would definitely say that this is our sound; I think we've really found it on this one, and I'm really proud of it," Nick Miller stated in a recent interview with Fearless Records. I couldn't agree more with Miller on this one, it seems as if the band went into the studio looking for something new but not changing their style completely. ASD has been my favourite band for a long time and I think this album will give other fans another reason to love them even more.

Jordan Blake was the original singer and released She Watched The Sky EP, but Michael Jagmin stepped in when Blake left. Jagmin took over vocals and recorded the bands first full-lenght album Wires...And The Concept Of Breathing in 2007, then in the summer of '09 Adelphia was released. I think this album is the album I have been most excited for in a really long time.

Tracklist:

1. Carry The Broken

2. Too Little Too Late

3. Xo Skeleton

4. Conscience Is A Killer

5. Ex Marks The Spot

6. The Cali Buds

7. Your Mistake

8. F*** The System

9. 500 Days Of Bummer

10. Tempt Me, Temptation

11. Identity On Fire

12. If You Lived Here You'd Be Home

13. Black And Blue (iTunes Deluxe Only)

14. 400ft Robots (iTunes Deluxe Only)

-Too Little Too Late:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmUcQM0jmqQ