VIDEO PREMIERE!: lady gaga - born this way

lady gaga - born this way
[directed by nick knight, the video is good but it's not AMAAAAZZING. which sadly is my gut feeling about the upcoming gaga release...]

NEW DR DRE!: dr dre feat eminem and skylar grey - i need a doctor

dr dre feat eminem and skylar grey - i need a doctor
[just press play to hear one of the sickest vocal hooks you'll hear this year from dre's new protege!!!]

WONGIE INDIE SONG(s) OF THE WEEK: the vaccines - if you wanna / blow it up

[to understand why the vaccines are easily one of my fave acts of 2011 all you have to do is press play on the two tracks below. insta catchy, retro feeling and with a sense of urgency that is always the best ingredient for my adoration. all this buzz and a debut album coming out soon, looks like 2011 will be a wonderful year for these boys!]


the vaccines - if you wanna


the vaccines - blow it up

WONGIE SONG OF THE MONTH: beth ditto - i wrote the book (new video)

beth ditto - i wrote the book (new video)
[we hyped this as our song of the month in january, so i'm very proud to present you the official (justify my love-inspired) video for one of the best dance tracks of the 1st quarter!]

ALBUM LEAK: lykke li - wounded rhymes (full album stream)

lykke li - wounded rhymes (full album stream)
[lykke li just can't wait to share her album with you, so she offered up a full album stream a week prior to the album release. guess whats been on repeat for the past few hours?]

ADELE MOMENT: adele - NPR tiny desk concert (someone like you / chasing pavements / rolling in the deep)

adele - tiny desk concert (someone like you / chasing pavements / rolling in the deep)
[love this breakdown from the NPR folks:

"There's no one way to define a great voice: Genius might lie in the phrasing, the range, the power, the control, the words themselves, or some sort of indescribable something else. But one way to diagnose genius for sure is to have a singer walk into a crowded room with little to no accompaniment, open his or her mouth, and command breathless attention in a matter of seconds.

Moments before performing, Adele breezed up to our makeshift stage with little fanfare, and proceeded to blaze through her set without so much as bothering to take off her gloves. Between songs, she showcased the mile-wide chasm between her mesmerizing singing voice and her far less polished speaking voice, occasionally even unleashing a truly magnificent cackle. At 22, Adele still isn't quite fully formed as an artist — which, after witnessing this set, is really saying something. She may well get even better, and even now, she's a marvel."]

WONGIE INDIE SONG OF THE WEEK: radiohead - lotus flower

radiohead - lotus flower
[after surprising everyone with an announcement of a new album just this last saturday, we welcome back radiohead and the happy bird like dance moves of thom yorke!]

AUDIO LEAK: lykke li - love out of lust

lykke li - love out of lust
[more new material from MS LL! lykke li personally blogged that this was her fave track from her upcoming album 'wounded rhymes'. and what she loves, we love! so there!]

LIVE WONGIE: rihanna feat kanye west and drake - medley (live @ nba all star game)

rihanna - hits medley feat kanye west and drake (live @ nba all star game)
[it's like a greatest hits medley that one sings at a karaoke session! only this version has got drake and kanye, dancers and well... a zillion people watching you perform around the world. riri does us all proud on her 23rd bday!]

WONGIE OVER EDITED VIDEO OF THE WEEK: britney spears - hold it against me

britney spears - hold it against me
[it's like these pop acts are so worried that they'll be rendered passe that their teams have gone to great lengths to over stimulate the experience in hopes you won't break down the actual thing in front of you. product placement after product placement, with over 1000 quick edits (and the biggest looking wedding muumuu you'll see this year) and you pretty much see the 'shame on you' handywork of the usually genius director jonas akerlund. worried that we'll judge it all? too late! (they should have had faith in the song, which isn't that bad...)]

WONGIE SONG OF THE WEEK: kanye west feat rihanna and kid cudi - all of the lights

kanye west feat rihanna and kid cudi - all of the lights
[nothing like an all star track and a kicking beat hook to draw everyone back into the kanye west fold. announced only an hour before world premiering the video, kanye reunites with hype williams for a font lovers wet dream mixed in with some cool visuals. oooh, the lights are pretty...]

ADELE MOMENT: adele - someone like you (live @ the brit awards 2011)

adele - someone like you (live @ the brit awards 2011)
[if you missed out on one of the most talked about performances last week on the brit awards by adele, then i offer it up as a catch up for you. claiming the #1 spot on the UK singles charts based on this performance, the song not only foils the world domination of lady gaga, but offers the single 2 singles in the top 5 (a feat only the beatles did before!). i read somewhere that adele would hold back on performing this song cause it would always make her cry, but this performance, she just let it out. absolutely brilliant!)

LIVE WONGIE: local natives - who knows who cares (live @ la blogotheque take away show)

local natives - who knows who cares (live @ la blogotheque take away show)
[the awesome local natives meets up with the equally awesome la blogotheque for one of their take away show performances! of course the acoustics of the parisian storefront arches make for the best acoustics for the soaring sound of the band. simply brilliant!]

WONGIE INDIE (DANCE) SONG OF THE MONTH: breakage feat jess mills - fighting fire

breakage feat jess mills - fighting fire
[hot hot dj/producer breakage (aka james boyle) invites newcomer jess mills to add her brooding vocals into this slamming indie club track. expect remixes galore, but right now, turn it up and get lost in this awesome haunting tune!]

SOUNDTRACK TRACK: atomic tom - don't you want me (take me home tonight soundtrack)

atomic tom - don't you want me (take me home tonight soundtrack)
[nothing like a cover of a popular human league song to get the interest rolling for this silly 80's superbad for adults flick. call me sentimental, but any video that has it's stars rehashing classic 80's movie scenes is worth a watch!]

and here's the trailer!

AUDIO PREMIERE: lady gaga - born this way

lady gaga - born this way
[even though the hype building up to this moment has been insane and the song finally got leaked a few hours ago (and is already available on itunes), all i can think about is how underwhelmingly madonna this track sounds like. hm....]

FREE MP3 YO!: chiddy bang - rebel

chiddy bang - rebel
[to celebrate their 10,000th twitter follower, the awesome boys of chiddy bang offered up a demo of their latest track 'rebel' to the masses! if you like what you hear, click on the download button in the soundcloud player! as usual, they have come up with a catchy awesome track that just asks to be blasted loud!]

WONGIE SONGS OF THE WEEK: james blake - the wilhelm scream / a case of you (joni mitchell cover)

not quite sure what more to say about the music of james blake. the best way to discover his talent is just plug in your headphones and lose yourself in the hypnotic dreaminess of his vocals and layered floaty instrumentation. it's just pure bliss (even when he strips it down and covers a joni mitchell song)!


james blake - the wilhelm scream


james blake - a case of you (joni mitchell cover)

WONGIE SOUL SONG OF THE WEEK: erykah badu - gone baby, don't be long

erykah badu - gone baby, don't be long
[after the nude fiasco with her video for window seat, erykah is now completely clothed and covering herself via machinery and scarves. luckily this doesn't stop her from releasing a perfectly sweet soul jam for your weekend pleasure.]

JESSIE J MOMENT: jessie j - casualty of love (live @ sb.tv) / price tag (live @ barfly)

jessie j - casualty of love (live @ sb.tv)
[as the UK celebrates jessie j's new #1 with price tag, the US preps for another track as their official single. it's a ballad and it's pretty darn lovely! when the full studio version is out, i'll pass it on, but for now enjoy her acoustic version that just gives me goosebumps!]


jessie j - price tag (live @ barfly)
[how things have changed in 4 months! price tag is now a national singalong track now (plus i love how she attempts the B.O.B. rap section)!]

AUDIO LEAK: the strokes - under cover of darkness

the strokes - under cover of darkness
[they're back!!!!! hardcore fans can implode now!]

WONGIE NPR SONG OF THE WEEK: the lonely forest - turn off this song and go outside

the lonely forest - turn off this song and go outside
[chosen as todays daily music pick for the very influential NPR (national public radio), these pacific north west coasters have been buzzing in the local music scene, but are jumping into the big leagues as they prep for their major label debut album with death cab for cutie producer chris walla. totally dig this anthemic track off their self titled EP and so should you!]

WONGIE CONCERT: adele - live at bbc live lounge (6 song mini concert)

adele recently went on bbc radio 1's live lounge and gave a 30 mins performance and interview. here is the mini concert which also includes the amazing cover of cheryl cole's promise this that i fell in love with last week! just sit back and listen to the amazing adele!


adele - rolling in the deep (live @ bbc live lounge)


adele - don't you remember (live @ bbc live lounge)


adele - hometown glory (live @ bbc live lounge)


adele - promise this (cheryl cole cover)(live @ bbc live lounge)


adele - chasing pavements


adele - someone like you (live @ bbc live lounge)

NEW METRONOMY!: metronomy - she wants

metronomy - she wants
[uk electro hipsters metronomy prep the release of their upcoming album 'english riviera' with their 1st single 'she wants'. calling their new album daft punk meets the eagles, get ready for more laid back organic digitalism  that made them the soundtrack to graphic designers/cool cafes worldwide!]

WONGIE DISCOVERY: sea of bees - marmalade / wizbot / willis / gnomes

julie baenziger aka sea of bees, is just the kind of self taught singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist that guys like me flock to. discovered by accident, julie was tinkering away on a guitar while hanging with friends recording at a studio. the studio owner heard something interesting and asked julie to put some songs down in demo form. the subsequent recordings were so dense and polished that they released the tracks as is under EP format. since then, 'sea of bees' has not only signed with indie major heavenly records, but is spreading her sound with the release of her debut album 'songs for the ravens'. a sound that i am very happy to discover and share with you guys! (thanks ken for the tip!)


sea of bees - marmalade
[first single off her debut album]


sea of bees - wizbot


sea of bees - willis
[i'm a sucker for these layered songs where every few segments a new element gets introduced, then stripped down, then returning again in cacophony form. i know, i'm SUCH a music nerd, but what is happening in this song is just glorious!]


sea of bees - gnomes
[this is actually the first track i ever heard by julie (thanks to my muso buddy ken) and it was the country tinged longing that swims through every note of this song that drew me to find out more. and boy am i glad i did!]

WONGIE DREAMY POP SONG OF THE WEEK: papercuts - do you really wanna know

papercuts - do you really wanna
[taken from papercut's 4th release (and 1st with the indie major sub pop), the band is basically the brainchild of singer/songwriter jason quever and whoever is available at the moment. creating a lovely dreamy retro sound, i can't wait to hear what the rest of his upcoming album 'fading parade' has to offer!]

WONGIE MILESTONE: 500,000 hits and counting!!

it's taken 5 years, but we passed the 500,000 hit mark on the wongie music blog! i just wanted to thank you guys for visiting this non-freebie giving, varied music genre video site. this also means that this site invites more than my 5 best friends who keep on coming back to check out what we have to video tip, so for the non-bestees, thank you for visiting and please keep coming back!

WONGIE FOLK SONG OF THE WEEK: fleet foxes - helplessness blues

fleet foxes - helplessness blues
[they're baaack!!!! and the fleet foxes are also offering their latest song as a free mp3 too! just click on download in the image box to get this gorgeous gem!]

NEW RIHANNA!: rihanna - s&m

rihanna - s&m
[not my favorite track off the album, but riri is always watchable!]