Artist: Martina McBride

Submitted by: Amber

“And you know it might not ever come your way… dream it anyway.”

Amber’s Song »

Artist: Martina McBride

Submitted by: Amber

TAS ID: Amber

Country Girl, Sister, Friend

This song is the most inspiring song I’ve heard in my life. It has taken me through break ups, through family problems, through hard times with my health, and just through those times where I felt like giving up.

In those hard times in life, these lyrics are what I live by… “And you know it might not ever come your way – Dream it anyway. Tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang – Sing it anyway. It doesn’t always turn out like I think it should – But I do it anyway.”

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Right The Stars Interview »

The Band…

Rich Jacques, BC Taylor, Mike Schmid, and Alex Balderston

The Music…

Download Right The Stars on iTunes –

The Preview…

the Right The Stars interview…

As a collective, the 4 of us girls are incredibly musically moody – and by that we mean our music tastes venture into a thousand different unrelated directions. On any given day you could find any one of us singing along to an overplayed pop song in our car, making a mix tape of our favorite indie bands, dancing at a party to hip hop, obsessively repeating electronic joints, or blissing out to a movie score. depending on the place, the experience, or the feeling, our music moments are never limited to any one specific type of music.

Through all of our eclectic music adventures, the one thing that mainstays in all of our music soundtracks, is music that connects to something within us, lifts our spirits, and lights our way. Enter bands like Right The Stars. While one Right The Stars song can have us feeling light and happy and free, the next song will have us feeling something deep and intense and larger than life, but every Right The Stars song leaves us feeling inspired and alive.

Rich Jacques of Right The Stars has explored his passion for music with his own songs, inspired others as a music teacher, has worked with other artists such as Kina Grannis, and has had his music featured on TV shows such as Pretty Little Liars, Grey’s Anatomy, and One Tree Hill. He gave us the lowdown on the musical creativity behind the amazing RTS tunes…

The TAS Kids:

You’ve described your own sound as "Paul Simon meets Keane backstage at a Phoenix concert", and that’s totally one thing we feel is so awesome about your songs. We love that there is such a different vibe from one song to the next, like from ‘You Know the Way’ to ‘We Got It All’ to ‘Give It All’, each can take us to completely different place. Do you feel like your affinity for collaboration, and having been part of creating so much music with others creates a freedom in your music that may not exist in the typical singer-songwriter process, or "band" environment?

Rich Jacques of Right The Stars:

Yes, definitely. I really love to co-write and I’ve been very fortunate to be able to do so with a lot of talented people. It definitely keeps it from getting stale for me. Co-writing is like dating. There is a natural chemistry with everyone you work with, and it’s interesting to feel what different aspects of your personality get pulled out in each situation. It really let’s you know who you are in a lot of different ways.

The TAS Kids:

Your songs have been featured in movies and TV shows… including one of our favorites ever, Pretty Little Liars . Honestly the scene where ‘Give It All’ was featured is easily our favorite Pretty Little Liars "moment", and the song perfectly encompasses that scene. For us, it’s amazing how music can completely capture the soul of film or TV moments in this brilliant and emotional way. How cool is it to write songs that become the soundtrack of those kind of epic moments?

Rich Jacques of Right The Stars:

Very cool! It’s been great to have the exposure from those placements, and It’s fun to hear your songs used to help bring a scene to life.

The TAS Kids:

Your life in music has explored all different sides of the industry, from performing other people’s music, to producing music, to being a music teacher, and of course to writing, recording and performing your own music. Does each avenue fulfill something different for you creatively, and which avenue do you love the most?

Rich Jacques of Right The Stars:

Honestly I love all of it. Each thing I do informs the other. Teaching and producing other people helps me understand all of it a bit better for myself. It’s strange in those situations how things come out of your mouth and you surprise yourself with things you didn’t know you knew. Currently though, I’m having a lot of fun with the band which has become-BC Taylor on drums, Mike Schmid on keys, and Alex Balderston on Bass.

The TAS Kids:

K… this next question is kind of our version of “eat. pray. love.”, haha. (Basically people have the things that are their go-to “eat. pray. love.”, to bring them back to who they are.) Our version is this… when it’s the end of the day, and time to bring yourself back to who you really are, what is your go-to “listen. laugh. love.”? So what is your go-to music, your go-to thing that always makes you laugh, and what brings you back to love?

Rich Jacques of Right The Stars:

Hmm. There are a lot of days that after spending the whole day listening to music silence is what I want to hear.
I have good friends that can always make me laugh.
I meditate twice a day and that always grounds me and brings me back to love.

The TAS Kids:

We love your music and want everyone to know about your awesomeness, so tell us everything coming up for Right The Stars… the new music coming our way, the tour dates, taking over the world in 2012 ?

Rich Jacques of Right The Stars:

Haha! yes the world takeover in 2012. Well, the new album is set to come out in mid/late january through New Power Media and The Orchard. We’ve got some big plans next year with videos and touring so we’ll keep you posted as things develop!

The TAS Kids:

Thank you so much, and we’ll be buzzing about the album in 2012!!!

Check out more RTS…

• Right The Stars Official Website
• Right The Stars Facebook
• Right The Stars Twitter
• Right The Stars Myspace

Artist: BEDROC

Submitted by: BEDROC

“…at all times of the success and struggle you must love to do what you do.”

BEDROC’s Song »

Artist: BEDROC

Submitted by: BEDROC

TAS ID: BEDROC

Being one black and one white artist in such a difficult music industry, we realize that at all times of the success and struggle you must love to do what you do. Everyone has a dream and unfortunately, this whole world has a majority of people who think dreams like being signed rappers or singers or producers ect, is not a real dream or is too unlikely. Well, if you love what you do through success and failure, your dream goes on and you work at it until the dream becomes reality. That is how we live our lives personally and as artists. No one should ever determine what your dream is and what you want to be.

Get The Info

Website: http://www.bedrocmusic.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/bedrocmusic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bedrocmusic

Artist: LexRox

Submitted by: LexRox

“I was gonna be strong and move on from the fear.”

LexRox’s Song »

Artist: LexRox

Submitted by: LexRox

TAS ID: LexRox

Break It To Ya first started as way to vent my frustration not being able to accomplish a volleyball exercise. As I tried and tried I worked myself up and soon began to dread trying to achieve it. But if I wanted to move up in league I had to make the requirement. I began to tell my friend how it was like a boy I like but doesn’t like me. And so a song idea was born, except this time I was gonna be strong and move on from the fear, work harder and achieve my goal. I got strong and made it to next level of volleyball.

Get The Info

Website: http://www.lexrox.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/LexRoxLV

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/LexRox/172634719416289?ref=sgm

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Artist: Hoodie Allen

Album: Leap Year

Download: James Franco

Artist: The Ross Sea Party

Album: Plains Of Id EP

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Artist: The Delta Mirror

Album: Machines That Listen

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Artist: Alyssa Reid

Submitted by: Musicfan!

“I love her voice she is amazing!”

Musicfan!’s Song »

Artist: Alyssa Reid

Submitted by: Musicfan!

TAS ID: Musicfan!

nerd, funny, music lover

I love Alyssa Reid, her music makes me happy and this song shows how talented she is! I love her voice she is amazing!

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Artist: Alyssa Reid

Album: The Game

Download:

The Farewell Circuit Interview »

The Band…

The Farewell Circuit

The Music…

Download The Farewell Circuit on iTunes –

The Preview…

The Farewell Circuit Moments…

“The soundtrack of my life”. It’s a phrase often used, but it’s never cliché to the 4 of us girls, because the bands we love, and the songs they create are living, breathing characters in our life stories.

Krissie is a contemporary dancer, so she does this thing where she turns on a song, and just dances whatever she feels…but she’s shy, so the rest of us rarely see her in those moments. One day the other 3 of us girls went to pick her up from a dance session, and she had The Farewell Circuit on, so we talked her into freestyling for us to this song called ‘Things We Lost’. Halfway through it we were all teary eyed mesmerized because it was a moment where we saw a piece our best friend’s soul completely exposed. It was this moment like no other moment in our lives, and it was so perfect because that song was there in that moment.

Another night one summer in Nashville, we were all dangling our feet in Percy Priest lake, watching the sunset, and The Farewell Circuit’s ‘Like A House On Fire’ was playing from our car. Like a scene straight from a movie, the breeze was blowing, the sun faded, and none of us said a word…but all of us felt everything each other was thinking. It’s because in that moment we were all connected by a song.

Those moments in our lives wouldn’t be the same without those songs, and our lives wouldn’t be the same without this band, because their songs envelop so many of our moments.

The Interview…

Their music is filled with beautiful images, intricate layers, perfect tones, unpredictable arrangements, and we’re so stoked they gave us an interview. They boys recently had a live performance video featured on Coldplay’s website in the Exhibition Room, this spring they successfully raised money to make their new record through a Kickstarter.com Project, so we asked them about all that business, the upcoming music, and about a little bit of randomness too…

The TAS Kids:

We’re so excited you guys made your goal on Kickstarter! Things like Kickstarter are kind of a sign of the times of the music industry. We actually think it’s awesome that by pledging, as fans we almost get to feel like we have a little piece of our hearts invested in the record. Even though it would be a lot easier to have a record label come in and pay for everything, do you guys think there is something kind of empowering for you guys, and special for your fans about music being developed through that kind of community DIY method?

The Farewell Circuit:

DJ House: I’d hope it’s just a natural extension of us as people and the people we try and surround ourselves with. Turns out, a lot of people were interested in the fact they could pre-order an album that wouldn’t exist without that very help. It’s all at once humbling, pressuring, and a little odd I guess. Once you get over wrestling with the whole feeling that you’re digitally panhandling, its pretty outstanding people gave what they gave. It also manifested itself into a nice boost of confidence to finish writing the new record.

**Danny O’Brien (hereafter referred to as DO): Absolutely. The homegrown/communal method of raising the necessary funds for the record gives us great pleasure. Community is very important to us and we are so grateful to have such devoted and generous people around us.

Geoff Harnell: Kickstarter is a great example of a community of people coming together to invest their resources towards a project they believe in. This community has taken another step in the progression of independent artists who desire to be independent from the record labels of today and it’s an extremely exciting and encouraging environment knowing that every individual involved is using their voice to say they believe in the project and want to play a vital role in the creation of art.

The TAS Kids:

Congratulations on having “Guard” on the Coldplay exhibit! How amazing was that? Did it geek you out at all? Like…”Coldplay is totally staring at my face in a video right now. Chris Martin is watching me play guitar on this flowered couch. Sweet.”

The Farewell Circuit:

DJ: I remember submitting it and thinking.. well we have had absolutely no luck with just sending our stuff out cold to places/radio/blogs… So nothing is going to happen. I was napping one afternoon and Danny texted me about it rather surprised as I forgot to mention to them that I had done it. It was funny to see my basement up on a website that thousands of people visit daily.. Also, we should have edited out the beginning.. but that’s just how off the cuff the whole thing was.. I’m pretty sure the band doesn’t have much to do with the content and that in fact, its probably a low level intern at Parlophone Records who we owe a beer to whenever we make it to London. Either way, it certainly was cool and if they did see it.. I’m wondering why we aren’t pegged to be their opener on their next tour yet… .

**DO: Yeah, it was really great! When I first saw it I thought someone was pulling a very cruel and unusual prank on us. While I doubt that Chris (or any of the band members) actually watch the video, it’s encouraging to know that some 3,000 other people did as a result of coldplay.com hosting it!

GH: Thanks! Having our video for "Guard" on Coldplay.com definitely put a smile on our face Having your work affirmed and displayed by an artist you respect is encouraging, especially when in the midst of creating a new record and fleshing out songs that you are fine tuning. We were not informed of this nod by Coldplay however, and found out through a fan which was quite humorous.

The TAS Kids:

Your video for “The Inexorable March of Time” is so brilliant. We obsessively repeat it on YouTube. First off, how many “takes” did it take?! haha! Also, the way you guys play that song, it almost seems like a jam session that naturally evolved into the perfect song. It just seems really organic, like you all tune into each other’s instincts really well. In general is that how you guys write and develop music?

The Farewell Circuit:

DJ: I think that was the second run.. we had pretty much just bought all of our modest recording gear, tested out levels, set up our laptops and said GO. The song actually came together really quickly. Danny and I had just repaired the vibraphone and he starting playing that little riff and began singing.. and I hit "R" pretty quickly after hearing it. I think 90% of that song was done in 30 minutes. In fact, if you search myspace you can hear the very first draft of that song somewhere. That last few months have been like that for writing this new record.. getting into our rehearsal space and playing through all the new ideas. The core ideas come very quickly but the analyzing of parts/dynamics/arrangements can take months and sometimes deflate the original ideas themselves and they trickle into the cesspool of farewell circuit b-sides… There’s certainly a level of comfort with those two that I don’t have with many other people. I end up writing some parts because I’m not afraid to hit 999 bad notes on the way to the good ones.

**DO: The "March of Time" video was done with two MacBook video cameras in one take (however, as there are more than two camera angles in the video, we took short "fake" shots of the stick clicks, kick pedal, some vocals, and marimba in order to give the video some more variety. The audio is just from one take. As far as our songwriting goes, we definitely have lots of jam sessions that turn into songs. Geoff, DJ and I have been playing music together for over 4 years now (Geoff and I for 10 years), so we are able to really lock in with each other, there are many times when the first 30 min of rehearsal are spent playing some random chord progression and each of us improvising (this helps get the good vibes flowin’). "March of Time" in particular was written, structured, and completed in around 30 minutes! This, however, is rare for us. One of us will typically come to rehearsal with an idea and we’ll jam it for a while; if we like it we keep reworking it, if we don’t…well…it gets put in the masses of unfinished songs that we currently have.

GH: The video only took one take. We had a few different camera’s set up and it was simply a one-take. Our practices are many times "jam sessions" as we feel creativity is best cultivated through an environment free of structure as we are able to move with the notes, melodies and flow of that particular moment. We have collectively been playing together for 3 years as a whole and Danny and Geoff have been playing together for 9 years so our chemistry and dynamic is finely tuned to where we are beyond comfortable with each other and know what each other are creating.

The TAS Kids:

Everything we know about you guys is through your music, so we could easily get the impression that you are all pretty deep, thoughtful, and intense. But we figure you guys can’t be 24-7 intense… there has to be some weird and funny happening. So if each member of the band had to pick a female celebrity to play your character in a movie, who would play each of you, and why?

The Farewell Circuit:

DJ: Hmmm.. Because the crush factor is really high on her character at the moment I’d choose Lizzy Caplan (from the brilliant "Party Down") because she’d make me way wittier and much more attractive than Danny and Geoff and their faux female doppelgangers.

**DO: Velma from Scooby Doo…she’s great. BUT seriously…maybe Gwyneth Paltrow (and I hope you realize that I am bound by contract to say this, because after all, Chris Martin and I are friends and our kids play together…it only makes sense).

GH: Meg Ryan would play my character. She is that charming that I believe she could make me seem far more wonderful than the truth holds.

The TAS Kids:

While your songs are personal and intimate, you also seem heavily affected by the bigger picture of the world around you. Since you guys are in the middle of creating the new music right now, what’s the vibe of the record as a whole so far, and what in your life is inspiring the new songs? Also, we want everyone to be exposed to your awesomeness, so once the new record is out, will it be on Amazon, iTunes, Bandcamp, etc?

The Farewell Circuit:

DJ: Well I think Danny is really developing a personality in his lyric writing on this record and we are just trying to cater to the moods and imagery in it. It’s full of humanity and hope even though sometimes it FEELS hopeless. If you pay attention to things enough you start to get really pissed off and frustrated and almost just want to stick your head in the sand because you can’t change the momentum of the machinery at work in the world. But you can change your day to day reactions and interactions with everyone and especially with those who can’t do anything for you. You can be a decent human being just to be a decent human being no matter what the incentive is. And maybe that’s a start… I don’t know. There’s a terribly affecting story about Ignaz Semmelweis in "A Man Without A Country" by Kurt Vonnegut that articulates that sentiment far better than I ever could. Check it out. Or google it I guess. That works too.

The record should be out in all major outlets and for sure on our Bandcamp site too. We also accept loads of cash at ALL of our concerts.

**DO: Lyrically, the vibe of the new record is life and hope, not in the sense of ‘life in general,’ rather in the direction of giving life to all people. That is, empowering the marginalized and the poor to live life to it’s fullest and purest. This record is by far our happiest record yet (both lyrically and sonically). We have come to a point where we can choose to give up on humanity as a lost cause or we can make it our life’s ambition to, in the words of Ghandi and the actions of Mother Teresa, BE the change we want to see in the world. Thus, the influences for the record’s lyrics are Geoff and my experiences in developing nations as well as our cumulative experiences with the orphan and widow here in the US and how these interactions direct the way we live our lives. Ultimately, this record leaves us with the challenge of living for ourselves or living to restore dignity to those who have had it robbed from them. Sonically, the album is a bit more up tempo than our previous recordings and has a more "major" sound as opposed to some of the darker "minor" songs of past records.

GH: Over the last two records we have wrestled with issues of injustice around the world that we have been awoken to and the new record is shaping to be an even more beautiful, mature picture of humanity and the issues we are faced with. Many of these songs come from the oppressed lives in India and Africa that we have seen and our cry for the reconciliation and redemption of ‘the least’ and humanity. We desire our music and lyrics to ring of a truth we are desperate to proclaim to a world that has long forgotten that those dying and suffering to injustice and oppression around the world are our brothers and sisters.

The TAS Kids:

Thank you so much guys, and we can’t wait for the new stuff!!!

The Farewell Circuit – The Inexorable March of Time

!!! we can’t get enough of this !!!

Check Out More TFC…

• The Farewell Circuit Official Website
• The Farewell Circuit Bandcamp
• The Farewell Circuit Facebook
• The Farewell Circuit PureVolume
• The Farewell Circuit Twitter
• The Farewell Circuit Myspace

Artist: Early States

Album: EP

Download: Download Outside »

Artist: Mansions

Album: New Best Friends

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Artist: Disco Nap

Album: Running Red Lights

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Artist: Don’t Look Down

Album: Five

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Artist: Freelance Whales

Submitted by: Mark D.

“Something about this song keeps my mother alive inside of me.”

Mark D.’s Song »

Artist: Freelance Whales

Submitted by: Mark D.

TAS ID: Mark D.

Son, Brother, Traveler

Growing up, all my memories of my mother are framed by music she loved. Mostly passionate folk rock with everything from Paul Simon to the BoDeans to Joanna Newsom. As I got older I of course rebelled against my "parent’s music" and got into a lot of contemporary indie bands, and shelved my mother’s records away in my mind. Then 5 years ago my mother passed away. The only thing that kept me sane when I lost her was literally pulling her old records off the shelf. Suddenly, the Paul Simon, the BoDeans, and the Joanna Newsom became beautiful and brilliant.

When I first heard Generator 1st Floor, it was like this new contemporary indie version of the beautiful folk music my mother used to play. It was like the perfect blend of my music with my mother’s. Something about this song keeps my mother alive inside of me, and for that, this song is essential to the soundtrack of my life.

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Artist: Freelance Whales

Album: Weathervanes

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Artist: Radical Face

Album: Touch The Sky

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Artist: Priscilla Ahn

Album: A Good Day

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Artist: Delphic

Album: Acolyte

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Artist: Passion Pit

Album: Manners

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Artist: The American Analog Set

Album: Know By Heart

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Artist: Go Crash Audio

Album: Dear, Song In My Head

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Artist: Aviation

Submitted by: Dallas T

“This song saved my relationship..”

Dallas T’s Song »

Artist: Aviation

Submitted by: Dallas T

TAS ID: Dallas T

outgoing city music um lover

This song. It’s unbelievable now much i love this song. I love old school chill rap, and i liked a guy for the LONGEST time, and i ruined the relationship by acting like “Oh you’re just a ‘thing’ kind of attitude.” and i ruined it. So when i hear this song, it reminds me of him and i how much i love him.

I played him this song in class one time and he understood exactly what i was feeling…this song saved my relationship. Plus it has an AWESOME beat:P

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Artist: The Naked And Famous

Album: Passive Me, Aggressive You

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Artist: The Assembly Line

Album: Graves Like Oceans

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Artist: Chicane

Album: The Best Of Chicane

Submitted by: Ian

“This song embodies everything I love about music.”

Ian’s Song »

Artist: Chicane

Submitted by: Ian

TAS ID: Ian

Loyal, Lover, Wild Child.

This song embodies everything I love about music. The sound literally moves me, it fills my veins, and frees my soul.

No matter what is happening in my life, no matter what drama I’m going through, this song takes me out of my funk in an instant. It’s so pure and simple and that’s why I love it. It takes all of the chaos in my head and melts it into a sense of peace. I think of life and love and joy. When I hear this song, all of those things just feel so damn real to me. Chicane IS the soundtrack of my life.

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Artist: Chicane

Album: The Best Of Chicane

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Artist: Slow Runner

Album: Damage Points

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Artist: The Real You

Album: Changing Faces

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Artist: PlayRadioPlay!

Album: The Frequency EP

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Artist: Carrie Underwood

Album: Carnival Ride

Submitted by: Rocstar

“This song is like free therapy.”

Rocstar’s Song »

Artist: Carrie Underwood

Submitted by: Rocstar

TAS ID: Rocstar

Music lover, silly, writer.

This song is like free therapy, Every time I go through something in life I can’t handle I blast this. This song has great meaning to it and to me. It tells me that maybe I’m making the problem bigger than what it really is. Maybe I should take a break ad try to understand the problem.

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Artist: Carrie Underwood

Album: Carnival Ride

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Artist: Ra Ra Riot

Album: The Orchard

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Artist: LCD Soundsystem

Album: This Is Happening

Submitted by: TaylerSee

“Oh, and did I mention that it’s practically a requirement to dance whenever this song comes on? It’s true.”

TaylerSee’s Song »

Artist: LCD Soundsystem

Submitted by: TaylerSee

TAS ID: TaylerSee

music enthusiast. psychadelic dreamer.

The very first time I heard from LCD Soundsystem was in 2010 at my college’s indie radio station. I was sitting in on a show where people vote on which songs should be played on the air (basically a battle royale for songs). I listened to “Drunk Girls” and got stoked about this record, thinking every track would be tongue-in-cheek and only 3 minutes long. Not so much.

After doing extensive research on James Murphy and co., I found out that the usual track is around 6 minutes in length. I freaked out. How could I ever love a band that had long songs? As weird as that sounds, I have this thing with songs over the 4 minute mark. I lose interest, can’t focus, and ultimately want to skip the song. My heart was broken.

“Dance Yrself Clean” is the first song I can say that I truly LOVE, oh and by the way, it’s 8:58 minutes long. From the opening drumming, to the marriage of sick beats it can bring any “long-song phobic” over to the dark side. Oh, and did I mention that it’s practically a requirement to dance whenever this song comes on? It’s true. I find myself unknowingly nodding my head or having a bit more swagger in my step when it comes on. If you’re looking for that staple dance song for your playlist, give this a try, or heck, even the whole album.

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Artist: LCD Soundsystem

Album: This Is Happening

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