Sadly another supremely talented one has left us for a place much better. RIP Joe Cocker, you will be missed. The legendary singer passed away on December 22 at the age of 70 having lost his battle with lung cancer. While the song “With A Little Help From My Friends” was originally a Beatles song, Cocker’s rendition made him a household name worldwide but for me, he was part of my childhood as the song was the theme song for “The Wonder Years.” His voice was iconic, his songs are legendary and he will definitely be missed. We’ve lost many amazing talents in 2014, but their music will continue to fill our ears with joy and happiness.
NEW MUSIC: D’Angelo – Black Messiah
15 DecAnd on December 15 music lovers freaked out in the best way possible as D’Angelo released his first new album in nearly 15 years when he dropped Black Messiah. The album is up on Spotify (see below) and click HERE to read a post from NPR Music and one HERE from Pitchfork.
On a personal level, it well into the night between June 9 and 10, 2012 we were deep in the middle of nowhere Tennessee (Manchester to be exact) at Bonnaroo inside This Tent for ?uestlove’s Superjam when we heard one of the most amazing and yet familiar voices on vocals. It was in fact the voice of D’Angelo, gracing the stage for the first time in 12 years. At that moment my friends and I looked at each other in amazement and were captivated by the R&B crooner. I didn’t think it could get better. Today it has. Welcome back, D’Angelo!
Now Playing: Shura – “Just Once”
11 DecBeen listening to this song on repeat all week. If you are not familiar with Shura, you need to be. The British R&B musician is about to hit it big in 2015.
VIDEO: @PRIDESband – Mixtape 2014 Live (You’re gonna want to watch this)
10 DecBack in January I wrote about the Scottish synth-pop band Prides and now the trio has outdone themselves with this year end compilation of their favorite radio songs from 2014. Give a watch and listen to them pull off their versions of hits from 2014 which include Ariana Grande ft The Weeknd – Love Me Harder, Ryn Weaver – OctaHate, The 1975 – Settle Down, Ella Henderson – Ghost, Catfish and the Bottlemen – Cocoon, Taylor Swift – Out of the Wood, Nick Jonas – Jealous, Iggy Azalea ft Charli XCX – Fancy, Jessie Ware – Tough Love, and Sam Smith – Stay With Me.
Do You Hear The Music? 