Stuck In My Skull 555 -- "Surrender"

Song: "Surrender" || Artist: Cash Cash feat. Julia Michaels || http://youtu.be/K22v4xolOsc || 

Comments: Hello, everyone! I've got a shiny new track by Cash Cash for today's entry, and let me tell you now, this one is epic. I heard this song on the radio driving into work yesterday, and new that I absolutely had to share this. I stumbled upon Cash Cash when I saw their remix of Krewella's "Alive," but they've been doing plenty of work since that time. They've co-written Krewella's track "Live for the Night" and remixed for the likes of Capital Cities, Clean Bandit, Nicky Romero, Icona Pop, Hardwell, and even Katy Perry. With a record like that, perhaps it's not surprising that this song is excellent. It's nearest to the labels 'electrohouse' and 'progressive house,' and I'll be shocked if it doesn't chart fairly soon. The song has some really excellent beats that drive the energy, and unbelievably catchy vocals by an uncredited singer -- Wikipedia lists this excellent voice as Julia Michaels. Definitely check this song out, it's fantastic.

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Stuck In My Skull 522 -- "IPOS" [Free Music Week!]

Free Music Week, Part 1 || Song: "IPOS" || Artist: Inpetto || https://soundcloud.com/inpetto/ipos || Download Link: via Facebook ||


Comments: Good morning, everyone! You probably noticed an unexplained lack of posts last week. I apologize for that -- the entry that I had written to explain I'd be missing in action for a week didn't post, and so my little vacation went unexplained. To make up for it, I'm kicking off Stuck In My Skull's first ever Free Music Week! That's right, this week is going to be chock-full of amazing music that you don't have to pay for.
Once I realized that my last entry didn't post and decided to do Free Music Week, I headed to Soundcloud and started searching. For those of you who don't know, Soundcloud is an excellent place to find new music of any genre, from both famous and up-and-coming artists. For example, I clicked on Explore, selected 'Dance' as the genre I wanted to explore, and had my pick of nearly-infinite tracks. As of this morning, there's everything from an hour long set by R3HAB (a free download), an hour of Tiesto's Club Life podcast (also a free download), a stack of remixes by various artists, and eventually this gem. One of the things I've really come to appreciate about the Internet is how easy it is for new artists to spread their music, and this is no exception. Prior to writing this entry, I had never heard of Inpetto. According to their website, however, artists like Sander van Doorn, David Guetta, and Axwell have, and are fans. After hearing this song, I can see why.
I have no idea if "IPOS" is supposed to stand for anything, but it does make me stand up and applaud. This track is amazing. Soundcloud shows this as being labelled progressive house, but I am loving the very chill instrumentation and trance influences all over this track. Perhaps chill house would be a better label? Naming conventions aside, the instrumentation is masterful. This track is seven and a half minutes of awesome. The best part is, you can download this song for free by liking the artist on Facebook. Check this song out, and keep an eye on this blog all week for more free music!

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Stuck In My Skull 512 -- "Body Work"

Song: "Body Work" || Artist: Morgan Page feat. Tegan and Sara || http://youtu.be/QHe1PvKALaY ||

Comments: Hello and happy Friday everyone! To get the weekend started off right, I've got a lovely track from Canadian prog house/electro house DJ Morgan Page. I've been hearing a remix of this song on the radio lately, and while I haven't been able to find the exact remix I've been hearing, the original track is just as excellent as the remix. Speaking of original tracks, what is it about pairing Tegan and Sara's vocals with an electronic music track that makes it work every time? (See example -- "Feel It In My Bones" Tiesto remix.) This track is fairly calm but has a solid beat, making it good for both chill and dance. Whether you're going out to rave this weekend or relax at home, take this song with you. Enjoy!

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AMANDA-- "WAKE ME UP" by AVICII

Hey guys! It's nearly August, which means sadly the summer will be ending soon. But no worries, there is still enough time left to have magical adventures and plenty of great music yet to come. Speaking of music, I am crazy about Avicii's "Wake Me Up," released just over a month ago. I make a point of trying to keep up on the latest trends  and the first time I heard this I didn't care for it at all. Fortunately, I have awesome friends that send me music regularly and I took another listen. It made all the difference. Avicii has been taking some heat for the song, which fuses elements of rhythm and blues, folk, and rock with house and has a country feel to it. Personally, I give him kudos for daring to change things up and standing by his artistic choices. This has to be one of the best, most interesting of his tracks to date, due in no small measure to his collaborators Aloe Blacc and Mike Einziger (from Incubus) , who are responsible for the lyrics and vocals and and guitar work respectively. The official video came out yesterday and honestly I wasn't terribly impressed; it looks like a commercial for designer jeans which could have been the point seeing as how Avicii has a partnership with Ralph Lauren. The lyrical video released previously is beautiful in its simplicity and ultimately makes for a better accompaniment for the song. As a sidenote, it bothers me that Aloe Blacc's name isn't included in the title. He brings so much depth to the song and it feels like a disservice to someone who could use (and surely deserves) the recognition. In conclusion, "Wake Me Up" may not be what people have come to expect from Avicii but there's no denying it's a triumph in its own right. I find it very exciting and commendable to see musicians experimenting with their sound,  promoting collaboration across the different genres, and challenging their audience to think in new and creative ways about what they're listening to. I'm not asking anyone to engage in deep, intellectual thought here but simply to give it a chance, maybe two even. You might just be pleasantly surprised. Enjoy!

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Stuck In My Skull 439 -- "Levels"

Song: "Levels" || Artist: Avicii || http://youtu.be/_ovdm2yX4MA ||

Comments: Good morning everyone! Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday -- I was up at some ridiculously early hour, and any post I wrote would have been incoherent mumbling, and I didn't think to write it the night before. Up today is that instant classic by Avicii -- "Levels." It was insanely popular awhile back, and not long after it got sampled into to the Flo Rida song "Good Feeling." "Levels" is built around an insanely catchy sample from the 1962 Etta James song "Something's Got a Hold On Me," which Avicii uses as a textbook example of how to use samples and sound awesome. This song is one of the most instantly-recognizable sounds in electronic music, and for good reason. Even if you've heard it before, give it a listen! It's sure to start your day on a good note.

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ETC #77 "Reload"

Song: "Reload" ~ Artist: Tommy Trash

~ http://youtu.be/NjI2CHup07M ~

Comments: Happy Friday!  Sorry for the delay this morning, everyone. I am going a little out of my shell today and bringing some electronic music. I have never heard of Tommy Trash before today, but the two songs of his that I heard are the essence of electronic.  This song has an amazing pounding beat and beautiful transitions (and because of this it is great motivation to run harder while working out I found). Anyway, happy listening!

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[Secret Sounds] Teqq ~ 3

Track: 3
Artist: Teqq
Download: FREE
First, I must apologize for my absence last week. With upgrading my computer, it was a bit unstable for a while. But this week I bring you German progressive house week!

Teqq is a young producer who specializes in prog house but also dabbles in other genres. To me, prog house is a difficult genre to produce well because of its propensity for repetitiveness and chord stagnancy. However, Teqq's tracks (say that 3 times fast) are well structured and never even border on boring. He keeps interesting with piano solos and sometimes vocal lines, which are always well-written (musically and lyrically) in addition to well-performed. In fact, it was difficult for me to select a song of his to feature since they're all worthy.

I decided to go with 3, which doesn't feature vocals, as Teqq has got it covered all on his own. (He also has a great mashup of the track versus Swedish House Mafia's Don't You Worry Child.) A piano melody dances in from the distance, momentarily fades, and then becomes a lush piano solo, with some sustained strings entering later. The synth comes back and the melody builds up to the huge drop. The melody circles, staying interesting with some syncopation. The piano returns to mingle with the synth, and then the two alternate the iteration of the melody. In the final repeat, the hard bass drum kick brings it home. In the quiet coda, there's a bit of musical trickery, as the chord progression repeats there's almost a sort of pedal point, but not sustained. Despite the repetitive nature of house, this piece by Teqq remains interesting, full, and lush.

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Stuck In My Skull 354 -- "Sleepless"

Song: "Sleepless" || Artist: Deadmau5 || http://youtu.be/l2L599fMDPI ||

[youtube http://youtu.be/l2L599fMDPI]

Comments: Good morning, everyone. This song comes from Deadmau5's latest album, called " > album title goes here < ". It's a really new and different sound for Deadmau5, and I thought it was really interesting, so I just had to post it here. Rather than search for words, I'll just say it's slower and quieter than most songs by Deadmau5, and you should definitely give it a listen. Enjoy!

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