Aaron Smith - Love Stoned

Aaron Smith, aka Shwayze, recently released a solo mixtape titled "Love Stoned" for free on his website www.aaronsmithmusic.com. Now, I'm a huge fan of Shwayze - he has great flow, creative lyrics, and a really laid back vibe to his music. Aaron's solo music, however, seems to be more electronic influenced and misses the smooth vocals added by Cisco Adler in Shwayze. That being said, it's not a bad mixtape at all; Many songs have been stuck in my head for the past few days and I've been enjoying it very much. Aaron's creativity does show through on tracks like Love Letter, Pretty Girl, and If That's What You Want which alone are enough of an excuse to download this free album. Lyrically, this album focuses less on "weed and women" and more on the complex emotions associated with love, which is an interesting turn for Aaron that some people may not enjoy, but is ultimately not a big deal in any way.

All in all, Love Stoned is a pretty average album with a few very good songs - worth the download for sure.
www.aaronsmithmusic.com

I apologize for the short review, I'm just trying to get one in before my next class starts.

Oh, and go read movie reviews. Christian knows his way around some movies. http://indiescream.wordpress.com/


-John

Sleigh Bells - Treats

I was only very recently introduced to Sleigh Bells by a friend within the last two weeks, but since then, they have slowly become one of the only bands I've been listening to. They are categorized as a "noise-pop" duo, which basically means that their music is full of catchy vocal melodies over loud, danceable drum beats, eclectic synth parts, and dissonant guitar lines. Sleigh Bells is composed of two very unlikely people - one of which is guitarist/producer Derek Miller, whom some of you may recognize as the ex-guitarist from post-hardcore band Poison The Well. The other side of the duo is female vocalist Alexis Krauss, whom most of you will not recognize at all...but trust me, she deserves recognition. To date, the duo has only made one release, entitled "Treats", but it has a unique and destructive power that very few albums have these days. Each song on "Treats" is an adventure in its own right, and when played back to back, the album will sweep up the listener and force you to love everything about "Treats". I have found that the ideal way to listen to this album is with good headphones while taking a walk in the city around dusk...I dunno if that helps you understand the mood of Sleigh Bells' music, but I can tell you that it is an enjoyable scenario.

Also, for those of you wondering...Yes, they do actually use sleigh bells in some of their songs. Often, actually.

My personal favorite songs off of "Treats" are Infinity Guitars, Rill Rill, and Rachel.
Enjoy!

Unfortunately, I can not seem to find a download link for "Treats" but I highly recommend paying the money for it. If you can't, I still recommend that you give their music a listen on Grooveshark or over at their myspace:
http://www.myspace.com/sleighbellsmusic



Also, head on over to http://indiescream.wordpress.com/ to get some knowledge dropped on you about some great movies!