8 Years Later...

Hello everyone!

When I started this music blog it was originally on quarterlife.com. A website that was used for people to express their creativity and was circled around the series quarterlife. On that website I had a profile and didn't know what to do with my free time. Until one day, I was looking through my music collection and thought, "Maybe I could make a profile sharing music I listen to." After awhile of thinking I thought of ArtistoftheWeek. On the website I uploaded every song that the musician released, posted every picture that I could find on the internet and wrote an autobiography of the musician/band. I gained some popularity on the site and was even featured on the front page a few times doing what I loved, sharing music with the world.
Unfortunately, overtime the quarterlife website was not getting a lot of traffic to run independently and the series did not continue for a second season. I noticed this and decided to start posting AOTW on different sites. This is when I went over to websites like, tumblr and imeem in 2009. The blog was receiving more popularity from more than one platform. I also spent time marketing it on twitter, facebook and flickr. Soon after, the blog started to become more of a full-time job. But I still loved every minute of it. In 2010, Quarterlife shut down their website. Around that time I was all ready for continuing the blog on a different website, blogger. I continued blogging on this site and promoted it on various other websites.
After 2010, I became busy with education and pursuing other activities such as vlogging and writing. I decided to do ArtistoftheWeek only in the summer but doing that felt like I was doing a disservice to fellow fans of the blog. Now it's 2013, and I'm making a big decision. I will be discontinuing the music blog and will be focusing more on college, vlogging and writing. I will still keep the website up and will be redesigning it soon. I will be changing the facebook page and discontinuing the other pages that I used to promote and share this blog.
I am thankful for all of the people who visited/followed or even shared this blog during it's run. I hope that everyone had a good time checking out the new artists every week and found out about some new music.

From the bottom of my heart thank you so much for being apart of this blog. I couldn't have continued without the support and love from the fans and viewers.

Thank you

- Coral R.

ArtistoftheWeek:Natalia Lafourcade7/13/10-7/20/10

I found out about Natalia Lafourcade when I was looking for some more Latin Artists and I couldn't really find any I liked. Then I heard her song, "En El 2000", and I was blow away. It was as if I was listening to Nelly Furtado mixed with the Spanish version of Alanis Morrissette. It was pretty cool. Then I found out about her song "Casa" & "O Pato", then I heard her most recent song, "Ella Es Bonita". A great song, indeed. I really liked all of those four songs. But it took me a while to like the albums. They were the ones that you have to sit down and listen to till the end. If you don't you'll miss out on the whole thing.
~Music Videos~
Cursis Melodias
Ella Es Bonita
Te Queiro Dar
Azul
Casa
Busca Problema
O Pato
En El 2000

Official Website

ArtistoftheWeek:Carina Round 8/13/12-8/20/12 [Recycled]

I have loved this artist since 2006 when this ad on ArtistDirect (a music site I used to go to for information and new music before I knew about iTunes, Wikipedia and Youtube) caught my eye. I listen to the her album Slow Motion Addict and was hooked by 30-second sample of the first song, "Stolen Car". Her voice is very captivating and her lyrics are so interesting to listen to. Also, the album gave off an energy of anger (that I needed when I was a pre-teen). Her album has been a mainstay of my music collection. It's always been a different style than any other music I have come across from in the past six years of listening to over 1 million songs from all over the world (that might be an exaggeration) I've never encountered another musician with a style like Round, unless it was PJ Harvey. Her Slow Motion Addict album is a great one to have in anyone's music collection.
Especially for 90s kids who grew up listening to the female one-hit wonders like it was their job.
Since the release of Slow Motion, Round has come out with an EP called, Things You Should Know. The EP featured a song on their that was very befitting for new listeners of Round. Backseat, is a sweet love song that touches the hearts of many that look for love and comfort from that special someone, from their family members, their friends or even God. The EP is contains very intimate and slow sogs that Round has wanted to release for a long time.
After hanging around with Puscifer and doing things with Gary Go, she comes back hard with a new single called, "The Last Time". A hard-hitting, and yet seductively rock-filled song. The music video for it is one to see, trust me. After that she did a few gigs and then came out with a new album this year called, Tigermending. The album is a lot calmer and more folk than Slow Motion Addict. The album is a good introduction to new fans of Round's music in 2012. It's that album that you'd listen to if you need a break from all the clubby, upbeat, annoyingly repetitive music that is topping the charts today. So if you're that person in need of a break from radio music check out Tigermending, a chill album for the summer.
Free Downloads
Selective Songs From Slow Motion Addict
Backseat
Selective Songs From Tigermending
You & Me [Acoustic Version]

~Check out Carina Round, she is an Artist that you should watch!~

 

ArtistoftheWeek: Missy Higgins 8/6/12-8/13/12

Missy Higgins has been gone a long time. Five years to be exact. It seems that Higgins needed some time out from the music industry for some time to recollect with herself and get all her stuff together. I have to admit the long break is a surprise to many fans like myself. She released two #1 Australian albums acquired ARIA Awards (Australian Grammys) and broke out into the US with her single, Where I Stood. Her music was featured all over television and had so much going for her. Then in 2007, she disappeared. Some thought that she'd never be heard of again like Lauryn Hill but she couldn't live on without the embrace of the music. The sounds, the melodies, the arranging, the emotional connection and the sharing of one's thoughts through song. Of course, Missy missed that life, and decided to come back strong with her new album, The Ol' Razzle Dazzle. In her new album, she is pouring her heart out about her relationship with music, people, life, and herself. It's an open confession of unconditional truth. I personally think that it beats her last two albums out of the water. If you haven't heard of Missy Higgins at all check out the songs that make her who she is today.
Youtube|Twitter|Facebook| Official Website

Free Downloads
Where I Stood| Warm Whispers
Scar
Selective Songs From The Ol' Razzle Dazzle

 ~This Girl Knows Music~

ArtistoftheWeek: Gentleman Reg 7/30/12-8/6/12

Gentleman Reg's vocals are very different than many musicians out their that it can catchy your ears like Rihanna's vocals. His previous releases were very much of a singer/songwriter style. Throughout his music career you could hear how much he's grown as a musician by listening to the songs from his debut album to his recent songs. They became more profound, more relatable and of course, more catchy.
I found out about Gentleman Reg from a movie I watched called Wilby Wonderful because it had Ellen Page in it. I heard his song, "Given The Chance To Fall" play at the beginning of the film and was instantly hooked to his music. Mostly because of his different vocal style and catchy yet simplistic sounds. I then checked out his song, "We're In A Thunderstorm" when Psapp remixed it and found out about his album Jet Black that released in 2009 and  was introduced to even more powerful and soothing songs for that everyday life.
Now, Gentleman Reg is coming back with a hard hit this year. He's kind of been out of the picture with his last release. He's releasing the new album in three parts, he's released the first part on July 3rd and let me tell you, if the songs on the first one represents the style of the album, I'm giving it a five star rating. It's songs filled with pop/rock elements and relatable lyrics that you can easily remember and sing to in your car. I'm sure that Mr. Reg himself would appreciate the love if you recorded yourself actually doing that. I have to say I am excited for the new album and will purchase it when it comes out this fall!

Youtube| Twitter| Facebook|Official Website
Purchase his music here! Listen to his music here!

Free Downloads
Give Me The Chance To Fall
Selective Songs From Jet Black
We're In A Thunderstorm (Psapp's Megacake Remix)
Waiting Around For Gold

~His look reminds me of Winter~

ArtistoftheWeek:Dragonette 7/23/12-7/30/12

 It's surprising to know that Dragonette has done some much in so little time. They've released two albums within two years and on their way of releasing another one this summer (probably next spring but hey at least they're planning on releasing another album soon). This Canadian  electropop-rock group have achieved success with the release of Galore and Fixin' To Thrill. Their popularity is so noteworthy that many Americans label them as, "Canada's apology for Justin Bieber". 
The group formed in 2005 and have been going strong ever since. Their rise in success and popularity can be noted as similar as Metric's rise to popularity after their third album, Live It Out. The band work and tour a lot while also working hard on other projects. For example, Martina Sorbara was heavily feautured in Martin Solveig's album, SMASH. She also wrote and produced Dan Kurtz, bassist of the band, has another band he works with called, The New Deal (well, I guess had another band. They broke up in 2011) and their drummer Joel Stouffer has been a guest drummist on many albums.
Their music has that dance pop feeling fueled with the influences of rock n roll. This is shown well in their album, Galore. Songs like, I Get Around and Competition really show off that rock feel that the group has. Many of their songs give off that feeling of summer like, "Pick Up The Phone", "Big Sunglasses" and "Volcano". The band is perfect to have in your collection for a hot summer mix. Especially when you're planning on going to the beach.
Their recent single, "Let It Go", is a song that reminds me of "Warrior" by Kimbra, Mark Foster & A-Trak. It has that positive message of high self-esteem and the electro-pop feeling that makes you want to shake your worries away. With that being said, if you haven't heard of Dragonette, check 'em out because I can promise you that their third album will be talked about a lot when it releases.
Free Downloads
Selective Songs From Galore
Selective Songs From Fixin To Thrill
Volcano
Let It Go

~If You Like Dragons, Listen To Dragonette~

ArtistoftheWeek:Kyary Pamyu Pamyu 7/16/12-7/23/12

If you haven't heard about PONPONPON then you should check it out now before I start off.
Now that we've caught you up to speed (or got you back on this page after hours of being lost in Youtube) we can talk about the success of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and her music.
Kyary Pamyu Pamyu started out as a Harajuku model at the age of 14. She's kept up with the world by keeping a blog telling people about her travels and her photo shoots. She had fun modeling with food, machines, and creatures made from paper-mache but after a few years of doing all this she developed the desire to sing, so she released an indies track (in Japan unknown releases are called "indies") and got a little bit of recognition from people, but not enough. One day, Yasutaka Nakata took a look at Kyary and said, "I'mma make you a star", and the rest was history. She worked with him in the studio while he was also working with, Capsule, MEG, Perfume, Ami Suzuki, Coltemonikha, SMAP, the list goes on and on. I don't know how in God's name he does it (Adderral) but nonetheless he took the girl, worked on her with a few tracks and released the "PONPONPON" music video and single worldwide on July 16th 2011.
*Today is the anniversary of PONPONPON.*
The world responded to the music video in various ways, in shock, fear, enjoyment, fun, judgement and addiction. The music video has received more than 20 million views and people are still watching it even after a year of it being out. She then released an EP titled Moshi Moshi Harajuku which topped Electronic charts all over the world especially in the US. After that she released two new singles, "Tsukema Tsukeru" and "CANDY CANDY". The music videos for the two songs are ranking up in millions in views as well.
In May 2012, she released her debut album Pamyu Pamyu Revolution. This album topped the charts in both Japan and America (US iTunes Electronic #1 & Oricon Charts #2). The album has been well-received by critics and fans of KPP. Kyary has toured a little bit in the US and has been played on American radio stations (in California but hey that's a start). It'll be great to see where this success with take Kyary, Yasutaka Nakata and Jpop in the future.
Free Downloads
Chodo Iino (English lyrics)
Drinker (English lyrics)
Jelly [Capsule Cover]

~Keep Calm & PONPONPON~

ArtistoftheWeek: Skye Townsend 7/8/12-7/15/12

This artist will blow your ears off. Her vocals, her style, her passion, her music! I mean if you don't like it then...I don't know what to say to you...Skye Townsend is a singer/songwriter who's developed a great following of fans and fame with her music, connections, and talented friends. Daughter of Robert Townsend (American actor) she has been known on sites like youtube with her impersonation of Beyonce (which is hilarious) on twitter for her memorable tweets and tumblr for everyone fangirling on everything she does.
If you haven't heard of her yet, what are you waiting for?
Go check her out!
Youtube|Twitter|Facebook|Tumblr|Official Website

Free Downloads
Show Me You Care
It's Normal
Vomit EP

ArtistoftheWeek:Nicola Roberts7/2/12-7/9/12

Nicola Roberts has always been known as the ugly girl, the awkward one, the outsider, the one left out in the popular British group, Girls Aloud. She has been attacked by media harder than any of the other girls in the group and has taken the media bullying hard. Luckily she took all these emotions she felt about all of this and made an album for our enjoyment. Her debut solo album, Cinderella's Eyes, is a glamour pop album filled with songs that are very poppy, a bit girly, and channeling something from the 80s. Yet the album remixes all of that and comes out with something new. Roberts songwriting shows that many of the songs are covered with a theme of love but her voice exhibits that it's actually about being in the music industry.
She brings in a hip feeling with, Beat of My Drum, pulling in elements of jungle rhythms and high note synths to produce a good pop single. Her other song, Lucky Day is a song that represents that sweet cute poppy-ness that Nicola has. She does get personal with songs such as Yo-Yo singing about times she felt lonely and isolated from Girls Aloud and the world in general because of the busy schedules and the media's focus on her looks. The album is a good thing to have in your collection, it provides a sweet, sad, and triumphant story of a person's relationship with fame.
Free Downloads
Beat of My Drum
Lucky Day

~You'll like her if you liked the Spice Girls~

ArtistoftheWeek:Marina & the Diamonds 6/25/12-7/2/12

 Marina Diamondis has evolved. It's very apparent by how she carried herself back then performing live and how she carries herself now. It is also shown through her music how much more open she is to people than how she was before. Sucks that a bad break up had to get her that way. Anyways, despite her personal life, her music has always been a snarky yet welcoming slice of Pop. She gives you a strong attitude with her vocals and then comforts you with her sensitive lyrics. It's nice.

Her first album, The Family Jewels, was a great perspective on going into the music industry and having to change one self to fit in with a group of potential fans. The pressures and insecurities shown in the album was raw and covered over with a sweet sense of pop. Her second album, which released this year, Electra Heart, was more focused on the highs and lows of love (as I mentioned earlier, bad break-up). With her second album she opened up more with working with more producers with different songs that she wrote for the album. She invited Dr. Luke, the creator of Ke$ha, Diplo, known for being well Diplo, and a returning producer Greg Kurstin and many other producers got their hands-on experience of working with Marina. The result came out to be an amazing album that topped the charts in the UK and has received great reviews from critics for it's unique style.
The more Marina opens up the more she is welcomed by the music industry and the world. Hopefully with her next album she'll open up just enough that it'll catch attention to everyone and top the charts all over the world (or just be better than Electra Heart, whatever she does I'll be happy either way).

Free Downloads

Oh No!
Primadonna

 ~You like Pop/Rock? You'll love Marina & the Diamonds.~ 

ArtistoftheWeek:Kimbra 6/18/11-6/25/11

 Kimbra is an answer to many music lovers who are tired of the clubs, sex, money and promiscuity. Many people have heard of her from Gotye's hot chart topping single, "Somebody That I Used To Know". Where she sang a great female perspective of a hurtful break-up. Now she's singing about marriage. and love, and success and fitting in. She's singing about practically everything under the sun except club stuff.
Her debut album Vows is a great pop album that offers a different style to it than most modern day pop music. She provides amazing scatting and Jazz-elements in her tracks while writing lyrics that have been of course Kiwi-inspired (Kiwi is an Australian/New Zealand culture). Kimbra is showing herself in this album. After working so hard for the past 7 years of her life experimenting with different styles trying to figure out how to portray herself through her music has been an obstacle challenge but has paid of big time for her debut. She won an ARIA (Austalian Grammy) for her Vows album and has topped the Billboard charts for being at #13 in the first week of her Vows release in the US. Her album became the #1 iTunes Pop album and #2 iTunes album overall (right behind John Mayer but pfft on Mayer). As a fellow music lover who has watched a hard working artist build her way to the top is rewarding and Kimbra's journey has only just begun for her.

Free Downloads

Something In The Way You Are
Home
Withdraw

P.S. If you want to know, the album is WORTH the money! You can get it for 9.99 from Target with extra bonus tracks! Her album also has a lyric booklet for just in case you like to sing-a-long with Kimbra you can when you by Vows physically from Best Buy, Target (best place to buy it) or Barnes & Nobel.

~Kimbra will not disappoint~

It's Been A Long Time

Yeah, yeah I know I know...
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?
ALLL MY LII-I-I-FE?!
ALLL MY LIII-II-I-IIIIFE?!

Well life happened and then plans happened and then school and then girls and then etc, etc....

But now I'm coming back!

Mark your calendars everybody!


JUNE 18th 2012

Be There...

-AOTW

P.S. This time around some AOTWs may be "recycled".
Recycled just means that any Artist might have been featured on Quarterlife.com but not on blogger will be an ArtistoftheWeek again. This'll just be a way to keep up to date on what the artist has done since 2005/2006 and show many new fans of AOTW who they are.

ArtistoftheWeek:Amerie10/24/11-10/31/11

Amerie is an act that people would like to describe as a, "One-hit wonder". With her song, 1 Thing, she swept over the urban music industry with her sass, passion, drive, and with a little help with Eve, she had a one-hit that was used in commercials, movies, and television shows. But before her hit, she had a nice debut album out. Feauturing elements of neo-soul and 90's style R&B into the album, All I Have. Her first album was reviewed well by her target audience. People couldn't wait for her next album. When she came out with Touch, she really showed her true self through her Pop/R&B songs with some elements of Asian pop into her songs (because of her cultural background and personal experience with Korea, she's heard and listened to music from Korea and Japan growing up). After her hit she had a spat with her record label and was drop. Forced to find another label, that released her third album everywhere except for North America. Years later she was able to find a new label that would take her catchy Pop/R&B styles and help her release her fourth album, In Love & War.
Free Downloads
Selective Songs From All I Have
Selective Songs From Touch
Selective Songs From Because I Love It
Selective Songs From In Love & War

ArtistoftheWeek:Martin Solveig10/17/11-10/24/11

You may know this DJ best from the song Hello (ft. Dragonette). His work has been building up for making a great song like that. Looking back to his music works he's been long overdue for one of his songs to hit into the American Radio Waves. He recieved a pair of turntables when he was a kid and has been fooling around with the sounds since. Making new and more innovative music for his fans and goofing around a bit with the beats.
With his most recent album, SMASH, he brings in the elements of commercial pop elements and puts them into the style of his music. With songs like, "We Came To Smash", and "Ready To Go" which features sounds of dubstep a growing trend in the music industry.
Solveig's album might not be a hot topic to most, but I'm sure that one day he will get to the top of the charts in the future the way he's going!
Free Downloads
Selective Songs From SMASH

ArtistoftheWeek:Uffie10/10/11-10/17/11

How can I explain Uffie? Well...She parties harder than Ke$ha that's for sure! Who knew that the underground party scenes were so much better than the commercial party scenes? (The french). Anyways, this French-American musician rocks out her rapping skills and makes her beats flow as she gives out her autobiographical lines to her audience. Since the release of her single, "Difficult", critics and new fans have been taking her seriously, with her work and talent. I highly recommend you that if you want to start your party with Uffie right, check out her song, "Difficult". She'll have you hooked to her style of partying in no time.You should check her out, and if you're hosting a party soon, don't forget to invite the
<-U-F-F-I that gets better with a big E!
Free Downloads
Selective Songs from Sex Dreams & Denim Jeans

ArtistoftheWeek:Eve & the Ocean10/3/11-10/10/11

Eve and the Ocean, is a side project made by Tia Brazda. This project/ artist is well known for her song, Sammy Decter (This Is Your Life) which featured on the ABC Family movie, Cyberbully. She This Canadian Singer/Songwriter's side project released an EP called Stars and Storms. The EP is filled with songs of pure pop and rock elements and lyrics directed to a general audience (most likely females in need of love). Yet, there's a certain thing about the songs that makes them so universal. You should check them out, and listen to them yourself, it's too hard to describe. I'm sure that if you've been liking the artists on ArtistoftheWeek, you'll love Eve And The Ocean. She's a treat. (Despite the picture right next to this..)
Free Downloads
Selective Songs from Stars And Storms EP.

ArtistoftheWeek:Younha9/26/11-10/3/11

Younha is an Asian Singer/Songwriter, best known for her song, Houki Boushi that featured on the hit Anime, Bleach. She has been singing and working with the Japanese/Korean Music Industry since the huge hit. Switching back and forth promoting her music, and singing in two different languages, for her fans.
Her music has been deemed as catchy, fun, and somewhat melancholic.
Nowadays, she has been releasing new music trying to step out of the box of her huge hit, and branch out to certain styles and genres of music she would like to do.
As much as Younha would like everyone to acknowledge her talents as she grows as a famous Korean musician, she would still like it if people just listen and enjoy the music.
Free Downloads
Houki Boushi
Memory (Original Mix)
Rainbow
Nonsense
Selective Songs From Under The Same Sky
Stay (Lisa Loeb Cover)

ArtistoftheWeek:Skylar Grey[Pt. II]9/19/11-9/26/11

Holly Brook, has had a rough couple of years before she started to pave through the music industry as Skylar Grey.
She was so broke that she lived in the woods for a while. Yeah it was pretty bad.
Thankfully she was "rescued" by Alex da Kid, and they have both featured/co-wrote on big songs like, Love The Way You Lie, Coming Home, and many other popular hip-hop/rap songs. Now she is touring and working on promoting her next album, Invinsible (how it is supposed to be spelled) this Fall. Skylar Grey has said that her album is an emotionally eclectic collection of songs, from fun to sad to relaxing and to contemplative. She's going all out on this album. I'm sure that her debut will be a big one this year.
Free Downloads
Dance Without You
Invisible

~I hope you guys enjoyed Holy Brook/Skylar Grey for ArtistoftheWeek(s)~

ArtistoftheWeek:Holly Brook[Pt. I]9/12/11-9/19/11

Holly Brook's musical style is perfect for rainy days. You may know her best from the song, Where'd You Go by Fort Minor, where she gained her popularity. She released her album, Like Blood Like Honey in 2006. The songs on the album really shows Holly's talent as a singer/songwriter. Even though her album achieved some success, album sales were not to the label's expectations. So she ended her relationship with her record label. Now Holly has changed her name and is now releasing a new album.
Selective Songs from Like Blood Like Honey
Selective Songs from O'Dark:Thirty EP