Alienhits Turns Two!

Watch out for the terrible twos, because today marks the second anniversary of #1 Hits From Another Planet. A few days ago I passed a milestone for this site. Over half a million views. It absolutely amazes me, and I'm so thankful for all of my readers. I work on this blog each day because I am passionate about spreading music, the kind of music that literally takes me to another world. Yes, I am a passionate pop listener, and I'm totally not afraid to say it!

In honor of this, I'm posting a mix today... kinda like a podcast. Inside this file there are eleven tracks, front to back, of literally the best songs on my mp3 player. This is the cream of the crop, what I consider to be PERFECT songs. Many of the older ones on here inspired this blog to exist in the first place.

And, here's my challenge to you. The tracks are unlabeled and part of one big mp3 file. The first five people that can email me a complete tracklist, artist and song title, of this mix will win a digital copy of all the albums that these songs are taken from. And trust me, these albums are some of my all time favorites, so this is major.

Alienhits Anniversary Mix

Again, thanks so much for sticking with my blog. I'm looking forward to a fantastic 2008!

(No posts tomorrow because I'm helping my parents move, but I'll be checking my inbox for my five winners!)

Kiona - Fooling Around With Girls

"Fooling around with girls in the backseat"

I’ve always been a fan of a good female fronted rock group. No Doubt were one of my first musical obsessions and there have been plenty since then. Kiona, unfortunately, is a band that has officially broken up, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy some of their tracks, especially the infectious Fooling Around With Girls. It’s got a great simple guitar riff with a pretty repetitive melody, and that all guarantees that it’ll be working its way around the corners of your mind about midway through the first listen. Too bad these guys broke up. It would have been interesting to see what else they could come up with.

Kiona - Fooling Around With Girls (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Listen to more here!)

Liquido - Ordinary Life

"This is an ordinary life"

This song is a couple of years old, but it doesn't matter too much because it sounds pretty current. Liquido, on this track at least, mix straightforward rock with Don Juan Dracula-esque synths. The result is an ultra catchy electro-rock track that sounds destined for the radio. I'm not sure how well it did in 2005, but I'm sure not well enough because I only heard about it a few weeks ago. They've got a new track out now called Gameboy and it's honestly very strange, but it's got a pretty catchy chorus so who knows.

Liquido - Ordinary Life (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the album here!)

Black Kids - I've Underestimated My Charm (Again)

"I didn't mean to do you no harm"

Black Kids (horrible band name, btw) is getting a lot of blog and press hype this year and, while there are other new bands of the same genre that should be covered a bit more, they deserve it. Their sound is a bit raw on their first four track EP (downloadable for free here) but the songs and attitude are definitely there. Once they release a proper full length I can imagine them being pretty big in indie circles, especially in countries like the England where not everything is rap and/or processed to death. One thing I find somewhat weird about the beginning of this track is how much the band sounds like 80's era Sparks. That could just be because they semi-quote one of the Mael Brothers' albums in the first few lines, though.

Black Kids - I've Underestimated My Charm (Again) (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Download the EP here for free!)

Video Premiere: Surferosa - The Future

A huge welcome back to Surferosa. I've missed them and their incredibly quirky fashion sense. I mean, take a look at what Mariann is wearing! What the hell?? I just wish they had a bigger budget for videos because this is a band that would really do wonders with it.

Hotel Motel - Allison

"I hate to hear what's going on because I know what's coming next"

You've heard about these guys before on Alienhits, but you're going to hear about them a lot more because I am passionate about getting them the exposure and success that they deserve. These are the reasons I love Hotel Motel... 1. Perfect pop melodies that are really quite subtle but always classy and unforgettable. They write the kind of songs that sound like classics the first time through. 2. Marika's vocals are like every amazing female pop singer from the 80's rolled into one. 3. The music, synths and guitar especially, is 100% the sound that I love to hear in this kind of pop music.
I'm posting Allison today, which is a demo they've released on their myspace, and although it's not the finished version of the song, it totally exemplifies everything I wrote above. Now, in order to get their first EP (Road Songs), what you need to do is either order it through their myspace (pretty cheap, and limited to 500 copies - so get it before it's gone and becomes a collector's item) or download it digitally here. Honestly, the physical copy's probably a better value, so do yourself a favor and pick it up!!

Hotel Motel - Allison (zshare)

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists! Buy the EP here or here!)