Hailing from the concrete slabbed hills spread throughout the Eastern bank of the Hudson River, Outasight is an emcee/vocalist putting a fresh new twist on a Yonkers sound that was once blessed by the lips of a now bronzed Ella Fitz and put to rest at night by Jada’s kiss.

Born Richard Andrew, Outasight is a cool, calm, and collected individual that carries himself with a slight, casual lean like the brick buildings wrapped around Shonnard Terrace. In video interviews, he stands complaisant and poised behind a pair of signature black Ray-Bans, equipped with a slight stoned grin that shows satisfaction with his propulsive young career. Always seen dressed to the nines, his fashion feel mirrors his music in the sense that it’s perpetually polished, perfectly ironed, and has never been worn by any other master of ceremonies.

Originality is the perfect middle name to bridge the gap between the two first names on his birth certificate. Like no one before, Outasight has united soulful-pop croons with breezeless boasts about big city dreams, life, love, and music appreciation. Every album he has released since his 2007 debut ‘Employee of the Year’ has shown immeasurable sonic growth. 2008’s ‘Radio New York‘‘ was the dusty, yet refined, full length record that catapulted his name onto numerous New York City marquees and endless internet posts. An album that showed his innate ability to fuse infectious hooks, melodies, and head rocking raps over jazzy gems from Dante Lewis and D/Will, as well as foreshadowed Outasight’s pop-hop hits to come.

One of 2009’s best mix tapes was the Mick Boogie commissioned, ‘From There to Here: An Album Prequel’, which served as our first glimpse at the bubbling chemistry between him and up and coming producer, 6th Sense; a musical marriage that has already birthed epic compositions such as, “Brand New Day,” “When I Heard the Beat Knock,” and has elevated O’s abilities to another level.

“6th is a great producer.” Outasight told me in a recent e-mail, “What he has really helped with is making the musical landscapes behind what I do so much bigger, broader, and universal. He’s a great musician and together we are influenced by so many different types of music…the chemistry comes natural.” These comments ring loud and true on his latest free LP, ‘Further’, where amongst the guitar plucks, frantic horn stabs, and thundering drums, 6th and Outasight’s serendipitous connection shines brightest.

His new release ‘Further‘ remains an aptly titled LP, as the simple adverb explains exactly where Outasight has taken his music. While grabbing influences from a myriad of genres like: 70’s blues-rock, folk, modern pop, soul, and golden era hip hop, O has proven to new artists that the standard template for constructing a hip hop song has forever changed, the bar has been raised and standards refreshed. Growth and maturity is also accomplished on the free LP, as he toys with various styles, themes, and vocal cadences. He additionally displays surprising versatility as a musician with pristine production choices and contagious song construction.

In only a few short years, we have seen a young musician take his career further than most emcees experience in a lifetime of beats and rhymes. Outasight continues to expand hip hop horizons and expose new slivers of dawn to a genre that has been stuck in the eves of midnight for many years. Soon enough, you might want to borrow the black Ray Ban’s from O’s nose, because there is no doubt that with the release of his upcoming major label debut, ‘From Here to Eternity’, hip hop will be seeing a brand new day.

Brand New Day:

People, Places, Things:

Exclusive:

Click here for more Outasight on BandSoup.com!

Click here to download Outasight’s latest Free LP, Further.

Journeyman musician Todd Wright is doing it right.

As technology and social networking trends continue to bloom, so are golden opportunities for artists to spread their music to new fans around the globe. Instead of waiting to be broadcasted to potential fans by local press outlets and word of mouth suggestions, you dish it out– free of charge– via your personal blog, twitter, Facebook, and Myspace accounts and watch the beauty of viral marketing unfold and infect.

A great example and proverbial “how to” guide for independent musicians is currently being executed by singer/songwriter, Todd Wright; a Washington DC artist who has tangled guitar strings with a myriad of musicians, such as: Better Than Ezra, Pat McGee, Lucy Woodward, Junkfood, Toby Lightman and many more.

Using his website, OrangePopSongs.com, Todd has launched his 40 x 40 campaign, where he says goodbye to his thirties by releasing one song every week for 40 consecutive weeks and offers them as a free download, with no strings attached, until he reaches his 40th birthday. Each free download comes with a paragraph of information explaining how he constructed the track, where the idea came from, and who assisted him on the recording. A perfect way to empower your craft by manipulating the power of the internet.

Below is the latest entry of his 40 x 40 campaign, I Ain’t Gonna Do That,  and another track that I dug from earlier in this campaign that spotlights his virtuous voice and flair for original songwriting. Stay tuned for more freebies.

I Ain’t Gonna Do That:

Lovesick Freak (A Hostage Situation)

Click here for more Todd Wright music at BandSoup.com!

Download 40 x 40 tracks here.

Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Elevation is taking the country by storm with the release of their debut album, Strangelove. Dubbed one of the top ten indie bands to watch in 2009 (Muchmusic.com), Elevation continues to develop a repertoire that is unforgettable.

Strangelove was recorded in Atlanta and released by 50 Records/SONY/RED. The album was produced by Dan Hannon (Manchester Orchestra, King Konga, Aaron Shust) and mastered by Grammy Award winner Adam Ayan (Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, Incubus).

Elevation’s first single off of the new album, “Razoreyes,” was re-mixed by Mark Endert, a superstar producer who has worked with Madonna, The Fray, and Maroon 5.

With 2009 well underway and a new album in tote, Elevation continues to grow into a superlative rock band. On the heels of returning from a month long tour in the Middle East with Armed Forces Entertainment, Elevation has released their debut music video for “Razoreyes” starring Kimberly Stewart. Recently, the video won MTVu’s Best Freshmen video competition and is featured in regular on-air rotation.

Click to hear more from Elevation on BandSoup.com!

After listening to their tracks on BandSoup, I knew this quirky quartet from Minneapolis, Minnesota would be a perfect new band for generation ADD with their ability to morph from the methodical mood in “Moon Over the Water” to the Jolt cola induced 90′s alt-jam “Chosen Ones.”

Junebug, a four piece band that has known one another since grade school, show off their chemistry and knack for making happy haphazard hits sound cohesive on their self released debut album, Share, now available on iTunes and CDBaby.

While putting their own spin on styles that  made bands like Presidents of the United States of  America and They Might Be Giants household names for dive barflies in the early nineties, Junebug flutters away from catching band copy-cat syndrome and land amongst a short list of new bands that understand what being creative and having fun can do for their music.

Junebug is currently back in the studio working on their sophomore release, Modern Day Fairy Tales, which, according to the band, “will strangely be made up of older material.” Stay tuned.

Below are two tracks from their latest album, Share, that they uploaded to BandSoup’s main hub, as well as the video for “Chosen Ones.”

Moon Over the Water:

Click here for free download of “Moon Over the Water”

Chosen Ones:

Click here for free download of “Chosen Ones”

Check out more tracks from Junebug’s debut album on BandSoup!

Here is a stunning new video from the production duo of DJ /rupture  and Matt Shadetek, which was directed and animated by Sara Taigher with illustrations by Maria Chiara Di Giorgio. The video is a medley featuring DJ /rupture and Matt Shadetek’s “Underwater High Rise,” Nico Muhly’s “Mothertongue Pt. 1,” and Mizz Beats’ “Blue Night.”

You can listen to more electronic and DJ submitted music here at BandSoup by clicking on the Electronic option on the left sidebar.

Combining the classic swagger of the 1970s with grinding garage guitars, San Francisco based band The American Standard are one of the few remaining American rock n’ roll groups unafraid of playing true to the genre’s roots. This is easily heard in their song Seventeen; a loud and bouncy record laced with infectious distorted vocals that mirror the golden years of Jack White and Julian Casablancas.

You can stream Seventeen below, as well as listen to more tracks from the band via their BandSoup page. The American Standard are set to release their first EP later this month. We’ll keep you posted!

Listen to more tracks from The American Standard at BandSoup!

Since melting away from his original home in North Pole, Alaska, MC Intuition has been busy making a name for himself in Los  Angeles, California with his energetic stage shows and infectious chemistry with Swim Team MC, VerBS. After the release of their celebrated BUZZ EP earlier this year, Intuition is moving forward with his solo career and concentrating on promoting the release of his upcoming solo record, Girls Like Me, which will be released the 1st quarter of 2010.

Before Girls Like Me hits store shelves, Intuition wanted to introduce himself to the blogosphere by releasing a mixtape full of new tracks from the album, as well as some unreleased tracks, collaborations, and various music throughout his career that you might not have heard before. The mixtape, which will be hosted by Intuition’s on stage DJ, DJ Murj, will be called, Girls are Gonna Like Me, and will see its release in late December after a few exclusive leaks and singles are released through promotional sites.

Al Bundy is the first single from the mixtape & album. Listen to the song and peep the new video below.

Check out more new exclusive music from Intuition on BandSoup!

I had a chance to catch Sol at Bangkok Blues in VA and was blown away. Sol is a fantastic musician (guitarist/singer/songwriter/producer) and always assembles other great talent: Deanna Bogart, Mike Stern, Tommy Castro, Jah Works, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Hobex, the Countdown Quartet, Danny Gatton, Mary Ann Redmond, Tom Principato, Elvin Bishop…

If you’re in Washington DC on Dec 13, you can check him out at DC9 (the Nine Songwriters One Year Anniversary).

Freedom