This is seriously beautiful.

That is all.

Suck it, Taylor Swift haters!

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Ah, the infamous Jack White; the man of many projects. I am a huge fan of Mr. White, the talented lad who hasn’t precisely been living life outside the public eye since announcing the demise of The White Stripes last year, making records with everyone from Tom Jones to the Insane Clown Posse. Well, he now has added “solo artist” to that long list of credentials on his resume. It was bound to happen; sooner or later, Jack was going to run out of awesome people to collaborate with!

On April 24th, Blunderbuss will hit shelves, with the now-released lead-off single Love Interruption. I feel that this single is an accurate preview for the rest of the album (let’s hope I don’t have to put my foot in my mouth). Needless to say, it’s going to rock. In a recent press release, Jack stated that Blunderbuss is “an album I couldn’t have released until now. I’ve put off making records under my own name for a long time but these songs feel like they could only be presented under my name. These songs were written from scratch, had nothing to do with anyone or anything else but my own expression, my own colors on my own canvas.”

Music needs Jack White more than ever; this man’s soul is pouring hard on this song, in not only musical effort, but content as well. I am a huge fan of woodwind instrumentation, and adding fellow Nashville singer Ruby Amanfu to the harmonies just makes it that much more compelling. You may find it somewhat slight on first listen, but give it another chance. The more you listen, the more connected to the lyrics you will feel.

Let the love interrupt.

The brand spankin’ new pairing with Mars, on the track Mirror, is fresh to death with genuine real talk. The 29-year-old rap prodigy reflects on his life while splashing paint, revealing a self portrait in the end.

Watch the diamond-grilled rapper get all touchy-feely below.

To keep it brief, after the show I updated my personal Facebook with this:

“On a high from Kelly Clarkson’s show. She was bloody amazing! I especially loved her cover of Florence + The Machine’s ‘Heavy In Your Arms’ — goosebumps! Vocally the best show I’ve seen in quite some time. Oh yeah, and Fancy herself (Reba McEntire) was in the audience. I will definitely be seeing her again. Unf*ckingbelievable!”

That pretty much sums up the show, except I did leave out the fact that besides her huge pop records, she also performed a cover of Etta James’ hit I’d Rather Go Blind (as a tribute to the iconic singer’s recent passing), and a wonderful rendition of My Man, taken from the huge Broadway favorite Funny Girl.

But since Kelly’s ballads have always hit home runs in my eyes, those particular numbers stole the show in my opinion. Below you will find an acoustic, stripped-down version of the angst-ridden Never Again, the beautiful rendition of Florence + The Machine’s Heavy In Your Arms, and a lovely ballad that Kelly wrote to help the children of Africa entitled You Still Won’t Know What It’s Like.

Get ready to feel your heart skip a beat.

It’s been almost a year since I last talked Tim McGraw. And although BTB doesn’t spit out country-related material on the daily, when I heard this song I instantly knew I wanted to write about it.

The fifth song from Tim McGraw‘s upcoming Emotional Traffic album (due out January 24th) is pure poetry. Written by Jedd Hughes and Luke Laird, the modern country track is rough around the edges yet full of smooth-skin soul.

The darker ballad revolves around a man who’s tired of fighting with his lover.

“Let’s just cut it down the middle / Let it bleed and bleed out / I’ll clean up the mess / Baby you stand there and shout / Cry, cry, baby I can’t hold us together,” McGraw pours out the words with a bittersweet center.

“Baby I’ll let you go when you say so / Try to let your heart fly free / I’ll crawl outta my cradle, down into my black hole / You just lay low / Under your halo,” he continues to sing, during the chorus.

If this song is any indication to how the rest of the Emotional Traffic album will sound, I’d say we’re in for a beautifully wild ride.

[Related Post: Tim McGraw Joins The Sober Club]

Nothing else enhances my week quite like discovering free singles on iTunes. This week, it’s Swedish duo First Aid Kit, and their single Emmylou (off of their record Lion’s Roar). I am totally intrigued with this number. The single pays tribute to some of the girls’ favorite country musicians, including: Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, June Carter and Johnny Cash.

Two sisters with a robust love for folk, indie, country, and most of all, kick ass harmony. I recollect hearing of these girls when they did a stunning cover of The Fleet Foxes, resulting in a huge internet fan base. Maybe it’s me, but this tune puts me in a state of widespread calmness. Check it out.

I’ve been wanting to share this for awhile but never knew when the moment was right. Today feels right.

2 years or so ago, I asked a close friend about how he felt when Obama was elected and I remember his exact words because they moved me so much: “You know when you’re a kid and you’re told you can be anything you want to be when you grow up? Well, being black, I knew that was a lie because I could never be President. But then Obama showed up and he changed all that.”

Today we celebrate more than equality. We celebrate the freedom to choose.

At less than a week old, Blue Ivy Carter is already making chart history, thanks to a slick feature on daddy Jay-Z’s Glory. (Some kids have all the luck.)

According to Billboard, Baby Blue (or B.I.C., as Beyonce/Jay-Z’s daughter is credited on the track) is the youngest person to ever land on the chart in history. The track is currently sitting at #74 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Since Blue Ivy was born late on Saturday, it is likely that she was only hours old when her voice was recorded for the song.

The heartfelt song about fatherhood was produced by Pharrell.

With references to Bey’s previous miscarriage and his own absent father, Jay-Z doesn’t hold back the heartbreak on the otherwise joyous tune.

Personally, I find this vulnerable side of Jay-Z to be completely refreshing!

Congrats to Beyonce and Jay-Z on the birth of their baby girl!

So, I just finished watching the new chick flick, New Year’s Eve, and it was super cute. Judge me all you want, I really don’t care. Talk to the hand cuzthafacedontgiveadamn!

Anyways, the reason I am posting this is because during the opening credits, I almost exploded with excitement to hear Ian Axel being played. Yup, I had one of those loose cannon popcorn moments.

Ian was the first artist I interviewed on this blog. His music is incredibly genuine and honest and it just warms my heart to know his fro is rising to new levels. I knew the minute that I first stumbled upon Ian that he was destined for baller status.

Support Ian Axel.

Support quality indie artists.

Support us, dammit. No, really. Get a tattoo or something.

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Fact: This is how Lana Del Rey got her name.

Lana Turner + Ford Del Rey. Very hipster-y, of course.

That’s it, kids. See, learn something new every damn day if you read BTB!

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