Make It Up (Sam Tsui) - Album Review

Details: "Make It Up" by Sam Tsui (prod. Kurt Hugo Schneider)

Released: May 11th 2013

Who Is This Guy?

Sam Tsui is a part of this next generation of pop-stars born and breaded on the internet. Together with his childhood-friend, Kurt Hugo Schneider, they have been making music videos on YouTube for over four years, and together they've really worked their way into the music industry from the bottom and up. Sam was the cute boy with the incredible voice and Kurt was the music-magician that breathed life into the music and knew how to actually piece all the different pieces together. I've already written a post about Kurt and his work, so I strongly suggest you head over here to read more about the man behind the music! 

Last year they announced that a full-length debut album was already under production, and this time around it contained all original music as opposed to the covers they usually do. Instead of signing with a record label they wanted to make this all by themselves, and to do that they certenly needed their fans' help. Several years of brilliant content had made both their YouTube channels very popular, and with Kurt's 2,3 million subscribers (KurtHugoSchneider) and Sam's 500 000 (TheSamTsui) they actually got their own fans to finance this album through a Kickstarter-project. They even got twice the money they needed!

Album Review

The album itself consists of fourteen songs, and surprisingly they are actually not as similar to each other as I feared! Since I am one of the contributors to their Kickstarter-project I actually got an early digital download of the album over a week ago, so I have been able to listen to it quite a couple of times... And this is actually one of those albums that grows on me and gets better and better each time. 

Ever since hearing his covers of songs like "Titanium", "Just A Dream" and "Don't You Worry Child" I knew he really could sing... But when I played this album loud in my headphones, without being "distracted" by some beautiful music video, his voice was so perfect it took my breath away! 

The greatest thing about this album though, except from his incredible voice, was the lyrics. I've only seen him do covers, so I was not fully prepared for the heart and emotion he had put down on the paper. Pop is not usually my genre since a lot of it sounds exactly the same and most of the lyrics are pretty shallow. Even though Sam's songs too are mostly about love I could actually feel the emotion... It was very easy to tell that he had put his heart and soul into this and was writing based on his own experiences. 

The weakest songs, according to me, were Wherever You Are and Bring Me The Night. The funny thing is that they were the only ones that lacked that emotion I mentioned. Wherever You Are is probably a great party-hit but Bring Me The Night played too much on clichés. They were ok, but also the reason this album does not get a topp rating from me.

However, the album was fantastic all in all! Let me show you why...

Make It Up

The leading single from this album is actually so perfect for me and the situation in my life right now that it's ridiculous! Uplifting, enjoyable and with great lyrics I know means a lot to him personally. And accompanied by a fantastic music video, this is a guaranteed hit!

Me Without You

Such a gripping song... I know firsthand how a single person can change your life for the better. 

Worth It

A very honest song that should be able to touch anyone's heart. Arguably the best song of the entire album. So raw and filled with emotion. He manages not to just sing the song, but actually preform it.

Next Best Thing

This is a subjective review, so I feel fully justified saying that this song touched me so hard I actually broke down in tears. A lot of people need to hear this message, even if they don't want to, because being a person's second choice is not a good place to stay. Way too many are fine with being under-appreciated and settle for less than they deserve...

(Get it on iTunes)

Fall Out Boy Is Back!

Joe Trohman, Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Andy Hurley

I found a "new" band!

You know that when you open Spotify you're presented with a page containing new music specifically recommended for you? One day it told me that since I love Panic! At The Disco I'd probably like this new single by a band named Fall Out Boy. I clicked on it to check it out... and I've never regretted that decision! 

I've discovered that I really like original and experimenting music. From Kaizers Orchestra to Florence & The Machine to Panic! At The Disco, Muse, Linkin Park, Hoobastank and Imagine Dragons... They were all very original and wired when they first started. Now they're all kind of mainstream, but that's because the world has finally discovered what good music is. Fall Out Boy included.

A little background-research

Fall Out Boy is said to be a pop-punk or pop-rock band with both hardcore and emo influences. Over the years they've kind of made their own genre and have experienced a lot of success as a result. When they first formed in Chicago in 2001 they were heavily influenced by their interest for hardcore punk as most of them had been playing in various other hardcore bands prior to forming Fall Ot Boy. 

From their debut in 2003 to their latest studio album from 2008, they've been massively successful and have sold millions of records all over the world. However, at the end of 2009 the band announced that they'd take an indefinite hiatus. No problems, no breakup, no explanation at all... just a break. A break that lasted more than three years. 

When 2012 was coming to an end the rumors had started to pass about Fall Out Boy's reunion. On February 4th 2013 the band officially announced that their hiatus had come to an end and that a new studio album was to be released along with a brand new tour. They were back!

My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark

The song I found on Spotify that day was their new single with the ridiculously long name My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up). It's become a radio-hit all across the world, and it's simply a stunning piece of music! One could argue that this is some kind of agressive rock that pulls you right in from its first beat to its last, which wouldn't be too far off as their new album is titeled Save Rock And Roll.

The music video was kind of a let-down at first... But it turned out that it would be explained further by the video for their next single. Regardless, the song in itself is so majestic and original that you don't need any visuals at all to love it. Like most of their songs the lyrics aren't too easy to decipher and make sense of, but I somehow find the entire track both quite rebellious and uplifting. Combined with the music video I feel like it has to do with letting go of the past and start all over with blank pages to figure out who you really are and how you want to be. (Exactly what Fall Out Boy just did themselves...)

Favorite part: 2:13 - 2:38
Rating: 10/10 - AMAZING

The Phoenix

Their second single was released worldwide on March 26st along with another music video. This video  proved to be the prequel to the first one, as this takes place a few days earlier. Here a group of masked girls are kidnapping one after one of the bands members. For what reason it does not say... but that somehow doesn't seem to be too important. Again I feel the song is way better than the music video and should be blasted at ear-shattering volume in your car. It's just got a fantastic energy that comes every single time I play it!

Favorite part: 3:29 - 3:32

Rating: 10/10 - AMAZING

Giving both the singles top rating is not something I usually do... But these two have been on constant repeat on my iPod and MAC for weeks now and I love them more now than ever! I simply can't wait to get my hands on their new album and will tell you what I think about it as soon as I have it. April 12th can not come fast enough...

The Script - Music Video and News

I've told you all about The Script already, and if you still haven't heard about their new album (#3) you can check my review here. Less than two hours ago they uploaded a brand new music video to their Youtube channel!

A while ago they released the music video for "Hall of Fame", which became an instant hit all over the world. Peaking at number 3 on Billboards Hot 100 and number 1 on the UK Single charts, it took the world by storm and beat a lot of better known artists!

I actually made this collage a couple of weeks ago, and by now #3 is number 1 on the Spotify Albums charts!

Anyway, the song they chose to make a music video for is called "Six Degrees of Separation", and it's actually one of my very early favorites from the album. The video is very simple, but the message is so powerful! Personally I've not been through a terrible breakup lately, so I can't really relate in that sense  but I just love the song and the raw and honest feelings behind it...

I'm oddly enough not able to post a thumbnail for the music video? But to see it click here...

_____________________________________________

MUSIC VIDEO for "Six Degrees of Separation"
_____________________________________________

The Kaizers of Stavanger

Everyone in Norway has probably heard of the band Kaizers Orchestra. Unless, off course, they've been living under a rock for the past decade... And almost everyone must have noticed that in these days their newest and, temporarily last, album has been a hot topic! It's the third album in their musical trilogy masterly named Violeta, Violeta - A Romantic Tragedy. Very much could be said about this, but I've decided to keep the details short as im hardly qualified to either judge their music or tell their story in a proper way. But, it you don't already know who Kaizers Orchestra are, head over here for a brief introduction...

What I will do, however, is to say that Violeta, Violeta Volume III is simply one of the greatest and most brilliant musical masterpieces I've heard. I'll have to come back to it in a different post, but just know that it's great and well worth the money!

I just wanted to share with you some pictures from their visit to Stavanger today. As the album came out just yesterday, they went to our record store Platekompaniet today to sign their album and talk to their fans. It was awesome and really, really cold! For over two hours we stood outside before we finally got to meet them. But it was all worth it :)

Bestseller... Shocker!

The cover is stunning!

An hour before they were even scheduled to arrive...

The awesome guys at Platekompaniet handed out coffie to all of us freezing out there <3

Less then one third of the line...

Someone brought speakers and loads of Kaizer-music. Thanks for making our wait more pleasant!

Finally inside!

Dressed for the occasion. They have style ;)

Terje and Helge. Most awesome and nice guys!

Crappy picture quality, but great people! Janove and Rune.

Geir and Øyvind, however, seemed too busy to pose, but no hurt feelings :)

All in all, a great band and a great experience!

The result was great! Trilogy complete :)

Darren Criss - Where Did He Come From?

Thousands have seen the TV-series Glee. Most of them know the character Blaine Anderson. Some also know that Darren Criss is the actor portraying him. But very few actually knows where he came from... What did he do before Glee?

Have you ever heard of A Very Potter Musical? Or StarKid Productions?

I actually discovered Darren before he became a part of Glee. He could be found om Youtube!

While attending University of Michigan he majored in Theatre Performance. After graduating, he and a bunch of his former class-mates founded the production company StarKid Productions. 

The idea for their first stage production came quite out of the blue. Darren and a couple of the other guys was just playing guitar and making up songs for fun, and suddenly they had made this funny song where Draco (from the books of Harry Potter) was secretly in love with Hermione, and that's the reason he was so mean to her all the time. That little idea lead to a lot of ideas... and soon they had made an entire parody musical based on the Harry Potter-universe!

It became an instant hit, and all of their performances at the University of Michigan was completely packed. So high was the demand that they decided to videotape one of their shows so that friends and family could watch it online. What they didn't expect however, was that the show would go viral on Youtube. Today, the first part of the show has got over 9 million views!

The show has a completely different take on the Potter-story, key words being Draco played by a girl, Voldemort being the most likable character, and RedVines turning out to be quite magical. The songs are really catchy, the characters and the plot are truly hilarious, and the actors behind it all are brilliant. Even Tom Felton thought it was great! In 2010 they did it again, and A Very Potter Sequel was born. 

This unpredicted success boosted both Starkid's and Darren Criss's carrear. Out of the blue Darren got an audition for the hit TV-series Glee on Fox. He was cast as Blaine Anderson, and only two days later they started filming. Now that season four has just started Blaine is listed as one of the main characters and Darren has never been more popular.

Earlier this year he got his first role at Broadway as the main star of the show How To Success In Buisnes Without Really Trying. And just to confirm what a strong bond there is between Darren and Harry Potter, he was cast in the exact same role as Daniel Radcliffe! They played a couple of weeks each.

As some sort of gesture to where Darren originated from, one of the newest episodes of Glee portrayed him in a wizzard costume. Fans of StarKid and AVPM all over the world spoke up in total excitement! Everyone is eagerly waiting for the finished edit of A Very Potter Senior Year, which was preformed at this year's Leaky Con.

He recently starred in Katy Perry's music video Last Friday Night along with some of his fellow Glee members. As he's one of Gleeks' favorite character, and he's set to starr in the movie Imogene opposite Kirsten Wiig, just imagine how far he can go from here... Three years ago he and the other Starkids dressed up and sang their songs outside the midnight screening of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Just one year later he was invited as a special guest at the red carpet screening of the Deathly Hallows Part 1! He's such a humble, thankful, awesome and hard-working guy I hope his journey has just begun :)

A Dubstep Violinist? (Lindsey Stirling - album review)

Lately I've been more into music than I usually am... Så here's yet another post about a new album!

Lindsey Stirling entered America's Got Talent in 2010, and became known as the "Hip-hop Violinist". However, she got voted off after just a couple of weeks. Piers Morgan, one of the judges told her she was unmarketable and needed to be in a group. He also said that she was unable to dance while she played because that made her playing sound like "rats being strangled". At the time she said id was quite devastating, but it also made her determent to prove him wrong...

Shortly after, she was contacted by Youtube cinematographer Devin Graham (devinsupertramp) who wanted to make a music video with her. The result, the song "Spontanious Me", instantly became popular and got thousands of views! This marked the start of a great collaboration and an even greater Youtube carrear.

What's so different about her is that she brings so much more to her music and videos than normally expected from Youtube musicians. She's got a bobly personality that shines through and makes her stand out! Even though she plays the violin, which is a very classical instrument, she loves genres like rock, dubstep and just about anything with a good rhythm. The key is that she mixes the genres in such a perfect way so that just about everyone that hears her loves her music.

Another fantastic thing about her Youtube-channel are the videos themself. They are SO GOOD. Costumes, fantastic landscapes, thousands of camera angles, surprising locations... She's got it all. As of this date, her channel "lindseystomp" has got 870 116 subscribers and the incredible total of 144 million views!

She's also done a very famous medley of music from the videogame "Zelda", a "Lord Of The Rings" medley, and she cooperated with percutionist Peter Hollens on a "Skyrim" cover and, more recently, a "Game Of Thrones" cover.

Due to her success she recently released her first album, appropriately named "Lindsey Stirling". It can either be bought on iTunes or, like I did, directly from her website. It features a lot of the songs form her Youtube channel, but also a couple of new ones.

It's just as amazing as I knew it would be! Even though you don't get the visuals like you do watching her videos, the music itself is so good and varied itself you don't need anything else, really...  For some of her songs she's even added vocals here and there, and that made the songs stick out even more, and it removed the danger of the different tracs being too similar.

Favorite tracks: "Moon Trance", "Elements" and "Crystallize"

All in all... loved it!
Perfect for both enjoying really loud in my headphones and as background for my homework reading :)

The Kaizervirus

As most of my norwegian readers already know, The Kaizervirus is spreading across Norway, Europe and beyond. But I thought I'd make this post anyway to enlighten those of you who don't know.

So, first thing first...

Who and what is Kaizers Orchestra?

Well, they are...

Jan Ove "The Jackal" Kaizer (Vocal)

Geir "Hellraiser" Kaizer (2nd guitar)

Terje "Killmaster" Kaizer (1st guitar)

Rune "Mink" Kaizer (drums)

Helge "Omen" Kaizer (Pump-organ)

Øyvind "Thunder" Kaizer (bass)

And that's just about it!

Adressing the what-issue, Kaizers Orchestra is probably the most famous Norwegian band since... ever? At least they've done what many thought impossible: Make a Norwegian band, singing in Norwegian, that is not a heavy metal-group, famous abroad. Now fans all over the world actually learn Norwegian just to sing Kaizers-songs!

Formally, Kaizers Orchestra is an alternative rock-group, but they don't let themselves be pinned down to just one genre. With "instruments" like a pump-organ, ash-trays, trash-bin-lids, hubcaps and their ever-so-famous oil barrows they are truly unike and never boring. Some describe their style as messy, noisy and just a mashup of screeching sounds. I used to be one of those... But increesingly many people all over Europe and beyond love their style and theatricality, and they are said to be Norway's best live-band.

Just to clear some things up, the band formed in 2000 and have published eight albums since then, so they are in no way in the "new-and-upcoming-category". And secondly, I'm not at all fitted to be a spokesperson for them or their music, as I only a couple of months ago suddenly discovered that I actually liked them.

What is The Kaizervirus?
You see, they are from Jæren in Norway, which is basically where I'm from. (It's about 20 minutes from Stavanger.) And they even sing in my dialect, which would probably be called Stavangersk or Jærsk. It's actually got a very special, odd and distinct sound to it. In Norway people either love it but can't imitate it, or they hate it and think it's broad and ugly. Either way there are even a lot of Norwegians that can't understand it very well... My point is: All of Kaizers' lyrics are written and preformed in this dialect, which is a very bold and un-common choice.

Anyway, to complete their album trilogy named "Violeta, Violeta", they have developed an android-app named The Kaizervirus. Basically you just install it on your phone, go for a walk, and suddenly your phone tells you that you have been infected by one of the viruses. Which means that you walked by another person who'd already been infected. Then you open the app and you get to listen to one of the bright new songs from the not-yet-released album "Violeta, Violeta: Volume 3". After a while, the band will release another song, and it will start to spread just like the others. After all the songs have been spread the album will be released... It's never been done before, it's awesome and it actually works!

The music video for the first single, Aldri Vodka, Violeta, has been released today and can be watched HERE.

The second song, Siste Dans, and its intro has been leaked unto Youtube...

Why haven't you been a fan of these for years already?
I know. Stupid me. My problem is this: I always refuse to pay any interest to what "everyone else" is into at the moment. I don't listen to the Billboard Hot 100, or read the bestselling books, or buy some kind of clothes that everyone wears... You get the point. It's not because I want to be cooler or better than anyone else, it's simply because it's boring. It doesn't tell anything about who you are.

This sort of thinking sometimes makes me very "late" in discovering popular things that were actually great! I discovered The Lord Of The Rings seven years ago, the Harry Potter-series five years ago, the Twilight-saga three years ago, MUSE two years ago, and so on... Since Kaizers was basically from Stavanger, where I grew up, they were very popular and "everybody" loved them. As you have already guessed, I did not. Perhaps mostly because my little sister became so into them? I figured she could have a passion I didn't "interrupt".

Sadly that ment that I only recently discovered how great Kaizers Orchestra really were. But, better late than never...

Now I'm trying to make up for lost time, as I'm actually going to see them live in the new Stavanger Concert Hall together with my sister in February! She told me I could not embarras her by not knowing any of their songs. I guess I'll just start in one end or the other?

So, twelve years later, I hope I'm still welcome into the line of Kaizers-fans...

The Script #3 Review

I finally got the new album from The Script!

I've actually been waiting for it for a long time because I love their music so much and coud not wait for them to finish and publish their third album. This review should however have been done a while ago, because the album was released over two weeks ago, there was just one problem... they didn't have it at my local record store!

So, I had to order it, and it literally took me two weeks to get it. That was a bit disappointing. The Script is actually kind of famous, so it should be available for purchase in Bergens biggest record store. But I guess they'r more into Flo Rida, Carly Rae Jepson, Nicki Minaj and all that really boring and meaningless music...

But, when I finally got it, it was totally worth the wait!

For those of you who might not know The Script already, they consist of lead vocalist Danny O'Donoghue, guitarist Mark Sheehan and drummer Glen Power. The three of them are from Ireland and play some kind of rock-ish music. Wikipedia sais alternative rock, pop rock and indie pop, but they have described their style as a form of "Celtic soul". I guess they don't exactly fit in a box... The best bands don't.

Anyway, their third alum, appropriately named #3, consists of ten tracks. (There is an extended album on Spotify with seven additional tracs, but mine hasn't got those.)

1. Good Ol' Days                
2. Six Degrees Of Separation          
3. Hall Of Fame                            
4. If You Could See Me Now            
5. Glowing                                        
6. Give The Love Around          
7. Broken Arrow                                
8. Kaleidoscope                                  
9. No Words
10. Millionaires

Simply said, this is a real work of art. I love it so much, and no simple blog post will do it justice. The Script has always been a bit different. They write, produce and preform their own music, and that really shows in their work. The first two albums were great, but this one is different.

Good lyrics is a thing they've always been known for, but in this new album they are taking this to a whole other level. For the first time they're writing straight from their guts, and the powerful lyrics and rushes of emotion it conjures is breathtaking. They simply write about life, all aspects of it.

It's not just your typical "love, and how it breaks, and love, and how it breaks". Being grown up men with long relationships, wives, families and kids brings a sense of wisdom to their work. It's impossible to make you understand... You just have to go listen to it yourself.

That being said, I have to say I love the first half of the album the most. The second part is great, but the first four songs is in a league of its own.

I've picked out my three favorite songs of the album, and I hereby present to you:

Six Degrees Of Separation
Wow. I just don’t know where to start. It’s so honest and real. Knowing that the lead vocalist, Danny O’Donoghue, had a terrible breakup with his ex-girlfriend last year, you instantly know this is written straight from his guts. It’s such an incredible thing to listen to something that grabs you like this. One of my all-time favorite songs.

Hall Of Fame
I could not believe my own ears when I heard this for the first time. There are not many songs like this in the world… Talking about how doing what you are passionate about and succeeding in that is way better than any amount of money or fame. And how anyone can be a champion, whether it is on an every-day base or in a more literal form. One of the most inspiring songs ever! And the music video… I’m in awe at what they (The Script) manage to tell the world in such a short and simple thing as one song. You must however see the music video to really feel it's power...

If You Could See Me Now

I can’t listen to this song in front of people. It’s that kind of song that brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. Mark and Danny wrote it one night they finally decided to put words to some of the thoughts, feelings and fears they had hidden deep inside. The song is dedicated to Marks parents and Danny’s father, and it’s so painful, beautiful and raw it’s almost terrible to listen to. You know they mean every word. And the feeling of wanting people to be proud of who you are, what you do and how your life turned out, is just universal. Every single people in this world can relate to this song one way or the other. One of the best and most honest songs ever made.

My verdict? Possibly the best album I've heard... There is honestly one song that I don't love that much, and that is "Give The Love Around". It was just a bit flat to me in between those great pieces of art. However, track number 2, 3 and 4 I think is some of the best I've heard. 

Love this album with all my heart, and if you consider buying it too, DO IT! 
Like I said, it's worth the money...

The Hard Task Of Finding A Good Album

(Pleas note that all information in this post is quite outdated...)

Two of my all time favorite bands are releasing a new CD this fall!

Over the last weeks I've become aware of what kind of music I really like. I listen to so much different it's always been hard for me to say which artists or bands I like, because sometimes I only like one or two of their songs... But I'm starting to find a few favorites among the insane amounts of artists and bands there are out there.

One thing I quickly discovered: I like bands. I hardly listen to solo-artists...

Some times I only like one of the albums a band or an artist have made. They may have a couple of good songs on other albums too, but there are spaces between. Let me give you a few examples.

Panic! At The Disco is an exciting band, but some of their songs are really wired. I like "Vices and Virtues", but the earlier albums can get a little one-dimensional to me, and some of the songs sound exactly like esch other.

Owl City has a cute sound, but after his first album, "Ocean Eyes" I think it all got a little bit too similar. I can't listen to all of his songs in a row...

Demi Lovato has become quite an artist, but I only like her newest album "Unbroken". The previous two is SO bad in comparison!

Both Jessy J and Katy Perry has actually got great voices, bot unfortunately a lot of their songs are very shallow. But then again, they have a few exceptions, and than they're really good.

Kaizers Orchestra is a norwegian band I have grown to like. They are different and have a very special sound. In total they have published over eight albums, but it's their last one, "Violeta Violeta Volume 2", I really like.

Taylor Swift I used to like... but then she made "We Are Never Getting Back Together". Enough said.

MUSE are just fascinating. Some of their songs I love and can listen to over and over again, but some are just boring (Madness) or very messy and noisy to listen to (Assassin). I like half of "The Resistance" and half of "Black Holes And Revelations"... But what I really want is to go to an outdoor concert with these guys! They have been crowned world's best live-band so many times I have to check for myself.

BUT I have found someone that I really like, and that I will continue to listen to for a long time...

Florence + The Machine is so special they're one of a kind. Her voice is so unique and powerful she could sing the phonebook and I'd still listen. I literally know all of her songs by heart, and even though I have no clue what she's singing about most of the time I love them! No one has made music like them before...

Christina Grimmie is one of the best female singers in the world in my opinion. She started making videos on Youtube all by herself, and now she's going on tour for the second time and her second studio album is coming up! I've followed her journey for almost two years now, and it's been exciting!

OneRepublic has been one of my favorites ever since I heard "Good Life" in the first episode of the Canadian TV-series "Rookie Blue". I love both their albums to pieces and can't wait for their upcoming next one... Yesterday night I watched a live OneRepublic concert on iTunes, and I promise you my heart almost stopped a couple of times because I was so excited to finally get to see them "live". Especially when the intro to "Good Life" rang through my headphones. Yes, it's a little old, but somehow It's got a special place in my heart...

The Script are just beautiful to listen to. Their sound is so distinkt and calming I smile every time I hear just the intro to one of their songs. Yesterday I listened to the songs on their brand new album, #3. It took my breath away! It was a piece of art and I can not stop singing "Hall Of Fame"...

So here you have it... my three favorite bands plus my favorite solo artist. And In case you were wondering... No, I don't like or listen to most of the things on the pop-charts or on Billboard's Hot 100. Most of it is boring and shallow, so I tend to find my own path through the music-world. You may like it or not, but that's just how I am <3

Kurt Hugo Schneider - The Music Magician

(*Update: Read more about Kurt and Sam's new original album "Make It Up")

I just had to mention him at some point, and the thought hit me that it should be rather sooner than later!

For those of you that don't already know him, he's a magician. Well... not the wand and cloak kind of guy, but a real-life magician after all. He conjures music and songs. The most beautiful kind there is.

The more common explanation is that he's a music producer, film director and songwriter who can play nearly every instrument you'd be able to mention. Long story short, at high school he met a singer named Sam Tsui, and soon they started to make small films together.

In 2008 they published their first video, Can I Have This Dance, on Kurt's YouTube-channel. The song from the film High School Musical was ment to be sung by Sam and a girl, but she bailed in last second. Kurt thought it'd be fun to make Sam sing the girl's part too, and he ended up editing the two different clips so that it would appear to be two guys sitting next to each other singing the duet. Just imagine how stunned people became when they found out it was actually the same guy!

After the surprising response to their video they continued to cover a lot of different songs using Kurt's astonishing skill as a musician and a lot of Sam's for all of the vocals. The YouTube-channel grew popular in record-time, and as of today it's one of YouTube's 50 most subscribed channels with the amazing number of 1 442 201 subscribers as of today!

Over the years he's collaborated with a lot of other singers, both knows and unknown to the web-universe, and made everything from mashups to covers of famous songs to original music and music videos. Always improving and ever-changing his videos are now some of the best there is on YouTube.

In 2010 he created a Miley Cyrus-medley together with fellow YouTuber Christina Grimmie. This has later been proved to be the video that earned Christina an agent and sent her on her way to fame. (That's a story destined for another post later sometime...)

The video that really made him boost to fame was him and Sam's mashup of Love The Way You Lie, Dynamite and Teenage Dream. It became so popular it eventually ended up airing on different radio stations, and as of today it's got over 26 million views! It's also the first of their videos I saw, and from then I was hooked.

His most viewed video of all time is Sam Tsui and Christina Grimmie's cover of Just A Dream, originally preformed by Nelly. It's got more than 51 million views, and if you check out the video below you'll understand why! I love it a thousand timed more than the original (which I actually don't like at all...) and so do thousands of others!

One of my favorites of his is Sam's version of Safe And Sound by Taylor Swift.  It's so beautiful it's breathtaking! I happend to listen to it again tonight, and it was so good I just had to write this entire blog post...

Today he also posted a Sam Tsui-cover of David Guetta's Titanium. I love the original, but I LOVE this version!

Other videos worth mentioning is a Rihanna medley by Matisse, B-e-a-utiful by Megan Nicole, Born This Way Cover by Sam Tsui, OneRepublic Medley by The Royal Sons, and Sam and Kurt's first original song Don't Want An Ending. He's actually making YouTube-stars rather than just collaborating with them!

Finally I'll just link you some of the most recent work by the music wizard himself... And I hope you'll start to love him as much as I do :-)

A Thousand Years (ft. Aimée Proal and Lindsey Stirling)

Pop Medley 2011 (ft. Sam Tsui)

Skyscraper Cover (ft. Olivia Noelle)

Katy Perry Medley (ft. Olivia Noelle)

Favorite - Song Mashup

(c) Elisabeth

Yepp! I'm running late again. Get used to it! It's in the evening/night I've got time for blogging, så that's when I'll do it ;) But I got the idea that I'd try to be ahead instaed of late, so I'll try to write one in the evening that's actually for the next day... I'll promise I'll try at least!

Today it's all about song mashups. Or like someone pointed out to me, also called song medleys. For this category I have so many good answers I honestly don't know where to begin! I've narrowed it down quite a lot, but I still have a couple to go through...

First up is a Britney Spears medley by Sam Tsui. I fell in love with his work a couple of years ago, and what he can do with his voice, some instruments and a camera is just admirable!

Secondly I have to show you guys the King Of Medleys: Kurt Hugo Schneider! He's a song-producer, composer, song-writer and plays every instrument you can name. It's that crazy! Together with Sam Tsui he started a Youtube-channel in 2007. Since that they have been making fantastic covers of famous songs! A couple of years ago Kurt also started to make videos together with other famous Youtubers, both covers, medleys and originals. He also makes the music-videos himself, and like I said, plays all the instruments and edit all the things (both song and video) afterwards. Here's some of his finest work:

A Rihanna medley by Matisse...

Miley Cyrus Medley by Christina Grimmie...

(This actually made Selina Gomez' stepdad wanting to be Christina's mannager)

There's just one problem... Kurt isn't the only medley/mashup-king! There is one guy. He's actually quite known... As a matter of fact so known that you might indeed have heard one of his medleys on the radio! His name is Jordan Roseman aka DJ Earworm, and he's unparalleled at what he does! Every year since 2007 he's created a mashup presenting the 25 top song of the Billboard list of the past years music. He chops them into tiny pieces and puts them together in a totally unrecognizable way. He actually creates a whole new song out of it! This skill got him famous and today he's working for the very artists that features on the Billboard-list, only that now he's creating medleys for them using their songs... and getting paid for it! Here's his most resent work:

United States Of Pop 2012: Don't Stop The Pop

United States Of Pop 2011: World Go Boom

But the time has come to crown my winner, the best song-mashup/medley I know. And the result is...

A TIE! 

I have decided to crown two winners...

And first winner is:

United States Of Pop 2009: Blame It On The Pop

When I first heard it I became obsessed with it! And apparantly so did the rest of the world. It's got over 41 MILLION hits on Youtube! This is the song that made it to all the big radio-stations. It made him known, respected and famous! his songs from 2010 and 2011 is sooo good, but all Earworm-fans hold this one most precious. We don't know why... It's just best, and I know all of it by heart!

And the second winner is:

Love The Way You Lie - MASHUP

This is just so good <3 I know every note and word by heart, and yes, I've got it on my iPod! It's the song that made both Kurt and Sam famous. This is where it really started for both of them, and they deserve every opportunity they've got since then! Kurt isn't as brilliant a editor as DJ Earworm, but he makes his own music from scratch... And there's this mix of homemade, professional and personality about it. Can't wait to see what he's going to do over the next couple of years!

*added
Check out Elisabeth's answer at Drops Of Art!