By: Shelby Flomen & Noa Salamon

Days Are Gone Haim Columbia/Polydor 2013

In the 11-track debut album, Days Are Gone, sisters, Este, Alana, and Danielle, give listeners a taste of their California, indie-pop/rock sound. What I love most about this album is the combination of musical influences from so many different genres and eras, while still maintaining a distinct style of its own. Days Are Gone has been described as a mix of 70’s and 80’s soft rock, with a hint of 90’s R&B. With comparisons made to Fleetwood Mac, Prince, Joni Mitchel, and even Michael Jackson, Haim has the versatility to incorporate almost any artists’ sound into their music. Another impressive aspect of the band is that all three of the girls play their own instruments, write their own songs, and sing their own harmonies – a rare find in the music world today. Song to Listen to: My Song 5 The Royal Tenenbaums Soundtrack Various Artists Hollywood Records 2002 (re-release) If any of you have seen a Wes Anderson film, you will be familiar with his wild and eccentric plot lines. The Royal Tenenbaums is no exception, as it follows the story of a family of child prodigies. The soundtrack accommodates the unique storylines of each character in the film, as it includes a wide range of music to cover every complex emotion they experience. Consisting of modern, classical acoustic songs scored by Mothersbaugh, thrown in with classics from The Velvet Underground, Ramones, The Clash, and Van Morisson, the soundtrack is the ultimate mix. Overall, this is an amazing score for an equally amazing movie. Song to Listen to: Judy is a Punk – Ramones Atlanta Ron Pope Hard Six Records 2012 All it takes is one single to draw attention to yourself in the music industry. Ron Pope did this with “A Drop In the Ocean”, written in 2005.  This song collaborated with Zach Berkman altered Pope’s music career and has allowed him to release eight solo albums since his debut. “Atlanta” his most recent album, gives the listener an “indie-pop” feeling, similar to his first hit song. The songs consist of meaningful lyrics, mixed tempos and leave the listeners constantly engaged and mesmerized. Song to Listen to: Atlanta