A-Sides With Jon Chattman: No <em>Fooling</em> Nicky Egan & <em>Believing</em> In Alexander Fairchild

A-Sides With Jon Chattman: NoNicky Egan &In Alexander Fairchild
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Cue The Buggles: texting killed the grammatical and spelling star. Ditto Twitter. Ditto. In this age of way-too-much communication, which ironically has lead to a breakdown in communications (face-to-face anyway), I misspell words just to detonate a text faster and turn sentences into fragments just to fit the Twit limit. I'm not alone. Most of us do it, and in the music world, this short-attention-span theater we live and rely on plays out like a broken Yanni record dipped in fast food french fry grease. The need to be immediate has led to a resurgence in EPs versus full-length albums by many and a series of one-off singles so artists can be here right here, right now.

Singer/songwriter Nicky Egan gets this age of immediacy. That's why the Philadelphia native and Brooklyn-based songstress followed up her 2011 LP debut with a series of digital 45s over three months dubbed "The 45 Homestead Project." The first A and B side dropped last month, and the next two come out respectively next week and next month. All tracks, which will be compiled into an EP in September, showcase Egan's energetic, soulful, and dare-I-say-it Adele-like power vocal skills. Last week, Egan and her band performed two tracks (watch one below, and catch the B-Side on the A-Sides YouTube channel) at the Music Conservatory of Westchester in White Plains, NY for A-Sides. "Made a Fool of Me" can be seen along with an informal interview below. Watch. Listen. Love.

Like Egan, super-cool Canuck Alexander Fairchild pens songs with an emotional center delivered in as a winning press release stated: a "smoky falsetto." That's a very accurate description of his vocal prowess, but also sounds like a great band name that someone should get on, like, right now. Anyway, the Harriston, ON native dropped a well-received EP (Tonight) this spring, and is about to release his first full-length album. At the Music Conservatory earlier this summer, Fairchild gave a sneak peak with the song "I Want to Believe in You." I could write more about Fairchild, but I'm anxious for you to hear the song. It's pretty darn awesome, and showcases his strengths as a singer and songwriter. Besides, if you read what I wrote in the opening graphs, you'll know that everything is immediate on the interwebs so why read, when you can watch? Boom.

A-Sides "Delve Into Twelve" Countdown
Each week A-Sides unleashes its Top 12 tracks of the week AKA the "Delve Into Twelve"based on the following contributing factors: songs I'm playing out that particular week NO MATTER WHEN THEY WERE RELEASED (think overlooked songs, unreleased tracks, and old favorites), songs various publicists are trying to get me to listen to that I did and listened to and liked (phew), posts and trends I've noticed on my friends' Facebook walls, and - most importantly - the songs 1 1/2 year-old son gravitates toward. Yeah, you read that right. This weeks follows below (LW= last week's rank):

12. "Afraid" - (LW-11) The Neighbourhood
11. "Hear Me" - Imagine Dragons
10. "Futures" - Jimmy Eat World
9. "If I Loved You" (LW-8) - Delta Rae
8. "Live for the Night" (LW-10) - Krewella
7. "Do I Wanna Know" (LW-6) - Arctic Monkeys
6. "Heavy Feet" (LW-7) - Local Natives
5. "Hurricane" (LW-2) - MS MR
4. "Gun" (LW-4) - CHVRCHES
3. "You & I" (LW-3) - Crystal Fighters (Watch them perform the song live on A-Sides here)
2. "Pompeii"(LW-5) - Bastille
1. "Torches & Pitchforks"(LW-1) - Mona

About A-Sides Music
Jon Chattman's "A-Sides Music" series usually features artists (established or not) from all genres performing a track, and discussing what it means to them. This informal series focuses on the artist making art in a low-threatening, extremely informal (sometimes humorous) way. No bells, no whistles -- just the music performed in a random, low-key setting followed by an unrehearsed chat. In an industry where everything often gets overblown and over manufactured, I'm hoping this is refreshing.

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