Playlist: HITS magazine

To celebrate the release of our first print issues, here's a playlist featuring all artists involved.

HITS x Berlin

We hosted our very first live gig in Berlin - and this is what it looked like.

Cover The HITS

Our latest video series - covers performed by our favourite acts, exclusively for us.

Video Interview: Scenic Route To Alaska

Melting away in front of Stuttgart's castle, we had a chat about touring, band names, Toy Story and a lot more.

Find us on YouTube!

Visit us on the 'tubes for interviews, exclusive performances and outtakes.

Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts

Editor's Note: 2019, that was something.

31st December 2019 //

Hey everyone!

Vanessa here.
It's a little tradition for me to sit down on December 31st of every year and just reflect on the year.
And because OCD is running this ship, I'm here to review 2019.

I'll start with the obvious - house in the sand is still here.
It might've gotten quiet a lot around here this year, but we're still very much an active part of the mess that is the music industry. Technically we had 365 opportunities to quit this year, but we didn't.
And I'll be honest, sometimes it would've been easier to quit and just to let the waves take it, but we've built this up too much to let new algorithms and horrible blogging trends take it away from us.

We did a bunch of cool things in 2019. 

We celebrated seven years of HITS and released our first official merchandise - and you guys actually went to buy and wear it. Mind = blown!



We made and released our first ever print issue - what what what! 

HITS magazine #1 features 26 artists, some of which have been a part of HITS for years.
The magazine allowed us to have in-depth chats with acts such as Kodaline, Alice Merton, Lissie, Martin and James and so many more. We shot the cover at Wembley Arena in London and were over the moon to have the brilliant ROE be our first cover artist.


We saw the artists we featured reading the magazine and celebrating with us. 





This year we heard amazing new music from Rhys Lewis, Hozier, Maggie Rogers, dodie, Kat Frankie, Jim Kroft and so many more.
The Jonas Brothers reunited and we cried when we received the press release.

We had super fun chats with Dean Lewis, Alex Francis and so many more.




We photographed Lewis Capaldi, Dermot Kennedy, Blossoms, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Hozier and more. Artists we truly admire have been in front of our lenses.


We hosted living room shows, we hung out with music folks we care about, we laughed because of music, we cried because of music.
We found lifelong friends in bloggers, photographers and managers.

And what we're most proud of is that we didn't bow down to the pressures of getting the most views and compromising our standards for it.


We know that a lot of you reading this have been with us for a long time and we know that some of you just found us in 2019.

No matter how much time you have spent on HITS, please know that we are so thankful to have you around. If it wasn't for you, this place wouldn't be the lively platform that it is. You make sharing music fun because you are there to receive it. Because you are there to tell us what you think.


So, thank you for your visit - today and always.



Much love,












Credits // Words & Image: Vanessa Jetwash | Embedded images belong to their linked creators.
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EP Review: "Absentee" by Violents



Hey guys!

I love the blogosphere! 
It is such a privilege to have the internet which allows us to express ourselves, to connect with people around the world and to discover new things.

There's no better feeling as a (music) blogger, than being told people found their new favourite act/band through you.
I feel honoured to reach quite a few people with this blog so I'm being told the above quite often.

Of course I also read blogs and do have favourites, one of them is A Beautiful Mess.
Through this amazing blog I found out about Violents, the music project of the day.

Here's my review of their newest release.

Band: Violents
Title: Absentee
Genre: Alternative
 Label: independent
Release: 5th May 2015
HITS rating: 8/10

Violents is a music project by Jeremy Larson from Springfield, Missouri, USA.
It is a series of collaborative EPs which are written and produced by Jeremy.

Each EP features a female vocalist. The first two releases in 2014 featured singer/songwriter Annie Williams. The next release featured Olga Yagolnikov, and Violents' newest EP "Absentee" stars Stacy King from Sucré.

More EPs and a double vinyl collection of the first seven releases are going to follow this year.

But before that happens, let's speak about "Absentee". 

Tracklist:
1) Absentee
2) Northeast
3) All I Have
4) Where We Are Now

Opener and title track "Absentee" welcomes you with an atmospheric intro consisting of only Stacy's vocals and single beats. The song soon builds up into a fully arranged track.

The intro gives you a good idea of what to expect vocally; beautiful, smooth and calming vocals engulf you. Paired with the very lively and expressive instrumentals you'll feel wrapped up in a blanket.
It is one of those song which offer a lot, yet you could describe them as minimalistic. 
A song which is very lively and rich in elements, yet it still gives you enough air to breathe.

For "All I Have" writer and producer Jeremy took away all of the beats and slowed down the tempo. The focus is on the string arragements which walk hand in hand with Stacy's vocals. This song sets a fairy-like and slightly fragile scene and invites you to let you thoughts wander.

To sum it up: "Absentee" definitely showcases what thoughtful and clever writer and producer Jeremy Larson is. The choice of female artists just confirms it even more; Stacy King gave the EP a very personal touch. The two musicians created an EP with so many elements which made it vary from calm to mysterious to uplifting. Very impressive!


You should listen to these tracks: Absentee, Where We Are Now



 


Violents online: Website | Twitter | Soundcloud | Instagram




 Thank you for reading! 










Credits // Text: Vanessa Jertschewske | Image: Violents, Elsie Larson

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Monthly Review: November 2014



Hey guys!

Time really flies when your burried underneath tons of study notes.
This month I unfortunately didn't write as many posts as I wanted to, mostly because the studies kept me busy. 

Nonetheless I managed to introduce quite a few jewels to you guys.

Here's our monthy review of November!


Artists featured on house in the sand:
The Arkanes
Nina Yasmineh
Cooper Phillip
Crash Island
The 95th
Jamie Lawson
Saint Raymond
Rivertairs
Kat Healy

What I enjoyed doing for HITS:
- interviewing The Arkanes once again
- photographing Ed Sheeran on stage
- interviewing Jamie Lawson in Stuttgart

Items which made me happy:
- ginger bread
- my trusty DSLR
- fairy lights

Highlights:
- 800 000 page views! 
- meetings tons of really cool people

What I've learned:
- how to use soundcloud properly (it was about time!)
- sooner or later you will find out who is a real friend and who is fake

Songs I've loved (and still love):
"Wasn't Expecting That" - Jamie Lawson
"Thinking Out Loud" - Ed Sheeran

Photograph of the month:

What I'm looking forward to in December:
- sharing some fun gig pics with you
- a lot of good food because it's Christmas time
- the final countdown of my studiesssss


And guess what? That's it for this month!
Thank you for spending cold November with us, it means the world! :)


Thank you for reading!





Credits // Text & Photography: Vanessa Jertschewske

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7 tunes you need to hear


 Hey guys,

The amount of music submissions I've been receiving lately has been insane!
It makes me happy to be a person people come up to to show their tunes. It's an honour.

But it's also a bit hard to plan solo features for about 50 artists/bands. It would take 100 days to blog all of them since I blog every other day.
You don't need to be a math genius to figure out that it's just way too long to let people wait to finally appear on your blog.

That's why I decided to throw a few submissions into one blogpost and show case them to you that way.

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Review: #SoulRecall - Dennis McCalmont



Hey guys,
today I have another review for you.
This time I'm going to introduce you the album "#SoulRecall' by Dennis McCalmont.

Dennis McCalmont, an acoustic singer/songwriter from Ireland released his full length album June 1st.

The longplayer consists of 10 tracks:
1) Speeding Train
2) Let The Spirit
3) Missing Person
4) Waitin For The Summer
5) Loverboy Blues
6) Wanted Needed Love
7) I Can't Get Deeper
8) Wishes
9) You'll Make It Through
10) Live & Let Live

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EP Review: "Ruthless Thing" - Tom Mitchell



Hey guys,
I am finally going to review more music for you!

Today I will introduce you the "Ruthless Thing" EP by Tom Mitchell. Of course some bits of my own opinion are blended within.

Tom Mitchell, the singer/songwriter from Bristol (UK) with guitar experience of about 20 years has recently released his first solo EP called "Ruthless Thing". 

When listening to his guitar skills it's no wonder Tom worked with artists like Duffy, The Cadbury Sisters, Juey and John Madden.
The "Ruthless Thing" EP is a personal and guitar based recording. Might sound simple but really is deep and a really great EP. 


Tracklist:
 1) Ruthless Thing
2) Only Party There
3) Hammock
4) From Experience
5) He Forgot To Check His Heart In At The Door
And now here's the track by track review:

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