We started a feature in the fall about songs that matter. As Invisible Children Music, we mainly care about music that moves us.

This series seeks to expose and explain the five songs that empower our individual supporters and staff. We featured Malika Quemarias and Jedidiah Jenkins, and we’re re-booting today with Alex Naser-Hall.

Alex is the current Artist Relations Communication fellow and has been at IC for (roughly) three years. He was raised in Kentucky, matriculated in Chicago, and confused in New York City. He has an addictive personality, and music obsession began early.

These are the five songs that matter to him and why.

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01. “The Good That Won’t Come Out” – Rilo Kiley

This song and this band and this album were everything to me in high school. I started listening to Rilo Kiley in the height of my angst, and I immediately connected with this track. It’s all about not living up to potential and the lies we tell ourselves to let us off the hook. I treat it as a cautionary tale and source of inspiration to not succumb to apathy.

02. “Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” – Lauryn Hill

I first heard this song on a drive in the Rocky Mountains with my father during the summer before I entered high school. I had never listening to Lauryn Hill before, but I just randomly bought her album at Target. It’s now one of my favorite albums of all time. No one expresses the truth like Miss Hill – even today. This song is always a stand-out to me. I tend to gravitate towards songs that have a “middle fingers blazing” vibe of self-awareness and realization. This is that in a really beautiful ballad form.

03. “Pull My Heart Away” – Jack Peñate

I’ve been a huge fan of Jack Peñate since his track “Torn On the Platform,” but this is the one song of his I’d take on a desert island. I was in a bit of a life crisis in the spring of 2011 when I was deciding what I wanted to do with the rest of my summer/fall/spring/life. I got in a car at the beginning of an eight-hour trip with the intention to move back to Chicago and finish my degree. At the end of the trip, I was resolute in staying in San Diego and going after a job. “Pull My Heart Away” is all about putting things in their place and not staying just to re-live what used to be. I still re-visit this track every time I’m making a big life decision.

04. “Selfmachine” – I Blame Coco

Again, I’m drawn to a song about self-realization and empowerment. My college experience was brief and pretty unbearable, and this song helped me be okay with that and realize the power I have in changing things I don’t like. I guess you could say this was my anthem for dropping out. Sorry, parents.

05. “Waltz” – Fiona Apple

Fiona Apple just gets my pseudo-dark soul. This is far and away her most uplifting track, though. I needed this my senior year of high school when I was beyond ready to graduate. “Waltz” encouraged a calm that I desperately needed. A lyric from this might have been my yearbook quote (it was).

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Read our other features on: Malika Quemerias // Jedidiah Jenkins

Top photo by Chadwick Gantes

It’s quite difficult to be at the office currently as we are overcome with sadness that our spring interns are no longer here. Alas, we must carry on. Here is this week’s collection of tunes we’re feeling. We’ll dedicate this set to the Invisible Children Spring 2013 interns. We <3 you.

Launch the mix [HERE] and be sure, as we always moan on about, to support the artists.

01. SMALLPOOLS – “Dreamers” :: Summery guitar riffs galore on this cut from new band Smallpools.

02. JOSH WELLER – “I Forgot To Tell You You’re Beautiful” :: Breezy track/brutal lyrics. We have serious love for Josh Weller, so we’re happy to have all this new music coming.

03. ELIOT GRACE – “Rebecka” :: I haven’t been able to get this song off my mind. It’s pure 80s power pop that is begging to be in a soundtrack to a film about lovers who finally re-connect after years apart. I’ve developed some “really beautiful” vocal harmonies to this song, so expect my remix soon.

04. RUEN BROTHERS – “Walk Like A Man” :: We can’t say the whole “Johnny Cash/Phil Spector/Black Keys” thing enough. These two brothers from The UK have the most unique sound.

05. MAYER HAWTHORNE FEAT. JESSIE WARE – “Her Favorite Song” :: I saw “Jessie Ware” attached to this track, so it’s an immediate favorite.

06. GLITCHES – “Only Time Will Tell” :: Sneaky contender for early anthem of summer 2013 here.

07. MIKKY EKKO – “Disappear” (Demo) :: Mikky’s been on our radar for a year or so, so we were beyond pleased when he blew up with his Rihanna song “Stay.” In anticipation of his forthcoming debut record, he shared this demo last week. If this is what he considers a “demo,” then we’re all going to be blown away by the “studio” cuts.

08. SOLANGE FEAT. KENDRICK LAMAR – “Looks Good With Trouble” :: It’s no hidden fact that we are into everything Solange does. I’d say that the original version of this track was a highlight off her EP, but everything was a highlight. Kendrick Lamar hops on this new edit to add his casual flow.

Ghost Beach will be joining The Jane Doze and Noah Gundersen as special musical performers at the Fourth Estate Summit this August in Los Angeles.

The duo from New York City, comprised of Josh Ocean and Eric “Doc” Mendelsohn, have built serious buzz based off their electro-pop singles and energetic live shows. We’ve been fans of the band for a couple years now, and they DJed a MOVE:DC after-party for our staff that went (quite successfully) off.

Our confidence that Ghost Beach will provide a highlight of the three-day conference is very strong. Their 80s vibes with modern synths combine for a dance-party-ready sound that will be glorious.

Get the Ghost Beach feel with their track “Miracle:”

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Louisa Rose Allen, more known as Foxes, has been having a VERY LARGE year; She released some impressive pop nuggets in 2012. Both “Youth” and “White Coats” were on strong repeat in our office, and we ate up everything else she touched as well.

Then, she hopped on lead vox of a song by Russian-German wunderkind Zedd and exploded worldwide. “Clarity” has been remixed and reworked in numerous ways, and they’re all mint thanks to Foxes’s soaring vocals. She’s also currently featured as a vocalist on two massive albums – Fall Out Boy’s Save Rock And Roll and Rudimental’s Home.

In her off-time from being a sought-after hook songstress, she is working on material to include in her still upcoming debut full-length album. Thus, her latest offering – “Beauty Queen.”

It’s a dark song that starts off a bit “Light My Fire,” which is wonderful. The video is the perfect representation of the track with a lot of models falling and some appropriate Disney clips scattered in.

Watch the video for “Beauty Queen” here:

We’re very honored/excited to announce that we have been chosen to premiere an exclusive clip from our film with La Blogotheque at this year’s Mountain Film Festival in Telluride. We have an official name for the film now, and we’re ready to get the ball rolling on showing the world the doc about our supporter-funded trip to Uganda with The Polyphonic Spree and The Very Best.

Invisible Children Artist Relations Director Kenny Laubbacher will debut an excerpt from the film at the renowned festival taking place May 24 – 27.

Read Kenny’s updates from the trip [HERE] and [HERE] and return here for updated information the international film release.

Our trust in music discovery is evenly distributed among Belgium’s disco naivete, New York City’s Neon Gold, and the UK’s The Line of Best Fit.

All credit for this track from British trio Glitches goes to Jamal Guthrie over at The Line Of Best Fit. “Only Time Will Tell” is a festival-ready anthem, as Jamal points out. The guitar riff is begging to be imitated, and the lead vox are familiar but not contrived.

It could be a sneaky contender for “Summer Anthem 2013.”

The last time we wrote about Ruen Brothers, they were on the verge of taking off with their song “Aces,” a chorus-heavy/festival-ready anthem that’s since catapulted on radio.

Today, they return with their first proper single. “Walk Like A Man” just received its first spin on Radio 1, garnering the ever-impressive title of “Hottest Record in the World.” It’s a merited honor, as well.

“Walk Like A Man” is a huge retro-rock song with a power-chorus that we’re already singing along to after one listen. Brothers Rupert and and Henry Stansall are carving out a seriously impressive sound and have our full excitement/attention.

Listen to the track here:

Singer/songwriter Josh Weller’s wit is one of the many genius things about him. Following him on Twitter or Vine is a trip in itself. He’s not just a humorous person with a strong social media presence, though – he’s an intellectual musician who has been providing some incredible (and clever) tunes for years now.

His recent offering is the bright “I Forgot To Tell You You’re Beautiful” (a follow-up to that big One Direction track?). It’s a clap-inducing, shout-inspiring little tune that we’re already heavily into.

The official release of the track is July 1, but you can pre-order it on iTunes GB [HERE].

Until then, stream the track here. Well done, sir.

The story of how we came to know and subsequently love New York City’s odd-pop duo MS MR is a bit strange and a script-ready coincidence.

Last spring, I was living in New York City as a regional representative during the height of the KONY 2012 madness (y’all remember that?). When I wasn’t answering thousands of e-mails or hanging out with our incredible supporters in the city, my co-worker and I would hit up every interesting concert we could find. At almost every gig, I would see this bubbly girl dancing away. The color of her hair always varied, but her infectious energy was always present. She was the type of woman you wanted to go to a concert with because you knew you’d have the best night of your life.

Exactly during this time that I kept seeing mystery-energy-girl in New York City, I was getting hit up by multiple friends that I needed to start listening to this new band MS MR and their debut song “Hurricane.” It only had a really vague video out, and no press photos of the band existed. I immediately became infatuated with the track – it’s so dark yet so vibey – and it became one of my favorite songs of the spring and eventually 2012.

Like a new-wave film, these two stories played out simultaneously for a while – the frequent presence of dyed-hair-gig-girl and the growing obsession with this mystery band MS MR. The culminating scene of this chapter of the story came when a photo of the musicians behind MS MR emerged. This photo.

I saw it and it all immediately clicked – the voice behind MS MR is the same girl I was seeing at every show exemplifying “good times.” It made total sense to me then why there was this allure around the MS MR sound.

MS MR is the combined effort of Max Hershenow and Lizzy Plapinger, two NYC cool-kids who have been in the music game in different aspects for years. They released an EP in 2011, but it wasn’t until “Hurricane” and its accompanying video hit the Internet that the band truly kicked off.

They’ve since released another EP Candy Bar Creep Show, several singles, multiple remixes, and a few (magical) videos. World tours, festivals, radio promo, and print features later, they are sharing their first full-length record – Secondhand Rapture.

In under-sell, it’s good. In fact, it’s one of the most confident and realized pop albums we’ve heard in a while. Lizzy shows off a vocal variance that is especially noteworthy -  teaching you she’s not to be messed with on “Think Of You” while displaying a more vulnerable edge on “Dark Doo Wop.” Her “MR” counterpart Max’s production is next-level because it’s actually unlike anything else happening currently.

An amazing album is enough, but MS MR have so much more happening for them. Their concerts are overwhelmingly joyous – even during the darkest of songs. The woman I saw shuffling along to Mystery Jets in Brooklyn brings the same attitude to her band’s live show. We’ve been lucky enough to see them play several times at CMJ and SXSW, and their sets were highlights both times.

Lucky for Earth, the band have a large number of concerts coming up – which you can find listed [HERE]. Keep an eye on drummer Zach Nicita as he is certainly a rising talent, providing a complete remix of the single “Fantasy” into a pulsating, crunchy anthem.

We have as high of hopes for the success of MS MR as they have ambition.

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Start with MS MR’s newest video for “Hurricane:”

Purchase Secondhand Rapture on iTunes [HERE].

Launch an album visual story on the band’s website [HERE].

We’re excited to announce the next performers confirmed to play the Fourth Estate Summit this August. The Jane Doze are a familiar face to people who attended our last event MOVE:DC where they played to over 8,000 people. Currently, they’re preparing their next set of floorfillers for our summer social justice conference in Los Angeles.

The DJ/production duo from New York City have become some of our most dedicated, ardent supporters, and we’re quite thrilled to have them soundtrack another epic Invisible Children dance party.

Get a feel for what your life will be like during a Jane Doze set, including footage from MOVE:DC:

The soundscape of the Fourth Estate Summit is sounding pretty ideal right now. More acts will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

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