Ah, yes. The music of the 1980s. Cool
stuff, that. It's really quite amazing how popular it was then.
Even stranger still is how popular it seems to be now. It makes
sense for me to have the radio in my car set to my
local 80s station, though. I grew up on the stuff, after all.
Another thing from the 80s I grew up
with was the cartoons. I've already done a few articles about those,
and I gotta say, I still love most of them to this day. That's why
I've taken the time to write about them.
But have you ever wondered what might
happen if somebody tried to combine the music and the cartoons of the
80s? You wouldn't be the only one. It actually happened in 1984,
when a show called Kidd Video debuted. It combined the craziness of
the Saturday Morning genre of the era with the oftentimes memorable
sound of the music at the time and the recently-formed television
music video to create something that lasted only a couple seasons.
While that was about as long as it could have lasted, it wasn't
nearly long enough, far as I'm concerned. But hey, no matter what,
it was good while it lasted.
Hi! I'm Glenda and I'm 18 years old. I've been a fan of the site for about two years, but I've never really given into the fandom yet.
So here's a few facts about me (I sincerely apologize in advance if I sound conceited) :
- Five Contributors I Like: That Guy with the Glasses, TeamNChick, Todd in the Shadows, Oancitizen, and Paw.
- As cliche as this sounds, I cannot and will not live without music. My favorite bands/artists include the Dead Kennedys, Voltaire, The Doors, The Damned, Florence + the Machine, Patti Smith, Pogo, The Beatles, and Jimi Hendrix.
- A few movies I like: Ghost World, A Clockwork Orange, Pulp Fiction, Psycho, Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2, Mary Poppins, the Harry Potter series.
I think Kanye had the right idea just the wrong execution, because someone needs to call Ms.Swift out on her shenanigans, it was a valiant effort Kanye but leave this to the professionals (or un-professionals as it were).
The fact that Taylor Swift has millions of fans across the world is one of the many mysteries that plagues modern science, astrophysicists just kind of shake their heads and shrug their shoulders, Stephen Hawking looks at Taylor Swift gets out of his little wheel chair and weeps because he knows he'll never solve the enigma of her popularity. The only rational explanation is that Swift made a Faustian bargain with some sort of Eldritch horror (probably Cthulhu because Cthulhu is a tool).
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't like Taylor Swift.
No Taylor words go on paper not on your arm
Because I hate myself I decided to actually try and listen to some of Ms.Swift's "Music" a mistake I shann't make again. If one were to put the worst aspects of pop music and country music in the Large Hadron Collider and have them collide at near light speeds the resultant mini black hole would be Taylor Swift's music, and a black hole is an apt metaphor because Ms.Swift's discography is not to dissimilar to one, except instead of sucking in all light it just sucks in talent, and originality, and any semblance of sincerity.
You know what I'm done with this metaphor.
The point is that all of Ms.Swift's songs are basically the same song written over and over again (with one notable exception) with not a single authentic idea between them, they all try to convince the audience that Taylor Swift is the average teenage girl with average teenage problems and by problems I mean boys, lots, and lots of boys. See Swift really wants teenage girls to believe that she's just like them. Oh all you have to do is be a singer/song writer/actor/guitar player/model who is way more popular then she deserves to be, see I always thought that the average teenage girl was none of those things, clearly I have no grasp on what the average teenage girl is like that's the only explanation I can think of for how I was not privy to that little gem of common knowledge.
Seen here being completely relatable
As a whole the notion that Taylor Swift is anything resembling the average teenage girl is ludicrous and insulting to teenage girls. Contrary to that one song about how much of a geek she is (not going to even dignify it with bothering to look up its name) Taylor Swift is not a band geek, she isn't even a normal geek she's just kind of vapid and bland, kind of like if you sucked all of the flavor out of vanilla ice cream. She sings about how her rival wears short shorts (see picture below) and how much of a nerd she herself is, but the notion that Taylor Swift is a nerd is ridiculous, you are the envy of millions of women everywhere and you have had at least five boyfriends in the last 3 years you are not a nerd. Also it's vaguely offensive to the guy she is singing about, it's almost like she doesn't trust this guy's judgment and thinks he's some sort of man hoe (I don't think she's in a position to call others out on that) either that or he's been tricked by this evil she-witch who is clearly evil and in the wrong because she's going out with the guy that Taylor Swift likes and got dang-it anyone who opposes Taylor Swift might as well be Hitler and Satan's hate child.
what was that about the cheerleader wearing short shorts?
You probably thought I was engaging in hyperbole up there with the whole anyone who opposes Taylor Swift is Hitler and Satan's hate child thing, you remember when I said that? It wasn't a thing that stopped being true or anything, that actually became more true in the intervening time between this paragraph and the one before it. Apparently you don't criticize Taylor Swift it's just not something that's done, so when some no doubt neo-nazi music critic calls out her honor that just won't got dang do, and so crafted by the white hot fires of her rage a new song is forged of blood and wrath a song that she so brilliantly titles, MEAN. I'm sorry Christmas came late this year and in the form of a Taylor Swift song, that's nice of you Taylor you really didn't have to get me anything I feel so rude because all I got you was this scathing review, oh well it's the thought that counts right?
See MEAN is an all together different beast than every other Taylor Swift song, oh it's still about a man (is it possible for someone to fail the Betchdel test in real life?) but this time it's about a man that she hates, a man who had the audacity to criticize her work, I say we crucify him right now. It's not just that "this guy didn't like my music" is a flimsy premise for a song it's that Taylor Swift does not know how to write about anything other than her love for hunks, Mean includes such earth shattering lyrics as "I'll bet you got pushed around, somebody made you cold But the cycle ends right now 'cause you can't lead me down that road And you don't know what you don't know" wow "you don't know what you don't know" I don't even know what that means but got dang if this doesn't throw me into a blood rage, where is the nearest torch and pitchfork emporium because we need to organize some sort of militia against this guy, chase him down to some sort of windmill till he knows what he did wrong. It would be pointless to analyze the whole song because honestly there is just so much excrement to get through, I think it would be better to just link to lyrics because making fun of this song is sort of like shooting dead fish in a barrel, with a shotgun, while the fish are tied down with rocks. All I really need to say is that it contains the lyrics "Why you gotta be so mean." oh and this is the cover for the single
I don't think I should need to comment
See you may not have noticed it but Taylor Swift has a kind of unnatural obsession with boys, like more of an obsession than any person should have about any sex, let me just count how many songs she has written about boys, OH WAIT I DON'T NEED TO BECAUSE IT IS ALL OF THEM. Love is a very common subject for most artists just look at how many songs by The Beatles are named after women, but there it kind of made sense because there were four of them and they were the worlds most popular band... and it was the sixties, but Taylor Swift is trying to sell us on the fact that she's a wholesome family friendly musician, and then she goes on and talks about the new boy that she totally loves and will spend the rest of her life with and how they are like Romeo and Juliet (committing suicide and all that), and then in the next song she talks about the new boy that is like totally her soulmate and then she does it again. You can't have it both ways Taylor Swift either have a lot of boyfriends, or be wholesome YOU DON'T GET BOTH.
Also there is the issue of the boys she has dated which include Jake Gyllenhaal, John Mayer, Taylor Lautner (oh gog the Twilight guy?), and I kid you not one of the Jonas Brothers. I don't even know how it's possible that she dated the only person on the face of the planet who has less personality than her, dating a Jonas Brother is kind of like dating either air or the pure essence of Disney given life and I can't for the life of me decide which is worse. Also I never understood why they were the Jonas Brothers, I always thought the Jonas Brothers were really just one guy who was really bad at having multiple personality disorder so he created to people to pretend to be, but never got as far as giving them personalities, just kind of gave them names and diabetes.
And now Taylor Swift has committed the worst crime possible reminding me that the Jonas Brothers exist.
Trends exist in music. This is something that is common knowledge. There was the synthpop trend in the 80’s, the boyband/girl group trend of the late 90’s, the autotune trend, and Mick Jagger, to name a few. These trends last anywhere from a few weeks to years over the span of a decade before they eventually die or mutate into something else entirely. So why am I mentioning trends in music? Well, if an of you have listened to any top 40 music in the past year or so, you may have noticed a trend. Is this ringing a bell but you can’t quite put it down on what trend it is? It’s the whistle trend, to put it curtly. Yes, this is a thing that exists.
Pictured: Who Ke$ha will kick you to the curb for.
A year ago I did a school project that went nowhere and just embarrassed myself. I wanted to make it about music and how I felt passionate about it. At the time I was really into underground music and I had dreams of being a bass player, song writer, and drummer. I wanted to talk about the generic stuff about pop music which is taking over the charts, it isn't original anymore, it's become more about looks and money than creativity, etc. It came off a lot more pathetic and all over the place. I was so upset about this assignment I went into a depressing state after my teachers reviewed it. If there was something better to be said about music of today and its artists, I would recommend reading this:
Well the hallucinations of being really sick suck. Hallucinations that Eddie Murphy was driving a race car i built and the agony of being in a room sick and believing that you cant escape.The heat pounding against my body a terrible thing i wish on nobody besides maybe my worst enemy. The shivers that wont seize, The need for another cover but you cant get up with out falling to the ground on with the feeling of being naked in -38 degrees in the North pole while you watch Santa Clause in his house in front of a heater. Time at lest going three times slower then usual with only think keeping you company is the music blasting out of a speaker you hooked to your Mp3 player. Blink 182,The Velvet Underground, Steppenwolf, and worse of all me first and the gimme gimmes. Not saying Me First and The Gimme Gimmes is a bad band i actually quite like them.
Im That Music Guy reviewing music albums by day and stopping crime by night. Let's review Theory Of a Deadman's Scars and Souvenirs
Before i start heres some backstory behind me buying this album. Well there song "Bad Girlfriend" was the reason i bought the album that is probably my favorite song to be released in the last couple of years. I had been previously introduced to them through the game "Indigo Prophecy" or "Fahrenheit" Even though i never beat the game i'll always remember the song "Santa Monica" when the main character has sex with his Ex-Girlfriend. Thats a fantastic song and a very difficult game. But as i dived deeper into the album i found out there was many awesome songs like "So Happy", "Not Meant To Be" , "All Or Nothing" , "Hate My Life" , And "End Of Summer". All the songs on this album could be used in a new movie. Thats how good this album is. I completely recommend this album for rock listeners and too anybody who has a good since of music.
I give it 4/5 not perfect but still really good...
Thanks for reading this and next week i'll review Asking Alexandria's Stand Up and Scream
This film has a very special one for me, since this was one of the films that made me interested in music and in French films. The heavenly music from the choir and the memorable main character Clément Mathieu will always stay in my heart.
This film is a loose remake of 1945 film A Cage of Nightingales (La Cage aux Rossignols), yet the ending in this film is more open for the audience's interpretation rather than the happy ending in the 1945 film. The story is as follows:
In France 1949, a "failed musician", Clément Mathieu, arrives in a boarding school for the "difficult" boys, which is called Fond de l'Etang (Bottom of the Swamp). At the gate he finds a young boy, Pépinot, who is waiting for Saturday to come. Pépinot had been told that his parents were killed in World War II, but strangely, he always believed that his father would return to fetch him on a Saturday.
Mathieu soon realizes that the boys are punished cruelly by the ruthless headmaster Rachin. Mathieu at first tries to use humour and kindness to win the children over. For instance, when a booby trap set by a boy greatly injures the school's elderly caretaker, Mathieu keeps the boy's identity from the headmaster, while encouraging the boy to nurse the caretaker during his recovery.
One day, he discovers the boys are singing mischievous songs about him behind his back. this inspires Mathieu to teach them to sing, compose his music, and form a choir. The scene where he groups the boys into soprano, alto etc., is very humourous.
Only one student, Morhange, refuses to sing; however, Mathieu later finds that Morhange possesses a beautiful singing voice, after catching him singing to himself alone in an empty classroom. Mathieu grants him the solo part, but Morhange must behave.
If this film was produced in Hollywood, it would have gone far enough to have our main characters to attend a national competition. Or, the film would have depicted our main character becoming both a confident man and a famous as he wanted, but that's not what we are led to.
Of course, the most important and the most impressive element is the music. It's the most touching film related to music I've ever seen.
The production team wisely chose to cast an actual choir from various parts of France, and all of the boys seen singing in the choir during the film ARE real members of the choir with no acting experience. For promotion of the film, the choir from the film was frequently seen in French television.
The composer of this film, Bruno Coulais, later scored the fascinating and haunting music of Coraline. If you haven't heard of the soundtrack of Coraline, check it out, since it has nostalgic yet magical theme to it.
As a film devoted to the spirit of music, the score and the songs are simply marvelous. It is interesting that the hit of this film led to the revivial of musical groups and school choirs in schools, which were at that time largely unused.
What I liked most from the fim along with the music is that every single character has his own story. No one is left behind during this film, and everyone is carefully featured with the absence of stereotypes. For instance, a cruel boy Mondain comes to this chool, and starts to rebel, such as smoking, bullying, and extorting money; however, he is portrayed ina very haunting way, and we are nervous, wondering what this "devil" will do next.
Clement finds Mondain as the only Bariton in his chorus and tries to look him in optimistic view. Mondain's presence emphasizes the kindness of Clément Mathieu.
Nevertheless, it is very surprising that the main character is not a perfect person. He is at first somewhat even unlikable by being so timid. He seems to retain his low self-esteem even by the end of the film. He sometimes cannot control his anger, and he can be very mean and strong when he truly wants, which makes his personality very persuasive and realistic.
For instance, after the boy Morhange sees Clément Mathieu flirting with his mother, he drops a bottle of ink to his head. This is the conversation between Morhange and Clément Mathieu next day:
During practice, the choir skips Morhange's part and goes on.
Pierre Morhange: What about the solo?
Clément Mathieu: Which solo?
Pierre Morhange: My solo.
Clément Mathieu: Oh. Your solo. No, there's no solo. You don't have a bad voice but no-one's indispensible.
My, that left a large impact on my impression of the character! However, he is not a stereotypical hard people that go through a change of heart by children, becase from the early part of the film, he tries to keep his berating to children in minimum, and even hides his pupils' mischief from the headmaster. Thus we see both the darker side and the brighter side of Clément Mathieu.
There's also a very powerful scene with Morhange. After Mondain beats him and insult his mother, Morhange secretly goes to a restaurant where his mother works, and he watches her. When his mother pays a visit to him later. he says and does nothing. It's very unfortunate to see that she can neither see her son's love nor the interest of Clément Mathieu.
Here is the recurring theme of the film, La Nuit. If you are enthusiastic about music, I can't recommend this film enough to you.
P.S. It's very funny that Gérard Jugnot, who played our main character, makes a cameo appearance in Le Petit Nicholas as a music teacher, and he fails to make harmony from Nicholas's gang.
So many emotions and memories of our childhoods can be evoked via one minute musical and animated snippets. We watched these opening and listened to these themes so many times they're now burned into our brains. But which animated television theme songs do I think are the best? Have a look and find out.
This is the inaugural presentation of The Nykk Show. Part 2 is coming soon.
ill_eden presents: International Random Rap Session #3 - Hand (a)n(d) Foot!
Now, since this is the third installment in this series, I feel I should probably explain what International Random Rap Session means. International means we're not in the same place (I'm in Sweden, Kordlyss is in Illinois). Random means we're not particularly focused on sticking to a theme, just sort of gluing one-liners and short bits together with rhyming schemes in a sort of classic backpackery fashion, usually with some elements of traditional underground show-off style rap. Session means we write these pretty quickly, throwing lines back and forth in chat, which we then cobble together into a basic song structure and record in front of the camera, over some dirty beat I've made. Basically, IRRS is the antithesis to our concept tracks, which we're also working on, but which require some more time and work, especially if we're gonna make some sort of videos for them (not the easiest feat when we're on different continents). So in the meantime, there's IRRS.
I thought I'd use this one to talk about a lot of the music that I've listened to when I was growing up, and that has really affected, and stayed with me to this day.
#1:TOOL. My favorite band, ever! Their music, their lyrics, art, performances, and videos. So inspiring whether your listening to their current material, or their old stuff. I wasn't aware of them until my older brother introduced me to them, through their song, "Sober." After that, I was hooked. I love their old stuff, and their new equally. Not sure if I could ever answer what song, or album is my favorite. The one I listen to the most would have to be, "AEnima." The only band I have seen live the most. And I hope they continue doing music for as long as they possible can.
#2:Rage against the machine. Nothing fills you with more:Righteous, and political anger, than Rage does. So powerful. What a great band. I became a fan of theirs from the soundtrack to, "The Matrix." Probably the first time I ever really listened to one of their songs. I'm sure I've heard others on the radio, but I never could pay too much attention to who it was. When you hear them start, you just wanna destroy something, or start a riot! Luckily I remember to take my medication, and not listen to the little voices. (HE he) An amazing combination of hard funky rock, and rap. But some reason there are some who can't and won't put Rage in the rock, or rap category, and those people are fools. They are both, and should be recognized as such.
#3:Soundgarden. Well duh. Anybody who has read any of my old blogs, this should come as no surprise. Hell I grew up in the 90's so of course they will be mentioned. I need say no more, just a great band, one of many.
#4:Jimi Hendrix. My inspiration to want to play the guitar like a god, if I the talent, and the patience. We had, "Voodoo child, (Slight return)" on tape, and I would listen to that intro, and that entire song on a loop. Just so amazing. And going back later and listening the rest of it is just as good, but nothing can top that guitar in that song. The greatest guitar who ever lived.
#5:Faith no more. Again, no surprise. Read one of my old blogs, and you'll know my favorite album by said band. Good stuff.
#6:King crimson. A vastly different band. A band that changes in style, music, and such with each and every album they release. Going from:Experimental, popish, heavy, rock, and back again. Always something different, always very interested. Not really a band that inspired me, but none the less a band that is worth mentioning, and bragging about. Check them out. Go for their albums:Disipline, Thrack, and Sleepless:The concise King crimson.
#7:Nine inch nails. Ever get so depressed that you wanna kill your self in front of a huge crowd of people? .........Okay, very awkward question, but Nine certainly puts yo in that mood doesn't it. None the less very moody, depressing, but great music. My favorite album is, "The downward spiral." I do like his new stuff, I have yet to listen to his, "6 ghosts," album. But sometime I'll check it out.
#8:A perfect circle. I think its a required law, that if you love TOOL, you have to love anything that Maynerd is involved in. Yes this is a side band of the lead singer of TOOL, but it is vastly different. It is so much more emotional, and internal music. Again so powerful. Again, I love all their stuff, my favorite song, it's a toss up between, "Judith," or, "3 Libras." Both very beautiful, tragic, and powerful songs. Check out all of the albums, and music.
#9:Peter Gabriel. A great man, with a lot of talent, and great music. I remember listening to him as a kid, and going back to it now, it is just as good as it was then, and better now. Favorite song, either, "Sledgehammer," or, "Steam," or "The tower that ate people." None the less they are good. If you want a lot of the good stuff, check out his, "Hit & misses," cd.
And finally #10:Queen. What a great, and fun band, When you hop around, have some fun, and sing and dance with a smile on your face, this is the band to do it with. Such a great catalog of music. Whether its:"Crazy little thing called love," or, "Somebody to love," "Get down, make love," "Hammer to fall," and of course their anthems, "We will rock you," and "We are the champions." But really anytime your watching a football, or really any sport, there is a great chance you will hear one of these songs. You want all of those great songs I mentioned and more from their early and later years. Just find of their many collection cds. Thank you England. Rest in peace Freddy.
Honorable mentions: The mars volta:An amazing band, worth mentioning, check them out.
Tom Waits:A great mix of:Jazz, blues, a little bit of country, and rock. Truly a great man.
Rammstein:Think opera, with German heavy metal. At least that's how I see it.
ZZ top:Great music, and fun stuff. I am running out of words.
Maralyn Manson:Almost didn't count this one, because I didn't begin liking his music until a few years ago. But none the less, great stuff to. Very inspiring.
Audioslave:Come on, it's Chris Cornell with the members of Rage, how is that not awesome.
Jane's addiction/Porno for pyros:Great stuff.
And finally, Siousie & the Banshees:A fun mix of pop, a little bit of punk, and goth rock.
It's international random rap session #2! Looks like this is becoming a series, where we just sort of get our random rapping out while waiting on the inspiration for more theme-based tracks.
If you missed last week's international random rap session, "Gettin(g) Some Rhymin(g) Done" it's on the same channel. If you want to download the songs (and another track, which we haven't made a video for), go to our Soundcloud page.
If you want more of Kordlyss, check out his Soundcloud page. If you want more of me, check out my blip and Youtube channels, and also take a look at the latest couple of episodes of my friend Joe Heath's review show, where I did some guest acting and puppetry respectively: TGWTDT & WBAZ.
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY Reuse Allowed). This means you can reuse this instrumental as long as I'm credited and linked to like this: "Music by Vincent E. L. (Swenglish.nu), used under CC-BY licence." Throwing in the above mentioned Youtube link wouldn't hurt either.
In case you missed last week's Mozart von Robot music video (which you probably did), here it is again.
Dubstep artists WUB pay tons of money WUBWUB for music software, WUBWUBWOOOW virtual instruments and effects. I wanted to see YUY what I could do for the WUBWUBWOBBLE dubstep genre with Jeskola Buzz (freeware) and only free plugins WUB. So here it is WUB, "Standing At Your Dubstep", the WUBWUBWUB music video:
Please note that I am not a dancer, and those goggles are not comfortable to move around in.
Note also that you can follow me on Twitter for updates and casual whining, subscribe to me on Youtube for more music videos (usually containing lyrics), and find some of my non-youtube material (such as reviews) on Blip.
Also, in other news, the rapper formerly known as Irish Virus (not to be confused with...the other rapper by the same name), with whom I've made some collaborative raps (and plan to do more, under our band name ill_eden), has both changed his stage name (due to the aforementioned confusion) and joined Twitter. Please follow him, he's good and also occasionally does raps over my beats. Kordlyss, he goes by now. Keep an eye on him.
At this time of year every year, people start releasing “best/worst X of
year that [just passed/is about to pass]” lists. I’ve seen plenty of
people I like release their views on last year in music, and that sort
of inspired me. See, music (and art in general, but especially music) is
a product of its time, and no one is talking about the songs that are
really most symbolic of the year that just passed. These are songs that
were either big hits last year, or which weren’t quite hits but still
symbolized the year in some way. So with that in mind, I present you
with the 5 most “2011” songs of 2011. After the jump.
#5 If I Die Young – The Band Perry
Granted,
this was technically released in 2010, but most of us never heard of it
until last spring, when it became a crossover hit, so it still counts.
There are probably words for how much I hate this song, but if I were to
type them, they’d be so profane they’d destroy my computer and melt my
hands. This is amongst the most shallow and awful songs that people
thought of as “deep”, made all the worse by the bland country music
being played behind Kimberly Perry’s almost-halfway-competent vocals. It
certainly wasn’t the most successful pop cultural phenomenon like this
of last year (that would be Twilight) but there’s something uniquely Internet-Age about this country song. Listen to the words. This
is a song about some moderately popular chick hoping for more
popularity in death. It’s self centred, “me” oriented, just like, well,
everything about the social internet. We’ve been conditioned by reality
TV and sites like YouTube, Twitter, tumblr, Facebook, flickr, etc. that
people care what we think, even when we have little to nothing of real
value to contribute to anything at all. Fame whores populate every
fucking internet 2.0 site, often too self absorbed to realize that they’re
repulsive, or why. Listen to this song ‘s lyrics, and you’ll see every
one of those vain twats in your head. Unless you’re one of them, but
then you probably like this piece of shit song anyway.
Key Line: Penny for your thoughts? Oh no, I’ll sell them for a dollar.
#4: Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t-Anthrax
Holy
shit, an Anthrax song from 2011! And it’s about zombies! Too bad it
wasn’t released 6 years ago when people still cared about metal or
zombies. Let’s face it: metal, as a genre, has gone way downhill in
popularity, though it still has its fanbase. And zombies? Aside from the
popular (yet awful) TV show The Walking Dead, no significant zombie-themed piece of entertainment has been released since the 2009 movie Zombieland,
and even then zombies were kind of played out. But you’re probably
wondering why I’m bringing this up, or why it’s on this list. Well, look at this here.
Social media may have “exploded” in 2006-2010, but in terms of actual
use of social media, 2011 was the biggest growth year. 82% growth of
Facebook useage in the last business year? That’s astounding! Aside from
the boom in Farmville useage, the main thing this has done is lead to a
perpetuation of old memes, like Rickrolling, Chuck Norris and LOLCats,
as your grandma finally discovers what the rest of us are tired of. What
better image for that is there than a metal band full of people in
their late 40s singing a song about zombies?
Key Line: In the end of everything, the dead will rise and sing. Fight ‘em ‘til you can’t fight no more.#3: Fuck You-Cee Lo Green
Like
the #5 entry, this song was released in 2010. Unlike that song, I can
actually pinpoint the reason for this song’s success, and despite being a
brilliant piece of music, it’s not the quality. It’s not even because
of the expletive in the song’s title, since radio always plays it as
“Forget You” anyway. No, this song is cool because of the combined
forces of Gwyneth Paltrow and Glee, which finally showed the world that,
hey, this crazy bastard is cool even without that Danger Mouse guy
backing him up (although really, most people thought “Gnarls Barkley”
was a dude, and didn’t know what he looked like). In other words, if it
wasn’t for a ridiculously popular (if shallow and campy) TV series and
their Academy-Award-Winning Guest Star, we would have missed out on one
of the greatest songs of the last several years. Whereas music used to
pretend that it was about sticking it to The Man, and occasionally actually
stuck it to The Man, here was a song with a swear word in the title
that was explicitly made famous by a show on a major American network
and an actress not especially known for artistic integrity. It was a
victory cry for the old guard.
Despite that, this song represents
something great that happened in 2011. After a seeming eternity of
bullshit, stupid club songs (which are not gone from the charts by a
long shot) dominating the pop landscape, we had some real breakthroughs.
Relatively intelligent, genuinely good music started making a comeback.
It’s not much, but it’s a ray of hope for those of us who’ve all but
abandoned pop music. Between Adele (a legitimately awesome singer who
happens to be an overweight woman) Bruno Mars (who gave us some great music, and The Lazy Song)
and Cee Lo, Billboard’s Top Ten songs of the year actually had some
stuff that wasn’t superficial or awful, and artists with some integrity,
like P!nk and Lady Gaga also had real success in 2011. Whether or not
this trend will continue, only time will tell, but here’s hoping!
Key Line: Fuck you!
#2: Locust- Machine Head
This
was a year where an economic recovery was stifled by greedy capitalists
refusing to act in the best interests of anyone but themselves. It was a
year people finally realized they were being screwed over and tried to
do something about it. That was Occupy Wall Street, and the Occupy
Movement in general, as well as the continuing Arab Spring. This was
also a year where the backlash against these movements was horrendous.
It was clearly worst in Syria, although the image that we remember most is the UC Davis Pepper Spray Cop. In the midst of this, Machine Head released their seventh studio album, Unto The Locust. The lead track, Locust, really captures the spirit of the 1%, the rulers of the various despotic countries, and their supporters.
Taking liberally from the biblical plague of locusts, the song
describes a swarm of insects utterly destroying the land. The lead
singer, Robb Flynn, said that this song is about the type of people that
wander into one’s life, destroys everything and then simply leaves
before anything can be done. Is that not a perfect description of the
1%? The people who, for many years, have been moving every job they
can to poorer areas? Who have exploited third world labour in
ridiculously destructive ways since long before we called it the “third
world”? And yet...there is hope, both in reality and in this song. And
that’s why I think this song is a great symbol of the last year.
Key Line: Trumpets sound, the shattered crown, halos of truth now they surround, the charade comes down.
#1: Blow-Ke$ha
This
song, and especially its music video, is everything wrong about pop
culture now. It’s a club song with spectacularly bad lyrics that sound
like they were written by an ESL student (“this place about to blow”).
It plays up Kesha’s sex appeal, at least for those who aren’t turned off
by her persona, and talks about how awesome she is. It takes modern
music’s need to build up a cult around the performers a step further by
actually putting it into the song itself (“Drink that Kool-Aid, follow
my lead. Now you’re one of us, you’re coming with me.”) This brings
phenomena like Beliebers, Team Breezy, Little Monsters, Juggalos
and others to cult-like levels, which is basically what any musician
who without the family connections an LMFAO or Hot Chelle Rae has to do
to make it nowadays. And the music video...aside from the movie Suckerpunch,
it’s the most internet thing ever (if “internet” can be used as an
adjective, that is). It has “random” “humour” or at least that’s what
Ke$ha claims the aim was. Look! Unicorns! Rainbows! Awashed up90sTV star! Self aware jokes, like when she got called “Kedollar sign ha”! Laser guns! LOL!
It’s
a worrying sign of things to come. Random humour, popularized by
various internet sites and memes, and eventually made mainstream by shit
like Family Guy and shittier shit like Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job, is out of control. Our love of goofy memes like the ones that
inspired this hot mess of a video has made stars of Jeremih (shitty
singer made famous by a weird looking kid named Keenan Cahill, who is
only popular due to looking weird) Souljah Boy, Wiz Khalifa, Justin
Bieber and Jessica Black. None of those people have done anything but
pollute the airwaves and make me regret having ears. Our love of “random
humour” has guaranteed that the Cleveland Show will never go off the air while quality comedy shows like Arrested Development
limped through 3 seasons (thank fuck there’s a movie coming out!)
Thankfully, this song wasn’t a massive hit, unlike her much worse song We R Who We R, though it was considered a hit. Either way, I feel it’s the most 2011 song there is, and that’s why I drink.
Key line: Dirt and glitter cover the floor. We’re pretty and slick, we’re young and we’re bored. If
I prayed, I'd pray for a better musical year this year. However, I
really doubt it'll be significantly better. Please, people, support good
music and prove me wrong.
Theme Song by Brian Setzer and owned by Walt Disney Records
2011 was a very interesting year for media. It brought 3
superheroes to the big screen, resurrected 4 beloved franchises, brought an end
to a phenomenon that began when an 11 year old boy received a letter from an
owl, gave us the Chinatown of our
generation, gave us a god awful installment to another beloved franchise and
gave us the best reviewed, praised, and awesome super hero game ever created.
This is the best and even the worst of 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the last update, I said we would begin filming last Saturday/Friday. There's a good reason for this, it's because the script was "not very good. At all". We started a second script, and decided that it would be funnier, smoother, and overall greater if we only had a loose outline, and improvised the rest. FOR SURE NOW, filming will be soon!
So there's update #2! If you have any questions, suggestions, or other stuff, feel free to message me!
Wolgang Gartner is an Electro/Tech House DJ and producer currently based in Austin, previously from California. He started making music at the age of 11, and taught himself how to DJ at 12. He immersed himself in music and honed his craft during his adolesence. He played basement parties in high school and eventually started playing in clubs. He was signed onto Blue Collar Records in 2004. He made songs under his actual name, Joey Youngman, as a Deep House DJ until 2007, when he donned the name Wolfgang Gartner. He was signed onto Ultra Records in 2010. He's been nominated for Grammies and he's had eight #1 songs in the Beatboard Top 10 chart. He's done remixes for, and collaborated with, famous artists such as The Black Eyed Peas, Timbaland, and Britney Spears.
Good news: I finally found a version of "F--k You!" I can enjoy.
It's the one by the clucking chickens in The Muppets.
Seriously though, I can just tell that song is going to be one of those songs that stays in the back of everybody's minds, though strictly based on what I consider its memetic potential.
I really can't understand how Cee Lo Green has a career; then again, as this post's title may suggest, I'm a Smashing Pumpkins
fan. Admittedly, his voice has gotten slightly less annoying to me
lately; it's gone from "unbearable" to "ignorable," mostly thanks to the
rise of the far more annoying Adele (who sings every note like she's
drowning, and I don't care who knows that's what I think about her).
His voice aside, the fact that it is a neo-funk song that charted as high as it did (#2 on the Hot 100)
is impressive in its own right; I for one haven't heard about any other
songs in that style in the year-plus since its debut. Once I was able
to listen to it beyond Cee Lo's voice, I was able to appreciate how
unique it was/is for its time.
That being said, the lyrics are absolutely nothing special, and if it
had just been titled and written as "Forget You" or "Screw You" (or
anything else non-profane, for that matter), I highly doubt it would've
been considered for a single release. It's a break-up song, pure and
simple (and poorly-written).
I see you driving ’round town
With the girl I love and I’m like,
F--k you!
I guess the change in my pocket
Wasn’t enough, I’m like,
F--k you!
The singer's ex is apparently a gold digger,
leaving him because didn't have enough moolah to fulfill her whims.
That, or they've been living together for a while, he's been out of work
for some time, too lazy or otherwise unable to find a job, and she
couldn't take it anymore. There's no context given for the situation, so
it could be shallow or it could be completely justified; so far, I
don't have a reason to care.
I said, if I was richer, I’d still be with ya
Ha, now ain’t that some s--t? (ain’t that some s--t?)
And although there’s pain in my chest
I still wish you the best with a…
F--k you!
Again, on the surface, it looks like the woman's just being shallow, but without context, who's to say?
One point that people often cite when I ask about the appeal of this
song is the sarcasm; the line "I still wish you the best with a f--k
you!" is the only part I can find that uses legitimate sarcasm, through
the verbal irony of claiming to "wish [her] the best" with an obscene
tell-off.
Yeah I’m sorry I can’t afford a Ferrari,
But that don’t mean I can’t get you there.
I guess he’s an Xbox and I’m more Atari,
But the way you play your game ain’t fair.
This is
definitely the cleverest stanza, the Xbox/Atari comparison specifically.
The plea of the first couplet is honest and touching -- assuming, of
course, that the speaker has a good personality that he feels should
overrule his empty pockets.
I pity the fool that falls in love with you
(Oh s--t she’s a gold digger)
Well
(Just thought you should know n-gga)
The first line implies
that the singer feels that the woman had taken advantage of him during
their time together, emphasized by the background line "she's a gold
digger". The second background line seems to be addressing the woman's
new lover, flippantly warning him about her ways.
Awhile ago I posted I was planning on doing a text review of LMFAO's "Champagne Shower". I stated it would happen next week. That obviously didn't happen. But, there is a reason for this! A flood of work, homework, and Skyrim pretty much had me all tied up for many, many weeks.
While tied up, me and a friend were listening to the radio. Three LMFAO songs came on in a row, and we were picking them apart one by one. We decided then and there we would begin reviewing songs, maybe full albums. My beginning task was to review Champagne Shower, then a few other songs, but now we are doing a video review of the entire Sorry for Party Rocking album! But even better news, the script is done, and we will film on Friday!
The Beatle Bronies are a group that rewrite Beatles songs to make the lyrics be about My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. There is nothing I can say to describe just how awesome this is.
Ok, so during Episode 9 I had to run off for a minutes and well Nappa got a little bored while waiting for me. So he started singing and looking at porn! So I thought you might like to hear it since I had to!
But past that Episode 10 will be our very special very first Live Episode! So if you want to watch or take a part in the episode tune into our Livestream channel on 11/22/2011 at 10 p.m. 9 Central and be on skype!
So fans tune in and you can be on the show,even if it is just fro a little while, we are planning maybe a few guests if they have the time. So hey past that Zombi got Saints Row: The Third and is now in "serious" debt! Ain't that hilarious?!
My third recommendation shall be... (Drum-roll) The Tiger Lillies!
The Tiger Lillies are a British Dark Cabaret band that have been around since 1989. Their unique sound is like a bunch of evil muppets singing about the most disturbing, disgusting things in a usually upbeat manner. And that's what makes them awesome! They're subject matter includes: Male and female prostitution, the 7 deadly sins, STDs, rape, blasphemy, gypsies, carnies, and much more.
Here's a video so you can sample their... uniqueness:
For my next recommendation, here's an artist who I find to be very, very talented. RJD2, whose website can be found here. RJD2 is one of those artists who seems to transcend genre. One album can be comprised of songs that are Hip-Hop, Rock, Soul, Nu-Jazz, and much more. My favorite album by him, so far, is Since We Last Spoke, and it's also the one I recommend you listen to first, if you want to get a good idea of what he's capable of. Here's the link to his official YouTube channel if you'd like to give him a listen http://www.youtube.com/user/rjdtoob.
My first recommendation is for all of you Metalheads out there. It's the Thrash Metal band HAVOK. You can find their website here. HAVOK's sound is pretty much identical to classic Thrash Metal. I must highly recommend that you listen to their album Time is Up. It never fails to deliver in the headbanging department. You can also check out their songs on their official YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/user/HAVOKthrash.
I have a couple of "review" blogs that I use to recommend anime and music, and from now on I'll mirror new posts on here. I'll post my previous recommendations after this. I've only written three for each so far, but the latest ones are my best so far. The first two lacked in quality to me.
I think it's self-explanatory. I review each and every one of Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time plus a few others worth mentioning. I actually update the blog quite often. Feel free to comment and critique my writings. Subscribe if you like them at all.
The Beatles. The Fab Four. The greatest band of all time. No other group
has had and sustained the level of popularity and success they've had.
With over 200 songs, it was hard to narrow down (besides a few obvious
ones).
My first entry into the reviewing forum. Hello everyone, i'm Pat G, and i host Pat's Cynical Metal Vlog. This week, i look at the new Five Finger Death Punch and Machine Head albums. Hope you enjoy it.
Keep Yourself
Alive, Killer Queen, You’re My Best Friend, Love of My Life, Bohemian Rhapsody,
Somebody to Love, Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy, We Are The Champions, Spread
Your Wings, Fat Bottomed Girls, Bicycle Race, Don’t Stop Me Now, Play The Game,
Another One Bites the Dust, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Innuendo… man, it’s
impossible to think that a single band released so many memorable tracks and
completely revolutionized music as a whole…
And would
you believe that they have songs that are absolutely awesome and weren’t even
famous? I mean: there were singles that don’t even compare to some of their
most hidden material. To hear their discography is to go in a very pleasant trip
of songs that aren’t even remembered by people of that time… and are as great.
Some are even better.
This week I've got something special for you. A music video, inspired (and with cameo) by Todd in the Shadows, of Todd's Pop Song Reviews!
It is called "Suffering".
Thanks to Todd, whose show I've been watching since the early Youtube days. Follow him on Twitter if you don't already: @ShadowTodd
For those of you who don't know who I am, I'm the Swedish guy who did the theme song for Atop the 4th Wall. I also do various other things. You can see my reviews, music videos and comedy at this link here. I'm on Twitter too: @VincentEL
In short, if you have a reasonable sized music collection, a PC and a little bit of spare cash and you don't have this game you're doing yourself a diservice. In the most basic terms Audiosurf is the greatest music visualisation ever created, but to leave it at that makes it sound like nothing when in fact this game offers up not only a whole load of value for next to nothing but might actually get you to listen to and think about your music differently.
The concept is simple - pick a music track, throw it into Audiosurf and and within seconds you'll have a full blown rollercoaster to ride based on the tempo, volume and notes of the music. Pick a nice relaxing tune like Me and Mrs Jones and you'll be gliding down a calm blue and green highway, alternatively pick Through The Fire and Flames and get ready for a high speed slide into hell.
The track you ride is divided into three lanes and two shoulders. Depending on the gametype you pick you might not have the shoulders to hide in and the lanes will be full of brightly coloured bricks for you to fly into, falling onto a grid underneath your vehicle as you hit. Get three or more matching colours next to each other on the grid and score points, collect bigger sets of blocks for bigger points. Simple as that.
Before playing the game generates the track and gives you a look at what's to come. A fast song speeds downhill whilst a slow tune crawls up.
Now what truly blew me out of the water was the visual aspect, solid and enjoyable as the gameplay is. By god is Audiosurf a vivid and intense trip. Graphics options allow for some super glossy high speed visuals that are incredibly intense during fast songs, to the point that the game actually issues an epilepsy warning before things kick off, something I've not seen displayed so prominently since the 16-bit console era. Default graphics options populate the tracks with bright primary colours, flashes of stars and other assorted shapes fly from the corners of the screen as you hit blocks, abstract shapes loom and rotate on the horizon as the track hurtles towards and around them. Other graphics options offer the chance to invert the colours and apply different effects to the track such as a simple line drawing version or a processor killing water colour version. Whatever setting the game is on, it looks brilliant flying down the coaster to some classic Bowie. Space Oddity plus a pretty light show is quite a combo. ...
Two Sheds is back, and this time I bring you my top 9 coolest womyn artists. That's women with a Y people. Why my top 9? Because I like to go one step below. As always this isn't a best of list. It's just a list of female artists that I think are the coolest.
#9. Patti Smith: Horses. Released in 1975 by the Godmother of punk. This is a really long track, but worth a listen even if you don't like punk rock.
#8. Debbie Harry: Call me. Released in 1980 by Blondie.
Hi, I’m JotaKa. I’m a rocker by birth and
grew listening to rock discs and long plays by the dozen. I know what you
thinking. Did I fire six shots or only five? Well, to tell you the truth… I
don’t have a gun. So… I’m ripping of Bennett. Kind of. You see, when I saw the
art for that video, I kind of got bummed out because I thought it was because
of art covers, and I was planning on doing a top best album cover, but when I
saw the video, I got better… and then decided to make something similar.
Strange, right?
Well… I decided on doing this because,
well, it’s been a long time since I haven’t released a top #, and I have too
much spare time, and on top of that, I want to increase the number of musical
blogs with quality and at least from my side I can guarantee that (not to be
taken as an accusation of anything, just… small talk). So, for me, what makes a
cover a good cover?
It’s actually pretty simple. It has to be
better than the original…
Hi, I’m JotaKa. I’m a rocker by birth and grew listening to rock
discs and long plays by the dozen. So… Culture Club… I only know about
one song of the band, Karma Chameleon, and it is in this album. That’s
one of the reasons I want to do this one: it’s Karma Chameleon’s album,
which is its band most influential album. The other reason would be that
I never did a new wave eighties album. So… why Color by Numbers and who
are the Culture Club? A little background is required.
The year is 1983. Rowan Atkinson makes his debut in movies starring
the unofficial Bond movie “Never Say Never Again” and my favorite Star
Wars episode, the sixth one, goes to the silver screen. Jason Todd
appears as the second Robin and the great video game depression shows
its claws, enduring for three years. Thriller is released and Madonna
debuts.
After being fired from the Bow Wow Wow, Boy George (the “guy” from
the album cover) started his own band. Joining with him, Mikey Craig on
the bass, Roy Hay on the guitar and Jon Moss on the drums, Culture Club
was formed and was heading to success (if you call New Wave that). After
an album that had some success on the charts, but strange success on
the tabloids (after all, nobody knew if the singer was a guy or a girl,
it was popular in the eighties), the band released this album. There
isn’t really many more to add to it than this.
Hello, everyone, it's time for another Top 10 list. I know, I know, you guys are probably getting sick of my lists. Rest assure, I am working on something a little bit different but in the meantime here are my Top 10 Opening Themes. Sometimes an opening theme can make or break a show. When you think of Gilligan's Island, what's the first thing that comes to mind? "Three Hour Tour." Or the Star Trek: The Next Generation theme, heck we could all probably hum the theme to Dawson's Creek in our sleep. The point is that a catchy opening theme can draw in viewers even if the rest of the show is shit (I'm looking at you, Melrose Place). So I'll be counting down my Top 10 TV opening theme shows. The benchmarks that I'm setting for this list is lyrics, melody, and how well the theme fits with the actual show. Please understand that this list does not dictate how I feel about actual shows, just the opening theme.
So with that said, here are the Top 10 TV Opening Themes.
(Apologies to Todd in the Shadows for stepping on his schtick)
10. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego - If you only know Rockapella from the Folgers commercial, you are truly missing out. Four men turn a barbershop quartet PBS game show opening theme into one of the most catchy numbers I have ever heard. Even now, almost two decades after the show gone off the air, I still remember the theme. And how many opening themes can actually teach you stuff? I would do anything to find a full version of the song as every time I start to listen to the theme, it cuts out due to time.
9. King Arthur & The Knights of Justice - If you've read my Top 10 Non-Japanese Animation list, then you already know how I feel about the show (if you haven't read it, I suggest you do so a.s.a.p.). From the first guitar riff, I could tell this was the perfect hero charge type song. And I also like how they use an instrumental version whenever the knights transform into their armor. I wonder if this is the Lasserman effect that Linkara often speaks of.
As you may or may not know i have always hatted bring me the horison (BMTH) with a passion. People allways told me "oh their not that bad" or "how would you know you havent heard any of their songs" well i took some time out of my oh so buisy scheduel to listen to one of their songs, diomands arnt forever, and i have to say one thing, i was fucking right. They were shit all along.
This song is a standard metal riff in drop b and then they repeat the same lyrics over and over again "we will never sleep cuz sleep is for the week, we will never rest till were all fucking dead" their are a few other lyrics aswell but i cant hear them over again and at the end of the video you see them getting paid as if their saying " yeah were earning more money than you bitch you jealous? hu hu!" and all of you BMTH fans out their (yes all 4 of you) now have no musical taste so good day to you sir.
Hi, I’m JotaKa. I’m a rocker by birth and grew listening to rock
discs and long plays by the dozen. And it’s the first time I’m venturing
in the magical wonderful world of hip-hop. So, this album fell in my
hands some months ago, with promises of being one of the best albums
ever recorded. I kind of doubted that back then: I still doubt that
right now. This album is St. Elsewhere by the duo known as Gnarls
Barkley. Who the hell they are, you may ask? A little background is
required:
The year is 2006. With a key made of pure shit, Pirates of the
Caribbean closes its trilogy while being the highest grossing movie of
the year and The Departed won the Academy Award (although I believe The
Queen was a superior film, but at least it won another award). Jason
Blunt released the single “You’re Beautiful” and the music video for
“Here It Goes Again” by Ok Go becomes a YouTube sensation. Nintendo
releases the Wii and Sony releases the PlayStation 3.
Gnarls Barkley, a duo, released their first album, this one. But to
be honest, talking about the duo is not that much explanatory, because
it would be like a trio composed of Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Chris
Cornell, that only released one album.
I recently went through a nostalgia trip. I found old mix tapes/CDs, pictures, and journal entries from when I was younger. I never realized how much angst, awkwardness, and ignorance was in my childhood. Therefore, I decided I might as well make a series out of it.
Yesterday, while going through old mix CDs in my basement, I found one that seemed particularly old. Just by looking at it I could tell it was the type of blank CDs I used to use back in grade school (approximately 5th through 8th grade). I decided to pop it in to see if there was anything on the CD that I might still like. What I discovered was a personal fable:
Track #1: "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence Oh, yes. I remember my Evanescence hype. Let me inform you that I was going through a "goth" stage at this point in my life. For some reason I enjoyed everything dark and mysterious. I remember my angst being mostly prominent in the 6th grade which is why I titled the CD as such. This song isn't all that bad, and Amy Lee's voice is quite brilliant. However, I have no desire to listen to Evanescence anymore. I am through with that chapter in my life.
Track #2: "Lying from You" by Linkin Park Another song which projects anger and frustration. I'm not surprised. To be fair, Linkin Park is still one of my favorite bands of all time, and I still enjoy this song very much. Chester Bennington's screaming vocals are fantastic. Perfect for my "hardcore" era.
Track #3: "Haunted" by Evanescence More Evanescence... Cool. This song is about being oppressed by either a person or some kind of substance. That's nice. Except, my childhood included nothing of the sort. Angst. I'm telling you... Actually this song is not that bad. The only reason I might still listen to this is to reminisce on my dance competition days (there were quite a few "Evanescence themed" dances that year).
Track #4: "Thoughtless" by Korn What would 6th grade be without Nu Metal? This song is about wanting to maim and/or kill all the people that bully you. This is interesting considering I was never bullied half as bad as other kids. It's angry, loud, and violent. Just my 6th-grade-self's type! This is not something I would listen to today, but I do have to say that this decent. It really sounds like Korn is playing honestly, and they mean what they sing.
Track #5: "Innervision" by System of a Down Welp! I am still a System of a Down fan, so I have nothing to say about this! Although, I have grown out of this song just a bit and it is no longer in my top ten, I still like it.
Track #6: "Headstrong" by Trapt "Back off, we'll take you on! Headstrong to take on anyone! I know that you are wrong! Headstrong, we're headstrong!" Yep. I'm starting to get intense flashbacks of 6th grade. I'm done with this song.
Track #7: "All You Wanted" by Michelle Branch WHAT THE HELL?! A song that's actually a bit mellow?! What a twist! I kind of still like this song. I especially dig the chorus. It brings back nostalgic feelings. The good kind of nostalgia. Not the angst. I sure hope there are more songs like this on the rest of this CD...
Track #8: "Still Waiting" by Sum 41 Damn. How could I have ever made it through my preteens without the sound of "new punk rock"? This song still sits moderately well with me. It's really good for those days when I am extremely pissed off. In general, Sum 41 is not my number one favorite anymore, but their old songs aren't too bad.
Track #9: "One Step Closer" by Creed Hey! A song thats more relaxed than the others! Still, this is a song about being in dire need of some kind of salvation... Why would 6th-grade-me ever listen to a song about anything else? I really have nothing to say about the band Creed themselves, seeing as I'm sure this is the only song by them that I ever listened to. Anyway, I still like this song, as it also brings back dance recital memories.
Track #10: "Simple and Clean (English version)" by Utatda Hikaru Well. This is a drastic change-up... This song is from the video game, Kingdom Hearts, in case you didn't know. It was my favorite game at the time, which kind of explains why it's on this CD. But really. I cannot believe that I went from screaming-my-head-off music to J-Pop. What the hell, 6th-grade-Liz?! While the song isn't horrible for a J-Pop song, I have to say that I prefer the slower Japanese version and the orchestra version better. They just strike your soul a little more.
Well, that's the end of the mix CD. But the bad news is, I have a whole lot more CDs from back in the day. Maybe I will take a look at those in the future. Maybe I won't. We will just have to wait and see. In the mean time, I hope you enjoyed the soundtrack to my former life. Now I invite you to think about it, or better yet, go on a search. What were some of your favorite songs back when you were young?
How many of you guys actually grew up during the late 80's to early to mid 90's? Do you guys remember when music use to have something to say? When music still had balls?
Lets talk about the coming grunge and alternative music. I was there for it, I hope some of you were too. Looking back, there were so few good bands when grunge became the popular medium. After bands like:Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl jam, The Pixies, and a few others. The record companies realized, "Hey, this shit's popular, lets exploit this!" Thus many grunge and alternative band wannabes began to appear everywhere. As is the cycle of things.
But lets not begin a rant, lets simply talk about the music. I re-discovered some great music a few days ago. I bought a copy of Soundgarden's Telephantasm. It's a collection of many of there hits, from when they first started, to their last album. It also contains a few live tracks. But one song I'd never heard by them, "Flower," really caught my attention. It's beautiful, dark, poetic, and addictive. I haven't stopped listening to it since I heard it.And I remember, this is great music. And believe me, I've heard those shitty grunge wannabes. Trying to be poetic, but just coming off as flat, bland, and rather pathetic. Maybe their music is good, but really listen to the lyrics of a band like Bush, their lyrics are terrible!
Not all music has to be dark to be good, but you should at least have something real to say. And sadly a lot of real artists, all they know is tragedy. But at least they know how to make it beautiful. That is the true spirit of music. Sadly, today everyone would prefer to sound like everyone else. Using auto tune, no real instruments, and no real talent. Nearly everything I hear on the popular radio is either:An auto tune cover song, or an auto tune song in general. Hence the reason I don't listen to the radio anymore.
But there is good music out, you just have to really know where to look. And sometimes you really have to look hard. So hard in fact, that you might wind up time traveling back to a better time in music. And the 90's was not the only time of great and new music either, I'm not an ignorant idiot.
Just a quickie list style blog, just to put it out there. This is stuff that I liked over the years, and wanted to share with everyone. And yeah, this is a list of older stuff, I may do a more modern one later. This isn't an ultimate list, I just want to toss it out ther as stuff that you should take an hour out of your life and listen to this stuff. And I'm going a little "hipster obscure" here, because I'm assuming most people have HEARD a song by Rush before so I don't need to get into them. Or I may have to do another of that kinda stuff too, no clue.
#5 : Masayoshi Takanaka : Plumed Bird
One of my favorite "who is this guy?" guitarists ever. Hiis work goes way back to the 1970's, but I believe this is him in 2009 (I think, I can't read Japanese). I stumbled into him at a video rental store when I found "Rainbow Goblins Story", and then proceeded to scour the record stores for the CD. Yeah, it was a long time ago. Amazing player who really deserves more recognition outside of Japan.
This song is the climax of the album, which is a concept piece in itself. If you can find Rainbow Goblins live at the Budokon, listen to it, it's well worth an hour of your life. It's actually introduced me to his later work, which is more jazzy and blusey, and I wish I could show you some of that but most of those vids are down off of youtube.
Robert Johnson was born
to his mother in Hazlehurst, Mississippi who had him from an affair. During
most of his young life, he lived with his mother and little sister in the home
of Charles Spencer. Spencer employed his mother as well for the fact Spencer
kept two in house mistresses
one being Roberts mother. She moved on with her daughter leaving Johnson in Spencer’s
care until he was seven. He was two much of a troublemaker and Spencer sent him
back home where he lived with his mother and stepfather until the age of 15-16.
With the recent passing of Amy Winehouse, the world lost another voice. Someone artistically gifted in the way of rhyme, reason, and skill. Say what you will about her ability to keep herself in control, she was still a soulful singer who put it all on the line. With Lyrical ability and strong believe in instruments and not on autotune and electical noises. Which in my opinion doesn't make music. She was down to earth when it came to her songs but high in the air to rock bottom when it came to real life. Surely she will be missed as an artist.
One of the reason's she will be missed? Well look at the world of music right now, where people can pretty much make anything and someone is bound to like it. Which leads to the raido airwaves playing too much Lady Gaga and Justin Beiber. Two artists I despise with every fiber of my being. When someone can make a song called Friday, which has nonsensical and completely uninteresting lyrics on a track that sounds like it comes standard off some mix software and then, worst of all come out with another single basically bashing all her critics and calling them haters when she herself has never really made it famous enough to have haters, then well the world is fucked.
When "I would catch a Grenade for ya." is a line in a song...when really it's not catching a grenade, let's put it this way, you catch it, shrapnel will still kill the person your trying to save..we have issues. Speaking on that...I have to say this,. it would have made more sense if instead of "I would catch a Grenade for ya, throw my hand on a blade for ya." If it was, "I would catch a blade for ya, throw myself on on a grenade for ya." Or something like that. But I digress and got off topic.
Horrible lyrics can make a song bad. We all know and bash the Limp Bizkit song to the point that it is no longer funny. Though the beat is good for a party song. But they aren't the only ones that do it. TobyMac, a well known Christian Rapper has made songs that have Lyrics that don't make sense, In his Song "Extreme Days" he has this:
"...Rock That Body" is not a song that I would immediately find appealing. It's not all that bad, but it's also not all that good. I am not a big fan of synthesizers and that all around "computer generated" sound that this decade loves so much. I'd rather listen to real musicians rather than Fergie's "chipmunk voice". If you don't know what I'm talking about, just listen to it yourself."
This song was not clicking with me. Then I found S**t Kingz...
Oh James Bond, 50 years and youre still saving women from being virgins. 007 is classic, and yet still manages to be new and edgy. I love JB, and whats a Bond movie without a theme song (well, except the first few)
These are my top 4 Bond Songs, let me know yours in the commenys
4. Goldeneye - Tina Turner - This song is almost hypnotic. Its slow and brutal, especially as the song progresses. The beat puts you in a trance and provides a perfect sense of mystery. Props also for that last note, JEEEZ!!!!!!!!!!!
3. Tomorrow Never Dies - Sheryl Crow - This song......is just hot. I mean, wow, I can just see the singer undressing when I hear this song! But not only is it hot, it also has a very dark edge to it, keeping with being a song about a man who is all about danger. Its sexy, slow, dangerous, and my #3 pick.
2. You Know My Name - Chris Cornell - With Bond coming into a new era, Casino Royale made some really cool changes, it took bond back to basics after a wave silly gadgets that just went too far. Bond was back, now much more gritty and rough, so how do you open this movie?..........................PURE, PULSE POUNDING, HARD ROCK BABY!!!!!!!!.........This song is just amazing! It just drives forward and never lets up! THIS is a Bond for 2006!
and #1
Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney
Yeah, nothing else could possibly be #1, this is THE Bond song, its jumps between ballad and rock are just awesome, its like, "Yeah, Bond is in the 70s now, lets do this!"
Did you ever hear a song, and were suddenly confused by what the singer just said, mostly because of the fact that, you really couldn't quite hear or understand them?
I remember when I was a kid, long before we ever had the internet, and if you wanted to know the lyrics to song, you had to hope that they included the lyrics. Now a days of course you can find lyrics by any artist, some more than others though.
This is really nothing but a bit of nostalgia, and something I was thinking about the other day. I was listening to the song, "Sad but true," by Metallica. And I remembered listening to that song as a kid, but I thought that during the chorus, when he says, "Sad but true!" I always thought that he was saying, "Sand patrol!" I know stupid right? But now every time I listen to that same song, and I sing along with, "Sand patrol!" And it always manages to give me a good chuckle.
Other times though when trying to figure out song lyrics, its more confusing than funny. When I first heard, "Sober," by TOOL, I remember I spent all day trying to figure out those lyrics, and I never came close. Thank god for the internet. And yet I can't find song lyrics by the band Z?
What do you guys think, ever had the same experience? Please let me know in the comments. Thank you.
-If I looked exhausted and my hair seemed a bit messier than usual it's because, in order to move this video along, I shot all the footage for this in the span of about 3 hours. This was a bad derision and I will not be doing that ever again >_<.
-If some of the video and audio look like they don't sync up it's because I had to edit out the footage of Drew and her idiot friends interrupting the videos and I had to cut down the music or this video would probably be over an hour long. I did my best to clean it up but it turned out to be a much bigger editing project than I'm used to.
-EVERYTHING in the world seemed to try and prevent this video from ever being made. From power outages to medical problems to failed uploads and video conversions. Also most of this was written about a year ago and it just didn't turn out very good so I resurrected it and, let's say, re-tooled it. So I really hope it turned out well. Though the real purpose behind this video was to make known what I felt was a lost nostalgic gem.
If you've ever heard a Pink Floyd album, you know their usual style. Experimental, but not too distracting from the music use of sound effects, challenging and insightful lyrics set against the sonic textures provided by the trio of keyboards, drums and bass and electric guitars and occasional blues-influenced guitar solo or a jazzy keyboard improvisation.
Now forget about all that. Well, apart from the improvisations. These are plentiful on this album, and... well, they aren't up to par with 'Any Colour You Like' from The Dark Side of the Moon or the first few parts of 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond'. No: these are self-indulgent, not-quite-sure-what-to-do kinds of improvisations that you want to be gone as soon as it is possible. It's a bit like if King Crimson's infamous coda of 'Moonchild' ran for a length of a full LP. Thankfully, not two LPs, 'cause even though the the whole Ummagumma is compromised of two vinyl records, the first one is one of the greatest live albums of all time. I'm not kidding: Pink Floyd at that time were capable of doing amazing things in front of live audience, but when they have been brought back to the recording studio, it seems they transformed into an altogether different creature - a one that is don't know what to do and not sure where it is heading, as it is best demonstrated on the second part of the album, which is (you guessed it!) today's topic.
After committing Ummagumma. From left to right: Richard Wright saying to himself "What was I thinking?", David Gilmour being absolutely cross about the quality of the newest release, Roger Waters having a mild case of a Troll Face and Nick Mason... well, he's a drummer, so he doesn't give a crap.
Hello everyone! I'm a long-time fan of TGWTG, but I've only just now actually registered here. Usually I don't have much to say, but I thought I'd get all extroverted and tell about one of my hobbies: making mix CDs for friends and lovers.
Now, don't get me wrong, anyone can make a mix. Anyone can take a bunch of songs that they think the person will like, slap 'em into a playlist, burn it off and call it pizza. I have no problems with people who do this. However, I've discovered (over my whole two years of making mixes!) a few techniques to make mixes both more enjoyable to put together and to listen to. If you are an accomplished mix-maker and I'm just spouting the obvious, I do apologize, but these are just things I've found out for myself. Ready? Here we go!
Tip 1: Have a big pool
This is an obvious one, and goes for both having music in general and for having music in the mix.
For general music-having: I have about 30-40 gigs of music, and I'm pretty good about not being a pirate, but if you're gonna do multiple mixes for the same person (lover? best friend?), your pool will shrink pretty quickly. And why is that? Because even though you may want to share your entire music library with your girlfriend doesn't mean you should, of course. You may like your J-pop, but not being able to understand the lyrics may make her just skip over your hard-picked song. So it's always good to pick up an album or 4 whenever you've got the itch for more music. You'll have more diversity for yourself and for your mixes.
The last few years have been pretty controversial for In Flames. In
2008 they released their 9th studio album A Sense of Purpose to
a rather unanimous "Meh". I became of fan of the band around the time
this album came out, and I can attest that, compared to everything
they'd made before, it was pretty underwhelming. While the album before
it, Come Clarity, wasn't amazing, it still had the signature
power and energy that In Flames have been known for, that just seemed
lacking on ASoP.
2 years later, and the founding
member of In Flames, Guitarist Jesper Stromblad, left the band in order
to deal with his own personal demons. This lead more than a few fans to
claim that In Flames was officially dead. Though really, you'll need a
quick history lesson to get up to speed on that debacle.
Essentially,
back in the early 90's there were 3 bands that all formed around the
same time, in the same city of Gothenburg, Sweden, and they became known
as the godfathers of Melodic Death Metal. These 3 bands were In Flames,
Dark Tranquillity, and At The Gates. They didn't necessarily start the
sub-genre, but they were the ones who defined the sound and made it big.
In Flames would stick with roughly the same sound for what would come
to be called their "Golden Era", with their first 5 albums (Lunar
Strain, The Jester Race, Whoracle, Colony,
Clayman) but come 2002, things took a drastic change.
Starting
with their 6th album, Reroute to Remain, they would begin
utilizing a more modern sound, taking influence from Alternative Metal
more and more with each release. This has caused a huge schism in the
fanbase, between fans of "Old" In Flames and "New" In Flames. Needless
to say, the founder's departure only exacerbated the whole thing. This
meant that there was more than a bit of pressure for the band, now a
4-piece, to bring something big with their 2011 release Sounds of A
Playground Fading.
How
I Got a Job for One Summer to Buy the Guitar of My Dreams
I
was sixteen when I started my first job at Wright’s Nursery. It was an ok job;
unlike most first jobs that suck so much that you want to quite right away. I
like the Wrights for the most part and I only worked two days a week so I
didn’t miss much of my summer vacation. I was grateful for my father who had
gotten me the job and I was glad that I now know the owners, but that’s not why
I had taken the job. No no, I had taken the job because somewhere near
Westminster Colorado there stood a music shop that was having a sale on
guitars. By the end of the summer, I was determined to get the guitar I wanted.
I had started saving for the guitar a while ago. Putting change in a bottle,
taking one-dollar bills out of my wallet and saving them in a tin I had, doing
yard work for the neighbors. Still I was two-hundred and fifty dollars short.
Did I worry? Nah I had a job and a paycheck that I got every two weeks plus
tips from folks who needed help to their cars. Was it a great job? No. Did I
put up with it? Yes. Did I finally get that guitar on my last day of work in
July? Yes! Did it sing? Still does.
The police are here to protect us right? Ok, Rodney King might not agree with that statement and I have a feeling that Woody and Crazy would probably agree with Rodney, at least about this police officer. From the movie Bio Zombie.
It's true they are here to serve and protect but when the outbreak hits, I say follow the rap lyrics and " Fuck the Police" I've been pulled over by them enough time to know they can't be trusted when the end hits!
Don't drink the soft drink! DGTRGWE? Is currently on Hiatus to be reworked.
The continuing struggle for the truth has led me back to "The Evil Dead" Movie. And I say that anyone would be hard pressed to find a scene with Ash where that damn song doesn't fit. So sadly this week I have failed miserably this song defiantly goes with this fantastic scene with Ash continuing his never ending struggle with the Deadites. But our next addition will take us off to the distant land of Japan...it's distant to me. For a movie I love!
So follow me on my never ending search for something Guile's Theme won't go with.
Also be noted that this film was banned in a few countries. See you next week for the next installment of DGTRGWE?
And welcome back with another episode of everyone’s favorite Capcom music based series. Does Guile's Theme Really Go With Everything? Episode 3 This week we are using one of my favorite animes as well as a good friend’s. Creator owner...like it would be someone else’s blog baconplz the blog, run by Trish my Canadian buddy.
Today we are using Black Lagoon. A tremendously awesome anime series that follows a group of mercenaries as they take jobs trying to make ends meat. But that is just my bastardized abridged version of the plot. So without further ado, I present Does Guile's Theme Really Go With Everything? Episode 3.
And I really hope you all enjoy the player made specifically for this series taking use of the red, white and blue color scheme just for a hint of American pride. Give us your oil! But seriously I hope you’ll enjoy the series and more will be coming eventually. I'll try to keep this a weekly thing also be sure to have fun with the zombie situation as they appear they will be weekly things as well. So enjoy the blog, check out baconplz here and as always...
This is the brand new revamped savior guide. The savior guide is an idea I thought of where I will go through a few of the personalities I think should be saved for the rebuild of humanity after zombies annihilate the population. These are a few of the people you need to save. But don't worry I'm not talking about princes or Kings that where just handed their title I'm talking about geeks, nerds, actor and anyone else I view to be awesome and since I just said awesome I say we start with Transmission Awesome the group from Channel Awesome.
Our first up is the original and main host of Transmission Awesome, Chris Larios.
Let me preface this with saying that my taste in musicals is probably radically different from most people who claim a love of musicals. I’ve actually never seen musicals like Cats or The Phantom of the Opera or even The Sound of Music. Take my joy of musicals to be lighter hearted. Less having to do with talent and story and more to do with sheer ridiculousness. I’ve been a little depressed this week and as soon as I started writing this and listening to these songs/watching these scenes my mood was instantly improved. So I hope no one takes this too seriously and instead you let it lighten your mood as well.
Well I would love to post a new blog about things that I had added to the blog but sadly that would look really weird since you have to see the blog to understand it. So I will just say…
Hey people who are reading this. You should go click the link/picture to go to the Undeaducation blog so you can a see a few of the new features like Ads, which I can’t tell you to click, and the direct link to the wonderful group “LimitDrive” who made my theme song.
With regular updates random video updates and a feed to my Twitter account how can you afford to miss this. But that’s just what I would say to coax you there. So really think you should go and do whatever you feel like even if it means clicking ads, no matter what Google says, but just to be sure know that I can’t tell you to click them.
More Case studies and anything else I want there will be there, except porn. Google specifically said I can’t put porn there.
I made a video recently and after uploading it to YouTube I saw that that won't work, they axed my audio so I still have it on Blip.tv which is what really keeps it going. So here is the video. There isn't a whole lot of special attached to it but it was fun to make and very true so. Here you go!
I hope you all enjoy the video and look forward to more Case Studies on zombies and anything else I think is worth putting on the blog.
That picture is totally a link, you should click it.
