Holiday Playlist

I've been listening to my holiday playlist on my iPhone lately and by far the best holiday music is a mix of Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra, and Vince Guaraldi with his Charlie Brown music. You can't frown when listening to the classic piano playing of "O Tannenbaum" that piano playing is a masterpeice. And so catchy and jazzy. I love listening to it while I'm decorating a tree or even riding around during Christmas time. Also Frank Sinatra has the voice of a God with his cool sounding pitch changes he makes any Christmas tune amazing. And Buble is Buble. Competitor for "The Next Frank Sinatra" along with Harry Conick Jr. His Christmas album has a lot of good tunes and his voice is kinda scary how good it is. Cause it sounds as if autotuned but yet you hear him live and he sounds the exact same. A little bit scary how cool his voice is. He sounds as if he's not even trying. So take my advice and if you want some good holiday songs on your playlist, make sure to grab these.

Frank Sinatra "Let it Snow"

Michael Buble "It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas"

Vince Guaraldi "O Tannenbaum"

And an add on to the list, Burl Ives "Holly Jolly Christmas"

12/12/12 Concert Benefit

Well on Wednesday a bunch of artist got together and put on a show donating all the money to the people up north damaged by Hurricane Sandy. And I got to say it was fairly entertaining. I didn't know anything about the lineup before but there were HUGE names there. All celebraties were there and it looked like a fun gathering. Anyways here is my opinion on every act. I didn't have a chance to see Pink Floyd

Bon Jovi- I turned on the TV and I see this douchebag fag. I hate this guy. I hate the band, I hate how much they are remembered, it's retarded. I will say that the crowd seemed to really enjoy it (what do you expect, it's a bunch of 50 year old 80s rock lovers) and I was suprised his voice was still working and not bad but nevertheless I hate Bon Jovi. Thank God I started watching as they were doing their last song. What's worse is they brought out another one of my most hated musicians, Bruce Springsteen. It wasn't a good start in my opinion.

Rolling Stones- Didn't see them, but my parent said they sucked which they must've because my parents are reallllyyyy big Stones fans. They said they played a lot of their new stuff and Mick couldn't hit a note. And Keith was really sloppy and his guitar was out of tune.

The Who- Even though they only have an old, fragile Pete Townshend and a suprisingly in great shape Roger Daltrey left, they still kicked major ass. They played some awesome jams and opened with "Who Are You" and they sounded good... except Pete Townshend (can't hit a note anymore singing wise) They played a tribute song to Keith Moon and John Entwistle a song that I had never heard before along with Pinball Wizard, Rain On Me, and the classic (my favorite song by them) Baba O'Reily.

Kanye West- Kind of hard to follow up The Who, especcially when the crowd is a bunch of middle-aged white people who most likely hate rap and hate Kanye even more. I was shaking my head when he opened with his new ghetto loud bass rap. And he was getting no reaction from the crowd. Then he pulled out classics that even old folks have a taste for like Touch The Sky, Good Life, Gold Digger, and closed off his performance with Runaway. Pretty good for a crowd who hates you and being the only hip hop act there.

Billy Joel- In my mind, Billy had the second best if not the best set of the night. He played fun songs everyone knew and his voice is still smooth, clear, loud, passionate, and just pitch perfect. The audience really loved it and so did I. His voice is something special, and his songwriting is great. I love Billy Joel and  seeing him put on a great show at an old age makes me want to get more into him.

Chris Martin- This was weird not seeing him with Coldplay. He has an awesome voice and I didn't know he could play guitar that good. He sang Viva La Vida acousticly and at the end he stopped and said to the crowd. "I know you all wanted One Direction but it's a little too passed their bed time, so instead you get 15 minutes of Chris Martin. But I tried to get PSY from Gangnam style to come out here but he said no.... so I went with plan B, Ladies and gentlemen from Athens, Georgia Mr Michael Stipe from R.E.M." and the crowd went nuts. Neither of them talked for a minute, Chris said "Is this really happening???" Michael went up there, said hi to the crowd and then Chris busted out in "Losing My Religion" and again the crowd went nuts. (Michael Stipe retired specifically so he wouldn't have to sing that song anymore) and then they closed off with a brand new Coldplay song. Good Show from him.

Paul McCartney- His first words were "This is for the Wings fans!" and I thought "Well that's two people in the audience." And I though it was gonna be one Wings song but he played like 4, I was so dissapointed until he busted out his guitar and played "Blackbird". Then he stopped and said "I saw these guys a few days ago, and they told me that 'We should totally jam sometime.' So I thought why not now? Ladies and gentlemen Dave Grohl, Pat Smear, and Krist Novoselic from Nirvana!" And again the crowd erupted. And they played a new song called "Cut Me Some Slack" it was pretty good, it was cool to Nirvana together after the years. Then McCartney went to the keys and closed off with "Live and Let Die" with fireworks, fire, confetti and the NY Fire Department, Nurses, Military and Citizens on stage as he closed the night. Then out of no where he said "One more time, Alicia Keys everybody!" and Alicia really closed the night singing her own version of "Empire State of Mind" with everyone chanting USA.


Overall a pretty good day for music. Best set goes to Billy Joel or The Who or even Chris Martin (he brought a legend out of retirement). I suggest watching the videos on youtube for youself

Led Zeppelin

I've listened to Zeppelin 1 and 2 and all of the "Best of" records when I was younger.... but I don't think I truly understood how awesome they are. This album is a game changer for sure. All elements of good rock. This is one of my few exceptions where I will take the sound over the substance in the lyrics. Which frankly, the lyrics aren't that bad.... they're not like Cream bad.
 My favorite song we listened to was definitely "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" I had deja vu when listening to it cause I remember my dad playing and singing that song in his own acoustic version of it. Regardless I love that song and Robert Plant's fucking voice.
That dude can whale while Jimmy shreds on the guitar. This band is awesome. The unique thing about Jimmy Pages' style of playing is it's not exactly extrememly complicated, he just finds a way to make a cool sound. He is an inovater. He's completely different from the rest. Hendrix has his divebombs and slides, Van Halen has his tapping, White has his pedal, Stevie has his bluesy rhythm, and Page has his innovative flavor. "Stairway to Heaven" isn't exactly a hard peice to play... it's just so awesome to hear that sound.

My favorite song so far by Zeppelin,

Odd Future

I'velistened to this group before and really didn't think much of them. I think I didn't have an open ear at the time, or something because I really like this groups music. I was watching some crazy videos of them on a regular day and they are literally insane people. They just cause so much shit and fuck around all day. And then out of no where someone will start free-styling a really good rhyme. I listened to the group leader Tyler, The Creators' album Goblin and it was a really good compelation album. It shows that not only is his message to his listeners to rebel and do what you want and don't let anybody tell you you can't do it. He is a good songwriter. He wrote a song called "She (feat. Frank Ocean)" which is about a stalker being obsessed with this girl and it goes through what is going through his head. It's a good track with a nice hook from Frank Ocean (another favorite of mine). His words definitely are powerfull because people listen to what he says. And it's not like drugs fucked his brain up. He refuses to do any drinking or smoking because he thinks it's stupid and pointless. He really is a person I respect because he stays true to what he does. He refuses to make clean versions of his songs, if you like it for what it is, you won't care if there are bad words. He leads a group of rebels in the music industry. He is one of the most unique people to step in the booth for his songs can have all sorts of meanings. Not just his meanings make him good. The way he raps is so signature, he puts in things that wouldn't make sense but together they some how make sense? I don't know. All I know is that I regret not seeing Odd Future in concert on Friday. Gosh their shows are insane and deadly.

This Group consist of Skateboarders, Rappers, and a singer. Rappers include Tyler, The Creator, Hodgy Beats, Jasper The Dolphin, Left Brain, Earl Sweatshirt, Syd Tha Dude, and Taco. Frank Ocean is a Singer/Rapper who is my favorite in the group.

My favorite song by Tyler is definitely "Radicals"

My favorite song by Frank is probably now "Super Rich Kids (feat. Earl Sweatshirt)"

And my favorite Odd Future song is tied with "Analog 2"

The Odd Future song that shows them most is definitely Oldie which features a verse from all of their best members, and starts with Tyler and finishes with Tyler telling their story and meaning in society.... great track Heres "Oldie"

Blink-182

I grew up with Blink-182, I love their music no matter what anybody else tells me. Travis Barker is an amazing legendary drummer. The first album I listened to was their self titled album "Blink-182" I love every song on that album. As I get older I realize that they aren't the greatest singers but the songwriting isn't terrible at all. It's not that it's legendary songwriting but it's that the songs like take me back to when I was in elementary school and middle school. It makes me think of the future cause a lot of the times those songs make me feel the way they feel. Blink is the anthem of high schoolers and teenagers in America. Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker, and Tom DeLonge made a huge impact on my life with songs like "What's My Age Again" "Feeling This" and "Miss You" This album is on the list of albums that have had an impact on my life such as Channel Orange (Frank Ocean), Kanyes first two albums, OutKast's Speakerboxxx and The Love Below, Nas' Illmatic, The Beatles (Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road), and Jay-Z with Blueprint 3, Black Album, Blueprint, and Reasonable Doubt. Blink-182 is the shit and I don't care what any says about.

Favorite song by Blink-182 is "Feeling This"

Abbey Road

This album is fucking tight. Everything about it I like. I like how it has seperate songs then goes into a group of songs that sound like one. The lyrics in the songs are much harder and songwriting is just plain ridiculous. You can tell they are much MUCH better players at this point in their careers. This album is so good I'm listening to it right now. They completely changed their genre for me when I heard this album. They officially transitioned to Rock for good. "Come Together" is a classic with great singing and the guitar and drums kick ass on this track. And I never realized how much I liked the song "Something". Can't believe that song wasn't written by John or Paul. I love how that song has a soft melody then transitions to hard drums and belting singing. I love it. The entire album is gold. Hard songs like "I Want You" and "Oh! Darling" along with soft songs like "Here Comes The Sun" and "Because" makes this album a masterpeice. Anothere factor is their creativity with tracks like "You Never Give Me Your Money" (That part that goes like "1234567, all good children go to heaven" is sooooo cool and I don't know why) and "Octopus's Garden". They are just the best artist of all time, and this album shows why. They can do anything and they create and innovate everything used in music. Not because they are the best musicians in the world.... because they are the most creative people in the world.

I can't pick a favorite song on the album but if I had to pick one it would be "Something"

Johnny Cash

I really liked listening to Johnny Cash in class. He definitely has a vibe and swagger that not most country singers have. Personally, I HATE COUNTRY. Every artist sounds the same to me, every song the same meaning, different lyrics (but alot of times the same lyrics) it just all sounds too much alike. But with Johnny he brings something different to the plate. It's definitely not his voice cause let's be real here, he doesn't sing he just talks. It's more of the sound and unique style in which he performs. The lyrics are great! But that's not what I like about him. I really think I like him because he is one of the artists where you hear a song you've never heard before and say "That's Johnny Cash right there". He's got that factor that a lot of artist strive to get but never find it. He is his own style and in my mind the King of Country music. Rock has its Elvis, Hip/Hop has its Biggie, R&B/Soul has its Otis Redding, and Country has its Johnny Cash.

The most popular Johnny Cash song is probably "Walk the Line"

My favorite song by him is definitely "Ring of Fire"

The Avalanches

The Avalanches are an electronic group that uses 3 members to play 2 sets of keyboards, one bass, one siging backup vocals, and another on a DJ set. They make music based entirely off of samples. Their debut album (so far the only one I've listened to) consisted of 3500 samples alone. What I like about it is when you hear that they make songs based entirely off of samples, vocals and all, you think it would sound like just noise but it's not. It is truly mind blowing to me how some electronic artist make this type of sampling music. It takes time and concentration to get the beat to match with the vocals perfectly. And also this album is one full song. It's tight as hell how they do the transitions from song to song. There is rumors that they are making another album soon and if so, I will be looking forward to this.

My favorite song off of "Since I Left You" is Electricity

And probably the most popular song off of this album is "Since I Left You"

And if you have time, listen to the full hour long album

Memphis The Musicals music

Yesterday I watched a Broadway show on Netflix expecting it to be alright but I was wrong. I loved every second of it and the music was kick ass. All of them were fantastic singers. I liked it cause like most people see Broadway singing as soft and nice this was hard and powerfull. It was about white and black music in the 50's and it reminded me of the music we listened to in class. How most of the white people singing soul songs sounded corny and how when the blacks sang it it sounded badass and more powerfull. Not only were they great singers, the songs written were good too. There is definitley some bad Broadway show tunes, but if you search enough, you will find some good music.

A badass song called "Music of My Soul"

But my favorite probably is

Jazz Based Rap

I realized how much I love this genre once I heard The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest and then I had to get more. I had touched the basis of Common and Blackstar but never really fully dived in. But then someone introduced me to The Roots who I've heard a lot about better never REALLY listened. And I never that that a Rap Band could sound so good. I actually don't even put them in a Hip-Hop categorie, I just put them a music. I love it cause it is rap based solely on smooth lyrics. It doesn't have a flashy beat in the background or hard bass, it has a simple nice beat and bad ass lyrics.

Then I listened to all of the Quest albums and fell in love. My favorite Quest song is "We Got The Jazz"

 I heard a lot of Common including "I Used To Love H.E.R."

 I tried to get into Blackstar but there is something about Mos Defs voice I just don't like. I love Talib Kweli but something about Mos Def. Although I love there song "Definition".

 My favorite of The Roots has to be their classic "What They Do"

Then as I moved through The Roots I got into The Fugees and Lauryn Hills' straight ridiculous rhyming skills. The song "How Many Mics" is plain bananas

And an honorable mention to The Pharcyde for the classic "Passin' Me By"

Hendrix's 2nd Album

I can tell that the difference between Jimis' first album and his second is that in his first, you feel the hardness and waaaaaaaaay more solos and hard riffs that he shreds. And with his second, you can tell he spent a lot more time song writing and trying to find a nice smooth sound. I don't know it's just how it sounds to me. I love Hendrix and pretty much every thing he has touched because when he tries to do something different, he succeeds. He was a man who made covers better than the original. He is like God.... wait I don't know about that... I mean he's amazing, but God is no Jimi Hendrix.


Favorite hard song by him is "Hey Joe"

Favorite soft song by him is "Angel"

Pink Floyd

I don't really like Pink Floyd.... just doesn's sound like rock to me! I don't know, I don't get the same vibe I do from other rock artists. I see Pink Floyd as more of the beginnings of a different rock. They were definitely unique, but it's just not my cup of tea. And I think the singers voice is a little annoying on some songs. Who knows!? Maybe I will like some of their later stuff but so far not a fan.

Nas

Nas is not a rapper... he's a lyricist. He's a poet. I mean by God he's one of those rappers who pours an emotion on you and you suddenly feel how he does. I like him cause I haven't heard one of songs not have some sort of message in it. His by far best work is the Illmatic which in my mind the greatest Hip-Hop album of all time. That album is straight hip-hop right out of the streets. It is true hip-hop and how it is performed in it's prime. Illmatic was a rap treasure, no features, no money and hoes, just him and a beat about his life. And it sucks cause he peaked at his first album. Sure he made some good songs after it and hell a good album, but nothing rose to what Illmatic was.

In his years he got into a "beef" with my favorite rapper Jay-Z. And when it comes down to disses... he won the battle. But Jay-Z won the war. Nas made Ether and H.O.M.O. that were devistating, while Jay-Z the most he did was sample off of his track. I think Jay saw in his future what happened to BIG and Pac. So he thought Hip-Hop already lost its 2 greatest so it shouldn't lose the next two. Jay-Z won the war for his success continued and is now the most successful rapper ever. So many Platinum albums, artists signings, and classic songs.

At first I didn't like Nas (As a loyal Jay-Z fan wouldn't) but then recently I realized how good he was. I may not be considered a loyal Jay-Z fan anymore, but I consider myself a loyal Hip-Hop fan now. He's incredible and to think he rapped about the most fucked up things at such a young age. Definitely top 5 rappers ever in my mind.

Here is Nas' classic "N.Y. State of Mind" off of Illmatic

And here is Nas' brutal diss to Jay-Z and all of  Rockafeller Records in "Ether"

Nas in "If I Ruled The World feat. Lauryn Hill" off of It Was Written

And my favorite Nas song, maybe my top 10 hip hop songs, "The World is Yours" off of Illmatic

Gorillaz

Gorillaz is definitely one of my favorite bands ever. The sound is so unique cause it's a perfect mix of all genres. Kick ass singing and nice beats and keys. Also they brought in some great rappers to supply verses that were also different in deliverance and rhymes. It's just so hard to describe, you have to listen to it. In their songs they basically incorporate any instrument they can in a song and make it sound good. I love it cause its just so different. When you hear it, you know exactly who it is. And I love how they kept their identities secret for so long and as a kid I almost started to believe that the cartoons portrayed were real people.

The band consist of 4 virtual cartoon members 2D, Murdoc, Russell, and Noodle. You could even add in Del The Funky Homosapien because he was a honorable feature on tons of their songs so I feel he should be included. But the real members of this group are Damon Albarn (who is basically in charge of all the music) and Jamie Hewlett (in charge of the fictional characters, their story, and the technology used for them to perform live)

Recently Damon Albarn had revealed the real people behind Gorillaz and it was a lot of famous names. Famous names such as De La Soul, Ike Turner, Redman, D12, Snoop Dogg and more names were involved in this great music. What I don't like is how they decided to perform live with real people instead of the characters which somewhat ruined the factor that made Gorillaz a unique band. Although it's cool to give credit to the people working behind the faces, I liked that factor no one else ever had.

They toured live for a little while, but then they released Plastic Beach which reintroduced the characters we love and they even mentioned the live performing real Gorillaz as people who were copying them in a short film which was pretty fun. Now the album Plastic Beach was actually kind of dissapointing it was good to see them back.

Gorillaz most successfull album to date is Demon Days which features songs we love such as "Feel Good Inc." and more. Demon Days was nominated for 5 Grammys and won 1. It tells a story of how the band is on an island in the sky in a alternate virtual univers and the activities up on their until war breaks out on the island from Hades and planes shoot the island down until it is sinking down to hell where you think it is the end for Noodle (the guitarist) but she comes back to life to fuck shit up for Plastic Beach.

This is the famous Gorillaz song "Feel Good Inc."

This is my favorite Gorillaz song "Clint Eastwood" off of their first album

And just so you know how awesome and amazing it would be to see them live... Here is "Clint Eastwood" live.

And if that doesn't impress you then their performance at the Grammys with a VIRTUAL MADONNA might. Just ignore the Madonna part at the end when its just her cause that part sucks.

R&B/Soul Music

Today I feel like writing about the genre in general since I can't think of one artists particularly for some reason. The earliest of Soul singers that I can think of is Otis Redding who pretty much layed the foundation for the genre. In a world that was pretty much run by whites he found a way to spread his soulfull message of how he's hurting from this pain in the world. While this was happening Mo-Town was booming. With artist like Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, and Stevie Wonder. It was something.

Then shortly after Ray Charles stepped in with his kind of Rock N Roll type and showed us that you didn't have to see to play piano... scratch that, you didn't have to see to play kick ass music. Ray dropped some good Rock songs like "I Got A Woman" and "Mess Around" but we showed us his true talent when he sang his ballad of the state that betrayed him in "Georgia On My Mind"

During Ray Charles reign names like Aretha Franklin and Tina & Ike Turner appeared on the scene. Particularly Ms. Franklin made a HUGE splash with her HUGE voice.

And now we move on to when the King of Pop Michael Jackson appeared in the 70's with some killer stuff at a young age of like 10. He stole America's heart so quickly we didn't notice that he grew up. Later in his career he made more Rock influenced and Pop stuff but every once in a while he would slip in a Soul song on an album just to go back to his roots. His most famous Soul song is probably his hit with his brothers The Jackson 5 with "I Want You Back"

Sly & The Family Stone are an unbelievably unappreciated group that made an impact on music immensly. Every member of that band could sing. Not just sing a simple melody... but a fucking harmony. They were boss especially with their amazing cover of "Que Sera Sera"

Marvin Gaye had probably the sexiest voice ever. EVER. "Lets Get It On" is the sex anthem forever and ever. That is probably the first song I listened to that made me aroused. Not kidding. He had such a smooth voice that everyone loved and people now still talk about his greatness. He kept you moving with "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" and loving with "Distant Lover"

Now lets fast forward to my generation of R&B which mainly consist of mad man/mad talented R. Kelly and Usher. R. Kelly has a voice that no man would want to walk away from. He sings in such a perfect pitch and everything. It's almost as if he is auto-tuned... but trust me he's not. He had many hits such as "Bump and Grind" and "Ignition" but my favorite of his songs is him on the new Kanye album "To The World" which is a message that he doesn't care what the public thinks of him. He did what he did and if you don't like him now fuck you.

Now is Usher and he was and I guess still is one of my favorite artists ever. His album "My Way/8701" was the second album I've ever owned. Of course I wasn't old enough to even understand his lyrics but I loved it. Now he's somewhat getting too advanced he's almost forgetting where he started. He's so caught up in the techno phase that he almost forgets where he came from. My favorite song by him is possibly "U Got It Bad" or his new song "Climax" always an Usher fan and supporter. Just hopes he goes back to his roots before he loses a true fan.

And for the future of R&B lies in the hands of Frank Ocean who I hope will change the genre forever. He's certainly changed on how I've viewed the genre. He sings about some fucked up shit that no one should have to experience but whats crazy is he has experienced them all. And he knows exactly how to deliver his story to the public. He should not go underappreciated because of his sexuality, and his sexuality is not what makes him so good. It's his god damn way of singing and performing without the flash and flare you see so much now adays, you don't even notice the music. But not with Frank in the song "Thinkin Bout You"

Well thats a long ass blog. I wrote it this long cause I know you actually read my posts!

P.S. I know I've missed out on some huge names and I wish I knew more about them. I really hope we go over this genre and all music genres in class in the future.

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

Every song on this album is a masterpeice.... From start to finish its art. The starting song just shows you how good it will be.

To think it was that good and if rejected songs like "Strawberry Fields Forever" were on the album.... it would be even better. Such creativity with such advancements in sound and technology made this probably my favorite Beatles album.... it's only missing a few of my favorites such as "Love" and "Let It Be" but besides that it has my favorite Beatles song "A Day In The Life" a song which could be an album on its own. That song, no, this entire album showed all different styles of The Beatles genius music. I loved every second of it.

This is my favorite Beatles song of all time, "A Day In The Life"

OutKast

Recently I found my old Speakerboxxx/The Love Below CD and popped it into my Iphone and it felt like I fell in love again. OutKast is the perfect mix of Hip/Hop-Rap and R&B-Soul. Andre 3000 is one the most smooth, talented, funny, and creative rappers to ever hit the studio. He is a tripple threat. He raps, sings, writes, and also plays a couple of instruments. He is also the perfect hype man for any type of group. He represents southern rap the best in my opinion.

Right next to Andres insane rhymes and creativity come Big Boi who is not exactly a bad rapper himself. He's much harder but can pull off the smooth sound as well. But where he comes in to the play is the beats. He makes some crazy unique beats that only Andre and himself could ever think about rapping to. They wouldn't be qualified as nasty, or dirty, they're qualified as instrumental, creative, and orchestrated. He puts sounds of animals, screams, some freaky samples, horns, tubas, drums, pianos, and whatever he damn wants on a track.

These two together are a dangerous pair, but when both went single Andre definitely ended with the better career. He featured on so many of todays tracks because they all bow to his expertise and his master of the mic, and how he presents him self on stage where he is king. Big Boi is producing for many artists and gets no where near as much credit as he deserves. But even if he got all of his credit Andre would still reign ahead because of his creativity factor. The man is a rapper who wrote a god damn musical! He knows how to tell a story, make you feel cocky, or just make you move. He sings what he wants, raps what he wants, and not to mention he doesn't write when he raps. He freestyles all of his raps. And to have the improvisation skills, and quick thinking to do that is the trait of a god MC. God Bless OutKast and their impact on music today.

One of OutKast most Hip/Hop song in my mind "B.O.B."

And a full R&B song with a catchy piano hook and is 3 stacks doing his thing "Life is a Musical"

And a perfect mix of both of their Hip-Hop and R&B styles "Roses"

And the one everyone knows and loves "Hey Ya!"

Rock is Changing

In class we listened to Revolution which is kind of the beginning of The Beatles growing into genius song writers and expert players. And their growth is a result of the master peice Pet Sounds release. Pet Sounds had much more orchestrated music along with even better harmonies and melodies than The Beatles had. Brian Wilson is genius for this album and he doesn't get anywhere near as much credit as he deserves for it.

And John, Paul, George, and Ringo responded with Revolver which kind of showed that they could make the orchestrated sounds its just they had already been half way done once Pet Sounds was released. The best song on Revolver in my mind is Eleagnor Rigby because although it is overplayed and over sang and over done.... its a god damn masterpeice. I'm just so excited once we start listening to even harder stuff thats more complicate, more rebellious, and more meaningful. I'm pumped to start listening to Sgt. Peppers, Sabbath, and the guitar god Hendrix.

Here is a comparison of how much rock changed from 1965-1971

"Drive My Car" by The Beatles

 "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream

"Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix

"War Pigs" by Black Sabbath

ACL Day 3 Highlight: Childish Gambino

Now we all know that RHCP was the best performance their and probably the best headliner for ACL ever. But Childish came nothing short of amazing. I'm a fan of his acting, stand up, singing, and rapping. He did what we does best and he entertained the crowd. I was 2nd row for him and seeing him in person was just weird in a funny way. I like him cause he is really good with metaphores and similes and throwing them into whats going on with his life. We waited a long time for him and when he came out we all flipped!

His show was fun to me because he was having fun with it. He told the crowd what he wanted from us and he got it. He went into the crowd, touched us all, jumped with us, basically he was like part of the crowd.

Also Childish took a break from rapping for a bit at the concert and him and his broke out into Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" acapella. It was badass. All there was was Childish in the middle with a spotlight on him. His crew all had drum sticks and started a beat with the crowd and they all sang in harmony. And he did that until he came out of the circle and screamed "ON 3 I WANT YALL TO LOSE YOUR SHIT!! 1! 2! 3!" and I felt Zilker Park jump a little bit. Definantly a must see if you like creative rap and a good show.

Here is my personal favorite song of his "What the Fuck Are You?"

Another one I like is "Do Ya Like"

And probably his most electrifying song "Bonfire"

ACL Day 2 Highlight: Bassnectar and Big Gigantic

Big Gigantic tore it up. Even though they were just an opener for Bassnectar they killed it. Not alot of lights or fancy shit, just plain good music and good DJ-ing. I mean the guy played the Sax while dropping the bass hard. And another guy was banging on his drums and dropping it. Plus with the rain it was just a good show. They definantly knew how to entertain a crowd. All the songs were perfect and what seperates a good DJ from a bad DJ is that every drop can't be the same thing. It has to have different tempos and pitches somewhat and they did that for sure. Definantly one of the most fun concerts I've ever been to.


For Bassnectar, all I have to say is wow. That was my reaction after seeing this dude tearing the bass up. It was the first concert I was actually nervous for. Because before he went on, when they were setting up, the roadies brought out these big huge boxes on each side of the stage rapped in a trash bag. And I was thinking "Hmm how odd?" And 5 minutes before he went on, they unrapped them and it was sub woofer, on top of sub woofer, on sub woofer, on sub woofer. 2 stacks of 4 sub woofers on each side of the stage. I was legit afraid I might go deaf. Then I saw security handing out ear plugs to the front row people. That's when I really started to worry. Plus the crowd was swaying and people were having panic attacks it was a nightmare.
But when he started with that "Intergallactic" remix by the Beastie Boys all I thought was "OH SHIT! OH SHIT! OH SHIT!" then he dropped the bass and the whole crowd went nuts. It was bananas. People crowd surfing, girls on shoulders, I'm pretty sure I saw a guy get carried out on a streachter.
What I liked most about the concert was that he didn't pull a Skrillex and just pull out a computer and push the spacebar. He scrathed, dubbed, mashed up, and dropped all together. I could tell because the screen showed what he was doing. First off, Bassnectar is one of the fore-fathers of dubstep, and 2nd, he's a damn good DJ as a whole.
I would have to see it was the most electrifying concert I've been to. It was insane. And how you could tell he was freestyling it all was that the drops and beats to his songs on record sounded different than live. He was just plain awesome.

Here is my favorite Big Gigantic song "Notorious Thugs Remix"

Here is my favorite Bassnectar song "Wildstyle Method"

ACL Day 1 Highlight: Weezer

As I was waiting for Weezer and AVICII, I heard the DJ A-Track scratching so hard and the bass was booming I was afraid I made the wrong choice by camping. But then Weezer came out and I knew I would not be dissapointed.
I will admit I was waiting at front row for Weezer so I could get front row for a very dissapointing AVICII... but Weezer kicked ass. I was so worried they would play their new god awful dog shit with Lil Wayne but thank the heavens they didn't. They're that type of band that when you listen to them live your like "I didn't know they sang that!!??" And it was just a fun experience and everyone in the crow was singing along to every word it was just awesome.
They opened with "My Name is Jonas" (I thought that was going to be their closer) and it got everything rocking. One of my friends who doesn't really smile alot had a big smile on his face because thats the emotion everyone got from them. The interludes they did were beautiful. Especcially the transition from "Memories" to "Island in the Sun". Next to RHCP they were the best band their.
I love it when they sound just as good on your ipod as live. They were all pitch perfect and knew how to get a crowd going. Then they closed with "Pork and Beans" to say goodbye to Austin and on with their tour.
In my opinion they were definantly one of the Top 5 performances at ACL this year.

This is probably their most famous song "Beverly Hills"

And their opener "My Name is Jonas"

Their closer "Pork and Beans"

And my personal favorite song and music video "Perfect Situation"

Rap in general

I don't know why but lately I've been listening to rap of all kinds and I wanna blog about it.
Sadly when you turn on the radio you won't hear alot of depth or meaning in songs today. It's just a dark age that we are passing through today. No rapper since 2009 I would say, has made songs with meaning and has gotten rewarded truly for it. Now that might have been a bad statement since every song has meaning. But there has been to many songs of the same meaning. The whole "Good Life" fantasy of girls money and drugs is what the public craves to hear because it's something most of us don't have. But sometimes the public is fucking stupid for making songs famous. Just because of the catchy hook and mediocre lyrics.
What's bad is everyone is blaming the wrong people in the rise of bad rap or "hip-pop" In my mind Lil Wayne and Drake are not the cause of this. The people themselves are responsible. We can't hate on Lil Wayne when just 4-6 years we were worshipping him for The Carter III. And y'all bash on Drake when he is actually pretty talented with lyrics and singing. But you just gotta know that any song that has to do with love and has a catchy beat.... it's a number one hit. And you can't get mad at the rappers doing this also because they are rapping about what they know. Yes it's a peice of shit and is probably really repetitive... but if y'all would actually listen to the words y'all would catch these things and maybe it could be fixed? And maybe Pitbull would'nt be concidered a human being?
And it's obvious... rap in the late 80's-90's was the best. Not any of the "These are the breaks!" shit. Just voices of rebellion telling stories of their life good or bad. There is some of that still today... you just have to stay away from the radio and search.
Now when it comes to the best rapper... I would say BIG because he made two albums and was compared to Pac who had dozens of records by that time. Now I can totally see an arguement that Pac is best because he was literally the voice of the streets during his reign. So I would say it's BIG, others say Pac, so they should probably be tied.
Here is my list of my FAVORITE rappers of all time:
1. Jay-Z
2. Kanye West (he throws a kick ass show)
3. Biggie
4. Nas
5. 2Pac
6. Kid Cudi

But here is who I think are the best rappers of all time:
1 and 2. BIG and Pac
3. Jay-Z
4. Eminem
5. Nas

Here are my favorite rappers right now that are still making stuff and have more to come:
1. Kanye
2. Cudi
3. B.o.B
4. Drake
5. Lupe Fiasco
6. Kendrick Lamar

And here are who I think are the greatest hip-hop groups of all-time:
1. Run DMC
2. Wu-Tang Clan
3. N.W.A.
4. Beastie Boys
5. A Tribe Called Quest
6. OutKast

Kanye West

Kanye West is tied for first for my personal favorite rapper ever with Jay-Z. He is big mouthed which is what some people consider his downfall but I see it as like a way to get motivation. He makes songs talking about the stuff he did and peoples reaction and his reaction which is great. He also raps about real things and his life and problems in the world. At times he goes off into the mainstream type rap which is about the "Good-Life" of girls and money. A lot of people will disagree with me on this but he is a musical genius. Not because of his rapping but because of his beat making. He looks for old soul, R&B, and even rock samples for his beats. And he repeats the part of the song that you wouldn't exactly recognize and use it to make an insane beat. That's for every album he makes. One of the few rappers to make his own beats and kill them as well.

Kanye's first 3 albums were genius in my mind. Few albums are able to be listened to multiple times, and those 3 are on the list. "The College Dropout" was a good rookie album. You could listen to all the way through for the full story of the album. It's about how he dropped out of college to follow a very unpromissing career and worked out. It's truly a piece of art with great songs and small skits.
Kanye's 2nd "Late Registraion" was going along with the trend of skits and songs to tell a story. Except this album was about the struggles of being broke in urban Chicago. All these great songs were in the making for a good album with unusual features. Until the tragic death of his mother inspired the amazing song "Hey Mamma" talking about how he could of been a better son.

Kanye's 3rd "Graduation" was by far his best album ever. Every song went along with what he was going through and his rise to fame. Beats and features and samples were pure genius. Everyone helped on this album. He went all out and snagged a grammy in the process for Best Rap Album.

After that Kanye changed. He didn't forget his past but he just matured. His next three albums mostly had a theme of pressure from fans, going crazy, his relationship with Jay-Z, crimes in America, pop-culture, and his new music group G.O.O.D. Music with an album out right now.

My favorite song from his first album is "Last Call" (he raps at first, then tells his story of how he got discovered and signed)

My favorite song from "Late Registration" is either "Hey Mamma" or "Heard Em Say (feat. Adam Levine)"

My favorite song from "Graduation" was "The Glory"

My favorite song up to date would have to be.... "See Me Now (feat. Beyonce, Charlie Wilson, and Big Sean"

This is Kanye doing what he's best at... making beats. He made this one in mere minutes and it's probably my favorite Kanye beat ever. It sounds like something that would be on "The College Dropout" The only thing is.... he never rapped to it or gave it to anyone. I think he just thought that a beat that great couldn't be performed. So it's lost... never to be rapped on. But here is him making the beat.

The Beatles - Help! & Rubber Soul

Now were starting to get into The Beatles that I know and love. Brilliant song writing and great lyrics with killer melodies. This point in their career they didn't only make kick ass music.... they started a revolution. Introducing the Sytar into the music enviroment in America was genius. They wanted to make something different and they accomplished in every way. Paul making a brilliant song like "Yesterday", George with the Sytar, and Johns voice developing and going "Bob Dylan" and making "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away", and Ringo is yet to make some great songs. I really can't wait till we get more in depth of the genius of The Beatles.

"Yesterday"

"You've Got To Hide Your Love Away"

B.o.B

I don't care what anybody says this guy is one of the best rappers today in my eyes. People say he's pop and a sellout and that's because they only hear is poppy stuff on the radio. And he isn't only a good rapper, yet a great song writer and singer. He knows how to make songs that have a message to the media, his fans, his former fans, and lovers everywhere.

B.o.B (aka Bobby Ray) should be seen higher by every music listener today. He uses creative and almost genius ways to rhyme words with others so they make sense and hit you hard. He also plays guitar and piano while he raps. He has respect from artists everywhere yet his fake fans call him a "fag" or "Hip-Pop" or "he fell off". Me personally I hate those type of fans. Why wouldn't you want success for your artists? What's the point? Those "hipster underground rap fans" are kind of whats wrong with fan bases nowadays.

At first this Atlanta native started with mostly mixtapes that went under the radar but he made noise when he put out his first album "B.o.B Presents The Adventures of Bobby Ray" That was a terrific rookie album which got him noticed with hits like "Nothin On You", "Airplanes", "Don't Let Me Fall", and "Magic". Now out of those songs I really only appreciate the two versions of "Airplanes" and "Don't Let Me Fall" because they really speak to me. P.S. it was nomitated a Grammy for Best Rap Album.

After his first album release his former fans bombed him saying he went mainstream. With all the anger that brewed up inside of him he started working on disses and a whole new album to send his message that they are fake fans and he will do with his music what he well pleases. At the BET Awards he said a line "They say my musics pop? I call it getting a house for my momma, shakin hands with Obama." and when I heard that line live I knew his next album was gonna be short of soft.

"Strange Clouds" didn't sell as well as his first album which is definantly a dissapoitment but I think his goal for this album was to get his word out that he makes music. Not raps. He showed that by choosing some very unique feature choices for his tracks. Like Morgan Freeman for "Bombs Away" to start off the album. And Taylor Swift for the hit "Both of Us". The beats for this album were completely different from his first. He wents towards the underground somewhat dubstep-like beats for his harder songs which was a brilliant move considering everyone was hopping on the dubstep bandwagon at the time.
I just hope in the future we will truly appreciate the music he makes, and realized that he didn't change, but matured much like Eminem did.

This is from his mixtape days. This is one of his early songs called, "Generation Lost"

This is from his first album and my personal favorite off of it, "Don't Let Me Fall"

And this is a song from his most recent album "Strange Clouds" called "Where Are You Now?"

Kid Cudi

Kid Cudi is a very talented, diverse, and smooth rapper that eveyone in high school knows and loves. He has made 3 albums (2 alone and 1 was a collaberation) and has only begun his legacy in music not just rap. He was inspired by artists such as A Tribe Called Quest and The Pharcyde. He has a different style that reminds you of no one but him. It has an alternative, hip hop, rap, electronic at times, with a bit of Indie? If that makes sense?

"Man on the Moon: The End of The Day" was one of the BEST debut albums I have ever heard. He had so many other artists just helping him on the beats but he only chose a select few to help him with verses and singing. He chose Billy Cravens, Ratatat, Common, Kanye, Chip The Ripper, and MGMT. Now that is a unique group of featuring artists. But without a doubt, one of the best entrances into the music world.
Here is my favorite song on that album "Cudi Zone"

His second album "Man on the Moon: The Legend of Mr. Rager" was an extremely underated second album. Just because of his fans were scared of something different it didn't sell that well but I don't think that was his goal. His goal was to get his message out that he has mental issues and a coke addiction and that he's tired of having to impress everyone and he wants to change. Nether the less that album was great and very underappreciated.
Here is my favorite song on that album "Scott Mescudi vs. The World" (feat. Cee Lo Green)

I'll make this short and quick. His last album WZRD was certainly the opposite direction from where Kid Cudi was. No rap and almost all rock on this collaboration with "Dot da Genius" (a rap producer) Some people like it but personally I don't think Cudi should have gone on this route. I respect him for sticking with his story and being different but seriously.... he did a freakin Nirvana cover. He is a pretty good singer at times but he isn't good enough to have an entire album singing. (Also note that he claimed that he stopped smoking weed for good once he started making this album)
Here is his cover of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" (Nirvana Cover)

And now he is back to rapping, singing, and smoking with his new single that's gonna be on his new album "Indicud" I'm expecting this album to be better than his first because with all the experiences he has had since then it leaves for genius writing oppurtunities. I will admit when I heard he had a single out I did not listen to it (scared of it being more WZRD) but then I listened it sounds like his first album, with maturity of his second, and with the some-what wisdom of his third.
Here is his new song, "Just What I Am" (feat. King Chip)