Daft Punk: Random Access Memories (The Official Blog)

This album really has almost everything I love in music. Its so fresh and different, (in terms of progression) it's going the complete opposite direction of the artist of today. And I don't care what every critique on the Earth says, this is a classic album. This album is the album I have been waiting for to change the sound of music. I just really hope artist follow the example that Thomas Bangalter and Guy Homem-Christo put in our ears.

The reason why it is a classic album isn't because every song is a number one hit or because every song is equally amazing. Its because it's not even out yet and there is so much controversy over the leak alone. I haven't seen this much controversy over an album in a long time. I've seen reviews from websites vary from "Daft Punk: Creates another new sound? Or horrible disco attempt" or "Don't be quick to judge the Daft Punk album, might want to take a 2nd listen". And that alone is why it will be Album of The Year (whether they win the Grammy or not).

With this album they wanted to save EDM. And I hope they succeeded. They know that they are the most influential DJ/Electronic artists ever and want to set a good example. They saw the mainstream and EDM of today going in a bad direction where it might not be able to get out, and they made an attempt to save it. Instead of sampled box rythym beats they have real drummers. Real instruments. Real music. This album is about finding a meaning in music whether its Rock, Disco, Electronic, or dubstep there is always a deeper meaning in music.

Along with perhaps changing mainstream music, Daft Punk also got a wide variety of guests on this album. The two drummers are John Robinson Jr. (holds record for most recorded drumming in the world) and Omar Hakim who started his career with Stevie Wonder. I love the singers they have selected in Pharrell Williams, Julian Casablancas, Panda Bear, and Paul Williams. Also a tribute to apparently the creator of electronic music Giorgio Moroder. This album is full of a wide variety of tracks. You are bound to like at least one track a lot.

My favorite tracks on this album are:

 1. "Give Life Back To Music" - Really an awesome way to start off an album. This is Daft Punk saying "WE ARE BACK". And an awesome break down of riffs on the guitar by Nile Rodgers. And to top it off is with the robotic singing of music and praise is just awesome.

3. "Giorgio By Moroder" - This is a tribute to the Godfather of EDM. It starts off with a minute long interview with Giorgio. All of his experiences with music and his stories are just awesome. About how he fell in love with music and how he created a genre. He spent 2 years living in a car playing 30 minute shows a night until he decided to make an album that was really "the sound of the future" in the synthesizer. He said that he knew he created a sound but he didn't realize how much his discovery did for music. And then Daft Punk comes in with the Aerodyanamic-esque type breakdown. Great, solid track.

5. "Instant Crush" - Really an awesome soothing song. Really a huge step musically for Daft Punk as experienced as they are. Julian Casablancas really added a humane vocals to a robotic vocalist song. Great production also.

6. "Lose Yourself to Dance" - Pharrell shows that he is a performer in this song. He really has a lot of fun singing with Daft Punk and the NASTY AS HELL guitar riffs by Nile Rodgers make this simply produced song a favorite.

7. "Touch" - By far the most produced song on the album. It's an oppus really of Paul Williams. Talking about how they all need something more. Self discovery is the theme of this song. From a robotic transition to a New Orleans style jive to a Stevie Wonder-esque power ballad break down and end it off with adding the synth to make it a masterpiece.

8. "Get Luck" - You already know this song is awesome. Cheesy and so 80s but thats what makes it awesome. Pharrell and Nile together are just badass

12. "Doin' It Right" - This is gonna be the monster radio hit off of this album. Panda Bears vocals and Daft Punks background vocals sync perfectly will singing in rounds of awesomeness. Nothing but a drum kick and a snare is needed for this song. Really just a great song. But mark my words the radio is going to rape the shit out of this song.

Overall on a scale from 1-10 for this album.... on my list its a 9.2. Really just so fresh and different and a game changer. On a modern day scale from 1-10... its a 17 since everything nowadays sounds very similar. If you love music for what it is. You need to listen to this album.

Doin' It Right

Instant Crush

Daft Punk: Random Access Memories

"This is how music is going to sound 20-30 years from now" is what guitarist Nile Rodgers said. Daft Punk really out did themselves with this album. They reverted back to that disco sort of feel with the new music influences of today. And they got themselves a stellar list of collaberations on this record with Nile Rodgers, Pharrell Williams, Panda Bear, and Julian Casablancas. This album overall will be huge for music. You can tell Thomas and Guy really spent a lot of time perfecting this album. It might actually better than their underground classic "Homework" and their Grammy winning Pop album "Discovery". Random Access Memories is a new step in sound. It sounds nothing like Daft Punk, but sounds exactly like Daft Punk in a way thats really confusing.

The single they released was really a great taste to the public for this album. It's exactly what the album sounds like. It's different. And I really love it. I was expecting this album to be sort of a bombing effort but Daft Punk really stepped up their game with probably their last album. Expect this to be an album where a lot of the songs are raped to death by the radio, but you will also find some songs off of the record that the radio won't kill which might be your favorite. I'm expecting a lot of Grammys for the robots.

P.S. I admit you are right. Daft Punk is disco. I have now realized that. Also Daft Punk has also been busy producing half of Kanyes new album which is very exciting.

Toro y Moi

My friend introduced me to this guy right before the ACL lineup came out and I fell in love with him instantly. He is like an Indie-Pop electronic singer and they kick ass. He sings so awesome, but not because he is an amazingly gifted singer. He's a good singer but its more about how his voice sounds so good with the music. His voice and the music he makes behind it go together like snare and a beat. He just sounds so good and I really suggest people hop on his bandwagon before the media does and ruins it. I predict that he will soon be on the top 40 in a year or two. He makes really good music and unlike most indie-pop bands, his lyrics are extremely good. Most of those high pitched sounding bands have lyrics that don't really mean anything but if listen past the gorgeous sound you hear some pretty good lyricism. My favorite of his so far is "So Many Details". I will definitely be looking more into his music from now on.

ACL 2013 Lineup

Everyone thinks the lineup sucks and it's no good and ACL messed up this year but I disagree. I like how Austin didn't fall into the EDM trap that other festivals have such as Coachella and Lollapalooza and Bonaroo. This lineup is Austin saying, "Ya we a bunch of fucking hipsters and we're gonna have some not big name bands but we're focusing on bands that throw a good show." And ACL threw in a rapper to give the over privalleged white kids who know nothing about music something to have fun with in Kendrick Lamar. I will say this though, they should have gotten a much bigger name than Depeche Mode. I know they saw great success in the 80's and sold many albums but they shouldn't be the big name at the top of the list. I was hoping for a Bruce Springsteen or a David Bowie. But the middle part of the lineup is stacked as shit. That's what ACL did right. All the way from Depeche Mode to Foxygen the lineup is stacked. And that's something the youth of today won't recognize. You don't need heavy bass and big lights and a mosh pit to have fun at a concert. Focus on how good they sound and how they interact with the audience. Now let's talk about who's playing:

Depeche Mode: Probably will be a fun show. Definitely awesome for the old people to dance in the back of the crowd and the same goes for Lionel Richie. But I don't think they should end off the festival. Will have an awesome light show so if you like that you should check them out. A lot of people say they don't know who they are but if I played a song of their you'll know it.

The Cure: They will throw the sickest performance at ACL because Robert Smith has taken such good care of his voice over the years he still sounds like he's 20. And also the smoke on the stage as the bassist keeps on thumping and the synthesizer and it's just gonna be tight as hell.

Muse and Kings of Leon: They just went to the festival and Kings of Leon fucking sucks. Muse was good but they are just going to play their new album which is alright. I will not be attending that.

Atoms For Peace: It's gonna be freaking weird. But I bet it'll be a hell of an experince seeing Thom Yorke and his weird voodoo style on stage with the thumping of the bass god known as Flea. If your into weird stuff, go to it.

For The Young People: I would advise you definitely see Phoenix. That is the show all high school aged and college aged peole need to see cause they are notorious for throwing a bad ass show. I know people will want to see Vampire Weekend but I'm catious about it cause their new album is very interesting. Their really changing their sound and I don't know if I like it. Passion Pit will throw a good show. Wilco will be the unsung hero of ACL because they will throw one of the best shows. Queens of Stoneage will throw a fun show if your into rock and I won't be suprised if Dave Grohl stops by to play drums. Arctic Monkeys will throw a very fun show partly because they make such fun music. Fun. will be another must see for young people. And lastly Kendrick Lamar is already gonna have a huge crowd considering he is the only rapper there.

Unknown Bands: Apparently Portugal. The Man throws a very fun show even if you don't like their music. Also The Joy Formidable will be kind of cool but you will definitley see me front row at Toro y Moi. They have such a good sound and is probably my favorite Indie Pop band right now.

Overall ACL did a good job. Definitely could of been better but it'll be a fun year for sure. Going back to what ACL was about, finding new music.

A Tribe Called Quest: The Low End Theory

I'm really growing to have the conclusion that Quest is my favorite hip hop group of all time. The balance of Q-Tip and Phife Dog are perfect. Q-Tip is all low and a little quiet and punctual with his lyrics while Phife is all over the place and high and his energy is awesome. My favorite goes to Phife but I can safely say that I think that neither could succeed without each other. Ya Q-Tip had some success in a solo way but when they were in the Tribe is when they were best. Also Ali Shaheed Muhammad made some classic lines on their albums. I would say Jarobi White was good but he never really stood out and was only there for a short time. He goes along with De La Soul and Busta Rhymes who were all greatly associated with the Tribe. But its safe to say Tip and Phife stood out among them all.

Now with The Low End Theory, I like this album a lot but I don't think it's their best. Their best is either Midnight Marauders or Beats, Rhymes, and Life. Hopefully we will be able to listen to those before the end of the school year. But happy we got to Tribe

Justin Timberlake

He's pop and all he sings about is love. And he's also one of the only people that I can tolerate doing it. He's freaking amazing with this new album. I almost forgot that he has possibly one of the best falcetto voices I've ever heard. He makes it sound so easy. He did it in *NSYNC and he did it in his earlier solo albums. And 20/20 Experience is my favorite album by him. Cause he has the old school jazz singer in a club type feel. That's what he was going for and he acheived incorporating that with the new sounds of modern day producing.

I wouldn't be suprised if he snags a couple of grammys off of this album. And his full project isn't even done yet. He's supposed to be almost done with his next album. So right as the public tires out of this current one, he'll be right back in their ear again. I forgot how JT got famous, and he deserves to be where he is. He really is very talented. Another thing I like about him is that he makes sure his live shows are as good as his record. He knows how to move on stage and keep the crowd entertained while singing lyrics like "my heroine, my nicotine, take you home and put you in my blood stream". My favorite 2 songs on the album are "Pusher Love Girl" and "Spaceship Coupe". Also good job to Timbaland for producing the shit out of this album.

Passion Pit

Lately I've been getting into a lot of Synth Pop, and for me, in modern day Synth Pop Passion Pit tops the board. They've made two successful albums in a row and the group has a good fan base. Everyone in a high school knows who Passion Pit is. The futuristic sounds and falcetto singing of Michael Angelakos is a trademark and when someone hears those samples and singing they know exactly who it is. Also, Passion Pit are melody masters. They find a way to make anything catchy or find a way to always make a good hook. Consider me a big fan of their latest album Gossamer. It's a perfect album if you want to find out who Passion Pit is. The hit on the album is weird, (it isn't really the Passion Pit style.) "Take A Walk" is an alright song, it's just I'm more of a fan of "Carried Away" and "Constant Conversations". Those songs to me describe Passion Pit perfectly.

Take a listen. "Carried Away"

"Constant Conversations"

Nine Inch Nails

Listening to that sucked so much I'm not even gonna spend a long time on this. It was really weird music (which I like weird different stuff most of the time) but that just sounded like poppy bull crap. It sounded really heavy pop bass and the drums were kind of good I guess. The singers voice wasn't really impressive at all. Then I heard Nine Inch Nails on the radio later and again I wanted to barf. 1 out of 10 for me.

Paul's boutique Beastie Boys

Beastie Boys is a group I haven't really gotten into yet. But Paul's Boutique was pretty badass. Some of te samples used are so advanced and it sounds like an album way ahead of its time. The bass is so much more powerful than that of NWA and Public Enemy, also the fact that they play real instruments is more impressive. Ill need to listen to it again so I can catch the lyrics more clearly.

Frank Ocean: Nostalgia, Ultra

Frank Ocean is the future of R&B and hip hop. I already wrote about his Grammy award winning album "channel ORANGE" but now I'm writing about his first album/mixtape that might be better than channel. I'm talking about what got him discovered by many big names including Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Usher, and more. I'm talking about "Nostalgia, Ultra"


"Nostalgia, Ultra" is a collection of songs which I think describe Frank as a person. It contains covers, originals, remixes, badass beats, guitars, orchestras, meaningful lyrics everything I would want in an album. This isn't a typical R&B album. R&B most of the time is based around love and Frank tends to step away from love often in many of his songs.

 The album starts with the sound of Frank putting in an album in a cassette player and the album is underway. Right away you here illuminating tones of a guitar playing and you think, "Wait, did I accidently put on a Coldplay album?" But no, it's Frank Oceans cover of "Strawberry Swing" by Coldplay. Which I didn't really find a good song until Frank did it. Coldplay seems to agree with me since they produced it for him and said, "Hey, when you do it that good, consider it yours man."

Next is the hit song "Novacane". Frank really told a beautiful story in this song. The sounds of a drum with futuristic tones cue in a genius with the lyrics, "I blame it on the model broad with a hollywood smile, stripper booty with a rack like wow. Brain like Burkley. Met her at Coachella, I went to see Jigga, she went to see Z-Trip. Perfect." and continues to tell stories of how he met a girl who is like a drug and numbs the pain for him. This girl gives him drugs of all sorts (probably pain killers) and it's just a great story of a girl in the porn industry and Franks relationship with her.

In the song "We All Try", every person is able to pick out a line or two they believe in as well. This ballad shows Franks struggle in faith in all things. He doesn't know what he believes in, but he believes in something. I think everyone has this conflict within themselves in their lives at one point. Really a great song.

Another little snippet of a Frank Oceanesque skit on this album. And it really got my hopes up. I thought "Is this guy gonna sing Radiohead???" Then you just hear this girl he trying to impress say, "What's a Radiohead?" and changes the track as Frank sneers, "What ever." But it's cool because he transitioned into another really fun and good song. This is definitely the more poppy side of Frank Ocean as he sings about how he sings to get at girls. At least he's honest about it. And what's different it doesn't seem as if he's bragging. Just telling the conversations he's had about this topic and how he's tried to lie about it and be truthfull about it and it never pleases anyone. Fun Song.

I'm just gonna skip to another great song because I'm running out of time here. "Swim Good" You hear the classic BOOM CLAP BOOM BOOM CLAP. And what's amazing about this song is that Frank really is a melody genius. No one I've heard since Stevie Wonder has made melodys just flow so naturally like that. Pharrell Williams calls him the "Black James Taylor". Really a beautiful song. I still don't fully understand the song cause that's just how complicated it is.

Now this album has a lot of great stuff but I just named my personal favorites. He has songs of how he is secretive, covers of The Eagles and a remix of MGMT's smash hit "Electric Feel", he makes it into more of a sexy nature thing with "Nature Feels". And ends off the album with a beautiful ballad "Pyrite." I'm not giving anymore away. Listen to it. You won't regret it.

Tyler, The Creator

I know, when people think of Tyler, The Creator they think of a rapper who just wants attention and does stupid shit and says the most innapropriate stuff. But I see a rapper that has a lot of potential to have a long career.

First off, his lyrics are kind of repetitive. He says shit about fuck this and fuck that and he's a fag. But he's a human diss machine. And that's something we haven't seen in rap since Eminem. And also I like how he stays true to what he does, he doesn't really care who he's around or what station he's or even who he's around. And he's not a rebel because of drugs and shit. He stays away from that because he thinks it'll distract him from his music. "While ya'll smoking doobies, I be in my bedroom scoring movies" (a lot of his music inspirations comes from film). Also his no limits dissing is awesome to listen too and other artists react and that's what he wants from them. He wants the big names in music to come out of their superstar shell and become human. "Rihanna haircut, Somebody tell Chris Brown to fuck me up" and "I'll beat the fuck out ya bitch anonymous Ike Turner" are lines that people did not take kindly to. How he got his name out in the world is through his diss track "Yonkers"

Second is his production skills. The beats he makes on his albums are just rediculous. He learned from the great Pharrell Williams and Pharrell said himself, "That guy is crazy, literally and he already is better than me." Tyler said in an interview that he thinks, "I'm a better producer than a rapper. Hopefully I can become a better rapper but I don't want to stop producing. I'm learning guitar and shit so I can have more harminous sounds and shit that make this bitches swoon." On his first album Goblin, the beats were awesome. And also he showed hints of a real artists in songs like "She" and "Nightmare". But still a lof of room for improvement. Now on his second album Wolf, his production skills have grown incredibly with more piano hooks and appropriate bass use. And also on Wolf his rhymes got more sophisticated, although he was still the human diss machine who will drop the F-Bomb at any time. His track "Colossus" is a perfect example of his growth in rapping. I think 2 major lable albums in and he's doing this??? This guy might change hip hop for the future.

Tyler is really a great artist. He has a lot of room for improvement but I think when it's all said and done he's gonna have a successfull career. Odd Future maybe filled with a bunch of friends who fuck around and make music who people accuse for homophobs.... which doesn't make sense since Frank Ocean is in it. Tyler actually said in a song "I'm a homophob, but Frank is in like 10 of my songs??" His group Odd Future as a whole is seeing more and more success. People are discovering Earl Sweatshirt and Frank Ocean is maybe the future of R&B. And you can always count on them being in the news causing some controversey.

Gnarls Barkley: St. Elsewhere

I didn't know what to expect of this album. Never really heard any Gnarls and the album cover is bananas. The more I look at it the more it fits the album. Futuristic rap with nowadays R&B. And I realized when you listen to the album full way through, the hits on the album really hit you hard and you realize how good of a song that is. Like "Crazy" really is a beautiful song.

And Danger Mouse and his beats really are the best part of this album. They match perfectly with Cee Lo's voice. I would qualify this album as hip hop. My favorite song on it is "Who Cares". Some of the lyrics that Cee Lo spits are awesome. "Everybody wants to be somebody, but nobody wants to be themself" That's like poetry to me.


Here is "Who Cares"

Hip-Hop in the 80's

I enjoyed how we didn't go through entire albums. I think hip hop albums didn't start really becoming good until Public Enemy and Beastie Boys came around. Although I do plan on listneing to De La Soul's "3 Feet Above The Ground" or something like that.

I like hip hop because it's so different. It makes me feel different when I listen to it. I love hearing the stories. And with hip hop you don't get the gist of what they are trying to say. With real hip hop, you get word for word every bit of their message.

My favorite that we listened to was Ladidadi by Doug E. Fresh. That's just badass how you can make so much sense just from saying the first thing that goes to your mind. And a nasty hook that was used by one of the biggest rappers ever? It was sick. I can't wait for the future and what we get into.

Parliament/Funkadelic/George Clinton

George Clinton made a sound that changed music forever. His band Parliament started out as a doo wop group called the Parliaments, but then due to legal reasons he had to change his band name to Parliament.

He's known for his flamboyance and electrifying performances on stage. And his unusual way of lyrics and attire he wears. But he doesn't wear that stuff to be weird or cause he thinks it's normal. It started with him trying to get attention. His band was playing their album, same old same old. In front of a very uninterested crowd. Then he decided to tell his background singers to start dancing more. Soon he stood up and was belting all of his notes. He progressed to putting on nothing but a sheet over his body and showed his dick and balls to the crowd while singing and dancing. Thereforth, the revolution of Funk culture began.

George's style of making music was "whatever felt right." Some would say he would be chilling dropping acid, say a line like "Nasty dog" then leave the room to make a song. And his process of life and his philosophy really connected with the other members of the band. Like on the Funkadelic album "Maggot Brain" (1971).  They were just about to start recording, but then George went over to guitarist Eddie Hazel and told him. "I want you to go in there, and play like you just found out your mother died. But then, find out she's still alive." And Eddie Hazel played one of the greatest guitar solos I've ever heard. If it's possible to know exactly the situation he's playing in, I knew it. If that makes any sense.

Also George added on key members into the Funk revolution. The James Brown band let go of bad ass basist Bootsy Collins. They say because Bootsy was a little too much for James. But he was perfect for George. George would think of what he wants his music to sound like, then Bootsy made it happen. Apparently, George has had that idea of heavy bass and drum influence for a long time. It's just he had no one who could perform it to it's potential. Bootsy could. Also George added on Junie Morrison on the keys and synthesizer. Which made the exact sound George had invisioned. Sooner of later George had a Funk army he could control. You hear it in songs like "Flashlight"

George Clinton also was one of the first to compose a concept album. After hearing Sgt. Peppers by The Beatles, he said "Sgt. Peppers had every thing I want in music. It had everything I hold dear to me and stand by. It was an album that truly made me love music and made me want to make music like it" And thus the creation of The Mothership Connection happend. George then started making most of his albums with a concept. "Mothership Connection" was about a group of people from space who came to our planet to Funkify out world and make us groove more. Also albums like "The Return of Dr. Funkenstein", "Chocolate City", and "Gloryhallastoopid". George was truly awesome.

George created a whole new sound. That is still sampled today. In all hip hop/ r&b samples. George says "P-Funk is still alive today. I don't know how, but it always finds a way to reach the ears of people in the earth"

Queen

I've listened to the essential Queen songs. You know "We Will Rock You", "We Are The Champions", "Bohemian Rhapsody" the basics. But I was curious on how good Freddie Mercury's voice was. I listened to a live version of "Somebody to Love" and my jaw dropped. His range, his stage presence, his everything is impecible. He is the perfect singer. And also he's not a bad piano player.

Another good song by Queen is "Killer Queen" . It's really jazzy and catchy and fun. He makes the notes he hits look easy. Also the hints of harmony in the song that come out of no where is awesome. And Brian May's solo on that song was killer... you could say it was a Killer Queen..... forget it.

Another one of my favorites is "You're My Best Friend" which is one of those songs where I was like, "Oh yeah, I know this song. Wait... this is Queen?" Which just has awesome lyrics and notes and harmonys and is really just a fun song. John Deacon did a terrific job writing this song.

Overall, Queen is just a fantastic fun-loving band. They are a band you can listen to no matter what you are feeling. Whether artistic, happy, lonely, silly, horny, you name it. They have a song for it. Great band and it is a shame Freddie is dead. That dude had the best set of pipes in the history of the world.

Killer Queen

You're My Best Friend

Somebody To Love (live)

Daft Punk

I was relaxing on a Saturday night after coming home from hanging. I unwinded and watched the latest SNL. You know the usual. Then as I was looking at my phone I heard the funkiest newest tune. I looked up and a rising screen unvieled the name Daft Punk. And then it showed both of their helmets. The commercial was 7 seconds long. I was so confused I watched it again. I went to the computer to look up this info. "Daft Punk announces new album." I didn't finish the SNL episode.

I'm so pumped. These guys are the greatest DJ/House artists of all time. Thier music is so influential on a lot of Pop/House/Electronic artists today. The samples they use and the beats are incredible. The only album of their I didn't like had to Daft Club which was a cool idea. But it wasn't them originally. It was just a bunch of remixes.

My favorite album is their Pop album Discovery. It has my favorite Daft Punk song "Digital Love" and many more. This group has worked with the best in music and everyone in music today has respect for these legends. Chumps like Skrillex and Avicii have nothing on these veterans.

They are so diverse with their electronic music also. Most diverse electronic artists of all time. They have three albums. Homework, which is a funk album mostly. Discovery, which is a Pop album. And Human After All, which is their Rock album. It's about as Rock as electronic music can get.

They also are one of the best artists to see live period. They set the standards for DJ's live performances. Swedish House Mafia, Deadmau5, Bassnectar, Avicii, Fat Boy Slim, all of them have taken one or two tricks from Daft Punks sleeves.

 Their real names are Guy-Manuel de Homen-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. They are french. That is all about their personal lives I genuinely care about besides their badass samples and beats and funky rythyms.

I can't wait for this album.

My favorite Daft song, "Digital Love"

The most famous Daft song the Kanye took his sample from, "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger."

And also here's a little clip of their live shows. They never just simply play one of their songs. They always mix a couple of their songs together to make a mind blowing sound wave of God.

Kendrick Lamar

At first all I heard of this guy was, "Yo, he's the next big thing in rap." And really I just thought that was a bunch of ghetto kids who listen to bad rap hyping him up. I spent a long time not listening to him. But then something drove me to finally download his album. I listened to it all the way through and I shit out of my ears. It was amazing. I strongly suggest you listen to it. It tells a terrific story. You can't listen to it seperately, you have to listen to it fully all the way through.

The album starts off with him rapping about his life as a young teenager in the hood. Rapping about the parties he goes to, friends he hangs with, the girls he messes around with. Until he gets a call from his mom and dad telling him to come home.... then they end up fighting and it ends with dad telling the mom to "Not Kill My Vibe".

Every transition of this album is perfect. At first Kendrick is a kid who drinks and smokes his life away until he realizes that its stupid in the hit song "Swimming Pools (Drank)". He tells how money is what makes the world go round and how much easier it would be if it was here in "Money Trees". He also shows his sentimental sides in how girls don't want a thug they want a poetic romantic in "Poetic Justice". Then he tells his stories of being an underprivellaged kid in Compton in "Good Kid" and "Mad City". Then after hearing of his friend and companions dying off, he sings a sad song about how he hopes people will remember him in "Sing About Me" and how he needs to learn his morals in "Im Dying of Thirst". Then he closes off this masterpeice with the streets made him and he's never gonna change with "Real" and "Compton".

This guy is for real. His rhymes and lines are just ridiculous. In the song "Sing About Me" he says "and if I die befor your album drop I promise I'll...." and all you hear is gun shots. That's just genius. He also slips in small things like in "Money Trees" he says, "with all disrespect". Just small things like that can make a rapper.


My favorite song by him is Sing About Me

The most popular song is probably "Swimming Pools"

Stevie Wonder: Talking Book

I love this album. The sound is just so ahead of it's time. It was shocking to know this album came out in 71-72. Every song flows perfectly and I like it cause his voice doesn't just go with one sound like many singers do. His voice goes with every sound. Whether it be rock, funk, soul, ballads, whatever it is he sounds perfect.

The album starts off with a great smooth song "You are the sunshine of my life". And then the bass drops on "Maybe Your Baby". That bass is just so ridiculous I love it. And the fact that Stevie Wonder plays every insturment except Sax and he did all of them for Superstition?? Possible his best song... that's insane.

My favorite song on the album for sure was his ballad "I Believe"

The Roots

Last night I listened to three roots albums in a row.... Thing Fall Apart, Illadelph Halflife, and DoYou Want More?!!!??! And I gotta say Do You Want More was my favorite so far. Some of the lines Black Thought spits are amazing. "I wake up early in the morning, I mean early afternoon. Break lyrical hymn of the stem like boom, I'm flyer when I'm higher put my shit up on a tomb" that line is sooo sick. And I like Do You Want More because I get a nice chill feeling when listening to it. I love Proceed and Mellow My Man. And also Distortion to Static is a tight track. Definitely a go to album when I'm just chilling out.

Illadelph Halflife.... I hated the first track "Respond React". It was so repetitive and annoying but then "Section gave me that nice Roots feel. Overall the album is ok. Maybe I didn't get a good listen out of it. I feel like the sampling on that album is poorly executed. I'll have to listen to it again to really be able to judge it. But "What They Do" is one of my favorite songs ever.

Things Fall Apart..... I didn't fully finish this one. (Fell Asleep) Looking at the track listing alone makes it seeme like a unique album. I really can't judge it right now, but once I'm finished with it I'll let you know.

Overall my favorite track off of Do You Want More is "Proceed"

My favorite Roots track overall is "What They Do"

Marvin Gaye

I've listened to a little Marvin Gaye before we listened to him in class. But ever since What's Goin On? I've been stuck on him. His smoothness and passion of his voice and lyrics is impecible. What's Goin On? is a great album to go to sleep too. It serves all sides of music to me. Heartbreak, Influence, Comedy, Fun, Passion, its the whole package.

Now I'm listening to Let's Get It On.... I like What's Goin On? more. Let's Get It On is very good in it's own way. It's just What's Goin On? is amazing. Every track I love.


Really can't wait to listen to more of Gaye.

Curtis Mayfield and Bobby Womack

I love the music we're listening to in class right now. I love R&B because they sing with so much passion and energy in their voice. Also their voices are all smooth or rough and I love it.

Personally I liked Bobby Womack more. "Fire and Rain" is a killer track and his voice.... it's unique. Plus his song writing is very good. I like it because he sings smoothly.

Now Curtis Mayfield. I'm sure I probably wasn't listening fully but all of his songs seemed to have over exsessive horns. Sometimes I couldn't hear him fully.... But overall he's also great. He has a lot of passion in his voice and its powerfull. I'll listen to Superfly again so I can get a real good listen in.

Overall my vote goes to Womack right now. Womack is a talented terrific artist. He's worked witht he best in the business. Guitarist for Aretha for a while. And he worked with The Family Stone on some tracks as well.

Really want to get more into this Soul movement we're going through.

Grammys 2013

Well that sucked ass. I mean the performances were alright. LL Cool J was a bad rapper as it is, but as a host he was the worst.
The opening was Taylor Swift, (doing a Lady Gaga impression) singing that annoying We Are Never Getting Back Together which sounds like a song played in an Old Navy commercial. There was like circus shit flying around and off tone singers and it just made me uncomfy.

Then Fun. tore shit up. They weren't playing anything that was overplayed on the radio, they played there other great song "Carry On". And as it was about to drop to the last chorus, it started to freaking rain on the stage. So it was pretty cool.

Next was Justin Timberlake and Jay-Z and I was expecting a mediocre performance. But JT did it right. He brought out a huge jazz band and it was tight. His singing was good, dancing was awesome, and plus he knew how to outreach to the crowd.

Next was this guy I never heard of called Miguel. He had like a 5 minute performance with the god awful rapper Wiz Khalifa. Good thing Wiz didn't really do anything cause Miguel did everything. He started out in the crowd wailing crazy notes, and then he made the beat himself. He ran up on stage and started singing more to this crazy good song. Then Wiz "rapped" for about 20 seconds then it was over and I was like "The Fuck?"

Next was Jack White and he killed it. For the first part he had an all guy band then for the second half an all girl band. Ridiculous skills.

Then I was looking forward to a nice tribute to Bob Marley. It had a pretty good lineup, Sting, Bruno Mars, Damien and Ziggy Marley. Sounds like a good time. They're singing the famous "Could Be You Loved" and then Rihanna shows up. I try to ignore her. Then they stop. One Marley song??? Really??? Despicable.

Overall the grammys were alright. Frank Ocean was good. Won 2 awards, Im happy.

Nirvana: Nevermind

First time I've ever listened to this album all the way through, and I love it. Like you and Sage said, every song is a single. The only song I really didn't like was "Territorial Pissings". That song to me sounded like a bunch of noise. But overall the album is a 9/10. That 10 minute pause reeeaaalllly tripped me the fuck out. I thought I finished the album and I thought "Hmm. That was a weak ending." Then I looked at my iPhone and it still was playing, I thought "Is this song broken or what?" Then the drop to the hidden song started and that was amazing. And also the album starts off with the best song of the 90's "Smells Like Teenage Spirit"

My favorite song on the album and possibly my favorite Nirvana song is "In Bloom". At first I thought that song just had a good melody and sounded good and catchy. Then I really listened to the lyrics and those lyrics were describing what I was doing. It was awesome. Great album. I liked it cause the bass playing was straight nasty with Kurt Cobain's unpretty, grungy, voice it was the shit.

Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell's voice is incredible. It's pretty much rediculous how wide her range is vocally. She is one of the rare singers that have to break point between their regular singing voice and their falsetto. She is rediculous and her song writing is pretty genius. Although sometime throughout the album, I feel as if alot of the songs sound the same. Maybe that's just me but I tended to get bored with it. I would listen to Joni Mitchell after an intense breakup. Because a lot of her songs just have this sad depressing mood with depressing lyrics.

I like the songs All I Want, California, and River. To me those were the songs that spoke to me personally.

In one of her songs, she delivers her lines in a way where it's like she's not really singing. She is singing, but it's mostly like a conversation, like the words aren't even meant to rhyme. And it reminded me a lot of this Deadmau5 song I like. It's about miscommunicating on the phone and all that. It's not exactly a DJ dance song, more of a ballad like Joni Mitchell does.

My favorite Joni Mitchell song on that album was "All I Want"

And that song where they basically don't sing, It's more like a conversation is this one. It's "Telemiscommunications" by Deadmau5

Imagine Dragons

I just downloaded their new album last night, and it's not bad. The only thing wrong with it is that all the songs sound alike, plus I know the radio is gonna kill and rape the shit out of this album. Because while I was listening to it I was like, "oh, there goes another hit" which isn't a bad thing. It's just I hate it when it is a hit because the radio is gonna ruin a perfectly fine song by forcing it down my throat. Overall I like it because it's a new sound. They have a variety of sounds they use, a lot involve claps with sythesizer, which i love. But then they'll throw in elements of electronic/dance/dubstep and it sounds nice.

 It's just a lot of times their lyrics don't make a lot of sense. But sometimes you don't need that in an artists. Their songs are for sure catchy as fuck though. I looked them up live for their performance of "Radioactive" (an alternative dubstep track.... the radio has already raped it) and it didn't sound how I wanted it to. The singer wasn't belting like he does in the recording and the dub wasn't there either.

Overall, I give this album a 7/10. It was very good and a chill album with a different sound for sure, but every song sounded the same and the lyrics lacked depth. Also another personal point off for me because of the live performance no where matching the recording.

Their most famous song, with elements of dubstep, "Radioactive"

And another famous song, "It's Time"

Chiddy Bang

Chiddy Bang is probably within the future of rap. It's a group of two people, Chiddy (rapper) and Xaphoon (beat maker) They could be considered Hip Pop in a lot of ways, but I think in the future Chiddy's rhyming skills will get better. Right now he tends to go off topic in his songs and say a bunch of shit that doesn't even go with the title. But none of the less he comes up with some crazy analogies and similes that are genius.

The more underated beat maker Xaphoon is the one with perfect skills in his department. Rediculous beats. Better than any I here. If I were to pick one person to make my beats it would be Xaphoon. It's a shame he doesn't exactly get the credit he deserves. When I first heard them I thought it was just one person named Chiddy Bang. He is a genius on the beats. I think he could go off by himself and become a top rated techno DJ.

Chiddy Bang is more of a mix tape group considering that they only have 2 albums on iTunes, one with only 6 songs. And all the songs on their albums are on their mixtapes first. If you want a good listen for them, either listen to "Air Swell" or "Peanut Butter and Swelly" (my favorite)

I like Chiddy Bang because even though it has a lot of elements of Pop in it, it has some great sounds that make you feel different. Really good to listen to if you want to listen to something fun.

Their most famous song is one where they took a sample from MGMT's "Kids" and remixed the beat making "Opposite of Adults"

My favorite song by them is either "Cameras" (they took a sample from Matt & Kim) or "Talking To Myself"

K'Naan

K'Naan is a African native rapper/singer from Somalia. He moved to Canada as a child and spent his childhood there. He was a poet when he met a producer named Sol Guy and they became friends. His first official performance was a speech he gave to refugees criticizing and bashing on the way the UN. At that moment Sol Guy saw K'Naan's ability to connect to a crowd. So he introduced him to Nas and Rakim and their ability and K'Naan fell in love. Although he did not yet know the full English language, he started to study rap diction and free styling and similes. Since then he has been signed to A&M Records and Octane Records.

I love this guy. His story is remarkable, plus he's a great visionist. He knows how to connect to another person through words. We can all relate to his lyrics, and I have never heard one line about him having a car, nice jewelry, or pretty bitches. He is a plain and simple lyricist. And only few people can be called that. Nas, Lauryn Hill, Talib Kweli, Q-Tip, Common, Black Thought, and K'Naan are all lyricist and that is quite a roll call. Personally I like him rapping more than singing. But when he sings he usually raps in there too. But he has some pretty good songs singing wise. Some in particular are "Take A Minute" and "Hurt Me Tomorrow". His best rap song by far is "ABC's", such a good track.

Here is "ABC's"

Here is "Take A Minute"

And here is one of his recent songs, "Hurt Me Tomorrow"

Here is the one that everyone knows, the theme of the World Cup, "Wavin' Flag"

Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath

Well I can't say I was entertained by most of the songs from Sabbath.... the singing was really sloppy but I will admit the guitar was kick ass. My favorite song by them is War Pigs because me that what sounds most like Rock. And what sounds most like a song that defines them. Not a big fan of them, but that might just be my taste. It just sounds..... all over the place if that makes sense?

And we listened to Zeppelin III which I was entertained by, but not as much as I was listening to their first 2 albums. I kinda think the screaming at the beginning of Immigrant Song is kinda annoying and personally I don't really like the song. Not as good as classics like "Babe" "Whole Lotta Love" and "Black Dog". Overall I give Zep 3 a...... 3 out of 5. I give Zep 1 a 3.7 out of 5, and Zep 2 a 4.5 out of 5. Overall 3 was a decent album to me.... but some songs were really unmemorable and kinda boring. Not bad, but far from mind blowing.