Does anyone remember my "under-appreciated band posts?" Its been so long since I've written one! I started to get nostalgic. Anyways, rather recently I started listening to all my Maximo Park albums in sequence (after NOT listening to them in about a year) you know that awesome feeling you get when you rediscover a band you really liked and then subsequently forgot about? Their songs are just so catchy and so fun to dance around in my basement to. And since living in Buffalo makes me an anti social recluse its the perfect time to blast music from high school in my spider and centipede ridden cellar...oh wow that sounded horrible. THANK GOD I'm going to Toronto tomorrow, I need to have a really kick ass time somewhere.
Hey all - new blogger here! I'm very honoured to have been invited to write for this blog! TheMusicGeek and I share a lot of similar music tastes so hopefully this will work out well. So here we go...!
Swedish indie group Miike Snow has created perfection in sound with their first album, self-titled "Miike Snow." I love just about every song and aspect of this album, from its perfect fusion of keys and beats to its wispy yet solid vocals. There's something about Christian Karlsson's voice that really draws me in - it can be very inspiring at times, yet oh-so-sexy during others.
The sexy:
The inspirational: (FYI: "Silvia" is the Latin word for "forest.")
Their latest single (June 2010) - with a VERY strange video: The Rabbit
Strange combination of R&B and electronic low-fi...Frank Ocean and this guy are doing weird things with rhythm and blues...a genre of music that has had limited progression since the 90s. I like it.
I didn't even know it was them at first...I've been hearing it everywhere. I thought it was Angels and Airwaves or something...which is why I brushed it off. This is no "transatlanticism" that's for sure. I'm on the fence. I understand the need to progress as musicians, but this doesn't sound cutting edge creatively, it just sounds generic.
Ok so forgive me but I was just watching "The Voice" one of those post American Idol shows where singers duke it out in front of celebrity judges like Cee-lo Green and Christina Aguilera...ok so not my typical tv show (PBS was having a special on American crafts...) but I WAS BORED AND TIRED. Anyways I could barely believe my eyes when Dia Frampton came singing on stage. "Wasn't she already IN a band? Didn't she have a sister? Haven't I seen this band listed on the WARPED TOUR line up???" So anyways I was perplexed...
I have a few "Meg and Dia" songs! I liked them! Why Dia whyyyy.
So I did a little digging...apparently the band is on hiatus now after releasing their 2009 album "Here, Here and Here" which I ironically posted on my blog wayyy back in '09. I still don't know how I feel about this...but my best guess is after Warner Brothers dropped them from their label (right after they switched from indie label Doghouse records) that they were label-less and therefore had nowhere else to turn. Then I found out that they had recorded a new record anyways...and it was released in April of 2011! So why aren't they touring? And why is Dia on the voice!? I'm still confused...
I would just like to say although it is such a bummer that the Libertines are forever finished and done with Pete Doherty is still such a talented song writer...a bit late I know but "Last of the English Roses" is such a great song! I have been listening to it alllll day! It's tooo bad that Carl Barat and Pete can no longer work together, but Pete was always the more troubled and more talented musician. Hopefully he'll have a few more solo projects in the near future.
Well it ain't dubstep. But can't you just tell that Pitchfork gave them a rave review...fucking Pitchfork...But at least I can semi dance to this. Just semi though.
I am going to have a few more authors writing on here in the near future. I will of course still have free reign as I am the creator of this blog making me god by default...however I am totally open to new ideas/people, and therefore there will now be posts not necessarily written by me!!! Get ready.
I was never a big fan of these guys, but as you know Korean group 'concepts' change with each new album release. The one thing about Korean groups that I'm really fascinating with are their electronic song compositions. The pop scores written in Korea are far more imagniative than the ones being churned out of American music companies here. Sure, there have been a fair share of lawsuits involving American copy write infringement laws and Korean songs, however the Koreans really are more innovative. This score almost sounds like it could belong on a Kitsune Maison skit (neglecting the coordinated dancing and whiny boy band voices). I really like the jumpy synthesizer riff and the piano.
But yeah this still belongs with my 'guilty pleasures" tags.
I have had "Gucci Gucci" stuck in my head for the past 3 GOD DAMN DAYS. I keep flip flopping my opinion about her. I mean she's not the most talented MC...at all...but she's so god damn weird. I like her Mad TV persona, she's like the socially awkward little sister that does embarrassing things in public. But she has a likable quality to her...
After writing the "Wonderama" post I came to think of other hot French women who can't write English songs. And the Plastiscines immediately came to mind! Yeah I listen to them...but seriously with lines like "I'm a Bitch when I brush my teeth" I mean I hate brushing my teeth too....but hell I'm not a bitch about it, I just DO IT because if you don't you'll get gaping holes in your mouth and that's not pretty. Anyways they have some really classic English lines that leave you scratching your head for a little bit, but English words sung with French accents gets me every time...damn you Frenchmen you can do no wrong! Even when you are screwing up the English language one crappy song line at a time.
Among the women in the world I have debated turning gay for, Emily Haines, Audrey Tautou, Tegan and Sara ha. Jenn Ayache from the French power pop/rock group Superbus may top the list. Anyways besides my mild bi-curious attraction towards her I am also a pretty big fan of her band (check out "Addictions" and "Lola"). Apparently they are also working on a new album which is also pretty rad. My friend Shelly posted this song on my facebook about a day ago, this "Wonderama" is a side project of Jenn's. I was sort of put off to it at first, it may be because I'm not used to her singing or talking in English...but it's growing on me, slowly. However her "English" song writing needs some work...rhyming "try" with "try" and lines like "I bet you do it like you do it when you yawn!" What? Do what when I yawn? WHAT DO YOU MEAN JENN! Anyways I've still played it like 5 times already...
Guess who has a 4.0 GPA? I GOTS A 4.0 GPA. I guess listening to Britney Spears and Korean pop while simultaneously writing 20 pages papers on Kufic script and studying for waves and optics tests helped. Sorry I know I never ever really display my grades anywhere, I glare at people when they ask what I get on tests in class. in fact it took me a WEEK to log into my account and check my grades I was so scared....I have crippling anxiety about them...which is probably why I was half crying when I looked (yeah I'm THAT terrified) I've thrown up before too...I know I am way to anxious for my own good...
Anyways to celebrate the sweet relief of not curling up in a ball in my bed and freaking out about what my GPA will be, I'm gonna go out and party party party, cuz CRYSTAL METHOD is in town. And god damn it I'm gonna see them tonight and get my 90s rave kid on, sans the pacifiers and weird neon bracelets.
He's a pal of Odd Future, a group of rowdy internet rap stars leading the new wave of avant garde hip hop acts. Anyways Ocean does use a little bit of auto-tune, but for the most part it doesn't take away from the songs. He samples stuff like the Eagles and MGMT over a smooth R&B hook.
So my friend Paris posted this video on his facebook of this song called "Gucci Gucci" by this white girl rapper named Kreayshawn...and all I can say is WOW. Wow....I don't even know what I should say...first I watched her video....then I watched her interview. This is either an artfully don't prank a la retro MAD TV or she's gonna be fucking huge as shit...
But let's just say her interview doesn't exactly paint her in the most flattering light, apparently her crew is as diverse as the "Bratz Dolls" ok....
Believe me I'm all for Diversity in hip hop, heck Azad Right and Yasmin two recent blog posts of mine are of Iranian origin (well their parents are from Iran), and MIA is from Sri Lanka you have Wale who is of Nigerian origin, K'naan is from Somalia, things ARE changing. But this THIS..."white girl swag?" Being a um "white girl" and understanding that being a tiny white girl especially in the hip hop industry must be fucking hard, and I'm sure it must be really hard to be taken seriously as a white girl rapper...but this cartoon image she has going on....I dunno man...I'm on the fence. And she's not the first white girl rapper, heck what about Lady Sovereign she's pretty badass, without looking like she puts on a new face every morning and dressing like she bought the entire "Against All Odds" store...
But anyways for some odd reason I am kinda drawn to this really really strange combo of Kid Rock plus Nicki Minaj image she has going on...I can't help my ears like it or not...hell I'm in for the ride. I think it's just the ODDNESS...and this video is realllllly odd.....
Being a hipster is hard. Really hard. Especially when you live in a city like Buffalo New York, where everyone is trying to out-hipster you all the time--you see we have the "New York City inferiority complex." But seriously man my glasses are prescription, I DO need them to see.
What sucks even more than being a hipster is being one of the FIRST HIPSTERS. That's right, I'm VINTAGE. I was wearing ray bans in the seventh grade...before they were cool...believe me they weren't...I hated them. I was listening to Death Cab and Bjork when I was 10 (seriously I'm not joking...) and then subsequently disowned Death Cab when they became "mainstream" with "plans" when I was 16...only to secretly listen to them in my basement cuz I couldn't bear to throw away their records...So basically I was a hipster before there was a "term" for people like me, and then when people started dressing like me and calling me this "word" I really didn't know what to do with myself. Half of me wanted to ditch my clothes and my record collection...but it was all I had ever known! I had never been part of a subculture before...especially one that I wasn't aware existed and seemed to hate me.
Ironically it was usually the people who dressed like me who called me this term of endearment...yes I'm talking about YOU lens-less ray ban hairy legged girl. Anyways I have grown to accept that this term will forever brand who I am. defining everything about me from what I wear to what I eat (here I come vegan band wagon!--don't worry I love meat wayyy too much). Anyways I am just sorta waiting out this hipster "trend" till everyone else moves on, and I can keep wearing my clothes and listening to my music, and people stop asking if I got that thing I'm wearing at American Apparel...THE ANSWER IS NO...urban outfitters.
What's even worse is that I have no hipster friends...none at all, which is why I have this blog you see. I mean who else am I gonna impose my music taste on? It's very lonely at the top of the hipster totem pole, heck being a vintage hipster is like being a vintage emo kid, people forget you were one of the first and then you become isolated from the crowd...and totally not invited to those dubstep warehouse parties. I live a sad existence.
Pete and the Pirates A band of skinny English white boys with deep introspective lyrics...and oh yeah I listen to them a lot. Oh and don't you just love the ode to black swan in the music video? Me not so much...I actually didn't really like the movie.
Metronomy
Can't you just visualize yourself in an urban outfitters? Like right now? Bah I have a love/hate relationship with them....more hate than love. But I don't mind this.
Flight Facilities
The video explains it all...
Andreya Triana
So introspective...so introspective. She also has a really good voice.
Ok ok so most of my posts happen to about lesser known hip hop acts (at least until they become famous and sell out TINIE TEMPAH WIZ KHALIFA WHAT HAPPENED) my Korean pop addictions and of course indie rock, but I do post the occasional "mainstream American" pop post. This is that post of the month. I kinda sorta respect Lady Gaga even though I really don't ever listen to her music. I hear it wherever I go, and I really do think she is very talented, she can sing, she can write and produce music and she can dance, awesome. That being said I really don't know how I'm supposed to feel about this homage to her hair? With lines like "I am my hair" "This is my hair" and "I'm as free as my hair" it sorta gives me a weird sensation in my stomach....and I don't like it.
So is this supposed to be another anthem or something? Because her last several songs have sounded like stuff you hear at my local drag club, and believe me I love the drag queens it's fun, they are usually prettier than me and they put on a good show...but to tell you the truth I am getting really sick of this "I MUST MAKE SONGS ABOUT INDIVIDUAL EMPOWERMENT" thing she has going on...Its a great message, but when all your songs end up sounding the same in that cheesy inspirational way, with dumb lyrics and riffs that sound like they have been pulled from a Rocky/1980s motivational film about an athlete...it's time to give it a rest. We get it we really do, you support gay rights (totally admirable by the way...not saying it isn't), you call out certain politicians at concerts and tell people how they don't have the same view points as you...you have a "god like" following, you don't wear pants.
To be honest I really think her ego has become ginormous from her debut album and now she thinks that any song she creates is golden...well let me just tell you Lady Gaga that one man's gold is another man's version of crap. And this is crap. I know you can make better songs than this...because I've heard them.
Forget the fact that the song blows, because it does (seriously guys I was expecting more effort). And forget the awkwardly placed English words that are pretty standard for Korean, Japanese, and most other east Asian pop songs...let's focus on the weird premise of the music video...
It starts with G Dragon and Top taking the girls back to their "pad" so they can subsequently put them to sleep...I mean the song is really boring, don't get me wrong, but literally the girls are sleeping in separate bedrooms and G Dragon and Top are staying up singing about it? Then a snake climbs into one of the girl's beds and she starts cuddling with it? I mean hey if that's how you get off that's fine I really can't imagine G Dragon satisfying you in the bedroom anyway...I've been saying this for years but I'll say it again G DRAGON COME OUT ALREADY. Anyways I think the real question I would like to pose is what are G Dragon and Top doing up together when they have two beautiful girls sleeping upstairs? I mean hey the only thing I could imagine G Dragon doing on a "sleep over" is braiding her hair and giving her wardrobe advice, but TOP! He's the only manly man in Big Bang as it is...unless...well he did recently bleach his hair blond too...god no! A secret G Dragon Top affair? Is this song about THEIR forbidden bromance/romance/sexy times? Probably not. but god I love over analyzing.
But let's not forget one of the FIRST Big Bang singles ever Haru Haru which I really really did think was about a romance between two dudes until a chick got in the way...and then I got the translated version (I actually like that song...as many of you already know).
So I must admit being a music geek is hard sometimes, its hard when artists I love cough* Adele, Robyn, Florence and the Machine go....I hate this word MAINSTREAM. You see my hipster roots cannot bear the concept of OTHER people liking my music, but I deal, I take it day by day, after all I do have a music blog, therefore making be part of the problem. Who knew artists actually want to make money too...Anyways occasionally there is a silver lining to all this new found media attention, like John Legend doing a cover from one of your songs. And it isn't a bad cover...at all.
Apparently shes a pretty big name in the London hip hop scene, she has toured with NERD, Tiao Cruz, The Cool Kids, and many others. She recently appeared in Azad Right's music video for "Spiderwebs" and seems to be getting a lot of support from BBC Radio 1. Will she make it in the US? Sort of hard to tell, many British artists and European artists in general that I have been excited about before have flopped (VV Brown, Estelle...) although then you have Florence and the Machine and Adele, don't know what category she'll fall in to. Just please please please get rid of that furry hat.
About six months ago or maybe more my friend Darien posted a link on my wall to a rapper by the name of Childish Gambino, he was using the Girls song "Lust For Life" as a riff in one of his tracks. Being the die hard Girls hater that I am, I immediately brushed it off (just read all my posts on Girls and you will understand), and I admit I was totally in the wrong. I should have given this Gambino guy another chance...since then he has gotten HUGE, Spin magazine has covered him and all these record companies are now vying to see which one of them gets this guy. And after listening to "Freaks and Geeks" for the 3rd time in a row I can see why.
He's produced on the same label as Mumford and Sons.
I'm trying in a desperate attempt to gain some shred of decency back to correct my writing on me posts by the way. Rereading things at 11 in the morning that I have posted at 3 in the morning is killlllling me slowly. However I have a feeling that my progress to correct sentence structure, grammar and spelling will only lead to more issues with the writing of the English language...I never said I was an English major...but that really shouldn't be an excuse, science and art people (I am a chem and art dual major) don't need to write pssssh...it's only the most important form of communication...
A strange combination of disco from the seventies, kitchy new wave from the eighties...and lofi? Maybe? It's kind of hard to say....but hey whatever it is, it works.
I started listening to this song and immediately recognized one of the singer's voices...or at least THOUGHT I did, I was convinced he was a member of the Decemberists, till I went to the band's page...haha wayyyy off. Anyways it's just good music.
I was never really into their music before...in fact I think I was slightly disgusted by their "bastardization of lo fi-psychedelic sound" for a while...although I don't believe I ever posted or wrote about any of their stuff. Well guess who's listening to them now...oh the hypocrisy!!! I blame it on finals.
Home stretch!!! One more exam...and then at exactly 3:30 pm tomorrow I will have the taste of sweet sweet freedom, well for a week anyway, then I have 4 courses over summer school. Anyways this song is getting me through the lonnnnng night of forced solitude and studying...
Ummmm so I was sort of in love with Frankmusik a good year or so ago, I loved his debut ablum and I posted some Far East Movement stuff BEFORE that horrible song "like a G-6" blew up on the radio waves. Do I like this new collaboration between the two...hell the fuck no. Frankmusik...what happened? I get that you want a larger audience and you're trying to woo american fans with a more "mainstream sound" but geez...this sucks.
Ok ok so I'm a little late to the party, he's been out for awhile, but I am in desperate need for catchy study music..and his songs are awesome!!! You gotta love XL recordings.
Is school over yet??? No....well at least I have some newww stuff to post!personally I like "Kiss of Life" "Paris" and Skeleton Boy" more than this track...hopefully their other stuff on the album is better. But hey it's not bad.
Its finals season!!! You know what that means...guilty pleasures list 13!!! Be prepared for my deepest darkest musical sins...
Don Omar featuring Lucenzo Danza Kuduro Yes Kuduro is a Portugese thing and this is a reggaton cover of a Portugese "Kuduro" dance song...addicting.
F(x)-Danger Um extremely embarrassing...but I still listen to it...
Shinee- Hello I don't know what's worse the fact that this boy band dresses better than me or the fact that they are way prettier than any girl I know... Plus they are so cutsey!!! It creeps me out, and yet I still listen to the song...a ton (puts hands in face).
Co-Ed _ Bbiribbom Bbiribbom WHY DOES THIS LIST KEEP GETTING WORSE. But yes I like this too....
The Script - For the First Time Super corny, I know I knowwwww
Ok ok so after humiliating myself on the internet I neeeeeeed to finish this physics lab and this last paper and a whole bunch of other crap...so long! Promise some new (cooler) stuff soon. But hey I'm a Music Geek, not a Music Snob.
So i almost kinda saw them last year when they came to Buffalo and then they "broke up" a day before the show...and now they're back together. Just my luck. I like "love comes close" better....
This is going to be another shitty week it's the end of the semester and I have like 500 assignments all assigned within the span of two days! Awesome. Anyways I haven't forgot about my beginning of the month totally awesome playlist...
Erland And the Carnival
Sure, you may remember I have posted a few of their songs I LOVE "Trouble" (listen to it seriously) and I really really do believe that they are completely underrated and deserve way more recognition.
Twin Shadow
Ok ok I am totally biased! I saw them last night and they were amazing.
Efterklang
I like the combination of string instruments, strong vocals and the drums.
Washed Out (Toro Y Moi remix)
Blogged about both these bands...this is really chill.
Broken Records
I think I posted "lies" before can't remember...but this live session is pretty amazing.
