Ben Folds Five - Kate God Kate is one lucky B***h, she gets a really great song written about her...and oh yeah its ultra catchy. The piano is what makes the song. It has a very retro 1960s feel, which isn't surprising since it was written in the late 90s at the height of sixties nostalgia.
The Walkmen - The Rat This is one pissed off song and yet so danceable-ly catchy.
David Usher - Black Black Heart David Usher is a very good song writer, and this is his most well known song. It is so popular it was even remade by a Chinese artist.
The Futureheads - Meantime A band I grew really partial to between the ages of 16 and 17 and semi forgot about. However I still have all of their songs on my mp3 and I was finally remeinded of why I liked them so much.
The Mooney Suzuki - Alive and Amplified In the same vein as The Futureheads with some Flaming Lips mixed in.
Death Cab For Cutie - 405 From one of their lesser known albums (my favorite album from them) "We Have The Facts And We Are Voting Yes" a great lofi tune.
Electric President is really one of those great enigmas. They make lofi songs that should be worshiped and praised and yet they get very little attention from even indie music magazines. Insomnia has to be one of the best songs from 2007...but very few people have heard of it.
Oh why WHY? Right after the Drake Nipsey post I thought the music couldn't get any worse, but no things can ALWAYS get worse. I ranted about LMFAO's "I'm in Miami Trick" months ago...and now this????? When will they stop making songs....please dear god when will they stop?
In April I wrote a blog post titled is it Snoop Dog? No...Its Just Nipsey Hussle...and basically I express my distaste for the West Coast's newest answer to gangster rap. So the two most unoriginal rappers of 2009, Drake (the most over hyped of the two) and Nipsey (the Snoop Dog impersonator) collaborate for a yawntastic track about how they are getting paid and then laid...oh! and then paid some more. You don't even have to listen to the track I just summarized it for you.
I just listened to Melectric and I am in love. Its so romantic so melancholy and I love the use of the piano and acoustic guitar, everything comes together so well! I am seriously considering purchasing this album, its one of the most refreshing indie bands I have heard in a while.
Heavy metal is a sub-genre that has really become a genre within its self. Heavy metal stems from "hard rock" which is defined as a genre of rock that uses heavy distorted sounds, electric guitars, pianos and drums. Hard rock branches out into two sub genres, progressive rock and heavy metal. So I have done blog posts on emo, goth, and industrial...now I figured its time to conquer a genre I have always abhorred...I do have a couple of Thin Lizzy albums and a Black Sabbath record, Iron Butterfly's In a Gadda Da Vida and other randommetal songs but nothing too new or radical. So first we are going to start with heavy metal's roots and work our way to the many sub-genres that are present today, including the difference between "death metal" and "black metal."
This genre is so large I have decided to split up the posts...there is just too much to cover for one blog post, so here is heavy metal part 1...
1960s and 1970s:
Metal originated as the love child between blues rock and psychedelic rock, combining the heavy rhythm and bass, with long guitar solos and a distorted sound.Early metal bands likeThin Lizzy, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple focused more on the heavy base and echoing larger than life sound.Later bands like Motorhead and Iron Maiden introduced punk rock into the mix, with speed and faster guitar and drums. Judas Priest helped make the genre more of what it is today by eliminating much of the blues rock influence. The First Wave: Iron Butterfly In a Gadda Da Vida was apparently supposed to be "In The Garden of Eden" but the band members were too stoned to say it coherently or write it down. This is considered one of the first heavy metal songs for its use of instrumental distortion and heavy electric guitar solos.
Deep Purple Once considered the "World's Loudest Band" by the Guinness Book Of World Records, a title which they no longer hold, they were one the pioneers of heavy metal and hard rock.
Thin Lizzy Formed in Dublin Ireland in the late 1960s, Thin Lizzy wrote some of the greatest hard rock songs of the 1970s (The Boys are Back In Town, Whiskey In The Jar, Bad Reputation). They also broke racial barriers, the lead singer and songwriter Phil Lynott was the son of an Irish mother and Afro-Brazilian father. Their sound is a bit more accessible to non-heavy metal listeners like myself and included a more blues rock influence.
Black Sabbath Obviously this band was going to be in this blog post. This is probably not a surprise, and its definitely not earth shattering, but Ozzy Osbourne's band definitely made metal what it is today. I am not a super fan but War Pigs is undeniably a great protest song.
Led Zeppelin Another predictable band, I know a lot of people love Led Zeppelin...I am not one of those people. However their influence on metal and music in general is wide and respected. They have also incorporated a lot of different musical styles, everything from Celtic and classical to reggae and funk.
Judas Priest Called the "Metal Gods" they are considered one of the most important and influential heavy metal bands of all time.
Aerosmith Pioneers of the American heavy metal scene, after sobering up in the 1980s, they can probably rival The Rolling Stones for profits made on tours and record sales...not really my cup of tea, but they have a huge fan base. (I hate that song from Armageddon...its terrible...sorry guys)
Kiss One of the biggest influences for the glam metal scene and metal in general. Became one of the most commercially successful and marketable groups, spurring lots of record and concert ticket sales.
The New York Dolls Not a metal band, but heavily influenced the glam metal movement of the 1980s. They were one of the first punk groups, but their sound and signature style would reappear in the LA metal scene a decade or so later.
Alice Cooper Singer/ songwriter spanned four decades and incorporated folk rock as well as pop into his sound...but I'm not a fan...he kind of creeps me out.
T.Rex One of the most important metal bands of the 1960s and 70s their careers were cut short when the lead singer Marc Bolan was killed in a car accident.
Bad Company A heavy metal supergroup that was managed by Peter Grant who also guided Led Zeppelin to commercial success.
AC/DC One of the greatest heavy metal groups of all time and another act I am partial to. The band name originated from alternating current/direct current that the band thought emphasized their high energy, high powered sound. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwxJ46HWXbA&feature=related
I have to take my sister shopping today, she is going into 9th grade and so obviously she has to look cooler than she did last year...god forbid I send her into 9th grade looking like I did (I wore pig tails...I thought I looked awesome). I don't think I will have to worry about her though, she is already my height has a bunch of friends and is far less innocent than I was at that age (I didn't know what a blow job was till the 10th grade...sad right?). Oh high school is one of those horribly deceptive times of your life. If you watch too many episodes of Dawson's Creek you may be tricked into thinking that puberty will finally end, you will grow tall and slim get boobs and have a great looking boyfriend. You know that whole "well adjusted teenager" myth, what they don't tell you is that the well adjusted teenager does not exist and you spend most of your time thinking that "you are the only one" that has problems. When you finally leave high school you realize how messed up everyone else was (not just you!) everyone was depressed and everyone has a stereotype they were trying to shed whether it was the slutty cheerleader label, the nerd (hello) or the fat kid. You leave high school being slightly disappointed with how everything turned out, not having a girlfriend or boyfriend, being just as short as when you began (I did grow like 2 inches) but thankful that you aren't like some of your classmates. Some of us use music to "rebel" against our surroundings to challenge authority (I actually hated teachers and authority figures...even though I was an honor role student...) or to stand out from our classmates. Everyone is trying to be "original" but be socially accepted at the same time. Everyone is insecure has bad skin and a jealousy complex...so here is my high school playlist.
Wheatus - Teenage Dirtbag This is the typical high school myth that one day your crush will finally turn around and notice you...its still a good song, but it also gives all high school kids false hope.
Neutral Milk Hotel - Aeroplane Over the Sea I loved this album in 11th grade, it made me feel artsy and deep...I still like it but I don't do the whole indie snob superiority routine like I used to. Pick up the album you won't be disappointed.
FrouFrou - Let Go Every girl had this song on their mp3 but we were all convinced we were the only ones to have discovered FrouFrou, its a great song though...sometimes conformity pays off.
Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor I used to make mixtapes for this guy with the hopes that one day he would turn around recognize that I have awesome taste in music and want to date me. Oh how stupid that hope was, in the end he brought me to his garage tried to teach me how to play base guitar came very close to kissing me and instead started complaining about his ex girlfriend...yeah we never went on that "date."
Bands That I Thought Were Lame Then, And I Still Do Now:
Anybody who listed Simple Plan as a major musical influence already became uncool to me. I know I wasn't the coolest looking person in high school but Simple Plan? Dude that's like soooolame...get some music taste and grow some balls!
Fall Out Boy Another band who gets very little respect from me, they think they are so good and so innovative I just think they are so boring. Oh! and have you seen that picture of Pete Wentz's nose hairs? They are so long...look it up on TMZ just make sure you haven't eaten anything beforehand.
Maroon Five There was a guy in high school that everyone loved so I felt the need to hate him. Its a strange scenario but he was a teacher's pet, very popular and likable...so I drew on his yearbook photo, gave him a Hitler Mustache and connected his eyebrows...little did I know he would see it. he interrogated my friend Anhthu about the picture and asked her why I'd do such a thing and honestly I still can't answer that (but when you told our AP English class that the main theme of Hamlet was "life" and the teacher thought you were a genius....congratulations dude every great work of LITERATURE IS ABOUT LIFE HARRY FUCKING POTTER IS ABOUT LIFE...I'm ok...) I think my picture defacing is somewhat justified. Maroon 5 reminds me of this guy, they are well loved and adored by all so I feel the need to unnecessarily hate them...sorry guys.
