The past few months that I've had this site have just been a bit of a practice to figure out whereI am going with this project of mine. Now that my class is over and I'm not entirely required to keep this up. Keeping a schedule is the recommendation that my teacher gave me. Well, as you know I'm a bit of a music nerd. I don't have much of a solid preference. I love all music. I want to show you all the magic and creativity of musicians still playing today. What I hope you will get from reading my blog is a greater appreciation for all of the music out there. There is creativity in every genre and though you might not like that particular type of music, hopefully you'll be able to appreciate it.
My plan is to post a well established artist every monday. I will tell you about their past, their style, and what they are doing now. Likewise, every Thursday I will post a new artist thats trying to get on the scene. And every other two weeks I will switch off between reviewing a show that I've been to and talking about things in the industry that I've learned about.
Hopefully you are able to grasp from these posts, learn what I've learned and together we'll broaden what we know about the modern music industry.
Okay ladies and gentlemen. A new genre for you. One that is not all that recognized. Yes, you've probably heard it, but not that many people know the genre, Ska. Not only do ska bands have all the rock band instruments, guitar, bass, drums; but, they also have a brass section that can include anything from trumpets, saxophone, trombone, and I've even seen a bass clarinet(I know its not brass, its just crazy).
Truth is, with this particular band, I don't need to listen to any music by them to know what to tell you. I'm not sure, but I've seen them possibly the most out of any band. Their energy on stage is always so fun and their songs draw the best crowds.
Reel Big Fish was first introduced to me when I was 14. They had first become popular with their hit "Sell Out" in 1997. They soon became mainstream and produced their album Turn The Radio Off. The band signed with Mojo/Jive Records and went on to produce Why Do They Rock So Hard, Cheer Up! and We're Not Happy Till You're Happy. They had conflicts and
were dropped from Jive, so they formed their own label.
In 2006 they released a live album titled, "Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album." Because they did not own the rights to their songs, Jive produced a greatest hits album soon after. The band went on to produce "Monkeys For Nothing And The Chimps For Free" and "Fame Fortune and Fornication."
In concert these guys are amazing. The band consists of lead vocalist, Aaron Barrett, trombonists and backing vocalist Dan Regan, Trumpet, guitarist, Keyboardist, and backing vocalist, Scott Klopfenstein, Trumpet playing and backing vocalist, John Christianson, Drummer Ryland Steen, and bass guitarist, Derek Gibbs. Their music is played on an offbeat with upstroke guitar. This gives the band a slight reggae and rock sound. Some think Ska came from reggae, but in fact Reggae is a product of Ska. I digress, their songs are funny with catchy lyrics. Their hit Sell Out is a parody about the music industry and record companies:
And I don't remember what I read,don't remember what they said, I guess it doesn't matter, I guess it doesn't matter anymore. [chorus] you're gonna go to the record store you're gonna give 'em all your money radio plays what they want you to hear they tell me it's cool but I just don't believe it... sell out, with me oh yea, sell out, with me tonight record company's gonna give me lots of money and everything's gonna be (all right)
At their shows fans are always really nice. Their music is so happy and fun that the people that normally listen to it are nice people with great attitudes. Similar to hard rock shows, Ska shows have "mosh pits", but theirs are alittle different. Instead of kids punching each other, kids push lightly and run around doing a dance for the Ska community called 'skanking.' It consists of kicking one leg out in front of you and throwing the opposite are out in front of you as well.
Classic Reel Big Fish is absolutely my favorite;
though I cannot say that they aren't still good in their later albums. Paying attention to songs off their first album, Everything Sucks, you'll get a blast off of ridiculously hilarious and fun songs. Some of my favorites are "I'm Cool", "Hate You", and "Trendy". Other less pop sounding songs are "Skatanic" and "Say Ten." I like Skatanic because it features a more overpowering brass section. Probably the best track off that album is "Beer." When I think of Reel Big Fish, I think of this song. Its a classic ska tune fit with the upstroke off beat guitars and complimentary brass section. The lyrics are amusing and the band takes it to another level with their energy. Basically, this song makes me want to jump up and down, despite how lame that is to admit.
I promise you that if you attend one of this bands shows you will not regret it. They're are a lively group with great talent and a dedicated fan group. I would suggest picking up the albums Everything Sucks, and Turn The Radio Off. Other songs to notice are "Where Have You Been", "Drunk Again", "Take On Me", and "She Has A Girlfriend Now".
Since I've been in such a rap mood lately I've decided to bring to you another hilarious rap video that I've come across. I'm sure a lot of you have heard of Soulja Boy. He's a young rapper from Chicago known best for his hit single "Crank That" in 2007. Now the most popular opinion is that he's a horrible rapper with god awful songs and annoyingly repetitive lyrics. PopMatter's Interviews Editor Evan Swadey says,
Though Soulja Boy can still crank out a good production here and there, he ultimately comes off as a less-imaginative Lil' Jon, relying more on the hook than the actual melody. The most grating aspect of the entire album is simply how Soulja Boy feels that a chorus can constitute of nothing more than a single spoke phrase repeated roughly 50 ties within the span of a three-minute song. Aside from the fact that every track on the album can be trimmed down by at least a minute, this repeated vocal sample technique is used mainly to distract from the face that as a rapper, Soulja Boy's talents are unbelievably weak.
I would like to branch away from that and bring up the fact that most rappers now a days are completely self absorbed and take themselves way too seriously. (Reference Gucci Mane in my previous post) Soulja Boy is a rare exception that I've found. Its most apparent in his songs and videos that he hardly takes himself seriously. Sure, some rappers rap about stupid things, and Soulja Boy definitely does, but his videos add a greater sense of humor and practical joking than one would find in most videos now a days. Even Swadey says "while it is predictably mediocre, few could have ever expected it to be so utterly bizarre. As a matter of fact, it borders on unintentionally hilarious."
Soulja Boy- Yahh Trick Yahh
In this video, Soulja Boys' obnoxious video game comes alive to help him talk about a new crude and audacious way of getting people out of your face. Soulja Boy and Arab walk around their town screaming " Yahh Trick Yahh" at all the people that try and talk to them. The two eventually end up at their school in their class room where they transition into a new song "Report Card." Report card starts off with the lyrics, "You Know When You Just Get Your Report Card, And You Have All F's On It? You Just Wanna Take It Back To The Teacher And Say To Throw Some D's On That Bitch!" The rest of the song doesn't really stray too far away from the main point. To make my point for me, Soulja Boy ends the song by adressing the viewers and saying, "I was just playing kids. Y'all know I made straight A's. Listen to "Soulja Boy tell 'em." Stay in school." This statement is finished off with the cheesiest of all cheesy smiles in existence.
I truly believe that this kid is just living and enjoying what life has given him while continuing to have fun doing what he does best: putting out another crazy, hilarious song. He has his own website and youtube.com page that he is constantly managing. He responds to fans and keeps them updated on his life.
Perhaps the most surprising of all is that Soulja Boy not only produced his album, Tell Em, himself, but he also did almost all of the production work. Personally, I feel that the few outside producers actually created some of the weaker points in the album. "Sidekick," produced by The Package Store, is one of the worst songs on the album. It serves as a repetitive and annoying advertisement for the Sidekick Cell Phone. Regardless, I do recommend this artist to you, the reader, and encourage you to look him up on youtube. I easily spent 30 min watching him do ridiculous things. His stream "Rich N***a Shit" is quite funny. There is even a Gucci reference in the first part.
I would like to starts off by admitting that Gucci Mane's new C.D., The State vs. Radric Davis, was actually impressive. The album has all the characteristic Gucci traits you would expect. The lyrics are for the most part simple and laughable. Like I've said before, I think Gucci Mane is thug, and I consider him worthy of street credit, so when all his songs are about him and other ridiculous claims I just laugh to myself because only Gucci Mane could do it. He makes up for any other criticism by always providing unique and catchy beats with a deep bass.
The first song "Classical" starts off with trans meditation chanting of Gucci and him rapping about himself. Needless to say I was laughing at this. Another song that I need to mention is "Lemonade." It is 4 minutes and 6 seconds of yellow. The song is too much to be able to describe with anything other than the lyrics which can be summed up with this verse:
Canary yellow lemon watch, big bird yellow top Yellow Polo, Polo, slippers white and yellow polo socks Gucci Mane be pumpin dawg, he don't got all he say he got Just stash one Lemon homie, I can supply them the 50 glocks Yellow boat parked at the dock, Yellowbone gon' make it drop Flip da flop mine up the top, then go buy me a yellow yacht
The video for this song is just as hysterical; It is obviously a play on yellow with a Sin City-like color scheme and has beautiful yellow cars, girls, chains, watches, clothes and shoes which he flaunts about without hardly swaying from where he's leaning. The video classically ends with a fade out on Gucci Mane yawning. Consequently I was left in a fit of LOL (yes I just said that). Only Gucci Mane. The rest of the album is stereotypical rap, all about himself, money, women and drugs. Gucci raps on beat and with decent flow, constantly dropping his classics: "Gucci," "So Icy," and "Burr." He combines talents with a range of artists including Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and Usher.
On Hip-Hop DX, an album review blog site, Andrew Noz write, "But maybe this is purposeful. The State vs. Radric Davis is neither a grand statement nor an empty radio concession. It's just a solid collection of Rap songs" about the new album." I agree that its not the most influential or epic album, but with two songs already gaining recognition, it wont be long till everyone has this album. I look forward to see what crazy video he puts out next.
It would be reasonable to say that I hardly find rappers that I truly respect. Most rappers seem to articulate through their songs how 'gangster' and 'thug' they are. I say prove it! That is just what rapper Gucci Mane has done. Though I admit that his talent is amusing at best, he has risen to my challenge and passed with flying colors.
Born Radric Davis in Birmingham, Alabama in 1980, Gucci Mane sold cocaine during college; he was later busted and lost his scholorship. In May of 2005, Gucci Mane was attacked with his crew in a house. During the assault a member from the attackers was shot and killed my Gucci Mane's crew; his body was later found by a nearby middle school. Speculation has been drawn that the attackers were provoked from a legal altercation concerning the rights to the 'So Icy' song that he produced with Young Jeezy. It is rumored that the attackers were sent by Young Jeezy to steal Gucci Mane's infamous Bart Simpson chain and during the altercation it was Gucci Mane that actually did the killing.
Perhaps the most ridiculous of the public instances that I'm aware of has to be during a performance by Gucci. In the middle of his set, a lady from the audience is too close to the sound box and bumps it on accident, causing the song to skip a bit. Gucci Mane is audible saying that she needs to watch out. The girl ignores him and turns her back. What happens next is almost too ridiculous to understand. Gucci Mane pushes the girl forward, she attempts to get in his face as body guards surround her, then from behind the camera Gucci runs into the frame, jumps into the air, and lands a sucker punch right to her face. Video here.
Now I definitely cannot say that I support anyone of these things, so for the record, I DO NOT SUPPORT ANY OF THESE THINGS. I would just like to say that Gucci Mane is one crazy character and continues to surprise me every day. I think his a tad bit off the wall and definitely insane, but for all that I support him as a rapper because his music is just like him, entertaining!
Panic at the Disco! burst into the mainstream music scene with their single I Write Sins Not Tragedies in January of 2006. Out of Las Vegas the band is comprised of Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith. In July of 2009 the bands two other members, Ryan Ross and Jon Walker left the band stating creative and ambitious differences. According to their official website, "Though the four of us have made music together in the past, we’ve creatively evolved in different directions which has compromised what each of us want to personally achieve." Personally, I feel they did great together. The band released their first major label album in 2005 entitled "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out" and three years later realease "Pretty. Odd." which reached top 2 on the billboards. I consider myself to be a good fan because I have seen them perform live atleast 5 times. And I can tell you that I only do that for my top favorite bands. Every show is full of energy and Urie's engaging bounciness and odd faces.They were initially discovered by Pete Wentz, famous bassist of band Fall Out Boy. Wentz took the band on as their project and they soon released their hit, "I Write Sins, Not Tragedies." When they first burst onto the scene there was hardly a band like them. Though many either love or hate the band, I find that their instrumentals mix well with Urie's vocals to make a unique sound of baroque pop punk and emo. The lyrical quality is fantastic and articulate:
It's these substandard motels On the corner of 4th and Freemont Street Appealing, only because they're just that unappealing Any practiced Catholic would cross themselves upon entering The rooms have a hint of asbestos And maybe just a dash of formaldehyde And the habit of decomposing right before your very eyes Along with the people inside What a wonderful caricature of intimacy
They are unique. Their sound is different. So why did they split? We'll never know. During their reign on the main stream network they gained great recognition. Their shows would sell out and they were constantly on the radio. After they produced their second album, which was vastly different from their first, interest died out in fans. Maybe it was the difference that made them die or maybe they were just a one hit phenomenon. Either way the band has officially split and does not seem to be on the rise in their career.
Since Ross and Walker's departure I have not had much a desire to see them. Ross al
ways added character with his crazy make up and I cannot seem to appreciate bands with only two members. I will say that "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out" and "Pretty. Odd." are great C.D.'s and personal favorites of mine. Some songs to pay attention to are Its Time To Dance, But It's Better If You Do, When The Day Met The Night, and She Had the World.
Recently it seems that pop punk has grown more popular in mainstream music. Pop infused punk band Mayday Parade hail from Tallahassee Florida and have been taking the music industry by storm. Vocalist and keyboardist Derek Sanders, bassist Jeremy Lezno, guitarists Alex Garcia and Brooks Betts and drummer Jake Bundrick make up this unique band of great talent that formed from the merging of the bands Defining Moment and Kid Named Chicago.
They have a great romantic sound with lyrically captivating songs. Performance wise they are stunning. I've had the great privilege of attending some of their shows and I've never been disappointed. Their amazing ability to perform makes them captivating to watch. The emotions in their songs are visibly and audibly apparent and their draw you in. The tickets to most of their shows do not exceed $30, and their merchandise is rather reasonably priced, making any show WORTH IT!
A Lesson in Romantics is their full length debut album that was released on July 10, 2007 on
Fearless Records. There is hardly a song that I don't love. I know this seems to be the theme with my artist posts, but I am just unloading on you the insanity that is my music preference. I digress, A Lesson in Romantics is characteristically cliche of their genre, in that most of their songs are love ballads either praising or condemning love. Their genuine passion is evident in their epic lyrical emotional cries:
And you dropped the note and we changed key You changed yourself and i changed me I really didn't see us singing through this Then you screamed the bridge And i cried the verse And our chorus came out unrehearsed And you smiled the whole way through it I guess maybe that's what's worse (from "If You Wanted A Song Written About You, All You Had To Do Was Ask")
The lyrics are pared with the bands highly harmonized vocals, dramatic instrumentals and heavy drumming. Songs to take notice to on this album are "You Be the Anchor", "If You Wanted A Song", "I'd Hate To Be You", and "Black Cat."
Currently, they are promoting their Major Label debut Anywhere But Here. The bands vocalist is quoted on their website refering to the album and touches on the recording proccess saying,
In fact the biggest challenge while making Anywhere But Here seems to have been Mayday Parade's monumental task of determining which of the
50-odd songs they'd written over the past few years would make the cut. "Some of the songs we all agreed on, but other ones were more difficult because people had different tracks that they loved and it was hard to narrow it down," Sanders elaborates, adding that the band wrote many of these tracks during last year's tour with All Time Low. "We just ended up taking a vote and I think we chose the right songs.
After being together for years who could blaim them. Each artist has their own favorite songs that can be found on their band website along with other information on each member as well as all information for their band.
The band is currently on their Take Action Tour with We the Kings, There For Tomorrow, and A Rocket To The Moon.
