The many recent posts about dubstep and other such electronic music has been nice for me because its been nice to reminisce on the recent events of NYE. After this post, however, they’ll get put on hold because its all this attention I’m giving the genre is a little over the top for me and I’m getting a little burnt out.
New Skrillex album came out last month and it’s tight. I’ve liked Skrillex a lot because he puts out a lot of different sounds that have their own great vibe to them and doesn’t stick to one formula. Enjoy
“Right On Time” Ft. 12th Planet & Kill The Noise – This song honestly isn’t the best there is (definitely isn’t my favorite of his), but it’s a nice example of how he can go off book and throw a different sound out there and make it feel right. The first time I heard this song I couldn’t get over the fact that the 2nd drop (1:35) had that great old-school, LL Cool J type, 90’s hip-hop bump to it. You know when your head starts moving to the beat before you can consciously decide whether you like it or not?…thats how that first time was for me
“Bangarang” Ft. Sirah – This song goes hard and makes me want to watch Hook again…all at the same time. Not much really else to say about this one. The riff is filthy, the girl’s voice is a perfect fit and it cools down nicely at the end so you don’t get too burnt out before it drops one last time
This band, from the one and only Brooklyn, NY, has been around for a couple of years now and, to put it simply, they are dope. 1) I love the big band style (Roots anybody?)…honestly if I could be in any kind of band it’d be a big band rap group 2) they have three dudes that can all sing and rhyme and 3) they mesh together so well, live especially, in a way that draws you in and makes you want more.
This video was what had me hooked on them in the first place last year
Because I feel bad that I haven’t posted in a while, here are 5 songs who’s genres coincide with the previous post …just for you:
“Until They Kick Us Out” Knife Party – If Knife Party ever comes to your area, make sure to go see them. These guys go so hard its insane. This won’t be the only song of theirs on this list. This song is good until the voices come back after about a minute and a half. I love it because it gets to the point right away and the drop is just so funky.
“Save The World” Swedish House Mafia*** – This was the song that made me lose my voice on NYE. Watching this makes my heart speed up and puts goosebumps on my arms.
Oh, and the remix by Afrojack is SO dope. Check it.
“Crush On You” Nero (Knife Party Remix)*** – Same band who made the song “Promises” that got 10 times better after Skrillex got a hold of it. Same is the case with this song
“Internet Friends (You Blocked Me on Facebook)” Knife Party – Easily one of the most original songs I’ve heard in a while. My buddy Ryan (who I went to Legends with to see Feed Me on NYE) was there when Porter Robinson played this last month/year. Before the drop everyone had their iPhones up right when the ringers went off. Then it dropped. Hard. (Ryan keeps telling me he played mad Daft Punk which I’m a little bummed about missing).
“Collect Call” Metric (Adventure Club Dubstep Remix)
***Played at Legends on NYE (which may have pushed it onto this list over other songs)
How does Greendale always get so many students to go to their school functions?
Happy New Years Everybody! This post is coming to you late because I hurt my voice while I was watching Calvertron and Feed Me tear up The Complex (I’ll post a video later when my buddy puts it up on youtube) and since then I’ve been sick. I hope everyone had a great time bringing in the new year. Mine was pretty good. Not quite Ryan and Marissa from the OC good, but still pretty good.
In honor of how I brought in the new year, todays post will be about dubstep and other such electronic music genres. I’ve been into electronic music (Just in case you didn’t read the last post) since 2007. It started with Daft Punk, then went to Dj Sammy, Alice Deejay and Venga Boys in high school. After I graduated I discovered Tiesto and Swedish House Mafia (I got into them because all the kids I went to the International School with In Duesseldorf, Germany kept on posting stuff of theirs on facebook) who, in turn, blew my mind. And more recently thanks to Turner and now Ryan, I’ve gotten into artists like Skrillex, Flux Pavillion, Feed Me, Kaskade, Knife Party, Porter Robinson, Datsik, Pretty Lights (Logan first put me onto this dude down in Phoenix), Rusko, Caspa and Deadmau5. So without further ado, here are the Top 5 songs (in chronological order) that made me love Electric Dance Music.
To everyone mentioned above: Consider this my “Thank You”
5) A 3 part special… Aren’t you guys excited?! What got me into Daft Punk originally was Alive 2007. After that I learned to love their studio albums, but until then, these three songs (song #’s 3,4 and 5 on Alive) are what made me fall in love with these two French Dj’s.
Television Rules the Nation / Crescendolls Too Long / Steam Machine Around The World / Harder Better Faster Stronger
4) “Better Off Alone” Alice Deejay
3) “Sweet Caroline (Techno Remix)” Angelo Venuto – I didn’t respect this song quite as much once I learned it was a Neil Diamond re-make, but I still yell “BOM BOM BOM” in the chorus during parties and sporting events whenever it makes an appearance.
2) “Lethal Industry” Tiesto – I tend to like Tiesto a lot because of his use of elongated buildups. I got into them after Daft Punk started playing a major role in my iPod’s life. Some people have a hard time staying with a song that long but I’m all for it. If you couldn’t get into the Daft (referencing the band, not the literal meaning of the word) songs above, you might not like this one either. But its worth a shot, so just do it.
Start at 4:40 for the song, or listen to the whole thing. This is the 2nd part of a 3-video long set he did at Sensation in 2007 which was SO good. Check the rest out if you dig it.
As I promised on our fan page this week, today is Fan Friday! So without further ado, for my buddy David Butler in Brooklyn, here are the Top 5 concerts I wish I could’ve gone to.
5) Daft Punk Alive 2007 (Coney Island August 9th, 2007) – If you guys have been following, you’ll notice that only a few of my top 5 recording artists (A Penny Hardwick Tribute) are on this here list. This clearly being one of them. I started listening to Daft Punk thanks to (co-founder) Sibi, a mere 3 months AFTER they did this show. Then after about 6 months when I got every song they had ever made, re-read their wikipedia page 6 times…etc, an acquaintance of mine told me he saw this show 6 months previous. I’ve always been bitter about that horrible timing, however, I have heard rumors about them going to Electric Daisy Carnival so we’ll see how that works itself out.
“The thousands of clips on the internet are better to us than any DVD that could have been released” – Thomas Bangalter
4) Queen at Wembley (July 12th, 1986) – Known as “The Cathedral of Football”, Wembley Stadium (actually Empire Stadium) was the best known, and one of my personal favorite, soccer stadium(s)…Period. Before the stadium and its twin tower’s demolition in 2003, it hosted the Olympics, European Cup Finals, a World Cup Final, Live Aid and Queen. I really don’t need to build this up anymore, because all I have to say for my reasoning is Freddie Mercury (RIP). He was one of the, if not the best frontman ever and his voice is one of the best I’ve ever heard despite him never having had professional voice lessons as a child/young performer. Also, the way he rocks the bottomless mic-stand (oxymoronic, I know) is just so awesome. It almost adds depth to the performance in some subtle way. “The King. There is only one Freddie.”
One of my favorite Queen songs (very original, I know…get over it). I’m gonna point out that this was the 20th song in their repertoire and the way he was able to tear this song up without his voice cracking every measure amazes me.
3) Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock (August 18th, 1969) – I was watching a special on Woodstock a while back and one of the interviewees said “If everyone who says they were at Woodstock was actually there, the earth would have tilted on it’s axis.” Even if that could be true, there was no tilting when Jimi went on. Wanting to close out the festival as a headliner, he was scheduled to play Sunday night at midnight even though the people in charge of the festival told him and his manager Saturday night would be the best night to play. After a rain storm delayed the concert, he finally went on stage Monday at 8:30 am. What had previously been an estimated crowd of 400,000 was now no more than 30-40,000 because of the muddy conditions and lack of food. With the “Voodoo Child” teaser leading into “The National Anthem” then transitioning into “Purple Haze”, this might be the most epic 3 song segment of any set ever played. Quite fitting for an event dubbed as “The Greatest Concert To Ever Be Put Together”.
The band had been up for 3 days straight prior to going on stage, which explains the congo drummer at the beginning looking like hes going to collapse.
2) Guns N’ Roses Live at the Ritz (February 2, 1988) – “The original fab five bad boys of rock n roll have their finest hour on February 2, 1988 at the Ritz in NYC. They perform their best songs off their classic album “Appetite for Destruction”, and all five band members are on fire. The chemistry and panache are amazing.” – LiveThunders.com
This song makes me wanna break some rules
1) Jay-Z Live at The Garden (November 25th, 2003) – Reasons why this concert would have been so epic:
1. It was promoting The Black Album which got beats from Eminem, Pharrell, Rick Rubin (Legend), Just Blaze, Kanye and Timbaland.
2. Michael Buffer
3. The Black Album was supposed to be his goodbye album so he got EVERYONE to come. Lets take a look, shall we? Mary J. Blige, Foxy Brown, Missy Elliot, Memphis Bleek, R. Kelly, Twista, Pharrell, Ghostface Killa, Beyonce and Beanie Siegel (somehow they got him between jail sentences). Oh and The Roots led by ?uestlove (who also was the musical director for the show) were his backup band. So far we got the whole Black Album…and all of his best hits. As a wise man often says, “enough chatter”… On to the next part.
Watch this whole thing. Michael Buffer kills it. Jay destroys Jigga What? Jigga Who? Then to top it all off he does a shout out to the 5 boroughs (and Jersey, for some odd reason). I’ve seen the movie about 5 times now and I still get chills when he asks “is Brooklyn in here tonight?”(11:00). Just noticed right now that when he says Manhattan they show the whitest girl dancing…probably from the upper east side.
Start this one at 1:06 (goes till 4:20) unless you’re not like me and aren’t sick of “A Hard Knock Life”. He gives a perfect tribute to Tupac, Left Eye, Big Pun, Jam Master Jay, Big L, Aaliyah and The Notorious B.I.G. If seeing 20,000 people rap a Biggie verse a cappella on a tv gives me goosebumps, I wonder what it was like for Jay to be there directing it all.
Fun Fact; Biggie, Jay and Busta Rhymes all went to the same high school in Brooklyn. Jay was talking about it during an interview a while back saying that Biggie would always be laid back, never bragging. Busta on the other hand would always go around talking about how he’s the best rapper and how he freestyles like crazy. Best of all, during lunch they’d all battle each other.
“Your career right now…this is the end of Carlito’s Way. You just trying to get one more last job in before you get out. But I’m trying to tell you that I have the song. I have the beat that describes that moment accurately.”
After seeing the Community Christmas episode again today I figured I’d throw up a couple of awesome videos to send us into the new years in comedic fashion.
Donald Glover playing Troy Barnes who does Childish Gambino for the musical episode? Yes, please.
Skip to 19:45 for the awesomeness. If you want to watch the whole episode, WATCH THE PREVIOUS COUPLE FIRST, otherwise you’ll be a little confused if you’re not already caught up. A warning (because I love to give warnings), if you know whats going on in this scene, you will cry. Trust me. This show has gone back to being legendary after a shaky 6th season. Sorry I couldn’t find a link to throw up here. So quit complaining and click the link.
At the end of this scene in the season 1 bloopers, Troy looks into the camera and says “shout out to my Jehovah Witness mom”. Kills me everytime
A couple of my favorite Christmas songs:
“Carol of the Bells” I have to mix up the artists because the Trans-Siberian Orchestra gets overplayed sometimes
“All I Want for Christmas is You” Mariah Carey
“Last Christmas” George Michael
“Donde Esta Santa Claus?” Augie Rios – I waited for a month for Old Navy to play this one, only to be disappointed with the same ten over and over again.
“O Come, All Ye Faithful” Performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir – Written originally by John of Reading in the 13th century
Last Christmas post I swear. However, we shouldn’t be to quick to forget what the Christmas season is all about. That is love, gratitude, appreciation for family, friendship and all of the little things in life that make you feel warm and cozy inside.
The writer of Cult.ivated Society who I had the honor of meeting over halloween weekend 2010 did a piece on a duo made up of none other than Jesse Morrison and Dan Hildebrand. Both stemming from Phoenix, AZ, they recently collaborated on a couple of tracks with Jesse laying down the instrumentals and backup vocals while Dan raps over the top. I can’t find the words to give them the respect that they deserve (I’m running on 30 minutes of sleep), so I’m gonna borrow what Mr. Cult.ivated wrote. Enjoy
The fine fellows above are Arizona natives (shout out to the 602) that go by
Rocky Loves Emily. Jesse Morrison (left) and Daniel Hildebrand (Right) first
off are like the two raddest, most genuine dooders around. I have had the
honor of hanging out with these guys a time or two and their chilled out, loving
personalities is depicted in their music. Enough of that mushy chatter though,
let’s talk music. Jesse leads production and those killer vocals at the beginning
of the track. If you guys follow Cult.ivate often, you saw a post I did a while
back by a band called CooBee Coo. Jesse is one of the guys from CooBee Coo
and takes his many musical talents to produce one of the coolest tracks I have
heard. It’s got that Summer time feel to it, but like I said before, what does that
even really mean. For you guys that go to APU with the lot of us, you may
recognize that bearded wonder on your right. Daniel aka Hildy has built up
quite the reputation for being one of the best freestylers (I don’t care that
freestylers isn’t a real word, get over it) around and I mean actually freestyling.
By freestyling I actually mean coming up with raps on the spot, off the dome!
For those of you who have been clouded by all these rappers droppin
“Freestyles” on the radio, lemme break some harsh news to you, THOSE
AREN”T FREESTYLES. Yes, yes, I know your sad, devastated even, but don’t
fret, I have just the answer. Wipe those little tears away and click the play
button, everything will be all better, I promise. Enough chatter.
Check out Cult.ivated Society’s blog. Dude puts in a lot of work posting new dope music almost everyday. This blog is the inspiration that got me and Sibi to start this project up: http://cultivatedsociety.wordpress.com/
“I rip and I rhyme, I rhyme and I rip. This is the way that Dylan spits”
In light of Sibi putting up the post about films taking from 2001: A Space Odyssey, I’ve decided to go on the other side of this common phenomenon (oxymoronic, I know) and showcase how a certain show takes from other shows and films to help create hilarious moments of its own.
Side note: My brother dressed up as Barney Stinson this last halloween and didn’t take a single bad picture. True Story.
How I Met Your Mother is my favorite tv show (Community and Scrubs are up in the top 3 as well but they have fallen/fell off in the 3rd and 8th season, respectively), and after watching old episodes recently I’ve noticed how many pop-culture references they throw in that make the show so much funnier. This isn’t from all 7 seasons…because I don’t have that kind of time on my hands, and that list would be too long for anyone but an obsessed fan (e.g. yours truly) to read from beginning to end. So heres HIMYM and some of its many influences:
The Three Amigos:
Dead Poets Society: Sorry, but I couldn’t find a clip of it. Start at 13:30…or watch the whole thing http://videobb.com/watch_video.php?v=nagKiqZ6Awic
World of Warcraft:
That 70’s Show:
Late Night with David Letterman: I love how he does the laugh and the throwing of the paper at the end perfectly
Cheers:
Scrubs: This one is a long shot, but Barney always reminds me of the Janitor
CSI:
Lost: Not quite a fan of people from other shows making guest appearances as practically the same characters, but alas.
Amadeus: P.S. the best burger in the NYC is at the Burger Joint in the lobby of Le Parker Meridien.
Most good shows: Fun fact… They all have a musical episode. And NPH’s voice is fantastic. Another fun fact, Heather morris (Brittany from Glee) is a dancer in this video (when Barney comes out in the flying V at the end, shes the one at the bottom of the screen in the middle/right)
And, ironically enough, Doogie Howser M.D:
“My peers have been held back for years, holding back the tears, Everybody knows our name like we was the cast from Cheers”
I haven’t had the heart to research and write the two darker top 5 lists (songs at a funeral/songs about death). But, against my better judgment, I’m gonna do one tonight and then we’ll see about the next one. It might take a while to get posted. On a side note; I just came across Jeff Buckley for the first time today after a recommendation to his version of “Hallelujah” and I’m starting to fall in love with this dude’s sound. But lets not get side-tracked.
Top 5 Songs that I want to be sung at my funeral:
1. “For Good” Wicked
2. “Will You Be There” Michael Jackson
3. “Wish You Were Here” Pink Floyd
4. “Dance With My Father” Luther Vandross
5. “Every Breath You Take” Sting & The Police
“Well is it better to know, or not to know? See I wanna go to art school, but I’m afraid” “Jesus, I hate this funeral”
WeDontBelongg 
