The Art of Rap

I really dug the documentary Art of Rap primarily because of how slick and clever some of the rhymes were. They really impressed me.  I kind of earned more respect for rap in general after hearing some of those freestyles. I guess I've just been blinded to a lot of quality rap that is out there because at one point all of the rap I was hearing was just vulgar, offensive, garbage like Lil Wayne and Kanye West. Those guys really turned me off to rap, because they are so much worse than the people I heard in this documentary. The guys in the documentary were so smooth that listening to their rhymes was like drinking a smoothie.

Snoop Dogg Reincarnated

The documentary we watched over Snoop Dogg I found to be entertaining, and I slightly gained more respect for him. Though I didn't really like some of the new reggae music he was trying to pull off (because I thought it just sounded like a slower paced rap), I found it very fitting for Snoop Dogg to go to Jamaica and absorb the Rastafarian culture. The fact that he changed his name from Snoop Dogg to Snoop Lion kind of annoyed me though, because Snoop Dogg DEFINITELY looks more like a dog. Unless of course he does that thing with his hair that makes him look like he has a mane, in which case Snoop Lion is more fitting.

Ratatat

Ratatat is just a single guy that plays electric guitar, drums, bass, xylophone, and a variety of other instruments. He does all the parts himself and then mixes them up into an electronic type of feel. He has about half of it as electronic sounds and the other half of him playing single instruments and looping the parts. I like him because he pieces together a lot of complex instruments that he plays, so he is basically a one man band. His songs are really catchy but they have little to no vocals. Here is some songs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iexoDhvwGbo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkgOzxKPJXQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH_a2OcCmnI

20 feet from Stardom

I thought that this documentary was interesting, considering how I realized that I've never really acknowledged that background singers existed even though I knew they were there. They make a huge difference (improvement) in the sound, and I don't really know why they never stuck out to me until this documentary. I guess I'm just kind of like everyone else in that regard when it comes to background singers... they never get any recognition even though they may have some of the best vocals I've ever heard. It just goes to show you how much hidden talent there is out there... how many musicians and artists that are world class, yet they won't even get close to being on the radar. It's really disappointing and somewhat depressing

80's hip hop

Compared to rap/hip-hop now a-days I think hip hop in the 80's is a lot better.  It just sounds smoother to me, and usually people never repeat any lines, compared to now when you hear nothing but repetition. The lyrics are also not nearly as vulgar and offensive, which I take as a plus.  Not that being vulgar in a rap is bad, but the rap I hear now a-days is just over the top nasty.

FINALLY

       
                    THE GLITCH MOB

Live at Emo's.... So I recently saw Glitch Mob live and needless to say it was pretty badass. The first two opening performers, however, almost made it not worth it. They kept repeating the same beat over and over to where all of their songs combined all sounded like one big song. But when Glitch Mob appeared from behind the black cape they were hiding in, and exploded the crowd with a myriad of sounds and colors, the concert instantly was totally worth it. The bass shaked your entire heart  and internal organs because of how powerful it was. And what I liked about them was that they actually drummed their beats and had electronic sounds to go with it. Most dubstep bands have computers do the entire drum rhythm and it's disappointing how little musical talent is needed to make such beats. But then again I play drums so maybe I just like it when people play drums. The videos I have are absolutely terrible quality because of how much the sound overwhelmed the phone, so I don't even think it's worth to post, the computer might explode or something.

Alice In Chains

Alice in Chains is one of my favorite bands of all time. I love the way they harmonize the vocals and the raspy voice the lead singer has is just so badass. Also their lead guitarist is my #2 idol (right after Jimmy Page) because of how amazing he can fit psychedelic solos into hard rock. Sometime Alice In Chains can be a bit too heavy for me, which I usually dont mind, but Id have to be in the right state of mind to listen to it.

SXSW

Unfortunately for me, I did not go to SXSW (primarily due to the fact that all of the best bands are only 18+) but I did go in 2013 where I saw Blue Hawaii and Radkey. I was fairly disappointed with Blue Hawaii but I did enjoy the atmosphere and the lights they had put on, but their music was too ambient, slow, and boring in my opinion. Radkey on the other hand was badass. They're a punk band that sounds quite similar to the Strokes whom I adore. I like SXSW more than ACL due to how ACL is too overcrowded for me

The White Stripes

About half of the songs by The White Stripes are pretty good while the other half sounds like jumbled nonsense. Jack White is probably one of the best guitarists of the 2000's, and I give him credit for making some good music with only guitar, vocals, and drums. His singing is too high pitched for a guy in my taste, but when he doesn't overdo it, his voice can sound really good. The White Stripes have some really far fetched songs though and a lot of their songs I can't stand to listen to so I just listen to their good stuff, where the guitar riffs are catchy and Jack White doesn't decide to ruin the song with singing so high pitched. All in all, I think The White Stripes are pretty good, definitely one of the better rock bands of the 2000's in my opinion

Elvis Costello

At first encounter, I found Elvis Costello to be too arrogant because of how his album cover says "Elvis is king." Yes, Elvis is King, but Costello. And I also don't like how he changed his name to Elvis in the first place, and called himself king right before the real Elvis died.  Musically, however, he's alright. The best thing he has going for him is his lyrics, which are pretty smart. But the way he sounds is just okay, he just sounds like some middle of the road band that nobody would really pay attention to, and it surprises me that he got famous. He's classified as Punk, which makes no sense because he doesn't sound anything like punk. But his mentality, | guess, is rebellious.

Kevin

I don't believe I am being closed minded towards the music being shared at all, I just have a strong opinion when it comes to songwriting. In a song, the artist is trying to convey a feeling/moral/story etc. with some sort of purpose behind it, and the rap/hip-hop songs that I heard were being played had nothing more than a catchy beat. While we agree that Christian's song choices were poor, I heard music being played that had even less meaning behind it than Christian's. Though it was EXTREMELY repetitive, at least Tyler the Creator had done a good job at displaying a dark mood that he was feeling at the time he wrote the song, and had a lot of things to say about it... something I didn't hear while listening to the other rap songs talking about "smokin that OG kush" or "slappin hoes." Writing lyrics such as those take no artistic effort in displaying anything worthwhile (in my opinion) and it takes much more for me to like music than just a catchy beat. I probably shouldn't have said that it was all "garbage," but a ten year old could write more thought provoking lyrics. And while you call me ignorant, I call the songwriting of 80% of the music being shared as ignorant and stupid. There was nothing it had to offer besides a catchy beat and a bass-line.

Think-Hop

I liked think hop a-lot. Most of hip-hop and rap now a-days just gets on my nerves due to how repetitive it is and how stupid the lyrics are. The only thing in today's hip hop is that they have catchy beats. But Think Hop is different. First of all, it's not NEARLY as repetitive as modern hip hop, for the rappers will pretty much be talking about different things throughout the entirety of the song, instead of repeating lines about "OG Kush, money, hoes, or violence." And the lyrics of Think-Hop have a lot more to say than modern hip hop. The lyrics actually have meaning and purpose, and you can tell from reading them that the song-writer(s) are quite intelligent. That is the opposite for modern rap/hip-hop.  Though they usually have a catchy beat, the lyrics are simple, meaningless, and stupid. You can tell that stupid people were writing them. It takes little to no music ability or talented to write about drugs, money, and sex. And for that reason, I respect and like Think Hop, because it has catchy beats AND a deeper purpose.

Oasis

Oasis sucks. The singer has a really whiny voice that gets on my nerves after one song. And they think they're all that. After they wrote Wonder Wall they thought they were the greatest band on the face of the planet. They even said that they were better than The Beatles. I'm sorry, but anyone that says or even THINKS that they're better than the Beatles deserves to die. Except The Beatles. They can say that. But only them. Not Oasis. Oasis sucks.

Punk

I like the overall genre and idea of punk which is that you don't have to play an instrument or be musically talented to start a band. You can basically put together a bunch of repetitive, simple, catchy riffs and still make good music. The genre of punk is just the mentality of "I don't give a shit and I'll just do what ever the hell i want because I fucking can." I don't like listening to early punk such as the Ramones, but it's definitely entertaining. Just knowing that they threw random nonsense together and made a song out of it is pretty cool. And now punk is much more defined into bands like Green Day and Blink-182, which is okay, but the overall mentality of where punk originated is dying out.

Sublime

Sublime is a really chill band that I like to listen to when I'm in a happy mood. It's really upbeat and reggae-like but I think it's better because it has a rock element to it as well. The lyrics can be considered "inappropriate" to some but after hearing some of the rap lyrics in class it's very mellow. And the lyrics are cool and down to earth. I like sublime when I am on a happy mood.

Music shared by other classmates

Okay, I think that 85% of the people in our class had shared some god awful music. It was all primarily rap and hip hop and stuff like that only talk about drugs, money, or "hoes." I couldn't stand listening to it. I especially hated anything that Christian had played, and I don't know how anyone can listen to it without stabbing their ears out because it is god awful. And I also didn't like what all the preppy kids and jocks in the back of the class had to play either. It was all like the crap that Christian was playing. God I hated this week of your class. There were only a few peoples music that I could actually somewhat enjoy, and they were Fred's, Conner's, Mikayla's, and the second part of Andrew's. Everything else was garbage or worse. Did I mention that I hated almost everyone's music?

Music I shared

The music I had shared was the only thing I had on my phone that I could share. It was a song I had written with a bunch of looped guitar parts and me soloing on top of it. It's really mellow, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. It was nothing like anyone elses music and the recording was sloppy because it had been recorded on my phone.

Bruno Mars at Superbowl

Bruno Mars was highly praised for his performance at the Superbowl. I, on the other hand, have to go with the unpopular opinion... I thought that his performance was atrocious. He had probably the most unoriginal performance I have ever seen. He had the dance moves of Michael Jackson, the presence and flair of George Michael, the hair of Elvis Presley, but mixed in with new age pop music all in some Central American looking dude. It was all so cliche and unoriginal. I hated every second of it. Every last one

Red Hot Chili Peppers Live at Superbowl

I think the fact that the Red Hot Chili Peppers brought unplugged instruments on stage then pretended to play music is terrible. First of all, it's lying. To pretty much everyone in the country. Secondly, if I wanted to listen to recorded music, I would just listen to recorded music, and I wouldn't need live performers lying to me on stage. If I was gonna watch something live, I expect it to be live. Thirdly, they said in an apology that they considered that their music was sacred, and that they would NEVER pretend. But they did. And they lied about their music being sacred too, because otherwise they would treat it as such. If I were them and I REALLY thought my music was sacred, I would've turned the Superbowl down. And jeez, they seriously could have at least put a fake plug in... If you're gonna lie at least do it right. But they left it obvious and then apologized when they got caught, which they were bound to be. I don't like the Red Hot Chili Peppers's music, but now I dislike them even more because they're stupid and they're liars.

Aretha Franklin

A while ago we listened to Aretha Franklin, and it wasn't really my style, but she has a really good voice. She definitely is a good musician and her lyrics aren't bad. I think she has one powerful voice for a woman, and sometimes it scares me. But though I won't listen to Aretha Franklin I definitely respect her as a musician

My Incoming Band

My friends and I are all some really good guitar players (at least thats what everyone says) and so were starting up a band. We just started recording some songs we had made up recently and im pretty happy with how they're turning out. I alternate between being a guitarist, bassist, and drummer for the songs, cause I play all three. Whoever writes the song assigns the roles, and so far I've written 3. Total we probably have like 7 songs so far, which is pretty good considering we haven't even officially started the band yet. But our problem is not having a singer. We really need one and are looking all over for one. We're going to preform a few of our songs at Trojan Live this year so I hope we can find one before it's too late. Oh, and also we haven't come up with a name for the band yet, so Ill take suggestions

Big Star

I thought that Big Star was decent, definitely not great or anything but they were alright. I didn't really feel bad for them not making it far because they didn't really do much that was revolutionary like they talked about. I think they hyped the band up way too much (hence the name "Big Star") and got disappointed when they didn't end up Big Stars. It's kind of cocky to name a band that anyway, so I guess they got what was coming, sheer mediocrity. And mediocre bands like Big Star usually don't make it far anyway.

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath, I don't really like. They are really slow and they don't do a whole lot. They  just make dark sounds that disturb me and let them ring out; they don't even really put many notes into their songs. They have a few cool riffs but as a guitar player, they are EXTREMELY simple and don't really require much musical talent. Yeah occasionally they have solos, but overall they are dark, boring, and slow. And I also don't really digg that kind of dark heavy metal, it just irritates me because it's a bit TOO metal. Overall I think that Black Sabbath isn't that great. I would listen to Led Zepplin any day over Black Sabbath

Zep 2

Zep 2 was quite similar to Zep 1 and I really liked it. Though they aren't good songwriters they are phenomenal musicians, which makes up for it. I heard many complaints as to how repetitive or how long the songs were. And yes, they are quite repetitive and long. But they still rock. I don't mind listening to their songs for a really long time because they are always really complex and cool. At least they aren't repetitive and sound like Black Sabbath, which don't put a lot of notes or complexity into their music. If Led Zepplin had songs of the same length and same repetitiveness but they sounded like Black Sabbath I would abhor it. But they don't, they make it interesting.

Sing Along Until You Feel Better

I really like Mr.A's album sing along until you feel better. It's not my style/genre of music that I usually listen to, but it's very comforting and it makes me feel really good. I really like the vocals more than anything, it's just really soothing. I would probably listen to it while I was trying to fall asleep or just laying down and relaxing, but I would definitely purchase it.

Cage the Elephant

I am absolutely addicted to the band Cage the Elephant now. I used to hear them on the radio and thought they were pretty good, but then I saw them live.  They are the bomb. I went to see their concert at emo's about a month ago, and it was the most stellar performance from a band I've ever seen. They were loud, they sounded amazing (better than they do in studio which is very rare for a band), and their stage presence was killer. The singer crowd surfed many times, and one time he even stood on the crowd to where they held him up by his feet. And then he jumped and fell into the crowd right when they started to rock out. I give their performance at emo's a 10/10, it was the most fun I've had in a long time. And ever since, I am always listening to them non stop. And I pay attention to their lyrics, which  speak to me so much its unbelievable. They are now my most relatable band, and they are fantastic musicians/performers.