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Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Why Bo Burnham Is The Best

 



     To begin with, Bo Burnham is just flat out funny. He's clever as hell and honest and makes fun of everything, including himself. He can talk about anything, serious or not, in a lighthearted way and give a new perspective on pretty much any topic. Not to mention, he's an awesome song writer and makes everything ten times more enjoyable by turning it into a song. Basically everything about him is gold, even the fact that he's 6 foot 5 and apparently did nearly perfect on his SAT's, so here's why I love him.

     In his comedy special "What" he addresses the topics of gay marriage, religion, and rape in a song he says is written from the perspective of God. He talks about it in a way that's clear and he doesn't beat around any bushes. He says exactly what he thinks about how it's ridiculous that it has to spelled out that people shouldn't rape and how masturbation is weird but totally okay and how God created gay people but it backfired. He's funny about it and knows that there's a chance people will be offended but says what he wants to say anyway. He's completely honest and straightforward but in an interview at Duke he says that he can stand behind everything he says and that he never sets out to offend anyone. He even says that if someone were to approach him and say that they were offended or hurt by something he said in a performance that he would be apologetic and understanding about it.

     He also never fails to call people out on their bullshit whether it's just someone's beliefs that are totally out of whack or hecklers at his shows or the government or corporations taking advantage of people. In the song "Repeat Stuff" he talks about how music is made to prey on young girls who are "in love" with musicians in order to make money off of them, even though it's overdone and redundant.

     In the song "Sad" he talks about how sad it is that there is racism and sexism and war while also acknowledging that he can't possibly know how that feels because he's a privileged white male who doesn't have to go through any of it.

     He makes fun of himself constantly.

     He's punny. Just watch "I'm Bo Yo" or "New Math" which are some of his older songs from Youtube that are basically just joke after joke and pun after pun.

     He sings nearly everything. He puts all of his jokes and everything he says to some catchy tune on a piano which makes it even better and he's so creative in the way he does it.

     The moral of the story is that Bo Burnham is an awesome, hilarious, smart comedian and musician and you should go watch his videos so you can laugh and be happy and thank me later.

Awesome Mash Up Covers

     I hardly ever come across mash ups of songs that are actual covers that I really like but I've come across a few lately that are worth sharing and here they are with links to the Youtube videos.


Blank Space/Style by Louisa Wendorff

This one is super popular and Taylor Swift herself tweeted it, so if you haven't seen it yet, you need to.

Cool kids/riptide by Less is More and The Queen and King

Home/Dirty Paws by the Gardiner Sisters

Love Story/Viva la Vida by Tanner Townsend

This is a little different than the others and there aren't vocals but it's awesome and I feel like I could play it in the background of my life forever and always feel good.

We Can't Stop/Price Tag by Megan and Jaclyn Davies

Taylor Swift 1989 by Sam Tsui and Kurt Schneider 

This is every song on Taylor Swift's 1989 album and it's incredible and so impressive.





Thursday, January 22, 2015

What I've Been Listening To


     All of the music here is on Spotify because I've given up on any other form of listening to music now that I have Premium. Some of it is lesser known stuff that I've gotten into and some is really well known that I just really like so I recommend giving them a listen.


Alt-J

I am completely OBSESSED with the Lido remix of Left Hand Free.

Chiddy Bang

Every song by Chiddy Bang is guaranteed to make me happy.

Hoodie Allen

Make It Home featuring Kina Grannis is one of my new favorite songs along with Fame Is For Assholes featuring Chiddy.

What So Not

I'm obsessed with High You Are (obviously) and every remix of it plus Love Theme is one of my favorites.

Portugal. The Man

I could honestly listen to the song "Sea of Air" for days at a time and not get tired of it, and I do.

Peter Bjorn and John

Apparently their music has been on Grey's Anatomy and in the movie 21, which I did not know until just now. I haven't listened to a ton of their music yet, but I have yet to find any that I don't love.

Walk the Moon

The Live from Spotify version of Anna Sun is really awesome.

Wild Belle

I have the entire album "Isles" saved on my Spotify and I don't ever remember adding it or listening to it. But I really like the album now and Spotify calls them folk, dance, reggae, psychedelic rock-tinged indie pop, which is a bit of a mouthful and kind of weird. It's good though, I promise.

The Lushlife Project

I always find myself falling asleep and waking up to the song "Wurlitzer." It's really relaxing and kind of reminds me of Nosaj Thing.

Zhu

I first heard Zhu because 3lau used the song "Faded" in a mash up and since then I just love all the songs on The Nightday EP.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Ranking Of All The Concerts I've Seen

Going to concerts is one of my all time favorite things to do and I wish I could go to every single show I hear of, but unfortunately, my bank account and my school schedule don't really allow that. I've been to some great shows regardless and I've been to some decent ones and these are them.


1. Flume

I went to this one kind of spur of the moment with a couple friends and I am so glad I did. It was in a huge indoor space and there were different levels and I was right in the middle of the floor and there were about a million people, by my estimate. The lights and everything about it was just amazing.

2. Weezer

I went to Weezer at the Mandalay Bay beach pool and got to just sit in the sand and hang out in the water while they performed and they were great, of course. It was the chillest, most easy going show I've been to.

3. Iggy Azalea

I've never been as excited for a show as I was to see Iggy. I had planned it months in advance and went with a friend who was just as in love with her as I was and it was on the rooftop Cosmopolitan pool on the strip. Although she made us wait two hours before she finally came out, her performance was well worth the wait. The whole thing was choreographed very specifically and it worked so well and was just so entertaining the whole time.

4. Blink-182

I saw them also at the rooftop pool and they not only played amazingly and played all of my favorite songs, but they were funny and interacted with the crowd a lot and Travis Barker played an insane drum solo.

5. 3lau

I saw 3lau at Juice Jam, which is a music festival that Syracuse holds every year. I had never heard of him before the announcement of him playing Juice Jam, but I love him now. It was outdoors in the middle of the day with thousands of other students and my friends and he got the crowd involved so much throughout the show. I also learned that the pronunciation is "Blau" which is his last name.

6. Sum 41

They played Extreme Thing a while back which is a big music festival in Las Vegas and they played toward the end of the day in a big open field. I stayed near the back but even from far away it was still cool. They were just coming out with a new album at the time so they played a lot of new stuff, but they still played some of the more familiar songs and it was awesome hearing the stuff I had been listening to for years.

7. Broods

This was another one I saw at Juice Jam and I loved them. They played the smaller stage and there weren't a ton of people, but they performed so well and were personal with the crowd and it was just a really good show overall.

8. Schoolboy Q (and Tinashe)

Yet another performance from Juice Jam. Although I wasn't really familiar with a lot of his stuff, everyone loved him and he got really personal with the crowd between songs. Tinashe did one song with him which was the best part, if you ask me, because I just love her and her voice. 

9. Childish Gambino

This one was another that was at the Cosmopolitan pool and quite a few of my friends went. I wasn't/still am not the biggest Gambino fan so I didn't know some of the songs, but he still played a great show and was really energetic and funny.

10. Goldlink

This one I saw for five dollars without having any clue who they were and just decided to go anyway. There were hardly any people but I was pleasantly surprised because the main guy was really energetic and got involved in the crowd and knew how to get everyone excited.

11. ASAP Ferg

He performed at Mayfest, which was during the day outdoors at Syracuse which is basically a big party, so it was a lot of fun. I don't listen to him, and I barely knew who he was at the time, but people were really into it.

12. Dillon Francis

Also at Juice Jam, he was not my favorite. The music was good and it was a lot of fun but it was at the end of the day when I was tiring out and he didn't engage the crowd at all.

13. Trippy Turtle

This guy played with Goldlink and I had never heard of him before. He was a little strange, but the music was cool and different and you could tell he was having a great time.




Sunday, January 18, 2015

My Favorite Song Covers

     Narrowing this down to ten was quite the challenge because there are so many covers that I love, but these are the best of them so far. Some of them are really slow and soft and some are a little more upbeat. I found most, if not all of them, on Spotify and I highly recommend listening to all of them.



I think I've posted this song in another list but I LOVE this cover so much it hurts. It's easily my favorite cover of any song ever.

2. Toxic by Yeal Naim

3. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by STRFKR

4. You're The One That I Want by Lo-Fang

5. Bulletproof by Melanie Martinez

Her song, Carousel is the theme song for AHS Freakshow and her covers are seriously just wonderful. She also has a cover of Skinny Love by Bon Iver and one for Toxic by Britney Spears that I love.

6. Come As You Are by Yuna

7. Addicted to Love by Florence and the Machine

8. Tainted Love by Hannah Peel

9. I Shot The Sheriff by N.A.S.A and Karen O.

This one is really interesting. I don't really know how to explain in a way that will do it any justice but it's pretty upbeat and very different from the original.

10. What Is Love by Kiesza








Friday, December 5, 2014

10 Songs I Recently Discovered On Spotify

     I basically collect any playlists on Spotify that I think even sound moderately good and I spend way too much time searching through them so all of these songs are songs I've found on my indie and alternative playlists that I really enjoy and I thought I'd share.


1. The Suburbs by Mr Little Jeans

2. Gooey by Glass Animals

3. Que Sera by Wax Tailor

4. Delta by C2C

5. Polishing peanuts by Deluxe and Cyph4

6. Safe and Sound (Zion-I Remix) by Rebelution

7. Space is Only Noise if You Can See by Nicholas Jaar

8. High and Low by EZA

9. The Party Line by Belle and Sebastian

10. Gasoline by Alpine






Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Songs For When You're Sad

     It's pretty rare for me to find myself listening to really sad or slow music because I tend to be more into upbeat music, but lately I've needed some sad songs to listen to and I've found some pretty wonderful ones.


Back to Black by Amy Winehouse

The first time I ever heard this song it was sang by a 14 year old girl at an open mic night at a coffee shop and not only was she amazing, but I completely fell in love with this song.

The Morning After by Meg Myers

Landfill by Daughter

Of course Youth is a great one, too.

Three Seed by Silversun Pickups

Skinny Love by Birdy

I love Bon Iver and pretty much any of his songs could be on this list, but I just love Birdy's version of this song.

Crazy by Daniela Andrande

This cover caught me completely off guard but it is so good. I just discovered her on Spotify ten seconds before putting her on this list and her songs are beautiful. She has a cover of Latch and one of Crazy in Love and I would recommend listening to both of those.

Seven Nation Army by Zella Day

I am obsessed with this cover, to say the least.

Sober by Broods

Breathe Me by Sia

Flightless Bird, American Mouth by Iron and Wine 

If you've seen Twilight, you'll probably recognize this song. I think it was played during the scene where they dance at prom. Anyway, it's a good song.

Monday, November 24, 2014

My Favorite Songs Right Now

In no particular order and without sticking to any certain genre, this is some of my favorite music that I've been listening to although I could go on forever if I let myself.


1. Warm Thoughts by Flume

Literally any song by Flume is amazing, though.

2. Your Soul by Hippie Sabotage

3. I Got You by Jack Johnson

This is on the album From Here To Now To You and basically every song on this album is perfect.

4. Soldier On by The Temper Trap

5. Dead Air by  CHVRCHES

This song is part of the Mockingjay Part 1 soundtrack, which is awesome as a whole.

6. You by Gold Panda

7. Fever by Peggy Lee

She made music mostly during the 50's and 60's so this song is really old and jazzy.

8. Welcome Home, Son by Radical Face 

9. Ghostwriter by RJD2

10. Sea of Air by Portugal. The Man

This is easily my favorite song they've done and it's on the album Evil Friends.




Monday, November 10, 2014

Taylor Swift, 1989

     If I had to describe Taylor Swift's 1989 album in one word, I would say it's clever. If you don't like it, you probably don't understand it (or you're just not into the sound or Taylor's music in general). In this album she addresses every issue that people have with her and all the flaws people point out in her and she uses them to her advantage. She makes fun of them and she makes fun of herself and all the ideas people have about her.

     Her video for "Blank Space" is totally outrageous and exaggerates every idea anyone could have of her. She makes fun of the ideas people have about her being a crazy girlfriend who dates every guy she comes in contact with just so she can write a song about them. In the song she says, "Got a long list of ex lovers, they'll tell you I'm insane, but I've got a blank space baby and I'll write your name." She's basically inviting people to call her crazy and if you want to join the list of ex lovers, she'll write your name on it.

     In the video, she starts out happily in love with a very attractive man and ends up tearing up his clothes and smashing his car Carrie Underwood style and ultimately killing him. She acts like a complete psycho and it's hilarious. She's totally embracing the idea that she's a crazy girl with tons of boyfriends and crazy, dramatic relationships.

     In this album, she's taking all the criticisms people have of her and completely embodying them, while continuing to do what she does and writing songs about her personal life. In "New Romantics" she says, "Cuz baby I could build a castle out of all the bricks they threw at me" and that's kind of what I interpret her entire album to be doing. She's taking all the negative criticism people give her and turning it into success. Not to mention, I just love the new sound. I've been calling it "Taylor pop" because I don't know how else to describe it. Basically, you should listen to it if you don't already.

Friday, October 24, 2014

Music I HIGHLY Recommend

Some of these artists I've known for a while and a lot of them are fairly new to me, but I listen to all of it. I'm constantly asking my friends if they listen to different musicians and I just feel the need to constantly share music, so here is some that I recommend from a couple different genres.
(PS. These can all be found on Spotify)


Cherub 
One of my personal favorites, this is two guys (Jordan Kelley and Jason Huber). They're alternative and upbeat and kind of funky and always put me in a good mood. One of my favorite songs of all time is theirs and it's called "Monogamy."

Broods
This is a brother and sister (Georgia and Caleb Nott) and I saw them live and they are just plain cool. Georgia is adorable and her voice is so pretty. They're kind of indie and kind of pop and awesome. "Bridges" is their most well known song at the moment.

Zella Day
She's not very well known, but she reminds me of a more upbeat Lana Del Rey, and although I'm not the biggest Lana fan, I do love Zella. She just came out with a new song called "Hypnotic" and it is just that.

Atmosphere
This is a rap/hip hop group made of Slug, Ant, and Plain Ole bill, according to their Facebook page. This is some of my favorite music. It can be really upbeat with songs like "Sunshine" and still be serious. I find a lot of it to be really motivating and positive.

MS MR
This is Lizzy Plapinger (MS) and Max Hershenow (MR) and they're kind of dark and kind of indie and difficult to describe. My favorite song is "Dark Doo Wop" and much like their other songs, is kind of foreboding and slow and the vocals are fantastic.

Nosaj Thing
Jason Chung is the guy who makes this awesome stuff. It's pretty electronic but so relaxing. My favorite song here is "Safe" and Kid Cudi used his song "Aquarium" for "Man On The Moon (The Anthem)."

Tycho
This is Scott Hansen and he creates some of my favorite study music. It's kind of electronic but also really ambient and just chill, for lack of a better word. I find it much easier to focus listening to this than anything else, but I can also fall asleep to it.