after listening to the album end to end 3 times, and each individual song close to 10 times each, I'm really liking this album.
brief notes:
-it's noisy as fuck
-the majority of the lyrics are difficult to understand, but a lot of the ones you can hear are not as strong as they've been
-the ETID comparison via Jason Tate is evident really only in Vices
-Gasoline and Bought a Bride are both considerably slower than the videos of them playing live
-Bed is much more 'whispery' than it is live, which to me, is not a good thing
-The bass is alot more prevalent than in other albums
-expect alot of feedback and general loudness
-lots of Luca - like explosions, namely Vices and In A Jar
Track by track:
-Vices: the grainy sample that opens the album is extremely misleading. when it kicks in, it will scare the hell out of you, and the song itself will smash your face.
-Bed: Some pretty bad lyrics (the champ goes down like a clown in the second round) here and there, the lead guitar is nice, and I like the full-sung version (see: youtube) better than the whispers.
-At the Bottom: everyone's heard this by now. fits better into the album as a whole rather than a single song.
-Gasoline: a bit slower than the videos. basically nothing new from the videos, except for a section of feedback and noise at the end which sounds like...jumping...towards a train?
-You Stole: a slower song, kind of picks up at the end with a nice harmonized guitar section. the beginning oddly reminds me of Kevin Devine's 'Another Bag Of Bones'. It could just be me.
-Be Gone: More like an interlude to set up the 2nd half if anything. Jesse(?) sings...something with a killswitch like effect, which renders it indecipherable, all while a twangy guitar riff plays and a bass drum pounds in rhythm
-Sink: very strong track. very loud, and very good lyrics from what I can tell. The chorus is great. once we find out the lyrics, it's gonna be a fun sing along.
-Bought a Bride: nothing new from the videos. the lead guitar is very good, and the only difference is the intro riff has a chorus effect on it.
-Daisy: very odd song. begins with another soundbyte, of what sounds like a sermon of some sort. The metaphors in the beginning are kind of annoying, but vin wrote it... and I hate Handcuffs. There's also a weird clip of some little boy talking, which adds to the creepiness. the song gets better as it goes.
-In a Jar: Very interesting song. also begins with a twangy guitar. "We live in a jar we think the lid's the sky." lots of screaming. good song, also contains a lulling, old sound clip, that explodes into the chorus. one of the best tracks so far.
-Noro: very good song, but doesn't have the 'epic' feel that many thought it would. closes with the same clip that opens the album.
of course this is all one night of listening. things'll change.
"I'll admit, I: A: came here to see how stupid you are to have that phrase in your sig/as the name of a blog; B: came in here and bash rap with a fellow idiot"
Chances are, if you agree with that statement, you're either extremely stupid, or a conformist who struts around with ACDC and Led Zeppelin shirts from Target. See, if you sincerely don't like it, fine, that's understandable, but you probably haven't listened to the right rap. If you hate it, you're stupid and don't deserve an opinion.
"Alex, I'm slightly intrigued so far, but what is the right rap?"
Good, inspired lyrics, good flow, honest presentation, humble subject matter. Rap that isn't manufactured garbage, and isn't there to create a new dance, become a trend, or to make money.
Soulja Boy, I'm pointing at YOUUUUUUUUUU.
"Can you point me in the right direction to start out?"
A great example of rap at its best is in the early '90's. My personal favorite rap from this era comes from the group A Tribe Called Quest. Very insightful, meaningful, inspired lyrics. No guns, no violence, no garbage. Tribe's album The Low End Theory is by far one of my favorite albums ever. They tell stories in a poetic, flowing method, and are certainly ear pleasing. From the song 'Show Business':
"Yo, I gotta speak on the cesspool
It's the rap industry and it ain't that cool
Only if you're on stage or if you're speakin' to your people
Ain't no-one your equal
Especially on the industry side
Don't let the games just glide
Right through your fingers, you gotta know the deal
So Lord Jamar speak, because you're real..."
Even back then, there was a huge deal of bad rap among the good stuff, and the talented writers recognized it.
"But what about modern rap? It's all about fucking bitches and shooting other people!"
Yes, the shitty rap is about those things. How many rappers a year do you hear about on the news getting arrested for murder? One to two, every other year or so, MAYBE. Old school rap didn't suffer from this as much as modern stuff does.
"Alright we covered the 90's, what about the new millenium?"
One of the most talented rappers of this decade is Mos Def. From his song 'Mathematics':
"It's five dimensions, six senses
Seven firmaments of heaven to hell, 8 Million Stories to tell
Nine planets faithfully keep in orbit
with the probable tenth, the universe expands length
The body of my text possess extra strength
Power-liftin powerless up, out of this, towerin inferno
My ink so hot it burn through the journal"
Extremely intelligent, well thought out, rhymes well, flows well, everything.
Most mainstream rap is needlessly aggressive, as, going off the path a tiny bit, comedian Mike Birbiglia states in one of his jokes:
"Rap has changed a lot since I was a kid. It was so innocent! It was just like "Ribbity rap rap raptastic!" It's just gotten so arbitrarily aggressive you know? Rappers now are like "It's 2005 mofo!" And I'm like, you're mad about the date? You gotta pick your battles man, I mean, you get mad at that, no one's gonna believe you when you're mad at real stuff. You're like the boy who cried 'mofo'."
And he is correct. Most of it is pointless ramble about things that never really happened. Good rap takes on personal accounts of growing up in rough neighborhoods, the dangers of the music business, etc.
"Conformist prick! Everyone says old school rap and underground/non mainstream rap is the best!"
Hm, the word 'best' is subjective, in music, there's no such thing as best. But as far as my personal preference, there is very little modern mainstream rap I would consider 'good'.
Of course, someone out there is always gonna like Soulja Boy, and someone will always refuse to appreciate rap, listen to it, respect it, etc., and stick to whatever it is that they do like. Music is a huge, diverse medium, and you can't knock it til you try it.
G-Dog_666 wrote on Aug 27th, 2008 at 6:56pm : *retarded comment*
Alright, I see your point, but you don't have to be a twat about it.
The theme of this blog is a "hey, give it a chance" rather than "rap > all", so learn the meaning of the word elitist before you use in such a dumb fucking way.
"See, if you sincerely don't like it, fine, that's understandable, but you probably haven't listened to the right rap. If you hate it, you're stupid and don't deserve an opinion."
Read it. Read it again. Again. Got it yet? Probably haven't listened to the right rap. No elitism, no shoving my thoughts down your throat. The word hate is used in the sense that people say they 'hate' it because it 'isn't music', 'lacks talent', etc. I'm never one to think I'm high and mighty because I'm strongly opinionated and believe I can make a decent argument.
Do I truely give a fuck about who likes what? No, certainly not, people are entitled to their opinion as long as they have a reason, and aren't blind to what's really out there and don't make ridiculous judgments such as your own. And of course this would fuel arguments, that thought hovered in my head as I typed every letter of this blog. Do I care? No. Did I try to insinuate conflict? Never. Try pulling your head out of your ass and grasp the concept of this blog; don't knock it til you try it.
Step 1: Put your iTunes or equivalent on random. Step 2: Post the first line (ish) from the first 35 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing. Step 3: Have people guess what songs they are. Step 4: Bold out the songs when someone guesses correctly. Step 5: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is cheating 1. I saw, I smelled what he did to you, girl, and to be frank, the thought makes my innards curl. 2. Without a constant you lost all my words, never heard, the engine turned, now you're worthless, tied to this. 3. ______________, I'm carrying the wheel. 4. I can't believe it's been a year since I kissed my fears on their salty lips, and said to them, "I love you all." 5. Yeah, with guns still smoking, we're taking off the masks that we all wear. 6. Light up the moon. Scratching and burning pieces of you. 7. Love of mine, someday you will die, but I'll be close behind, ____________________. 8. You had my heart, and we'll never be a world apart, maybe in magazines, but you'll still have my heart. 9. __________, ____________, may I have all your eyes and ears to the front of the room if only, if only for one second. 10. Keep the noise low, she doesn't wanna blow it, shake from head to toe while your left hand does the "Show me around". 11. Well she's not bleeding on the ballroom floor just for the attention, cause that's just ridiculous...-ly on. 12. She loves me, she loves me not. My love was our decay. 13. And then you said a little more about your dreams like that was my call. 14. You're pulling out your teeth, and I'm the novacaine you pump in your cheek. 15. Please don't be technology, so I can turn up your love like some cold machine. 16. I've got shovels for my hands, anchors for my legs. Wings jut out my shoulderblades, I could go anywhere. 17. Interrupt this call, reasons seem to be incomprehensible, but it's not you or me, this is what I see. Something here is wrong. Someone here is wrong. 18. She said, "Don't, don't let it go to your head. Boys like you are a dime a dozen." 19. She was kissing someone who wasn't her boyfriend, she met him at a bar he, was a hot australian. She didn't mean to do it, but she liked his accent, and somehow I'm responsible. 20. Drink up, beautiful. I spiked your cup with angst, and a heart attack. 21. Open wide, space and time, distort the mind. Constantly, we dance in sheets, it feels so right to be so wrong. 22. Man, I promise, she's so self conscious. She has o idea what she's doing in college. 23. Love is a burning thing, and it makes a fiery ring. Bound by wild desire, I fell into a _______________. 24. My eyes can't believe what they have seen. In the corner of your room, you've stockpiled millions of my memories. 25. Can we last through the winter? The water's starting to freeze. The only one who remembers taking the wrong step, falling in front of me. 26. Slow down, this is slipping through my mind, this conversation has run out of time. 27. N-now t-t-throw your motherfuckin' hands, all the girls pass the weed to your motherfuckin' man. 28. ___________, that's a pretty face, the kind you'd find on someone I could save. If they don't put me away, well, it'll be a miracle. 29. Pinch history, feel the pinch blistering. Pinch me in dreams, 'cause I'm still not listening. 30. I owe you, don't I? A little light today, but tomorrow... 31. Go on, just say it. You need me like a bad habit. 32. I feel your heartbeat. Your pasty hands shake. I'll be every breath your trembling lips take. 33. Cut, cut, cut , cutting myself down to pieces. I'm too hard on myself, it would seem. 34. Ruthless, my style as a juvenile. Ran with a gang, slanged in the meanwhile, I'm banking. I specialize in ganking. 35. What's this on your iPod, tell me what you listenin' to, why you jumpin' 'bout his money, I ain't here, I mentioned you. Some are more blatantly obvious than others, but some are extremely easy. Good luck
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Alexishxc1337's blogs, last updated : August 30, 2009
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