What I'm Listening to 12/10/13

1. Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys 
2. The Worst Guys - Childish Gambino ft. Chance the Rapper 
3. Telegraph Ave - Childish Gambino ft. Lloyd
4.  305 To My City - Drake ft. Detail
5.   Jah No Partial - Major Lazer ft Flux Pavilion
6.  Shabba Ranks- ASAP Ferg ft ASAP Rocky
7.  Rolling Thunder - Action Bronson
8.  Earfucked - Alex Wiley
9.  Pink Matter - Frank Ocean 
10.  Teen Spirit - SZA
11.  Dark Horse - Katy Perry ft Juicy J 
12. Pure White - Doughboyz Cashout ft Young Jeezy and Pusha T
13.   Attaboy - The Goat Rodeo Sessions
14.   Settle Down - Kimbra  

 

Watch out for this ...lame a** title

Major Lazer is comprised of the production trio of Diplo, Jillionare, and Walshy fire...yeah  I didn't know the names either when I first heard of Major Lazer, but when I listened to this song it definitely prompted me to do some research. It turns out that there is this electronic movement called Trap (praise the Trap Lord) , that has gained popularity during the last couple of years, and  Major Lazer seems to be one of the front runners. But enough about the artist, let's talk about the track. The song "Watch out for this" is off the album "Free the Universe" which was released in April, 2013. One of the things that sets Major Lazer apart from other artist of in the genre is their continuous homage to the culture of the Caribbeans, and mainly Jamaica. A lot of their songs have vocals from Jamaican artists, have Caribbean style beats, and this track is no different all. As soon as the song starts you're hit with half island half electronic beat coupled with this weird voice that kind sounds like humming and trying to talk at the same time.  Then you're hit with the most surprising thing in electronic (and especially trap) music, ACTUAL INSTRUMENTS. There is an awesome horn loop that repeats through out the song that fits perfectly with the upbeat dance vibe that the producers were trying to go for. Overall its a great track that fun to listen and dance to, check it out.

  

Its Got Me Addicted....

When you think of the name Amy Winehouse, positive things usually don't come to mind. While she was alive, her career was centered around the negative things in her life. Like a lot of artists, because her personal life was so scandalous, there was little mention of how she was an amazing artist who won 5 Grammys. This brings us to the track, "Addicted" off the album "Back To Black" which is about a girl who is annoyed with the fact that man she is having an affair with is smoking all her weed. Now at face value that seems kinda trashy, but the way she depicts this situation using her voice and her very distinct style, she makes a "trashy" situation beautiful. Another reason why I like this track and Amy Winehouse in general, is what's behind the vocals. The fact there's actually a real band behind her, and even sometimes solo breaks, is refreshing if you enjoy jazz. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy pop from time to time, but you just can't match the authenticity and feeling of a solo singer, singing with a jazz band.  Check it out and feel free to comment

Some Good A** Cheese Cake

Ingredients:

Crust
2 cups finely crushed graham crackers
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Filling
4 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, room temperature (not kidding)
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 pinch salt
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs

Materials:
Spring Form Pan 
Aluminum Foil
Sandwich Bags
 2 Mixing Bowls
A Baking dish bigger than your Spring Form Pan


Directions For Crust:
1. Preheat Oven to 350F and start crushing your graham crackers, use sandwich bags to not make a mess. Make sure you really crush the crackers down until they are crumbs 

2. When you have enough crackers, place them a bowl with the butter, salt, sugar, and cinnamon. Mix them together with your hands until the cracker crumbs get a little sticky.

3. To prepare your spring form pan, surround the bottom of it with aluminum foil to make water tight, Then press the crust mixture onto the bottom of the pan, make sure that it is spread evenly throughout the pan. 

4. Bake for 10 mins, then remove and let cool, then turn the oven to 325F

Directions For Filling

1. To make filling, cut cream cheese into pieces and add to a mixing bowl. Whip until smooth, maybe 4 minutes. Then add 1-1/3 cups sugar, and continue to beat until smooth again, another 4-5 minutes. Next, add vanilla, salt, sour cream and heavy cream; beat until smooth. Add in 1 egg at a time, beating briefly between each egg.

2. Pour filling over crust, then place the spring form pan in baking dish filled with boiling water. Before you do this, double check that your spring form pan is water tight. the water should go about one inch up the pan.

3. Bake for 1 hour 40 minutes   to 1 hour 50 minutes, then turn off oven and let it sit and cool in the oven for 1 hour (this is so it doesn't crack).

4. Cover loosely with foil, then let it refrigerate for at least 4 hours. When you're ready to eat run a knife around the edges then release the pan 

Believe me, this is some good a** cheese cake 

Thanks Table Spoon, and Tumblr 

  
 

You're the only girl that I have ever wanted.....

This beautiful arrangement  is by the rapper Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover or that black dude on Community. He's been around for awhile but people still aren't really hip to his stuff. He's one of the few rappers where I can say that I like 90% of the stuff that they put out. Although this is pretty different from his usual stuff, I'm surprised that this song wasn't that popular off of his album. In my personal opinion, this is one of the better tracks on Camp. I mean, the production is beautiful, you don't hear a string part like that in a regular rap album (just saying). Apart from the background, the lyrics are great too. The whole song is about a drunk guy confessing his feelings to the girl he loves, who doesn't like that?  I also like how the music goes a long with the lyrics in a way. As Gambino gets more into what he is saying as he's professing his love for this girl, the music gets louder and feels more tense, then dies back down after he's done. This song is definitely one for the ladies, and if you still live in the 80's and you think making an "I love you" mixtape is a good move, this would be a good addition.  I would definitely checkout this song, and all of Childish Gambino's stuff. 

      

My name is Giovanni Giorgio...but everybody calls me Giorgio

This song has everything you could want out of an influential electronic track. From the awesome interview with the godfather of disco, to the jazzy keys solo about 4 minutes in, to the heavy climax beginning with the orchestral sounds back into the main riff with a sick drum backing. Daft Punk is blowing up the charts with Get Lucky, but of all of the tracks from Random Access Memories, this one is the masterpiece. It has an incredible range of dynamic and emotion, with the vibe of the piece staying the same through the consistency of the melody, but the chill background music during the interview invokes a different attitude than the burst of energy it closes with. This work really engages the listener, which is not something most electronic music accomplishes.

Bump Alert: TNGHT's "Goooo"

Hey guys, I wanted to post another track that I thought was good to "bump" to. TNGHT is a pair of pretty talented producers named Hudson Mohawke and Lunice.  This track is off of their self titled EP released in 2012 consisting of five amazing tracks. I wanted to talk about "Goooo" in particular because it was the first song I heard by them. I would explain this song as a rap-electronic hybrid, although I get more of a rap vibe then anything else. The beginning of the track consists of a high pitched synth part that is sure to get the attention of anyone in the car. Then while still using the synth part, the song goes into this rap flavored beat with a ridiculous amount of bass (we had to turn it down so it wouldn't blow out the speakers).   Again I won't explain the whole track, but this is definitely one to drive to, especially if you have a good sound system.

                                                  -Tyler                  

Bump Alert: Hot Chip's "The Warning"

     I honestly am pretty late to the Hot Chips party, but I'm glad I showed up. As you will find out soon, I'm  into rap mostly, so they're pretty different from what I listen to. I think I found them while using "Songza" (an app you should defiantly get) and I was totally surprised by how much I liked the song. "The Warning" is off of Hot Chip's album with the same title that came out in 2006, and is the most relaxing, intimidating, and fun song I've ever heard.  It has a really nice intro using a bell set type sound that sets the tone for the whole song. Even with it's interesting lyrics, it still made me nod my head and feel pretty good about my day (you'll understand). Don't let this horrible review stop you from checking it out, it's a pretty good song...trust me.
                                                               -Tyler

   

First Post

Hey guys, The reason I made this lame ass blog is because I found that I was showing my friends new music  a lot. So I thought I might as well put what I found in one place, so people can find something new and just tell them to look there. This is mostly going to be stuff I think people should check out, new and old, mainstream and underground. Just anything I feel is good I'll talk about.
                                                                  -Tyler