Grime, U.K. genius.

Alright, a new week (or so), so here's a couple of guys who have been tickling my musical fancy lately.

Lady Sovereign!


I have one question; When did she get so cute? Seriously folks.

So she's part of a London scene called Grime, kind of a combo of hip-hop, UK garage, and house music. Good stuff.

Here's some more, this dude's name is Akala. Sorry for the terrible video


This stuff is some of the best rap I've heard in a long time. It's got great, complex beats, amazing lyrics, and boy can those guys flow. (Damn I'm white.)
Still though, here's one more, then to another topic.

Dizzee Rascal - Old Skool


If you like what you hear, I suggest you check out the wiki page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Grime_artists these guys are all amazing.


So, on to Kool Keith, founder of the Electromagnetic MCs. He also goes by Dr. Octagon, and Dr. Dooom. Just great. Anyone who calls themselves the Back Elvis has got to be delivering something worth note, and he does not disappoint.



damn, just so good.

This is all really what I look for in rap. These guys (and girl) all have strange, complex lyrics, beats with some real musical quality, and great style. And they're all just sort of weird, and everything comes together so well.

So since this was so dedicated to hip-hop, next week will either be metal, or folk music, I really haven't decided.



And I was Tagged by the lovely Claire, so off we go;

1. Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you
dislike with a question of your own invention; add a question of your own.

2. Tag eight other un-tagged people.

LET'S DO THIS!

What is your current obsession?
Lady Sovereign! When did she get so cute?
(check the above video)

What wore you today?
School, canisius, and tooooo much Diablo 2


Do you nap a lot?
I'm really not too much of a napper, but every once in a blue moon.

Who was the last person you hugged?
My friend Claire (faboomadness.blogspot.com)

What’s my favourite dinner?
Macaroni & cheese, when I make it.

Or Roast beef. Just so good...

What was the last thing you bought?
Pizza. Which I'm eating. Sauce is on my keyboard.

What are you listening to right now?
Lady Sovereign! Again, she got cute!


Kool Keith!


What is your favourite weather?
Light breeze, around 70 or so. Boring summer weather.

What's in your bathroom cabinet?
-Pills
-Toothpaste
-Thermometer
-My old plugs


Say something to the person/s who tagged you.
Claire; Not a huge fan of the shoes, sorry!

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be?
Manhattan, most likely. Or Chicago.

Favorite vacation spot?
Either New York, or anywhere sunny.

What is your favourite tea flavour?
Jasmine Pearl, with lots of honey :)

What would you like to get rid of?
This nagging pain in my stomach...too...much...pizza...

What did you want to become as a child?
First it was psychologist, now I'm pretty well settled on rock-star-psychologist.

What do you miss?
Nothing specific really, better days I'll say.

What are you reading right now?
Lies My Teacher Told Me. I can't remember the author, and the book is in my backpack.

What's your favourite brand of jeans?
No specific. Any that fit well.

What designer piece of clothing would you most like to own (new or vintage)?



Would I live my life differently to how I do now?
Not really. I make mistakes, but at least I know how to handle them. If I changed how I lived, I'd probably lose that.


My question is:

If you could learn anything, from anyone in history, who would it be?
Bass, from John Entwhistle of The Who.
Best there ever was.

Auto-Tune: Herald of the Musical Apocalypse?

Auto-tune: Herald of the apocalypse?

We've all heard the auto-tune before.

It's that wonky machine that made Cher's song "Believe" so damned interesting.



Expect here's the important part;

When Cher used the Auto-tune, she used it to make one of the weirdest harmonies ever, by singing in third intervals to the auto-tune corrected voice.

Then there's the man I believe to be the not-so-metaphorical horseman of pestilence in my musical apocalypse.

T-Pain.


Hey T-Pain! I hate you!

Yeah. I said it. The auto-tune works by taking whatever you sing, and correcting the pitch to preset notes, which is an imperfect science, so thats where we get the electronic sound from.

This is fine when used sparingly, like Cher's hit, or Snoop Dogg's "Sexual Eruption"

But T-Pain, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and all the other rappers who are using it to build whole albums, and create their own "Style", need to just go away.

The problem is, anyone can use an auto-tune. You can just speak into it and it works.

Here's an example.



Kanye is actually just yelling at the guy, but the auto-tune is making him sound like he's singing.

This is it's demonic capability.

BRING BACK THE BLUE NOTE!'

So I'll leave you with some good music, and some rappers who HAVEN'T SOLD OUT.

Phi Life Cypher - "Babylonians"


Mr. J Medeiros - "Constance"


Ohmega Watts - "Stay Tuned"

Is The "e" Necessary?

Firstly, if my last blog confused you, count yourself in the majority.

secondly, MASTODON!



CRACK THE SKYE! (hence the comment about the "e")



And Adam, don't argue semantics about the "e" comment, because I know you will.

I got the album last night, listened to it all this morning while waiting at the hospital to get my leg x-rayed.

Amazing. Five stars. It's so damn good.

Here's "Oblivion", sorry that the sound quality isn't great.



I'm a big fan of Mastodon, and this really elevated them to in the top 5 for me.

On another note, here's Taco (yup, that's his stage-name) with 1982's, Putting on the Ritz, his rendition of the classic



Hope the black face doesn't offend, that made the original video very controversial, and this is the uncensored version.

Adam; I already listen to Primus, and I'm not a Gentle Giant fan. (Don't bring it up to my dad, he's virtually obsessed with them).

And leaving on a nice Irish note, here's The Tossers with "Sibhoan"



Enjoy you ungrateful bastards.