In this era, what I like to call the inter-blog state, I come across so many different genres of music that completely blow my mind. Some of you may remember our first Metalcore Monday with Ephixa and Stephen Walking, Deathstep... who would've known? These days with the discovery of pop-to-core I've grown to love hardcore again, but little did I know, the amazing electro infused sub metal that I've been groovin to is classified as post hardcore. Post hardcore, but when did hardcore end? Dumb question really, hardcore will never die. Thats the amazing thing, like all major genres of music, there are so many ways to take that sound and make it your own, thus post hardcore. Looking back to a very helpful list of artists I discovered I've been listening to and loving post hardcore for many years, ever since Alexisonfire I would say. It took a long time for me to figure that out really, but now that I know, research will be mine. Thanks to pop-to-core, I have all the post hardcore that I need for a week or two....
Post hardcore is in my mind the most creative and imaginative sub genre of metal/hardcore. Blasphemy you may say, but its true. No where else in this huge genre do you find the sheer variety as you do here. Sure you start off with your standard metal band, electric guitar and bass, a set of drums, acoustic or electric, and a vocalist that gargles razor blades before walking on stage to spit blood and hatred on those in the mosh. But when you take that tested and true template and add to it, synthesizers, drum machines, soft vocals, symphonies and strings it gives you a chance to spice up your music. One second the vocalist is screaming over blast beats and riffs so heavy my ears want to bleed, and the next the vocals are replaced with a secondary vocalist who almost could sing in a pop band. The guitars are swapped for a soft electro melody and a DJ is introducing himself right before it kicks back into some of the best metal I've ever heard. These are the bands that strengthen my love of hardcore, head their words.
Today I thought we'd spice it up a bit and have a kind of theme day. I know for me at least video games are a big part of my life, not quite as influential as music but gettin up there. Everyone has their own taste in music and games, but what if we smashed those tastes together? So today I thought why not showcase some of the great theme remixes and game based originals to hit the scene recently.
Our first today is a huge track from British Columbia producers Datsik and Excision, two of my favourite Canadian dubstep artists. This is a perfect blend of that industrial dubstep sound with an eight bit electro feel, I get the feeling this would make any games room or dance floor complete.
Our second homage today is to a game we all know, but may not all love, Tetris. I can't say I have the patience for it, which may be why I love dubstep so much, but speaking of dubstep this track is from a giant of the industry, Doctor P. We've heard a lot from him in the last few months as he's been doing a lot of work with Flux Pavillion (Anyone see the video for Bass Cannon?).
One thing that has been surprising me lately is the release of many amazing Zelda remixes, maybe it has something to do with the new game coming out for the 3DS or maybe cause we all love Zelda. This particular track is a Song of Storms remix by Mt Eden and Overkill, but head on over to "Here" for awesome remixes by Ephixa and remixes of those remixes by Nonelikejoshua.
Hello everyone! I'm sorry that today's post is so late, and I'm warning you now that it's going to be pretty short too. I may actually write a little bit more than normal...but maybe not.
Today it rained. Yesterday, it rained. Tomorrow...it's supposed to rain. I work with school groups at a provincial park, outside. When it rains....all hell breaks loose. Some school groups have 50 people, so when it rains EVERYBODY is inside the Visitor Centre, which really is not that large. It's loud and feels really chaotic. Needless to say, it can be quite stressful, and right now, I'm kind of cursing all this rain.
The song I chose for today has a strong country feel to it. This is not really my normal vibe (though I have nothing against the country genre), but there's a story. I was out for my friend's "Champagne birthday" last night. The bar sucked...it was a Wednesday night which meant Karaoke, and in our town, those old, creepy men and women take their karaoke very seriously. That being said, we ditched the bar after maybe an hour of what I considered torture, and walked down to the beach where the clouds had cleared away, and we sat under the gazebo (it was the least wet there) and someone brought their guitar. One of the birthday girl's friends picked up the guitar and started playing this song, in a wonderfully sweet acoustic fashion, and I kind of fell in love at that moment. For all you hopeless romantics out there...I did not fall in love with the guy. Just the song, the music and the words. That's all that's really important in life anyways.
So...after that huge mess of words, here's the song in all of its country glory. I hope you can find something you like in it. I watched the music video a couple of times, because I found the use of stop motion to be quite tasteful in this case. I do not always feel this way...
I would like to apologize once again for my lack of download. I'm sure you're all getting a little annoyed at me by now for this, but I have just not had a chance to look for any. Next week I won't be so stressed out (though I'll be equally busy), so maybe I'll be able to make better use of my time and actually find something I can give back to you.
Thank you for your continued support, because we wouldn't be doing this if it were not for you. You make it worth while.
Take care!
K.
Inspiration for the evening:
"We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut
Today although I only have about ten minutes to scrape a post together, I thought it should be something well worth it. Que this years Warped Tour Compilation CD, a two disc mix of choice songs by artists lined up for this years edition of the iconic concert.
Follow that link to one of my new favourite music blogs, pop-to-core. The page contains links to both mixes and the password for the files. This for me has been the single find that turned me back onto hardcore and metal music. Over the last week and a bit since I downloaded the mix I've run discographies from the same site for, Asking Alexandria, set Your Goals, August Burns Red, Taking Back Sunday, I Set My Friends On Fire, Abandon All Ships!, Against Me!, and Attack Attack! If that doesn't show you that my faith in hardcore has been revived I don't know what will.
So sorry for the short post, but you should have time to go through everything that mix has to offer. When you find something you like, do what I do. Search on pop-to-core and run the bands most recent album, then from there work back if you are really interested.
This is quite the monumental occasion. Our tenth Toxic Tuesday, and truthfully I'm annoyed I don't have time to do anything really special. Its again Monday when I am writing this, my mom had a great idea that just so happens to destroy any hope of publishing on time for the next couple days, she wants me to renew my first aid training. So Tuesdays post is going to be written quickly on Monday and Wednesday may not happen at all unless someone lets me know they want to write it. So before my mind is fried by whiskey and Minecraft videos lets get on with the bass!
Our first artist today grabbed my attention on one of my favourite blogs simply by combining the words remix and Marilyn Manson in one sentence.This is completely unprecedented, never in all of my internet adventures have I stumbled across a Manson remix, or at least a good one. And let me tell you this is the ultimate banger, with just enough of the original song to make me think liking Marilyn doesn't make me a homicidal artist.
Dom Kardashian, you have my ultimate respect for making this track, and Austria? Really? I'm a giant fan of all the talent these days, that is young talent. I mean this cat is 21, most of the rappers and Mashup DJs I listen to are still in college/university. It makes me think that we, the youth, can take over the music scene, no more classic rock in my car ladies and gents.
Let me pass on to you guys a little knowledge as it were. Drum and Bass, a combination of everything juicy about electronic music, and when I think DnB. I think Mt Eden, Chase & Status, Pendulum, and Spor. Jon Gooch, what a name, but considering you might as well be a Drum and Bass pioneer... your name might as well be Midas. Starting way back when Jon was introduced to electronic music by a friend, and from there started designing his own programs to create his own intensly creative music. This guy is even under Mau5trap with his electro house name, Feed Me. Not stopping there he's released music under the names, Unicorn, and Final Reckoning. This is who all us music junkies wish we could be like.
This is completely unlike me I know, but that album is only four tracks of electric goodness. A small amount I know, but damn, give this guy money. Its amazing really because way back when I only knew him as Feed Me, and it took me a long time to discover his DnB side, and I'm sad it took me this long. With as much fast paced snare breaking, bass filled, sub bouncing music as you can handle this is no artist to take lightly. Check him out, heck, check out everything he has done, now.
I should be working on French right now, but I feel as though you are all much more important than that, so I've got a couple things to say. To anybody who was looking forward to a post yesterday, I am so sorry. I meant to post something because MrFlawedLogic was unable to with his internet connection, but I just go too busy with all of the other things in my life. I am also apologetic because I have not had any time to find the downloads for these songs. If you want them, and don't want to work super hard, just use ListenToYouTube.
Our first artist today is Joshua Radin. I honestly know very little about him as I just discovered him on my friend's wall on Facebook earlier this week. I listened to some of his stuff, and I don't love everything. What do I love, however, is this song. Take a listen and decide for yourself what you think.
This next song is by The Gaslight Anthem. This song was suggested to me sometime this winter while I was in the middle of being stressed with summative assignments and studying for exams. I really quite enjoy it, and forgot all about it until recently when I was looking at my recommendations on YouTube. Again, I have very little information on this artist or the song, so I'll leave you to your own devices.
Last but not least, we have Alexz Johnson. Some of you may know her from Instant Star (that's where I first saw/heard her), and while I'm not a huge fan of the show (which has been discontinued), I really quite like some of the music there. This song is the acoustic version of the original, Darkness Round The Sun. I really like the lyrics and the melancholy feel to the song. For a little bit of background (surprise! I have some this time), at this point in the show, a young woman has just died, and Alexz (Jude) has gotten some of the people that knew her together on the beach away from the corporate music scene's service for her just to mourn her death in a more fitting manner. Alexz plays this song as a tribute to the woman who has passed away. I saw the episode, and it was actually quite a moving scene, considering the rest of the series. Anyways, I think I've rambled on long enough, so listen to it, love it and get it.
That's all I've got for you today folks, but I'd like to say sorry yet again for not being more organized. Thanks to everyone who checks in here frequently and even those who are first time viewers. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be doing this, so I hope you like it!
So you may think today is Tuesday, its actually Monday, I'm writing this early so I don't continue to miss days. I fear I'm losing you guys out there, our second month anniversary is tomorrow (... fourteenth right?) I'm horrible with dates. But the point of all this tired rambling is a quite serious realization that many of the blogs I follow, are shutting down, people don't have time to blog or read blogs for that matter. Its becoming less personal and more of a rush to appease the almighty viewers, hit them with so much music they forget everything they know. Well today I've decided to not give you any new artists, to not expand your musical views any further than I have already, today is the day to focus on new material from artists you should already know.
A big number one really, our first Metalstep Monday was a smash hit registering number two on the total pageviews chart as of today. But did anyone actually follow the links, like the facebook pages? If you had you would know that Stephen Walking dropped a new EP called Zombie Union this past saturday.
That link will take all of you that are as cheap or broke as I am to a free mediafire download of the EP. For those of you with pride and money, it costs two dollars on his bandcamp. I suggest you redeem me and buy it there, cause really... two bucks...
Our second recap here is of Drivepilot, hopefully you remember this amazing Canadian producer from a not so distant Suggestion Saturday and a bonus song a week or two ago. This is dubstep at its purest and as always I'm excited to find even one track for free.
His new EP, aptly named Ruthless is available for five dollars here, and the whole thing can be previewed for free here. I'm a fan of the direction he is taking at least with Ruthless, it seems to be drifting more towards metal with the classic strings I can't get enough of. If I hadn't wasted my money I would be right over onto his website grabbing everything I could.
For those of you who have been hiding under the proverbial rock, Skrillex dropped his new EP, More Monsters and Sprites. This one is a big one, containing his new songs Ruffneck, and First of the Year, as well as more remixes of his songs than you could possibly listen to in one sitting. Buy it here on Beatport for $17.43.
Personally I don't think anyone can even come close to the majesty of the original, but the list of those willing to try keeps adding up, and those two seem to be the best. Surf around you may be able to find the original mixes from the EP on a few blogs, given time I could find the links from where I got them. But that would take all the fun out of it.
I know, I know, I missed last Humpday, but excuses although lame, are mostly... I didn't have power... at all. So you will have to forgive me and just take this Monday post as an apology. I've been looking back, at the posts over the last month or two, and let me say... we haven't had enough hip hop. So here to change that are two amazing artists.
After chasing my whisky down with Red Bull, I decided to pull an ace from my sleeve. I've been sitting on this album for a couple weeks now, not because its mediocre, far from it, just because I had no idea where to slot it in. Chiddy Bang, a name you had better have heard of, or by george you need some lessons. Chidera "Chiddy" Anamege and Noah "Xaphoon Jones" Beresin, the best duo since The Lone Ranger and Tonto. As with alot of people my first Chiddy experience was "The Opposite of Adults" a stellar song, using samples of Kids by MGMT, truly an amazing remix, even without the vocals, but the icing on the less than fictional cake, is Chiddy himself. His witty vocals may be what drew me into hip hop way back when, and now I have nothing but praise for the man. Anyone who can balance university and a blooming career in hip hop, has my respect.
First off if you have allergies, you should've left a paragraph or so, and I can't be held responsible hives or musical tumors. With the disclaimer done, hit the play button and grab yourself a drink, cause I'm about to hit you with some knowledge. Back on April 28 Chiddy broke the Guiness world record for longest freestlye rap, the record was nine hours fifteen minutes and fifteen seconds... yeah, let that sink in. Over nine hours of un-rehearsed rhyming. He busted that record wide open, by five minutes and seven seconds. It takes a second to comprehend just how damn long that is, and after that was taped live at MTV, he dropped a single from his new album, way to let them get some rest eh? Anyway, the album above was released a month or so ago, and features artists such as The Knocks, Mac Miller, and many more. So kick back and relax, this is the Guiness Flow.
Our second artist today is from the suburbs of Norwalk, Connecticut, Chris Webby. We talked earlier about how hip hop needing more than a sick beat. The lyrics have to be something special to make it to my itunes, after all I pull in so much music its tough to want to hear it all. This guy though... in his own words, eats rappers for breakfast, and damn that sounds tasty. I'm a giant fan of what he did with DJ Ill Will and DJ Rockstar. Webby's Lab is by far the most fun I've had listening to an album. Although the subject matter doesn't really stray far from girls, sex, and drugs, etc, it really doesn't matter. Its tough not to laugh, the samples and beats are so retro it amuses me, hearing sound effects from Scooby Doo and other cartoons from my youth in a rap song. Its an experience. Add on the fact every mixtape he's dropped is available for free download on his website, all except the one below, which I recommend downloading first, just for a taste of the manic lyricism and A.D.D infused sampling, get it and love it.
Again sorry for the missed days, this week might be even worse as I will be away from home for a while, but I'm working on drum and bass, and alternative rock mixes, they will be uploaded sometime in the near future if anyone is interested. Also congrats to our 2000th viewer... who was either me or a viewer from Atlanta, Georgia, either way congrats. Keep posted folks, we have much more coming your way.
Alright, so MrFlawedLogic and I have been experiencing some ridiculously insane storms for our area over the last couple of days and it's looking like it might start raining again soon. Hooray for rain.
So the band today is a little more upbeat than I was planning on using because I JUST got informed that my friend from the States is coming up to visit in July and I am more than just a little bit happy.
The Kaiser Chiefs are a band that I've had my ear tuned to for a year or so, but have never really listened to much of. However, I recently heard them on the radio station I was listening to while driving to work with my friend, and I decided that I should probably put some more dedication into listening to them. I don't have much info (or any...) to tell you all about them, but I do enjoy their music, so I suggest you download it.
For downloads of a lot of their albums, I'm going to refer you to a post on another blog. Pop To Core has got so much music available, it is quite amazing. Feel free to browse around for some of the other stuff there. It's immense.
Check back in a week for some more music from my music library.
Today for me has been one of the few days I have had off to relax, its finally starting to feel like summer. I spent the morning and afternoon catching up on some reading and some games I haven't had the time to play, namely Bulletstorm and Brink. So to go with the offbeat kind of day I'm having and the fact that posting is falling way behind, I've pulled together two amazing artists for the newest installment of Toxic Tuesday.
Our first artist today is the incredibly talented Ross Edman, or Datahowler. Hailing from Dallas, Texas, with a history so long you'll have to take my word and head on over to his facebook page to read. Quick rundown though, starting from an early age Ross has learned all there is about instrumentation and music, playing in hardcore bands, designing cover art, and having his own music recognized internationally under many names. That kind of fame deserves more air time, but the blogs are eating his stuff up, and who really listens to the radio on anything other than the internet anyway?
This album is one of the many I picked up at my friends house on the weekend, I am eternally grateful for having a friend with a godly internet connection, and all the amazing stuff we won't go into here. This isn't our usual Toxic Tuesday material, with bass drops that liquefy brains and pop ear drums, this is the concentrated experimental side of electronic music. Full to the brim with as many sounds as you could think of, this is the Dr. Pepper of electronic music, and as always it only sounds like itself.
Hudson Mohawke, a confusingly spectacular name, if I do say so myself. Paul Birchard, is an electronic producer from Glasgow, Scotland. Continuing the feel of todays post, HudMo produces experimental electronic music of the highest degree.
I remember the day last summer when a friend of mine advised me my life wasn't worth living unless I looked up Hudson Mohawke, he sent me a song off of the above album, and even then with my musical talents and tastes no where near as refined, I knew it was something special. With lilting synths and choppy vocals flitting over a tune so complex it may take you many listens to understand the beauty of what you are hearing. But beauty it is. There is just a feel to this music, the boundary pushing, put a smile on your face beat that just makes you want to go somewhere, do something. It is musical encouragement, and I'm sure we all need it.
As a little update, I've been extroadinarily busy over the last few days with work and volunteering, not to mention I had my first day or two off with old friends in many months. Its good to take sometime and put everything back into perspective, for me that involved drinks and pistol ranges, minecraft and cold pizza, and I loved every second of it, but even then all of it would be nothing without music.
I did some work in the store my mom manages yesterday, while I was there I took a little trip and went to the mall, spent way more money than I had. Its amusing really I came for The Battle For Los Angeles by Rage Against The Machine, and walked out of the mall with what I came for, and cd's by Hey Rosetta!, Deadmau5, and the Beatles, as well as three books, the newest edition of PlayStation Magazine and Bulletstorm. In my defense its a bad idea to leave me and money alone in a place with stuff that I want.
For those of you that actually bothered either coming to the bottom of the page or enjoy reading my ramblings, heres a mix by SKisM, Never Say Die Vol. 7. Its two minutes shy of an hour, and again if you have the time, well worth it. The tracklist can be found here as it can be confusing trying to distinguish tracks after they've run continuously for an hour or so. Hope you enjoy.
Contrary to what my title says, it is not raining in my small town today. In fact, it is quite sunny, if a little on the chilly side. However, in my head there's always some form of struggle, and with that comes music which suits the mood, and it's often the stuff that I imagine would be great on a rainy day.
I came home this evening from a very busy week, and immediately started looking for some music worthy of being posted here. There are now a lot of things that I don't have done, but I feel like this is worth it for all of the fans out there. I am quite pleased with what I found, and impressed with where I found it.
Today's artist is featured this week on iTunes (at least for Canada). Austra is a Canadian band consisting of three members. This electro-pop band has been added to the "dark music" or "goth" classification. Katie Stelmanis was an opera student, and her voice is "powerful, bruised and otherworldly, it haunts these tracks, holding back in the shadows until it's time to provide its shock impact..." As such, it adds something to this music which sets it apart from other bands. Austra's songs have a rich and interesting sound which can take you away on a magical journey through the musicality and lyrics of the songs.
If you are interested in today's band, please head on over to Austra's website. There you will find a free download as well as links to Twitter, Myspace and even Tumblr.
I hope you enjoyed the post, and I would like to thank you for your continued support.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays always seem to be the easiest to write for, mostly because I always have more than enough dubstep kicking around, and a couple of friends of mine love sending me metal and hardcore. Today is no exception, we have two bands recommended by my old friend Ian, and a personal favorite. So strap on the neck brace and get ready to throw down.
The first band today is a five piece hardcore band from good ol' blighty, Asking Alexandria. I've known about this band for some time now, and just recently taken the time to download their newest album.
Metal can get old pretty quickly if you have any sort of musical taste, thats why Asking Alexandria is such an amazing mix of sounds and genres. You won't get very far into the album before you've heard, soft strings and pleasant electro, mixed with the screaming vocals so ingrained in hardcore music. Not much later you're serenaded with soft back up vocals and meaningful lyrics, driven forth by marching quality beats and neck ruining riffs. If you can't get enough, then hit this link for all their albums, absolutely free. As with the above link the password for the .rar files is, pop-to-core.blogspot.com, spelled exactly like that.
Theres really nothing like that patriotic feeling you get when you realize the band you're listening to is not only from the same country as you but the same province. Such is the feeling I get when listening to Baptized in Blood (shown on the right with the worlds largest dump truck).
Baptized in Blood are, in their own words, bringing dirty back, and somehow I think that might be a good idea. The vocals here go from screamo to a more gravely growling, more reminiscent of the heavier metal bands that we've had kicking around here on the Beat's. The entire album has that uplifting feel that only metal can convey, urging you to take everything faster and angrier. Definitely drop this into the downloads folder if you need help through the day.
Our last group today is, Farewell To Freeway, again local talent. Hailing from Guelph, Ontario, Canada, Farewell to Freeway is another healthy break from traditional metal.
Its amazing how much powerful music is hiding just down the highway, makes me wish I had some time to hit all the shows I'v been hearing about. Farewell To Freeway has a nice level to their music, balance almost, the low vocals and percussion are offset with higher guitar riffs and occasional keyboard work, its an awesome package, pick it up and run.
Again muchos thanks to Ian for the bands, sorry I only used two and a giant thanks to all the people that have followed us thus far, keep it up. for any of you interested Ian's band will be playing in July with a band you may remember from a couple weeks back, All's Quiet. Prestigious indeed. Check out the Facebook event here for all the details and see you there.
In this era, what I like to call the inter-blog state, I come across so many different genres of music that completely blow my mind. Some of you may remember our first Metalcore Monday with Ephixa and Stephen Walking, Deathstep... who would've known? These days with the discovery of pop-to-core I've grown to love hardcore again, but little did I know, the amazing electro infused sub metal that I've been groovin to is classified as post hardcore. Post hardcore, but when did hardcore end? Dumb question really, hardcore will never die. Thats the amazing thing, like all major genres of music, there are so many ways to take that sound and make it your own, thus post hardcore. Looking back to a very helpful list of artists I discovered I've been listening to and loving post hardcore for many years, ever since Alexisonfire I would say. It took a long time for me to figure that out really, but now that I know, research will be mine. Thanks to pop-to-core, I have all the post hardcore that I need for a week or two....
