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Showing posts from January 28, 2018

2in1! JOYFUL/ Don't Stay- X Ambassadors Review(s)

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X Ambassadors... well, I have some mixed feelings about them. They range from kinda bad to kinda good, and almost at random. Their first album was decent, with their biggest hit (and one of their best songs) being made for a Jeep commercial. They released a few singles last year, the mediocre Torches, Hoping, and Ahead Of Myself, and one pretty good one, The Devil You Know. I was happy that last song is going to be on JOYFUl, their new and second album, as it's the only one worth listening to so far. Both these singles came out within a week or two of each other, so I decided to review them together. JOYFUL starts as a pretty basic piano song with a verse that seems like it was written out of a rhyming dictionary, and launches into a trying-to-be-uplifting chorus. The second verse is a bit better, with some okay, basic drums, but is ruined as all the horns and entire choir and organ come in. It seems like it's trying to be the peak of some neo-gospel song, but there'd

Paradise- George Ezra Review

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George Ezra was a massive sucess, for good reason. He's got an excellent voice, plays the guitar pretty well, and has extraordinary charisma. That being said, and european viewers will definetely know at least one of his top ten singles from his last album, which was a hit almost everywhere. He released the first single for his second album last year, Don't Matter Now, an okay song that never took off. (A side not- he also released a cover White Christmas, and mabsolutely killed it). Now he's released Paradise and announced that his next album will be called " Staying at Tamara’s". Paradise starts with the same kind of call and response verse, just like Don't Matter Now. This probably means that much of the album will have it, as the only two songs released so far had it. Sometimes that kind of thing works but sometimes it is way too clunky, but it works well enough in this case. The beat is of course a driving kick drum, setting the song up to be a pop ant

Weekly Playlist- Week of 1/21

Fire That Burns- Circa Waves Young Chasers- Circa Waves T shirt Weather- Circa Waves Homesick- Catfish and the Bottlemen Cocoon- Catfish and the Bottlemen Ride- ISLAND Paradise- George Ezra Apartment- Young The Giant

POST !O! - BEST SONGS OF 2017

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This is a major milestone for my blog, an eight month project that has meant a tremendous amount to me. I just can't express how much I've enjoyed writing about and listening to all this music, and if you're reading this I hope you're a returning reader, who I'm very grateful for. So to reward you (and mark this MOMENTOUS occasion), I've created a list (not in order) of my favorite songs that came out last year, picked from my previous reviews and playlists. Here we go... Turn- The Wombats You Get Me So High- The Neighbourhood Sigh On A Hurricane- Himalayas Baseball- Hippo Campus Fun- Sir Sly Ice Cream- Kyd The Band Mouth Of The River- Imagine Dragons Escapade- The Sherlocks Will You Be There?- The Sherlocks Live For The Moment- The Sherlocks (I had to restrain myself with this band, not putting all of their songs down was hard) Saturnz Barz- Gorillaz How Did We Get So Dark?- Royal Blood Caroline (I Can't Explain)- The Kents Dress / Undres

MANIA- Fall Out Boy Review

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No one can deny, MANIA(I'm not gonna spend the time to write out the whole name with the exact spaces) has had some serious trouble. It was delayed all the way to January of this year when the first single came out summer of last year, and there apparently a bit of trouble between FOB and Island(their label) over the way it was going to be done. This was shown in the forced quality of the first two singles, not fitting into a groove til the third, The Last Of The Real Ones, and the lack of any charting singles on the Hot 100. And honestly, I don't even hear it on 92.3, the most basic alternative radio station that doesn't try anything new, and plays only music by established artists like FOB. It even plays their old songs, and none of their new ones! So obviously, Fall Out Boy has been having some trouble. The album is pretty much one high-powered, grandiose arena blast, with a heavy pop punk influence but just as much pop and trap also figuring into the mix. Shouts, g

Lazy Boy- Franz Ferdinand Review

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Finally, more music by Franz Ferdinand! First they released Always Ascending, which was okay, then they released Feel The Love Go, which was pretty good, and now this! Well, it was good enough to warrant a preorder of their cassette, at the very least. The songs with an expectant bass, and then starts with some very vintage keyboards that feel like they were ripped from the abandoned set of an old B-movie, which is notable because it's the first major synth in single for Always Ascending. The others were certainly no stranger to synths, but the upfront, very electronic aspect of this really sets it apart. The vocals are almost taunting, and give way to a very vintage, powerful guitar. The guitar during the chorus onward is pretty good, but kind of takes away from the bass and doesn't follow a consistent, working sequence. But then the song ends remarkably quickly (it's half the length of Always Ascending), and doesn't really go anywhere. This song is okay, but real