Jidenna - Classic Man (remix)

Artist:  Jidenna (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Song:  Classic Man (remix)
Album:  Classic Man (remix) Single
Genre:  Rap, Hip Hop
Language:  Strong

I figured what better way to follow Kendrick than with the classiest rapper in the game coupled with the added bonus of Kendrick having a feature, eh?

Jidenna, aside from being one classy brother, is also a fantastic rapper.  I came across him through Luke Cage and I've really been a fan since then.  Like, the dude released his full album finally back in February, and it's filled with that slick little twist of Rap and R&B that he's so good at.

This video isn't as good as Kendrick's visually, but I'll have more time to look for a solid one tomorrow since it's way too late for me to be up right now.

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Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE.

Artist:  Kendrick Lamar
Song:  HUMBLE.
Album:  DAMN. (2017)
Genre:  Rap, Hip Hop
Language:  Strong

I remember when I first saw this video I thought I would save it for some sort of theme week about fantastic music videos, but unless I come up with a great one for tomorrow I don't think we're gonna swing that.

For real though, the video is just a work of art and you can't deny that.  The whole thing is a mess of jokes and fantastic camera angles layered over one of the best Rap singles to be released this year.  Take a second to watch it the whole way through.  The tiny globe in the :40 area, the Last Supper in the 1:18 area, the flames at 1:31, the camera angles at 1:56, the Grey Poupon commercial joke at 2:10, it's all so great.  Just freaking watch it, ok?  Kendrick's the bomb.

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Meek Mill - Wins and Losses

Artist:  Meek Mill
Song:  Wins and Losses (2017)
Album:  Wins and Losses
Genre:  Rap, Hip Hop
Language:  Strong

So back when I actually cared about whatever Drake was doing I saw that he and Meek had beef for some reason.  I don't really know why they did, but you better believe that I sided with Drake for no good reason.

Because of that for the last 4 or so years while I was starting to get into Rap in general I mostly ignored Meek's music.  Today though I saw a Spotify banner that just said "Meek Mill is Back".  Assuming he had put out a new album I decided to check it out.

Turns out he dropped an album in the end of July, and it's actually really freaking solid.  I'll share the intro with ya since I really enjoy harder tracks, but the whole thing is worth a listen, so check it out if you're a Rap fan.

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Dorothy - Raise Hell

Band:  Dorothy
Song:  Raise Hell
Album:  ROCKISDEAD (2016)
Genre:  Rock

So I recently joined a band outside of the noise that my brother and I like to create, and one of the artists that our singer really loves is Dorothy.  I've never heard her before this, so I did a little listening to get familiar with the sound that she was after.

My main takeaway from Dorothy's sound is that it's kinda like the cool Classic Rock grind without actually being old music.  Retro is the wrong word since that makes people think of like, 80s design and such, but it's like retro Rock while maintaining elements of new stuff.  I'm rather content with how it sounds, hope ya like it.

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Alestorm - F*cked With An Anchor

Band:  Alestorm
Song:  F*cked With An Anchor
Album:  No Grave But The Sea (2017)
Genre:  Pirate Metal, Folk Metal
Language:  Strong

I'm so freaking angry right now.  I had planned on doing a serious (or as serious as Alestorm gets) song, but then I saw this godforsaken band had a new album.  I mean, I was pleased for a second, cause I like hearing new music, but then I heard the most Scotish song I've ever heard in my life.  I can't even deal with this, this is straight BS and I need some help.

Like, I was hoping for a song that was a pirate twist on the Cannibal Corpse song F*cked With A Knife, and instead I have this stupidly catchy song that I will forever think of when this band comes to mind.

I can't really be surprised either, cause this is just their freaking Scottish attitude showing strong like I guess I should expect.

But yeah.  Alestorm is a generally great band.  Pretty typical Folk Metal with a heavy pirate/nautical slant.  Enjoy.

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Eluveitie - The Call Of The Mountains

Band:  Eluveitie
Song:  The Call Of The Mountains
Album:  Origins (2014)
Genre:  Folk Metal

Here's a much more calming vocalist for you to listen to.  Eluveitie has 2 vocalists, one male and one female.  The dude is a screamer, and the chick sings.  Both of them are fantastically good at what they do though, and they blend really well.

Then there's the godlike selection of instruments.  You get bagpipes, a hurdy-gurdy, violin, harp, a selection of acoustic instruments, and various other wind instruments.  It's a ragtag mountain of things that you wouldn't generally see in a Metal band, but these guys majorly make it work.

This song doesn't have a hurdy-gurdy in it, but it does have all the other instruments I mentioned.  You'll want to watch near the end to see the (whistle? pipe?) solo.  It goes on for a surprisingly long time and highlights the players lung controll.  It's not something that you see too often in the rock scene.  You get people who are great at guitar, bass, drums, and maybe keys, but wind instruments don't usually get featured.  Jazz, Big Band, orchestral stuff, that's where you see the greats of that stuff.

Plus on top of all this it's a band with an aesthetic.  I'm a sucker for bands with a solid aesthetic.

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Ensiferum - Axe Of Judgement

Band:  Ensiferum
Song:  Axe Of Judgement

Album:  One Man Army (2015)

Genre:  Folk Metal, Melodic Death Metal

Ensiferum describes themselves as a Melodic Folk Metal band.  That would mean that they're a combo of Melodic Death Metal and Folk Metal.  This song specifically is much heavier toward the Melo Death side of things, but don't let that scare you away.

I was really happy when I came across these guys.  Partially cause they're just good, but also because I really do love some good Melo Death.  I actually worked to narrow it down between three different songs cause while I was shuffling though I kept finding stuff that was just fantastic.  Like, this is a fantastic band that is rather underrated.  That's the issue with Folk Metal though, a lot of people write it off since they hate the idea of mixing Metal with anything.  Freaking elitists.

And if this song isn't your speed, check out some of their other songs.  They have a plethora of music that's a lot more laid back and folk-like than this.

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Korpiklaani - Vodka

Band:  Korpiklaani
Song:  Vodka
Album:  Karkelo (2009)
Genre:  Folk Metal

I feel like for every few actually good song I give you guys I need to throw in one that's objectively bad.  Now I don't mean to imply Korpiklaani is all bad.  I'm shuffling their music while I write this and it's honestly pretty solid stuff  Thing is though, it's way more down the path of Alestorm and all their jokes than it is a band like, Eluveitie who actually take what they do rather seriously.

Does this mean we can't enjoy these guys though?  No, not at all.  They're a blast when you're in the right mood, and for me that right mood happens to be right now.  Enjoy!

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Týr - Hold The Heathen Hammer High

Band:  Týr
Song:  Hold The Heathen Hammer High
Album:  By The Light Of The Northern Star (2010)
Genre:  Folk Metal, Viking Metal

I mean, I really hope nobody minds this, but I'm gonna be on a bit of a Folk Metal kick for a couple days.

These dudes fall a little more on the Viking Metal side of the spectrum, but they do still count for what I want, so here they are.  A heavy staple of the genre is the high fantasy setting.  Norse mythology is heavily referenced at most all times and there's the central theme of triumphing through battle.

I love it.  Either you have the selection of nifty instruments featured that don't belong in Metal traditionally, or you get Power Metal esque face melting solos like these guys.  Take the time to enjoy them, I think they'll grow on you.

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Finntroll - Häxbrygd

Band:  Finntroll
Song:  Häxbrygd
Album:  Blodsvept (2013)
Genre:  Folk Metal

Honestly, I don't know why I don't post more Folk Metal.  I feel like it's something a lot of people can reach some sort of middle ground on, ya know?  Like, it still has screaming in it, but all in all the music itself is a lot more tame and "tolerable" than most Metal stuff tends to be, yeah?  Plus I feel like the best way to introduce somebody to a band is to make them watch a solid music video.

When I first heard these guys, it was this video.  My brother and I were watching a mountain of Folk Metal music videos and this one happened to come up.  Fell in love instantly.

Remember, visuals count a ton when showing people new music.

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The Notorious B.I.G. - Dead Wrong

Artist:  Biggie Smalls, aka The Notorious B.I.G. feat. Eminem
Song:  Dead Wrong
Album:  Born Again (1999)
Genre:  Rap
Language:  Strong

So I've been working on an old school sounding rap beat today a little.  It's nothing like the style of this song, but it's heading in this direction.

While Biggie never actually met Eminem, nor did they even record the verses in the same year, they work so well together.  I'm really sad that Big died before he could really hit his career stride, but we still have a pile of solid music from him, yeah?

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3 Doors Down - Kryptonite

Band:  3 Doors Down
Song:  Kryptonite
Album:  The Better Life (2000)
Genre:  Rock

As a general rule I think Radio Rock is bad.  However, I have a story attached to this song.

Back when I was a wee lad and not too well informed on such things we were listening to music at a Christian day camp I worked at.  We were trying to pick a song to play as the kids came up to the area where we did skits.  One of the guys suggested we play Kryptonite and he was greeted with a, "We can't do that, that song is about how Superman is better than Jesus!"  Everyone was all "No it's not", but I was too young to know better.

Looking back, it was really freaking obvious that the song is not at all about that.  Like, nothing at all implies that.  I don't know how I didn't pick up that the most sarcastic guy was joking, but I didn't.  I listened to this song like, 5 times, trying to figure out where he talked about Superman being better than Jesus before I realized the joke.  I wasn't the most clever child.

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Sabaton - Night Witches

Band:  Sabaton
Song:  Night Witches
Album:  Heroes (2014)
Genre:  Power Metal

This'll be the last post containing any of the bs from my vacation, I promise.

I'm kinda pumped is all since I don't often run into metalheads out and about, and even less frequently do I find ones that we connect immediately on a band.  Well we as a group were walking back to my friends apartment and this dude, Dave, mentions that when he saw Sabaton he stood in a line that went like, down 3 or more blocks.  We happened to walk right past where he had been standing.

This caused me to tell him about when I had seen them in Cleveland and we shot the breeze about Sabaton for a bit.  We both agree they're one of the best live acts we'd ever seen and we traded favorite songs back and forth.  I was gonna post the song he had said was one of his favorites, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.  It was on Carolus Rex though, and was one of the ones that was in Swedish.

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House Of Pain - Jump Around

Group:  House Of Pain
Song:  Jump Around
Genre:  Hip Hop
Album:  House Of Pain (1992)
Language:  Mild

Speaking of bands that I heard while out and about, I was hitting up a Goodwill helping a friend get some furniture and this song was playing over the system.  Now I'm gonna be straight up honest, I had no clue these dudes were white, much less that they were Irish.  The more ya know, eh?

Fun song though, so enjoy!  Btw, I'm back home in solid internet land, so that's fantastic.

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Ed Sheeran - Shape Of You

Artist:  Ed Sheeran
Song:  Shape Of You
Album:  Divide (2017)
Genre:  Pop Acoustic

So while I'm in a coffee shop for the free Wi-Fi I figure I may as well just do some stuff with the songs that are playing over the system.

Cause like, while I may not care for Ed Sheeran he's not a bad musician and does deserve a little bit of a shout out for just being not total trash.  Like, I don't hate all of his music, but I also won't go and listen to him of my own volition very often.  I mostly blame the fact that I'm heavily entrenched in my avoidance of mainstream music as much as I can manage.

Since this is his big current single, obviously it's being played to death right now.  Still though, since it's not trash I hereby give it to you to enjoy.

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Imagine Dragons - Believer

Band:  Imagine Dragons
Song:  Believer
Album:  Evolve (2017)
Genre:  Indie Rock

My string of no internet continues strong!  It's been frustrating, but at least I have the fun of offline video games and hanging out with some cool peeps.  Mostly been playing boatloads of Terraria though, cause that's the bomb.

Here we've got another backup song because of it, so let's goooo

I heard this song last year when they were running that dope little thing with the music video challenge.  Or maybe it was early this year?  Can't really remember honestly and I don't care to research it.

Anyway though, they handed out a mountain of video footage and this song asking people to throw something together.  Having just obtained some access to Adobe's video software you'd better believe that I signed right up for that.  I didn't end up finishing at all, but that doesn't matter cause it was a blast to play around with.

Also the song is rather enjoyable too, so that's a double win, eh?

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Gucci Mane - Walk On Water

Artist:  Gucci Mane
Song:  Walk On Water
Album:  The Return Of East Atlanta Santa (2016)
Genre:  Rap, Hip Hop
Language:  Strong

So yo, I'm having the literal worst time with my internet situation.  I'm kinda working off of my phone as a hotspot and Sprint doesn't really do too great in Philly.  But you know what?  That's ok.  I'm having a blast with these dudes.

So I feel a little bad about dropping a Gucci track here since he just put out a new track and I can't even rate it right now, but that's ok.  Like, I really want to share it with ya, but so much for that.  Maybe next time so I can actually download and listen.

So yeah, back pocket song choice, but it's good anyway.

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