My g-g-g-generation

As one of the original British rock bands, The Who defiantly doesnt disappoint.  Their R&B,  bluesy, and hard rockin' feel compare to that of a combination of both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. All four original members of the band, lead vocals-Rodger Daltrey, lead guitar-Pete Townshend, bassist- John Entwistle, and drummer- Keith Moon, all grew up with insanely different personalities yet still formed the band in London, England in 1964.

Their first studio album entitled "The Who Sings My Generation," mixes many elements to create a really good album that, in my opinion, surpasses The Stones first album by a mile.  The tracks on this album contain much better playing and vocals.  The headlining track, "My Generation," is by far one of the best on the album if not one of the band's best throughout their carrier.  The songs has great crushing chords and distortion from Pete along with one of the first prominent bass lines in Rock at that time.

Although The Who has their own original hard rock feel, they also pay tribute to one of if not the greatest rock band of all time, The Beatles.  In songs like "La La La Lies" and especially "The Kids Are Alright."  Both of these songs contain Beatles like harmony and melodies.  

Overall all of the early careers of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Who were all very different and diverse in their own ways, yet still managing to be similar and making pretty good music.

-Brooks Gonzales 

Swimming in the Orange Ocean

While perusing through music one day, I came across a group named Odd Future a rap group consisting of around 12 members including singer-songwriter/rapper, Frank Ocean.  I was intrigued, so I decided to check them out.  I had never heard of Frank Ocean before but he was featured on one of their tracks, "White," (link to song: White (feat. Frank Ocean)- Odd Future) and I figured why not.  After I listened to it, I realized I had been missing out on something huge.  
Frank Ocean, born Christopher "Lonny" Beraux, grew up in New Orleans, and was attending The University of New Orleans when hurricane Katrina hit.  Shortly there after, moving to L.A. eventually joining Odd Future and getting signed by Def Jam, releasing "channel ORANGE," his first non-mixtape studio album.  Ocean wrote and preformed all 17 tracks on the album.  

With his smooth, relaxing, and extremely melodic voice, the 62 minutes flies by.  The amazing album is very diverse, consisting of  songs like the upbeat and happier "Sweet Life,"  filled with observations of the modern world and its hardships.

To songs that honestly do not make much sense to me like "Forrest Gump," yet still have an insanely good intro and just flawless vocals. Forrest Gump- Frank Ocean  Others sounding like the hip-hop and R&B songs out now, preaching about strippers and money yet still sounding somber and almost depressing like "Pyramids."  Yet it seems that Ocean still seems to keep it classy, with his great writing and melodies.  

(There is a music video but....since the song is about a strip club....I decided that might not be the best idea to post on this blog, but feel free to check it out if you desire)
Overall I think Ocean is one of the best writers, vocalists, and performers of our time, yet because he is involved with the "underground" hip-hop scene, he might never get the full respect he deserves.  This is very unfortunate, in my opinion, because he really is that good.
-Brooks Gonzales 

To rock or to roll?

     Along with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones are considered to be one of the greatest rock bands of all time.  What I don't quite understand is why some people expect everyone to like either one or the other.  I mean let's get real here...they are nothing like one another.  The Beatles focused more on song writing, skillful and very precise vocals and playing, along with harmony and more mellow songs, while the 'Stones were a rougher, bluesier, and rockin' group using aspects of southern blues and R&B especially in their first studio album, "The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hit Makers)."  Being the music lover that I am, I really like both groups and enjoy listening to each groups music.  Something about Mick Jagger's voice just screams (sometimes literally) Rock & Roll especially with Keith Richards wailing on the electric guitar in the background like no one had seen out of a band from England.      

     On the first album released by the Rolling Stones, there was only one original song, "Tell Me."  And to be honest, I think it sucks...the notes don't sound in tune and I just don't like Mick Jagger's voice in this particular song.  Fortunately, the rest of the album contains great covers of famous R&B and rock songs, including the heavy use of the harmonica along with the guitar, in songs like Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," and Bobby Troup's "Route 66."

(Song starts at about 18 seconds.)    

Until someone can come up for an argument for why I can't enjoy both, I will, and hope other people do as well.

-Brooks Gonzales                               

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

Cover of their first album

What in the world is a Chiddy Bang?

Up to this point I haven't talked much about hip-hop, but I'm an avid fan of the genre.  One group that's not as famous as the so called "superstars" like Lil' Wayne or Nicki Minaj, (nothing against Young Money, don't get me wrong) Chiddy Bang is, in my opinion, outstanding.  Consisting originally of 4 guys out of Philadelphia, mixing techno and electronic beats with the sick and flowing rap verses, slowly worked its way down to the two men that stayed, Chidera "Proto" Anamege spitting out the verses and Xaphoon Jones (or Noah) mixing the songs and creating the beats.

 Proto and Noah

The group started to gain recognition with their break out song "The Opposite of Adults," acting almost as a satire to MGMT's "Kids." The song borrows the melody yet remixes it to sound well...more like a rap song.  The music video, although making me feel like I was playing NBA Jam, is simple yet still great.

This group strays away from most rap groups or rappers focusing only on money, women, or drugs, but still holds its own with the big boys getting rappers such as Shirazi and Big Sean to rap on tracks with them. Proto's flow in "Breakfast" and "Run it back" is outstanding, the fluidity of his rhymes is flawless with Noah's beats just as catchy as ever.

In my opinion these guys are definitely worth checking out, can't wait for their next album.

-Brooks Gonzales

Infestation...pt.2

Back to The Beatles.  The best selling band in all of history, with sales reaching numbers that are literally in the billions.  In England, The Beatles were a huge success, even possibly being considered the nation's number 1 export!  What was even more ridiculous was their coming to the United States on February 7,1964.  About 4 months before the release of their next hit album, "A Hard Day's Night."  Two days after arriving in Kennedy Airport in NYC to a crazy, screeching crowd  of around 3,000, the group of 4 preformed on the Ed Sullivan Show on the 9th of February.  The band drew in the largest viewing audience of that time, with over 73 million people tuning in.  

(Ringo, George, Ed, John, Paul)

The band sent crazed audiences to their knees as they arrived and performed at shows all over America especially with their number one song "I Want to Hold Your Hand," soaring to the top of the charts within weeks of its release in December of 1963 (obsession at its finest everyone).  Their appearance on the show launched not only "Beatlemania" but even the British Invasion, paving the way for other British artists and bands like The Rolling Stones and The Animals.  The Beatles played a huge role in how the music industry functioned and how people listened to music.  America will probably never see a reaction as the youth of the '60s and '70s toward The Beatles ever again...not even with the Biebes.  

 

(The girl's face at 1:09 is priceless)

-Brooks Gonzales

(Sources: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-beatles-mn0000754032)

This panda isn't sneezing

The White Panda is a "band" that's relatively under the radar, having made 4 full length albums mixing both electronic/ dubstep with Hip-hop and Rap music, even mixing some Classic Rock  as well. The group is made up of two childhood friends Tom Evans (Procrast) and Dan Griffith (DJ Griffi) who realized that they were doing the exact same thing at the same time; mixing freaking amazing music. They make many types of songs but most of them consist of mixing two popular songs together.

One really interesting song they've made is called "Kryptonite Island," which is a mix of 3 Doors Down's Kryptonite, and Pendulum's song "The Island." When I first heard it, I was pleasantly surprised mostly because I never thought that Rock and Dubstep could ever mix.  But somehow these two men do it...and do it really well. 

Another one of my personal favorites is a song called "Bittersweet Donald," consisting of Mac Miller's "Donald Trump" and The Bittersweet Symphony.  The song's mix of hardcore rap lyrics and peaceful and symphonic melodies flow really well to create an amazing beat for the audiences' pleasure. 

A really cool aspect about this band is that they not only mix hip-hop and electronic music together, they also incorporate some classic Rock and Roll as well.  Two really stuck out to me, one called "Tongue Tied Tiger," using "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, the other "Cold Overdrive," featuring Foreigner's "Cold as Ice."

These guys are great! The up-beat and energetic style of their songs are real pick-me-ups  and overall just really cool.  What's even better about these guys is on their website (conveniently placed right here http://www.thewhitepanda.com/music)  they give a link to a free download of all of their songs...uhhh yes please. Why not try them, I mean, it is free.

-Brooks Gonzales

Infestation?

The worlds' most famous rock group, The Beatles, has by far, for the first time, piqued an interest in me.  Although I've only fully listened to their first two albums, "Please Please Me," and "With the Beatles," they have quickly become something that I'd thought I'd never say, one of my favorite bands.  On  "Please Please Me" the group starts off with a kicking, up-beat, overall great song, "I Saw Her Standing There." The song hints to a more "rockin" sound with a prominent electric guitar as well as a Rock 'n Roll sound with Paul McCartney's rugged yet very tame lead vocals, with Lennon providing a solid background vocal.   

Another amazing aspect about The Beatles is that they unlike most rock bands of that time who had others write for them, they wrote the majority of their own songs.  One of my favorites being "It Won't Be Long," from their second album, "With the Beatles".  I'm not entirely sure why I like this song so much, but from the first time I heard it, I knew I liked it. Maybe it's the famous double-tracking of John Lennon's lyrics or maybe the harmonization of both Lennon and McCartney, I'm not exactly sure but that's besides the fact; this opening track is still great.

Not only could The Beatles write their own songs, they also covered many famous ones as well.  Some of which including "Roll Over Beethoven," first recorded by Chuck Berry, another being "Please Mr. Postman," (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8BPcNUQy-0) written by Robert Bateman.  The band also covered Motown legend, Smokey Robinson's, "You Really Got A Hold On Me."  All three of these songs coming from their second album "With the Beatles," all three taking a more bluesy and Motown feel contrasting other songs of theirs that are more centered towards rock or pop like "Please Please Me" or "P.S. I Love You," off of their first album.

(Roll Over Beethoven)

(You Really Got A Hold On Me)

I finally understand why they were so popular...

-Brooks Gonzales

Moon landing

Walk the Moon, a fairly new and up-and-coming band out of Cincinnati, Ohio, was made famous by their breakout song entitled "Anna Sun."  The band headed by front man Nicholas Petricca on keyboard, vocals, and even composing parts of the album, has caught my eye. (An actually talented band member in this modern age...who knew?)  The band's style is an alternative rock mix of Young the Giant, Imagine Dragons, and Of Monsters and Men creating an amazing arrangement of crazy falsetto verses (in my personal favorite song, "Shiver shiver") to hints at harder rock with more intense guitar licks in songs like "Lisa Baby" and "Next in Line," and "Jenny." "Jenny," another one of my personal favorites contains a more gritty aspect with more active guitar and background instruments, not just another "frilly" alternative song.

"Shiver Shiver"

"Lisa Baby"

                                               "Jenny" ------>












"Quesadilla"

Another unique aspect of this band is the electronic element with the use of synthesizer and keyboard in songs like "Quesadilla." Over all this band is an instant favorite of mine, and is really what got me into listening to alternative music. Very glad I found them!



-Brooks Gonzales 

Sources: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/nicholas-petricca-mn0002882149