8/8 - Give your reasons, say it's not her fault

I cannot even begin to explain how much I adore Robyn and her music. I honestly could have dedicated my entire blog to this Swedish electro-pop artist and had each post feature one of her unique music videos. No novice to the music industry, Robyn has been doing this since the age of 16, and, now aged 32, her sound has certainly grown with her. I first heard of her when the video for her hit song "Konichiwa Bitches" became somewhat viral. Her lyrics are punny, her voice is distinctive, her style is just so quirky and memorable, and all these factors made me keep coming back for more. And boy did she deliver. Her latest album Body Talk is as good, if not better than her previous Robyn (of which some of my absolute favorites were "Dancing On My Own", "Cobrastyle" (great video!) and "Every Heart Beat" in addition to "Konichiwa Bitches".)

In Body Talk, Robyn continues with the synthpop/electropop tracks coupled with touching, life-affirming lyrics to great effect. I could go on for days about how amazing each of her songs is but I'll keep it brief and let you listen/watch for yourselves:

Call Your Girlfriend

Indestructible

A note on "Indestructible": I love that the video shows sex in an honest yet still beautiful way, while the lyrics strike very close to home. To make this even better, there is an amazing Laidback Luke remix of this song.

7/8 - Now that's poetry in motion

For all fans of Derrick Comedy or the hit NBC show Community, if you haven't yet heard of Childish Gambino, you're definitely streets behind.

Donald Glover is the multi-talented actor, writer, comedian, and musician behind this stage name. His recently leaked album, Camp, set to be released November 15th, is promising to be as epic as his last EP, ironically/lazily titled EP. Indeed, his lyrics in Camp are as hilariously witty as before, and his experimentation with beats to complement his rap is, once again, very successful. Though Childish Gambino's style is reminiscent of many other rappers before him -- Kanye's cheekiness and creativity (Outside sounds very much like Kanye's Dark Fantasy), Drake's flow, Eminem's vocabulary, etc. -- he is unique and distinctive enough to be in a class of his own.

Though I am definitely loving this new release, it would be nice to see some growth in his work: he can't and shouldn't stick to his current tried and true formula, namely the barrage of punny cultural references and sexual innuendos with a few quality lines, for the rest of his career. So far, his subject matter has not changed much from album to album but I do hope he finds new topics to cover in his future releases.

In any case, do check it out for yourselves: the entire album is available for listen on NPR.

Some of my favorites so far are:

Bonfire

LOVE the beat in this one; also the twist ending (if it can be qualified as such):

Heartbeat

I particularly like how he actually sings in this one as opposed to just rapping:

Kids (Keep Up)

6/8 - Every note carved into musical history

Today I'll be blogging about a guilty pleasure of mine: Epik High. Though this group, with members Tablo, Mithra Jin and DJ Tukutz, is from Seoul, it does not partake in the mindless, generic music that South Korea's pop industry churns out like a well-oiled money-making machine. On the contrary, Epik High's music is far from superficial: they cover various social issues while testing out different ways to showcase their lyrics. Indeed, this hip-hop group pushes the musical envelope and has tracks that range from soft rock, more mainstream rap, old school hip hop, RnB... in short, Epik High has songs that can please any audience.

I say that they are a guilty pleasure because, well, I've mostly only liked their more mainstream, pop-y stuff. Though they are really not too shallow by South Korean standards, such songs as One, Wannabe, and Run are simply too... mainstream. Furthermore, the majority of the group's work is in Korean and so, to me, liking a song without understanding what it's about is too superficial and thus, these songs, though excellent, cannot win the top spots in my Epik High favorites based on catchiness only.

However, quite a few years back, my friend linked me this song of theirs that actually has English lyrics. From their book album, Map the Soul (魂), released on March 27 2009, this song, of the same name, is a perfect example of Tablo's poetic skill and lyricism which, combined with the old school hip hop vibe, make this one of my favorite songs of all time. 

Map The Soul (Worldwide Version) (ft. MYK and Kero One)

This second song, off their fifth studio album Pieces, Part One is quite different stylistically from Map The Soul but has the same great witty lyrics and musicality.

Breakdown (Supreme Mix)

5/8 - I know it sounds crazy but so is life

The first time I listened to Cage, I immediately fell in love with his distinctive rap. He articulates his rhymes in a characteristic angry, lamenting tone that almost makes him sound insolent. This, combined with his dark lyrics, work surprisingly well together and are definitely factors to his success. His most recent album (released in 2009), is relatively troubling when compared to other contemporary rappers' superficial subject matter. Indeed, Depart From Me, is said to be one of his most personal albums and once again delves into his harrowing childhood: a drug-addict father, an abusive stepfather, a history of drug abuse, suicidal tendencies, a stay at a psychiatric hospital... In any case, these experiences give his music that extra amount of depth that many others lack.

I Never Knew You (directed by Shia Laboeuf of all people)

Captain Burnout

Cage has also quite recently been featured in one of my favorite songs off Kid Cudi's Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. Here's the video (short movie?) for it, also directed by Shia Laboeuf (what is with that kid..)

Maniac - Kid Cudi ft. Cage

4/8 - I'd rather be a comma than a full stop

A week ago the British band Coldplay launched their new album, Mylo Xyloto. It was much anticipated by fans all over due to the promising summer teaser release of the album's first single "Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall".

I personally didn't at first like this song too much since I prefer Coldplay's older, pre-synth, work. However, the video is really fun and colourful, and Swedish House Mafia's amazing remix of the song eventually got me hooked on it. The only other song I've listened to off Mylo Xyloto is Paradise and, once again, I am enjoying a remixed version much more than the original. Though this may be partly due to my renewed house music phase (depressing weather calls for happy, insouciant music, no?), Coldplay's overuse of synths do make their songs much more suited as club remixes. All in all, as always, a very promising album that will surely do well on the airwaves and on music charts worldwide.

Paradise (Fedde Le Grand Remix)

3/8 - And I was told once, things will change

Drake has been making headlines (heh) recently with his latest musical offerings and I was personally quite pleasantly surprised. Take Care (which was set to be released today, on his birthday) promises a lot of maturity and growth, and, though many of the songs are very similar in terms of beats/vibe, the lyrics do somewhat make up for it. Drake weaves storylines into his songs: tales of loss, heartbreak, homesickness. Here are some of my favorites:

Marvin's Room

Club Paradise

The Real Her (ft. Lil Wayne)

2/8 - It's just verbosity to me

There is probably irony to be found in the fact that the band of Montreal is not actually of Montreal but rather from the city of Athens (not the capital of Greece), Georgia (not the Eastern European country).

Regardless, this indie rock band has been around for more than a decade now and, hipsters will be saddened to know, the group is finally getting some recognition on a more mainstream level. I first discovered them through their cover of one of my favorite MIA songs, "Jimmy" and immediately fell in love with their other songs. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what their musical style is but a Beatles influence can definitely be discerned. Do give them a listen and judge for yourselves:

Jimmy cover


A Sentence Of Sorts in Kongsvinger


Don't forget to check out my Twitter! :)

1/8 - It's kinda dangerous to be an emcee

A friend of mine recently found out that we both like Mos Def a lot and recommended that I check out his collab work with Talib Kweli. I had high expectations about any joint work from these two hip-hop legends and I definitely was not disappointed. Here are two of my favorite:

Definition

Thieves In The Night

 

Also, do check out my Twitter with which I will be tweeting about every inane and insignificant event in my life! (Not to sound cynical but though this assignment is very unusual and quite interesting, I don't think it's that great to encourage more people from this generation to master ways to be even more self-obsessed)

0/8 - MGCR331

FIRST POST!