2/10/2013

Fall Out Boy: Light Em Up

I know this might come as a surprise but I used to be a HUGE Fall Out Boy fan back when I was in high school. I listened to their album Take This To Your Grave just about a billion times. I loved their balance of pop and rock. Every song on that album was so catchy and really spoke to me.

Sadly, as I got older, with my music taste developing and Fall Out Boy signing to a major record label and thus making more commercial pop music, I gradually cut myself off from FOB. I liked a few songs on their album From Under The Cork Tree but I found the rest to just be filler And the following two albums just sounded like overly produced commercial pop/punk to me. So my relationship with the four band members from Chicago faded.

This week things may have changed.

Fall Out Boy publicly announced that they are coming out with a new album, Save Rock and Roll (bit of a douchie title if you ask me). The album is set to be released on May 6th. Based on their last two albums I didn't think I'd get too excited for a new album, but they released the first single off the album, and I actually really like it. The single, My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up) isn't a complete departure from their more commercial/ poppy ways but it still has a raw rock quality to it and I like the direction the song goes takes. I feel they are more adventurous and risky on the song. The more I listen to it, the more excited I get for the new album.

Plus, the entire video is of the rapper 2 Chainz burning their old albums and music equipment , you can't go wrong with that.


-Adam G

2/05/2013

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis: The Ceiling Cant Hold Us

I'm hoping that this is no ones first time hearing of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the Rapper and producer who hail from Seattle, Washington. I shouldn't even be posting their #1 hit, "Thrift Shop" because I'd just be embarrassed if you havent heard it yet. It may well be the catchiest song ever.

But anyways, for little info on the artist. Macklemore (Ben Haggerty) and producer Ryan Lewis have created an incredible hip-hop album with songs that are oozing with meaning and depth.  The album was not just an effort to make the top 100 list, as Macklemore's writing paired with Lewis' beats take hip hop music to a whole new level.

The dynamic duo don't shy away from telling everyone how they feel on various social issues on the album.  From homosexuality in the rap world, to drug addiction, to the pressures that come with signing to a major label. The variety of topics they address are so wide that they even have a song about baseball, highlighting the Seattle Mariners beloved announcer, Dave Niehaus.  Macklemore and Ryan lewis are going places.

Something I find so cool is that most of the guest performers on the album are Macklemore and Lewis' friends from Seattle. Keeping it local, Their Northwest Pacific pride is strong.










-Adam G