Song of the Year: Frank Ocean - Pyramids

I posted this song earlier in the year, but I felt it fitting as the last song I post this year, to make it my pick from 2012's releases.

This is a modern masterpiece and I'm not going to into why again, just refer back to my earlier post.

Give Ocean's album, Channel Orange, a listen if you haven't already.

And watch out for this album to clean up at the Grammys

Pyramids

Daily Ghetto: Jay-Z - Nigga What, Nigga Who (Originator 99)

This is a producer-rapper Allstar combo - Timbaland producing for Jay-Z.

So many supposed Jay-Z fans don't even know about this, quite possibly his best song.

This song has Jay-Z rapping rapid-fire style over that nasty syncopated beat, you'll rarely hear speed like this from Hove on his more recent albums, which is a shame. Most people have grown used to hearing a more relaxed flow from him.

If you have not delved into Jay-Z's back catalogue, then you need to check out the album this song comes from, Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life - it's one of his best.

Nigga What, Nigga Who (Originator 99)

Daily Ghetto: Fam-Lay - Skrung Owt

Another Neptunes-produced song, this time from rapper Fam-Lay.
I have to say, this beat is so laid back, but so effective at matching perfectly with Fam-Lay's chilled out vocal delivery.

Unsurprisingly, this is another rap song about drugs, bitches and bling.
The video is shot to make it seem like the viewer is on a trip - along with the beat, it kind of works.

This is a good one to kick back to - enjoy.

Skrung Owt

Daily Heavy: Times Of Grace - Live In Love

So I'm back from my two week blogging holiday - busy with work and Christmas.

I'm returning with one of my favourite songs from last year.
Times of Grace is a side project of Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz and singer Jesse Leach.

With Adam handling all the instruments, composition and production, and Jesse on vocals, they produced one of the best metal releases of last year.

Much more melodic than most of their Killswitch Engage material, Times Of Grace had so many songs with catchy choruses, killer riffs and well written lyrics.

This song is my pick from an outstanding album - that opening riff is so chunky sounding and groovy, and Jesse Leach's voice is showcased very well in this song, going from soaring and powerful cleans to emotive screams.

This album has really set the bar very high for the next Killswitch release - hopefully they can match it!

Live In Love

Daily Heavy: The Saftey Fire - Huge Hammers

This excellent British prog-metal band put out one of my favorite albums of last year, Grind The Ocean, and this song just happens to be the highlight.

The riffing going on here in amazingly intricate. I love the way the song goes from very offbeat vocals and drumming into a standard rocky 4/4 that you can really groove to.

The melodic, clean guitars in the middle of the song make for a nice buildup to the epic ending.

The outro riffs are majestic - amazing syncopation of the guitars capped off by beautiful clean vocals.

Songs like this have to really be listened to a few times to fully appreciate what's going on.

If you like this I'd give the whole album a listen - top stuff!

Huge Hammers

Daily Heavy: Mudvayne - Not Falling

Mudvayne have consistently put out some of the best nu metal and alternative metal I've heard.
This song really showcases more progressive elements to Mudvayne's usual compositions.

For instance the first verse has a nice offbeat feel to the guitar and vocals as well as a supremely groovy bass line.

I love how mid-scooped guitarist Greg Tribbett's tone is, as well as how present Ryan Martinie's bass is.

Rock and metal bassists take note - Martinie is one of the best in the business - just listen to all the slapping and popping me manages to fit into the chorus behind that pounding guitar riff.

And then of course the vocals - Chad Grey has always managed to combine those insane screams with semi-dirty vocals so well and the two vocal styles are intertwined a lot in this song.

Mudvayne are really an essential band to listen to if you like Korn, Deftones or Slipknot.

There's something so visceral about this band's music - try listening to this song's chorus without wanting to headbang!

Not Falling

Daily Ghetto: The Game - How We Do

Back when 50 Cent and The Game were friends, they put out this banger of a track.

That Dr. Dre produced beat just pounds your chest hard and the bars that 50 and The Game spit are just on point.

Onto the video - yes!
Tha cars, tha hos, tha drank - I love it when rappers go full gangsta for a video like this!

Dre blazin, Game blazin, spinning rims and women in cages - it is arrogant and chauvinistic and I love it!

Some of the lines are so ridiculously simple, but you know you just want to rap them back: "50, UH! Bentley, UH!"

Blast this song before you go out and it will get you crunk!

How We Do

Daily Heavy: Evanescence - Bring Me To Life

I normally dislike female lead vocals in rock music, but when it's Amy Lee singing it becomes another matter.

This stands out as the most successful song from Evanescence's 2003 album, Fallen, because it won a Grammy Award, but I urge you to listen to the whole of the album, because it is truly amazing.

This song has all the elements that make radio friendly - but ultimately good - rock music.
Great use of dynamics between the chorus and verses, hard hitting and straightforward chord progressions, wonderfully composed (just listen to the strings in the background from the second verse onwards) and a super catchy chorus.

I'm not the biggest fan of the video actually - very contrived; so many modern metal and rock bands have done people falling in slow motion and I'm tired of seeing it.

That said, the song remains one of Evanescence's best to date.

Bring Me To Life

Daily Ghetto: Waka Flocka Flame - Hard In Da Paint

BRICKSQUAAAAAAAAAD!

Now that I've got that out of the way, I am finally posting a Waka Flocka song - and not just any song - tha muthafuckin anthem, Hard In Da Paint.

This beat hits so damn hard and gets me so pumped up. This is my gym hype song, my predrink hype song, my I'm about to go to a club and get crunk song. I'm sorry Lil Jon, but Waka Flocka's got hype songs on smash.

This song makes me want to hit up an Atlanta club and go frickin nuts when the DJ spins this banger.
Why on earth UK DJs have failed to pick up on what should be the song to replace Get Low by Lil Jon, is beyond me.

This is the song you need to listen to when you need to get hyped up for anything - I guarantee you.

Job interview - listen to this before and you'll smash it.
First date - listen to this before and you will have her inviting you back home.
Exam - pump this before you go in and then afterwards after you've murked it.

Seriously guys, forget "Carpe Diem", my life motto is "I go hard in tha muthafukin paint!".

Hard In Da Paint

Daily Heavy: Despised Icon - MVP

Coming from their most recent album, Day Of Mourning, MVP is a blisteringly fast downtuned maelstrom of a song.

Everything about Despised Icon songs are tight and malevolent sounding. The drums sync perfectly with the palm muted guitars. Pay particular attention to the drums in this song - death metal drummers are notably fast and very precise - even with tempos above 200bpm - which for the most part, this song maintains.

The breakdown in this song is particularly long, and I like that, because the tempo downshift actually makes the whole piece sound a lot heavier - listen to the grinding bass in the background as well as the growled, guttural vocals.

All in all Day Of Mourning is one of my favorite modern death metal albums, and not only is this song worth a listen - so is the whole album.

 MVP

Daily Heavy: Periphery - Passenger

What started off as a song for Misha Mansoor's side project, Haunted Shores, was turned into a song for his main band, Periphery.

The opening riff was written by Misha's bandmate, Mark Holcomb, and it kicks all kinds of ass.
The syncopation on those full, lush chords give the intro such an amazing bounce and groove.
I love progressive metal like this - it intrigues the listener so much more than the copious amounts of metalcore and deathcore coming out these days.

Periphery have released two albums and one EP so far - all their material is pretty mind blowing stuff and if you like your metal and have an open mind, give this band a good listen.

Passenger

Daily Smooth: Simon Webbe - Lay Your Hands

Here's a beautiful song from Blue's most talented member, Simon Webbe.

This is from his debut solo album from 2005, Sanctuary.

The mix of strings, acoustic guitar and the sample for the chorus are pretty straightforward, but this just serves to showcase Webbe's soulful and powerful voice.

I love how chilled this song is, and for that matter the whole of the album is very listenable.

Who ever said that modern boyband members can't sing....?

Lay Your Hands

Daily Smooth: Dru Hill - In My Bed

Sisqo, Nokio, Woody, Jazz - what can I say, Dru Hill are an amazing band, and to mark my first Daily Smooth post in what seems like forever, I had to bring it.

Sisqo sings lead on this song from Dru Hill's debut self titled album.

I've always loved Sisqo's voice (all you 90s kids should know the infamous Thong Song) but found out about Dru Hill retrospectively - I was only 6 years old when their first album came out.

This song is all about a woman that has clearly slighted Sisqo by cheating on him, and because this is R&B and not gangsta rap, singing a song about it is the preferred method of dealing with it rather than popping a cap in a muthafucka's head.

These rules however don't apply to R.Kelly (Just watch Trapped in the Closet to see what I'm referring to) - he'll draw his Beretta on you for looking at him the wrong way!

As for the video - wow just watch the dance moves and the attire.
Enjoy this 90s gem.

In My Bed

Daily Ghetto: 50 Cent - What Up Gangsta

It's amazing when you listen to an older, but critically acclaimed album, like 50 Cent's Get Rich Or Die Tryin' to remind yourself why it was so great and you are overwhelmed when every single song smacks it and you don't want to skip a track.

So today I had to post my favorite song from that album. 50 Cent spits some tasty bars over a fairly relaxed beat.

My favorite: "I had yo mamma pickin out ya casket"

Big up to 50, for being one of the few gangsta rappers who actually was a gangsta; you know there's some truth to his bars - unlike pussies like Drake and Lil Wayne.

What Up Gangsta

Daily Ghetto: Ghetts and Dot Rotten - Trained To Kill

Some deep grime music today.
I've posted some Ghetts on this blog before. Today's track comes from his 2010 mixtape Calm Before The Storm, and features one of my favorite newer MCs - Dot Rotten.

Ghetts tears up the verses as per usual - you can't mistake that rapid-fire flow for anyone else.

Best line: "I'm a serious guy, you're Borat"

Quality.

Trained To Kill

Daily Ghetto: DJ Khaled - I'm Thuggin

Taken from DJ Khaled's We The Best Forever, this song features Ace Hood as well as my favorite hoodrat - Waka Flocka Flame.

This song has some nasty bass and a horrorcore styled beat.

For a track with Waka Flocka on it, it is quite slow and relaxed - but Waka still manages to bring the hype during the chorus.

BRICKSQUAAAAAADDD!

I'm Thuggin

Daily Ghetto: N.E.R.D. - Lapdance

After a week of posting shred-guitar instrumentals I thought I'd change it up.

From the dirty guitar riff and heavy synth, this song has the signature groove and bounce you come to expect from a Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo produced song.

I love the blending of rock and hip-hop in a seamless way, something that very few bands can do well.

There is a really tasty drumline behind Lee Harvey's verse towards the end of the song.

For me this is one of N.E.R.D.'s best songs from their strongest album, In Search Of... 
It's worth giving the whole album a listen.

As for the video for this song - well it speaks for itself.

Lapdance

Daily Heavy: Racer X - Scarified

It doesn't get more 80s than this.
Racer X were a shred-heavy metal band centered upon my favourite guitarist, Paul Gilbert, and his insane instrumentals.

Gilbert is a neo-classical metal legend, second only to the musical genius that spawned the genre, Yngwie Malmsteen.

This song incorporates a lot of Gilbert's signature technique and tone - insane alternate picking, harmonic minor scales, that buzz-saw rhythm tone, long stretches and piercing pinch harmonics.

As far as lead guitarists go, this guy is my idol and if you are into 80s shred check out some of Racer X's back catalog - fantastic stuff.

Scarified

Daily Heavy: Scale the Summit - Bloom

This is how you make engaging instrumental music.
Scale the Summit forgo the use of a vocalist because frankly the melody lines Chris Letchford writes are so well phrased and expressive.

I love the clear prog influence on the rhythm section of this band and the use of exotic scales during the lead passages.

In my opinion the album from which this song comes from, Carving Desert Canyons, is an instrumental masterpiece - a journey through various moods and feelings.

Music as moving as this is invariably well thought out, and clearly the track arrangement for the album was given a lot of thought with regards to the impact it would have on the listener.

I urge you to listen to the whole of Carving Desert Canyons without skipping a track.
For now enjoy its opening song.

Bloom

Daily Heavy: Angel Vivaldi - A Martian Winter

Through my love of all things shred-guitar I happened upon this amazing guitarist.
He endorses Ibanez guitars, and this song was used in the background of a promo video for Ibanez's RG Premium line.

Eventually I found out that this song had come from Angel Vivaldi's newest EP, Universal Language, a 4-song shredfest which I'd encourage any fans of prog, shred or just fantastic instrumental music fans, to check out.

The video is, as with most of these modern solo guitar virtuosos, performance based.
There is a nice wintery theme running throughout which obviously ties in with the song's name as well as the feeling that it evokes.

Interestingly enough Universal Language apes the four seasons of a certain classical composer with the same surname.

It is good to see that modern metal guitarists can tip their hats to the past masters of composition.

Expect to hear some more fantastic shred tomorrow, until then, groove out to this killer song.

A Martian Winter

Daily Heavy: Andy James - Angel of Darkness

A while back I posted a Sacred Mother Tongue song. Today I give you the shred-fest that is Angel of Darkness, from that band's amazingly talented guitarist, Andy James.

I had to post the performance video for this song for all you budding shredders to fully appreciate how impeccable this guy's technique is.

Andy James, is for my money, the most technically proficient British guitarist at the moment, only guys like Guthrie Govan come anywhere close.

James writes interesting instrumental pieces and his third solo album, a self-titled, is well worth a listen.

Angel of Darkness

Daily Heavy: Killswitch Engage - My Curse

I'm posting this song from metalcore giants Killswitch Engage, simply because it is the song that introduced me to this amazing band.

Killswitch are one of the pioneers of the more melodic metalcore that is so popular today and have influenced countless bands that fuse clean with harsh vocals as well as those that use fewer breakdown-reliant guitar riffs.

This song come from their 2006 album As Daylight Dies, and really showcases former lead singer, Howard Jones', immense vocal abilities.

The groovy, bouncy verse riff is one of my favorite to jam along with and there are some tasty harmonies towards the end of the song.

Expect a lot more from KSE on this blog.

My Curse

Daily Heavy: Chimp Spanner - Clarity in Chaos

Chimp Spanner aka Paul Ortiz is a master of prog metal composition.

He's a UK based multi instrumentalist, who self produces his albums.

This song comes from 2004's Imperium Vorago and has one of the tastiest, grooviest riffs I've ever heard.

His odd-timed soloing in this song is very reminiscent of Fredrik Thordendal's, from Meshuggah.

Paul is a phenomenal talent, and does the UK metal scene proud.


Clarity in Chaos

Daily Ghetto: YC ft. Future - Racks

YC is one of these awful new rappers in the vein of Soulja Boy, who just repeat the same lines over and over again - and keep the same basic flow no matter what.

As autotuned to death this song is, it is so damn catchy. The beat has been sampled by countless other rappers for their mixtapes - and the official remix with Nelly, B.o.B and a few others is worth listening to.

A Georgian accent plus autotune yields some almost unintelligible bars. Nevertheless, put this on when you are getting in the mood to go out clubbing and it will get you crunk.

Racks

Daily Heavy: Chimaira - Six

Chimaira, with the classic lineup you see in this video, are one of my favourite bands and gave one of the best live performances I've seen.

The perfect synergy between Mark Hunter's brutal vocals, the interplay between the guitars throughout the song and Andols Herrick's precise drumming, make this 9 minute epic a must-listen.

There are some unusual sounds in this song's intro - it's a theremin (look it up) - played by Mark Hunter, giving the song an eerie start before the crushing guitar riffs commence.

The composition of this song is outstanding. The groove riff of the chorus is Machine Head inspired, and you can almost feel the Slayer-like verse riffs pounding your chest when you have this song cranked up.

The melodic guitar parts in the middle of the song are the highlight for me as a fellow guitarist.
Rob Arnold is a master of writing harmonized guitars and his lead lines throughout this passage are engaging to listen to.

You have to listen to this middle section quite a few times before you fully appreciate all the guitar and bass overdubs going on. It is very intricate.

And then comes the breakdown at the end. What can I say? When I saw Chimaira live, the audience went nuts at this point, and quite frankly I don't know how you cannot want to headbang at this point.

The studio video comes from Chimaira's live DVD, Coming Alive, which is well worth a watch.

Six

Daily Heavy: This Or The Apocalypse - Subverse

This Or The Apocalypse are one of my favorite new metalcore bands and their debut album Haunt What's Left,  was produced by Lamb of God's drummer, Chris Adler.
Needless to say it sounds fantastic.

The drumming in this song is the standout for me and the guitar solos are tasteful and melodic.

The video falls foul of all the metalcore video stereotypes - breakdown cam, earthquake cam, synchronized headbanging and guitar flips, kick drum cam, gang vocal close ups and a seemingly nondescript industrial location.

Enjoy the song however.

Subverse

Daily Smooth: GOOD Music - Mercy

After a long blogging hiatus I'm back.

No more messing around, banging music everyday!

I'm marking my return with one of the biggest tracks of the summer - coming from Kanye West's collaborative album with his labelmates on G.O.O.D. Music, this song has some of the nastiest bass I've ever pumped through my speakers.

Pusha T, Big Sean and 2 Chainz feature on this banger but for me Kanye's verses towards the end of the song, during the breakdown, steal the show.

The album from which this song comes, Cruel Summer, is fantastic - production is spot on, as we have come to expect from Kanye. I will be posting more from it in the coming days.

Enjoy this big one!

Mercy

Daily Ghetto: Tempz - Next Hype

OH SHIT!!!!!

Teeeeeeeeeeemmmmmmppppzzzzz!!!

Ok now that I've got that out my system, those of you that follow my blog knew this was coming after the JME post a few days ago.

This song has become the song that UK DJs play to get a club pumped.

Everyone screams the line "Won't get none of your CDs back".

I know all the words to this grime anthem and when the alcohol is flowing and this comes on I go nuts, skank out hard and spit Tempz' furious bars at the top of my voice.

Let's not beat about the bush, Tempz is fundamentally a rubbish grime MC when compared with the likes of Kano, Wiley, Skepta, Ghetts and Devlin, but for this song and this song alone he has earned himself grime immortality.

The video - WOW!

Tim Westwood at the beginning and his par table always crack me up, and then Tempz just goes off.

I love how low-rent the whole thing is - set on an estate, fake fighting, Tempz working out in the gym and they couldn't even afford an HDTV to match the line in the song - classic.

You've got to give it to Tempz for looking like a hench, scary mofo you wouldn't cross, but then at the same time sporting a high-top fade, a Pars R' Us t-shirt and skanking out like someone's just jabbed him with a shot of adrenaline.

Next Hype

Daily Smooth: Kendrick Lamar - Swimming Pools (Drank)

I stumbled upon Kendrick Lamar from some of his features on songs like "The City" by the Game and "A1 Everything" by Meek Mill.

His rapid-fire flow and clever lyricism impressed me, so when I heard that he was set to release his major label debut album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, I had to check out its lead single.

Swimming Pools is a synth-bass laden, laid back hip-hop song, with a catchy hook.
Kendrick's insane flow really comes into play in the second and third verses.

I'm keen to hear the rest of good kid, m.A.A.d city - it drops later this month so keep an eye out for it.

Swimming Pools (Drank)

Daily Heavy: Aiden - Die Romantic

Who remembers when emo was in vogue and bands like My Chemical Romance, Aiden and Fall Out Boy were the flavour of the month?

Amazing to think that this was in full flow about 7 years ago - key releases like Aiden's Nightmare Anatomy came out in 2005 along with the phenomenal From Under The Cork Tree by Fall Out Boy.

Today is my favourite Aiden song from Nightmare Anatomy.

Die Romantic is the song that introduced me to Aiden and has a killer intro riff and breakdown.

The video is so typically emo it's become somewhat of a checklist for what an emo band video should look like:

Dyed black hair, obscene fringes, black nail varnish, a tramp, playing contrasting white and black guitars outside a church, the signature emo guitar flip and fringe headbang, angst-ridden teenagers, copious amounts of facepaint and eye shadow, breakdown camera (this is when the camera shakes like there's an earthquake going off during the heavy bit), suicide, oh and Wil Francis wearing bondage gear.

This really is a product of its time - enjoy!

Die Romantic

Daily Ghetto: JME - CD Is Dead

JME is part of the UK's biggest grime crew at the moment, Boy Better Know.

This song pairs him with the infamous Tempa T (don't worry, Next Hype will be posted later this week!)

JME goes hard on this track, his signature machine gun like flow tears through the heavy beat.

Tempz does what he does best - skanks out hard in the video and shouts "CLEAR! SMASH!" sporadically towards the end.

Expect to see more from JME and the rest of the BBK crew on this blog - Skepta, Wiley and Frisco songs will be coming soon.

Don't get parred DERKHEAD!

CD Is Dead

Daily Heavy: Emmure - Rusted Over Wet Dreams

Emmure are part of the slew of deathcore bands that followed the lead of Suicide Silence.

This is one of Emmure's more melodic songs - i.e. one where they are not chugging the crap out of the lowest guitar/bass string all the way through.

There is nice layering of the guitar riffs and drums.
I feel that after their debut album (from which this song comes), Goodbye To The Gallows, Emmure's music has gone downhill and become very predictable.

This is the material that is worth a listen and it's a shame that Emmure have started to use the excessive breakdowns in their songs to fill out their live setlists and more recent albums.

Goodbye To The Gallows is where it's at as far as Emmure goes - enjoy one of its best songs.

Rusted Over Wet Dreams

Daily Ghetto: The Game - It's Okay (One Blood)

Today I'm posting my favourite Game track.

This song has the hardest beat - play it through a system with a massive sub and you'll hear why.

Since The Game dropped his first album, The Documentary, and back when he was a member of G-Unit, I was hooked. He's one of those distinctive rappers, who has such a signature flow and voice that you know it is him when he features on a track.

This song came off The Game's second album, The Doctor's Advocate, and Game goes in - he calls out 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Lil Jon and the Atlanta rap scene as well as Jay-Z.

This song disses Game's old record label, Aftermath, and is a West Coast anthem.

If you don't understand how crazy the beef between The Game and the other members of G-Unit got, then check out some of the freestyle disses that were fired back and forth between these guys - there are no holds barred. This song barely scratches the surface of it.

Enjoy a deep one, from one of the West Coast's best.

It's Okay (One Blood)

Daily Heavy: Sacred Mother Tongue - Two Thousand Eight Hundred

You guys may have realized by now that I love metalcore.

This band, to my ears, are like the British All That Remains. The riffing and song structure are very similar.

This song combines all the pedal-tone riffs you come to expect from this genre, a nice mix of screamed and clean vocals, a tasty guitar solo from guitar god Andy James and then a brutal, mean sounding breakdown that makes me want to fight somebody after I hear it.

This is a very old Sacred Mother Tongue song and their new stuff is better written in my opinion.
These guys are definitely part of British metal's revival along with the likes of Evile and Rise To Remain - check them out!

Two Thousand Eight Hundred

Daily Smooth: Frank Ocean - Pyramids

I must admit after hearing the song Swim Good from Frank Ocean's EP Nostalgia/Ultra, I was hooked. As a composer and songwriter he is incontestable among modern artists.

This song is unusually long for an R&B artist, clocking in at over 9 minutes. But for me this is the pick of the bunch from Ocean's first album, Channel Orange. 

The intro leads beautifully into an almost bassline-style drop to kick the song off. The song's hook gets repeated a lot but it is catchy and the synths and beat keep the listener interested and the song moving. Ocean's smooth voice is predominant during the verses and the song is capped off by a subdued, but perfectly fitting, guitar solo from none other than John Mayer.

This is well written, well composed and well produced music right here.
Any of you oldies who think that modern music sucks, then this sort of song proves that it does not, even if it gets distilled by all the chart rubbish from the likes of Justin Bieber and One Direction.

Listen to the whole of Channel Orange if you can - it is fantastic stuff - in the meantime enjoy its best track.

Pyramids

Daily Heavy: August Burns Red - Composure

August Burns Red are one of the many metalcore bands that came out in the wake of the almighty Killswitch Engage.

With their odd time signatures and killer riffing, ABR manage to sound unique in a now almost over-saturated metal subgenre.

The drumming in this song is off the chain and the guitars are tight and midrangey.

The lead work towards the end of this song is tasteful and the final breakdown is mosh-pit inducing.

Enjoy listening to one of modern metal's best bands.

Composure

Daily Ghetto: Meek Mill - A1 Everything

Here's one of my favourite artists from Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group label.
Meek Mill features heavily on MMG's Self Made Vol.1 and his Dreamchasers series of mixtapes have been top stuff.

This song comes from Dreamchasers 2 and features Kendrick Lamar (who goes so hard in the second verse).

Meek raps about how he fucks the best hoes and drives the hottest whips - there's no message here, just a heavy beat and pure bragging.

Put this on in your car and you'll feel like a bawz.

A1 Everything

Daily Heavy: In Flames - Sounds of a Playground Fading

So today we have the title track from melodic death metal giant's, In Flames, most recent album.

A lot of older In Flames fans will notice that this album is the first, and only, not to feature original guitarist Jesper Strömblad.

As far as I'm concerned, along with bands like Dark Tranquility and At The Gates, In Flames characterize Scandinavian melodic death metal.

I love this kind of music because it so frequently produces songs with fantastic dual guitar work and amazing riffs.

Plus most metal subgenres don't include passages of music such as the one that opens this song - some nice chorus laden arpeggiated chords.

Give this song a listen and be sure to check out some older In Flames songs as well.

Sounds of a Playground Fading

Daily Smooth: A-ha - Take On Me

I love 80s synth pop and A-ha's 1985 debut album, Hunting High And Low, is quite possibly my favourite.

As much as this is a killer song, what is really memorable is the accompanying video.

The skteched animation that turns into real life has been parodied beyond belief - anybody remember it appearing in Family Guy?

Enjoy this gem of the 80s!

Take On Me

Daily Ghetto: Ghetts and Devlin - Piping Up

Two of my favourite MCs from the Movement team up for this track.

This song comes from Ghetts' most recent mixtape, Momentum, and showcases Ghetts' and Devlin's pure fire on the mic.

Devlin goes hard in the first verse and then Ghetts follows up nicely in the second.

Then in the last verse things get wild when these MCs split the bars.

There will be plenty more from these two MCs in the future on this blog, as both have tons of fantastic tracks.

In the meantime, take a listen to this fire!

Piping Up

Daily Heavy: Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

Legends of Heavy Metal's second post comes in the form of the band that birthed a genre - Black Sabbath.

Is this the song that started metal as we know it?
Quite possibly.
The main guitar riff sounds like evil-incarnate - and for all you music theory nerds, it is because that most evil of sounding intervals (the tritone, or augmented fourth) is used heavily in it.

Tony Iommi's legendary riffs coupled with Ozzy Osbourne's inimitable voice gives this song an eerie feel. The slow tempo of Black Sabbath, really makes the song heavy, without the need for a shit-ton of distortion on the guitar and bass, as is so commonly found in modern metal.

With the release of their debut album of the same name, Black Sabbath ushered in a new sound - harder than hard rock, with lyrics referencing Satan, and the occult in general, heavy metal was born.

Any young metal head who is unaware of this band's legacy, needs to educate themselves.
And I urge any aspiring metal guitarist that has not cracked out the main riff of this song, to turn the lights off in their bedroom, crank the master volume on their amp, and feel the doom pulsating through their hands as they play, in my opinion, heavy metal's signature riff.

Enjoy!

Black Sabbath

Daily Smooth: The Knife - Heartbeats

So here's a song that not many people realise is actually the original.
Jose Gonzales famously covered this song for a famous TV advert and it got HUGE!

The original by Swedish electro group, The Knife, has a fat pulsating synth bass, and soaring, haunting female vocals.

Plus the video for this song is whacked out - the director must have been on a trip to have come up with something like this.

Heartbeats

Daily Ghetto: Dappy - I'm Coming (Tarzan Part 2)

Haven't done a daily ghetto post for a while - so I thought I'd drop a song from North London's top hoodrat, Dappy.

For those of you that have been living under a rock for the past 5 years, Dappy is the talent and driving force from UK hip-hop group N-Dubz.

All three members have decided to go solo for a bit, and even though Dappy's cousin and bandmate, Tulisa, is likely to do better on her own (being a judge on the X Factor and having a crappy celebrity sex-tape gets you far these days), Dappy's solo stuff has turned out to be the best.

Dappy calls out a lot of other celebrities in this song - including a very funny diss directed towards Simon Cowell.

The video for this song is brilliant - check the link below.

Look out for Dappy's solo album Bad Intentions, dropping this October.

I'm Coming (Tarzan Part 2)

Daily Heavy: Anaal Nathrakh - So Be It

Today I'm posting another new band I discovered through a metalhead friend of mine (cheers Adam).

Anaal Nathrakh are, to my ears, a straight up death metal band.

This song features are the crazy-fast guitar work and blasting drums one comes to expect from bands like Anaal Nathrakh.

These guys have a massive discography, with their earlier works having a more black metal feel, definitely check out the album this song comes from - In The Constellation Of The Black Widow.

So Be It

Daily Smooth: Blazin' Squad - Let's Start Again

Who remembers Blazin' Squad?
Flip Reverse it anyone?

The new incarnation of this group is almost unrecognizable - gone are half of the members (ten down to five), gone are the chavvy tracksuits and Reebok classic trainers, gone are the awful rap lyrics.

This revised lineup of Blazin' Squad used this great song as their "comeback".
Ok so it did not work, but for what it is worth, this is the best song this group have put out, and it's a shame they weren't picked up by a record label for very long - I would have loved to have listened to an album's worth of music like this.

Who knows - maybe with the right promotion we could witness a full reunion of all ten members of this somewhat one-hit-wonder group.

Let's Start Again

Daily Heavy: For The Fallen Dreams - Brothers In Arms

My best mate introduced me to this fantastic hardcore band, and they become one of my favorites.
This is such a driving song, that really gets me pumped.

It's a shame that this band does not come over to Europe on tour that often - I would love to see them live.
The whole of the album this song comes from, Changes, is excellent, and is definitely worth a listen.

This is such a fun song to play on guitar as well - any hardcore fans should give it a go.

Brothers In Arms

Daily Smooth: Guy - Teddy's Jam

Teddy Riley still stands as one of the biggest producers of the late 80s and early 90s.
The most successful record he produced was Michael Jackson's 1991 album Dangerous,  which was absolutely huge.

Here is Riley with his own group, Guy, this mostly instrumental song showcases all of his signature production techniques.

Riley went on to form Blackstreet, who are one of my all time favorite groups, but his influence on music extended far beyond performing in Guy and Blackstreet - just take a look at his production discography.

Teddy's Jam

Daily Heavy: Judas Priest - Electric Eye

Today is my first Legends of Heavy Metal post.
I've gone for Judas Priest because, along with Black Sabbath, they are about as classic as you can get with metal bands.

The lead guitar duo of K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton are up there with the best to have ever existed. These guys pioneered the harmonized guitars found so heavily in lots of metal subgenres today and inspired countless generations of guitarists who would go on to play things like thrash, death and power metal.

Rob Halford, along with Ronnie James Dio and Ozzy Osbourne, is considered to be a phenomenal lead singer - having a range that far exceeded most rock frontmen at the time, and a certain growl and uniqueness to his voice.

Plus - who do you think started all the leather wearing and chain swinging that all the 80s metal and rock bands adhered to?

Enjoy one of heavy metal's legend's best songs.

Electric Eye

Daily Ghetto: Three 6 Mafia - Stay High

Today I'm posting my favorite ghetto track because it is my birthday.

Three 6 Mafia have been posted by me before on this blog, but I felt that today they needed a repost, with none other than the almighty Stay High from their outstanding 2005 released album Most Known Unknown.

This track features Young Buck as well as 8 Ball and MJG.
All these rappers (the members of Three 6 included) hail from the dirty South.
The beat is so catchy, the lyrics are on point and the flow of the rappers is immense.

This song gets me so damn pumped I can't help but start rapping the lyrics when it comes on.

So Happy Birthday to me and you guys enjoy some of Southern rap's finest go in HARD!

Stay High

Daily Heavy: As I Lay Dying - Paralyzed

Today I'm posting one of metalcore's legends.
As I Lay Dying have honed and perfected the well balanced and catchy brand of metalcore they put out.

I've seen them live and their songs, as well as frontman Tim Lambesis' energetic performances, really get a crowd going. They are a band who you can tell are having fun whilst on tour - and that's all you can ask from a rock or metal band.

I love the balance of Lambesis' screams and bassist Josh Gilbert's clean vocals.
The guitar riffs and drums are tight and driving.

This is a very recent song from the band - it comes from the semi compilation/cover album Decas which was released last year.
If you get the chance to see this band live - do it, you will not be disappointed.

Paralyzed

Daily Ghetto: Young Buck - Stomp

Copious gun sounds, heavy beats and lyrics about cars and hos - must be a Southern rapper.

This track comes from the former G-Unit members Young Buck and The Game as well as a final verse from Ludacris.

The beat on this song is plain nasty and the hook as catchy as anything.

Definitely give Young Buck's debut album Straight Outta Ca$hville a listen - loads of top guest artists like 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and members of D-12 are on it.

Blast this song hard and enjoy!

Stomp

Daily Heavy: Slipknot - Duality

The biggest band to come out of the whole nu-metal craze of the late 90s?
I think so. Sorry Korn and Limp Bizkit.

This whole genre gets a lot of flack from "real metal fans", but I'm proud to say I love nu-metal in all its guises.

I'm a sucker for brutal down tuned guitar riffs and punishing bass.

I've chosen to post Duality as the first Slipknot song on this blog purely because it is the first of song that I heard from them.

In fact I saw the video - the crazy one where the band and hoards of their fans absolutely destroy someone's house.

Something has to be said that bands that don't take themselves too seriously, but have the balls to do things like:
Wear masks, hit bins with baseball bats, have copious amounts of pyrotechnics at concerts - and give each other special band numbers, instead of names.

You can't mistake Slipknot for any other band - in neither appearance nor sound.
Hate them or love them, they are a huge band with a massive, borderline obsessive following.

Expect plenty more from Slipknot in the future.

Duality

Daily Ghetto: Tony Matterhorn - Dutty Wine

Ok so in case any of you missed it today was the good day of Carnival in London.
In case you don't know Carnival is an excuse for the black yout of London to get slewed (drunk), the gyaldem (women) to grind up p'on random guys in the streets of Notting Hill, and then in the evening the gangs come out and stab each other up (it actually happened yesterday).

So in honour of the Carribean spirit of Carnival, I'm posting one of the signature songs that makes all de gyal go wild - the infamous Dutty Wine. Just watch the video and you'll soon understand that this is in fact referring to a rather dangerous dance move that women partake in. Watching all the scantily clad dancers start gyrating when this song comes on at Carnival is always fun.

When it comes to Carnival time, I'm always down for repping Jamaica so ladies, make sure your weave is on tight, an wine up yu head!

Dutty Wine

Daily Heavy: Dream Theater - Forsaken

Dream Theater have elevated themselves to progressive metal legends over the last 25 years or so.

A band so jam packed with talent and technical ability, each of its members are revered for being masters of their respective instruments.

This song comes from their 2007 album Systematic Chaos, and has all the elements that make a classic Dream Theater song - excellent use of dynamics between the verses and choruses, a perfectly locked in rhythm section courtesy of Mike Portnoy and John Myung, authoritative riffs and blazing lead lines by guitar legend John Petrucci, perfectly placed and considered keyboard accompaniments by Jordan Rudess and majestic vocals by James LaBrie.

Listen out for the absolutely spectacular guitar solo about two thirds of the way through the song and do yourself a favour and listen to this song more than once - you need to, to fully appreciate the mastery of this sort of composition.

If you are into metal and haven't checked out Dream Theater yet, then you need to understand that these guys are to prog metal what Metallica are to thrash metal, or Black Sabbath and Judas Priest are to classic heavy metal.

I've linked to Dream Theater performing this song live - because they are one of the tightest and well practiced bands out there.

Forsaken

Daily Smooth: Sisqo - Unleash the Dragon

So this is the first song from Sisqo's debut album of the same name.

I've always liked Sisqo's distinctive voice since the Dru Hill days, as well as his outlandish style.

This song has a killer beat and some nice vocal layering.

Oh and to anyone that is disappointed that the first Sisqo song I've posted isn't the one about a skimpy piece of ladies' underwear, fear not - it will be posted in the future.

Unleash the Dragon

Daily Ghetto: Huey - Pop, Lock & Drop It

Oh Yeah!
This song has a big beat and some nasty bass.

This video could not be any more ghetto - girls that the casting crew pulled off the block, Huey rapping in an empty swimming pool, grills, ice, chains and some hood-assed barber shop.

For some reason DJs in the UK don't play this song in the clubs. Why they don't is beyond me.
This is a massive tune, with room shaking bass.

Blast this through a good sound system to fully appreciate this one!

Pop, Lock & Drop It

Daily Heavy: Funeral For a Friend - All the Rage

These guys became one of my favorite bands very quickly.
After listening to their 2005 album Hours I was taken by the catchy guitar tracks, and strong rhythm section.

This is the opening track from that album, which includes some of the band's most popular songs such as "History" and "Streetcar".

It is a typical FFAF song - a clear lead and rhythm guitar split, Matt Davies' soaring vocals and the standard post-hardcore breakdown towards the end.

Expect to see much more from this band posted here in the future.

All The Rage

Daily Smooth: Silk - Freak Me

Well this song gets straight to the point doesn't it?

"Let me lick you up and down, till you say stop" - Jheeze!

The fact that this song comes an album called Lose Control says it all really.

Put this on while you are entertaining a lady and you will be in!

Silk are another member of the slew of 90s vocal harmony groups / boybands that came out in the wake of New Edition.

I like them all, and Silk certainly specialize in writing sexually provocative songs.
I mean who else would write a lyric like: "Coz tonight baby, I wanna get freaky with you"?

Freak Me

Daily Ghetto: Chamillionaire - Ridin'

There's a bit of a story behind this song:

Back in 2005 I went to Jamaica to work for my great uncle for 3 weeks.
My absolute DON of a cousin, Nathan, had all the freshest tunes from the USA pumping on his car stereo. We would drive around Kingston in the height of summer, windows down and Chamillionaire blasting. I went back to the UK having heard this song, that hadn't even hit urban radio stations Choice and 1xtra - I felt like a BAWZ.

I love this song because as well as having some hard bars from Krayzie Bone in the second verse, it always makes me think of the fantastic time I had in Jamaica.

As a tribute of sorts Ridin' always gets blasted whenever I'm driving around London and I feel like getting hyped up.

This is Chamillionaire's biggest hit by a long way.
Wind your car window down and blast this as loud as possible.

I've linked to the proper version of the song  - not the pussy edited version the record label made Chamillionaire record for the music video.

Ridin'

Daily Heavy: Cold - Happens All The Time

It's becoming more common to find out about new or lesser known bands through playing videogames these days.

For all those that owned the original xbox360 console (the good version, not the rubbish arcade one), you might remember that this song was part of the preloaded music on the hard drive.

I looked into Cold a bit more and came to absolutely love their music.
I'm a sucker for downtuned guitars and big, borderline over the top choruses.

Give their 2005 album A Different Kind of Pain, from which this song comes, a listen - it's really good stuff.

 Happens All The Time

Daily Smooth: Omarion - Ice Box

Omarion - what a smooth guy!
I've always thought he was much better off as a solo artist rather than being in his old boyband b2k.

This song is produced by the legendary Timbaland and comes from the 2006 album 21.

I unashamedly dance around to this song when it comes on - after watching the video you'll see why.

I fancy myself as a bit of a dancer and catting Omarion's moves is too hard to resist.

Omarion was recently signed to Rick Ross' record label, Maybach Music Group, and expect to see some songs from MMG's Self Made Vol.2  posted under either a Daily Ghetto or Daily Smooth in the future.

Ice Box

Daily Ghetto: Dorrough - Boy I Grind

I love me some Southern rap!

This is the first song from Dorrough's 2009 debut album Dorrough Music.

Some of this guy's bars make me laugh out loud:

"Yeah bwoi yo bitch my piñata, beat that pussy just like piñatas"
Need I say more..

Boy I Grind

Daily Heavy: Asesino - Regresando Odio

Tony Campos from Static X and Dino Cazares from Fear Factory wearing executioner style masks, screaming in Spanish... a brief description of the extreme metal side-project that is Asesino.

This song  - it means "Returning Hate" in English - is straight up brutal.
Pounding drums, 8 string guitar madness and Tony Campos' guttural roars always get me fired up!

Expect to see songs from the respective members' main projects being posted here soon.
In the meantime blast some insane Mexican metal.

 Regresando Odio

Daily Smooth: New Edition - Can You Stand The Rain

After having posted a Boyz II Men song for my last Daily Smooth, it was only right to put up a song from the original legendary boyband.

New Edition were a bit before my time - I was born in '90 - but when I realized that this group inspired Boyz II Men to form, I knew that I needed to check them out.

In case you haven't realized it yet this group is jam-packed with talent:

Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie Devoe formed Bell Biv Devoe while New Edition were on a break in the early 90s.
(Scrubs fans - you know them even if you think you don't)

Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill are two of the best lead singers period.

Oh, and to round them out Bobby Brown was an original member.

BOBBY BROWN... need I say more!

This song is lead by Johnny Gill - his voice is just too smooth.
The harmonies as the song progresses, as well as Ralph Tresvant's soaring vocals, tip this song over the edge.

The album it comes from, Heart Break, is phenomenal - give it a listen, and enjoy one of its best tracks.

Can You Stand The Rain

Daily Ghetto: Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz - Uhh Ohh

"Get crunk in this muthafucka"

With an opening line like that, you know it's going to pop off when this gets played in a club.
While Waka Flocka Flame is the guy when it comes to getting a club pumped today, Lil Jon was the guy 5-10 years ago.

Give his 2001 album Put Yo Hood Up a listen through before you hit a club and you'll want to fight someone once you get in.

Crunk music gets a lot of crap from other rappers; but they are missing the point - lyrical trickery and content aren't what Crunk artists are going for. It's all about a nasty beat and packing as many "niggas" and "muthafuckas" into 4 minutes as possible.

Blast this through your system and get yourself pumped!

Uhh Ohh

Daily Heavy: Meshuggah - Rational Gaze

Before all this "djent" business turned from the sound of a low tuned palm muted guitar, into a frickin' genre of music (thank you sevenstring.org Periphery fanboys!), Meshuggah really stood alone, as the pioneers of using 8 string guitars for crushing, complex time-signatured metal.

This song is from the first album that Meshuggah used 8 string guitars tuned half a step down to F.
Technically the 8 strings were first used when Meshuggah re-recorded the guitar parts for the 2006 re-release of "Nothing".

The original came out in 2002, and at this point, Meshuggah's guitarists had to make do with down tuned 7 string guitars, to get that low F.

The link below is the 2006 version of the song Rational Gaze, and I still cannot get over how heavy and powerful the groove of the opening riff is.

Enjoy

Rational Gaze (2006)

Daily Smooth: Boyz II Men - Never

This is a big one.
As far as vocal harmony groups or "boybands" in the classic sense go, I'd be hard pressed to choose my favorite. It is a toss up between Boyz II Men and New Edition.

I'm going with a Boyz II Men song today purely because I had their 1997 album, Evolution, pumping in my car today on the way back from Newcastle.

Never's lyrics explain themselves, but the treat here, as with most Boyz II Men songs, are the beautifully harmonized choruses.


Boyz II Men - Never

Daily Ghetto: Waka Flocka Flame and Giggs - Gangsta Hop

Waka Flocka Flame has mastered hype club tunes; this of one of many Waka Flocka songs that will be posted - he gets a lot of hate, but I can't think of many artists that get me as pumped before going out on a Friday night!

This version of Gangsta Hop is on a recent Giggs mixtape: Take Your Hats Off.
Giggs drops some bars at the end of the track to top it off nicely.

Gangsta Hop

Daily Heavy: All Shall Perish - Prisoner of War

All the Olympic action made me almost forget to post today!

This song is just insane; taking cues from the more melodic death metal bands of the 90s i.e. At the Gates and In Flames - this band came out with the album The Price of Existence in 2006 and it still stands as one of the best in the "Deathcore " genre.

The outro and solo are what makes this song so memorable for me. The dissonance in the ending chord progression gives the song a somber feel, and the guitar solo mirrors the rhythm riff, before ripping into a sweep picking frenzy.

Check out All Shall Perish and expect to hear more downtuned mayhem in future Daily Heavy posts.

All Shall Perish - Prisoner of War

Daily Smooth: J. Holiday - Suffocate

Here's a track from one of my favorite modern R&B artists.
The album it's from, Back of my Lac', really hits home on a lot of topics.
This song in particular is clearly about the deep emotions you feel when you truly love someone.
Enjoy J. Holiday's smooth voice, there will be plenty more from this album on my blog in the future.


J. Holiday - Suffocate

Daily Ghetto: Three 6 Mafia - Sippin' on some Syrup

I love Three 6 Mafia; there's nothing like riding around in your car, windows down, with three 6 blasting.

This is from the 2000 album When the smoke clears.
If you don't know what 'sizzurp' is then urban dictionary is your friend. Inform yourself on some ghetto terminology.

Note the obligatory cussing at the start of the track - love it.

Sippin' on some Syrup

Daily Heavy: Cynic - Evolutionary Sleeper

Finally my first post.
After annoying my friends on Facebook by posting the music that they are missing out on, I decided I needed to blog about it and give a bit of background info about each song that I post.

First up is one of my favorite alternative metal bands, Cynic.
This song comes from their 2008 masterpiece Traced in Air.
Listen out for the tasteful guitar solo towards the end.

Evolutionary Sleeper