Paul Simon's Graceland

I really enjoyed this album because I really like Paul Simon's style of music. It was really relaxed but never really boring to me. I especially liked his song with Lady Smith Black Mambazo because it just added to the originality. I like that his music was influenced by the genre of South African pop and that it was really new for the time that it came out. It sounds like music you would jam out to on the beach on an island. Some people don't really like his voice because it's too nasally, but I actually really like his voice because I think it goes really well with the genre of music he's singing. One of my favorite things on the album is the beginning of "I Know What I Know". The other songs that I like are "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes", and "Homeless".

"I Know What I Know"

 

"Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes"



 

"Homeless"



Blake Shelton

I really love Blake Shelton's new album, and I think one of the main reasons I do is because I like him as a person so much. I follow him on Twitter and watch the voice and honestly I think he would be a fun person to be around. He super funny and seems like the kind of guy everyone wants to hang out with. I think that really helps me like someone's album. For example, Lady Gaga seems like a really freaky lady and I think she's pretty weird and I would not like to hang out with her on the weekends, and I hate her music, so there you go. Blake Shelton came out with his album "Based On A True Story" a couple days ago and it has become really popular. I think it's because there's not just one song on it that's kind of good but all the songs on it are pretty good so it makes the whole album easy to listen to. My favorite songs from the album are "Boys Round Here", "Sure Be Cool If You Did", "Country On The Radio", "Mine Would Be You", and "Ten Times Crazier". So you see, that's a lot of favorite songs and I even decided to delete some. So definitely check this album out and watch the voice because I LOVE BLAKE.

"Boys Round Here"

 

"Sure Be Cool If You Did"



 

"Country On The Radio"





 

"Mine Would Be You"





 

"Ten Times Crazier"



Lifehouse

Lifehouse is another really good band I listen to that is just a calm sound that I listen to all the time just relaxing and chilling out. Recently they released a song called "Between the Raindrops" that I am in love with because it's not like all their other songs and it switches it up a little bit. It's a little bit more fast paced and features Natasha Betingfield. Anyways, a lot of their songs are super popular as just sweet, relaxing songs, which is mostly what I'm into so it's perfect. Plus, when I looked at their Spotify page there was SO MANY albums that I hadn't even heard of yet. That's the best feeling even though I kind of feel like a loser for finding it so much later, but hey at least I found it and discovered something awesome. Anyways, my favorite songs by Lifehouse are of course "Between the Raindrops", "You and Me" (DUH), and "From Where You Are".

"Between the Raindrops"

 

"You and Me"



"From Where You Are"

 

"

Run DMC

I LOVE RUN DMC. To be honest, I'm actually pretty much in love with all 80's rap and disco music. I this stuff because it's always so upbeat and it makes me just want to sing along and get up and dance and just overall puts me in a better mood. Not much old music can do that, so I think it's pretty cool. Another rap group I love from the 80's is the Sugarhill Gang. They're lyrics are so funny and I can rap along and I love it. I like that the Sugarhill Gang and Run DMC sound a lot alike. Plus I really like Run DMC's part in "Walk This Way" because it's a cool mix of the two different styles but they come together better than you think they would. Plus, the video is pretty funny I think. One thing that I think is super weird about Run DMC is that they're branding was off the charts. For example they're brand of Adidas when that hadn't happened yet; I honestly had no idea they were that popular at the time, so it was cool to learn about that. My favorite Run DMC songs are "Walk This Way", "It's Tricky", "Sucker MC's", and "It's Like That".

"Walk This Way"

 

"It's Tricky"



 

"Sucker MC's"

 

"It's Like That"

Jared Evan

An album called Boom Bap & Blues was recommended for me on Spotify, and I really like the album so far. It's basically a mix of most things I like. It's got some Justin Timberlake type stuff, and some slow Hoodie Allen type stuff, mixed with some alternative I don't even know what. The closest thing to this album I can think of is Justin Timberlake but it's more hip-hop than that and has more alternative so it's really hard to describe. Some of the songs get pretty slow, but then there's some random sounds in there to mix it up and keep you interested. I really like the song "Blue" on this album. Jared Evan also has another album called 4th chapter and I really like the chorus of "Charlie Brown" and I think the artist needs to add more variety like that chorus. "One Good Thing" is also a little different and pretty catchy. Overall, Jared Evan needs some more variety and he'll become more popular, I think.

"Blue"

"Charlie Brown"

"One Good Thing"

Elvis Costello

I really liked listening to Elvis Costello because although his music was punk and some new wave stuff he totally brought in the 50's and 60's rock, which I really enjoy. He reminds me a lot of a mix of the Beatles and Elvis Presley. I really liked both of these bands so Elvis Costello was perfect. He has a pop side that I really enjoy because it makes you feel pretty happy and get up and dance and it's just something that you can listen to, to enjoy. Another thing that I really liked about Elvis Costello is the reggae influence in some of his songs. I've discovered that I really like the pop sound mixed with reggae, like Matisyahu, which is more modern of course, that I posted last week. One thing that was kind of weird about him was that he would put some pretty creepy lyrics in a really musically and vocally beautiful song. So when you first listened to it you would be like "Oh that's so pretty!" and then you listen to the lyrics and get real creeped out, for example "Allison". My favorite songs by Elvis Costello were "Welcome to the Working Week", "Allison", "Less Than Zero", "Waiting For the End of the World", and "Watching the Detectives".

"Welcome to the Working Week"

"Allison"


"Less Than Zero"



"Waiting for the End of the World"

 

"Watching the Detectives"



Gold Fields

Okay, so I had never heard of this band until this week, but I saw it on the iTunes page, and then the Spotify, so I thought, ehh why not give it a listen. I thought it was a pretty good album. It's a cool alternative album with some new wave influences. Like at the beginning of the song "Dark Again" I thought it was going to be the beginnnig of an 80's song. But then it turns into something that reminds me of Ellie Goulding, but a guy singing. But then you look at a song like "Treehouse", and it's pretty different because it sounds more tribal different. I also really like how they have a keyboard as one of their main instruments because that's not something you see that much anymore. But overall, this is a new alternative band that I really like, so check em out.

"Dark Again"

"Treehouse"

The Police

I really liked The Police because not only were they a really skilled rock band but they had tons of variety. Unlike some other 70's and 80's bands of the time, The Police were really clean and were a really good bunch of players. It never really sounded sloppy and it was a loud sound for only three players. I also thought the drummer was really good, and seeing how he played in his videos (traditional style), was kind of crazy for how loud and powerful he is. He does some pretty crazy stuff where after you watch it, it leaves you bewildered. Like how did he do that? Then there's Sting, the lead singer. I just love love love his voice. It has a kind of smoothness mixed with the rock sound that I really like. Then the bass/guitar was always awesome. Another thing I really like about the Police is the different influences they have. Like in one song off of the album we listened to, there was some reggae influence that I thought was pretty cool for back then, like in the song "So Lonely". I also think they had some Beach Boys influence, for example, in the song"Masoko Tanga". Overall I really liked The Police, and thought they were a good band for their time.

"So Lonely"

 

"Masoko Tanga"