Category: Blog

Categories
Playlists

Songs of Summer

Summer: it’s the time for hot weather and vacation. Unless of course, you’re living in a rainy town during a global pandemic, and have been under quarantine for months. But summer music is one of my favorite genres. These are the best summer songs and albums that take me right back to sitting on the beach and enjoying being under the sun. Hope you enjoy and have a fun, safe summer! 

channel ORANGE – Frank Ocean

This album is a really great one. It contains lots of upbeat songs that are great for a summer day, like Lost and Super Rich Kids. A summer playlist isn’t complete without Frank Ocean. 

PCH – Jaden 

Willow and Jaden’s vocals on this song make it so unique. The cool melody paired with their simple lyricism makes it a relaxing summer song that I can’t get enough of. 

Empty – Kevin Abstract
Listen to this song to get taken right back to your teenage summers. This song always gets me reminiscing about summers past. I absolutely recommend the song, once you hear it you’ll never forget it.  

STN MTN/Kauai – Childish Gambino 

This EP is extremely summer-y. It follows a narrative showcasing the “island life” of a vacation in Hawaii along with a narrative of Glover’s experiences in Stone Mountain, GA. I really recommend this whole EP, perfect for a summer on the beach. 

In The Flowers – Animal Collective 

This song borders more on the electronic, ethereal side but is beautiful. A great song for your visit to a field of flowers in the summer heat. 

King of the Beach – Wavves 

As the title suggests… this song will make you feel like the king of any beach you go to. I love any California pop-punk and this song is no exception. 

Birds Dont Sing – TV Girl 

This song and the album it appears on showcase the best of indie pop, and are perfectly upbeat but with contrastingly sorrowful lyrics. I love the samples used on the album and in this song particularly. 

You can find these songs and more at the playlist linked here. 

– Miranda

Categories
Band/Artist Profile

Band of the Week: Death

Ahhh… Death, the OG’s of death metal. Death was one of the first American bands to play (what would come to be called), Death Metal. They are known as one of the most influential bands that pioneered the genre. Today, they would be classified as the “old school,” traditional type of death metal, but when Death hit the scene back in 1987 with their debut release, Scream Bloody Gore, this sound was new, heavy, and groovy. This record is regarded to be the first death metal record. My dad used to play Death all the time when I was a little girl, he loves Death and always plays air drums, air guitar, and vocals when they come on. We love a one man show!! By listening to Death at a young age, it influenced me to lean more towards death metal and the heavier style of metal. And I’m not complaining about it!

Death was an American death metal band from Altamonte Springs, Florida, that formed in 1983 by guitarist and vocalist, Chuck Schuldiner (RIP). The original name of the band was Mantas but a year later, Schuldiner changed the name to Death. In an interview in 2010, Tim Aymar states that the renaming of the band happened because it allowed Schuldiner to turn his brother’s death into “something positive” (Aymar, Tim Speaks Out) Rehearsal tapes circulated around quickly and established the band’s entrance into the realm of heavy music. Death’s albums were very popular amongst the metal crowd and received positive criticism. Their 1991 release, Human is their best-selling album.

In 1994, Death left Relativity and signed with Roadrunner Records. They released Symbolic in 1995. After the release of Symbolic, Schuldiner broke up Death after tension with Roadrunner Records and focused on his other band, Control Denied. The seventh (and final) Death release, The Sound of Perseverance (1998), was released on Nuclear Blast.

After Schuldiner finished Control Denied’s debut album, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. His condition improved during the process of recoding on Control Denied second release, but the tumor impacted him negatively, leaving him in a vulnerable state. He contracted pneumonia and an hour after being released from the hospital on December 13, 2001, he passed away.  

Perseverance Holdings Ltd. Partnered with Relapse Records to re-master and re-issue the Death and Control Denied releases, along with Schuldiner’s earlier work in Mantas. Symbolic was the only record not a part of Relapse’s deal because the rights are still retained by Roadrunner Records as of 2008 (Sobti, K. Navjot, Relapse Records To Reissue All Chuck Schuldiner Material).

The lineup of Death has changed many, many, many, many times throughout the years, and it is hard to keep track. Chuck Schuldiner has remained the sole original member of Death throughout their album releases.


Discography:

Scream Bloody Gore (1987)

Leprosy (1988)

Spiritual Healing (1990)

Human (1991)

Individual Thought Patterns (1993)

Symbolic (1995)

The Sound of Perseverance (1998)


Favorite Songs:

Low Life, Pull the Plug, Symbolic, Voice of the Soul, The Philosopher, Scream Bloody Gore, and Living Monstrosity.

What are some of your favorite Death songs?

Stay Metal,

THE SAW

Sources: 

Tim Aymar Speaks Out 

Relapse Records To Reissue All Chuck Schuldiner Material 

Categories
Music News and Interviews

Black Contributions to Music: Pop

As a continuation of my series of Black Contributions to Music, this week I am discussing the influence of Black artists on the pop genre. It’s important to recognize musicians of color and their contributions to music, as they are often overlooked or ignored.  

Black artists began transforming the pop mainstream in America with great popularity by the 1950s and 1960s. Pop origination from rock and roll, folk, and other styles into a genre of its own. Artists like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and James Brown helped bring R&B, funk, and soul to the forefront of pop culture and mainstream music. Their contributions have continued to shape music today and helped give pop music a wider breadth of sound. 

Artists like the Jackson 5 continued to impact pop music in the 1970s with singles that become extremely popular like “I Want You Back” and “ABC.” Michael Jackson’s influence continued with his hits like “Thriller.” Whitney Houston was one of the greatest pop artists to ever live, her version of “I Will Always Love You” becoming iconic and recognizable throughout the country, and her album being a top bestseller of all time. Iconic artists like Jackson, Houston, and Prince helped define and influence the genre. 

The 2000s gave rise to hip-hop and R&B-influenced pop music, exemplified by the popularity of Rihanna’s unique sound. The Pulitzer prize in music was given to a pop artist, rather than the typical classical, for the first time in 2018 to Kendrick Lamar for his album DAMN. Black artists continuously make an impact to the pop genre and create boundary-breaking mainstream music. 

Check out these amazing Black artists: Ciara, Jill Scott, Santigold

Sources: I, II 

 – Miranda

Categories
Classic Album Review

Album of the Week: As I Lay Dying – An Ocean Between Us (2007)

As I Lay Dying is one of those bands that are a staple piece within the metal community. Their sound when they first hit the scene was raw, fresh, heavy, and groovy. The type of era of metalcore that As I Lay Dying was in was my favorite type of metalcore. I loved the harmony mixed with intricate riffs, technical drumming, and to top it all off, with some very powerful screams and cleans. Their fourth studio album, An Ocean Between Us is a staple album for anyone who is a fan of the metalcore genre. The sound on this record is timeless, it sounds as if it was released today! This is an album that I never get tired of, when I listen to it I get a nostalgic feeling because it takes me back to when I first started listening to heavier metal and listening to this album with my brothers.

An Ocean Between Us is arguably the best release As I Lay Dying has ever come out with and it is argued that this is the record that defines that band. The album was released on August 21, 2007 through Metal Blade Records and it debut at No. 8 on the Billboard 200.

Nick Hipa commented on the album stating that everyone in the band pushed themselves and they were just experimenting and trying new things on this album. Overall, they were just jamming together and it ended up creating an amazing album. Tim Lambesis stated that they listened to their last album (Shadows Are Security) and they were getting tired of how the genre, as a whole, copies one another and As I Lay Dying wanted to create an album that was different and more diverse. I think they successfully made an album that sounds like no one else, and since it’s so different, it helps their sound stand out and become a recognizing force within metalcore. They didn’t just use the traditional metalcore sound, they had mixtures of deathcore, thrash, and death metal on this record, and I think the combinations of genres is what makes this record so timeless.

Almost all the songs have an epic feel to them, and it carries a message and a meaning within their songs. The cleans are not used to carry entire songs, but to compliment the songs and give it harmony along with the guitar riffs.

I love this album so much and I still know every word to every song, even after almost 13 years.

10/10!!!!!


Favorite songs:

Nothing Left, I Never Wanted, The Sound of Truth, An Ocean Between Us, and Within Destruction.

What are your favorite songs off of An Ocean Between Us?

Stay Metal,

THE SAW

Categories
New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: Khruangbin – Mordechai

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ALBUM REVIEW: Khruangbin – Mordechai

BEST TRACKS: Time (You and I), Pelota, Dearest Alfred, So We Won’t Forget

FCC clean

I’ve been following Khruangbin since the release of their jaw-dropping first album in 2015, ‘The Universe Smiles Upon You’. Following this release, Khruangbin has been releasing rippers one after the other, from the ever-ambient, Latin-American-influenced album Con Todo El Mundo to the religious experience that is the Texas Sun EP, to their latest release, Mordechai.  The thing that separates Mordechai from Khruangbin’s previous albums is that most songs on this album surprisingly feature vocals, which is out of character for this customarily instrumental band. Adding vocals was a risk that paid off, in my opinion, especially on the 6th track, ‘Pelota’, where beautifully sung Spanish lyrics are delivered in a most surreal and completely nonchalant way.

Khruangbin is a multilingual band taking influences from many different cultural music styles such as Brazillian Bossa nova and Congolese Soukous. Vocals on this album never overstep their place in this predominantly instrumental band, always sharing the spotlight with the guitar and percussion, melding pleasantly to create an ample, well rounded sound. Underlying the seemingly brand new approach to music on Mordechai, the signature Khruangbin psychedelic influence still remains, but you won’t catch in unless you look for it. It comes out most prominently in the subtle ringing and eerie, choir-like vocals of the 10th track ‘Shida’ and in the fuzzy, low-key electric guitar of the 1st track ‘First Class’.

When I listen to this album I feel like just drifting. I feel so completely relaxed, without a care in the world, like I’m lying in a hammock on the beach under palm trees, sipping a raspberry margarita. Inexplicable, there is also a prominent aura of mystery that I get from listening to this album, and I somehow feel as if this album signifies the end of something.

-Safia

Categories
Weekly Charts

Underground Charts 7/14

Artist Record Label
1 EARTHGANG Mirrorland Dreamville/Interscope
2 ANDERSON.PAAK Ventura Aftermath
3 CASHINOVA Big Dragon Stophouse
4 MAXOLIL BIG MAN Def Jam
5 MC^2 Venus STYLiSM of Soul
6 ANGELA MUNOZ Introspection Linear Labs
7 CLOUDY NUEVE Cloudy With a Chance, Pt. 3 Self-Released
8 NIKITA DENISE KIMBLE AND JONATHAN DAVID FLUMER “Rider” [Single] Self-Released
9 BLACK SOPRANO FAMILY “Da Mob” [Single] Entertainment One
10 DOUG SHORTS Casual Encounter [EP] Daptone

Categories
Weekly Charts

Daytime Charts 7/14

Artist Record Label
1 DAKOTA THEIM Somewhere Under The Sun Self-Released
2 EX NORWEGIAN Hue Spotting Beyond Before
3 IGGY T AND THE CRAZYMAKERS Just Can’t Get Enough Underground Sun
4 JAUNTAll In One Self-Released
5 BECCA MANCARI The Greatest Part Captured Tracks
6 EVE OWEN Don’t Let The Ink Dry37d03d
7 SCHOOL OF X Armlock Tambourhinoceros
8 CIRCULATORY SYSTEM Circulatory System Elephant 6
9 BABA ALI This House [EP] 30th Century
10 STRFKR Future Past Life Polyvinyl
11 CLIFFFS Panic Attack State Fair/We Know Better
12 MAN MAN Dream Hunting In The Valley Of The In-BetweenSub Pop
13 RACOMA This Front Room Self-Released
14 VARSITY The Basement Takes Run For Cover
15 KHRUANGBIN Mordechai Dead Oceans/Secretly Group
16 TONNE Bridey Murphy [EP] Self-Released
17 LITTLE DRAGON New Me, Same Us Ninja Tune
18 JEFF ROSENSTOCK NO DREAM Polyvinyl
19 ROSE CITY BAND Summerlong Thrill Jockey
20 FLAT WORMS Antarctica God?
21 FRANCIS OF DELIRIUM All Change [EP] Dalliance
22 DIET CIG Do You Wonder About Me? Frenchkiss
23 HALA Red Herring Cinematic
24 JAH9 Note To Self VP
25 JR JR August And Everything Prior [EP] Love Is EZ
26 KEVIN KRAUTER Full Hand Bayonet
27 FANTASY NON FICTION Fantasy Non Fiction Self-Released
28 ROOKIE Rookie Bloodshot
29 MOMMA Two Of Me Danger Collective
30 CEREMONY In The Spirit World Now Relapse

TOP ADDS 

1 JUNIOR MESA Peace [EP] Nice Life
2 NANA ADJOA “She’s Strong” [Single] Wilder
3 GRAND PAXPWR [EP] Blue Flowers/PIAS
4 MAKANAA Hawai’i Interlude Self-Released
5 SOCCER MOMMY AND FRIENDS VARIOUS ARTISTS Loma Vista/Concord
6 GOLDEN DREGS, THE Hope Is For The Hopeless Nothing Fancy
7 BECCA MANCARI The Greatest Part Captured Tracks
8 EVE OWEN Don’t Let The Ink Dry37d03d
9 WE WERE PROMISED JET PACKSout of interest [EP] Big Scary Monsters
10 FANTASY NON FICTION Fantasy Non Fiction

Categories
Weekly Charts

Chainsaw Charts 7/14

Artist Record Label
1 JUSTICE FOR THE DAMNED Pain Is Power Self-Released
2 CARACH ANGREN Franckensteina Strataemontanus Season Of Mist
3 BURY TOMORROW Cannibal Sony
4 CURRENTS The Way It Ends SharpTone
5 SHED THE SKIN The Forbidden Arts Kyle Severn
6 UPON A BURNING BODY “Built from War” [Single] Seek & Strike
7 DAWN OF ASHES The Antinomian Artoffact
8 LAMB OF GOD Lamb Of God Epic
9 HOLLOW FRONT Loose Threads Self-Released
10 ENTERPRISE EARTH Foundation of Bones [EP]

Categories
Band/Artist Profile

Band of the Week: Debauchery

I first started listening to Debauchery probably about 2 years ago when I was looking for groovy death metal to listen to. As you all have probably guessed, and are not surprised, is that I love groovy death metal; it’s my all time favorite. The first song I heard by them was Murder Squad and I LOVED it!!! The riffs are groovy and smashing and the vocals are very deep with some raspy gutturals, it reminds me of Chris Barnes!

Debauchery is from Stuttgart, Germany and are a death metal and death ‘n’ roll band. I have never heard of death ‘n’ roll but it definitely suites Debauchery! They were founded in 2000 as Maggotc**t before changing their name to Debauchery in 2002. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Thomas Gurrath. Gurrath was a high school philosophy teacher until he was discovered to be a part of Debauchery in 2010. He was given the option to either keep his teaching job or his band. Obviously, he chose his band.

The band’s lyrical content involves themes such as war and death. They also involve the science fiction Warhammer 40,000 fictional god, Khorne. This band is hella groovy and is sure to make you bang your head and bounce around. If you want some groovy ass death metal, then Debauchery is for you!


Discography:

Kill Maim Burn (2003)

Rage of the Bloodbeast (2004)

Torture Pit (2005)

Back in Blood (2007)

Continue to Kill (2008)

Rockers & War (2009)

Germany’s Next Death Metal (2011)

Kings of Carnage (2013)

F**k Humanity (2015)

Thunderbeast (2016)

In der Hölle spricht man Deutsch (2018)

Blood for the Blood God (2016)


Current Members:

Thomas Gurrath (vocalist and guitarist)

Dennis Ward (bassist)

Oliver Zellmann (drummer)


Favorite Songs:

Murder Squad

King of the Killing Zone

Storm of Iron

Death Metal War Machine

What are your favorite songs by Debauchery?

Stay Metal,

THE SAW

Categories
Classic Album Review

Album of the Week: Upon A Burning Body – The World Is My Enemy Now (2014)

Upon A Burning Body (UABB) is one of my favorite bands of all time. They were one of the first heavier bands I first started listening to and I have been a fan ever since. Their album, The World Is My Enemy Now, is one of my favorite albums by them. The majority of my favorite UABB songs come from this album!

The World Is My Enemy Now is the third studio album from UABB, released in 2014. This album has received backlash and negative attention for a publicity stunt to promote the album. The stunt involved UABB’s lead vocalist, Danny Leal, and reports that he was missing. The band later posted the album cover which showed Leal tied up, revealing the reports of Leal being missing was a joke. Since the stunt, the band has not apologized. Regardless of the negative attention, this is a great album. There are so many smashing hits that come off of this record.

This album is aggressive, with lower-tuned guitars, a combination of the speed and the technicality of metalcore, and death metal style vocals while keeping a musical structure that derived from hardcore. There are some tracks on the album that have deeper and lower vocals that could be classified as more of a death metal style, even though it isn’t the traditional style of death metal vocals. The hooks and anthems that are on this album make it enjoyable to play over and over again; you won’t get tired of. The album is not that repetitive, so it never gets boring!

The opening track, Red Razor Wrists, kicks off the album on a high note, starting off with the screaming of violence and brutality that is yet to come from the album. Pledge Your Allegiance is very anathematic and will be sure to make you move around. The title track,The World Is My Enemy Now, has a more hardcore sound to it due to its riffs. There is a lot of variety on this album and there is a song for everyone to enjoy!


Favorite Songs:

Judgement

Bring The Rain

Scars

The World Is My Enemy Now

Fountain of Wishes

What are some of your favorite songs off of The World Is My Enemy Now?

Stay Metal,

THE SAW