The National - New B-Side "Wake Up Your Saints"

The National is releasing a new expanded version of their newest album "Violet High" next week and this is one of the songs from the album thats leaked today. The album which was first released in May received stellar reviews. You can check out the track below. You can definitely tell that the song was going to be put on the album. I also understand why they took it off the ultimately released version. Its not a bad song, its just doesn't really fit with the feel of "Violet High"

These are the most controversial songs? Really?

Maybe its the Brits? Maybe they are all a bunch of nellies. I don't know but this list is super weak if you ask me. Even after listening to most of the songs I don't get it. Maybe they did the survey with people over 90? Well "Kim" is kinda hardcore. I mean its hard to even listen to. The Prodigy one is only bad because it eludes to beating women. Relax is about something sexual?? I'm just really disappointed. There are bands that have worst names than the lyrics in these songs. Leave it to the British. I think maybe I'll make my own list of songs? Maybe that would be fun. I've listened to some pretty evil crap in my day. If you have a song that deserves to be on the list comment and tell us what it is, or comment on Facebook. We Americans have to fight for whats wrong in music!!! ummm that sounded better in my head.


Top 10 Most Controversial Songs
As selected by the British public
PRS study (2010)

1. Smack My B*tch Up – The Prodigy


2. God Save The Queen – The Sex Pistols


3. Relax – Frankie Goes To Hollywood


4. Kim – Eminem


5. Killing In The Name – Rage Against The Machine


6. Ebeneezer Goode – The Shamen


7. Suicide Solution – Ozzy Osbourne *See Video Below*

8. Get Your Gunn – Marilyn Manson


9. Angel of Death – Slayer


10. Dear God - XTC

Lord Huron - "Mighty" EP and "Into the Sun" Stream

Not sure if interesting is the right word to describe Lord Huron's sound. I like it, its happy and its definitely different. Its always nice to stumble on songs like these because there is always potential for a new favorite band. This is the "Mighty" EP and "Into the Sun" by Lord Huron and thats about all I know.

Lord Huron: Into The Sun (7" Edit) by Hit City USA

The Sword - "Lawless Lands" video

Now this is an awesome video. The Sword have really surprised me with their popularity of late. I guess they are in the same vain musically as Mastodon. I love the Sci fi element to this video. It reminds me of the cheesy videos The Darkness used to release. Enjoy "Lawless Lands". The Swords album "Warped Riders" is available now.

Jimmy Eat World - Invented Review

Remember back in 2001 when JEW(lol) came out with the song "The Middle" Of course you do. If you've played Rock Band at all you've played that song into the ground. Well that was literally all I knew about Jimmy Eat World. I never made an attempt to listen to anything that they've had since. Until someone asked me what I thought about their new material and asked if I could review it. So naturally I downloaded "Invented" and gave it a couple of spins (lol) and that band Jimmy Eat World that had that song "The Middle" in 2001 are gone. They've been replaced by a band that is really good!

I would be lying if I said I went into this review with an objective eye, but after listening to the first song I was completely sold. The band has done away with any "punk" sound that they previously had and replaced it with a more mainstream rock sound that works very well. The album stays grounded, though I wouldn't say that it was "safe". What I mean is that the album flows very well. None of the songs seem out of place and the tracks blend seamlessly together. Most of the tracks are what I would call medium tempo, but there are some surprises. The song "Evidence" had me banging my head, and just when I got used to that the next song "Higher Devotion" had me bobbing my head. I found myself re listening to tracks on the album on the first play through. The song "Littlething" I listened to several times in a row. Its just a great track. The song  just oozes passion. Its hard to find anything to dislike about the album. Of course its me and I can. The first single off the album "My Best Theory" might be the worst song on the album. I know everyone says that, but I went into this not having heard a single song from the record. I was disappointed to see that was the song that I was ultimately going to share. Its not a bad song, its just the most mainstream song on the album. Thats really my only gripe with the album though.

Its a shame that this album will most likely be looked over by the major reviewers. "Invented" is a serious contender for album of the year in my book. If you like rock music, hell if you like music. At least try the album. Forget what you know about Jimmy Eat World, and welcome a legitimately good band!

"Invented" gets 4.5 "Hell Yeahs!" out of 5

1. "Heart Is Hard to Find"
2. "My Best Theory"
3. "Evidence"
4. "Higher Devotion"
5. "Movielike"
6. "Coffee and Cigarettes"
7. "Stop"
8. "Littlething"
9. "Cut"
10. "Action Needs an Audience"
11. "Invented"
12. "Mixtape"

All That Remains play The Daily Habit and suck!

I'm starting to feel bad for All That Remains. Yes they've reached a popularity that other metal bands dream of, but at a cost. The band just released a new album "For We Are The Many" but are playing a song off of "Overcome"? Maybe they did more songs and those weren't uploaded. Either way I guess I'll say "Congrats" on the success they've had but I want some quality stuff guys!

The people who do the Daily Habit's sound on Fuse SUCK. This isn't the first video I've seen from the show uploaded to the web and the quality of the recordings are just trash. Your a TV station, put forth some effort!

Ben Walker and Rejectioneers

Want to here some good music? Well here you go! Make sure after you listen to the songs you download them as well. Or better yet share them with your friends. Oh and while you can download the songs for free, wouldn't it be freakin sweet if you paid like a buck each to support the artist? I mean whats a buck to you right? BUY THE TRACKS YOU CHEAP ASS!!! Ben Walker also has a pretty sweet site where he gives updates on the bands progress. If your in the Columbia, SC area you should most definitely check them out.
As a side note you should really check out the second track on the EP "On the Way". Its my favorite.

Question Mark? Episode 3. Should I like a song by a crap band?

At times we all find ourselves liking songs that we might be ashamed to let other people know that we like. Why is that? Is it the constant pressure to seem cool? Or are we worried that we might contradict ourselves when it comes to musical tastes? Well I'm here to say "Calm down!". There is nothing wrong with loving a song that might be "uncool" in comparison to your normal music styling. Its also OK to like a song by an artist you hate (in most cases). I was driving to a friends house today and the song "My Own Prison"
came on by one of my most despised bands, Creed. I really don't like Creed. Haven't for years and its not because its popular to not like Creed. I just dislike their music. Well I mainly dislike Scott Stapp. I guess the point I'm trying to make is even terrible bands have decent tracks. Its easy (especially for me) to just write something off as being terrible because of what little knowledge I have of a band or whatever the opinion might pertain to. Give things a chance. Music will surprise you sometimes. Things your not accustom to might end up being your favorites someday. Is our musical pride all that important anyways. Sometimes I completely forget that music isn't important to people. Which is shocking to me really. How can you go through the day without hearing a song from a great band and still have a good day? That's insanity to me. Without music I would be nothing. I'm not sure I would be able to exist. Remember in high school, when you would sit at the lunch table and play the "what if" game? Someone would always say "Would you rather be blind or deaf". Now for me that's very easy to answer. Would it be for you?

So I guess I went off topic a bit, its my site deal with it. Next time you hear a song you like by a band you hate try and remember they had the talent to make that one good song. That's all the music industry really cares about anyways right?

Uneven Structure - EP Stream and Download

Heavy Blog is Heavy posted some awesome progressive metal from Uneven Structure. This EP is the build up to the upcoming release from the band called "Februus". I only skimmed the tracks but what I heard I liked. These songs are without the vocal tracks which might be a good thing considering this band is French. If you like the songs you can download them for free with the link at the bottom.
You can download it right here, too

John Legend and The Roots cover Arcade Fires "Wake Up"

Now this is how you do a cover. This seriously is awesome. Legend's voice amazing as always and you can't help but have respect for The Roots. I might actually like this version more than the original . Judge for yourself....

Paramore - "Playing God"

I was thinking while watching this video, that its hard to look at Hayley Williams without thinking about seeing her boobs earlier this year. Thats bad I know, but I'm a guy so shoot me. All in all the video is kinda boring. The song however is pretty catchy. Check out "Playing God" and don't think about boobies like me.

Amely - Acoustic Songs

Here's a video from a band that I probably would hate if I listened to. This is a acoustic version of one of their songs and its not that bad. Looking at them all I can think of his hipster douche but I can ignore a decent song. So I'll go ahead and say this ones for the ladies!!!! If you enjoy this you can go HERE for another song.

Facedown Records Sampler

Facedown Records is offering their summer sampler for free. Just click this link and download the album. The offical track list of the sampler is as follows...

For Today "Devastator"
My Epic "Lower Still"
War Of Ages "Collapse"
In The Midst Of Lions "The Machine"
A Hope For Home "The Overman"
Impending Doom "Orphans"
Call To Preserve "Empty"
A Plea For Purging "Shiver"
The Burial "Demons Never Sleep"
Onward To Olympas "Sink Of Swim"
As Hell Retreats "Poor God"
Wrench In The Works "Project AK-47".

If your a fan of metal or hard rock I would recommend this to you. Bands like A Plea For Purging and In The Midst Of Lions are power houses. If your more into the punk side of things For Today might be more your style. Anyway you look at it free music it always nice!

What if American Idol mashed up with Glee???

Well you would most likely get something like this. The show is called "Kampf der Chöre" which is the Swiss version of "Clash Of The Choirs". Whats really cool are the songs that "Team Gustav" chose to preform. "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden and "TNT" by AC/DC.

As you can imagine the show "Kampt der Chöre" is a competition show not unlike American Idol. Except these choirs sound great and there aren't annoying people all over American worrying about who should win a superficial show.

          

New Destroyer Song

Heres the new song from the up coming album "Katputt" its called "Chinatown" and its pretty awesome. Destroyter’s "Kaputt" is out January 25

Destroyer :: Chinatown

The Juliets - Self titled stream

I won't rest until I've found the best bands for people to listen to. Well I won't until after this post. I was about to give up looking for stuff tonight until I stumbled on this band. This is some really good stuff. Its indie rock with a good bit of string arrangements behind the core music. The vocal work is excellent and its one of those feel good albums.

You can download this album for whatever donation price you feel you'd like to pay, or if your broke like me you can download it for free. Its nice to see that bands are embracing the internet as a means to get noticed. Mark my words, this band will be big in the indie world. So give it a listen and download it if you like what you hear.

How about a new Cage the Elephant songs?

Your wish is my command! This new song "2024" comes off of their forthcoming album "Thank you, Happy Birthday". Weird I know. The albums due out in January of 2011.

Strawberries? or...Grape-berries?

Just a funny video that made me think of all the wine snobs that I deal with on a daily basis. Plus it's viral video film school so you know it's good. Cheers.

Angus and Julia Stone - Big Jet Plane Live

This is one of my favorite songs of the year. I wasn't sure it could sound better than it did on the album but I was wrong. This is one of the most impressive live videos I've ever seen. Seriously the quality is amazing. I can almost smell the patchouli oil.

Black Cab Sessions - One song, one take, one cab..

I first found out about The Black Cab Sessions a couple years ago when I was looking for random videos of artists that I was obsessed with and found something awesome and original. Basically an artist will get in a black cab (go figure) and will play one song while the cab driver drives them around. There are a lot of great performances from many different bands. If you just go to the Black Cab Sessions website you can find a lot of great artists I'm sure you've never heard. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy.