Hmmmmm, it wasn't the best.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Bung’s Favourite Songs of 2010.
1. Forget You (Cee Lo Green)
I wasn’t too enamoured with this song when I first heard, but multiple plays on nights out with friends, not to mention the terrific cover done by Glee, has gotten me to really adore it. Essentially, it’s quite a sad tale of a man’s failed romance with a golddigger, but such are the upbeat tempo and tune that Cee Lo Green really has fun with his silver-tonguing.
2. Love the Way You Lie (Eminem ft. Rihanna)
Far and away, one of the deepest, most moving songs I’ve ever heard. It captures an abusive relationship that is massively detrimental for both parties involved, yet such is the power of the love (and hate) binding the two involved, that just walking away isn’t an option. This being something that both Eminem and Rihanna are very well versed in, it’s no surprise that Rihanna’s voice touches emotive highs and Eminem’s rapping really resonates.
3. Airplanes (B.o.B ft Hayley Williams)
Dreams, aspirations, shattered hopes, wishing upon airplanes… been there, done that. Hayley Williams has a beautiful voice, some parts of B.o.B’s rapping really hold true. What’s not to love?
4. Power (Kanye West ft. Dwele)
“No one man should have all that power,” notes Kanye, although I would argue that if anyone’s deserving of power, it’s him, for coming out of hiding after being publically denounced a thousand times last year to comeback and produce, write, score and rap and sing in My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, by far one of the most complete albums I’ve gotten my hands on, this song on it being the crème de la crème.
5. On to the Next One (Jay-Z ft. Swizz Beats)
The video raised some problems with one of my super-Christian friends at work, but I absolutely adore everything about this song, from the Swizz Beats appearance (Cher Lloyd ripping them off irks me ever so), to Jay-Z’s all-round swagger and arrogance. “No I’m not a Jonas brother I’m a grown-up, no I’m not a virgin I use my cojones.” Tell me that’s not poetry.
6. Teenage Dream (Katy Perry)
If there is one song that invokes memories of Summer 2010, it’d be this. I turned 20 this year so am no longer a teenager, but the song itself invokes the memories of what it’s like to FEEL like a teenager when you’re in love. Brill.
7. Empire State of Mind (part II) (Alicia Keys)
Poetry, pure poetry. Alicia Keys is a goddess.
8. Kickstarts (Example)
Example actually came to my University several weeks back, and I missed the opportunity to watch him perform. Still not over it; this song is gorgeous.
9. Take One for the Team (Ft. Cyhi the Prynce, Keri Hilson & Pusha T)
For flat-out lulz, there’s no better than “Take one for the Team”. “He said that bitch wasn’t pretty enough to finger!” whines Cyhi the Prynce in one verse, whereas Kanye happily admits that despite trying to be nice, “You know what? I’m not a nice guy”. More honest.
10. Monster (Kanye West ft. Jay-Z & Nikki Minaj)
11. Bad Romance (Lady Gaga)
12. Fireflies (Owl City)
13. Born Free (M.I.A.)
14. Tightrope (Janelle Monáe)
15. Waka Waka (Shakira)
16. Acapella (Kelis)
17. Good Intentions Paving Company (Joanna Newsom)
18. Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars)
19. California Gurls (Katy Perry)
20. Dog Days are Over (Florence and the Machine)
21. Like a G6 (Far East Movement ft The Cataracs & Dev)
22. You Got the Dirtee Love (Florence & Dizzee Rascal)
23. Billionaire (Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars)
24. What’s My Name? (Rihanna ft Drake)
25. We Dance On (N-Dubz ft Bodyrox)
I wasn’t too enamoured with this song when I first heard, but multiple plays on nights out with friends, not to mention the terrific cover done by Glee, has gotten me to really adore it. Essentially, it’s quite a sad tale of a man’s failed romance with a golddigger, but such are the upbeat tempo and tune that Cee Lo Green really has fun with his silver-tonguing.
2. Love the Way You Lie (Eminem ft. Rihanna)
Far and away, one of the deepest, most moving songs I’ve ever heard. It captures an abusive relationship that is massively detrimental for both parties involved, yet such is the power of the love (and hate) binding the two involved, that just walking away isn’t an option. This being something that both Eminem and Rihanna are very well versed in, it’s no surprise that Rihanna’s voice touches emotive highs and Eminem’s rapping really resonates.
3. Airplanes (B.o.B ft Hayley Williams)
Dreams, aspirations, shattered hopes, wishing upon airplanes… been there, done that. Hayley Williams has a beautiful voice, some parts of B.o.B’s rapping really hold true. What’s not to love?
4. Power (Kanye West ft. Dwele)
“No one man should have all that power,” notes Kanye, although I would argue that if anyone’s deserving of power, it’s him, for coming out of hiding after being publically denounced a thousand times last year to comeback and produce, write, score and rap and sing in My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, by far one of the most complete albums I’ve gotten my hands on, this song on it being the crème de la crème.
5. On to the Next One (Jay-Z ft. Swizz Beats)
The video raised some problems with one of my super-Christian friends at work, but I absolutely adore everything about this song, from the Swizz Beats appearance (Cher Lloyd ripping them off irks me ever so), to Jay-Z’s all-round swagger and arrogance. “No I’m not a Jonas brother I’m a grown-up, no I’m not a virgin I use my cojones.” Tell me that’s not poetry.
6. Teenage Dream (Katy Perry)
If there is one song that invokes memories of Summer 2010, it’d be this. I turned 20 this year so am no longer a teenager, but the song itself invokes the memories of what it’s like to FEEL like a teenager when you’re in love. Brill.
7. Empire State of Mind (part II) (Alicia Keys)
Poetry, pure poetry. Alicia Keys is a goddess.
8. Kickstarts (Example)
Example actually came to my University several weeks back, and I missed the opportunity to watch him perform. Still not over it; this song is gorgeous.
9. Take One for the Team (Ft. Cyhi the Prynce, Keri Hilson & Pusha T)
For flat-out lulz, there’s no better than “Take one for the Team”. “He said that bitch wasn’t pretty enough to finger!” whines Cyhi the Prynce in one verse, whereas Kanye happily admits that despite trying to be nice, “You know what? I’m not a nice guy”. More honest.
10. Monster (Kanye West ft. Jay-Z & Nikki Minaj)
11. Bad Romance (Lady Gaga)
12. Fireflies (Owl City)
13. Born Free (M.I.A.)
14. Tightrope (Janelle Monáe)
15. Waka Waka (Shakira)
16. Acapella (Kelis)
17. Good Intentions Paving Company (Joanna Newsom)
18. Just the Way You Are (Bruno Mars)
19. California Gurls (Katy Perry)
20. Dog Days are Over (Florence and the Machine)
21. Like a G6 (Far East Movement ft The Cataracs & Dev)
22. You Got the Dirtee Love (Florence & Dizzee Rascal)
23. Billionaire (Travie McCoy featuring Bruno Mars)
24. What’s My Name? (Rihanna ft Drake)
25. We Dance On (N-Dubz ft Bodyrox)
Monday, December 13, 2010
I kept my promise, don't keep your distance.
Christmases are kind of a big deal for me. The gift-giving, the Christmas spirit, the being with friends and family-- it's all good stuff. But idk, I'm so apathetic to Christmas this year. Possibly because 2010's been somewhat of a blah yeah for me, but also, I guess it's just another mark of another year, with nothing achieved. And no amount of Christmas spirit can make me shake off that feeling.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Love kickstarts again.
I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so you learn to let go, things go wrong so you can appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together. -Marilyn Monroe
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Top 10 Girls Aloud song lyrics that I connect to.
Back to the Girls Aloud obsession once again! One of the many things I love about their songs is that I can always recognise something of myself in their lyrics. So here are 10 of their song lyrics which I feel I connect to:
01. “Without any meaning, we’re just skin and bone, like beautiful robots dancing alone” – Untouchable
02. “Boy did you ever think that loving would be nothing more than walking me home? No no” – Sexy! No No No…
04. “It might sound crazy but your voice still leaves me all funky” – Whole Lotta History
05. “You could be the one that’s the head of the pack, babe. You could be the power stealing the whole damn show” – Crocodile Tears
06. “Surfing channels ‘til I bleach out the pain” – Memory of You
07. “I got you, I know your game. Doesn’t mean I know how to play” – History
08. “Gone are the days of magic, those times were cool. I tried to make love not hate, what was I to do” – Rolling Back the Rivers in Time
09. “I've been waiting all this time for you / And I've been hatin' all this talkin', baby, black and blue” – Waiting
10. “Wake me up before I drop out on you / You treat me rough to show that you care / And I just can't refuse baby” – Wake Me Up
Oh, would you look at that, nearly all of them relate to love, and the pangs of disappointed love. Typical Bung!
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Kanye’s Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is by turns dark, twisted and very, very beautiful.
I know, I know, I’ve not been blogging much recently, and I hold my hands up to being a lazy git. However, my life has been somewhat of a lol recently, so I’ve been trying to figure that out first. In doing so, I realised that my personal don Kanye West’s new album has been leaked, so, what better way to return to the blogging world than a song-by-song review of it??
The introduction to the album, “Dark Fantasy”, unsettled me from the off, what with the vocals being spoken by what sounds like an odd imitation of a British accent. Then there’s some gospel-like singing, before 1 minute 19 seconds: THERE HE IS. He shows off his expansive range of high school Spanish: “How you say broke in Spanish? Me no hablo”, and the chorus of “Oh, oh, oh” is masterfully orchestrated. But the focal point of the song is the man himself and his rapping, and oh, what masterful rapping. Kanye West is in the building, ladies and gentlemen.
The second song of the album, “Gorgeous”, with Kid Cudi and Raekwon features some stunning electric guitar and malaise aplenty in Kid Cudi’s bits: “I can feel it slowly drifting away from me.” Kanye’s rapping sounds like it’s down through a foghorn or toilet pan (possibly both), but looking past that silly sound effect, it takes nothing away from the insight to his rappings, “I treat cash the way the government treats AIDs”. Kanye West has been accused of loving the sound of his own voice too much (the Taylor Swift affair has been touched upon ad nauseum), but it’s my opinion that when his words are this poetic, it’s a good thing that he projects his thoughts so loudly. The classy song is topped off with a sweet Raekwon refrain. There are a lot of excellent songs on this album, but amongst them, Gorgeous stood out for me.
“Power”, featuring Dwele is a terrific fusion of rap and rock with a healthy dosage of hollering in the background to provide the song’s beats. The raps take a crescendo (a thin layer, then louder, then louder), before finally standing off, and it’s clear that Mr. West has some anger management issues arising from his public ostricization of the Taylor Swift affair (“they can kiss my ass… more specifically they can kiss my asshole”, he swaggers), and Kanye West talking about others being egotistical always has ironic novelty value, but this is brilliant stuff – full of intelligent play on words that you’ll have to crane your ears to hear lest you miss them, bold, brassy, and completely Kanye.
When I didn’t see a Rihanna name credit on the song “All of the Lights”, I must say I was surprised, because she stands out more than her male counterpart in her feisty vocal work in the song - but it’s a terrific complement to Kanye’s rapping. The beat in the song is unashamedly big and bombastic (and as such, hugely catchy), and Rihanna isn’t the only celebrity to feature on it – The Dream, Kid Cudi and John Legend all pop up to say their lines, as well as Elton John on piano. Texturally, it’s one of Kanye’s richest songs, and lyrically, it’s untouchable.
The list of talent included in “Monster” itself is somewhat of a monster – Jay Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver, and it’s good to see that the whole VMA affair hasn’t impaired Mr West’s ability to chat words at breakneck speeds. I mean, I think of myself as quite a fast talker, but there’s no way I could keep up with Kanye at the speed he raps here. Jay-Z, not happy to be outplayed, picks up the pace and raps as quickly, whilst adding his own quirky asides. Up-and-rising bright young thing Nicki Minaj refuses to be outdone by the fellas, and she, too raps in a manner that is both fast, frenetic and totally furious, indicating she’s one to keep an eye out for (she also epitomizes cool in her appearance in Rihanna’s song Raining Men). It’s not unfair to suggest that there’s a fair bit of anger plaguing on Kanye West’s heart following The Taylor Swift incident, because the fact that he wrote a whole songs about it is rather telling. Furthermore, he tells us for the umpteenth time in his album to tell us to kiss a certain part of anatomy, but the swagger is strong with this one.
“Life sometimes can be ridiculous” we are told in “So Appalled”, another song that is heavy on the stars –Jay Z again, along with Pusha T, Prynce Cy Hi, The RZA and Swizz Beatz. Not totally sure what’s being discussed in this song; it just seems to be a slow-burning meditation on whatever’s in the weird and wonderful world of Kanye West’s mind. Each of the men in the song have their own agendas, people who irk them, and they can voice their frustrations to an extent in this song. “What would you rather be, underpaid or overrated?” Jay-Z demands of us. Judging by this song, Kanye West is neither.
“Devil in a New Dress” tells the story of a beautiful but deadly woman (think: Goldigger, but amplified: “I know I’m preaching to the congregation/We love Jesus/But you done learned a lot of Satan”). The pace is noticeably less frenetic than the majority of songs on the album, but there’s a good deal of dry wit as well as signature Kanye back-patting in the track, as well as a healthy dose of soulful instrumentals. The whole song feels like a throwback to old-school, College Dropout Kanye, and the trip down memory lane pays off – it’s a strong track.
“Runaway”, which clocks in at almost 9 minutes, takes its time getting started – 40 seconds of single piano keys, and another 20 seconds of further intro before we hear any actual singing/rapping. Pusha T, who Kanye clearly enjoys collaborating with (they were in Take One for the Team, one of the most entertaining yet also casually misogynistic songs I’ve heard together), and indeed, there is swagger aplenty in Pusha-T’s rapping (“Invisibly set, the Rolex is faceless / I'm just young, rich, but you’re tasteless). The singing finishes in time for three-and-a-half minutes of instrumentals, capping off an accomplished, bizarre but very memorable song.
“Hell of a Life” starts out brashly – “I think I just fell in love with a porn star”. One of the few songs in which Kanye fronts totally by himself, he sings the chorus and raps during the verses, thus exhibiting his wide range of talents. “Have you lost your mind / tell me what you thinkin’ when you crossed the line”. The instrumental ding-a-linging of the electric piano keys sounds like it wouldn’t be out of place in a Microsoft Pinball game and the bass (and random cacophony of sounds throughout) suggests to me that Kanye himself, may have lost his mind when creating this one. But that just compounds to the song’s genius.
When I saw that Kanye had collaborated with John Legend again, I wondered if the result would be their jovial ode to infidelity, “Number One”. But “Blame Game”, whilst touching upon similar themes, is of a different musical pedigree completely. Over seven minutes long, it, like the rest of the album, isn’t afraid to do whatever the hell it wants, but essentially, it’s an elegiac love song that reflects on where a relationship went wrong. John Legend exhibits his wonderful vocals to the backdrop of lingering minor piano keys, and Kanye’s rapping tells a long, meandering, but very sad story. The result is a haunting, beautiful little number that shows Kanye West can do sensitive and emotional with the best of them.
One could be mistaken for thinking it was a woman’s voice at the start of “Lost in the World”; the intro, with the sparse lack of instruments and vocal harmonisations alone, is something that Imogen Heap mastered ages again. Sampling Bon Iver’s “Woods”, it captures the multi-faceted nature of love “You’re my devil, you’re my angel / you’re my heaven, you’re my hell”, and texturally, it’s very thick – playing with autotune, random rhythm and beats, Kanye references plenty of other R&B songs (including Rihanna’s Please don’t stop the Music). At one point it all gets a bit TOO much, and as such, I would rank it as one of my least favourites on the album, but it’s still decent stuff.
The album closes with the arty outro “Who Will Survive in America”, a 90-odd second long soliloquy which touches upon freedom, soul, fraternity, and all the usual themes prevalent in Kanye’s ponderings.
All in all, AMAZE stuff. Absolutely wonderful. 10/10.
The introduction to the album, “Dark Fantasy”, unsettled me from the off, what with the vocals being spoken by what sounds like an odd imitation of a British accent. Then there’s some gospel-like singing, before 1 minute 19 seconds: THERE HE IS. He shows off his expansive range of high school Spanish: “How you say broke in Spanish? Me no hablo”, and the chorus of “Oh, oh, oh” is masterfully orchestrated. But the focal point of the song is the man himself and his rapping, and oh, what masterful rapping. Kanye West is in the building, ladies and gentlemen.
The second song of the album, “Gorgeous”, with Kid Cudi and Raekwon features some stunning electric guitar and malaise aplenty in Kid Cudi’s bits: “I can feel it slowly drifting away from me.” Kanye’s rapping sounds like it’s down through a foghorn or toilet pan (possibly both), but looking past that silly sound effect, it takes nothing away from the insight to his rappings, “I treat cash the way the government treats AIDs”. Kanye West has been accused of loving the sound of his own voice too much (the Taylor Swift affair has been touched upon ad nauseum), but it’s my opinion that when his words are this poetic, it’s a good thing that he projects his thoughts so loudly. The classy song is topped off with a sweet Raekwon refrain. There are a lot of excellent songs on this album, but amongst them, Gorgeous stood out for me.
“Power”, featuring Dwele is a terrific fusion of rap and rock with a healthy dosage of hollering in the background to provide the song’s beats. The raps take a crescendo (a thin layer, then louder, then louder), before finally standing off, and it’s clear that Mr. West has some anger management issues arising from his public ostricization of the Taylor Swift affair (“they can kiss my ass… more specifically they can kiss my asshole”, he swaggers), and Kanye West talking about others being egotistical always has ironic novelty value, but this is brilliant stuff – full of intelligent play on words that you’ll have to crane your ears to hear lest you miss them, bold, brassy, and completely Kanye.
When I didn’t see a Rihanna name credit on the song “All of the Lights”, I must say I was surprised, because she stands out more than her male counterpart in her feisty vocal work in the song - but it’s a terrific complement to Kanye’s rapping. The beat in the song is unashamedly big and bombastic (and as such, hugely catchy), and Rihanna isn’t the only celebrity to feature on it – The Dream, Kid Cudi and John Legend all pop up to say their lines, as well as Elton John on piano. Texturally, it’s one of Kanye’s richest songs, and lyrically, it’s untouchable.
The list of talent included in “Monster” itself is somewhat of a monster – Jay Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver, and it’s good to see that the whole VMA affair hasn’t impaired Mr West’s ability to chat words at breakneck speeds. I mean, I think of myself as quite a fast talker, but there’s no way I could keep up with Kanye at the speed he raps here. Jay-Z, not happy to be outplayed, picks up the pace and raps as quickly, whilst adding his own quirky asides. Up-and-rising bright young thing Nicki Minaj refuses to be outdone by the fellas, and she, too raps in a manner that is both fast, frenetic and totally furious, indicating she’s one to keep an eye out for (she also epitomizes cool in her appearance in Rihanna’s song Raining Men). It’s not unfair to suggest that there’s a fair bit of anger plaguing on Kanye West’s heart following The Taylor Swift incident, because the fact that he wrote a whole songs about it is rather telling. Furthermore, he tells us for the umpteenth time in his album to tell us to kiss a certain part of anatomy, but the swagger is strong with this one.
“Life sometimes can be ridiculous” we are told in “So Appalled”, another song that is heavy on the stars –Jay Z again, along with Pusha T, Prynce Cy Hi, The RZA and Swizz Beatz. Not totally sure what’s being discussed in this song; it just seems to be a slow-burning meditation on whatever’s in the weird and wonderful world of Kanye West’s mind. Each of the men in the song have their own agendas, people who irk them, and they can voice their frustrations to an extent in this song. “What would you rather be, underpaid or overrated?” Jay-Z demands of us. Judging by this song, Kanye West is neither.
“Devil in a New Dress” tells the story of a beautiful but deadly woman (think: Goldigger, but amplified: “I know I’m preaching to the congregation/We love Jesus/But you done learned a lot of Satan”). The pace is noticeably less frenetic than the majority of songs on the album, but there’s a good deal of dry wit as well as signature Kanye back-patting in the track, as well as a healthy dose of soulful instrumentals. The whole song feels like a throwback to old-school, College Dropout Kanye, and the trip down memory lane pays off – it’s a strong track.
“Runaway”, which clocks in at almost 9 minutes, takes its time getting started – 40 seconds of single piano keys, and another 20 seconds of further intro before we hear any actual singing/rapping. Pusha T, who Kanye clearly enjoys collaborating with (they were in Take One for the Team, one of the most entertaining yet also casually misogynistic songs I’ve heard together), and indeed, there is swagger aplenty in Pusha-T’s rapping (“Invisibly set, the Rolex is faceless / I'm just young, rich, but you’re tasteless). The singing finishes in time for three-and-a-half minutes of instrumentals, capping off an accomplished, bizarre but very memorable song.
“Hell of a Life” starts out brashly – “I think I just fell in love with a porn star”. One of the few songs in which Kanye fronts totally by himself, he sings the chorus and raps during the verses, thus exhibiting his wide range of talents. “Have you lost your mind / tell me what you thinkin’ when you crossed the line”. The instrumental ding-a-linging of the electric piano keys sounds like it wouldn’t be out of place in a Microsoft Pinball game and the bass (and random cacophony of sounds throughout) suggests to me that Kanye himself, may have lost his mind when creating this one. But that just compounds to the song’s genius.
When I saw that Kanye had collaborated with John Legend again, I wondered if the result would be their jovial ode to infidelity, “Number One”. But “Blame Game”, whilst touching upon similar themes, is of a different musical pedigree completely. Over seven minutes long, it, like the rest of the album, isn’t afraid to do whatever the hell it wants, but essentially, it’s an elegiac love song that reflects on where a relationship went wrong. John Legend exhibits his wonderful vocals to the backdrop of lingering minor piano keys, and Kanye’s rapping tells a long, meandering, but very sad story. The result is a haunting, beautiful little number that shows Kanye West can do sensitive and emotional with the best of them.
One could be mistaken for thinking it was a woman’s voice at the start of “Lost in the World”; the intro, with the sparse lack of instruments and vocal harmonisations alone, is something that Imogen Heap mastered ages again. Sampling Bon Iver’s “Woods”, it captures the multi-faceted nature of love “You’re my devil, you’re my angel / you’re my heaven, you’re my hell”, and texturally, it’s very thick – playing with autotune, random rhythm and beats, Kanye references plenty of other R&B songs (including Rihanna’s Please don’t stop the Music). At one point it all gets a bit TOO much, and as such, I would rank it as one of my least favourites on the album, but it’s still decent stuff.
The album closes with the arty outro “Who Will Survive in America”, a 90-odd second long soliloquy which touches upon freedom, soul, fraternity, and all the usual themes prevalent in Kanye’s ponderings.
All in all, AMAZE stuff. Absolutely wonderful. 10/10.
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