The current State of Music

It has been awhile since I have even considered writing in this blog. Today though, I have magically found some inspiration for writing. What has been on my mind is music, as always. As most of you know I am a guitarist. This gives me an advantage in listening to music. I listen to it as a whole then dissect it from there. I listen to every instrument and evaluate where the actual talent lies.

I want to start and name my top 3 favorite new albums,

1. Random Access Memories- Daft Punk

2. Indicud-KiD CuDi

3. iTunes Session- Gary Clark Jr.

Before I go through and review these, keep in mind that I am trying to keep this current and not all focused on Hip-Hop. Also there are many singles out there that I thoroughly enjoy, but this is albums, not singles.

Daft Punk-Random Access Memories

To begin I want to examine what Daft Punk has done, they essentially made electronic music popular and have done it without showing their faces. The public knows Daft Punk as a French duo that produces stellar electronic and while wearing helmets. The helmets conceal their identities which makes them basically anonymous. Recently, I read an article in Rolling Stone that said the duo can walk around in public and blend in as regular people. This is a great advantage, which leads me to believe why their music is still so excellent and wholesome.

Anyway, onto their album, it is a classic. I like to think of it as disco of our age. The tracks that stand out to me the most are "Get Lucky" "Loose Yourself to Dance" and "Give Life Back to Music." With a little help from Pharrell, Daft Punk created some great music. Over the past few years music like this has been becoming increasing popular, albums like The Strokes Angles and MGMT's Congratulations are very similar to Daft Punks style. DP incorporates synthesizers, guitar and beats to come together and make this terrific album. Check out Random Access Memories if you have not already.

KiD CuDi- Indicud

A lot of people will not agree with this one for many reasons. Fundamentally it is not the best album out there I will admit, but for Cudi fans it is fantastic. I started listening to Cudi right after Cudderisback came out and i was hooked. For awhile he was my favorite rapper. He has flow and is very lyrical. Cudi was dropped from Kanye West's GOOD Music label to split and form his own label with Cleveland native King Chip (formerly Chip Tha Ripper). This new album Indicud was his first solo work on his label. Some of the guests on the album include A$AP Rocky, Kendrick Lamar, King Chip, MGMT, and RZA. What makes this album really appeal to me is that Cudi produced all of it himself, everything from making the beats to finalizing record contracts. It is great to see Cudi back in action and off cocaine (he had a coke issue for several years and produced some shitty music). Key tracks on the album include "Brothers" "Solo Dolo part II" "Immortal"and "Just What I Am."

Gary Clark Jr- iTunes Session

Now I know what most people are thinking now "Who is Gary Clark Jr?" to answer that is simple, he is the savior of the blues. The blues has been quiet for a long time and Clark is here to revive it. ITunes Session is a live recording of Clark shredding all over originals and some covers. He plays like a mixture of Jimi Hendrix, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughn. He hits every note like it could be the last time he plays and that is what separates him from other current guitarists. He also has lived a life of the blues which makes his songs from the soul. That is something that is not very prevalent in these days. Young and on the grind is the best way to describe Clark. Key tracks on the album include "If Trouble was Money," "Ain't Messin 'Round" and "Oh Pretty Woman." If you have not heard of Gary Clark Jr you need to check him out.

Welcome to my world

If this blog happens to catch your attention then I hope it is worth your time. All over the internet there are obnoxious, insolent bloggers, that simply just complain about things. The things they complain about are simple and shallow problems. As these bloggers continue to post new criticisms and accusations, their world continues to be close minded. That is neither here nor there, that is not why I am here to write a blog. Even though there are plenty of things I could rant about, I will attempt not to.

With that in mind, why did I choose to start a blog? Truth be told, because there has never been a better time for it. Recently i have had an increased sense of awareness for what I need to do. I see things and i get them done. And its not fucking addarell either, cause fuck knows how productive i would be if i was on that shit. Anyways, I have been doing research into the field that i would be entering (Public Relations) and a large aspect of it is social media. I hate social media to be honest, but i understand that it is vital to my career path. Therefore i must do it. Also from this point on expect me to be on my social media game, i mean Instagram, Twitter and i will even start to Vine.

Ah alright Evan, so you got a blog what are you gonna write about on this outlet?

I give zero fucks to be quite specific, so this is an outlet to express my critical and ridiculous opinions of things. Now the real question is what will this entail? You can expect anything from ridiculous stories in the everyday life of Evan Ball, MLB updates (mostly Red Sox), to radical opinions of music. I want to test the boundaries of blogging so pardon me if i am elongating this blog post but expect excellent things to come.

To start out my blog i would like to start with something classic. It is not exactly classic though. About 2 months ago a new album was released by Jimi Hendrix. It contained twelve unreleased Hendrix songs. Some were live classic like Hear My Train A Comin. Throughout the whole album there was blues, and not just any kind of blues, Hendrix blues. He shreds up and down the guitar on every track on this album. The fact that we are just releasing this now is absolutely ridiculous. Bleeding Heart by far is my favorite song on the album. It is just Hendrix playing the blues like it easy. I sit hear and listen to this "new" Hendrix song and still wonder how he played it.

adios til next time ladies and gentleman