Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Timbaland - The Way I Are (ft. Keri Hilson and D.O.E.)

So I decided to take another little deviancy from the usual songs that I post on this blog to go with something by Timbaland, that goes by the name of The Way I Are. Chances are that if you spend any time listening to the radio on the way to work or something, you have heard this song a few times over. It is more of a electronic hip-hop song than rap, so you guys may enjoy it. ;]
This song featured Timbaland-signed Keri Hilson as credited vocals on the track, as well as (sometimes) uncredited vocals from D.O.E. Check out the video below to listen to this song on the official Timbaland VEVO:




Timbaland is a bit of a rapper, a bit of a hip-hop artist, and a bit of an electronic artist. Though hip-hop, rap, and electronic music have been mixing for as long as the genres have existed, popular music within the past few years in the rap/hip-hop category has been consumed almost entirely by electronic music.

In my opinion, it made these songs a lot more listenable than they were before, and Timbaland rode this wave of new hip-hop and rap straight into the top of the charts, nabbing double platinum for The Way I Are in seven years.


Check it out and let us know what you think!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Sneaker Pimps - 6 Underground

Here is a song that you may have heard of sometime on the radio, or maybe even on some obscure cassette mix-tape. This song is actually a hit from way back in 1996, believe it or not, by the British trip-hop band Sneaker Pimps. Oh yeah, we are going back far here for this one! ;]

Believe it or not, this song was more popular a whole year after it was released than when it first reached the charts, and no lie, 6 Underground re-emerged on the charts in Britain after being in an American film. If that was not weird enough for you, it then proceeded to show up in films across the mainstream cinema scene for almost fifteen years, most recently making an appearance in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.


Sneaker Pimps is not an exceedingly well known band, even if their song 6 Underground is. The members of the band proceeded to make side projects and a few other albums into the new millennium, but nothing quite reached the popularity of 6 Underground. To be fair, though, they did make it on the charts with each of their successive albums, but not much has been heard of the band since.

Check 'em out!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It

Bear with me here, people -- I know that the kind of listeners who would view my blog may not be the biggest fans of bands like LMFAO, or the kind of music they make. However, I have to say that I personally quite enjoyed this particular song, and so I decided to share it with you guys. Let's see what you guys think of it. ;D

The song that I am featuring today by LMFAO is Sexy and I Know It, which is another hit by the band -- which seems to be on quite a roll lately. Some people may find this song pompous, or cocky, but really I think that the band is just having a bit of fun with it. Check it out below:




This song was hugely welcomed by just about every country that it made the charts on, including the United States, the U.K., and it even took number one for a while in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. This is LMFAO's second successive number one hit, which puts them in an elite group of duo artists such as OutKast to have reached this goal.

Let me know what you think in the comments!


Saturday, January 28, 2012

Armin van Buuren - Mirage

Guess what? It is trance time again on iBlog, and we got one of the most famous artists in trance history for the blog feature: Armin van Buuren, the Dutch master of trance music. Few people can even come close to van Buuren in the entire electronic industry, much less trance. He has really built up a foundation for trance music that still heavily influences those interested in it today.

One of my favorites from van Buuren is his Mirage song. There are a lot of reasons that truly mesh together to rank this song way up on my list, but specifically I think it is the uniqueness that Mirage has that gives it that extra oomph. Check out the video below, which features the Mirage song to a chill background:


Armin van Buuren is a true master of music perhaps because of his unusual devotion to it -- he was making music like this when he was just fourteen years old! When I was 14, I  was still screwing around with how to get out of doing work, and he was throwing himself into it. You really have to admire an artist with that sort of talent and passion.

Speaking of good music, I would like to give a shout-out to a blog that I have recently come across that also talks about music of a similar vein, and I urge you to go check it out. If you like anything I have been featuring here, chances are you will love what this man has to present. Check out my new friend, FinestMusicSelection!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Freedomatik - Area 102

So let me start off this post with a little story.

My good friend was telling me about the new music player, Spotify, and how much he loved it. He had so many songs queued he could not even find the time to listen to them all! He went on about the program, and I nodded my head and said, "Cool, cool," without paying much attention.

A few days later, I discover this cool music player on facebook. I get really into it, and suddenly I am on facebook telling everyone, "Man, I love Spotify! I wish I had heard about it sooner." The same friend replied with, "I told you about Spotify, man!"

Whoops. Busted.

So there are some commercials on Spotify between a few songs to keep their program running, and one of them is for the electronic band Freedomatik. I found their "One Nite One Album" playlist to be excellent, as a matter of fact, and I added my favorite of the entire set to my Awesomesauce #1 playlist: Area 102.

Unfortunately, Freedomatik's YouTube is a bit sparse, with only a couple of videos and none of Area 102. So if you want to hear Area 102, click here and scroll down to their track listing.


Thursday, January 26, 2012

Tool - Lateralus album, reordered (aka The Holy Gift)

Here is a special one for you today, guys. I bring to you what is considered by some to be a "Holy Gift" from the progressive band Tool, and if you listen to it yourself, you may find that agree.

So what is so special about this particular musical gift that one might consider it as having qualities of holiness? It is the whole transcendent album Lateralus by Tool combined into one song -- all of the songs were rearranged in a certain order (when 1-13, the numbers of the tracks, are arranged horizontally, a spiral can be drawn from the two middle numbers outward, and then from the outer numbers inward, to create the new order).

This album, rearranged in the particular order, creates a whole, flowing song, and at times it is hard to distinguish the individual songs when they are played one after another. Editing them together makes it nearly impossible! Check out the video below to see what we mean:


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Infected Mushroom - Becoming Insane

Infected Mushrooms -- oh boy, are you in for a treat today. This band is absolutely, entirely, most definitely something else. It is actually a bit hard to determine what category of genres this would go in, much less than specific genre itself. Starting in the really late 90s, the Israeli-born core members, Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani, made what would be sensations across the darker electronic music world.

Starting out in 1998 as Shidapu & Duvdev and eventually evolving into Infected Mushroom as a duo, this band achieved moderate fame and success across the globe, playing at popular events like Coachella. Some of their more popular songs are Smashing The Opponent, Killing Time (Infected Trance Remix), and of course perhaps their most well known so far, Becoming Insane.





This band has grown to include other members like Tom Cunningham, Erez Netz, and Rogerio Jardim, but this is not bar far their only cast of people to work with. They have done work alongside DJ Jörg, Astrix, and Deedrah, and their success is only rising. It is easy to see why, when their music is so unique and filled to the brim with talent. Check it out!

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Foster the People - Helena Beat

iBlog brings you a current radio hit by the name of "Helena Beat" from the recently popular band Foster the People. Foster the People is a band comprised of lead vocalist (among many other things!) Mark Foster, bass and backing vocals Cubbie Fink, and Mark Pontius on drums and extra percussion. Mark Foster, then struggling to make ends meet as a jingle writer, founded Foster the People, which led to several musical successes.


It is quite hard to place Foster the People in even just a few classifications because their music really runs the generic gamut. Indie pop and rock seem to crop up a lot as one of the best ways to describe this band, but such genres as dance, electronica, and more make frequent appearances in their music. At any rate, their music is much lighter and upbeat, with very subtly dark undertones.

Helena Beat is not the only hit by Foster the People -- in fact, it's not even their biggest hit. This band is actually more well known for their first chart-topper, "Pumped Up Kicks." Pumped Up Kicks took many high positions ranging from three to one on the charts all over the board, showing the world that they were not only here to stay, but they were here to change music a little more.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Broken Bells - The High Road

Today, I present you with some alt rock by the band Broken Bells, a duo consisting of James Mercer and Brian Burton (a.k.a Danger Mouse, famous for his work with Cee Lo Green in the soul duo Gnarls Barkley). Broken Bells was briefly famous for their song The High Road, which is perhaps their greatest success.

The High Road showcased as the lead single for the eponymous debut album Broken Bells, which really did not feature any other songs that were of any serious fame, unfortunately. This one song did really catch my attention though, as I am sure it did for the many listeners it garnered through its extensive radio broadcast in the U.S.

Here is the official music video on YouTube:


The project, as they consider themselves, came back together for another collaboration called Meyrin Fields, which seems to still be in the phases of being added on to. Meyrin Fields features singles from the Broken Bells album's b-side, so not much new there.

Until they complete their second album, let's enjoy The High Road!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood

Let me take you back, to a world where music was simpler and yet oh-so-intricate. Let me take you back to a time when the land was ruled by the Gorillaz, with their very first single on their debut album. Yeah, that's right, I'm talking about the ever popular Clint Eastwood.

Sure, you may know the Gorillaz from the more recently popular (and an even bigger hit, believe it or not) Feel Good Inc., which seemed to stay on the forefront of radio stations for ages. Who can blame them? The Gorillaz just make a lot of good music, but there is always a diamond in their albums that shines out.

Check out Clint Eastwood below on YouTube:


Oh yeah, and don't worry about whether or not the video is safe to watch. It is by the official record label for the Gorillaz, so it's all a-okay. ;D

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Asher Roth - I Love College

Asher Roth stands out from so many other artists because his "suburban lifestyle" is not exactly the most common subject of most rap and hip-hop songs. He has lived a rather successful life, with his lyrics being considered mellow and even "non-threatening." Roth often speaks out against certain things that some rappers might support through their songs, whether or not they intend to do so.

His song, I Love College, is one of his more popular songs on the album Asleep in the Bread Aisle. Check it out below:



The song features Asher Roth speaking about just how much he loves college, and the partying and women that come with it, but that his college life doesn't have to be about violence or a lack of safety. While it may seem a bit cheesy, these are important things to remember, and thanks to Asher Roth, the public keeps that in mind.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Star Wars - Duel Of The Fates (The Noisy Freaks & Dead C∆T Bounce remix)

Hold on to your pants, boys and girls. It's time to get some dirty electro going up in here, and to start us off, I bring you a song I was linked to by a friend. He said it was "beautiful," and with such a claim, I had to investigate it myself, and boy oh boy was this something else. For dirty electro, I think it would definitely fit under the Beautiful category, if nothing else. Check it out:


Yeah, that right there is actually a collaboration remix of an epic Star Wars song (from movies some might say are not that good, though I quite enjoyed them). This remix features the Duel of the Fates, composed by the incredibly renowned Star Wars music composer John Williams. Duel of the Fates is a single from the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace soundtrack, which is one of six soundtracks for each six movies. The Star Wars soundtracks contain some of the most well-known modern film music.