Thanks Mr. A

This class over the school year has been a lot of fun. It was nice to come to this class at the end of the day and just chill. I'm really glad I took this class, I learned a ton about rock and roll, events happening in the world, and about good food. I enjoyed listening to most of the music in class, but did not like the rolling stones. I'm sad your leaving, but happy that I had the opportunity to have you as a teacher and I loved listening to the stories about your life. I hope your album does well and gets the credit it deserves, and thanks for everything you taught me. Stay safe and try not to get hurt again.

Bleachers

I think about a week ago I was listening to the radio and a song that I had never heard before came on, and I really liked it, so I Shazamed it, the songs was I wanna get Better by the Bleachers. I really like the sound of the guitar and the drums in this song, and I think the singers voice sounds cool. The song is pretty repetitive, but I think it sounds good. I listened to some of their other music and I didnt like it that much.

Lauren Hill

 I enjoyed listening to Lauren Hill's album last week or so. I think I liked her music in thr Fugees better though. She is an amazing rapper and singer, its is ridiculous of good she is. She makes Niki Manaje's music sound like crap (but Niki does sound pretty bad to begin with). She has some pretty cool lyrics, I also think that one line where she raps about crapping on the microphone is really good.

The Fugees

I enjoyed when we listened to the Fugees in class. I thought they were really good, and they had really good lyrics that were very creative and had meaning, and they weren't too repetitive. I think I recognized a couple of their songs, but most I hadnt heard. Hopefully sometime soon when I have time, I will look up more of their music and download it.

Green Day

From the parts that I remembered I thought that the Green Day documentary we watched in class was pretty cool. Before watching this I didn't know to much about Green Day's music, but I had heard it before and I though it was okay. After this film, I started to appreciate their music more and I think they are a great band. I think they have some pretty interesting lyrics in their music. One of my favorite songs by them is Brain Stew.

The Who

I know earlier this year I blogged about The Who, however I recently started to listen to them again and felt like I should blog about them. I really like their music, and when I think of roll and rock the Beatles and the Who immediately come to mind. Both, the Beatles and The Who, are my favorite rock and roll bands. Some of my favorite songs by the Who are Pinball Wizard, Baba O'Riley and Who Are You. I hope we can listen to more of the Who before the test ends.

Testing this week

I feel like this week went by pretty fast with all the EOC's, and IB and AP testing. Luckily I only had to take the US history EOC. I also chose not to take the AP english test because I knew I would do very good on it, and it was nice not having to study for it. I do not like taking standardized tests, I feel like most classes that require standardized test focus on the test too much and go through topics to fast and not thorough enough. It is going to be nice going to AP classes after the tests, because it will be alot more relaxed.

Yik Yak and Gaggle

I think that the stuff that has been said and posted on Yik Yak and Gaggle is pretty bad and its a cowardly way to bully someone, but some of the posts were pretty funny. Yik Yak can be a good app when used properly, however most of the students at Anderson used it the wrong way. I think that Anderson is kind of overreacting to these apps with the new no phone policy, and if students really want to use these apps they will outside of school. The best way for students to avoid "cyberbullying" is for them to just log off and stay off the website.

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio Documentary?

On Thursday in class we watched a documentary on the Muscle Shoals studio, I think, and I thought it was a really good film. It's ridiculous how many hit songs and stars came out of that studio, and the manager of the studio was always able to come back after losing bands and musicians. I though it was awesome how he used both black and white musicians and singers and how they cooperated and worked together and all of this was in Alabama. I liked multiple songs throughout the documentary, but I can't remember what they were called.

ACL Lineup 2

Well, I don't remember too much about the second day we discussed ACL because it was kind of a while ago, but I do remember that I liked Gramatik and I thought Lettuce was a funny name. Gramatik sounded really cool and the beat was awesome. I also thought that the Head and the Heart was pretty good for a folk music and they similar to the avery bothers.

Pearl Jam documentary

Before watching this documentary I really didn't know how Pearl jam was. While watching it  I recognized at lot of their music, and I liked a good amount of their music. That sucks that they had to change the name of the band. I thought it was interesting that they preferred to play small club shows rather than big concerts. Its was pretty cool how they wanted to make the tickets to their concerts cheaper some more of  their fans could afford to come. Because of this documentary I think that I will probably go see them at ACL if I go.

ACL Line Up

I really like the ACL line up this year, and I think I will probably go for my first time this year. I really want to see Eminem and Outkast, I really like alot of their music, but if I could only see one, I would go to Eminem because I've heard more of his music and I think he is amazing. Some other bands I'm interested in seeing are Beck, Pearl Jam, Foster the People and maybe Childish. I'm sure there are other bands I would enjoy that are going to be there that I haven't listened to.

Games on my phone

There are some pretty cool and fun games and apps you can get on your phone,  and they can be pretty entertaining. I don't think I really like to play on my phone though, basically it just means I have nothing better to do or I'm bored, I think I could manage to live without games on my phone just fine. I think its kind of annoying seeing or being with a bunch of people and everyone is just staring at their phones in silence, even though most of the time I am one of those people just staring at my phone.

Nirvana

This week in class we listened to some music by Nirvana and I thought it was okay. Some of their music I really liked and then alot of it I didn't like that much. While listening to the albums I recognized alot of songs I heard during my childhood amd throughout life. Of the songs I didn't like, I think most of them didn't have that much singing and alot of guitar. Two of the songs I really liked were Lake of Fire and Plateau, in both of those songs I really liked the sound of the guitar and drums, and the lyrics were interesting. Another thing I like about Nirvana is his voice, I think its awesome, it kind of has a stratchy tone to it.

Frank Ocean

Lately I have been listening to alot of Frank Ocean's music and I think it really good. I like his voice, though sometimes he sounds kind of sad when he is singing, I also really like the beats in his music. And in his music lyrics are interesting and good, they are very creative and he is not too repetitive.  Some my favorite songs by him are Forrest Gump and Super Rich Kids. In Super Rich Kids, I like the sound of the background singers.

Tupac and Biggie

I thought the documentary about Tupac and Biggie was pretty interesting and cool. Before watching this I knew that both Tupac and Biggie were both great rappers that were shot and killed, but other than that I didnt know to much. I think that it was Suge Knight who organized the killing of Tupac, because he owed Tupac millions of dolllars, Tupac was planning to leave his music business,  and he seemed pissed. I have also seen videos that say that Tupac is still alive, they bring up some interesting points, but I doubt that he faked it, and I saw some pictures of Tupac dead and that would be pretty hard to fake.

Old Hip Hop

Another topic we talked about this week in class was old hip hop, I think that alot of the old hip hop is really good. The music was very goodgood, it had creative lyrics, good beats, and there wasn't too much cussing compared to how much there is today. I thought that the song with Will Smith singing was pretty good, and it reminded me of the fresh Prince theme song. Alot of the music I had heard before, and most of the stuff I had heard I knew really well, because alot of it was in movies, tv shows, or overplayed on the radio.

Hair Metal Day

This week we had hair metal day, honestly it wasn't that bad. There were some songs that I thought were just horrible, but there were also a couple I liked. I feel like I either thought the song was pretty good or just horrible. Most of the male bands looked like females and were constantly touching each other and looked pretty gay. Many of the music videos were pretty weird and random. One of the few songs I actually liked was Every Rose Has its Thorns by poison. I'm not really sure why I liked that song, maybe because it had a slower pace and was more tame compared to other hair metal.

Ice JJ Fish

Before listening to this horrible music, I had no idea it was going to be this bad, I assumed it would at least sound like singing. It sounds like he is crying and singing at the same time, and it also songs like he is squealing. His dance moves are almost as bad as singing. I think it was Gavin who said that Ice JJ Fish actually thinks of hisself as a good rapper. There is no way he could think of hisself as good, unless he hasn't heard his own music. It's  a shame he had to become famous because of how bad his music is.

20 Feet From Stardom

This week in class we watched 20 Feet From Stardom, and I liked it alot, it was very interesting, cool, and kind of sad. I think this film is tied for first place of  my favorite documentaries that we have watched in this class, the other documentary I liked was the one about rappers and prison. I thought that those ladies had amazing voices, and it was ridiculous how good at singing they were. I think its horrible that the background singers didn't get enough credit for their great singing, and that it was hard for them to leave background singing and become or have their own band. Before watching this I was never aware of what these ladies had to go thru and the talent they had.

Random music I've started to listen to

This week I have started to/been listening to some music by the Gorillaz, Joe Walsh, and Frank Ocean. All of the artist are pretty different and each have their own sound. I don't really know how I came to listen this music, but I do remember I started to listen to Joe Walsh because I heard one of his songs on the radio. Some my favorite songs by the Gorillaz are Clint Eastwood and feel good Inc, I really like the song Forest Gump by Frank Ocean,  and I also like life's been good by Joe Walsh.

Paul Simon

Today in class we listened to Paul Simon's album called Graceland I thought it was pretty good. I really liked the beginning of the album,  but about half way through it or so, I started to not enjoy it as much. I didn't really like the second part of the album because the songs kind of started to slow down the beat, repeat words at either in the beginning or end of the song, and I thought it just sounded kind of weird. Some of my favorite songs of the album are Diamonds on the soles of her shoes, and you can call me Al. I think that Paul Simon is a great musician, he uses unique lyrics and his songs use lots of different or unusual sounds.

Listening to music while working out

Running and lifting waits can be pretty boring, listening to music, to me, makes it more enjoyable. Whole working out,  most of the time I like to listen to the Beatles, preferably the first part of the white album, I'm not sure why, maybe because its fast paced, happy and upbeat. I don't think I really listen that well while I'm lifting, most of the time I feel like I just use it as background sound.

Rap

One of the main topics  we discussed this week in class was rap. I really like rap, I think that my love for rap and rock and roll is about the same, some days, depending on how I feel and what's going on,  I prefer to listen to just certain types of music. I like rap that has a good beat, a nice flow, and creative lyrics that aren't too repetitive. I thought that one woman rapper we listened to during class was very good, and I liked her music.

Cristian

I think most of the class would agree that the music Cristian played was pretty bad, but I think he also just played that to piss off the sub, and to be funny. However, I think that he has a good taste in music and I also like alot his music I've heard him play outside of class. There have been some times where he has introduced me to music I haven't heard that I started to like. We both kind of enjoy similar music, like music by Sublime.

Rhyme and Punishment

I thought that the Rhyme and Punishment  was pretty interesting and cool. It was really funny listening to the white narrator pronounce the names of the songs and rappers. If what they were saying was true, or not exaggerated too much, then they went thru some messed up things. One example is the guy who got arrested for having a gun in his car, andthe police offered him a shorter term if he planted a gun in 50 Cent's car, I thought that was crazy. Prison must suck, your isolated, almost always at risk of danger, and most importantly the food is horrible.

Sublime

Recently I have been listening to alot of Sublime's music, and I think its really good. I really like the sound of the drums and guitar, and the lyrics are very creative and not very repetitive. Some of my favorite songs by them are Santeria, What I Got, and Caress me Down. Some of their music sounds kind of like reagee, Caress Me Down is an example, but most of their music just sounds like rock and roll. I really like the variety of music they have, I think it all sounds pretty good, most of their songs don't sound very similar and are different from each other.

Ramones

This week in class we listened to some of the Ramones music, I thought that it was pretty good. I have definitely heard some of their music before, but I never new who the music was by, and I don't think that I would have classified them as being punk. One of their songs reminded me of my childhood. When I was younger, I use to love Jimmy Neutron, and in the Jimmy Neutron movie the song that says hey ho lets go is played when all of the adults have been obducted and the kids are running around partying. Now that I think about it, the music suits that scene of the movie very well, because the music is punk,  and the children are rebeling against their parents doing everything they we not allowed to do.

Beatles Concert

This week, I think on Sunday or Monday, I watched most of a Beatles concert that just recently was performed on tv. Paul and Ringo were the both performing, they each played separately with their own bands, some random bands covered some of the Beatles songs, and at the end of it Paul and Ringo performed together. I thought it was awesome, it was really cool seeing them played since they are now so old. I noticed that their voices have changed a little bit, I still thought they sounded great. It was ridiculous how many famous people that went to it, I think every time the camera went to the audience I could recognize at least one person. It was also really funny seeing John Lennon's Asian wife dance.

Kevin's music

Kevin played Chain Smoker by Chance the Rapper, I really liked the song, it sounded pretty cool. It had a good beat and the lyrics were interesting, creative and weren't too repetitive. Another song Kevin played was Threatz by Denzel Curry, I thought it was okay, the beat was good, but the lyrics were repetitive and I didn't like the way it sounded.

The Winter Olympics

One of things I've been looking forward to this year is the Winter Olympics, and now its finally here.  I'm sad that Russia hasn't done a good job of preparing for it, and I hope it doesn't take away any of the greatness from Olympics. Its ridiculous that some of the hotels don't even have drinkable water, and there are also random stray dogs walking the streets. I like the summer Olympics better than the winter, mainly because I really enjoy seeing the soccer and track events, and also in the winter Olympics you have curling which is really boring to watch. However, the Winter Olympics are still awesome, its amazing seeing all the countries coming together and competing against one another.

Super Bowl- Red Hot Chili Peppers

This week in class we talked about the Red Hot Chili Peppers lip syncing there music and not even trying to hide it at the super bowl. Even though I haven't listened to much of their music I'm still kind of mad that they did that and that they didn't take the effort to hide it. I think lip syncing is stupid and there is no point of having a band there if they aren't even going to play. I think they are still a great band but now I think a little less of them.

Going to War

One of the subjects we got off topic and talked about was going to war. I think that alot of wars could have just been avoided if people just talked over the problems. I would never want to fight in a war, I would be way to nervous and scared, knowing that I could die any minute. If I did go to war I would want it to be for a good reason. I agree with what Gavin said, I would not mind having women or homosexuals in the army as long as they do their job.

The Grammys

I didn't really watch too much of the Grammys, but I did see Taylor Swift, Kendrick with the Imagine Dragons, and saw I Macklemore get best rap album of the year. Taylor Swift's performance was pretty good, it was kind of funny seeing her swing her head back and forth, and I thought that Kendrick's was very good and unique. I don't think that Macklemore should have won, to me, his music is more pop or hip-hop than rap and there were plenty of better rap albums that could have won. I think there is a ton of really good music that isn't represented at the Grammy.

Eminem

Recently I have been listening to Eminem's newest album, and I really like it. There are so many good songs and its great. One of my favorite things about this album is the background music, some of the songs background music comes from other songs but remixed, an example is Love Game, its basically a remix if Wayne Fontana's sing called game of love. Its also amazing how fast that he can rap. Some of my favorite songs in this album are Survival, So Far, Love Game and Berzerk.

Big Star Movie

This week in class we watched this movie about band that should have been famous, but wasn't. I thought the movie was okay, it was interesting and cool to learn about,  but at some points it got kind of boring. The music that Big Star produced was actually pretty good, and there were a couple of songs I really liked. I think that maybe it was better for the band to not to become famous for a while, because they were able to make some really good music not interfered with by anyone else but the band themselves. I also thought it was cool how they influenced do many other bands.

Wayne Fontana

Recently I discovered some of Wayne Fontana's music, and I really like it. I was listening to one of Eminem's songs called Love Game, and I like that song alot, and I learned that the background music in Eminem's song was from Wayne Fontana's song called Game of Love, so I listened to it and it was really good, which led me to listen to more of his music and I ready liked it. I thought the sound of tambourine in the songs was really cool. I think I like Wayne Fontana's version of Game of Love better.

Led Zepplen 2

This week in class we listened to the Led Zepplen 2 album, and I didn't like it that much. I had previously heard some of the songs on the album, but I didn't recognize most of the songs. I thought that a couple songs were good, one of them was Iron Man. I think that most of the songs were too long, and at points it sounded like they were just randomly beating the instruments. I also didn't like the long guitar solos that much. I think I liked the first Led Zepplen album better.

Music I listened to over the break

Over Christmas break I had to drive to east Texas and it was about a five hour drive, and during that time I mainly just listened to music and slept. During the drive I think I listened to 5 of the Beatles albums, Abbey Road, the White Album, Help, Please Please Me, and With the Beatles. The Beatles music was entertaining and I think that all of those albums are very good. After I listened to just about all of the Beatles music I have, I started to listen to a bunch of random music, I listened to music by The Who, Eminem, Beck, Kid Cudi and lots more.

Mr. A's Album

Today in class we listened to Mr. A's album, and I thought it was really good. I think many of the songs sounded like the Beatles, and I really like the Beatles, so I thought the songs sounded really cool. I really liked the sound of his voice, and I thought the background music was awesome. Hopefully we can listen to more of his music in class.