Sublime

Ahhhhh..... The late, great Sublime. One of the best bands of the nineties in my opinion. Unfortunately their success was short lived, as the lead singer, Bradley Nowell, passed away in 96 because of a drug overdose. Still their music strongly lives on today as they are one of the most influential bands of our generation.

Their music is a fusion of reggae, ska and rock to bring some of the best songs I've ever heard. Not only was the music amazing, but the lyrics were genius as well. Who else could talk about their dalmation in so many of their songs? Any takers? Nah, didn't think so.

No doubt in my mind that if you haven't heard of them yet, you'll soon have your heart stolen.

Check it out:

Santeria

What I Got

Kickin it Old School

Can I just say... THANK GOD ITS FRIDAY?!??!?!?! Finally, the weekend. A time to..... kick it old school? And what better way to do so than listen to the genius of Pete Rock.

Pete Rock is a fairly underground rapper from New York. His rhymes are genius and the song names even moreso (Half Man Half Amazing, anyone?). Unlike the rappers on the radio today, spitting out rhymes of hoes and bros, Pete Rock's verses are genuinely interesting. Pete Rock's most recent album, NY's Finest, has mellow songs like That's What I'm Talking About to the more gritty songs like 914. Pete also manages to get some of the most versatile rappers on his album too; from the famous Redman and Jim Jones to the lesser known Rell and Masta Killa, all the collaborations make for really great songs to, you know, kick it to.

Check it out:
That's What I'm Talking About (with Rell)
Don't Be Mad
The Creator

Summertime and the Livings Easy

Alright, alright, so we're still Spring. No harm in looking forward to the summer months though, right? The sun is out, boots are tucked away (far, FAR away) and the population is seemingly suffering from a little case of Spring Fever. I definitely have it. And since there are no beautiful boys to cure me of this disease, I've decided to help myself. To a good old fashioned blog.

The Sound Effect is a music blog in the making. Not some schnazz-fest with graphicly-designed background, just a classic template with some classic beats. I'm a litte bit country (not at all), a little bit rock and roll. This should be interesting.

So for my first blog post I'd like to present to you, my gracious readers (mom? dad?) with a playlist for these beautiful April days:

I've Got Some Spring In My Step

Jack Johnson - Mudfootball
Okay, so this isn't exactly a new song. But come on, Jack Johnson is CLASSIC. He does not have one bad song, I mean the guy made a curious george soundtrack sound phenomenal. Anyways, Mudfootball is definitely a spring-worthy song. It is upbeat, fun music and just an overall feel-good groove. Yes, I said groove.

Le Tigre - TKO
So another oldie, but always a goodie. A key component to anyone's musical library, TKO is fun, energetic and makes you want to dance while your listening to it on the busride home.

The Hives - Tick Tick Boom
The DEFINITION of badass, if it ever had one. But then again, if badass had a definition, that wouldn't really be badass, would it? Nevertheless, The Hives' Tick Tick Boom is like a ticking bomb, it starts off intense and ends even moreso.

MIA - Hussel
So unless you've been hiding out under a cave, you've at least HEARD of MIA. Well, now its time to listen, and Hussel is a great place to start. She has all these incredible exotic beats in the background that are so unlike the generic hiphop on today's radio. And, to show how much of a superpower MIA is, her lyrics are also strongly political.

Ben Lee - Catch My Disease
Now, now, no one wants to get sick in the Spring (cue forced laughter at weak reference to song title). But seriously, this song is amazing. It's fun, and I've probably listened to it 100 times on my guitar hero playlist (which consists of more acoustic feels, such as this one). Listen to it and fall in love. You can thank me later.