Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest Review

I wasn’t sure when I was gonna get around to reviewing this documentary, but I knew after watching it that I’d need to write about it. Today I’m going to talk about the 2011 documentary based on the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest entitled Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. Now I’ve only watched it twice, but after my second viewing recently it’s left a massive impression on me and I feel compelled to talk about it on my blog so let’s get started!

Here’s the synopsis for the documentary:

“Having forged a 20-year run as one of the most innovative and influential hip hop bands of all time, the Queens NY collective known as ‘A Tribe Called Quest’ have kept a generation hungry for more of their groundbreaking music since their much publicized breakup in 1998. Michael Rapaport documents the inner workings and behind the scenes drama that follows the band to this day. He explores what’s next for, what many claim, are the pioneers of alternative rap.”

Now for me this was a very insightful documentary, A Tribe Called Quest have been noted as one of the most influential groups in the hip-hop genre and I’d only gotten into their music in recent years due to my search for older music from the 80s and 90s. I am more familiar with Q-Tip’s solo work on his Renaissance album, and when my uncle heard that he recommended this Quest documentary and it honestly opened my eyes to a whole new world about this group and the hip-hop genre.

A Tribe Called Quest made up of four members, MC/producer Q-Tip, MC Phife Dawg aka Phife Diggy (Malik Taylor), and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad and rapper Jarobi White. I’ve always had an appreciation for this group since hearing “Can I Kick It?” back in the 90s and in my late teens “Award Tour” and “Electric Relaxation” were tunes I fell in love with, but this documentary just made me feel a strong addiction to the group and their music. Like when I watched No Distance Left To Run or Marley, this is a documentary covers everything from the beginning to present day. It doesn’t seem to leave any stone unturned, we get the perspective of not only the members of A Tribe Called Quest, but also several different artists, radio DJs, producers and managers some of which were there to recall their memories of their past with Quest or talk about the group’s influence. It’s very cool and incredible to learn about the group from a very personal point of view and see why they’re such a big deal in the hip-hop world.

We see a lot of Quest’s lives from their schools to their different tours and connections with other hip-hop groups and artists. One thing I never knew about was the formation of the Native Tongues with Jungle Brothers and De La Soul along with the additional members that came at the time. That seemed like one of the coolest things ever and only looks like one of those kinds of things you could have done back in the 90s when hip-hop was transforming and becoming something special and amazing. It was a movement and something that the hip-hop hasn’t seen since back then. The direction is wonderful, Michael Rapoport knows exactly what he’s doing and gets a great deal of information out of the group. I also want to mention the visual presentation too, there is a great animated introduction sequence and some lovely transitions used that look fabulous.

While this documentary is about everything to do with the Quest, there is also a specific focus on the relationship between Q-Tip and Phife Dawg. I never knew that the two of them were so close and that there was such a deep fragmented relationship between them, this film documents their friendship, conflicts and their separation and how it affected the group internally. It is some intense, dramatic and painful stuff, and for me who didn’t grow up following the group it was a surprising thing to see. You really feel bad for not only Ali would really is just in the middle of all that drama, but also as a fan who knows how great they are and to see the conflict between the two great rappers.

But outside of the drama between Q-Tip and Phife, it’s great to see how the group formed and how their sound changed from album to album. Before watching this I was only familiar with the group’s first and third albums, but this documentary made me come to appreciate the awesomeness that is their second album, The Low End Theory. And since we’re on the subject of music I just have to say that the music selection in this documentary is incredible, it is littered with Quest songs everywhere along with music from other hip-hop artists too and the way it’s used is beautiful, relevant and nostalgic. There are tunes from De La Soul to Jungle Brothers, Donald Byrd to The New Birth and even “Life Is Better” by Q-Tip and Norah Jones makes an appearance which is personal favourite song of mine.

In conclusion Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest is another documentary for me to add to my collection that I really love and wish to recommend to anyone who is a lover of hip-hop music. It really does give you great insight into the groups lives and the contributors they got for this film are also fantastic, it all makes for some dramatic, emotional and addictive stuff.

Rating: 9.5/10 (Any fan of the Quest or hip-hop in general should check this out)

So have you seen Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest? If so what did you think of it? Whatever your thoughts drop them in the comment section below and I’ll see ya on the next review yo! 😀

 

It’s My Birthday Today! Kick Ass!

 Howdy ladies and gentlemen of WordPress. Today is a good day as it is my birthday so I thought I’d just blog about it haha.

So yes today is the celebration of my birthday again and I am now 23. This age is apparently unlikely according to Blink-182 because they say “No one likes you when you’re 23.” So I fear for what will happen to me in the future, though I seem to have made an enemy already so I’m fulfilling that prophecy already, more on that later.

Birthdays are a strange thing aren’t they? It is just one day in the year when people will pay attention to you, spoil you and treat you right nice. It is a lovely feeling. Birthdays are one of those things that always feel good. Sure after your childhood and the age of 18 birthdays tend to lose their staying power and become less special, but I believe birthdays can still be kick ass as long you make the day epic. This may sound a little sad but I love birthdays because it reminds me that people still care about me. When I’m just chilling in life things tend to be a little dull at times so when I get all this love on my birthday it makes me feel absurd amounts of happiness.

For my birthday this year I had a house party last night with me mates and it was pretty filthy. I had a “It’s my party and I’ll do what I want to, do what I want to!” kind of attitude. While only half of the people I invited showed up it was still a cracking night with mates from work and uni together partying hardcore style! We danced, burned stuff in my metal bin in the back garden, got drunk and had a crazy time. It was very self-contained but for what it was I was satisfied and glad to be around my friends.

This was Matt and myself last night, I was smiling like that for the majority of last night haha.

It was primarily beautiful for the most part; however there was one party pooper who tried to ruin my night. Now earlier in this post I said I was fulfilling the prophecy by Blink-182 in their song “What’s My Age Again?” and that is down to one of the horrible housemates I am currently living with. I am going to watch my language over the next few sentences but suffice to say she isn’t a nice person and I don’t like her. She’s had it out for me for months and last night she tried to shut my party down and argued with me in front of everyone. She even said she’d call the police on me. Wow, okay… Why? I kind of lost my top in front of her but in all honesty it’s all good, she even woke me up this morning threatening me. To that I say good, if she wishes to make an enemy, she has one now haha.

That sheep that shitted, that was her last night.

Too right.

Anyways at the time of writing this post I am hung over from last night’s house party and I’m currently having a Will Smith session on my iTunes, I’m in a good groove right now (plus Will Smith is the best ever so his music must be played). In between I had a listen to my mum’s radio show online and she gave me a shout out and song dedication too, I was so jolly about it. Today I feel immaculate, fine, incredible and crazy all at the same time.

This is me today with my amazing birthday card that my mate made for me. BEST. BIRTHDAY. CARD. EVER!

As for the rest of today I’ll probably be recovering and then get a take away and watch a good DVD later on, oh and I’ll also be eating the cakes my mate bought for me too. Well that’s it for this blog post, just thought I’d share my birthday happiness with you lot haha. I guess until the next time I’ll catch ya on the flip side yo! 😀 😀

 

Problems Sleeping…

Hi peeps of the internet, today I thought I’d share a little bit of my personal life with you again. Whether you’ll care or not is down to you but I thought I’d blog about it either way haha. Recently I’ve had very questionable situations regarding my sleeping pattern or lack of it.

Sleep, something I enjoy immensely but rarely get that much of.

Now I love to sleep, it’s just one of those things in life that doesn’t require any effort, all you do is lay on your bed, close your eyes and do nothing. It is the most relaxing and satisfying feeling in the universe and I can never get enough of it, especially in the summer when you have long days with nothing to do. Just taking random naps on summer days is just the best thing ever! So imagine these days in uni where I rarely get that kind of luxury, its terrible. Technically its my own fault because after I came to uni my sleeping pattern changed and then got fucked up. With all the nights out, long hours doing uni work or just messing around on the internet my time for sleeping has changed a lot. My bedtime is always after midnight normally between the hours of 2-6am. Stupid times to go to bed I know, but it doesn’t help when your body doesn’t feel like sleeping and you have to wait for it to finally shut down.

Alarms don’t work either, I have 3 and this week I’ve slept through them all or shut them off immediately.

During my second year of uni my sleeping pattern has gone from bad to worse with a lot of sleepless nights or random occasions where I’d wake up in the middle of the night. Not good times at all. In the last week I’ve had the worst time for sleeping and waking up. Every morning I’d woken up from around 5-7 hours of sleep feeling so exhausted and lifeless, some days I would leave my bed for hours because I didn’t have the energy to bring myself out of there. The feeling of exhaustion and tiredness is the worst and I felt like a zombie when I dragged myself outside.

I’ve felt this way for several days now and it was the worst.

Today however was the complete opposite. While I didn’t change my bedtime, I didn’t actually get out of bed until around 18:30 today. I’ve been in and out of sleep for several hours since I initially saw sunlight at 09:30am this morning. I didn’t have the power to drag myself out of bed so I just laid there and the hours just moved by me. I honestly don’t know what the deal is with my body clock right now but I think I’m going to have to sort this out or maybe consult me doctor.

Well that’s it for another blog post peeps, hopefully I’ll see you lot under less tired circumstances. 🙂

 

Jack The Giant Slayer Review

Okay so now it’s time to review a film I’ve been waiting to watch for a while, Jack the Giant Slayer. It is another one of those crazy twists on a classic fairy tale, but the reason people should be paying attention to it is because Bryan Singer is in the director’s chair. He has a pretty decent catalogue of films under his belt, plus the trailers for this film looked pretty interesting and unique and featured a decent cast too. How could it go wrong? Well somehow it did and the end result is something quite unremarkable.

So when it comes to the story we all know how Jack and the Beanstalk goes right? Some kid gets some magic beans, a beanstalk appears, Jack climbs into the clouds, confronts a giant and numerous riches. You know all that good stuff. However this film takes a different approach by blending to tales, Jack and the Beanstalk tale and Jack the Giant Killer.

Here’s a synopsis:

“Sent to the market by his uncle to sell their horse and buy thatch for their roof, Jack meets the beautiful Princess Isabelle whom he rescues her from ruffians. He returns home only with a handful of beads given to him by a monk who claimed they were sacred but that does little to impress his uncle who tosses them away. In the night the Princess arrives having run off to keep from marrying Roderick who is clearly only interested in becoming king. Soon the beans take root with a giant stalk carrying away the princess and Jack’s house. He soon sets off on an adventure with the king’s guards to rescue the princess only to find that a mythical land filled with giants really exists.”

Honestly the story for this film had an interesting idea; it just wasn’t quite executed very well. I can’t really explain where this film goes wrong, it had decent set up with Jack and Isabelle and then with the beanstalk shooting her into the sky and then having Jack along with Lord Roderick and Elmont going up into the sky to save her. I liked that, but after they started to investigate the land of the giants I swear things started to drag and I kid you not, I nodded off in the film. I swear this must be due to my lack of sleep, but I’ve watched film in worse conditions (like having a hangover) and I’ve been fine. I think this film just got uninteresting half way through and then sort of picked up again near the end. The story had potential to be so much more but it was just there, and speaking of just there…

The characters in this film weren’t all that interesting either. Now don’t get me wrong their performances weren’t bad, I just didn’t care for any of them, bar a few people. Nicholas Hoult as Jack was fine, but even as the protagonist I didn’t really care about him. I wasn’t rooting for him, I didn’t care about his love interest with Isabelle, I’m not sure if I even liked the guy at all. His character was just there and could have been played by anyone. Eleanor Tomlinson as Isabelle was a princess and she played her part well but again I wasn’t fussed about her character. Now we come to the first person I actually give a damn about and that’s Stanley Tucci as Lord Roderick. He played an adviser to the king with designs on usurping power and taking control of the giants, Tucci played his role well and I enjoyed his screen presence. Surprising Ian McShane as King Brahmwell was just there as the king, he played the role well enough but I again didn’t care for the character. And lastly let’s talk about Bill Nighy and John Kassir who play Fallon, the two-headed leader of the giants. this was one of the saddest excuses for a leader of giants. I was expecting someone badass; instead I got half of a villain a bumbling idiot head that spoke like the Tazmainan Devil from Looney Tunes. I couldn’t take Fallon seriously with such a stupid handicap on his should, it like looking at a dumb version Gollum on crack!

Ewan McGregor played Elmont, the leader of the king’s elite guard, who helps fight giants. I thought his character was cool, funny and probably my favourite person in the film for one main reason… HE’S EWAN FRIGGING MCGREGOR! He’s one of my favourite actors and I’ll watch him in anything, luckily he was one of the better characters in this film. Now this is going to sound bad but Ewan McGregor and Stanley Tucci were the only people I cared about.

The presentation of the film is a bit of a mixed bag. Visually the GCI varies from looking decent to just not trying to look realistic and actually blend into the world with the characters. I know this is meant to be a fantasy film and I hate to be so picky about special effects but it wasn’t handled that well. The giants looked alright, the castle scenery looked nice and the initial beanstalk-growing sequence at night was good, but there was nothing that wowed me. Now compare this with another recent fantasy/fairy tale film Oz The Great and Powerful which put its special effects to good use and while it was a bit excessive it at least looked polished and stylish.

So to conclude Jack the Giant Killer was good, but nothing to write home about. I can’t say I was impressed that much and that’s what hurts me so much. The trailers had my interest but the film just turned out alright, I expected much more. I’m sorry if there a people who liked this film but I just thought was incredibly underwhelming, especially since it came from the same director that gave us The Usual Suspects, X-Men and X-Men 2.

Rating: 5.5/10 (Most people will enjoy the film, but for me I expected far too much and got too little)

So what did you think of Jack the Giant Slayer? Did you love it or hate it? Whatever your thoughts are drop them in the comments section below and I’ll see you on the next review yo! 😀

 

The Croods Review

Okay time to review a film I have had my eye for a while, the latest animated film form DreamWorks, The Croods. Now it’s come to my attention in recent years that DreamWorks have finally become a force to stand up against the animation powerhouse that is Pixar. Their work with Kung-Fu Panda 2, Puss In Boots and more recently Rise of the Guardians proves that they can deliver both good stories, characters and impressive visuals too. So when I saw the trailer for this film I was unsure about it at first, but then given DreamWorks’ recent track record it would have to be worth a watch right? So how’s the film? Read on to find out.

So the story of the film involved The Croods, a cavemen family who have survived their lives by abiding by rules, living in fear and never leaving their cave to avoid danger. Though the eldest daughter Eep yearns for more and wants to be adventurous and free much to the annoyance of her father. After their cave is destroyed by the change in the Earth’s tectonic plates, the Croods must venture into unfamiliar territory and trek through this new, fantastical world with the help of an inventive boy by the name of Guy.

I thought the story was good, the themes of family, change and adapting to survive was believable, relatable and understandable. Though for all of its unique aspects the plot was a bit basic and comes with a lot of the standard plot elements that are associated with children’s animated films. It does go down the Pixar route of having an emotional message implanted in the film and while it works well for Pixar, it’s not quite as impressive here.

When it comes to characters they are all pretty unique, interesting and has their own quirks. So let’s start with Nicolas Cage as Grug Crood, he was almost unrecognizable in voice as the head of the family who means well for his family, but is overprotective and fears change. His character was a little annoying due to his constant need to control all situations, but I could comprehend why he was like that. Emma Stone as Eep Crood was probably the most relatable character as the cavegirl who’s filled with curiosity and a desire for adventure. Stone did will to convey her emotions in this role and while her constant need for adventure was a little annoying at times her character was nice overall. And then there’s Ryan Reynolds as Guy, he’s like a smarter, more advanced caveboy who comes up with ideas and invents things. He’s also accompanied by a sloth called Belt which keeps his trousers up and provides moments of humour (which don’t always work by the way). Guy is also Eep’s love interest; both of them have interesting chemistry together and nice to see it build. Reynolds was actually likeable in this film providing some funny scenes especially when he screams, oh and one other thing to note about him the fact that his strength is nowhere as strong as the Croods which leads to some funny scenes.

As for the rest of the cast they all do good jobs including Catherine Keener as Ugga Crood (Grug’s wife), Clark Duke as Thunk Crood (Grug and Ugga’s son), Cloris Leachman as Gran (mother-in-law of Grug and the mother of Ugga, Chris Sanders as Belt, (Guy’s pet sloth), Randy Thom as Sandy Crood, (Grug and Ugga’s ferocious baby daughter). When it came to characters my favourites were definitely Eep, Guy and Sandy.

When it comes to the presentation of The Croods in this department is was flawless! The CGI was amazing and is possibly the best I’ve seen from DreamWorks so far (next to Rise of the Guardians). Thanks to the prehistoric setting, natural disasters and changes in location it made for a varied, colourful and fantastic-looking film. The level of detail in the locations, creatures and human characters was lovely. So many of the scenes and sequences were well crafted and have that great blend between the cartoon-like art style and realism. One particular sequence in the beginning really stands out; it was really energetic, loud, bombastic and athletic accompanied by some great music to match the action on-screen. The slick nature of the animation and the use of motion blur was stupidly impressive. Also the soundtrack by Alan Silvestri was nice and had some really memorable pieces near the beginning of the film and near the end too.

So to conclude The Croods was good a good and solid animated film for all the family. However the film was not nearly as great as I’d hoped, the story was pretty basic and generic but from an animation perspective it was spectacular! I know DreamWorks can do better because I’ve seen it in the past. If you’re not too fussed about the specifics of an animated film then check out The Croods, its good, just not amazing.

Rating: 6.5/10 (A fantastic-looking film but it’s hampered by an okay story)

So what did you think of The Croods? Did you love it, hate it or just think it was alright? Whatever your thoughts are drop them below and I’ll see you on the next review yo! 😀

 

The Wolverine Teaser Trailer Review

Alrighty then here’s the moment I’ve been waiting for all my life, okay maybe not that long, but this has been one of those events I’ve been eagerly anticipating for a while now; the reveal of teaser trailer for The Wolverine. After all the interviews, set pictures and official posters we finally get to se what this film is going to look like and there’s even two trailers to check out. The end reason is something of interest and awesomeness, though not quite as much awesomeness as I would have hoped. Well you can decide for yourselves what to make of these trailers.

Let’s get things started with the international trailer because it’s longer haha:

I like the voice over in the beginning, it sets the tone and atmosphere for that current period in Logan/Wolverine’s life. It seems like Logan has gone the way of Afro in Afro Samurai: Resurrection where he’s been on the road, drifting from place to place and has been of the game for a while. And I like that, to see Logan not in his prime and looking a little rough around the edges, though after he’s contacted by this red-haired asian girl Logan’s life is gonna change. This red-haired asian girl claims to have an employer who wishes to see Logan and help him out, and so we travel to Japan where Logan meets an old friend from his past who can promise to get rid of his immortality, oh, now things just got interesting. I like the flashback sequence with Logan protecting this man from the explosion and fire, it just shows how powerful Logan’s healing factor is and that’s always a good thing. There also seems to be some sort of double cross going on when Logan is shot during some sort of ceremony in front of loads of people and of course panic ensues.

Then there’s all these scenes of fighting and chaos and it does look a lot fancier and realistic than X-Men Origins: Wolverine. You have Logan fighting men with guns, then a whole load of ninja, there’s also some cool-looking fight on top of a train and we even get glimpses of Logan going up against Silver Samurai with some slick-looking choreography I might add. This is looking nice. I am liking the locations, lighting and weather too, seeing fight scenes at night is always nice and there’s even one in the snow too, love it when weather plays a role too. I like Logan’s change in attire from a suit to his usual white vest and pants, it just makes a nice change you know.

Now here’s the domestic trailer:

This trailer is pretty much the international one except shorter, more condensed and with a few different scenes here and there. I have to say that this one is a lot snappier when it comes to the editing and while I enjoyed seeing of the extra scenes involving the red-haired asian girl kicking some ass, I still prefer the international trailer due to its length, atmosphere, music and better pacing.

So to conclude I am still hyped for the film, though not nearly as much as before because I expected to be absurdly blown away by the teaser trailer. But we still have time before the official trailers come out so here’s hoping I can get stupidly excited for The Wolverine because I really just want a decent Wolverine film.

 

Random Blog 04: It’s All About Cats!

Okay so it’s time for Random Blog number four! And this time I’ve got a blog pots that’s just as random as the last, it’s all about cats!

I love cats, they’re awesome. I’ve known many friends who’ve owned cats and had family members that’s owned cats here and there and then there’s just the cats I’ve run into in the street on my many travels. So I’ve never been too far away from the furry felines. Even though I have nuff love for cats I’ve never owned one specifically myself, that may sound surprising but that’s only due to my mum’s rule of having no pets in our household. Even though I was gutted to grow up with no pets when I was younger I think it was for the best, I am very selfish and have a hard enough time taking care of myself let alone another person/pet. But enough about me let’s get back to the main topic here…

I’ve cats are awesome, but what makes them cool? That is something that is hard to answer, you sort of know without having to say it, it’s on that subconscious level. There’s many reasons to like cats like some of the following reasons:

• They’re really playful creatures
• They like to chase after laser pen lights, that never gets old
• The way cats meow is cute
• It’s nice when they purr when you pet them
• They can climb up and chill in your lap
• They don’t depend on you all the time and can go off on their own sometimes

Those are just a handful of reasons why cats are just the best ever. I’ve had some jolly experiences with cats from my junior school mate’s cat to my grandparents old cat to my best friend Chris’ cat. They’re just fun pets.

I’ve always been a fan of striped cats, they’re my favourite.

Outside of the bullet points I highlighted I think there’s two other key reasons I like cats, reason one is due to kittens. A kitten has to be one of the cutest baby animals ever, all you have to do is look at their faces and you fall for them. How can you not like them. Their real small, some can even fit into your hand! But like most creatures in their early years they need to be taken care of and their movements are small and in this state cats are just the definition of adorable!

So cute and fluffy, I want this cat.

The second reason would be due to cats similarities to lions and tigers. Lions and tigers used to be my favourite types of animals growing up, they were big, strong and fierce carnivores that clawed their prey to death and ate their remains (sounds grim but we can’t deny the fact that it’s true). Now I know that there is a massive difference between domestic cats and lions, but their technically the same besides their visual aesthetics. If I may, let me just go on a little tangent here. Lions, they’re basically big cats. They’re like my favourite form of big cat, especially the male lions with their manes (so cool-looking). And when lions are cubs they are positively cute as hell just like kittens!

Lions and tigers, the REAL cats of the world that kick ass!

Little lion cubs, they are adorable. I seriously want to own a cub one day… Or at least hold one. 🙂

Of course there’s that point where someone might just shout of something like “Dogs are better!” So which do I prefer, cats or dogs? Well ladies and gentlemen I don’t have a preference. I like both. While cats are less hassle than dogs I can’t choose one over the other because both have good qualities.

Cute and yet hilarious at the same time.

In the end cats are just the best thing ever. They’re nice, cute, fury and just the definition of fun. And before I finish this post I just wanted to dedicate it to my awesome friend Callie! It was her idea for me to do this blog post in the first place haha, but it was a fun little write-up though. Anyways I guess I’ll call this post a slightly delayed birthday present haha, hope she enjoys this and had wonderful birthday too! 😀

 

Favourite Songs #16: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Higher Ground

Howdy people of the interweb, and welcome to the sixteenth edition of my series of blog posts dedicated to some of my favourite songs ever in life. And today we have our second entry from the Red hot Chili Peppers, the song in question is one of their first songs I heard back in the 90s and even though it’s a cover, it still sounds incredible. Today it’s all about the song “Higher Ground”.

Now I know that this technically Stevie Wonder’s song but back when I was a kid the Red Hot Chili Peppers version was the first one I heard, and I will never forget the first time I heard it… IN MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: THE MOVIE! Yes the Power Rangers movie was the first place I heard this song during the skydiving sequence. Me and my sister loved that scene because not only did it have an awesome-looking set of people skydiving but you also had this kick ass song playing in the background to amplify the epicness! Obviously that probably wasn’t the best of films and a lot of people may think of me as sad for encountering the song that way, but I do look back fondly on that film in a nostalgic way.

Power Rangers: The Movie, a film that allowed me to find one of my favourite cover songs ever. Bet you never thought you’d hear anyone say that. 🙂

Just have a listen to the Chili Peppers version of the Stevie Wonder classic below:

The Chili Peppers really have talent to take such a well-established by someone like Stevie Wonder, but still make it their own without sacrificing the elements that made the original version popular. I love the sort of  rock and funk in this song, Flea’s bass line insanely good while John Frusciante’s guitar work keeps that energy level up at maximum. Chad Smith’s drumming is as great as ever and I love Anthony Kiedis’ vocals in this especially the echo effect that’s added during the versus. I really just love energetic the song is and it seems to have a real feel-good vibe about it that’s hard to explain. I think the best way to describe it is if you’re doing something really fun alone or with a bunch of friends you can hear the song somewhere then there’s a sense of ultimate satisfaction one gets that’s undeniable.

I’ve just got mad love for this song these days for two main reasons, 1) For the sake of nostalgia and the Power Rangers movie and 2) These days I am a massive Chili Peppers fan and I have grown to appreciate their music much more. I even got to see the ban perform this live when they came to Sheffield back in November 2011, it was soooooooooooo good. I was so happy. So now comes the question, which version do I prefer? The Stevie Wonder version or the Chili Peppers version? And a lot of purists will hate me for my answer but I have to say the Chili Peppers version. This isn’t to say that the original is bad, it is very nice, however the up-tempo, louder and more rock-oriented version of “Higher Ground” is more my style of music. Plus the Chili Peppers version found me first haha. 🙂

So to conclude “Higher Ground” by Red Hot Chili Peppers is frigging sweet! It preserves the sound of the original but gives us a funky rock version that is so in-your-face and energetic. If you haven’t experienced this song stop what you’re doing and have a listen, it is worth your time yo! 😀

Well that’s another song review done, what do you think of this Red Hot Chili Peppers song? Whatever your thoughts are leave me a comment below and be sure to come back next time for another song review yo! 😀

 

My Current Obsession With Alexisonfire

Right now my life is in a state of confusion, laziness and uncertainty… But one thing that I do know is that I LOVE the sound of Alexisonfire and their music fuels the fire in my soul in a way that very few artists can. So today I’m just gonna give you readers a small history of how I came across the band and how they changed my world in December 2012.

Now as I said in the tenth edition my Favourite Songs, I’ve known of Alexisonfire for a few years prior to listening to their music properly but it wasn’t until December when I was going to see them live in London that I listened to two of their albums, Alexisonfire and Crisis. I started with their most popular album Crisis first on in late November because I already enjoyed the sound of “This Could Be Anywhere In The World” and after listening to the album my mind became obsessed with some of the songs, specifically “Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints”, “Mailbox Arson”, “Boiled Frogs”, “You Burn First” and “We Are The Sound” After just one day several of the tracks on this album became obsessions and I couldn’t go on in my day without hearing them. Alexisonfire literally flew so high up on my Last.fm charts and that hadn’t happened since I started listening to Jack White back in January 2012.

This album is perfection to me.

I then went onto listen to their first album the night before I had to go to London to see the band live. It was a very different experience, their sound on their first self-titled album was a lot looser and a bit more chaotic then their later work. It did have some nice tracks on their but I think the album lacked focus, though there is no denying that “.44 Caliber Love Letter” is one of their best songs and one of the best intro songs to any album I have ever heard.

Even though I had only listened to just two of their albums, when I watched them live at Brixton O2 Academy it was electric. The atmosphere was frantic as hell, the crowd was going insane and me my mates were going mad with satisfaction. People were pushed around, there were mosh pits all over the place and crowd surfing happened like every five minutes. But beyond all of that there was great band playing together for the last time in the UK and it was some epic stuff. I only knew like a third of the playlist, though that didn’t stop me from having an amazing night.

Alexisonfire were simply incredible that night.

After the concert I went through their other two albums, Watch Out! and Old Crows/Young Cardinals. Both albums were a surprising but interesting listen. Watch Out!, their second album is actually the album I have listened to the least out the four, it’s not because its bad or anything like that, its only because it wasn’t overly significant. Plus at the time the Crisis album was still so addictive too. I eventually moved onto Old Crows/Young Cardinals in the latter part of January this year and found this album to be very good. It had a similar sound to Crisis, but it also seemed like the band had evolved and changed a few elements. The songs I took an instant liking to were “Old Crows” and “Sons of Privilege”; they were just beautiful songs to my ears. And now in March I’ve given the album a second listen and now I’ve found some new obsessions in the form of “The Northern”, “Midnight Regulations”, “Emerald Street” and “Heading For The Sun”.

A bloody good album that gets better with each listen.

Before I conclude this blog post indefinitely I will list my top 5 Alexisonfire songs. Now this won’t be in a specific order and this list won’t count “This Could Be Anywhere In The World” because that song is automatically great and doesn’t need to be listed. Anyways let’s begin:

1. .44 Caliber Lover Letter

There is no denying the epic beauty of this song, that introduction alone is just well-crafted and sounds insanely sexy.

2. Crisis

 

This is my current favourite song on the Crisis album, it is just pure power and it sounds sooo good! I love the music composition and the lyrics and the vocals. It’s just perfect!

3. You Burn First

 

This is my previous favourite song from the Crisis album and the first track I connected with straight after my first listen. It is just a slower and darker song but builds up to a great finish. I love the lyrics and style of the song and how it differs from the rest of the album.

4. Old Crows

 

This is the opening track on the Old Crows/Young Cardinals album and it hooked me straight away. The lyrics, the music and the overall sound just captured my ears and mind and never let go since.

5. We Are The End

 

This was a hard choice but I think it’s safe to say that this song has been played enough times to be in my top five. It has great lyrics and music and it is one of my favourite tracks on the Crisis album,

So what’s the point of this blog post? To spread the word about the awesomeness that is Alexisonfire and just spread my feelings of obsession with their music! Hopefully if you haven’t given this band a listen you might do after this blog, it took me until last year to get into their music and these days I can’t live without it! 🙂

 

Robert Redford Eyes Captain America: The Winter Soldier

I know this story is a day old and I was going to blog about it last night but I went out to party instead haha. So anyways it seems like there’s another interesting development for Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Read on below for the official article from superherohype:

(Photo Credit: WENN.com)

“There’s a surprising bit of Marvel Universe casting news today as Deadline reports that Robert Redford is the latest name to enter talks to star in Anthony and Joe Russo’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He would play a high-ranking agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Already set to star Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Frank Grillo, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Scarlett Johansson, Toby Jones, Emily VanCamp, Hayley Atwell and Maximiliano Hernández, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is said to be a political thriller inspired by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting’s acclaimed arc in the comics.

Redford can next be seen in The Company You Keep, which he also directed. It opens in New York and LA on April 5.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier, meanwhile, begins production shortly for an April 4, 2014 release.”

It seems like Marvel have some kind of powers as they seem to be able to cast anyone in their films, we’ve had a lot of famous people in Marvel films before but now someone as powerful as Robert Redford is involved. That is some hot stuff yo. Now while I’d like his involvement in Captain America 2 to be officially mentioned normally when Deadline report something then one can assume that it’s definitely gonna happen. Now loads of people are speculating what kind of “high-ranking agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” he’ll play, there have been many guesses but the one I’ve seen the most was Redford as an old version of Nick Fury (the original Caucasian one). While that’d be interesting and funny I don’t think that’d work in the MCU. I was on IGN yesterday and their speculation on the role came up with some interesting results, here’s the list they came up with:

• G.W. Bridge or Rick Stoner
• Bill Naslund/Jeffrey Mace/William Burnside
• Old Dum Dum Duggan
• Phil Coulson’s Dad

I’m not too familiar with the world of Captain America so the first two choices sort of go over my head, however the last two are interesting. If an older version of Dum Dum Duggan was placed in this film that’d be badass and another great tie to the past and could add some more drama. As for the choice of Agent Coulson’s father I’m sort of half and half about that, on the one hand it could be cool to learn more about Coulson’s family and see who came before Phil. Then again on the other hand I kind of like that we don’t know anything about Phil Coulson, his personal life is a bit of a mystery and that’s how I like it, adding family members might be like adding a bit unnecessary baggage to the character. Well whoever role Redford gets cast in I’m sure it’ll be something good.