Rage Playlist

Have you ever been so angry that you wanted to rip someone’s head off?  If your answer is yes then this playlist is perfect for you.  These songs are will release that anger in a constructive way.  So have fun headbanging to these tracks.

1. Break Stuff – Limp Bizkit
2. Down with the Sickness – Disturbed
3. Guerrilla Radio – Rage Against the Machine
4. Walk – Pantera
5. Given Up – Linkin Park
6. Side of a Bullet – Nickelback
7. Wait and Bleed – Slipknot
8. Crazy – Mushroomhead
9. Death Blooms – Mudvayne
10. Come What(ever) May – Stone Sour
11. Soil – System of a Down
12. Angel of Death – Slayer
13. Feuer Frei – Rammstein
14. Waking the Demon – Bullet for My Valentine
15. The Air That I Breathe – All That Remains
16. The Light That Blinds – Shadows Fall
17. Are You Dead Yet? – Children of Bodom
18. Lie – Black Light Burns
19. Giles – Unearth
20. Eye of the Storm – Killswitch Engage
21. Black Label – Lamb of God
22. Imperium – Machine Head
23. Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis – Trivium
24. Desperate Times Desperate Measures – Underoath

Inaugural Tunes: A Playlist

I’m sure many of you were watching with happy eyes yesterday as Barack Obama took the Oath of Office and George Bush left Washington… finally. Well, there’s no better way to celebrate Obama’s inauguration than with a music. So, with that in mind, I’ve assembled a list of great tunes to help you welcome Obama as our 44th President.

1. “Imagine” – John Lennon
2. “Yes We Can” – will.i.am
3. “What A Wonderful World” – Louis Armstrong
4. “Respect” – Aretha Franklin
5. “A Brand New America” – Keb’ Mo’
6. “This Land Is Your Land” – Woody Guthrie
7. “Our Country” – John Mellencamp
8. “America The Beautiful” – Ray Charles
9. “Back In The USA” – Chuck Berry
10. “The Star-Spangled Banner” – Jimi Hendrix

-Matt

Playlistism: A Comprehensive Guide to Making Playlists that Don’t Suck.

A good playlist is more than just a list of songs slapped together on the go. A good playlist says something, expresses a mood, or even shows some personality. In my experience, there are 3 types of playlists…

-Petty Playlists
-Mood Playlists
-Personal Playlists

Petty playlists are playlists that are designed to satisfy your musical appetite right now. For example, if you’ve just bought a bunch of new music and want to take it for a test drive, you put it in a petty playlist. Mood playlists are the hardest to master, and what I will teach you to make today. And finally,

A Playlistism Footnote: Covers

Above, we recommended that you try not to include two songs by the same artist in a playlist. However, adding covers of songs is encouraged. With that in mind, let’s look at some interesting YouTube cover versions of “Build Me Up Buttercup” (the song mentioned above).

First, the original

Now, an acoustic guitar-only version

And, finally, karaoke (kind of)

Discover Jon Foreman

With a vocal quality similar to Dave Matthews or Isaac Slade (the lead singer from the The Fray), Jon Foreman’s music has acoustical drive with folk undertones. An artist who truly loves his music and isn’t affected by the modern music industry only comes along so often. I admire Jon Foreman for his personal connection to his music:

“I’m so thankful that these songs still mean so much to me. In fact, I am perhaps more drawn to music than ever… Lately music has been my compass: it’s neither the map, nor the road but a steady constant that can help me make sense of the both.”

His songs tend to be focused on sadness. They have mellow chord progressions and often include an acoustical guitar. However, his tunes aren’t monotonous or over-simplistic. Listening to Foreman can ease you through a painful experience or, at the very least,

Uncle Joe’s Medicine Show

If you’re all depressed by listening to the playlist in the last post, it’s time to get up. And there’s no better way to do that than through Uncle Joe’s Medicine Show, a great funk group from Atlanta, Georgia. Their music combines solid guitar and keyboard work with rhythms that will have you dancing all night. Both a throwback to classic funk acts and a very modern band, Uncle Joe’s Medicine Show gets under your skin like nothing else.

Uncle Joe’s Myspace Page

A Tragic Romance

You step out into the rain. You turn to ask for forgiveness but she slams the door in your face. After all you’ve done for her? And she just throws you to the curb like that? You’re overcome with sadness. You get into your car and sob, like a girly puppy. This playlist is for all of those moments…

Groove to the Melody of Melody

There is a time and place for relaxing acoustically styled jazz, and Melody has hit the proverbial nail on the head. Featuring female singer, Melody Gardot, Melody matches the seductive quality of other jazz female vocalists such as Norah Jones. If the lighting is dim, Melody adds the perfect touch for dinner, late night studying, or what ever else you might think of. I recommending giving “Goodnite” a listen. It offers a walking bass line enhanced by Gardot’s melodic voice. They’ll be performing in Washington DC in a few days and have the potential to join the major music scene. Hit up their website and you’ll have the opportunity to listen to a few songs simply by loading the website; it’s Flash based. Keep it running in the background while you do some work and let me know what you think. Oh, and try not to fall asleep, it really is relaxing.

Melody’s Website

An Endless Sporadic, Still Unsigned

Despite having been featured in both Guitar Hero III and Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland, An Endless Sporadic remains unsigned. Their music features metal structure and chord progressions, yet utilizes clean and innovative melodies. Their songs are not predominately heavy, but still offer those with long enough hair an opportunity to do some head-banging. Ff you can’t master “Impulse”, their hit from Guitar Hero III, on expert, I still recommend you give An Endless Sporadic a listen. Even who steer clear of metal might be pleasantly surprised.

An Endless Sporadic MySpace

Guru Josh Project

Formed in 2007 Guru Josh Project is a techno/electronic band which brings back some of the rave flavor of the 1990’s. Their blend of classic rave beats and thumping bass meets an instrument typically foreign to techno: the saxophone. They have become quite popular in Germany, but it proves difficult to find their music in the United States. Check out their MySpace page below to demo some of their most famous songs including “Infinity Mixes.”

Guru Josh Project MySpace Page