My Sadboys/Gravity Boys Playlist

As you all know from reading this blog, I love Yung Lean and Sadboys with a passion. Here is my current playlist of my favorite songs by Sadboys and Gravity Boys (the other, closely affiliated Swedish rap group. [Indicated in brackets] ) as of 2014. This playlist features 27 songs and is over 80 minutes long and it features material from all three main Yung Lean albums plus the Neal Yung 2003 unofficial mixtape, as well as various singles and material from the GTBSG compilation and Bladee's Gluee mixtape as well. This will only get longer as the two groups release more material. I'm pretty satisfied with how these songs flow together, so here they are with the names of their respective albums in parentheses.

Nachtmystium: The World We Left Behind ALBUM REVIEW

When not shamelessly ripping off fans and bandmates with impunity (according to former collaborator Neill Jameson and many disgruntled fans) by selling merchandise that didn’t exist or selling the rights to albums he didn’t own to make money to buy drugs, Blake Judd was more commonly known to be the “mastermind” behind Chicago black metal squad Nachtmystium. Whether he was truly the mastermind behind the long-running project has been brought into question (Jameson alluded in a lengthy article written about Blake that the majority of his music was written by others, not him.) no one can deny that the end results of many of the band’s recording endeavors have been stellar, even milestones of the black metal genre. The experimentation that started with Instinct: Decay and continued with the groundbreaking “Black Meddle” series show that someone, Blake or not, was thinking about what could be achieved within the black metal genre on a higher level. And although their previous album Silencing Machine did not expand upon the experimentation of the two Black Meddle installments, it was still a satisfyingly grim and aggressive record that had just enough electronic flourishes to distinguish itself from straight-ahead black metal. Hyped as the final Nachtmystium album, The World We Left Behind should have been a farewell as equally ambitious and exciting as anything else in their recent output. But when presented with the final product, that sadly doesn’t describe it.

Yung Lean: Unknown Memory ALBUM REVIEW

As a somewhat chubby Swedish white kid whose imagery revolves around seemingly random consumer goods like bucket hats, plastic g-shock watches, Gatorade, Nintendo 64, and the ever-present Arizona iced tea, it was easy to dismiss Yung Lean as a joke or a meme when he came out with his mind-altering and imagery laden music videos like “Hurt” in 2013. However, the young rapper is now taken as a serious artist even outside his fanbase (to a degree), selling out shows in America and Europe and actually having the budget to produce music videos that don’t look like they were directed and edited by a heavily medicated monkey. Even pop superstar Justin Beiber is a fan. Strangely enough, there isn’t really a punchline with Yung Lean as absurd as his music and persona tends to be, and that fact renders his whole act as a giant anti-joke heavily seasoned with post-irony. Lean also fits into an unfortunate trend in hip-hop today where production supersedes the artist. For rappers like Chief Keef, Waka Flocka, and Yung Lean; lyricism, flow, and delivery are not the paramount considerations. “Is the beat bangin’?” If it is, then the record has done its job. Without the production chops of Lean’s “sadboy” cronies Yung Gud and Yung Sherman, the entire appeal of his music would helplessly unravel, leaving a skeleton made up of empty Arizona cans and old Nintendo cartridges with a bucket hat on top.

My Top 30 Favorite Albums!

My top 30 albums list is done. Below is the video I did for the top 25, the other 5 are included in my Sputnik list here. Is number one REALLY Goblin? Find out by watching the video!

Judas Priest: Redeemer of Souls ALBUM REVIEW

Black Sabbath (and to a lesser extent, Led Zeppelin) may be responsible for “inventing” heavy metal, but it was the mighty, leather-clad Judas Priest who should be credited with defining what we commonly refer to as metal today. Priest was the band responsible for gradually subtracting the blues element out of heavy rock, and while there is certainly nothing negative about blues-based rock, we most likely would never know what thrash metal is - and in turn the various forms of extreme metal that came later – without this crucial shift in style. While purging the blues from their equation during their ‘70s years, Priest added a hefty dose of drama into their sound to balance things out (most likely influenced by Queen more than any other) and these kinds of dramatics can be seen all over the metal sphere today in bands like Candlemass and Blind Guardian. So when presented with a new album from such a monumentally important act in the pantheon of heavy metal, this late in their career at that, one has to ask “What could they possibly have to prove in 2014? Can I expect anything new? Is Judas Priest still the band flying the flag for metal?”

How To Get A Better Metal Tone

This video is kind of a long ramble where I repeat myself too much, so here is a condensation of my main points if you don't want to watch all 12 minutes of this shit...If you have any more questions after reading the list below then this vid may have the answers. If not, message me in the comments section.

YUNG LEAN TO RELEASE UNKNOWN MEMORY 9/23/14 #HOLYSHIT #2001

I pronounce today to be a very good day and it's only a little after noon. My book club starts a new book today, I plan to go out on my bike for a while, and I think I'll even indulge on a rich, delicious cinnamon roll.

Oh, and the release date for My God Yung Lean's new album Unknown Memory has been revealed. I'm freaking out.