Hey
there, and welcome to the third edition of my Mercy Links. This section is
basically me revealing to you the ten songs I've been listening to the
most every month. I did February last month and naturally that makes March next on the list. So what are the Ten Mercy Licks of March 2013? Let's find out...
#10: "Thrift Shop" - Macklemore and Ryan Lewis This song was a sleeper with me. My brother told me to listen to it, I didn't like it. My friends started playing it, I still didn't think much of it. But it just kept being played in the background in my presence and eventually I caved in. I do like this song, it's very catchy and it sounds different to a lot of the hip hop around at the moment. It's a great track. #9: "Elephant" - Tame Impala I heard this on an advert and immediately sought out the song. Adverts are always a good source for decent songs that aren't immediately mainstream. It turned out this song wasn't a big hit when it came out in the first half of last year, and I seem like a minority in searching for the track beyond the advert, which is a shame, as it's a funky little psychedelic indie track. Give it a listen. #8: "Figure it Out" - Serj Tankian Serj's solo career away from System of a Down, while has never lacked in effort or quality, has for me and a lot of people been quite underwhelming. It's always hard for a solo career to outshine or even be just as good as a band career, but to be fair, it's even harder when that band is System of a Down, probably the most popular metal band of the last decade (although Slipknot may also claim that crown). But "Figure It Out" is a cracker of a track, and shows Serj has never left his SOAD roots, despite him changing his music direction quite a lot throughout his solo career. It really deserves a listen if you haven't heard it before, especially if you're a SOAD fan. #7: "Low (feat. T-Pain)" - Flo Rida I've always liked "Low", although I've never really liked admitting it. I've found myself playing it a lot recently for some reason, more than likely because it comes on a lot in the local club. It's just a really good RnB track, and man, I can't believe it's five years old now. That's a little weird.
#6: "Church" - T-Pain Ladies and gentlemen! T-Pain makes the list twice, well, kinda. He wasn't the featured artist on the post above so I don't really consider him a double entry. Besides, this song is better than the one above, but chances are you haven't heard this track. I truly mean it when I say this is one of RnB's really great yet underrated tracks of the last decade. I really think you should give it a listen, if it's a genre of music you like chances are you'll really appreciate it. #5: "Bangarang (feat. Sirah)" - Skrillex Last Month: #2 And the first song to be featured in multiple months is "Bangarang" by Skrillex. I don't really know what to add to what I said last month, so all I'll say is that it's definitely not boring to play this track yet. It's still fricking awesome and I have it as my ringtone. #4: "Linchpin" - Fear Factory
Last Month: #7 I predicted this would be featured in March and I was right. In fact, I played it more in March than I did in February. I do love this song a lot. It's just fantastic, and it's become one of my favourite ever industrial tracks. I don't know why I didn't pay more attention to it earlier; I had heard the song years ago! #3: "Jus a Rascal" - Dizzee Rascal
It's funny. I also played "Bassline Junkie" a lot too, his newest track, which is pretty great I have to admit, but I recently rediscovered this song from his first album. It's probably my favourite Dizzee Rascal song but I had completely forgot about it, and how good it was too. If you're a fan of Dizzee and haven't heard this song, play it now, it sounds as fresh now as it did when it came out. #2: "Niggas in Paris" - Jay-Z and Kanye West
For some reason, it took me ages to download this song, and since I have I have played it a shit load. It's just one of the best collaborations ever, but then again, Jay-Z has a habit of making great music with other music artists. And Kanye, musical talent wise, is great, even if he comes across as a total dick as a personality. Anyway, "Niggas in Paris" is just an incredible song, and one of the best songs to come out in 2011. #1: "Get Low" - Lil Jon
Brrrrr-dum-dum... I love this song so much. And the bass is just so awesome on it when you turn it up. Not that that's the reason I've played it so much. I've just been hearing it a lot recently, and evidently played it even more at home. It was simply one of the best hip-hop songs of the last decade, and hasn't aged a bit. Whatever happened to Lil John anyway? He never stayed at the top for very long. This song is just a classic though. I love it. So, that's a wrap for today. I
hope you've enjoyed this list. Until next time,
take care! If you liked this article you might want to read:
Hey
there, and welcome to the second edition of my Mercy Links. This section is
basically me revealing to you the ten songs I've been listening to the
most every month. I did January last month and, while I'm a little late, I bring you February's ten songs now. So what are the Ten Mercy Licks of February 2013? Let's find out...
#10: "Laid to Rest" - Lamb of God You'll notice a theme with a lot of the songs in this list. And that theme is Guitar Hero. If it wasn't for Guitar Hero I would have never even thought about liking Lamb of God. I don't really like bands that shout from the bowels of fiery doom much, not when it's pretty much the only thing they do. But Lamb of God are one of the better bands in that bracket. And I do enjoy a couple of songs by the band. "Laid to Rest" is a pretty damn cool track. #9: "Get to the Gone" - Static-X I have been playing this a lot recently in general. I was surprised it didn't make last month's list. It's my favourite Static-X song and I have recently really been listening to a lot of Static-X. It's just so awesome, I love everything about it. I prefer it to the singles off the album, being "Cold" and "Black and White". If you like your industrial metal, seriously, give this track a listen. #8: "Ayo Technology" - 50 Cent feat. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland I had forgotten all about this track for years until my good friend reminded me. I really don't like 50 Cent. At all. He pisses me off big time and I really don't rate his music. But, naturally, working with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, two of the better performers in RnB, brings the best out of Fiddy. It's a really catchy track and it's probably the best work 50 Cent will do, at least in my opinion. #7: "Linchpin" - Fear Factory I'm not a big Fear Factory fan to be honest. As industrial metal bands go they're not one that inspire me to rock out much. But "Linchpin" is totally badass. I really really like this song, so much that it may actually make the Top 10 in March as well. I have been playing it an incredible amount and to be honest, I'm not tiring of playing it yet. It's just awesome. #6: "YYZ" - Rush Here's a medley of Guitar Hero songs I've played a lot through the last month. The first being "YYZ", possibly one of the greatest instrumentals of all time, or at least I think so. I'd never really listened to Rush before I played Guitar Hero, and in honesty, I'm not a fan of the band but "YYZ" is just a piece of musical genius. It's funny as in some ways, it sounds a lot like the basis of Sonic music in the Megadrive era, yet ten years before. Just give it a listen if you haven't before. #5: "Carry on My Wayward Son" - Kansas As I said, this is a Guitar Hero medley of songs I've been playing a lot recently, but you could also put in a huge assist to Supernatural for this one. Most people nowadays think of Supernatural when it comes to this song anyways, and I have been watching the series a lot recently. I've always appreciated "Carry on My Wayward Son" because the guitar riff is so awesome, in honesty hair metal isn't my thing and it took me a while to like the rest of the song, but I really do now. It's a cracker of a track and love putting it on. #4: "Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd Man, what a song "Free Bird" is. It's just one of the best classic rock songs of all time. And it has to be played in the full nine minute version, no shortcuts. I recently saw "The Devil's Rejects" and the scene in the film that has "Free Bird" in it is used to perfection. The song just has an attachment to pop culture that will never fade, as far as I'm concerned. And of course, I love playing it on Guitar Hero, it's just great. #3: "YOLO (feat. Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar)" - Lonely Island
It's funny that this is the third most played song on this list as I'm actually a little underwhelmed by the new Lonely Island track. This is the first single off the new album coming out soon, their third album, but when you compare this track to the promoting singles off the other two albums, namely "I Just Had Sex" and "Jizz in my Pants", it just doesn't compare in comedy value and music quality. But it's still quite good, and the video is pretty funny too. The best thing about "YOLO" is simply, that it means we're getting a new Lonely Island album which is fantastic news. #2: "Bangarang (feat. Sirah)" - Skrillex
There were two songs that flew away with the amount of times I played them, and this marginally lost out on the top spot. Bare with me here. You may remember me saying I really don't like dubstep, nor do I really listen to chart music or popular music. But I have been going to clubs a lot more recently and this kept on coming on, and I loved dancing to it. I never knew it was Skrillex, nor what it was called for months. I kept asking my friends but, well, how can you describe a dubstep track in sound without making a lot of "bwa bwa bwub bwub" noises? Exactly. So I finally found this track and I just love it. Fair play to Skrillex, despite me really disliking him, I now like two of his songs. Ah well. #1: "Back in the Saddle" - Aerosmith
Unlike the other tracks on this list that have appeared in Guitar Hero games, this entry isn't really because of the game. It's actually because of Supernatural. The song came on when I was watching series 6 and I forgot how absolutely badass it is. It's by far my favourite Aerosmith song. "Carry On My Wayward Son" appeared on this list because of Guitar Hero, this appeared beause of Supernatural. But you can say I've definitely had my fill of Guitar Hero and Supernatural this month and that's what makes this list what it is. So, that's a wrap for today. I
hope you've enjoyed this list. Until next time,
take care! If you liked this article you might want to read:
Hey there, and welcome to a new section of my website. Due to not posting much at the moment this may well be the only section I might actually update regularly going forward. I just don't have the motivation to write much at the minute, I have a lot of other things I'm enjoying in life. I do have this to fall back on whenever I get some motivation, or something to do though. It's a hobby not a job! Anyway, this section is basically me revealing to you the ten songs I've been listening to the most every month. I've started tracking songs and how much I play them now, I'm a statistical nerd like that you see. Why have I done this? I really don't know, I just find it quite interesting to see what songs I listen to the most and when, and of course, to recommend them to you if you haven't heard them before. If this goes my way I might do an "end of year" list as well, but we'll see. So what are the Ten Mercy Licks of January 2013? Let's find out...
#10: "Sixteen Saltines" - Jack White This is definitely one of the best tracks of 2012. Jack White finally branches out on his own and his stuff sounds as fresh as anything he's ever done in honesty. The side projects he has done have been hit and miss, usually more hit to be fair, but still, this is a belter track that really shows the true talent of Mr White. Keep it going sir! #9: "She Bangs" - Ricky Martin Really Johnny Mercyside? Really? Ricky Martin? You? Listened to this very often last month? Yes, it's true. I have to be honest I have no shame in liking some cheesy pop nowadays. I used to avoid pop and RnB like a house on fire but now I've really relaxed my refrainment for the genres of music I usually dislike. This song came on in the pub when I went out for a drink with some awesome friends and we danced terribly to it. Since then I've enjoyed putting it on once in a while. It's a very catchy pop song. No embarassment about it! #8: "Gangnam Style" - PSY ...but of course. Yes I love "Gangnam Style" and yes I've played this song possibly more than any other song in the past half year. And yes, I still play it in January 2013. I can't help it. I just love the song, love the video and to be honest, love PSY. You have to hear some of his other stuff. "Gangnam Style" will probably be a one hit wonder for PSY but it really shouldn't be, because he's actually a lot more talented than that. Check his other stuff out if you get a chance. #7: "Blackout" - Linkin Park I love this song. It's become one of my favourite ever by Linkin Park. It's also another of the songs I've been playing a lot over the past few months. I first heard it on FIFA 11, like a lot of people. It's arguably the song responsible for me reigniting my interest in the band, as I wasn't really too high on their most recent stuff. It's just a brilliant track, and well worth a listen if you haven't heard it before. #6: Zerstoren - Rammstein One of my favourite all time Rammstein songs. I recently got all of the Rammstein discography and was playing their stuff on random. I hadn't listened to of "Rosenrot" before then, so I'd never heard this song. When it came on random the song just blew me away. It's just such a fricking cool song, and is definitely one you need to hear if you haven't before. #5: "Gold on the Ceiling" - Black Keys Another band I can thank FIFA for igniting interest in. I was never big on the Black Keys until I heard "Tighten Up", then of course, I heard the amazing "Lonely Boy" and decided to get El Camino, and of course, this is one of the best songs on the album. It was released as a single too. It's just really cool, and shows why the Black Keys take a slightly different approach to their alternative rock than a lot of the other bands around nowadays. #4: "Salt in the Wounds" - Pendulum Read what I said about Rammstein and copy and paste. I recently got all of Pendulum's stuff and was pleasantly surprised to really like a lot of it, considering I'm not really into my drum 'n' bass, which a lot of the album material is. But "Salt in the Wounds" is just amazing. I even love the dubstep section towards the end of the song. I love blasting this track and adding some of the bass to it. It's just excellent. #3: "Electric Worry" - Clutch
I'd be lying to you if I told you I'd heard of Clutch more recently than the turn of the new year. Somehow the band have gone over my head. A friend suggested I look them up and this track was the first to be played. I later found out it was actually used in a lot of Left 4 Dead 2 advertising, so it's very possibly I'd heard this before. It's a really cool country/hard rock hybrid track that sounds fantastic. I'm definitely looking into getting into more Clutch soon. #2: "Go Right Ahead" - The Hives
I'm surprised to reveal I've listened this song the second most last month. But I must have done. It's a good track, it's a very safe track to be honest, for The Hives to release. It's nothing really special, but it still kicks enough ass to be noticed. I'm not trying to say it's a bad song, it's not, it's very good, and incredibly catchy, but in honesty The Hives have released far better than this in the past. #1: "We Like Them Girls" - Your Favourite Martian
Ah... Your Favourite Martian. If you've not heard, YFM are Ray William Johnson's music group. RWJ is the most subscribed man on Youtube, showcasing the best viral videos two days a week on his show "Equals Three". He's a very good presenter of the show, but I've found his group to be lacking in quality. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for people aspiring to go into different fields, try different things and if you have the time, money and know the right people to do it, go for it. I'm not a big fan of YFM though. But... I do LOVE this track. I love "We Like Them Girls", it's a very funny track, the video is not bad either, and it just sounds so good. The electronic music, RWJ's rapping ain't too bad on this song, but the best thing is the lyrics. The lyrics are just really funny. To be fair, I also love a girl with a functioning vagina. So, that's a wrap for today. I hope you've enjoyed this list. I shall be doing it every month. I'm sorry I don't post as much as I used to, but I'm in a very good place in my life right now, and just don't feel up to writing as much. I'm sure I'll return to a more frequent schedule in the future. Until next time, take care!
