One can’t really praise nor criticize Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky without sounding redundant from everyone else. I wasn’t the biggest fan of his when his first mixtape Live.Love.A$AP when it came out a couple of years ago – mainly because I wasn’t a fan of the cloud rap type of production. But in the time it took for his long awaited (and delayed) debut album to come to fruition, the cloud rap style has grown on me a little bit. So to my surprise, Rocky was able to mix in modern to his typical hazzy flow to deliver a rather consistent and engaging listen with Long.Live.A$AP. [Read more...]
Music Review: A$AP Rocky’s ‘Long.Live.ASAP’
01/14/2013 by Leave a Comment
Music Review: Yo La Tengo’s ‘Fade’
01/13/2013 by Leave a Comment
No, I don’t know alternative darlings Yo La Tengo because of their massive (and I do mean MASSIVE) back catalog. No, I know Yo La Tengo for because of their music being featured in independent movie soundtracks, including Juno and Adventureland. I know that sounds awful, especially since the band has put out twelve albums before Fade – their newest in four years – feels incredibly warm and familiar. [Read more...]
Music Review: Broadcast’s ‘Berberian Sound Studio’
01/08/2013 by Leave a Comment
Berberian Sound Studio is a 2012 thriller in which a sound engineer is working on a horror movie, which ends up becoming his own reality. I have not yet seen this film (I admittedly never even heard of it until today) until I saw the soundtrack credits – which is helmed by English independent band Broadcast. Totaling 39 tracks under 40 minutes, Broadcast created a haunting, exasperating ride that is as strange as it is beautiful. [Read more...]
Music Review: Twenty One Pilots’ ‘Vessel’
01/07/2013 by 16 Comments
Fueled by Ramen are becoming a very impressive force in the world of pop-alternative music. From last year’s success of fun., plus their other diverse acts including Paramore, Gym Class Heroes and Panic! at the Disco makes them a rather large tour de force. Now it’s time for their newest act, Twenty One Pilots, to shine. However, their debut with FBR, entitled Vessel, is too much of a mixed bag to be thoroughly enjoyable. [Read more...]
HST…Best Music of 2012
01/01/2013 by 3 Comments
2012 has been quite a year for music. Alternative darlings broke out in a big way, taking over most of the radio. Giant albums from returning artists gave us critics something to lavish over throughout the year. 2012 was also the year that Youtube became a major player, helping push viral artists like Carly Rae Jepsen and Psy to the forefronts of the American subconcious. Without further ado, here is HST’s favorites of the year. [Read more...]
Music Review: Bruno Mars’ ‘Unorthodox Jukebox’
12/10/2012 by Leave a Comment
Bruno Mars and myself have never really clicked before Unorthodox Jukebox. His freshman album Doo-Wops and Hooligans was full of pop friendly radio songs that would be suited more for Radio Disney than anything else. Add on to that his unyielding love songs, Hooligans was an eye-rolling affair I really just wanted to end. But two years has past, and Bruno is in a different place in his career – even if it is a more refined room he’s placed himself in. [Read more...]
Grammy Awards 2013: Nominees and Predictions
12/05/2012 by 1 Comment
It’s almost award season, and what better way to kick it off than a giant concert! That’s right, the Grammy Award nominations were presented last night (all five of them), and has shown a relatively strong year for alternative music. So what are we waiting for, let’s get right into the big four! [Read more...]
Arcade Review: The Walking Dead Ep. 1-5
12/05/2012 by Leave a Comment
Anyone who has a television seems to have some sort of opinion on the AMC zombie drama The Walking Dead. Some say the show is trash because there isn’t enough zombie killings, while some say there’s too much. Some also say that the story is trash (which is not my stance). Well fear not, fellow zombie lovers, The Walking Dead video game is out – and has one of the best stories of the year. [Read more...]
Music Review: Ke$ha’s ‘Warrior’
12/03/2012 by Leave a Comment
Ke$ha is something that I would call “outside of my comfort zone.” Her speak-talk style of singing and dance beats got on my nerves when she first debuted with “Tik Tok” in 2009, and every song after that just felt forced and unapologetically mundane. And then she did a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” and REALLY impressed me. But that was then, and Warrior is now. [Read more...]
HST…Mixtape of 2012
11/30/2012 by Leave a Comment
Another year is coming to a close, which means many best of lists are starting to take fruition. And just like last year, I have compiled the best songs of the year into one cohesive playlist now known as the HST…Mixtape! [Read more...]
TV Recap: Revolution 110 “Nobody’s Fault But Mine”
11/26/2012 by Leave a Comment
Here we are again, another week, another episode of Revolution. The difference this week is that we have reached the halfway mark with the season – meaning that we won’t have these little episodic pieces until 2013 sometime (or Fall of 2013 or whenever NBC damn well schedules things). So what are we in for this episode? Well if you’ve seen the previews, then you know the ending – but what about everything else? [Read more...]
Music Review: Rihanna’s ‘Unapologetic’
11/20/2012 by Leave a Comment
Doesn’t seem like too long ago when pop star Rihanna bursted onto the scene with her infectious first single “Pon De Replay” in 2005. Since then, she has been turning heads both as an artist and a media headline, with the infamous relationship with Chris Brown overshadowing her most recent albums. Now, her seventh studio album Unapologetic is out, and all the drama following it doesn’t help, hurt, or destroy it at all. We do, however, get an okay pop album. [Read more...]
TV Recap: Revolution 109 “Kashmir”
11/20/2012 by Leave a Comment
Including this week, Revolution only has two more episodes left until its Fall Break. That means, in these last two episodes, some big things need to happen. And what bigger way to soundtrack the second to last episode until the mid-season break than Led Zeppelin! Let’s just see how epic Revolution can be when it’s backed by “Kashmir.” See what I did there…? [Read more...]
TV Recap: Revolution 108 “Ties That Bind”
11/12/2012 by Leave a Comment
I’m in a bit of a mood for this write-up. Just before Revolution came on the air, I just so happened to see a promo advertizing the show, which spoiled a major moment in this episode AS WELL as something yet to be addressed. So with those thoughts running in the back of my mind, and this episode going absolutely no where until the end, it’s safe to say that this wasn’t one of their better episodes. Why don’t we get started? [Read more...]
Music Review: Green Day’s ‘¡Dos!’
11/11/2012 by Leave a Comment
To say I was disappointed with Green Day’s first album in their numerical trilogy ¡Uno! is an understatement. In fact, after a month of sitting on this album, hoping that something in me would help change my thoughts on it. It didn’t happen; it just made the album worse. So going into ¡Dos!, you could say I was incredibly skeptical on what would come out of this album. [Read more...]
