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Hey, hey, everyone! Another month gone, and another year gone! WELCOME TO 8102 EVERYONE! In this new advanced year, instruments are no longer around, and are now artifacts preserved in a museum. Robots have taken over the world, and, of course, music. I’m kidding, of course; that’s a total nightmare! In all honesty, though, 2018 is bound to have some great music, and there’s already some releases coming up this month that I am SO excited about! But enough about new music, let’s have a look at the music that’s already been released, and has made it onto my playlists this past month! This month has honestly been a little different from past months: I’ve had less of a variety this month! As you’ll be able to tell, it has definitely been a rock-filled month, since almost all I listened to was rock-based music. But you’ll also see that there were a few hidden exceptions to this!
With everything that is played on my show, you all probably think I have way too much happening in the skull area of my body. So, I want to give everyone a little insight as to what’s going on in my brain, without having to look at the “Recently Played” section on my Spotify. The solution I came to was to tell everyone about the hidden (and not so hidden) gems in my music library for the month. Some of the music I post will be at the top of charts, some of the music won’t be your style, some will be a band’s biggest hit that I’ve just been happening to listen to a lot, and some will be completely unknown to you!
So, to start it off, here’s just a couple of my favorite artists for December, a little bit about them, and some song suggestions:
Charlie Puth (Pop)
I. LOVE. CHARLIE. PUTH. For the longest time, I just knew the songs that were played on the radio, like “We Don’t Talk Anymore,” and “Attention,” but at the very beginning of the month, I finally listened to all of the other songs that AREN’T played on the radio, and let me tell you, I fell in love. Trained at Berklee College of Music and born with the gift of perfect pitch (being able to name any note after hearing it once and being able to sing any note perfectly without a reference note), he is a true talent and what this world needs in music right now.
Song suggestions: “River,” “Suffer,” “My Gospel”
Shinedown (Rock)
I’ve been a fan of Shinedown for seriously as long as I can remember. I remember when “Second Chance” came out when I was 9, I used to listen to that song religiously. I mean really, I still do (even my mom loves that song!). After being a fan for almost 10 years, I finally got the wonderful chance to see them live at Summerfest this past July. My friend and I had to stand on a bench and could barely see the stage, but that was good enough for both of us; it was emotional enough for us seeing them at all, and no matter how bad the seats were, nothing could ruin that moment for us.
Song suggestions: “Oblivion,” “Breaking Inside,” “I’ll Follow You”
Oceans Ate Alaska (Metalcore)
Okay, okay, so these guys are kind of the black sheep of this list. Completely ignore this suggestion if you aren’t into heavy music. If you still happen to be reading this, though, LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT OAA. I had never even heard of them until I was walking around 2016’s Vans Warped Tour with my friend (the same one from above, actually! I hope you’ve all caught on and noticed she’s my concert buddy) looking for a certain tent and somehow we ended up at their stage while they were playing. Both of us had no idea who these guys were but we thought they were good so we stayed to listen. BEST DECISION EVER! The technicality in every riff and drum beat is insane, and I truly believe they are some of the best musicians in the industry.
Song suggestions: “Linger,” “Entity,” “Part of Something”
Eminem (Rap)
Alright, so my whole life I’ve been kind of hesitant to listen to too much Eminem, mostly because of his controversial lyrics that my parents didn’t particularly like, which is understandable. Obviously, I liked the big songs of his, but that was about it. But lately, really been digging Eminem, and ESPECIALLY this new album he just released this month! Hands down my favorite album of his, and I’m so excited to hear new music in the future!
Song suggestions (which happen to all be from his new album, oops): “Nowhere Fast (feat. Kehlani),” “River (feat. Ed Sheeran),” “Bad Husband (feat. X Ambassadors)”
Volbeat (Hard Rock)
Volbeat is one of those bands that I found a couple of years ago and loved one song, but I never listened to any other songs. Fast forward to mid-December. I was laying at home and had music I had never heard before shuffling, and all of a sudden, a ton of Volbeat was playing. I decided to listen to them again, and man, COME THROUGH DANISH MUSICIANS! They may not be from America, but they make music that’s just as good as all the American musicians on this list!
Song suggestions: “A New Day,” “Black Rose,” “The Devil’s Bleeding Crown* ”
Falling in Reverse (Rock)
I loved Falling in Reverse SO much a couple of years ago, but I kind of stopped listening to them last year. When they released their most recent album in April, I didn’t even listen to it, nor did I have to urge to. But finally, I gave that album a chance early this month. And let me say, it’s actually really good! I think it revived my love for Falling in Reverse, so definitely check out that album, and just the band in general.
Song suggestions: “Chemical Prisoner,* ” “My Heart’s To Blame,” “Superhero”
Starset (Space-y Alternative-ish Kind of Hard (but not really???) Rock)
As you can probably tell by my description of them above, I honestly don’t really know how to explain their sound, BUT IT’S REALLY GOOD! A couple of friends and I saw them live a few months back and we love them! They have this really cool theme that definitely sets them apart from other bands. The band members are all in astronaut suits and the drummer is in this giant glass box on an elevated platform. The singer, Dustin Bates, has two microphones: one is normal, and the other makes his voice sound like it’s in outer space; have you caught onto the space theme yet?? If this intrigued you enough, look up a video of them performing live, it’s super cool!
Song suggestions: “My Demons,* “ “Monster,” “Carnivore”
Flint Eastwood (Electronic Pop Rock (kind of??))
I guess I’m just really bad at describing the sound of artists. But don’t let my bad descriptions take away from how good they are. I didn’t really get into Flint Eastwood until super recently. My concert buddy and I saw Flint Eastwood at Summerfest (the same day that we saw Shinedown!) in July, and I really liked the music, but never really made an effort to listen to some of her songs and albums until a couple of weeks ago. I’m SO happy that I did, because I absolutely LOVE Flint Eastwood! Her music blends many different genres of music, including pop, rock, electronic, and so many others that make her music so unique!
Song suggestions: “Push (feat. Tunde Olaniran),” “Assemble Kids,” “Glitches”
Thousand Foot Krutch (Hard Rock)
I feel like Thousand Foot Krutch can be grouped into this little list that I have that is basically just all the hard rock bands that sound similar and that I LOVE! They definitely deserve a spot on that list (that may be shared in a future blog, we’ll see) and they also deserve a spot on the list of my favorite bands! I absolutely love these guys, and in my opinion, they are super underrated!! Go give them a chance!
Song suggestions: “Fly on the Wall,” “Untraveled Road,” “A Different Kind of Dynamite”
Papa Roach (Hard Rock)
I needed another band for this list, so Papa Roach is my last resort. See what I did there? But really, I have actually been loving Papa Roach lately! I didn’t listen to them too much, and all I knew was a few songs. But then I bought tickets to see A Day To Remember at the UIC Pavilion in February, and Papa Roach just so happened to be supporting them. So, naturally, I spent a whole week listening to solely Papa Roach. I highly suggest you do the same!
Song suggestions: “Falling Apart,” “Born for Greatness,” “Carry Me”
*Wow, I’m so original with my music choices!!
Now we go on to the top tracks of December:
“Dangerously,” – Charlie Puth (Nine Track Mind, 2016)
“Through the Ghost,” – Shinedown (Amaryllis, 2012)
“Still Counting,” – Volbeat (Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood, 2008)
“F*** You and All Your Friends,” – Falling in Reverse (Coming Home, 2017)
“Berserk,” – Eminem (The Marshall Mathers LP2, 2013)
“Satellite,” – Starset (Vessels, 2017)
“The Way,” – Zack Hemsey (The Way, 2011)
“Lifeline,” – Thousand Foot Krutch (Exhale, 2016)
“Queen,” – Flint Eastwood (Broke Royalty, 2017)
“The Thunder Rolls – Cover,” – All That Remains (Madness, 2017)
Aaaaaaand finally, the killer albums of December:
“Nine Track Mind,” – Charlie Puth (2016)
“Revival,” – Eminem (2017)
“Lost Isles,” – Oceans Ate Alaska (2015)
“The Sound of Madness,” – Shinedown (2008)
“Coming Home,” – Falling in Reverse (2017)
“Transmissions,” – Starset (2014)
“Broke Royalty,” – Flint Eastwood (2017)
“Exhale,” – Thousand Foot Krutch (2016)
“Red Pill Blues,” – Maroon 5 (2017)
“The Better Life,” – 3 Doors Down (2000)
BONUS: My top ten album releases of 2017!
“The Stories We Tell Ourselves,” – Nothing More
“Graveyard Shift,” – Motionless in White
“Revival,” – Eminem
“From the Fires,” – Greta Van Fleet
“All We Know of Heaven, All We Need of Hell,” – PVRIS
“Coming Home,” – Falling in Reverse
“From the Outside,” – Hey Violet
“Rainbow,” – Kesha
“Ritual,” – In This Moment
“Red Pill Blues,” – Maroon 5
With all of that being said, if you have something you think is “Top Ten” quality, follow me on Instagram and/or Twitter and shoot me a message! I’d love to take requests, and if I love the artist/album/song enough, it just might make it on my list!
Instagram: samanthaxoxo___ (that’s 3 underscores :D)
Twitter: samanthacxoxo_
See ya next month!
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