A few months ago, my nana gave me her Nintendo 64 along with a few of the video games my cousins used to play on it back when Wiis and XBOXs didn't exist. The problem was, though, that she didn't have the controllers to use it anymore. They're most likely currently shoved way in the back of one of my older cousins' closets. A few days ago, though, my parents bought me Nintendo 64 controllers as one of my Christmas gifts. I don't usually play video games, but I'd heard a lot about the "Zelda" games and I was really excited to play "Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time." After a few days of playing the game, I must say that it's absolutely amazing.
There was one song that I found to be extremely catchy in the game called "Saria's Song" which plays when you are in the Lost Woods. After I exited the Lost Woods, I found that I wanted to continue to listen to the tune so I went on YouTube to look it up. As one of my search results, I found this awesome cover of "Saria's Song" played on beer bottles!
Sp0ntanius posted this video of himself covering the song and it seriously sounds just like it. I can't imagine how frustrating it must have been to figure out how to make the correct sounds on the bottles. By blowing into the bottles and tapping on them, this YouTuber has successfully managed to cover this tune from the game that you can play on your ocarina to talk to Saria from anywhere. This cover is seriously fantastic, so you should definitely check it out. If you're a fan of the "Legend of Zelda" games, Sp0ntanius also has other "Zelda" cover on YouTube that are equally fantastic.
For the past two summers, I have gone to the annual Vans Warped Tour. I must say those two experiences at Warped are a couple of my fondest memories. For those of you unfamiliar with the tour, Vans Warped Tour is a summer-long event that crosses America, stopping in many different towns for one day only. The tour usually hosts about fifty bands (my rough estimate) and about seven stages are set up so these groups can play at the same time. Watching all these bands perform is only half the fun, though. So many tents are set up for non-profit organizations, to sell band merchandise, etc. Honestly, even if you don't like any of the bands playing, you're still going to have a fantastic time. Last year, I dragged one of my best friends with me to Warped. This friend loves pop music and dislikes most of the music that I listen to (One time she even said "Ew, turn that off" when I started playing the Beatles....) so she wasn't sure if the tour was for her. She ended up having a great time and we're planning on going together again next year. She even found a few bands that she liked there, since so many groups of all different music genres play. This tour is seriously for everybody.
On the Warped website, some of the bands set to play in 2013 have been announced! Some of the bands were on the tour last year and others are entirely new. I'm already really excited for this coming summer so I can check out some new music, watch great performances, and buy merch at the tents.
Here's a list of the bands announced so far: http://vanswarpedtour.com/bands
As summer approaches, I'll definitely be writing more about the tour, talk about my experience after I attend in 2013, and give tips on what you'll need to bring/know before you go.
I know it's been a while since I wrote the first half of "Foreign Music" and I had promised to write this long ago...sorry. Here it is now, though. In case you haven't read the first part, these are posts about music groups or artists from other countries whose songs I listen to. And, once again, I'm leaving out England from the list because there are too many good English musical groups and artists.
JAPANESE: The GazettE and Suga Shikao
I'm not going to lie - I'm obsessed with Japan. So when I found the song "Red" by the visual kei band, The GazettE, I fell in love with it. "Red" is hard and beautiful with striking lyrics (when you translate them into English). Although some people don't like not being able to understand what is being said in songs, I absolutely love listening to the Japanese language, and really any language at all. It's so complex and fascinating, I have no doubt that you will at least find "Red" somewhat interesting. I also have to mention that the members of GazettE can do their makeup so well....I'm jealous.
The only song I've ever heard by Suga Shikao, a Japanese singer-songwriter, is "Juukyuusai." I found the song, which translates to "Nineteen years old," because it's the opening theme to the anime series xxxholic, a show about a young man who works at a magical wish-granting shop. "19sai" is catchy and dark, talking about how much the vocalist, or at least a character he may be pretending to be, hates himself and his life at this point and just wants to get away "like a black swallowtail butterfly." Just like the culture of Japan, the song can be rather contradictory. Its self-hate filled lyrics somehow compliment the beauty of the song, even though hate and beauty don't usually work well together. All in all, this song is genius and I love it.
FRENCH: Stereo Total
A couple months ago, I was watching the Polish movie, Sala Samobójców, when a song played in the film that completely caught my attention. "C'est La Mort" by Stereo Total, a half-German and half-French duo, is upbeat and, when you translate the lyrics, doesn't make any sense. To me, not making any sense is not always a bad thing, and it definitely works in this song, mostly because I can't speak French so I don't understand it anyway.
POLISH: UnSun
Just like Suga Shikao and Stereo Total, I'm only familiar with one song by the Polish band, UnSun. "Whispers," from their 2008 album The End of Life, is the only song on this list not sung in the band's native language. The vocalist, Aya's, accent is lovely, though, and adds a very special element to the song. My favorite lyrics from this dark song are "You are my sun is the darkness of the night / And be my eyes when I lost my sight" and
Like moonlight, you're showing me the way
Like heroine, you course in my veins
I like your whispering in the dark
There are whispers of the past
You are hiding deep inside my dreams
Dreaming the final dream, the last.
I completely agree with band's MySpace page that had labeled their sound as "something incorporating day and night, light and darkness," since the singer's high voice offsets and compliments the darkness of the rest of the song.
I don't play a lot of video games, but when the original XBOX came out when I was a kid, I became obsessed with the game Jet Set Radio Future. This amazing video game came free with the purchase of the console. In the game, you roller skate around different locations in Tokyo (like Shibuya!) and spraypaint and defeat the corrupt cops of futuristic Japan. I've been in love with JSRF for years and years, but the actual game isn't the only great thing about it - its music is just perfect. All throughout the game, you listen to a radio station that plays insanely cool music, while DJ Professor K clues you in on all the secrets of this Tokyo of the future.
The first JSRF song that I want to write about is "Like It Like This Like That" by Hideki Naganuma. Its lyrics are repetitive and some may say it's kind of simple, but I think that it's a masterpiece. Although I normally don't like uncomplicated lyrics, the simplicity of them in this song only enhances its quality, in my opinion. All I have to say, really, is Hideki Naganuma knows how to make really good music.
Another song from JSRF that I love is "Statement of Intent" by Bis. For some reason, this song always reminds me of my favorite location in the game, 99th Street. Maybe it's because they're both so damn awesome. "Statement of Intent" is the most rock song in the game, I think, so I've always been really interested in it. The guitar is really cool, the vocals are unique, and the drum beats are perfectly simple. Since the lyrics aren't easy to hear while listening to the song, I just looked them up and I found that they're confusing and awesome. My favorite lines would have to be:
'
"If we're your misplaced youth
And your lies are the truth,
Then mistakes are illusions.
A simple yes is confusion."
What I love about the lyrics is that they're really rebellious, especially the line "Careless children never die."
Being obsessed with Japan, especially Tokyo and, more specifically, Shibuya, I loved the game and the Japanese music in it like "Baby-T" by Guitar Vader. The song is so cute and catchy, so it's really fun to listen to while playing JSRF or just walking down the hallways at school. It's also mysterious in a way, since I can't find the lyrics for it ANYWHERE. It seems that no one knows what it being sung in the singer's high and one-of-a-kind voice. It's super-addictive and I love how some of the lyrics are in Japanese.
Also by Guitar Vader is "I Love Love You", another super catchy and adorable song from the soundtrack. It's so complex, with all of its interesting electronic aspects and insanely cool vocals. I have to say that I've never heard anything like these two songs by Guitar Vader. They're truly unique. The drums in "I Love Love You" are especially enjoyable to listen to because of their complex, yet repetitive beat.
The last song from Jet Set Radio Future that I'll be posting is Cibo Matto's "Birthday Cake." From the moment I began playing this game, I was instantly attracted to this song. With its screechy vocals and weird lyrics, it's perfect for anyone who likes one-of-a-kind music. I don't understand this song at all and that's one of the many reasons why I love it. Also, an interesting fact about Cibo Matto is that Sean Lennon, John Lennon's son, played bass with them for a while.
So I hope you enjoyed listening to the music of Jet Set Radio Future for the original XBOX as much as I do. If you liked these songs, check out the rest of the soundtrack and, whether you liked the music or not, I definitely recommend trying out the video game, which you can probably buy on ebay. And, to conclude my post, here's Gum, the marvelous character that I always play on JSRF:
On many YouTube videos, you have to watch an annoying advertisement before you can view the video that you clicked on. For the first time in my life, I'm actually really glad that there was an ad preceding the video I was waiting to watch. The advertisement was for an eighteen-year-old singer/songwriter named Jake Bugg, a young man from Nottingham, England. Intrigued by the music in the video, I clicked on it and was introduced to a whole album of spectacular music that I couldn't believe I hadn't heard sooner.
It seems that on every YouTube video for an old song, people write comments saying, "Why doesn't music sound like this anymore?" But, now, with Jake Bugg, that dream has come true for those people. Jake's music has this quality that makes it seem like it doesn't belong in this time, and I mean that in the best possible way. With a bluesy indie-rock sound, his songs don't seem like they're from this century full of pop and dance music with auto-tuned voices and machine-made instrumental sounds. This guy can actually play guitar, sing in a beautifully unique voice, and come up with the most impressive lyrics. To prove my point, here's Jake Bugg's videos for "Two Fingers," "Lightning Bolt," and "Taste It."
I'm absolutely in love with these songs, because of the way they sound and their lyrics. I haven't had such a strong, positive reaction to an artist's music in a long time.
I'm so happy to have been introduced to this guy's music. I love uniqueness, so I'm really enjoying all of Jake Bugg's songs. I truly can't wait until my copy of Jake's self-titled album to make its way from the UK to my house in America.
This past week has been "Hell Week" for Drama Club, meaning we've been at drama for pretty much all of our free time. Some people even spent a full 24 hours there a couple of days ago. Today was the last day of Hell Week, and also the last performance of the play. So, all of the Drama Club members were at school for nine hours and, in the music room when I arrived, I found a lot of people taking turns playing the piano. I was surprised at how many of my classmates could play, even if they only knew one song. This reminded me of a band that often uses piano in their songs: Evanescence. Evanescence has had a huge impact on my life. It was through them that I found all of the music that I know and love today. So I thought they deserved a post completely dedicated to them.
It's not often that you find women performing rock music professionally, so Evanescence's lead singer and pianist, Amy Lee, is looked up to by millions of men and women for breaking into this male-dominated industry. With her long, black hair and gothic attire, she's not only known for her talent but also for her striking and dark appearance. It's near impossible to describe how beautiful her voice is, but I can say that it's soothing and powerful all at once. I particularly like how her voice sounds in Evanescence's song "Good Enough." She's able to hit each and every note no matter how high or low and is also able to play the piano skillfully at the same time. "Good Enough" is a beautiful and breathtaking song that I completely recommend everyone check out, so here's Amy Lee performing it live:
Another one of the many songs that I love by this band is "Everybody's Fool." It's lyrics are haunting and strong and so is the voice that delivers them. To me, the song is about self-hate and acting fake so people don't see who you really are. I think it's lovely and heart-breaking. It always captures my attention and make me really think whenever I listen to it, and if a song can do that to someone, it's probably great, and this one definitely is. Without further ado, here is "Everybody's Fool" by Evanescence:
From what I've heard of them, it seems that Evanescence has never released a bad song. I think it to be impossible for Amy Lee's voice to not sound amazing, for her talent on the piano to ever falter, or for the rest of the band to ever not play near perfectly. I want to thank this band for guiding me to all of the music that has affected my life so profoundly, and for them for being one of those bands that has had such a big affect on me. Overall, this band puts out some great music that is definitely worth checking out.
P.S. I know I said that I would write Part 2 of the "Foreign Music" post a while back, but it will be coming soon.
I don't like metal music, so I've never been a fan of Suicide Silence. However, when the band's frontman, Mitch Lucker died on October 31, I felt so bad for this young man whose music touched so many people's lives.
On October 31, Mitch was out riding on his black 2013 Harley-Davidson motorcycle in Huntington Beach, California. He was at the intersection of Main Street and 13th Street when he crashed into a pole and was thrown off his bike. As his motorcycle continued on without him, Mitch collided with a Nissan Titan pickup truck. The two people riding in the car were not injured, but Mitch was treated at the crash site by paramedics. He was then brought to UC Irvine Medical Center and died November 1st just after 6 a.m.
Suicide Silence announced Mitch Lucker's death in a post on Facebook that read:
There's no easy way to say this. Mitch passed away earlier this morning from injuries sustained during a motorcycle accident. This is completely devastating to all of us and we offer our deepest condolences to his family. He will be forever in our hearts.
R.I.P. Mitchell Adam Lucker - We Love You Brother
Memorials were held on Thursday, November 1st at Huntington Beach and Riverside. Heartbroken fans put on a candlelight vigil at the site of the crash.
Wherever Mitch Lucker is, I hope he's in peace, and my heart goes out to his family, friends, and fans.
Last night, I was watching one of my favorite movies, Braveheart. At the start of the movie, the main character, William Wallace, is still a young boy living in Scotland. When his father dies in battle, he witnesses his dad's friends honoring him by playing the bagpipe by his grave. Listening to this traditional Scottish music made me think about the foreign music that I like. So, I decided to write this post on bands/groups from other countries who have some songs that I listen to. I'll be excluding England from this list because there are too many English bands and musicians that are amazing. I could spend hours writing about all of them, so I'll probably dedicate a whole post to that subject later. Also, even though this is a blog about rock and alternative music, there will be some pop music mentioned in this post. What can I say? Foreign pop is kind of my guilty pleasure.
Since there are so many foreign groups to discuss, this post will be in two parts. The second will come sometime later this week.
RUSSIAN: t.A.T.u.
In 1999, a Russian dance-pop duo called t.A.T.u. was formed. The group was made up of two teenagers, Yulia Volkova and Lena Katina, who were said to be in a lesbian relationship together. It came out later, though, that their supposed homosexuality was only a gimmick used to draw listeners to the idea of two teenage, Russian lesbians. t.A.T.u. was interesting, controversial, and they made really good music. Although I don't normally listen to pop, these girls can really sing and draw people in with the catchiness of their songs. They also performed a cover of The Smith's "How Soon is Now?" which I really enjoyed. Their music has been recorded in both Russian and English, but I tend to listen to the Russian versions since they're performed in such a beautiful language. Here's t.A.T.u's "Pokazhi Mne Lyubov," which translates to "Show Me Love."
GERMAN: Tokio Hotel
The German rock band, Tokio Hotel, started when its members were just kids, and went all the way through their teenage years. This band put out some terrific music in both German and English but, just like t.A.T.u., I usually listen to the songs in the foreign language because it's so interesting. Other than their music, Tokio Hotel was also known for their singer's stunning appearance. Bill Kaulitz's striking facial features and lion's mane became just as world famous as their songs. Another interesting fact about the band would be that the singer, Bill, and guitarist, Tom Kaulitz, are indentical, vegetarian twins. The way they do their hair and the clothes they wear easily distinguish one from the other, though. Without further ado, here's Tokio Hotel's music video for "Übers Ende der Welt:"
KOREAN: Miss A and 2NE1
It's time to reveal my guilty pleasure: I occasionally find myself listening to Korean pop music. What may surprise you even more is that there is actually good Kpop besides PSY's "Gangnam Style." One thing that I can say about this Korean musical performers is that they're not only great singers; they're also amazing dancers. The first Kpop, or Korean pop, group that I discovered was Miss A. I only know two songs from this four-piece, but both are catchy, well-sung, and have amazing dances that go along with them. I don't know of a lot of Kpop groups but, from the ones I do know of, Miss A has the best dancers. Their song "Breathe" is upbeat and, even though I'd never thought I would ever like something like this, it's hard to stop listening to once I've started. You can check this song out below:
Because of this song, I was able to find 2NE1's "I Am the Best." 2NE1 is another Korean pop group made up of four young ladies. They're able to be edgy, while still being upbeat. I love the video for "I Am the Best" for successfully being dark and glamorous at the same time, which is something many groups don't attempt to do. 2NE1 (pronounced like the number 21), has a number of great, addictive songs like "Ugly" and "I Love You," but "I Am the Best" will always be my favorite by them because of its cool vocals, electronic aspects, and four-on-the-floor beat on the drums.
SCOTLAND: Franz Ferdinand and Glasvegas
From what I've heard by them, Franz Ferdinand, the Scottish rock band, doesn't seem to be capable of releasing a bad song. I first heard of them from my friend, Ian, when he suggested that our band learn their song "Take Me Out." Surprised that I'd never listened to them before, I checked out the song on YouTube and fell in love with it. It's beyond marvelous. There isn't one part of this song that is boring or unenjoyable. It's the kind of song that you just want to get up and dance to with your friends. The drum parts are always outstanding and perfectly straightforward and, as a drummer, they're really fun to play. Alex Kapranos, singer and lead guitarist, has a really unique voice that is fun to listen to on all of their songs.
Another Scottish rock band is Glasvegas from Glasglow. I've only heard one song by this band, but it's just too good to ignore. "Flowers and Football Tops" was a song that I found through my favorite band, My Chemical Romance. It's a perfect mixture of beauty and darkness. I never realized how sad this song really was until I looked up its lyrics. Never once have I heard someone sing like James Allan does in "Flowers and Football Tops." His one-of-a-kind voice adds something very special to this lovely and gloomy song.
I remember when I was just a little kid and I came across my mom's old record player and collection of vinyl in the basement. These black, circular objects fascinated me more than any compact disc ever could. As I picked through the records, I found Cheap Trick's 1978 album, Heaven Tonight. Although I now play it on a newer record player, I still listen to the album sometimes and even more now in these past few days since I've bought it for my iPod.
Although the album contains many amazing songs like "Surrender," "Auf Wiedersehen," "Heaven Tonight," and "High Roller," and I could have picked any of them to write about, I chose the second track, "On Top of the World." This song is catchy, lyrically well-written, and impressively performed.
I can't find one line in this song that I dislike. I honestly began to go through the lyrics of the song and highlighted every one that I liked. I soon gave up, after noticing that I was highlighting every single line. If I had to pick favorites, though, I'd have to say that there were three parts that really stood out to me. "It wasn't easy, it was hard as Hell / You didn't get luck in a wishing well," caught my attention because it made me picture someone throwing a coin into a well in hope that their life would get easier, but it didn't. I also really liked "Quit school and had no dreams" since it was a rather sad line in such an upbeat song. "Wrapped herself around you with her stare" was also really interesting to me. I could imagine someone being sort of tied up in black shadows as a result of a woman gazing at them.
The lead vocalist, Robin Zander, got the chance to show off his excellent, unique voice in "On Top of the World." There's not one point in the entire song that listening to him sing gets boring or unenjoyable. And I can truthfully say that he's performs just as well on the rest of the album.The guitar complements the song perfectly throughout the whole four minutes and four seconds. The drumming's simplicity suits it also, and the added touches of piano only intensify the allure of the song.
"On Top of the World" is a great, catchy song full of thoughtful, interesting lyrics on a fantastic album. I heartily recommend both.
Here's "On Top of the World" off of Cheap Trick's 1978 album, Heaven Tonight:
Unfortunately, Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of Green Day, has been in rehab lately for his substance abuse issues. I recently wrote about him checking into rehab after the iHeartRadio Festival, and now the schedule for the band during the next few months has changed because of it.
On Monday, October 29, Green Day posted on the official website that the band has cancelled their scheduled appearances for the remainder of 2012. Also, their upcoming concerts (one of which I have tickets to attend) are being postponed to unknown dates.
The bright side to this situation is that the release of the band's album, Tré, is going to take place over a month earlier than had originally been planned. Rather than coming out on January 15 of 2013, Tré will be release this year on December 11. According to Rolling Stone, Tré Cool, drummer of Green Day, had said, "We feel bad we have to delay our tour, so to make up for it we want to give our fans the music earlier than we had planned. If we couldn't be there to play it for you live, the least we could do was give you the next best thing."
I wish Billie Joe the best in overcoming his addiction, and hope that the band can happily continue on soon.
If you know me at all, you're aware of my total love of the band, My Chemical Romance. They've been my favorite band of all time since I first heard them at the beginning of eighth grade. And I know that with their amazing music and personalities, My Chem will always have that #1 spot on my list.
MCR's most recent album, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, came out in the November of 2010. It was amazing. It was perfect. And it wasn't the only music the band had recorded during their time off.
Before Danger Days, My Chemical Romance had recorded a whole album that they ended up scrapping, and was never heard by their fans. I wasn't sure if they'd ever decide to share these discarded songs, until the band's rhythm guitarist, Frank Iero, wrote a post on their website announcing the release of Conventional Weapons. This album is made up the 10 songs that My Chem made before Danger Days. They'll be releasing two songs each month off the album, and the first two were just let out yesterday.
"Boy Division" and "Tomorrow's Money" are absolutely amazing. Their excellence can hardly be described in words. The best way I can put this is that My Chemical Romance always reminds me of who I am whenever I listen to them, and these songs did the same.
"Boy Division" is a fast-paced song with the clever lyrics that the band never fails to produce. It starts out strong and stays just as beautiful throughout the entire song. Gerard, Mikey, Frank, and Ray all sound fantastic. I especially loved the lines "I'm not dead, I only dress that way" and "I know it. Take me out there / Far away away and save me from my / Self destruction. Hopeless for you." The whole song was written smartly, but those lines in particular were my favorites.
I was hesitant to write this post because I knew I wouldn't be able to do these songs justice. I can't explain how fantastic I thought "Tomorrow's Money" was. Once again, the lyrics were awesome, Gerard sang perfectly, the instruments sounded great, and it was the catchy rock type of music that only MCR knows how to create. My favorite lines from the song have to be:
"If we crash this time,
They got machines to keep us alive.
When the mixtape lies,
Choke down the words with no meaning.
I stopped bleeding three years ago
While you keep screaming for revolution."
I truly love this band and I want to thank them in this post for affecting my life so greatly. These songs are absolutely awesome and I'm so glad that My Chemical Romance decided to release them. This band has never released a song that I didn't completely love. I'm aware that I wasn't able to do these songs justice so you can listen to them yourselves below. I'm so excited for the release of the rest of the album, but until then, I'll just have to...
Here is "Boy Division" and "Tomorrow's Money," the first two songs off of My Chemical Romance's Conventional Weapons:
I've decided to add a new aspect to my blog, Rock Transmissions. Rather than limiting myself to only addressing news in music, I'll also be writing about songs that I'm listening to at the moment whether they're new or decades old.
I'm not going to lie - I spend way too much time watching videos on YouTube. It was about a month ago that I discovered the British YouTuber, Alex Day, who goes by "Nerimon" on the Internet. Not only does he make videos, but he's also a musical artist. It was through him that I found Tom Milsom, a musician living in London who's a friend of Alex Day. I clicked on one of Tom's videos and, in the suggestion bar, was the music video for his song, "Song For The Painfully Indie." Intrigued, I clicked on it and instantly became addicted to this song from the Painfully Mainstream album of 2009.
With a catchy tune and impressive lyrics, "Song For the Painfully Indie" is impossible not to enjoy. In the song, Tom speaks of how there's a girl that had caught his eye, and I would assume they're in a club since he says that he sees her on the dancefloor. He's not sure how to approach her. What should he say? What drink should he buy her? Does his hair look alright? He questions whether or not he actually wants to talk to her at all in case they have nothing in common. "And I don't want to talk to her or take her by the hand / In case she tells me her favorite band is not my favorite band," Tom sings in his pleasant and unique voice. Since he can't muster up the courage to speak to this girl, she leaves without even knowing that he exists.
I loved how awkward Tom was describing himself to be in the song. He obviously doesn't take himself too seriously and is able to make fun of the fact that he's shy and bumbling. I really liked that about the song. I also really enjoyed how he told a story in the song. Rather than just singing about how he's an awkward person with no clue how to deal with women, she tell a story in first-person as though it's actually going on.
The song ends with Tom Milsom giving up on getting the girl and moving on. I found it humorous that he was so infatuated with this woman at one moment, but he kind of forgets about her the second she drives away in a taxi.
Overall, I think this song is absolutely wonderful and enjoyable. I've been listening to it a lot lately and I know that I will still be listening to it on repeat for much longer.
Here's the music video for Tom Milsom's "Song For The Painfully Indie."
The Q Awards took place in London, England this past Monday. Honestly, I'd never heard of this awards festival until a few minutes ago, but the results of who won which award was interesting.
The first thing that I noticed as I looked at the list of winners was Muse's name. I then glanced above the band's name to see the title "Best Act in the World Today." Muse is one of my favorite bands, so I was really excited for them in receiving such an award and for getting to the place they're at now. They deserve all the fame and credit they get, in my opinion. Although there is another band that is the "best act in the world today" in my opinion, I'm still really happy that this band obtained this award.
What I noticed next was that Blur had won the title for "Best Live Act." I only recently found Blur's music, but I'm enchanted by their songs "The Universal" and "Song 2." If this band performs songs even a fraction of how amazing they sound on their albums, then this award is absolutely deserved.
I'm surprised I'd never heard of this award ceremony until now, since it involves some really awesome bands and music. I'll definitely try to remember to watch the Q Awards on television or online next year. I offer my congratulations all the bands that just won titles at the Q Awards.
Dave Grohl, singer and one of the guitarists of the Foo Fighters, announced on the FF website earlier this month that the band would be taking a break. To be clear, the band is not breaking up, but they're "not sure when [they] are going to play again."
It's understandable that the band is going on a hiatus. I mean, they've been together for eighteen years now, so I can see why they'd want to do other things. Personally, I hate routine and the thought of having a job that would force me to do the same thing every day scares me. I would never be able to be a secretary, doctor, librarian, etc. because of those reasons. Doing one thing for too long is tiring. So, after being in the same band for all those years, I'm sure that most people would want to do something else for a while. For example, Dave Grohl wrote that he plans on focusing on his Sound City documentary about the recording studio by the same name in Van Nuys, California.
Grohl promised on the website that he will never give up this band and I believe him. I'm sure that a band that's been together for this long will someday put out a new album. But for now, I wish the members of FF the best of luck on whatever it is that they're doing now.
Amanda Palmer, formerly the singer and pianist of The Dresden Dolls, released the album Theatre is Evil last month. I've only listened to one song off the album so far, and it's absolutely amazing.
"The Killing Type" doesn't sound much like the few Dresden Dolls songs that I know, but it still has the powerful lyrics and quirkiness that Palmer is known for. The song begins with Amanda telling the listener that she would never kill someone. She wouldn't "kill to win a war" or to "save a life." The problem is, though, that she feels that someone important to her has no emotions. Although she had said she would never murder, she states that she would take this person's life if it meant they would be less cold towards her. I love the way this line sounds in the song. For one moment, nothing other than Amanda's voice is heard as she says, "But I would kill to make you feel." Her voice is so powerful and the lack of instruments in that few seconds just adds to the effect.
The only problem that I had with this song is that, as soon as Amanda says that she would kill to make the person feel, she takes it back. I wish she had just gone with it. I'm sure anyone who listens to the song knows that she wouldn't actually hurt someone, so there was no need to explain that. A larger impact would have been made if she had continued claiming that she would kill this particular person.
Overall, I think that "The Killing Type" is a fantastic song and is definitely worth listening to. Amanda sounds great, the drum beats and guitar parts fit the song perfectly, and her lyrics were moving.
If you haven't heard the song, you can check out the music video below:
Like many other people on this planet, I have a bucket list. It's a collection of things that I want to do before I die.
A part of that list is some bands that I really want to see perform live in my lifetime. Smashing Pumpkins is one of those bands. I just bought tickets to their concert, which I will attend later this month. Green Day is another band that I feel the need to see perform, so I bought tickets to their concert, which I am extremely excited to go to. Being in the crowd of a Muse concert is also on my bucket list, but, as I wrote in my "2nd Law" post, they don't seem to come to America to play very often.
If I close my eyes, I can picture myself standing in the crowd at a Muse concert. I have a couple of my closest friends at my side, but I'm mostly surrounded by total strangers. The people playing on stage aren't strangers, though, despite the fact that we've never met. I've heard Matt Bellamy sing his most private thoughts to me more times than I will ever be able to count, even though he doesn't know me. Muse's music has made my life one much more worth living, although I've never met them. The arena was dark, but now is illuminated by a beautiful light show.
This reverie used to seem so far-fetched, but now it's so delightfully realistic.
Earlier today, I logged onto their official website and found out that they will be playing in my state next year and the presale for that concert starts tomorrow!
I'm so excited to write that Muse is coming to the U.S. and Canada for a North American tour. They'll be playing concerts all across the two countries from January 21 to April 26 in 2013.
Muse, in my opinion, is one of the best bands of all time so I am really happy about this North American tour. If you don't know the band very well, you can listen to one of my favorite Muse songs below.
Here is "Hysteria" played live at Wembley Stadium:
The iHeartRadio music festival, an annual event held in Las Vegas, just ended after two days of performances by popular artists such as Aerosmith and Bon Jovi. Green Day was set to perform on September 21 for 45 minutes, but their set time was decreased to 25 minutes, supposedly to give more time to Usher. The frontman of Green Day, Billie Joe Armstrong, explosively reacted to this set time cut while onstage.
As the band finished playing "Basket Case" off of their 1994 album, Dookie, Billie Joe looked at the countdown clock and realized they only have one more minute to perform. This intensely angered him and, with the punk attitude that Billie Joe is famous for, he let everyone watching the performance know.
"Give me a f**king break. One minute left. One minute f**king left. You're gonna give me f**king one minute?" Billie spat into the microphone. He continued on later with, "What the f**k? I'm not f**king Justin Bieber, you motherf**kers!...Let me show you what one f**king minute f**king means." He finished this monologue by grasping his guitar by the neck and repeatedly smashing it against the floor until it broke into two parts. As he began to walk offstage, he told the audience he loved them and promised that the band would return to Las Vegas.
Soon after this incident at the iHeartRadio Festival, Billie Joe Armstrong checked into rehab. This was announced in a post on the band's official website on September 23, along with an apology for what happened at the festival. You can read the statement here: http://www.greenday.com/news/news-70741
I truly hope that Billie gets better in rehab and I wish all the best for him.
The British rock trio, Muse, is releasing a new album called The 2nd Law! This follow-up to The Resistance is coming out tomorrow and I'm very excited to hear the band's new music. Muse had already made a music video for their single "Madness" and a lot of fans of the group seem to be having mixed feelings about their new style of music. Personally, I respect bands for changing up their sound. I think it would get boring to have every album sound exactly the same. There are a lot of bands out there that do that and I find it very hard to get into their music because there is no variety. I applaud Muse for taking a risk and I love all of their music, from their oldest songs to their newest. It really seems that Muse can do no wrong.
Muse is currently on tour and they're scheduled to play at The Roundhouse in London tonight. They have no tour dates in the U.S., though, which really disappoints me. I wish that Muse, one of my favorite bands, would have a concert in Massachusetts so American fans like me could see the legendary band perform.
If you haven't heard Muse's "Madness" yet, you can listen to it on the official music video or the official lyric video below:
I'm excited to say that, over the next few months, Green Day will be releasing three new albums: ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, and ¡Tré!. If you're familiar with the band, you'll probably understand the pun in the title for the third album, being that it's their drummer's name rather than a Spanish number. Green Day has already released ¡Uno! on September 25 and the next two will come out November 13 and January 15.
I haven't listened to all of the songs on the album yet, but I have heard one song that really caught my attention. "Let Yourself Go," the fourth song off of ¡Uno!, is impressive and it's hard for me to stop listening to on repeat once I've started.
I'm looking forward to going to a music store to buy all three cds as they hit the shelves. The months leading up to their release dates are, I'm sure, going to be torturous to all Green Day fans who can't wait to hear all the music that comes from the creative minds of Billie Joe, Mike, and Tré. In the meantime, if you haven't heard "Let Yourself Go" yet, you can check it out below:
Welcome to Rock Transmissions! This is a blog letting music lovers, such as myself, know about the most recent news in the rock and alternative music world. I'll be posting at least twice a week about bands such as My Chemical Romance, Green Day, and Muse, but also many more. The type of news that I will be writing about may vary from album releases to my opinion of music videos, but will mainly be just general happenings pertaining to the bands that I listen to.
The reason that I chose this topic for my blog is because of my passion for music. Music has had a huge impact on me and it's part of my everyday life. I'm excited to be able to share the love I have for music through my posts. I hope you enjoy reading Rock Transmissions!
