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.
