The Kills

Lately, I've been getting into the music of The Kills. According to Tommy, "They sound like Franz Ferdinand". People often draw comparisons between The Kills and The White Stripes. I've listened to the latter before and occasionally listen to their music, but I think The Kills are a lot better. The Kills are made up of 2 people, Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart (which I guess contributes to the comparison to The White Stripes). Jamie Hince is the guitarist and Alison Mosshart does the vocals. They don't have a drummer - but instead use a drum machine. Their music has this cool underground aethetic to it - it's not polished, it's gritty and it's real. And it doesn't hurt that the guitar riffs are incredibly catchy. I also love how they both do vocals - the mixing is really cool sounding and I love both Alison Mosshart's and Jamie Hince's voices. The Kills are another band who are on Domino Records (Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys are on Domino as well). I haven't listened to too much yet, so far mostly only the singles - but my favorites so far are posted above.

Nivarna is cool

I think I'm spending too much time playing Team Fortress 2. I mean, it's free now, so I figured, why not? (at least it's not League Of Legends) Funny thing, one of the servers I was playing on, people were talking about putting a mod on to weed out all of the free players. Haha. I really have nothing else to do, except start summer assignments. But that can wait.

Musically related, there's one of the best TV shows of the 90s; Beavis and Butthead. Yeah, those guys. The episodes are really short and mostly pointless, but they're so stupid that it's hilarious. The thing is that every so often Beavis and Butthead sat in front of the TV and watched music videos. Then they commented on it throughout the video. Great stuff. They usually just talk about random stuff during crappy videos, but they really seem to like Nirvana (and grudge music). And Dave Grohl. And Beavis says one very true thing during the video; pep rallies suck!

Call Me Back

"Call Me Back" by The Strokes - I've been listening to this song nonstop for the past week. It's so bloody brilliant. Simple, but SO ADDICTIVE. The video for it though has sparked some controversy. People are like - "This video sucks" etc. Weird, but I sort of like it. I mean, it has been likened to the beginning of a porno. haha. But I think the true reason I like it is because it's super artsy. It has that whole art nouveau feel and the water droplets and everything make it subtlety cool but also contemplative. It is also way too awesome that the water droplets in the beginning "move" to the music - like the droplets become clear and blurry according to the accents. It makes you think you're hallucinating. Same with the light in the background. It illuminates the droplets in accordance with the music. I think it's slightly creepy that it zooms into a girl who is soaking wet and it focuses on her in a sort of sensual way. Weird, right? But it's so good. I can't describe it. It really makes you think. Kind of mysterious. It leaves you with a sense of longing and emptiness like - what's next? I like it...in a strange way. The concept is so spacey but still approachable. I think it has become one of my favorite videos ever...

Won't you take walk outside?

Ha, I spend way too much time in front of the computer...I didn't go outside last week for 5 days....I'm probably vitamin D deficient. Whatever. So I've spent I don't even know how many hours on Youtube...I swear there is opium or something on that website - it's so addictive. Through my many hours cavorting about Youtube, I found many interesting things. You know, interesting thing like Julian Casablancas and Matthew Bellamy playing ping pong, a Metric cover of The Strokes song "The End Has No End", and an Adele cover that makes me want to punch a wall because I really don't like it. (Her voice bugs me for some "reasons unknown"...) I also found a cover that The Strokes made of the Ramones song "Life is a Gas" that I think is amazing. The Strokes have a future in punk - not that they need it. I've included the links in case you're interested in any of these things I found through hours of searching and watching.

Matthew Bellamy and Julian Casablancas playing ping pong (haha...it's sort of funny they are so bored)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9_pHzzJeYo

"The End Has No End" - The Strokes (Apparently Julian has had those sunglasses he wears ALL THE TIME now since 2003 when this video was made....And yes that is Eva Mendes and Mila Kunis in it....Weird connection - Mila Kunis dated Sebastian Stan who was in arguably the BEST TV series ever (the other being The Office) called Kings. Look it up. Watch it. It was also on NBC which is mostly crap now besides The Office. Anyways, it's super addictive and I spent most of the end of middle school drooling over it instead of doing my homework. There is also an awesome song that the main character plays on the show.(The Sick Doll  by Tchaikovsky that I once made a cover of... really depressing and easy piano piece - I spent an entire day scouting Kings fan forums until I found it and it turned out it was in my piano book the whole time...fail) I love Kings so much it should be outlawed. It got canceled after one season, but you MUST watch it. I think you can still find it on NBC actually...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sQoX12zo-A

"The End Has No End" - Metric Cover (I think it's okay, not like the Adele cover...actually this cover is pretty good)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzmvRbW7XV0

"Last Night" - Adele Cover - meh...
As someone else put it best
rjonno (3 months ago)
good voice but bastardization of a classic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82lzoEQAD3s

The Strokes Cover of "Life is a Gas" by Ramones (<3 x 10,000, no actually, <3 x Infinity)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vB8qyaEK8e8

Kings Website - if you care. Once you start you can't stop though...just giving you a fair warning.
http://www.nbc.com/Kings/ (apparently it isn't even on the NBC recent favorites menu anymore, but I still remember the website, so enjoy! It has the entire first season on it)

I've been ranting alot lately...sorry. Anyways, if you didn't know, the title is a lyric from "The End Has No End" by The Strokes and where I put "Reasons Unknown" in quotations, I'm referring to The Killers song... Yes, I'm a huge dork. Sorry about that too.

Judas Priest

Recently, I found out that my mom was a former Judas Priest fan. Apparently, she used to go to their concerts and she had this "Judas Priest" jacket thing. This kinda freaked me out because I always knew my mom to be the nice kind of woman, I guess nice people can be heavy metal fans. Considering my dad is a Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, and Rush fan, I'm not too surprised I guess.

Anyhow, I didn't really figure out about Judas Priest until Iron Maiden, which I didn't find out about until Black Sabbath. Electric eye, the first song that I heard by Judas Priest, came as a pleasant surprise. The guitar riffs were pretty awesome. I personally like the song "Painkiller" the best. The beginning with the drums and guitar really makes a great base for the vocals and melody to chime in. Rob Halford has a crazy high voice. I have no idea how he makes a third octave C# sound good, but miraculously, he does. If y'all are interested, here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM__lPTWThU

I guess this song is an acquired taste, if you want something more likable on the first go, perhaps "Breaking The Law" is a better option. There's no high screaming and a more polished feel. Here's the link for that one too. (Sorry it's all vevo, but I guess the actual music video is worth the advertisements =])

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L397TWLwrUU

#7 was performed live in Argentina

Almost went to Rasputin’s with my GF today. But I did. Without her. Because tradition requires it, I have to list here what I got. Okay, here goes.

3 Paul Westerberg albums. Yeah, I do admit it seems like a lot, but… yeah it is a lot. They were pretty cheap, and I really like The Replacements (understatement), it seemed like a good idea. There’s 14 Songs, Come Feel Me Tremble, and Suicide Gratification (I’m not kidding about the last one). So far, 14 Songs is the best, because he’s fresh out of disbanding The Replacements, and they have the same kind of songs as All Shook Down (their last studio album, which is practically a Westerberg solo album anyway). But overall, they aren’t as good as anything the Replacements did (even Don’t Tell A Soul, which is pretty lackluster itself). Maybe they’ll grow on me in time, but for now, I’ll stick with Pleased To Meet Me.

Second (or perhaps fourth), Mudhoney’s Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge. Although this is usually considered Mudhoney’s best album, Touch Me I’m Sick is still their best song. By far. Most of the good songs on EGBDF (named for the lines of the treble clef) are the sorta faster ones, because the album kinda drags on the slower ones.

I like Dinosaur Jr. Not just because they spell Jr without a period and because it’s Dinosaur, but because J Mascis writes cool songs. Most of the songs on Where You Been are pretty depressing, but cool guitar solos, unlike most alternative music, which generally frowns down on it. But J makes them work, and boy does he do it well. And his voice is pretty awesome too.

Well I guess I had to get at least one album I knew I was going to like. So that was Weezer’s Red Album. It’s a bit experimental, even by Weezer standards, but it’s good weird, not regular weird. So far the best songs are 2 of the longest ones. There’s the mini-rock-opera-like “The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived,” and different sections are good enough to be enjoyable enough and short enough so you don’t get bored. But the song does teach you one thing; Not everybody should rap. “Dreamin’” is also interesting. It has a good catchy beginning, and a calm interlude about 140 seconds into the song. And it’s good.

I also got two other CDs for my two GFs. You do know that GF means “good friend,” right? Just checking. In September, they’re releasing a 20^th anniversary super deluxe version of Nevermind. It’s going to be 4 CDs and a DVD with a full concert on it. It sounds like it’s going to cost a lot (understatement). I want to wait until they release the tracklist before I get too excited, but we do know the concert on the DVD is from the Paramount Theatre. For those of you who aren’t obsessed with Nirvana, it’s the show with that version of About A Girl that’s on VEVO. Yeah that one. And that show has the best version of “Endless, Nameless” ever, full stop. Here it is, with some other footage edited in. Unintelligible Lyrics Here

Oh, and you guys obviously didn't listen to the mix the whole way through. Because if you did, you would know that #2 is actually 2 songs. Oh, I just gave away another hint. Whoops.

Suck it and See

No, really.

It's the new album by the Arctic Monkeys. It came out on June 6th, so I figured it was about time I reviewed it.

First, the album cover. Many people hate it, but for some reason, I'm drawn to it. Simple, clean, just the words "suck it and see". Genius. Pure genius. I mean it. Normally, I would be like "that's a horrible cover", but with a phrase as provocative and raunchy as "suck it and see", I understand why they would let it be. It stands out and gets the point across. On a slightly humorous note, apparently here in the US, in some stores a sticker was placed on the phrase because they found it inappropriate and disrespectful. I guess that just makes it a blank creme colored album cover then...

Now to the album. As a whole, I think it's not as "indie" as the Arctic Monkeys started out. It seems more rock inclined than indie. Actually, it's not really mainstream rock either, it's reminiscent of old indie rock - you know, with the airy melodies and loose pot smoking, lazy day feel. In a weird way, this album sort of reminds me of The Beatles...I can't really explain why, but it just does. Especially the song "Piledriver Waltz". The album isn't as aggressive as they usually are and the songs have much slower tempos than usual too. Super mellow. I must applaud the Arctic Monkeys though for developing a fuller, more mature sound. The first track, "She's Thunderstorms" kind of reminds me of the Green Day song "Give Me Novocaine" for some reason....weird. Actually, the entire album kind of makes me think of "Give Me Novocaine". I also must note that Alex Turner sounds dramatically different on the album as a whole, most prominently, not as British as usual and not snarling as much - he seems to have really now developed a singing style and to be honest, I don't really know if I like it better than what he does on the previous albums. For some reason, I don't really like most of the singles from this album. To me, "Brick by Brick", "The Hellcat Spangled Shalala", and "Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair", the singles, all sound sort of mediocre - nothing really special about them. Songs that stood out to me include "Black Treacle" which has a sick chorus and is incredibly catchy and "Reckless Serenade". I'm not really in love with this album...unfortunately I'm not really sold on the whole mellow, chill approach. Eh. I'm actually sort of disappointed with it. I genuinely wanted to like this album, but I just can't bring myself to. I think it's lost some of the sparkle that the Arctic Monkeys used to have. It's not really edgy and fresh like the music they used to make. All the songs kind of sound the same and blend together...It doesn't really pack the punch that their music used to.

I'm kind of sad. I used to really like the Arctic Monkeys and their super catchy and sharp songs like "Fake Tales of San Francisco", but now I'm not sure. I like the old Arctic Monkeys? I don't know, I'll keep listening, just not to the new album.

American Idiot - The Movie!?!?

You may not know this, but I'm secretly kind of a theater geek. I mean, I wouldn't really want to be in any production or anything, but I love musicals and the costumes and of course, the music.(Les Miserables, anyone?) It would be a dream to play in any pit orchestra for a musical or work on the sets and costumes for one. Now this leads me to American Idiot. So, apparently back in April, it was confirmed that there is going to be a movie based on American Idiot, the Green Day album. There is already a musical - American Idiot the Musical which is based on the album and uses the music from the album plus songs from other Green Day albums and has side stories as well besides the main story from American Idiot. The musical is going on a national tour this fall after it closed up on Broadway and from what I've seen on Youtube (I haven't seen it live, but I hope to when it goes on tour) it's a pretty good musical. It also doesn't hurt that it uses many Green Day songs. This naturally begs the question though: What is this movie going to be about? And also, what format is it going to be in? Is it just going to be a West Side Story type movie - where the musical is translated in to a movie but with musical sequences or is it going to be just a hardcore movie movie with only dialogue and Green Day music playing in the background? Personally, I'm hoping that it's going to be more like a movie movie because I find the random singing/dancing sequences just a bit awkward and out of place.Whichever it is though, I'm looking forward to it This American Idiot album really has manifested itself in many mediums...who knows what they're going to do? Whatever it is, I'm excited.

Maybe twice, I don't remember

Turns out Steve Albini is a pretty talented musician too. I found out about his band Big Black by reading that book Our Band Could Be Your Life. One of the best music books ever. Anyway, Big Black basically sounds like “Endless, Nameless,” but with more defined song structures. The bass player(s) both had great tones, and the drummer Roland, is one of the more interesting drummers I’ve heard. He drums like a machine, but he’s virtually unnoticeable on stage. His full name is Roland TR-606. Yeah, he’s a drum machine. Steve Albini himself is pretty interesting, as he wrote songs about things usually considered taboo, and in the simplest way to say this, hates almost everthing. And he’s pretty much a nerd. Which is fine by me, since his guitar is virtually melody-less (but has great rhythm) and his voice is rather average (and angry). Another thing of note; Albini doesn’t wear a shoulder strap for his guitar- he ties it around his waist. Kinda funny once you see it. Try "Racer X" and "Bad Penny." Those are my favorites right now.

And here’s a video from one of Steve’s later bands, Shellac. It’s a great song, and the introduction is pretty awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cRoyFMLUuY&f

And this is why we love the Foo Fighters...

So, first thing I see on the Yahoo front page (which, yes, is my homepage) is this:

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/amplifier/89291/foo-fighters-draw-up-funniest-tour-rider-ever/

I don't know if the Foo Fighters could be any cooler than they already are.

 They are so down to earth that they KNOW celebrities are notorious for pages of outrageous demands. My respect for them has just gone up to an infinite level.

Great music + not being jerks = Foo Fighters <3

Brave New World, Iron Maiden

Leonard has been a busy organism these days and apologizes profusely for "ditching the blog". So, many of you are familiar with the book, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, but a fewer population is familiar with the album and song, "Brave New World", Iron Maiden. As you can see in the picture, the city portrayed in the album cover represents the city described in Huxley's book. The thing I like about this song is that there are actually references to the book within the lyrics. For example, "Mother love is no more, bring this savage back home", clearly refers to John the savage in the novel. I could go on analyzing, but I'll leave that up to you and move on to the musical aspects of the song.

The beginning of the song is instrumental, as are many metal beginnings, and gives the track a very mellow feel. The vocals chime in and also is, initially, very soft, kind of like a metalish ballad. Once the drums begin, the tempo increases and the vocals go up the octave, giving you the "heavy metal" feel. The song continues in this fashion, including a very awesome guitar solo, until it nears the end when the initial mellow feel takes over again. This track probably made my "favorite songs list" and i highly recommend giving it a shot.

In the sun (or in front of the computer)

I'm kinda in a Weezer phase again (they kinda sound like Big Star), and there's this contest on the website. It's this video, and you have to name all 24 songs that are in the video in the correct order. It's insanely hard (partly because I don't have all of their albums, only 5 of them), and because... well it's hard. You kind of have to watch the video itself to see. I only have 5 of the songs so far, but I have to try to finish it. This is now my summer goal. If anybody out there can help, I'd appreciate it.

http://weezer.com/profiles/blogs/20110522-update-name-that

Oh, and I finished that cover. I guess I can reedit part of it and then post it on YouTube. But SoundCloud is cool too. Everything is recorded by me (except for the talking in the interlude) and kinda muddy, but it's not bad... It think at least.

Bonnaroo - The Strokes

This is another one of those moments where I feel like I should kick myself. I missed The Strokes being amazing as they always are...again. This time at Bonnaroo YESTERDAYat 6:45  (you know, the place where Matt & Kim from the annoying Ford commercial were going. I 've seen this commercial far too many times when I'm trying to listen/watch a video by The Strokes) There was a webcast but of course, I missed that too. Funny thing is, I was home too and could have watched it. *face palm* (For Coachella, I planned my entire day around The Strokes webcast so that I could watch it) So anyways, I was on Youtube this morning watching every video of The Strokes that I could possibly watch like the maniac that I am. I'm so jealous of anyone/everyone who was there.  (I really appreciate it when other people do and I was far too dumb to do it at the Green Day concert I went to 2 years ago. And Franz Ferdinand opened for them. Gosh I hate myself. Now all I remember is all the people smoking pot and Green Day being amazing (I am 10,000% sure that they played virtutally everything from 21st Century Breakdown, "Longview" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" 2nd hand pot is not good for peoples memory) and Franz Ferdinand was super catchy (I do however, remember that Franz Ferdinand played "Michael" and I thought it was a great song with super awkward lyrics)). I'm not making any promises.

The Strokes at Bonnaroo *sigh* (just a note, Julian appears to be wearing the same leather jacket he wore on Ellen or something like that. I've watched too many videos with him in it to remember. But anyways, it's not new. However, he did get a new pair of Rayban-ish sunglasses that replace the ones he wore at Coachella and basically everything before once he started wearing sunglasses indoors):

"Is This It" @ Bonnaroo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5zvcIz8Ip0&NR=1

"Reptilia" @ Bonnaroo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeYZvSV3Ylk&NR=1

"Someday" @ Bonnaroo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9RMB--rzAg&NR=1

....there are many, many more. I'm just too lazy to post all the links. :)

My favorite Youtube comment...ever

Okay, fine, probably not ever, but still it's pretty freaking hilarious. I was watching the video for "You Only Live Once" by The Strokes for the 100,000th time, and the first comment that shows up below it is this:

littlebeauty98 (4 days ago)

THE STROKES DEATH

Detective:What ever happened here?

Cop:One cut their wrist with a Razor Blade, another had a Stroke, one committed suicide because his fear of sleep, and the rest...Its Hard To Explain.

Detective:Hmmmmm, well how were the New York City Cops informed?

Cop:Last Nite a neighbor was coming over to tell them their music was to loud at 12:51 pm and saw the dead bodies covered in empty Juiceboxes.

Detective:That seems barley legal.

Cop:You Talk Way to Much Detective:You Only Live Once.

I swear I almost fell out of my chair laughing....Upon further inspection, the comment is quite funny if you are a fan of The Strokes, but I would have like it even more if they has used lyrics and songs that are not so well known...it would have been much funnier. Well, who am I to complain that they're not trying hard enough? (reference to The Strokes song "Reptilia" if you didn't know...on a side note, the song "Reptilia"'s title makes me laugh, I love it so much. It appeals to the Bio nerd in me.) Either way, <3 this comment.

Get your friends to clean the mess

Did a bunch of music-related stuff today. First went to the library. How is that music-related? On the used shelf where you can buy used books, there was a copy of Our Band Could Be Your Life, by Michael Azerrad. It's a pretty interesting read. The book basically chronicles the careers of 13 bands that, while mostly didn't hit mainstream success, have had massive influence on many other bands. I’ve only read the first chapter, about Black Flag (wow that was draining), but I can’t wait to read the rest of it. Some of the other bands you might have heard of that are in the book include Mudhoney, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Green Day (kidding! haha), and The Replacements (okay, seriously not kidding about that one). I’m trying to restrain myself because I got a bunch of other books at the library including stuff by Jane Austen, Edgar Allen Poe, and that guy who wrote Holden Caulfield (oh, my bad, Catcher in the Rye).

Then Guitar Center. Today I went there intending to buy an Epiphone Thunderbird IV bass. Then I found this other Schecter bass (I never even heard of Schecter before today) that feels better, is more evenly weighted (and lighter), and has better tone. But the Thunderbird looks awesome. It’s kind of like dating in high school, I guess. Do he go for the hot, mainstream, high maintenance cheerleader, or the smart, down-to-earth, underground, nerd girl? The guy knows what he should go for…. But that cheerleader looks pretty good too. I mean, I was that guy, the answer is obvious, (it’s much better underground) but it’s just an analogy of some sorts. I ended up not buying anything today. Maybe I’m thinking this through too much.

In less thought provoking news, got a couple new CDs today. DGC Rarities, Volume 1. Ironically, they didn’t make a volume 2 yet. And this one was released in 1994. It has a pretty good list of artists, considering that DGC is just a subsidiary label of Geffen Records. It includes (with songs in parenthesis), Nirvana (“Pay To Play,” demo for “Stay Away”), Hole (“Beautiful Son,” with a strum pattern similar to SLTS), and Weezer (“Jamie”…… yeah, good song). Also Dude Ranch, by Blink-182. All of the songs sound the same at first listen, even by my standards, but they’re not bad, so I can’t complain. Last, got a disc with #1 Record and Radio City on it, both by Big Star. Y’know… Chris Bell… Andy Hummel… Jody Stephens… Alex Chilton… My standards were average for the album(s), but it turns out that they’re both really great. I can see why Paul Westerberg admired them (especially Chilton, the main songwriter). There’s “September Gurls,” (a great power pop song) “The Ballad Of El Goodo,” (hard to categorize, but still good) , and of course, “Thirteen,” an amazing acoustic ballad that somehow makes me happy and sad at the same time.

Oh and yesterday, I recorded a random cover… but I don’t know about it. It’s better than the “Waitress In The Sky” one I tried to do (I couldn’t sing it good AT ALL), but yeah. Maybe I’ll edit it a bit more, then put it on SoundCloud. Or YouTube. It’s weird having nothing on my channel. Should have another Elephant Pathogen video up soon (either “Love Buzz” or “Civil War”… or both).

Take care, everybody. And I was thinking, since school’s out (NO RECESS) and we don’t see each other as often (but we should), we should start using the comment section more. Just a thought.

Son of a Drum (Haha, you see what I did there? No?)

As you may know, Nirvana had a lot of drummers. Some were better than others, but they all deserve their place in Nirvana’s history, for one reason or another. Since all of them played the song “Spank Thru” at least once, I’ll use that for comparison. However, that’s not the only song they played, so I’ll add another one that I think shows off their skills well.

Their first drummer was Aaron Burckhard, who was kicked out for not caring about the band, and for getting in too many fights. “Spank Thru” is from Nirvana’s second show (and his last), a radio session, in 1987. His drumming isn’t bad, but it’s not that notable either. He’s still their first drummer, so that deserves something. And the second song is a cover of Heartbreaker, by Led Zeppelin (not Heartbreaker by some modern pop guy). Spank Thru Heartbreaker

Dave Crover came after, and he is also known for being in The Melvins. He never really was in the band; he was just helping out. He actually recorded a couple of songs that appear on Bleach, because Chad (another guy) couldn’t play them properly. Dale also joined Nirvana for one of the 1990 tours. Spank Thru Floyd The Barber

Then there was Dave Foster. He was kicked out for living too far away from the rest of the band. The second song is from one of 2 shows at the Community World Theater in ‘88, and it was unfortunately never recorded in a studio. And yes, that’s him with the Mario moustache. Spank Thru Raunchola (aka Erectum)

The exact order of drummers is kind of murky, and I don’t feel like totally researching it, but Nirvana’s most famous drummer besides Dave Grohl was Chad Channing. He played on most of Bleach, recorded the demos for Nevermind, and also toured for the album in 1989. This song is from his second last show, and he has a more loose style of playing as opposed to power. Spank Thru Pay To Play

Dan Peters (from Mudhoney) only played one show, and recorded one single (Sliver) with Nirvana. His drumming is also loose like Chad’s… I guess. But the show he played at was very good, very energetic. Dave Grohl was also in the audience (the story is that he spent most of the concert outside talking to a friend). Spank Thru In Bloom

Then there’s the famous Dave Grohl (now frontman and guitarist of Foo Fighters). He hits really hard. I’m not sure if that needs any other explanation. The video is the last time “Spank Thru” was performed live (at Buenos Aires, one of their most infamous shows). Then there’s a televised performance on the MTV Video Awards ‘92, where they play the most well known live version of “Lithium” ever (well… besides Reading ’92). And by “Hi Axl!” they mean Axl Rose. Spank Thru Lithium

Just an observation - I guess great minds think alike?

I'm on a blogging tirade or something...whatever.

I was poking around Youtube and saw Leonard's "liked" videos, and one of them was "Androgynous" by the Replacements so naturally, I clicked on it and started listening to it. One lyric in particular stood out to me for some reason because it sounded eerily familiar...

"He might be a father, but he sure ain't a dad"

And that got me thinking....

"Serve the Servants" - Nirvana, In Utero

"I tried hard to have a father, but instead I had a dad"

Sort of similar...not identical by any means, but along the same lines really....and the songs are as different as they could be...

Well, anyway, both "Androgynous" (I think I just killed the replay button on it... SUCH A GOOD SONG, simple but genius) and "Serve the Servants" are great songs.

Going Solo #3 - Brandon Flowers: Flamingo

Last year, Brandon Flowers of The Killer released a solo album - Flamingo. The Killers were super mainstream a few years ago - like maybe 2 years ago - with the song "Human" which admittedly is a good song, but they have other songs like I think are even better. Anyways, Brandon released a solo album Flamingo, and for some reason, I think it still sounds somewhat like The Killers, but I think that is largely due to the fact he has a super distinctive voice. The album as a whole is absolutely beautiful. It's breathtaking - the intricate melodies mixing with Brandon Flower's amazing voice make for a spectacular combination. The singles "Only the Young" and "Crossfire" are both pretty good songs, but are much more mellow than The Killers. I think I'm starting to notice a trend - when people release solo albums, they tend to be much more pure and soft than the music they make with their band. I love The Killers, but Flamingo is much more raw and stripped down, devoid of the large amount of synthesizers that The Killers albums usually use.

*Just a note, it seems like 2010 was the year for solo albums...

The Strokes - Heart in a Cage

After a Franz Ferdinand listening marathon a few weeks ago(I listened to only Franz Ferdinand for like a week, nothing else), I listened to "Heart in a Cage" by The Strokes again (one of my favorite songs by The Strokes) I was like "Julian Casablancas sounds like Alex Kapranos!!!!" which is weird because I always thought that both of their voices were unique and completely different. But anyways, it was the weirdest thing ever. Julian, to someone who listens to The Strokes and Franz Ferdinand occasionally, totally could have been Alex Kapranos. There are indications otherwise- like the fact Julian doesn't exactly do the half whisper thing Alex does and the guitar riff that was used doesn't really sound like Franz Ferdinand as the beat too. It's not as dance-y as Franz Ferdinand. It's more only when Julian sings really low and does the crooning thing that Alex does. The way Julian annunciates is also different from Alex, but at like 1:45 and like 0:40 during the chorus, it completely could have been Alex. The way Julian changes note is also markedly different from the way Alex does.

Well, anyways, it's a great song and the video is super cool/sexy - it's NEW YORK CITY for Christ's sake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbRe5mxR0q0

(Note: Apparently Albert almost died on set because he fell off the building top or something. LOL. Glad he's okay though. Awesome video though. As always, Julian looks fantastic. The comments about Julian are extremely funny - for example:

How could those women walking by just not "accidently" fall on him???? I would of totally done that. I probably would of been kicked off set, but It would of been totally worth it!

angelies77 7 months ago )

The Strokes - 6/5/11, How could I have missed it?

I was just visting The Strokes website and I remembered this. I saw this before, but I was just reminded of the tragedy of this. Last Sunday, The Strokes played at the Shoreline Amphitheatre, which is pretty close to where I'm at. It seems like everytime that a band I LOVE plays at Shoreline, I miss it. Like last year, Green Day played at Shoreline and I missed it. Last year, The Strokes also played at Outsidelands and I missed it. Why am I so dumb? It makes me sort of very depressed. I really want to slap myself. Instead of having a good time at The Strokes concert I was at a piano recital and then a band practice (no, not a band band, a classical instrumented band, like a symphony orchestra type thing.)

"I hate myself and want to die."

LOL. (No, not League of Legends)

I just had to post this. I was going around Youtube stalking my favorite bands (ok fine, The Strokes in particular) and found this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHYYDG1Qt24

Every band nominated, with the exception of Arcade Fire (they are just meh, sorry to those of you who like them, I honestly tried listening to their music, but it just didn't click) I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE - Foo Fighters, Green Day, The Killers, The Strokes. I almost fell over laughing - it's like they read my mind. Those were the good days - back in 2006, when people actually had taste in music. Why do Europeans have such good taste in music? That would never happen here in the US...What happened to us all?

"I'm an Indestructible master of war!"

Disturbed is amazing. Usually these days, I find out bands that I like using the tool "Pandora", but in this case, a friend of mine was the tool that introduced me to Disturbed. My friend and I were engaging in a musical conversation in which I figured out that he also liked metal bands. Which came as a shock to me because I'm not too familiar with many people that like the same bands that I do. When I went home and listened to a couple of their songs to see what kind of a band Disturbed was, I was not disappointed. Their songs were pretty spectacular.

The first song that I heard was "Down with the sickness". I thought the beginning was really good, the vocalists "OH WA-A-A-A" shocked me at first, but after listening to it a couple of times, it grew on me. This song actually kind of reminds me of an African song. The guttural voice tone and how short the words were cut off really made the song interesting and added a twist to the otherwise typical heavy metal song. I highly recommend it.

While I was on youtube looking for Disturbed songs, I saw the word "asylum" many times, so naturally, I had to find out what kind of a song it was. When I heard the song, I immediately got the african vibe from the vocalist's voice. Although not as prominent as in "Down with the sickness", I could definitely tell that I was listening to the same dude. I actually liked "Asylum" better than "Down with the sickness", probably because the way he cut off his words in "Down with the sickness" was a bit extreme and the lyrics in "Asylum" were, in my opinion, stronger.

The last noteworthy song that I listened to that day by Disturbed was "Indestructible". The beginning of "Indestructible" was interesting. The opening sirens certainly caught my attention and the guitar riff was pretty catchy. Of course, the vocals had the signature guttural feel, but similarly to "Asylum", the cut offs weren't extreme, but they were still there, especially during the parts that contain fast vocals. This song was probably my favorite song by Disturbed that I have heard so far. While it still contained a very heavy metal feel that I'm very comfortable with, it had the unique "Disturbed twist". The musical aspects of the song were not the only reason why I respect this song so much. The lyrics were also unique, maybe a little bit egotistical, but it makes the listener feel quite powerful.

So that was my "first look" at Disturbed, but I'm pretty sure that it won't be my last ^^.

Perfectly Lethal

I haven’t posted about The Replacements yet, mostly for fear of sounding like a hardcore fan (which I consider myself). But with numerous posts about Julians and Avenged Sevenfolds, I believe I owe myself one indulgence. The Replacements was mostly a vehicle (especially in their later days) for Paul Westerberg, an amazing singer and songwriter that never got the recognition he deserved. He’s not as (cough cough) “hot” as some other musicians are (his nose is kinda big) but that hardly matters, as his voice has all the emotion that matters. Of course, a musician is nothing without their band, and boy is this “backing band” talented. There was Bob Stinson (sadly deceased) the wild, drugged out (actually, all of them were addicts) lead guitarist, Tommy Stinson, (Bob’s younger brother, now part of “New Guns N’ Roses”) who played the bass, and was the only member to stick with Paul until the very end, and Chris Mars, the drummer (ummm yeah, he’s the drummer, and he’s very good too). All together, The Replacements, were in essence, a bunch of rejects. They made fun of everything mainstream, and treated almost everything as a joke (three letters: SNL). They often showed up to gigs drunk and played sloppy covers of popular artists’ hit songs.

Their origins lay in Minneapolis, where the hardcore punk scene was. They first record was Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash (the only record I don’t have, ironically), and Tommy was so young he had to drop out of high school to tour with them! After that came the EP Stink (with the excellent ballad “Go”) and the album Hootenanny, (“Color Me Impressed,” “Take Me Down To The Hospital,” and “Mr. Whirly”) which garnered the band more attention.

If you ask me, or most other Replacement fans (I don’t know any, but still), the Mats (abbreviation) hit their peak with the next three records. Let It Be (named after the Beatles album) is pretty much a soundtrack for the ‘80s, with heartfelt ballads, balls-to-the-wall rock songs, a KISS cover, and a couple of jokes. Some of my favorites include “Favorite Thing” a catchy punk love tune with unintelligible lyrics (even by my standards) that don’t really make sense even when you know what they are. There’s “Sixteen Blue,” a beautiful ballad with lots of great little guitar fills. And of course there’s “Gary’s Got A Boner,” which really needs no explanation (that’s seriously the title of the song). Aside from the great ballads that distinguish the album, this is the one album that demonstrates Bob’s guitar playing the best. And yes, in the picture below, Bob is wearing a skirt.

Tim is simply one of my favorite albums. Ever. Produced by Tommy Erdelyi (a.k.a. Tommy Ramone), the production is a bit tame compared to their earlier records (like Let It Be, which has a awesome raw lo-fi sound) but that hardly matters, since the songwriting by Westerberg is amazing, mostly about people struggling to find their place in a society that doesn’t want them (the first song, the poppy “Hold My Life” has a subtle suicide theme). It was also the last record to feature Bob Stinson, who was kicked out of the band soon after the tour. After he left, the band was never the same. They were less reckless, more tame. But during their time during Tim, they kicked out a bunch of great songs, including “Bastards Of Young,” their most famous tune, a call to arms for unsatisfied teens everywhere (that actually knew of them). There’s “Waitress In The Sky,” the best country song I have ever heard, and “Kiss Me On The Bus,” a lighthearted tune that manages to be sappy without being corny (good sappy, not bad, if that makes sense). The two penultimate songs on the album, “Little Mascara” and “Left Of The Dial” have some of the (in my opinion) best lyrics I’ve ever heard. I mean, they’re both love songs and all, but the song theselves are just great, it’s kind of hard to describe. Other people probably don’t like these songs that much, but this is just me. Seriously, how can you beat

Pretty girl keep growin’ up, playin’ make-up, wearin’ guitar

(Clever wordplay. I like) or

For the moon you keep shootin’

Throw your rope up in the air

For the kids you stay together

You nap ‘em and you slap ‘em in a highchair

So yeah. That’s Tim for ya.

Pleased To Meet Me is really the last real Mats record. After this, it seemed like they attempted to reach mainstream success with Don’t Tell A Soul, which really isn’t good at all (except for “Achin’ To Be”). And All Shook Down is practically a Westerberg solo record (not bad, but not The Replacements). But PTMM is great. The production is very ‘80s, and the songs are kind of more American rock n’ roll without being sellout-ish. “I.O.U.” is probably the best song on it (the album is worth buying for the little guitar fill after Westerberg sings “Please be on your honor”) but it would have been wilder if Bob was still in the band. Everything would have. Aside from “I.O.U.”, there’s “Alex Chilton” with the amazing guitar solo, and “Red Red Wine.”

Remember the SNL thing I mentioned? Well, you’re not going to find the performance on YouTube anywhere (they’ve all been taken out). But they are on Dailymotion. So here are the infamous SNL performances, which the Mats were banned from immediately after the show. Why? They were very drunk and shouted profanities into the mike during and inbetween the songs. It’s been edited out of the videos, but before the solo in “Bastards of Young”, you can see where. They also played “Kiss Me On The Bus, where everybody switched clothes. And unbelievably, they hit every single note correctly. Also, if you look closely at the end of the second video, you can see that The Replacements are visibly shunned by the rest of the cast, and Bob (on the right) making weird hand gestures.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6yi30_what-a-mess_music

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6yi55_that-s-where-we-re-riding_music

Ladies And Gentlemen: The Replacements! This post hasn't been too long, has it? If you only scanned it for interesting parts then it was too long. If you read it fully, then I shake your hand, digitally, of course.

Going Solo #2 - Julian Casablancas : Phrazes for the Young



Julian Casablancas as painted by Elizabeth Peyton


Ok fine, it seems apparent that I have a thing for Julians. You know, Julian Casablancas and Julian Plenti. I promise the next post will not be about another Julian.

Julian Casablancas (of The Strokes) released his solo album Phrazes for the Young last year, and even before his solo debut, I've been enamored with his voice. Julian Casablancas has done tons of work outside The Strokes - including "My Drive Thru" (the only reason the song is bearable is because Julian Casablancas is in it) and "Boombox" (LOL, funny song, albeit SUPER mainstream, not half as good as his other work. It was on SNL in March 2010 I think. Sad that most people nowadays find about about The Strokes and Julian Casablancas through this song.). He also moonlighted as Courtney Love's muse for her song "But Julian, I'm a Little Older Than You" on American Sweetheart and contributed backup vocals on "Sick, Sick, Sick" by Queens of the Stoneage (who you might recall Dave Grohl played with before). He also made a cover of the song "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" and was featured in the song "Little Girl" (No not the Greenday one. Too bad. Well, I guess if it was I might die. It's for my own good.) And became a father. Busy guy.

Phrazes for the Young is a fantastic album - more new wave but 80's inspired. The songs "Glass" and "11th Dimension" are both catchy and significantly different from what Julian writes with The Strokes. The video for "11th Dimension" seems Tron inspired + 80's flashback. (As does The Strokes music video for 12:51 where Julian does the same lightup microphone swinging thing) As with Paul Banks, in Phrazes for the Young, Julian's true genius is exhibited. Each song is catchy, but still very real and the essence of it is that he is truly an artist  - you can tell he doesn't make music for the money, but for the music.

Interview with Julian Casablancas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kJ__orrq64

"Glass" from Phrazes for the Young live in San Franciso (I hate myself for missing him at this and The Strokes Outsidelands last year. I'm so dumb)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MS5Ne5J5PJg

"Boombox" featuring Julian Casablancas (just an observation - he's wearing the same jacket as he was in the interview above. LOL. I've noticed that he has like 3-4 jackets that he wears to EVERYTHING. He must cycle through them or something. Also, in the end where they blow glitter is reminiscent of the end of Reptilia where Julian blows smoke into the camera.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yvEYKRF5IA&NR=1&feature=fvwp

"Sick,Sick,Sick" Queens of the Stoneage (w/ Julian Casablancas on backup at about 2:30):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHDaKtx6bGY

"But Julian, I'm a Little Older Than You" Courtney Love (About Julian Casablancas)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qYof9tyHEY

"Little Girl"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C41ITDF8nD0

Going Solo #1 - Julian Plenti is...Skyscraper

Take note, the title is a reference to The Kinks.

Anyways, I decided that I'm going to start a blog series on people from successful bands who also have solo albums or just plain went solo...and made good albums.

So, to kick things off is Julian Plenti, aka. Paul Banks of Interpol. Paul Banks (I'll refer to him by his real name because I still can't get used to calling him Julian Plenti...I don't know why) the genius behind Interpol's vocals, made a solo album called Julian Plenti is...Skyscraper going under the pseudonym "Julian Plenti". Overall the album has some great songs on it and in my opinion, is criminally underrated. Everyone is like "Oh, Interpol is so awesome" and then has never even heard of Julian Plenti (I'll refer to the album as Julian Plenti). I feel like while Interpol on its own is already deep and very perplexing (in a good way), Julian Plenti takes it a step farther - like the brain child of a musician and a philosopher. There's "Only If You Run" which is fantastically catchy but also sort of ominous and like a warning and of course, the single "Games for Days". "Games for Days" is an AMAZING song and I couldn't believe that I had not ever heard it before on the radio or anything, especially since the aesthetic of it is so playable. It also doesn't hurt that the music video for it features Emily Haines (yes, of Metric) spray painting "This is how we learn" (a line from the chorus) onto the wall and Paul Banks looking on with his super badass expression. Overall, Julian Plenti shows a softer side of Paul Banks as a musician that seems even more complex than he is with Interpol and is definitely worth listening too.

We're all PARANOID about entering HEAVEN AND HELL

So, that was my lame attempt at trying to use two well known Black Sabbath Album titles. It's been a while since I've done a post, again, biology is killing me. So, as many of you may know, Black Sabbath has had a LOT of switching members except for the ever faithful Tony Lomni. Instead of looking at all the switches, I'm just going to stick with the vocalist switches. I am not trying to discriminate here, so please, don't hate on me.

Ozzy Osbourne was the first vocalist, and then was fired, to be replaced by Dave Walker, who only lasted for a little bit, only to be replaced by Ozzy again, but then he was fired again, and was replaced by Dio, who lasted for a bit. After a couple years with Dio, and was replaced with Ian Gillan, who lasted for a bit longer than Walker. When Ian was fired, Ron Keel took over for a tiny bit of time, and then David Donato replaced him, only to leave and have Jeff Fenholt as the vocalist. After a year or so, he left and Black Sabbath found Glenn Hughes who didn't stay for very long as well. He was replaced by Ray Gillen, who also did not stay for a very long time and was replaced by Tony Martin who actually lasted quite a bit. After he left, Dio came back and stayed for a couple of years. After he left again, Tony Martin came back and stayed for another couple of years. After him, Ozzy came back again and stayed for the rest of the time. During Ozzy's time, Dio came in until he died. So at a point Black Sabbath had two vocalists. Now, the current lead vocalist is Ozzy Osbourne. WOW that was complicated.

Ozzy is clearly the more well known, so let's start with him. Ozzy did all the releases from the album Black Sabbath to the album Never Say Die!, Reunion, and Past lives.

Dave Walker didn't make any contributions

Gillan did "Born Again"

Keel didn't make any contributions

Donato also didn't make any contributions

Fenholt didn't make any contributions

Hughes participated in "Seventh star"

Gillen didn't make any contributions

Martin was the vocals for "The Eternal Idol", "Headless Cross", "Tyr", "Cross Purposes", "Cross Purposes Live", and "Forbidden"

Dio did "Heaven and Hell", "Mob Rules", "Live Evil", "Dehumanizer", "The Dio Years", and "Live at Hammersmith Odeon".

Dio, personally, is my favorite, but sadly, he died... leaving us with amazing tracks like "Heaven and Hell" and "Turn up the night". One youtuber commented on Raky Maky's video of "Heaven and Hell", "Dio didn't go to heaven, he went to hell and said, "Devil, you're in my seat"". Which, of course, made me crack up.

Well, if you're interested in trying some Black Sabbath, I recommend the tracks "Paranoid", "Iron Man" (I know it's super overplayed, but it's well known and fairly enjoyable), "Fairies Wear Boots", "Heaven and Hell", "Neon Knights", "War Pigs", and "Turn up the night".