I bought two new cd's today. I love the feeling when I have new music to listen to. I usually end up tearing off the plastic wrapping before I make it out of the store and then it sits in my car stereo for at least a week while I let the new sounds wash over me.
The newest additions to my collection today were, Built to Spill the keep it like a secret album, and Stevie Wonder the definitive collection. So good. Built to Spill will always remind me of my good friend Sarah, who is responsible for my good taste in music as she introduced me to most of the bands I know (the former included). And Stevie Wonder reminds me of my mom, who while a wise woman of 55, still appreciates a good song when she hears it.
I think I'm going to listen to signed sealed delivered on repeat for the next hour.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Monday, December 04, 2006
New favorite band of the month award goes to the Jayhawks.
As you probably know, I band will win my favor if they have brilliant lyrics as well as a good sound. These guys have both. Not the most poetic writing I've heard in musical form but still up there, I'd say maybe an 8 out of 10. Their soft harmony and acoustic guitar makes me want to lay in bed and pretend im in the opening scene of a movie.
Check out "all the right reasons" and "save it for a rainy day" that will give you a nice dose of their style.
As you probably know, I band will win my favor if they have brilliant lyrics as well as a good sound. These guys have both. Not the most poetic writing I've heard in musical form but still up there, I'd say maybe an 8 out of 10. Their soft harmony and acoustic guitar makes me want to lay in bed and pretend im in the opening scene of a movie.
Check out "all the right reasons" and "save it for a rainy day" that will give you a nice dose of their style.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Here are some new discoveries for bands. Most of them are really good if you want a nice mellon collie tune.
1. Augustana
Some good songs are: Boston, Bullets, Stars and Boulevards, Empty Days, and Wasteland
2. Pinback
I found tons of good songs from these guys, it's hard to narrow it down to a couple. Penelope, Fortress, Non-Photo Blue, The Yellow Ones, Tripoli, and Bad Light are some good ones to start out with.
3. The Decemberists
Check out: Clementine, 16 by 32 (It might also be called 16 Military Wives), July! July!, Apology Song, The Engine Driver. They have almost a rough imperfect sound, but they pull it off well.
4. Aqualung
I have the TV show Scrubs to thank for introducing me to this group. Some good songs: Easier to Lie, Brighter than Sunshine, Falling out of Love.
5. Tammany Hall
I only found one song of theirs, but it was well worth the amount of time it took to track down. It's called Cindy.
1. Augustana
Some good songs are: Boston, Bullets, Stars and Boulevards, Empty Days, and Wasteland
2. Pinback
I found tons of good songs from these guys, it's hard to narrow it down to a couple. Penelope, Fortress, Non-Photo Blue, The Yellow Ones, Tripoli, and Bad Light are some good ones to start out with.
3. The Decemberists
Check out: Clementine, 16 by 32 (It might also be called 16 Military Wives), July! July!, Apology Song, The Engine Driver. They have almost a rough imperfect sound, but they pull it off well.
4. Aqualung
I have the TV show Scrubs to thank for introducing me to this group. Some good songs: Easier to Lie, Brighter than Sunshine, Falling out of Love.
5. Tammany Hall
I only found one song of theirs, but it was well worth the amount of time it took to track down. It's called Cindy.
Friday, September 01, 2006
I love concerts, especially when it's a band that I know well and who are better live. I went to see Social Code play this week, and they put on such a good show. Stage presence is key, and the lead singer was F-ing amazing. Plus me and my friends were right against the stage in the center. I think it might have been better to be one row back because it's almost awkward being that close. Especially when the band members would stand on the monitor and I had to crane my neck to look up at them. Another bonus was that they came out after the show to talk to people. I love it when musicians don't have the whole god complex and decide that they're too good for their audience. It's nice to know a band appreciates having people show up to their concert.
Anyways, so it's my goal to see as many concerts in my life as I can before my back turns arthritic and I lose all hearing. I will probably turn deaf at a young age because of it, but at least I'll have had a good run. So far my running total for concerts (NOT including lame-o Christian concerts because, as we all know, it doesn't count as a concert if you're sitting in a pew!) is at a meager eighteen. I'm gunna have to get cracking if I want to break the hundred mark.
Anyways, so it's my goal to see as many concerts in my life as I can before my back turns arthritic and I lose all hearing. I will probably turn deaf at a young age because of it, but at least I'll have had a good run. So far my running total for concerts (NOT including lame-o Christian concerts because, as we all know, it doesn't count as a concert if you're sitting in a pew!) is at a meager eighteen. I'm gunna have to get cracking if I want to break the hundred mark.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
I was listening to the radio on Sunday morning for the first time in.... well ever. It was an enjoyable experience, they actually play good music on Sunday mornings. I got to drive to church singing along to Bob Marley and I never realized what a nice start he makes to a new day. Now I have One Love stuck in my head.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Everyone needs to check out Imogen Heap, She's absolutely reeking with musical talent. Here is some information I found out about her.
Born Imogen Jane Heap on December 9, 1977 in Essex England she grew up playing music from an early age, including the piano, cello and clarinet. By the age of eleven she had begun to write songs, and by seventeen she signed her first record contract with Almo Sounds. Heap's parents separated when she was twelve, and she went to a boarding school. There Heap clashed with her music teacher, and found the school lacking in students wishing to pursue music. Her teacher's idea of punishment was to leave Heap alone to learn for herself, teaching herself sequencing, music engineering, sampling and production on Atari computers. Following this, Heap went on to study at the Brit Music school. Heap's debut album, i Megaphone (an anagram of "Imogen Heap") was released in 1998 internationally via Almo Sounds, and garnered critical acclaim. The album was a mixture of self-penned, and self-produced tracks. Almo Sounds cut funding for the UK promotional tour, and gave Heap a deadline to deliver songs for her second album; upon delivering those songs she was told that they lacked "hit potential." Almo Sounds then announced that the record label had been sold to Universal and would be shut down and disbanded, with its repertoire of artists moving or leaving the label. Heap was one of the artists who was dropped from the label, leaving her without a record contract.
Heap then paired up with friend and co-producer Guy Sigsworth, and together they wrote and produced the album "Flicks." Later the duo released "Frou Frou," which saw a resurgence in popularity when the track "Let Go" was featured in the movie Garden State. In 2002 Heap and Sigsworth released and album called Details, but after the promotional tour were told that their record label, Island Records, would not be signing another contract for a second album. They offered Heap the option of signing as a solo artist, but she declined.
In December 2003, Heap announced on her web site that she was going to write and produce her second solo album. Heap set herself a deadline of one year to make the album, booking a session to master the album exactly one year ahead in December 2004. She re-mortgaged her flat to fund production costs, including renting a studio and purchasing instruments. During the year, demo versions of tracks were played on US radio station, KCRW, who had also supported the Frou Frou record. At the end of 2004, with the album completed, Heap premiered two album tracks online, enabling fans to purchase them prior to the album's release - "Just For Now" and "Goodnight And Go," which had been featured on the second season of The O.C. In April 2005, The O.C. featured another track, the sparse vocodered-vocal track, "Hide And Seek". Due to her bad experiences with record labels in the past, Heap made a decision to put out the album on her own in the UK, starting her own record company, entitled Megaphonic Records. The album, entitled Speak For Yourself - as Heap had produced, written and done 'everything in between' on the record, including designing the artwork. It was released in the UK on July 18th 2005 on CD and iTunes UK, where it entered the top 10 chart.
In concert, Heap is a one-woman band, controlling the sound through her Apple Powerbook laptop, as well as singing and playing the piano and mbira. She also performed the album's second single, "Goodnight And Go" on The Late Show with David Letterman and both "Hide And Seek" and "Goodnight And Go" on Last Call With Carson Daily. When she returned from the USA, having sold over 120,000 copies, she announced tour dates for the UK, where she played to crowds as big as 2000.
Born Imogen Jane Heap on December 9, 1977 in Essex England she grew up playing music from an early age, including the piano, cello and clarinet. By the age of eleven she had begun to write songs, and by seventeen she signed her first record contract with Almo Sounds. Heap's parents separated when she was twelve, and she went to a boarding school. There Heap clashed with her music teacher, and found the school lacking in students wishing to pursue music. Her teacher's idea of punishment was to leave Heap alone to learn for herself, teaching herself sequencing, music engineering, sampling and production on Atari computers. Following this, Heap went on to study at the Brit Music school. Heap's debut album, i Megaphone (an anagram of "Imogen Heap") was released in 1998 internationally via Almo Sounds, and garnered critical acclaim. The album was a mixture of self-penned, and self-produced tracks. Almo Sounds cut funding for the UK promotional tour, and gave Heap a deadline to deliver songs for her second album; upon delivering those songs she was told that they lacked "hit potential." Almo Sounds then announced that the record label had been sold to Universal and would be shut down and disbanded, with its repertoire of artists moving or leaving the label. Heap was one of the artists who was dropped from the label, leaving her without a record contract.
Heap then paired up with friend and co-producer Guy Sigsworth, and together they wrote and produced the album "Flicks." Later the duo released "Frou Frou," which saw a resurgence in popularity when the track "Let Go" was featured in the movie Garden State. In 2002 Heap and Sigsworth released and album called Details, but after the promotional tour were told that their record label, Island Records, would not be signing another contract for a second album. They offered Heap the option of signing as a solo artist, but she declined.
In December 2003, Heap announced on her web site that she was going to write and produce her second solo album. Heap set herself a deadline of one year to make the album, booking a session to master the album exactly one year ahead in December 2004. She re-mortgaged her flat to fund production costs, including renting a studio and purchasing instruments. During the year, demo versions of tracks were played on US radio station, KCRW, who had also supported the Frou Frou record. At the end of 2004, with the album completed, Heap premiered two album tracks online, enabling fans to purchase them prior to the album's release - "Just For Now" and "Goodnight And Go," which had been featured on the second season of The O.C. In April 2005, The O.C. featured another track, the sparse vocodered-vocal track, "Hide And Seek". Due to her bad experiences with record labels in the past, Heap made a decision to put out the album on her own in the UK, starting her own record company, entitled Megaphonic Records. The album, entitled Speak For Yourself - as Heap had produced, written and done 'everything in between' on the record, including designing the artwork. It was released in the UK on July 18th 2005 on CD and iTunes UK, where it entered the top 10 chart.
In concert, Heap is a one-woman band, controlling the sound through her Apple Powerbook laptop, as well as singing and playing the piano and mbira. She also performed the album's second single, "Goodnight And Go" on The Late Show with David Letterman and both "Hide And Seek" and "Goodnight And Go" on Last Call With Carson Daily. When she returned from the USA, having sold over 120,000 copies, she announced tour dates for the UK, where she played to crowds as big as 2000.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
