"It's just a pigeon, looking for its nest
It doesn't know that it's wild
It doesn't know that it scares me
Why am I frightened so easily?
Pigeon, why can you scare me?
Am I not a part of your life anymore?
Am I not welcome anymore?
Am I not part of your life?"
That whole album by Venetian snares is just amazing. Hungarian orchestral music combined with chaotic breakbeats, wonderful. Thanks go to Ryan Fellhauer who turned me on to this.
Another amazing band I found just yesterday is The Pineapple Thief. I think of them as like Sigur ros with some Porcupine Tree added in, with a bit of their own taste. Great stuff, really.
Yep.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
I don't know what to name this post, so oh well
I decided to try and name out every band/artist that I enjoy playing on my computer and having the sound go through my ear and occipital lobe and such n' such. I predict many, many post edits as I never get this type of thing completely the first time. Oh, and I'll go ahead and bold the bands that I particularly like listening to.
1. Animals as Leaders: Easily my favorite band. By far. I've been listening to every single one of their 12 songs off of their one album non-stop basically since last July, and I'm still not tired of it. They have something for you unless you strictly like poppy, 4/4 boring-ness (a-la justin beiber, taylor swift, whatever else passes for popular music these days). No matter which song you listen to, you will never catch it all in one listen, or even 5. Go. Listen. Now.
2. Circa Survive: What can I say about Circa? Their music isn't that complex, nor that technically challenging. There's just an addictive quality to the ambient guitar noises, and the combination of anthony green's voice that is like musical cocaine. However if you're listening to them for the first time, I wouldn't recommend their latest album, Blue Sky noise. On Letting go is where it's at.
3. The Mars Volta: The crazy musical concoctions of Omar, Cedric and gang are always entertaining. I'm almost convinced that every serious musician has their "Mars Volta" phase, and although Cedric's voice takes some getting used to (for me), there's always something to be said for sheer technicality and pushing the edges of what's considered listen-able. However in "listenability', these guys are nothing compared to a group I found the other day called "Spastic ink"...there's no following that stuff.
4. Dream Theater: The first time I seriously listened to these amazing people was off of guitar hero world tour. I'm not happy to say it, but it happened. From there, I listened to stuff off of Octavarium, and thought "well this stuff's pretty cool". But then I found scenes from a memory. My god, that has to be one of the most well though out, musically ambitious concept albums ever conceived. Definitely a prog fan's must-listen. I need to stop writing these long reviews, or else this post is gonna be reallyreallyreallyreallyreally long.
5. Rush: I have been a Rush fan since I was about 8 (thanks mom&dad), they do and always will have a special place in my heart. While the main "awe" point of Rush has often been Niel Peart, I've found more inspiration in his lyrics than his drumming. While he is a terrific drummer, I can name at least 7 that I know are "better". Nonetheless, Rush is amazing. I hope they keep rocking till they die.
6. Sigur Ros: There really can be no explanation of why I like sigur ros. If you've listened to any of their stuff, mainly Staralfur, Hoppipolla, Saeglopur or Glosoli, then you know how you feel, and why you love them. I think they've figured out the key to beautiful music.
7. Secret & Whisper: I like to think of them as catchy, but in an almost metal way. Their lead singer is great, seems like there's no shortage of good rock singers these days. The lyrics to "Great white whale", which is about being truly lonely, really get to me. And it's really fun to drum along to haha. Go check them out, they're worth it.
8. Passion Pit: Who doesn't like feel-good, lyrically meaningful electro-synth pop goodness?
9. Earth, Wind and Fire: I have seriously been around these guy's music since I was at least 4. Their music is the soundtrack of my childhood. Again, thanks mom&dad.
10. Porcupine Tree: Steven Wilson is an amazing composer/lyricist. Nothing off of In Absentia or The Incident doesn't impress me. The fact that they managed to pull off a meaningful album about a serial killer should be enough to listen, but if it isn't, their drummer Gavin Harrison is just great. Always tasteful, yet powerful and moving, they never dissapoint.
11. Animal Collective: More feel-good electro synth stuff! If you like a little more cultural diversity with your dancing, these guys deliver it well.
12. Protest the Hero: No lack of talent here. Pure prog metal at it's finest, with a little bit of mathcore thrown in. Arif, the bassist, also writes some interesting lyrics.
13. August Burns Red: This is my running music haha. Pure adrenaline, odd-time breakdowns and off-feeling guitar riffs make them fun to listen to.
14. Between the Buried and me: I have heard a lot about these guys, due to them touring with Animals as Leaders, but I haven't bothered to check them out until recently, due to me developing somewhat of an immunity to aggressive vocal styles (still heavily dislike grindcore, deathcore, all that way heavy stuff). I really like how they combine good metal with some jazz elements, like extended solo sections.
15. Kansas: I have a bit of history with Kansas as well. When I was young, I watched an apocalyptic-type movie called Armageddon, which involves a giant asteroid about to plow itself into earth. Me, being the overly imaginative kid I was, heard "Cheyenne Anthem" by Kanses, and it reminded me of being in space, and looking out into the stars. Automatically, my mind connected this to Armageddon, and I refused to listen. Now, it's a beautiful song, off a great album, by a very musical band.
16. Fair to Midland: Andrew Sudderth is an exceptional singer, there's nothing else to be said for it. Kind of like Circa Survive, except heavier, there's not much complex about this music-it's just addicting to listen to. I do wish however, they'd experiment more with song structure and time signatures.
17. City & Colour: Dallas Green's voice. Is perfection. Nothing more to be said.
18. Stevie Wonder: If you don't like Stevie Wonder, you don't like music. It's that simple.
19. Sting: What a great composer. The fact that Vinnie drummed for him on an album (and what an amazing album that is) means that you should know who he is.
20. Steely dan: I've been listening to Steely Dan since as far back as I remember. Some of my first memories are of me running around a table to "Big black cow". Needless to say, "Aja" is a masterpiece of an album.
21. Emarosa: While this isn't by any means "smart music", it sure is fun to listen to, if anything, because of Jonny Craig's voice from heaven. He, for me, forms a list of my 5 favorite singers-Dallas green, anthony green, Jonny craig, Casey crescenzo, and Andrew Sudderth. If good singing is part of your interests, listen to Emarosa. Also listen to Isles & Glaciers, Jonny sings with Craig Owens and Vic fuentes. Awesome.
22. The Dear Hunter: Casey Crescenzo is as good as a singer as he is a composer/lyricist. Which is good, because he is an AMAZING singer. While at sometimes heavy, The Dear Hunter never goes too far, while still being some of the most passionate music ever. Also, if you're interested in music about prostitutes, look no further-they have released 3 albums in an 8 album epic, about a boy born to a prostitute and whom then falls in love with a prostitute. coooooooooooool.
23. Goldie: Goldie's "timeless" album is perfect. Beautiful vocals, synth strings and piano lines at first soothe you in-and before you know it, it's transformed into this dark, energetic, masterpiece of drum n' bass.
24. Emerson, Lake & Palmer-More prog rock giants. The way they create energy is like no other, and Keith's keyboard playing is equivalent to Lance Armstrong on a bike. Also, if you like classical music, they cover a lot of classical stuff=Tchaikovsky, Ginastera, Bach, etc.
25. Pat Metheny Group-Pat Metheny's compositions are like Sigur ros's, in that he has figured out what really hits the heart. That isn't to say, though, that there isn't a lack of talent whatsoever-pat boasts some amazingly skilled people in his little jazz fusion/whatever group. Lyle Mays on piano and Antonio Sanchez on drums just to name two, are amazing musicians. Just recently, Pat's been doing this thing called Orchestrion, where he creates music with just his guitar...which indirectly controls a thousand other instruments, in somewhat of a Rute Goldberg fashion. Really cool stuff.
26. Mahavishnu Orchestra: Craziness. Pure, skilled, passionate, musical insanity. Imagine a more skilled Mars Volta, without singing, and with a string section. It's just great.
I think I'll stop here for now, this is getting lengthly. Maybe this is me telling myself that I secretly want to be a music critic...wierd. Anyway, hope whoever reads all this stuff enjoys. Really, I'll never finish this, there's too much stuff that I'm always finding and I've probably forgotten a lot of stuff.
Like This town needs guns, but I mentioned them in the last post, so I don't feel like I have to mention them again. My next musical endeavor will be Minus the bear, whom I hear are very good. If you're still reading this far, either you really like me, or you have a ton of time on your hands. Either way, you deserve a medal.
Good bye!
1. Animals as Leaders: Easily my favorite band. By far. I've been listening to every single one of their 12 songs off of their one album non-stop basically since last July, and I'm still not tired of it. They have something for you unless you strictly like poppy, 4/4 boring-ness (a-la justin beiber, taylor swift, whatever else passes for popular music these days). No matter which song you listen to, you will never catch it all in one listen, or even 5. Go. Listen. Now.
2. Circa Survive: What can I say about Circa? Their music isn't that complex, nor that technically challenging. There's just an addictive quality to the ambient guitar noises, and the combination of anthony green's voice that is like musical cocaine. However if you're listening to them for the first time, I wouldn't recommend their latest album, Blue Sky noise. On Letting go is where it's at.
3. The Mars Volta: The crazy musical concoctions of Omar, Cedric and gang are always entertaining. I'm almost convinced that every serious musician has their "Mars Volta" phase, and although Cedric's voice takes some getting used to (for me), there's always something to be said for sheer technicality and pushing the edges of what's considered listen-able. However in "listenability', these guys are nothing compared to a group I found the other day called "Spastic ink"...there's no following that stuff.
4. Dream Theater: The first time I seriously listened to these amazing people was off of guitar hero world tour. I'm not happy to say it, but it happened. From there, I listened to stuff off of Octavarium, and thought "well this stuff's pretty cool". But then I found scenes from a memory. My god, that has to be one of the most well though out, musically ambitious concept albums ever conceived. Definitely a prog fan's must-listen. I need to stop writing these long reviews, or else this post is gonna be reallyreallyreallyreallyreally long.
5. Rush: I have been a Rush fan since I was about 8 (thanks mom&dad), they do and always will have a special place in my heart. While the main "awe" point of Rush has often been Niel Peart, I've found more inspiration in his lyrics than his drumming. While he is a terrific drummer, I can name at least 7 that I know are "better". Nonetheless, Rush is amazing. I hope they keep rocking till they die.
6. Sigur Ros: There really can be no explanation of why I like sigur ros. If you've listened to any of their stuff, mainly Staralfur, Hoppipolla, Saeglopur or Glosoli, then you know how you feel, and why you love them. I think they've figured out the key to beautiful music.
7. Secret & Whisper: I like to think of them as catchy, but in an almost metal way. Their lead singer is great, seems like there's no shortage of good rock singers these days. The lyrics to "Great white whale", which is about being truly lonely, really get to me. And it's really fun to drum along to haha. Go check them out, they're worth it.
8. Passion Pit: Who doesn't like feel-good, lyrically meaningful electro-synth pop goodness?
9. Earth, Wind and Fire: I have seriously been around these guy's music since I was at least 4. Their music is the soundtrack of my childhood. Again, thanks mom&dad.
10. Porcupine Tree: Steven Wilson is an amazing composer/lyricist. Nothing off of In Absentia or The Incident doesn't impress me. The fact that they managed to pull off a meaningful album about a serial killer should be enough to listen, but if it isn't, their drummer Gavin Harrison is just great. Always tasteful, yet powerful and moving, they never dissapoint.
11. Animal Collective: More feel-good electro synth stuff! If you like a little more cultural diversity with your dancing, these guys deliver it well.
12. Protest the Hero: No lack of talent here. Pure prog metal at it's finest, with a little bit of mathcore thrown in. Arif, the bassist, also writes some interesting lyrics.
13. August Burns Red: This is my running music haha. Pure adrenaline, odd-time breakdowns and off-feeling guitar riffs make them fun to listen to.
14. Between the Buried and me: I have heard a lot about these guys, due to them touring with Animals as Leaders, but I haven't bothered to check them out until recently, due to me developing somewhat of an immunity to aggressive vocal styles (still heavily dislike grindcore, deathcore, all that way heavy stuff). I really like how they combine good metal with some jazz elements, like extended solo sections.
15. Kansas: I have a bit of history with Kansas as well. When I was young, I watched an apocalyptic-type movie called Armageddon, which involves a giant asteroid about to plow itself into earth. Me, being the overly imaginative kid I was, heard "Cheyenne Anthem" by Kanses, and it reminded me of being in space, and looking out into the stars. Automatically, my mind connected this to Armageddon, and I refused to listen. Now, it's a beautiful song, off a great album, by a very musical band.
16. Fair to Midland: Andrew Sudderth is an exceptional singer, there's nothing else to be said for it. Kind of like Circa Survive, except heavier, there's not much complex about this music-it's just addicting to listen to. I do wish however, they'd experiment more with song structure and time signatures.
17. City & Colour: Dallas Green's voice. Is perfection. Nothing more to be said.
18. Stevie Wonder: If you don't like Stevie Wonder, you don't like music. It's that simple.
19. Sting: What a great composer. The fact that Vinnie drummed for him on an album (and what an amazing album that is) means that you should know who he is.
20. Steely dan: I've been listening to Steely Dan since as far back as I remember. Some of my first memories are of me running around a table to "Big black cow". Needless to say, "Aja" is a masterpiece of an album.
21. Emarosa: While this isn't by any means "smart music", it sure is fun to listen to, if anything, because of Jonny Craig's voice from heaven. He, for me, forms a list of my 5 favorite singers-Dallas green, anthony green, Jonny craig, Casey crescenzo, and Andrew Sudderth. If good singing is part of your interests, listen to Emarosa. Also listen to Isles & Glaciers, Jonny sings with Craig Owens and Vic fuentes. Awesome.
22. The Dear Hunter: Casey Crescenzo is as good as a singer as he is a composer/lyricist. Which is good, because he is an AMAZING singer. While at sometimes heavy, The Dear Hunter never goes too far, while still being some of the most passionate music ever. Also, if you're interested in music about prostitutes, look no further-they have released 3 albums in an 8 album epic, about a boy born to a prostitute and whom then falls in love with a prostitute. coooooooooooool.
23. Goldie: Goldie's "timeless" album is perfect. Beautiful vocals, synth strings and piano lines at first soothe you in-and before you know it, it's transformed into this dark, energetic, masterpiece of drum n' bass.
24. Emerson, Lake & Palmer-More prog rock giants. The way they create energy is like no other, and Keith's keyboard playing is equivalent to Lance Armstrong on a bike. Also, if you like classical music, they cover a lot of classical stuff=Tchaikovsky, Ginastera, Bach, etc.
25. Pat Metheny Group-Pat Metheny's compositions are like Sigur ros's, in that he has figured out what really hits the heart. That isn't to say, though, that there isn't a lack of talent whatsoever-pat boasts some amazingly skilled people in his little jazz fusion/whatever group. Lyle Mays on piano and Antonio Sanchez on drums just to name two, are amazing musicians. Just recently, Pat's been doing this thing called Orchestrion, where he creates music with just his guitar...which indirectly controls a thousand other instruments, in somewhat of a Rute Goldberg fashion. Really cool stuff.
26. Mahavishnu Orchestra: Craziness. Pure, skilled, passionate, musical insanity. Imagine a more skilled Mars Volta, without singing, and with a string section. It's just great.
I think I'll stop here for now, this is getting lengthly. Maybe this is me telling myself that I secretly want to be a music critic...wierd. Anyway, hope whoever reads all this stuff enjoys. Really, I'll never finish this, there's too much stuff that I'm always finding and I've probably forgotten a lot of stuff.
Like This town needs guns, but I mentioned them in the last post, so I don't feel like I have to mention them again. My next musical endeavor will be Minus the bear, whom I hear are very good. If you're still reading this far, either you really like me, or you have a ton of time on your hands. Either way, you deserve a medal.
Good bye!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Recent discoveries and such
First off, welcome to my blog n' stuff.
1. This town needs guns.
I just found these guys the other day, and they're amazing.
2. There's a fly in my room and behind my window blinds that are annoying me like nothing else.
3. My brother's obsessed with putting music on his DSi and playing it at the same time that I play my music.
4. The Nintendo 64 was and still is the best gaming system ever. I don't want any arguments involving "xbox 720" or "playstation 11" or whatever, because you're wrong.
5. The new iPhone is really cool, even though there's not that much different about it.
6. Girls can be aggravating. This isn't a recent discovery, but the constant back and forth "does she like me? does she not? will my head explode anytime soon? probably so." isn't fun. This will never be a "boohoo she broke up with me/I love her" type blog, but I had to get that out.
Sorry this came out a bit ranty, hopefully other posts won't be. So yeah, hope that the 5-7 people that might read this blog enjoy it haha.
1. This town needs guns.
I just found these guys the other day, and they're amazing.
2. There's a fly in my room and behind my window blinds that are annoying me like nothing else.
3. My brother's obsessed with putting music on his DSi and playing it at the same time that I play my music.
4. The Nintendo 64 was and still is the best gaming system ever. I don't want any arguments involving "xbox 720" or "playstation 11" or whatever, because you're wrong.
5. The new iPhone is really cool, even though there's not that much different about it.
6. Girls can be aggravating. This isn't a recent discovery, but the constant back and forth "does she like me? does she not? will my head explode anytime soon? probably so." isn't fun. This will never be a "boohoo she broke up with me/I love her" type blog, but I had to get that out.
Sorry this came out a bit ranty, hopefully other posts won't be. So yeah, hope that the 5-7 people that might read this blog enjoy it haha.
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