WHO dat

So, I'm gonna go ahead and say it, not a fan (of them as a band) in their early stages. I personally think that these guys are a flock of rebels with 0.00 cause, and they strike me as a bit psychotic sometimes. While their loony antics do sometimes amuse me, overall, I find them to be weird, Austin-Powers-dressing spazzes. However, as they got older and kinda settled down, I found them much more tolerable.

Onto their music. Like their image, I'm not a huge fan of them in their early stages, but they definitely grow on me as they progress through their albums. They always kind of have a funky/ techno sound in the background of their music, and I find it super catchy and addictive. I actually mentioned this in my other post, but these guys kind of give me a Queen vibe sometimes too.


I love the song Who are You? a whole bunch, I actually sing to it while driving rather frequently. I love the harmonized singing and of course, and I love how calm they are in this video compared to their old days.



Also, I know this one is super cliche to be my favorite, but I LOVE Baba O'riley. A weird music illusion I have for that song? A robot running a marathon. I don't know, it's so techno-y and it gets faster and faster toward a build up and intro into the rest of the song, it's not that weird. Anyways, I love the funky keyboard in this song, and the prominent role of the drums.




Here is a great clip of a Keith Moon drum solo, the sound quality is way off, but the footage is great

Muse-ic to my Ears

RIYL: The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, The Bravery

One of my all time favorite bands, Muse, recently released their 6th album, The 2nd Law yesterday, 9/25.

In case you don't know Muse well already, their sound is usually super "rise against the man" with rebellious lyrics and heavy guitar, keyboard, and drums. However, this album, in my opinion, is quite a step in a softer/ instrumental direction, and Ima be real, I am digging it.

So, for whatever reason, Itunes has decided to torture me and the rest of the Muse loving world, and has not made the album for sale yet. Not that I was planning on buying them on iTunes anyways, that would be conforming to the system, and the man doesn't own me (I've been listening to Muse while writing this post, I don't know if you can tell). Anyways, I've been listening on sketchy websites, here is an okay-quality link to the entire album from the YouTube.



The album starts off strong with Supremacy, but slowly transitions into a much softer sound, Madness and Isolated System being two slower highlights. Here is a link to Madness, it is the only single that has been officially released on the interwebs.



It's very pop-esque as far as the "ma-ma-ma-madness" background vocals goes, but the lead singing is significantly softer and calmer than Muse's usual tracks. The soft singing continues through out the song, with no apparent build-up, or passionate chorus of sorts. There are some parts of harmonization in the song that even sound a bit like Queen, their sound is totally different. However, while some fans may be disappointed to see this more subdued version of Muse's sound, I personally find it refreshing and a smart change.

However, while I do really like this album, my favorite Muse album will always be Black Holes and Revelations. Here are some of my favorites from this album. The music here is way more upbeat and angsty in my opinion, and I enjoy it more.

The Rolling Stones are still rolling..and rolling...and rolling

So, I'm gonna go ahead and start off by saying that I'm team Beatles. Sorry, but not really, these guys are just not my "cup of tea". (Get it, because they're British..Hahahah)

However, they're not all bad, and there are several things I admire about them.

- I will admit that I respect them (as a band) more than the Beatles, because of the insane amount of work they have produced (22 albums..dayyyum) and the fact that they are still together 50 years later.

Those are some leathery, gifted old guys.

- I do love the blue-sy sound to their music, as I have previously mentioned, I loves me that harmonica. One thing I found out when researching these guys is that all of them can play an obscene amount of instruments. Mick Jagger and Ron Wood can collectively play like 50 instruments, it's absolutely absurd and I am super impressed.

-They have some brilliant lyrics.

In the song, perhaps no so creatively titled, Bitch, one of my favorite lines is "Yeah when you call my name, I salivate like a Pavlov dog" Maybe it's just because I've taken psychology and I'm excited to catch a reference I understand, but I appreciate that little simile.

Here are the Lyrics to Sister Morphine. The song actually kind of freaks me out, the singing is really quiet at first, and the only instrument is the acoustic guitar for the majority of the time...it's kind of eerie and depressing.



Here I lie in my hospital bed
Tell me, Sister Morphine, when are you coming round again? Oh, I don't
think I can wait that long
Oh you see that I'm not that strong

The scream of the ambulance is sounding in my ears
Tell me, Sister Morphine, how long have I been lying here? What am I
doing in this place?
Why does the doctor have no face?

Oh, I can't crawl across the floor
Ah, Can't you see, Sister Morphine, I'm trying to score.

Well it just goes to show things are not what they seem Please, Sister
Morphine, turn my nightmares into dreams. Oh can't you see I'm fading
fast?
And that this shot will be my last.

Sweet cousin cocaine, lay your cool cool hands on my head Ah come on,
Sister Morphine, you better make up my bed 'Cause you know and I know
in the morning I'll be dead
You can sit around and you can watch all the clean white sheets
stained red.

..what a bummer.

Anyways, as cliche as it is, my favorite song is Sympathy for the Devil. The lyrics here are also kind of freaky-deaky and twisted, but you know what, I kind of like it. I feel like the Beatles songs were very safe for the most part, and I like that some of the Stones' stuff is darker.

Grizzly Bear: A Good Listen, Fur Sure

RIYL: The XX, The Shins, Broken Bells

So, Grizzly Bear just released their 4th album, Shields, a few days ago, so I thought that now would be an appropriate time to honor their beauty. For those of you who are unfamiliar with them, here is there most popular song, Two Weeks, which I'm pretty sure is in a Car commercial of some sort, I'm not sure. Who watches actual TV anymore instead of netflix?



Grizzly Bear is a sort of folk pop group I suppose, if I had to put a genre on their music. I love love love their heavy use of piano and their background vocals. The main vocals are very soothing and soft, and easy to listen to for a full album's worth. There is also a lot of acoustic guitar in their work, which accompanies the sassy tambourine very nicely.

My favorite song by them is Ready, Able, partially because I love the lyrics, and probably because it has the most trippy music video I have ever seen in my life. I don't have any experience with psychedelic drugs, believe it or not, but I have a feeling that this video is not far off base.

Check this out.


Here are some highlights from their new album, Shields.





This song sounds just like the XX to me, especially in the beginning. I love the vocals, and I love the background sharp-clapping noises. This is my favorite song of their new album.

Beatlemania

We recently viewed a documentary in class featuring the Beatles' experience while they played in America for the first time. To sum it up in two words, I would say it was utter chaos. These are 4, relatively average looking guys (except my main man, Ringo) who have a talent so extraordinary that they are rocking the worlds of basically every single girl (and some tasteful dudes)in America, along with a decent amount of other countries.

The thing that I found the most surprising was what major d-bags these guys were. I mean, when you're that wealthy and famous, I suppose you're allowed to throw courtesy to the wind, but still, I found it rather off-putting. Particularly, when the guys were blatantly making fun of their poor manager, I felt just awful for the pitiful sad sack. However, even though they are jerks, the guys are still super funny and have enormous personalities, which I think is important to maintain in the celebrity-world.

Another thing I found interesting was the magnitude of the girls'/crowd reaction to the Beatles. I knew that the Beatles were huge, but not "lose your mind/clothes" over them obsession worthy. When the camera crews would pan out to the girls in the crowd during the guys' performances, girls were literally pulling their hair and flailing about wildly. Man, music is powerful, yo.

We never listened to this song in class, but it's one of my favorites. It reminds me of the Parent Trap and my younger days, and gets me nostalgic.



The Beatles were truly a revolution in the music world, and I don't know if any band will ever be able to top their success.

Falling for Fleet Foxes

RIYL: Iron & Wine, Mumford and Sons, Bon Iver
Fleet Foxes are a recent obsession of mine, these guys are just so folk-y and smooth, and I am a sucker for their indie-ness. The vocals are absolutely beautiful, the lead singer, Robin Pecknold, harmonizes flawlessly with guitarist and keyboardist, and ahhh, I can't even stand it, it's like liquid folksy gold is being poured into my ears, and I love it. There music is usually very acoustic and a bit slow, but there is enough passion and talent to keep the music riveting and memorizing. These guys have played at SXSW, and they give me a very ACL/ independent vibe.

Here is one of their most popular songs, Mykonos. I love the prominent role of the drum/ tambourine in this song, as I find in most bands they are usually more of background instruments.



This song is called Blue Ridge Mountain. The beginning of the song is entirely vocal, no instruments, and it almost has an eerie/ nostalgic vibe, it's rather hauntingly lovely. And what's this?! A Beatles reference to their crosswalk album cover?! EGAD



And this is one of my favorites, White Winter Hymnal. The video has claymation, and who doesn't love some good dancing play-doh figurines? This song does not have a lot of lyrics, as it is very repetitive, but I like it that way as I can sing along easier.

Here Comes the Blog, Doo do doo do

It's time to discuss America's favorite band, The Beatles. As surprising as it may sound, I have really never gotten all that into this band, they're way too mainstream. No, I'm completely kidding, but I really do know shockingly little about this band other than what we have learned in class. I did, however, perform a dance to "A Hard Day's Night" in kindergarten, so there's something.

One thing I really dig about the Beatles' music, particularly their early work, is their heavy use of harmonica. I. LOVE. Harmonica. I don't really know why, maybe it's that wild west vibe, but I have not found a song with harmonica in it that I don't love. I also love everyone of their voices, they are all such talented guys, and their harmonization is absolutely flawless and beautiful. Also, I was supremely impressed to learn that they made their first album in only one day. I honestly didn't even know that the Beatles sang Twist and Shout until I saw the track on their album, because his voice is so drastically different. And you know what, I actually like John Lennon's voice ten times better when it's super scratchy and raspy like that. It gives them an edge that I think is rather desperately needed, as I often find them a bit cookie-cutter. I also noticed, especially in Twist in Shout, that the Beatles have a bit of Little Richard influence in their work, specifically when they do the high "woo" between Lenon's verses,

While I do think this band is, deservingly so, one of the most talented of all time, their music is not something I honestly would listen to on a regular basis.

Here are some of my favorites that we haven't discussed in class yet:


Here, of course, is Hey Jude, which I recently found out was actually written for Lennon's son, to cheer him up through out his parents divorce, very sad. However, this song, is also a great spirit-lifter.


But of course, the Beatles will never be able to top the cuteness factor of this little guy.


And finally, my all time favorite Beatles' song will forever be Obladi Oblada. I used to jam out to this song when I was a tot, it is so happy so and catchy. I love the sharp/ old timey piano, it gives it a retro/ nostalgic vibe.

Who's that Rat-tat-tating at my door?

RIYL: Justice, Deadmau5

Here's another dynamic rock/electronic group from NY called Ratatat, featuring the lovely stylings of Evan Mast and Mike Stroud. Mike rocks out on the electric guitar while Evan jams out on the keyboard and composes the beats for the tracks on his computer. Evan and his brother actually own their own record label, Audio Dreggs, and he also has his own sort of one-man DJ group galled E*vax, so music basically consumes this dude's entire life. These guys have jammed as warm up bands for some super successful bands, such as Daft Punk, Bjork, The Killers, and Ben Kweller (everyone's favorite sensitive indierock redhead).

One thing that really distinguishes Ratatat's sound from other bands is that their music is only instrumental (except for the occasional jungle cat growls). However, even without lyrics, I find their music to be completely fulfilling, as the music is upbeat and complex enough to overcompensate for the lack of singing. One thing they do that I think is really interesting is that Evan makes the tracks first, and then Stroud adds the guitar after. That must take some mega music creativity, I give my kudos. Their music usually has some sweet bass to it, which is always a plus for me.

Here's their most popular song, Wildcat. It's honestly rather repetitive, but there is some variety thrown in about every 45 seconds that keeps things interesting. As you may have noticed on my last blog, music makes my imagination become rather active, and I often find myself creating an imaginary scenario for myself every time I listen to a song. This song makes me feel swanky, like I am big shot rolling high in a casino.



Ope, you know what, I lied, this next song, 17 Years, actually does have a bit of vocals in the very beginning, but it's not them speaking, so it doesn't count. This is my favorite song by them, Mike is doing WORK with his guitar in this song, and I really dig it.