19th Nervous Breakdown

Writer's Picks: Some New Some Old

2009-04-19T19:07:00.001-07:00

Ok, so it's been a few months since I have done this, but I am going to try and narrow down a few choices of what I have been listening to during the last few weeks. Here goes....

The Strokes- Alo ne Together

These are the kind of tracks that made Is This It, The Strokes debut album, what it is now. "The world is over but I don't care" sings Julian Casablanca with his cigarette stained hardened voice. The world could be over and I wouldn't care because these guys are breathing air back into rock and roll, something it desperately needs.

Radiohead-Talk Show Host

If anyone saw Leonardo Di Caprio and Clara Danes in Romeo and Juliet you might recall this track as being the "theme song," I use the term theme song loosely. This song was released as a b-side, how do all of Radiohead's ep's stand out more then most bands album tracks? The song is the typical Radiohead set-up, hunting guitar following with Thom's soulful voice. Same set-up, unique song. I am still waiting for Radiohead to mess up.

She Wants Revenge-Tear You Apart

Not mainstream by any sense, She Wants Revenge is an American musical duo from California whos dark title matches their music. Heavy looping bass lines and monatone voices are She Wants Revenge. Just listening to the singer you could pass out of boredom, think Joy Divison or Interpol. Something is still attractive about what they are doing though, if I figure out why I haven't taken their ablum out of my car yet I'll let you know.

Fleet Foxes-Winter Hymnal

The debut album by Fleet Foxes last year was on 15 of the top 50 albums of the year lists, thier pretty good...

Come Together

2009-04-19T17:03:00.001-07:00

Go to YouTube and you will find a legion of Gregg Gillis impersonators trying to duplicate his genius in mashing tracks together. Gillis, also known as his stage name Girl Talk, has been dropping his Frankenstein like mashups throughout clubs over the past few years. Sampling artists such as Lil Wayne, NWA, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead and Jay-Z to create some of the craziest genre crossing tracks. Gillis may be a lawsuit waiting to happen with how many copyright infringements he collects on just one of his albums, but the trend of mashing songs together to form remixes is getting more popular. Like any normal song, some mashups can be tragic, and some are so good it feels like your ears are being devirginized by the two songs all over again. Graphic I know, but enlightening.

The Beatles/Reggae Mashup

Oh God I know, blasphemy, someone screwed around with a Beatles track. I thought the same thing, but I was wrong like you will be once you listen to it. Paul has even been quoted saying he was a fan of reggae so it fits. Also, this was one of the first mashups I found that was actually created by someone who knew what key both the songs were in. First rule of creating remixes, match the keys.

Say It Ain't A Milli

This remix was created by a YouTube user but the idea was ripped off from Girl Talk, stealing is kind of big when dealing with remixes. In fact, it's almost the same thing despite the pitiful attempt of the creator to make it his own by throwing a cymbal crash into every time he counted to four. The good thing about it, it's longer then Girl Talks, so you don't have to hit replay as many times.

Kanye West/Radiohead Mashup

This is my least favorite of all these, but it's still worth mentioning since good remixes are far and hard to come by on YouTube. The guitar rift is from Radiohead's Reckoner, that's the good part about it. Lyrics are done by Mr. West from his 808 album, which is not really his shining moment in his career for me but it's still good. The kick drum in the background keeps the track moving and the Reckoner's gentle guitar part compliments Kanye's autotuned voice well, surprisingly.

The Beatles/NIN Mashup

It's like these two songs were seperated at birth they fit together so perfectly. Yeah, there really is'nt much else to say about it. The elements selected from both songs are like inter changable parts for both. They compliment each other well.

The Best of the Best: Some Really Good Album Covers

2009-04-12T19:31:00.000-07:00

Rage Against The Machine-Rage Against the Machine

The album cover presents the ultimate form of protest when Buddhist Monk Thích Quảng Đức set himself on fire in the middle of the road in protest to how the South Vietnam Government was prosecuting Buddhist worshipers. Try to top this guy Zach de la Roca.

Radiohead-Hail To The Thief

Thom Yorke said the cover of the album was inspired by Los Angles, the numerous words are suppose to be the buildings while the lines in between are the roads. Alot of the phrases are related to context in the album. You can see a common theme of Mass Society Theory and insturments of fear that media use.

The Rolling Stones-Sticky Fingers

Andy Warhol created this, enough said. No one is 100 % sure who's crutch is in the shot but some believe it was Andy Warhol's partner. The orginal vinyl cover had an actual zipper on it that you could open and close on the pants, dont worry though, their's briefs underneath.

Jimi Hendrix-Axis: Bold As Love?

Apparently, Jimi Hendrix wasn't to found of the album cover because it didn't illustrate his Indian American heritage the way he wanted it to be shown. We think it's great Jimi, thanks for keeping it. Probably one of his best album covers.

The Beatles-Abbey Road

From the conspiracy theory about Paul's death in this cover, Paul's out of step, the cigarette in his hand and the VW Beatles licence plate, this cover is just pure genius. Even what their wearing has to do with Paul's death. Lennon in white is the Priest, Ringo in black is the undertaker, Harrison in blue is the grave digger and Paul has no shoes and is in a suit the typical attire for someone attending thier own funeral. Creepy? Yes.

Bird Is Taking Flight

2009-04-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

Andrew Bird is proof that a one man band is better sometimes than a group. Bird is every element of a finally tuned symphony; he's the conductor, the strings, the brass and the percussion. Bird is professionally trained in violin, guitar, whistling and the mandolin, there is really not to much this guy can't do and he has proved that relentlessly since he began his music career.
If you don't believe me go checkout his MySpace, I haven't closed the page since I got on my computer this morning.

Bird is an artist. He carefully constructs every note, puts it in its place, and gives you a dynamic song incorporating all the music elements you would expect from a group band. Most bands, when they come up with songs, collaborate with each other and discuss what they want to do with their music. Bird is free to do whatever he wants. He can expand on his ideas and go with them where he wants with no one restricting him.

Bird just reeks of Radiohead influence on some of his new tracks. The clinking beat and low horn sounds in the beginning sound like something you find off of a Hail To The Thief Ep. His music is honest, he only plays and sings what he can, there is nothing counterfeit about this guy or what he is trying to do, something the music business needs more of.

Listen to this Youtube: Imitosis if you have any doubts about taking two seconds to go look at his MySpace page.

The Worst of the Worst: Some Really Bad Album Covers

2009-04-05T18:37:00.000-07:00

Zip-Zap-Rap-Devastatin Dave

Yes Dave, this album cover is devastating not only to you but any rapper that existed during the 1980's. It's images like this that make me thank God I missed out on the 80's.

Orleans-Waking and Dreaming

There needed to be someone around to stop them from doing this, not to mention that three of the guys in the pictures are brothers, just a little creepy. What exactly is the guy in the front looking at that has him crossed armed and not paying attention.

Dirty Work-Rolling Stones

They look like they were dressed by the people who did Birdcage. Rolling Stones sported a new look on Dirty Work, I think they were going for Miami Vice meets Vanilla Ice, I can't be sure. Mick should have listened to Kieth when he said he wanted to steer clear of the disco scene.

Sexylove-Prince

I almost feel like I don't have to say anything about this one. We can all just look at it, laugh, and move on. This is also the cnesored version so if you think Prince has lost his mind here don't give him to much credit.

After Dark-Fabio

Never again Fabio, never again.

Monkeying Around

2009-04-05T17:40:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite musical groups isn't even physically real. The fictional animated band Gorillaz, created by the minds of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewitt while sitting on their couch watching MTV2, have been on a sabbatical for the last few years since their release of their second album Demon Days. Albarn and Hewitt are recalling their previous statement of quiting Gorillaz though and will be bringing out a third installment to the Gorillaz catalogue hopefully this year. Judging on how long it took them to release their second album though, we may not see it until next year. An official date hasn't been posted yet on when we will be hearing anything from them, but Albarn promised that the duo would be back in the studio working on new material in January 2009. Looks like they have been keeping to their word about getting back into the studio because demos from the band are already surfacing on YouTube and on unofficial MySpace pages.

Three new songs were recently released from a BBC Radio 1 interview that Albarn held.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkQcE-2JMzA - Electric Shock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJz97MorJZg&feature=related - Stylo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NS4ZerRIUYo - Broken

When listening to these we have to remember that their just demos, not finalized in anyway. Gorillaz have always been about pushing their limits, one of the first things you notice when you hit play on any of these new tracks they put out. All three of the songs are basically instrumental, following a similar trend that was found on their album D-Sides, and the beats are just cosmically mashed together leaving you with a car wreck of random sounds and whistles. Gorillaz have never been mainstream but they are clearly leaving the classic norm of hip-hop. Albarn has been busy with the Blur reunion so I am going to blame that for the poor performance on the demos, I wasn't all that impressed by them. They were half assed, they lack the depth and creativity of Demon Days and catchy-ness and beat driven tunes of their self-titled album Gorillaz. Demos are really never good at showing you what a new CD has to offer, but I am really hoping Albarn is thinking about another direction with this one. This is what you need to do Albarn. Go buy a copy of Demon Days. Then sit down and really listen to it and remember that this isn't Blur, people actually care about Gorillaz making a successful comeback.

Tweet Not So Sweet

2009-03-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

As if Facebook, Myspace, blogging, e-mails, text messages, my cell phone and the other million social I must know what your doing at all times networks weren't enough ways for me and my friends to keep tabs on each other, Twitter had to be created to dissolve any notion of having some privacy in my your life. For those of you don't know what this new trend is, Twitter is a website where you can "tweet" around 140 words and let your followers (friends) know what your doing, http://twitter.com/. Twitter's slogan, if you really want to call it that, is What are you doing? For anyone of you who are missing the point of this website like I was the idea is that your suppose to answer that question. Yeah, I don't get it either. If your mind had a mouth, Twitter is what it would throw up in. Jeez where else have I seen this idea before, oh yeah, Facebook already has it, it's called a status updater. A place where you can write out your personal thoughts, fears, sorrows and anything else that you feel compelled to share with everyone.

Twitter is a CCTV camera permanently pointed at your mind, an advertisement of everything you do to the world, your a Truman Show. That may be slightly aggregated but honestly, with ever other social network it's no wonder people are able to constantly keep tabs on each other. I am suppose to be in the generation that is suppose to understand this stuff, but I am 21 years old and could honestly careless about Twitter. I am going to go as far and say the world might be better of with Twitter, gasp! I am all for online media and social networks, but Twitter is just a mockery of Facebook, its a dumbed down version.

When do we get to unplug from the world. Picture yourself alone, on grassy hill somewhere far away from civilization, and the sun is setting. Will go as far to say your enjoying yourself. Then all of a sudden, your phone goes off with 20 new Twitter notifications, Facebook is e-mailing you to tell you that Cindy just broke up with whats his face for the tenth time this month and your boss is calling you to ask where that e-mail is you were suppose to send him. We are constantly plugged into a digital society that seems to be tightening its grasp around our minds and our lives. I realize that all of these things have mentioned are voluntary, you don't have to have a Twitter or a Facebook account, but it's become the norm, your expected to have one. All of these things are great, I love Facebook and the ability to sign on the computer and type out an article on my blog at anytime, but where does it end.

Get Off It Already

2009-03-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

In one of my earlier post's I vented about remarks I read about how the Arctic Monkey's are slowly going extinct, that the direction they're following right now is steering to far away from Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not. It was a bias article I'll admit, but in my eyes, the kids from Sheffield can do no wrong. Their music has set the standard for the music industry and with Josh Hommes at the helm on their new album, I dare anyone to say that this next album will be nothing less then the envy of ever other band out there right now. Well when I wrote that, I didn't have any proof to back up my accusations, I became just another pre-teen YouTube critic who just flames everyone on posts that don't agree with them. How un-becoming. However, the Monkey's are out to back me up now as they have recently released a few of their new tunes on YouTube. I'll admit though, the songs are nothing like what their first album had to offer, or their second.

The song's that were released aren't studio quality or final versions, their actually recorded from the Australian Festival Big Day Out that the Monkeys played at, but you still get the idea of where the quartet might be going on their new album. Crying Lightning is the only song that you can clearly hear out of the four songs. When I read that these videos had been posted, I was expecting to hear songs that played right off of Queens of the Stone Age, no such luck. Josh Hommes, the lead singer of Queens of the Stone Age, has been producing their new album.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1mxEdlNeFs Queens of the Stone Age, Someone's in the Wolf is what I thought I would be hearing.

I was slightly disappointed at first, the last two Queens albums were great and I was hoping whatever the Monkeys had planned for next would resonate some of the qualities that had made those two albums such a success. Crying Lightning couldn't be further from the dark distorted tunes of the Queens. The song is subtle, it's almost barley there, but still loudly radiates brilliance at the same time. Turner and Cook play off each other through the whole song, exchanging bright, high pitched chords with each other that compliment Helder's steady drum beat. Favorite Worst Nightmare, their second album, was dark, fast and left you out of breath after it finished. It's to early to say with just one song to reference on, but they might have completely left that sound behind them. Some might be upset about this, but to me, it's just them expanded their creativeness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwI8XucVfOg (Crying Lightning video from Big Day Out)

As I have said before, bands have to change their sound or they might as well just release one album. Look at any other band that was worth anything and you'll see the same trend. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead. Radiohead has changed their sound so many times it might as well have become a different band each time they released a new album. I think it is to early to say what the Monkeys are planning to release but for all the doubters out there still, just read the title of their first CD. "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am Not," will all just have to make our own decisions about it when they release the new stuff this summer.

Jack White is a Music God

2009-03-22T18:47:00.000-07:00

I might have to cut this post a little short about Mr. White, not because there isn't enough to say about this three band fronting guitar prodigy, but that there's just to much for me to say about this three band fronting guitar prodigy. Did I mention he's fronting three full time bands at once right now? Currently, White has ties with The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and now the newly formed super-group Dead Weather (Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dead Fertita from the Queens of the Stone Age, Jack Lawrence from The Raconteurs and Jack White from the White Stripes.)This is also not mentioning the fact White has been known to hangout with Kieth Richards and the rest of The Stones for jam sessions and collaborations. He was even featured on their new DVD that came out last year. Three bands and collaborating with one of the greatest bands alive right now, everyone else might as well give up and starting practice for a position in one of his new bands that I am sure is coming.

White is not only a brilliant song writer and producer but tear apart most present guitar players with even his simplest riffs. Pop in his White Stripes album Elephant, kindly turn it to the track called Ball and a Biscuit and enjoy. The White Stripes is a two man band (actually the drummer is a girl) but produces so many sounds it's just natural that this guy would blow up to the point he has. White is bringing back the old blue's sounds that were so prevalent in the '60s and '70s. Listen to his cover of Death Letters or Catch Hell Blues of his record Icky Thump, hes going back to an old style but hes still miles ahead of alot of artists today. White is a one man band filled with so much energy and creativity hes been forced to cross multiple genre boarders in order to bring us to his level.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fM2qhG8mA4 (Death Letters)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03YUgHAshSo (Ball and Biscuit)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8x4pwWd86lg&feature=related (catch hell)

Dead Weather is White's newest outlet, but this time he is going to have to share the spotlight with a few other forces in music, which cause some interesting results. White is design anted drummer for the group while The Kills leading lady will be doing vocals. I complete turn around for White seeing both of his past bands his been doing the honors on the mic.

Dead Weathers New Single (check it out) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scJ8ITsZsl4

The sound is basically how you would think if The Kills ever met up with The Stripes, very dark distorted guitars with a mediocre drummer banging the shit out of the drums. It's not fair that White has two side projects that can out do most of the other so called talen out there, but it's the truth and he deserves all of it.

Woodstock: 40th Anniversary

2009-03-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

Woodstock '69 is legendary in almost every way. The New York festival represented the counter-cultural movement during the 1960s and late 70s of love, peace signs and shoe-less anti-war hippies. Thirty-two of arguably the greatest bands of the time including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, The Who and Jefferson Airplane made an appearance during the three day event. Almost half a million people sat through the down pours to witness what many consider one of the greatest occurrences in rock history. Drugged out and high on the fumes of love, those who were there made Woodstock what it is known as today more then any of the artists did.

This clip is the credits from the 1970 documentary of the festival, but if you look at the scenes in the background you can get a pretty good sense of what it was all about for those of you who have never seen what it was like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVXl2OEnnM

Woodstock went on a sabbatical for ten years and then cam back in '79 and then again in '89. Most people don't know that because really no other festival will top what happened during the Summer of Love. The atmosphere for a festival like Woodstock '69 was perfect. The anniversary concerts might have had the title of Woodstock lazily slapped onto it, but the idea was cashed out after ten years. My generation Woodstock's were even more of an embarrassment to the name. The festivals in 94 and 99 must have been organized by people who had been smoking something harder then the crowd that was originally there in '69. The whole ideals behind the concert were lost. It went from joint rolling hippies in '69 to head-bangers and mosh pits in the 90s. The police even had to come during the '94 festival because of violence. I thought Woodstock was anti-violence?

Despite all the set backs in redeeming Woodstock back to its original glory, organizers are still going to make another try at it for the 40 anniversary this year, no surprise there. Cha-ching. The music business is slowly deteriorating so I can only guess that someone is looking to cash in. Michael Lang, co-founder of the original Woodstock, has some hand in it so it might not be all about the cash flow. Lang said in an interview recently that there would be alot of legacy bands attending this time, unlike the last two festivals, such as The Who, Santana, and Bing, Crosby and Nash. Lang also suggested there would be room for bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and big time concert seller Dave Matthews. Those two bands alone would pull alot of weight, especially when the concert is suppose to be located up in New York again, bad news for me down here in D.C. because this festival sounds like it actually might be worth while. Lang is still looking for funding though so don't take off of work yet since the economy doesn't look like it's going anywhere. If it did happen though, these would have to be my top ten picks.

Redeeming Woodstock Line Up

Radiohead
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Rolling Stones (if they could afford it)
The Who
The Black Keys
The White Stripes
Dave Matthews Band
Kings Of Leon
The Strokes
U2

I realize that would be an incredibly costly line-up but one can always hope.

Here is also Lang's interviw with NME. http://www.nme.com/news/jimi-hendrix/43626

Writer's Picks: Some New Some Old

2009-03-01T18:08:00.000-08:00

This post is a list of a few top tracks I've been listening to lately.

Kings of Leon-Closer

My friend just suggested this song to me today. The song is off the Followill brother's new album Only By Night, which I never listened to because I took the advice of all the mixed critic reviews that came out about it. I love the Kings old stuff but according to alot of people said they sold out on this album, their wrong. The opening track Closer is aesthetically pleasing to the ears with its synth and electronic effects, a completely different change to what were use to hearing from this band. It definitely has a very progressive rock feel to it. Caleb's voice is clear and powerful against the low eerie sounds of the guitar is evidence that this band will be around for awhile.

YouTube Video of Closer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKe8HTPTlFQ&feature=related

Arctic Monkeys-Bigger Boys And Stolen Sweethearts (acoustic version)

Sheffield's own has always been spot on when observing broken romances and relationship fall outs. The song lyrics go through Alex Turner's (lead singer) break up with a girl during high school who left him for someone else. The original version of the song is great, but the acoustic out does it. Its simple, straight forward and the repeating simple riff is nothing special, but the lyrics and the rawness of the acoustic recording is something to take notice of. It's also kind of humorous because Turner is piss drunk when he did the recording of the song.

YouTube Video of Stolen Sweethearts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYAIVjb6jlo

Radiohead-Down Is The New Up

Alright so this song is a little old, but with nothing good coming out recently its good to re-visit the classics. Radiohead put out In Rainbows in late 2007 online for free. Well not free, but a name your own price deal. Down Is The New Up came off the second disc of the box set Radiohead put out for In Rainbows. The second cd wasn't free so not a lot of people are familiar with this song but it could have easily replaced any of the songs on the first cd of In Rainbows. The track sounds like something you would hear during the intro of a Bond film. Greenwood,Colin and Ed sit out for this track with all of the instrument playing being credited to Thom on piano and Phil on drums. The song sounds like it belongs on Kid-A and it definitely explores their older sound.

YouTube Video of Down Is The New Up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CX7Qzb1dj8

Franz Ferdinand-Lucid Dreams

Ok so there's two versions of this song. So to be clear, I'm picking the extended version of the song. The original is garbage, try to steer away from it. And if think the extended version is garbage to, try to suffer through it till the end when they go all out a jam session of chopped up electronic noise and danceable beats. Its one of the shinning moments on their new album Franz Ferdinand Tonight.

YouTube Video of Lucid Dreams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeadGORk_fw&feature=related

Why Do We Still Put Up With This?

2009-03-01T17:06:00.000-08:00

Hip-hop is dead, or maybe just on a form of life support that someone needs to pull the plug on. No one is doing anything new with it. Hip-hop has just become a lifestyle, a social image. Talent has faded out of the genre slowly and has been replaced with attitude, sexual content and who has the largest bank account. Who cares? I'm not saying that rap is bad, artists like NWA, Immortal Technique, Tupac and Notorious BIG were storytellers. Their lyrics had context and actually delt with something besides their own egos. Listen to Juicy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjflFJcAWL0 and then go check out something like Baby Got Back by Sir-Mix-Alot and tell me I'm wrong. I know Baby Got Back is a ridiculous example but it helps my argument so it stays.
Kanye West was great with College Dropout, awesome album, but the guy is the biggest asshole. Every time I read an article about West all it ever deals with is how amazing he is. Maybe its me, but I don't get it. Hes following the popular trend of elevating himself rather then his music that most rap artists seem to be doing. I just read an NME article that quoted West saying that he wanted to be addressed as Martin Louis King Jr. Are you kidding me? The guy is comparing himself to one of the greatest leaders ever. He replaced Luther with Louis because he recently designed a shoe for Louis Vuitton. He's very clever. Which again confuses me because I thought he was trying to give us this tough public image but hes designing shoes. I've seen Project Runway, the guys on that show aren't exactly badass. On top of that, there was the whole Banaroo incident when he showed up at 4:45 a.m when he was originally scheduled for a 8:45 p.m time slot. Plus, there was the VMA mishap where he lost his temper over not winning any awards, I guess he thought he was more deserving then the ones who received the awards. Sore loser maybe, I don't know.
This attitude of I am the greatest thing on earth just doesn't pertain to rap there's examples in every genre of music, West is just one of those really good examples. Artists these days just need to wake up and discover something called reality. Music should be the most important part of an artist's career, not your persona or your ranking in the world of celebrities.

Money Isn't Everything

2009-02-22T19:30:00.000-08:00

I pay for all my music. Not because I like paying the $15 price tag that is slapped on every record cover, even though I know I could just as easy go online and get it for free, but because I like supporting the music industry. I love record stores, or CD store whatever your preferred description of them is now. I extend a thank you to Steve Jobs for slowly destroying my condemned love for buying music from a store. I mostly just enjoy collecting them though, so I can put them in my CD rack next to my bed. So every morning when I wake up I can be reminded how I've blown more money on CD's then a proper car. Not that I'm complaining.
Most people I know do download music for free though, which can be great to. There's laws against it but with Limewire and other file sharer programs its pretty easy to get around any copyright infringements, as we all know. Next time you go to the CD store, Walmart, Target or any other place and buy a CD look on the back of it. The FBI apparently now knows when you burn or rip a CD on your computer.

University's are now getting in on it. I go to George Mason University in Fairfax, Va and I received a notice yesterday that I had downloaded 98 songs to my computer illegally. I really do pay for my music though, that's not a lie. So I was a little confused when I got an e-mail from Mason promising empty threats that they were going to do something horrible if I didn't erase all 98 of them. I don't even live on campus so I'm not sure how this all even became a problem or how they were looking on my computer. Either way, music companies have even colleges now regulating illegal downloading. This is were the debate becomes two sided, should downloading be illgal or legal?
We had Radiohead last year as well as Nine Inch Nails bail on their record labels. They then posted their most recent albums online and told fans who wanted to buy it to name their own price. Which then that opens up the idea that its alright to get music for free, if the artists themselves are promoting the idea then there is'nt anything wrong with it. These are two huge bands though that have been successful, they already made all the money they need. Not all bands are finacially secure enought to pull a stunt like this and tell record labels too screw off. So realistically, if you have permission from the band go ahead, if not pay the 99 cents to Mr. Jobs and enjoy your music.

Their Faking It

2009-02-19T13:38:00.000-08:00

What happened to vocalists like Robert Plant who could belt out songs like Baby, I'm Going To Leave You and The Ocean without the backup of a computer program to keep his voice in check with the right key? How are these artists who can barley hold a note during a live concert able to sound perfect on their records? This new invasion of mediocre talent, American Idol reject singers are all now hiring the backup singer Auto-tune to support them through their recordings.

Auto-tune was created by Antares Audio Technologies and it basically uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. The pre-requisite to be a lead singer, the ability to actually sing, is non-existence. There are a lot of YouTube videos that have been posted recently that show you the effects Auto-tune can have and how you use it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdTgdluTJrE.

Here's just a few of the artists who have been accused of using it. Even though its already obvious when you compare their live performances to the original recording.

Tim McGraw
Faith Hill
Cher
Britney Spears
Lil Wayne
Kanye West

There was a Grammy-Award winning engineer who was interviewed by Time Magazine who said that Auto-tune has been saving artists for years now. And now that everyone is excepting Auto-tune has something that always happens artists just assume when they come into the studio that they will be using the box. This is just getting ridiculous. There is Auto-tune, and now their is the new program by Microsoft called Songsmith that writes music for you as you sing into a mic. Where will the Music Industry draw the line? Music is a sham now. Its a hoax. The raw talent that past musicians were expected to have is slowly disappearing.

A View From the Afternoon

2009-02-15T18:44:00.001-08:00

I new survey done by record label Marrakesh Records suggested that young music listeners would give up sex for a week instead of giving up music for a week. A large sacrifice for some. http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/42767
This debatable fact is one of the few reasons why I find music to be such an important addition in our lives today. Its away for artists to get their beliefs out, it stimulates peoples minds, depending on what music your listening to. There's a fine line between listening to the Jonas Brothers and Radiohead. Sorry for any of you Joe Bro fans out there but lets be honest with each other, the Disney Channel created those guys and I'm pretty sure their material aims at the demographic of children. There's really nothing thought provoking about those guys. It is music though, and therefore deserves some merit. This blog however is not about bashing this new tween pop sensation that seems to be seeping into the music scene recently, its about promoting music and why I personal would go a week without sex over music.

A band I have loved since NME posted them on their cover before their debut CD ever came out, first band to ever do this, is the Arctic Monkeys. If you haven't heard of them there are no words I could use to describe how creative their lyrics and sound is, you simply just have to listen to them and make your own decision about them. The great thing about music is that everyone can have their own personal interpretation about its quality and still be right, and I am not here to tell people what to think, but what to think about. This is one of the few songs. A Certain Romance, that was posted on their website before they were signed to a label, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odYCBJ0bFfo.
Their debut album was brilliant, and overflowed with tunes about English working-class night life and faded romances that once had a chance. A theme that was completely altered with on their next album. Their sophomore album Favorite Worst Nightmare wasn't as Innocent and straightforward as the first. It was dark and heavy with echoing riffs that gave off a more sinister vibe. Despite the huge pinnacle swing in sound the album was still great. Its everything the first CD offered, in some ways it was better. However, the Monkeys received a lot of criticism for not playing it safe and changing everything about their music that made them so successful the first time. And now with the large hype surrounding their new CD that is due out sometime this summer, people are again complaining that their sound is changing again. The Monkeys played the Big Day Out, a festival in Australia and showed off some of their new songshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwI8XucVfOg. There was mixed ideas about what everyone heard but a lot of critics again said that they need to go back to their original sound. Why? Bands have to evolve. Their suppose to try new things. What is the point of not going anywhere with your music if you aren't going to take some risks. I get the whole idea of why fix it if it isn't broken but seriously. This band deserves some faith from critics, they haven't disappointed yet. You can always revisit that first CD you heard that made you fall in love with a band. But you also have to be willing to be more open-minded about change. Maybe not the true fans, but definitely the critics that always try to tear down anything a band does.