Ben Folds Five, as you all know were kind of a huge deal in the 90's especially with their most popular album, and my personal favorite, Whatever And Ever Amen. This album had a number of huge hits like "One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces," "Brick," "Song For The Dumped," "Kate," and "Battle For Who Could Care Less." All of which I really enjoy. Just last year the band came back together to record and release another album, The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind, containing songs like (one of my personal favorites) "Michael Praytor, Five Years Later." One thing that I really like about the trio out of Chapel Hill is that they really don't ever use a guitar and they still sound amazing. Their music consists of drums, an up right or electric bass, and of course, a piano. Many times they have even described themselves as "punk rock for sissies."
From this to...
...this
One thing that I really love (and really hate) about Whatever And Ever Amen is the pacing of the album. The first song "One Angry Dwarf..." is super up beat and fun to listen to but by the third song, "Brick," the mood has changed drastically, from fun and exciting to really sad and depressing. Yet the next song, "Song For The Dumped," is right back to up beat and almost funny, lifting the mood out of the giant hole that it was hurled into.
So this is kind of amazing and one hot mess, and that's why I absolutely love it. He looks like Jerry Lee Lewis when he slams on the piano like that, pretty cool.
This song is so sad but the man can sing. I really enjoy his crazy octave jumps and ridiculous falsetto.
Why a verse of this song is sung in Japanese I have absolutely no idea...
These guys really are no joke, and with playing they are capable of and the songs they have, who even needs a guitar to make awesome rock music?
Another great Youtube find I've stumbled upon recently is a band formed in Stockholm, Sweden with the name of Dirty Loops. As of now there are only three members in the band: Jonah, their outstanding vocalist with hints of none other than Stevie Wonder in his voice, Henrik, the bassist who's idle is one of the most famous bass players in the world, The Red Hot Chili Pepper's Flea, and Aaron, the drummer. Even though, as far as I know they are only on Youtube, they are still extremely talented musicians. Many if not all of their songs are covers of get this...pop songs, yet they add their own really amazing jazzy and soulful spin to all of them.
So I definitely would never have placed these guys in the same band...ever...yet it works, really really well.
My two favorite songs/covers of theirs are: "Rolling In The Deep," originally recorded by Adele and...surprisingly "Circus," originally recorded by Brittany Spears. As weird as that sounds, they have really improved both songs 100% if not more.
I honestly could listen to this song for an hour straight and not get bored with it, a huge part of it is the amazing keyboard solo starting at about 1:53 along with his incredible voice.
Sorry Britt, these guys outdid you on your own song by quite a lot. I really love the keyboard feature at the beginning of the song and all throughout the chorus, I also like how they change the meter of the song from slow to fast alternating between the verses and the chorus. The occasional base solos are also spectacular.
How these guys aren't already incredibly famous, I have yet to discover because they definitely have the potential to be amazing. Their soulful and jazzy sound is one that isn't heard much in this modern age and to me, that's a shame.
This week in class, we listened to a medley of lovely, extremely creepy, mostly explicit music. Now, many people would consider this rather unpleasant to listen to, yet in my opinion, it is none other than just another excellent way to express ones' self. A few groups are absolutly amazing at doing this, including none other than everyone's favorite Gangsta rap group: N.W.A., two other extremely important and influential rap groups: Public Enemy and The Beastie Boys, and two rock groups: Nine Inch Nails and Nirvana.
Lets start with the rap:
Both the Beastie Boys and N.W.A. relied heavily on samples (especially on Paul's Boutique...it really is quite cool though) and most evident, vulgarity. N.W.A.'s most famous hit "Straight Outta Compton," is probably one of the most explicit songs I know, yet that's the beauty of it, it grabs your attention and almost forces you to listen to what the song is trying to say.
Although not on the album Paul's Boutique, my favorite Beastie Boys song is, not surprisingly "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn." Not sure really what it is about it but one of my favorite aspects about it is the whole point of the music video is to make fun of the 1980's hair metal scene.
Another song of theirs that I can somewhat stand is the 12 minute medley: "B-Boy Bouillabaisse."
Although Public Enemy wasn't as vulgar in their lyrics, Chuck D is still one of the most talented rappers of that time, if not all time. They were much more political minded in my opinion than other groups like N.W.A. for example. One of my favorite songs of theirs is "Bring Tha Noise."
Although the rock bands of the late 80's and early 90's didn't rely on explicit language as much to get attention and listeners, they had their own creepy way of bringing in audiences, just as Kurt Cobain did with Nirvana and Trent Reznor did with Nine Inch Nails did in their tenured careers.
So besides feeling like I was just hypnotized, I also realized that it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be before listening.
All in all, the use of the explicit language and disturbing lyrics and in some cases videos, all of these artists have one thing in common. All are trying to receive some sort of attention so they can explain their thoughts to everyone, even if no one wants to hear.
U2, once again has found its way into my lovely little blog. This time with their 1988 documentary, Rattle and Hum. Honestly from what I saw I really enjoyed it, especially the cinematography of it all and, of course, the music it featured. After watching it, I realized that the guys really were good friends with each other, and loved making music and just had a great time doing it. A few videos that really stood out to me were their cover of The Beatles hit song, Helter Skelter, Bono singing Just Haven't Found What I'm Looking For with a gospel choir, and all of their work with blues guitar legend, BB King, most notably "When Love Comes To Town." All of these really show U2's amazing versatility and pure talent when making and even rerecording music.
I have the up most respect for The Beatles, but U2, in my opinion, killed the song....probably one of my favorite recordings.
I love the way The Edge describes the song at the beginning of the video.
After watching the documentary, I really have come to appreciate U2 even more. These guys really do know what they are doing.
As I seem to be running out of new music to listen to, I decided to delve into my childhood. As I was pondering who I listened to I remembered these guys...Fall Out Boy. The emo rock/punk/pop/alternative band or whatever they were were formed in 2001 in Chicago Illinois. The group led by front man, vocalist, and guitarist- Patrick Stump, known for his crazy range and falsetto, and bassist and lyricist- Pete Wentz- known for well being crazy.
The first song of theirs that I really became familiar with first was "Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy," off the album Take This To Your Grave in 2003. Looking back on it I have no idea why I liked it. I feel as though the whole album was very childish, reeking of early 2000's pop. Yet by their second album From Under The Cork Tree in 2005, their sound had completely changed. The early 2000's pop sound had vanished, replaced for a much heavier rock influence with more thought provoking and controversial lyrics/message. My two favorite songs off of that album were probably the two most popular: "Dance, Dance" and "Sugar, We're Goin Down." On their third album, which I consider to be just as good as the second, two other songs stood out: "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race," and "Thanks fr th Mmrs."
This band is really good at a lot of things, one of those being the way they make their videos. All of their videos relate to each other in some sort of way, either with the same characters or a continuing story. For example, at the beginning of "This Ain't A Scene..." the "Dance, Dance" video is ending...pretty cool in my opinion. Another thing about the video's...watch Pete's dance moves, the man likes to spin.
Oh, what a twist
That's not a possible Joe Cocker impression I see at about 0:35 is it?
After taking a quick break from the band and having somewhat successful solo carriers, Stump and Wentz have rejoined the band and have released two new singles: "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Them Up)," and "The Phoenix." Both are much more intense and darker than their previous works.
....Is that...2 Chianz....what?
A bit dark but interesting none the less
After going back and listening, I realized that they are still really good musicians who have amazing stage presence and are really entertaining to watch. More good news is that FOB's new album Save Rock And Roll is expected to come out April 16th. Hopefully it's as good as their old music if not better.
Sorry to all of you country haters out there but I'm gonna have to talk about it again this week. This time the lucky artist is none other than Luke Bryan. The 37 year-old singer out of Leesburg, Georgia is probably one of my favorite country artists at the time and most likely ever. In 2007, Bryan came out with his first album- I'll Stay Me with his hit song "All My Friends Say." Personally I didn't like the album very much and thought that the songs were a bit too cliche and almost childish. Yet I've slowly gotten used to his relatively lowish Georgia croon among other things. Sure his lyrics aren't the most complex but there is emotion behind them and to me there's a sense of comfort in that, one that makes his music very enjoyable to listen to.
His new album, Spring Break...Here To Party having been just released before spring break was surprisingly pretty good. Although a lot of the songs are up beat and happy, like "If You Ain't Here To Party, some are slow and thoughtful too, like "Buzzkill." Some of my other favorites, not on that album include: "Been There, Done That," and "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye."
Can't say I approve of his dancing...but it's a catchy song for sure.
This one of my absolute favorites. I really like that the song is more acoustic and centered around the lyrics and message, not just the music.
One of the coolest things about country music in my opinion is that people can relate to the songs because although some are a bit too cheesy, they are about real emotions and real things. Plus who doesn't like a catchy song to relax to?
I'm very excited to be finally getting to U2, especially when listening to The Joshua Tree (their best album by far in my opinion). This album has elements of classic rock along with more folky tunes. The most amazing thing about it is that anyone in the world who has ever listened to any form of music knows who this band is, and can at least recognize 4 songs off of the album without listening to more than 30 seconds. This feat is something that hardly any other band or artist can say about one album.
Then....
...and now
On the album their songs very musically in a few different ways. For example the song "Bullet The Blue Sky," has elements that lean more toward the stereotypical classic rock sound with Bono's voice and especially the influence of the guitar. Yet other songs like "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," and "With Or Without You," are a little more calm and lean towards the folk side of the musical spectrum. Regardless, all are still amazing songs, both musically and lyrically.
(I love the drums in the beginning of this song!)
U2 really is quite an amazing band, coming together in 1976 in Dublin, Ireland. The really spectacular part about it is that they still are making good music and have been for a good 37ish years. That takes dedication.
