Tara Priya: lovely retrosoul stuff. Just released her video for Rollin'. It's fun.
And then there's this funky little video from an Israeli rock band called EatLiz. I found it by accident - the joys of clicking random links.
And finally, this little 90s gem from Aqua. One of their less bubblegum tunes. Love it.
Enjoy.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Band of the Week: Bayside, Nine Inch Nails, Enter Shikari
'K, so Band of the Week is getting a bit revamped. And by that I mean simply that I am a lazy cow who very rarely remembers to write a post about a single artist. As such, Band of the Week is going to become more of a feature jobby, showcasing random stuff that I've found in the last week or so. I'll probably still forget to post, but it's worth a try. Anyways, on with the show.
Firstly, Bayside. I've known about them for a few years now and have always loved their song Masterpiece from the album Sirens and Condolences. However, me being me, totally kept forgetting to check them out properly. And then they played at Soundwave in February so I thought they deserved my attention properly. Then I promptly forgot again and then last week I got Sick, Sick, Sick from their latest album Killing Time stuck in my head so I bought the album. Suffice to say, it's made of awesome.
Also, rambling paragraph is rambling. Bayside are pretty much straight up rock. Really good, makes you want to move sort of rock. Sick, Sick, Sick is a good example as is Seeing Sound (also from Killing Time).
I've mentioned Nine Inch Nails before and they hardly need mentioning again, but I got hold of The Downward Spiral and Pretty Hate Machine this week and felt the need to gush about them. I love them. Not entirely sure why I didn't check 'em out sooner. Anyways, have a listen to Heresy, Closer and Reptile from The Downward Spiral and Head Like A Hole, Terrible Lie and That's What I Get from Pretty Hate Machine. TDS is a bit heavier than PHM, but they're both awesome. Good industrial rock. The video for Closer is also pretty cool. Weird, slightly disturbing, but cool. And Trent Reznor was hot when he was younger.
Finally, Enter Shikari. I LOVE Enter Shikari. Anyhoo, found out this week that they're playing at my uni in October so guess who's excited? Enter Shikari are not everyone's cup of tea. They play a peculier brand of electronic post-hardcore often labelled as trancecore for it's dance influences. It's not a combination that goes down well with everyone and I know some fans now are getting annoyed because their more recent work is heavily dubstep influenced. That said, I still love them. They put on an amazing live show and they're very much worth checking out. Try Adieu, No Sssweat, Mothership and Labyrinth from Take To The Skies, Zzzonked, Antwerpen and The Jester from Common Dreads and the two latest singles Destabilise and Quelle Surprise. Love the Zzzonked video - I was at that gig (trying my hardest to avoid falling in the numerous mosh pits).
That'll do, right? Check it out, let me know what you think and pass it on.
Firstly, Bayside. I've known about them for a few years now and have always loved their song Masterpiece from the album Sirens and Condolences. However, me being me, totally kept forgetting to check them out properly. And then they played at Soundwave in February so I thought they deserved my attention properly. Then I promptly forgot again and then last week I got Sick, Sick, Sick from their latest album Killing Time stuck in my head so I bought the album. Suffice to say, it's made of awesome.
Also, rambling paragraph is rambling. Bayside are pretty much straight up rock. Really good, makes you want to move sort of rock. Sick, Sick, Sick is a good example as is Seeing Sound (also from Killing Time).
I've mentioned Nine Inch Nails before and they hardly need mentioning again, but I got hold of The Downward Spiral and Pretty Hate Machine this week and felt the need to gush about them. I love them. Not entirely sure why I didn't check 'em out sooner. Anyways, have a listen to Heresy, Closer and Reptile from The Downward Spiral and Head Like A Hole, Terrible Lie and That's What I Get from Pretty Hate Machine. TDS is a bit heavier than PHM, but they're both awesome. Good industrial rock. The video for Closer is also pretty cool. Weird, slightly disturbing, but cool. And Trent Reznor was hot when he was younger.
Finally, Enter Shikari. I LOVE Enter Shikari. Anyhoo, found out this week that they're playing at my uni in October so guess who's excited? Enter Shikari are not everyone's cup of tea. They play a peculier brand of electronic post-hardcore often labelled as trancecore for it's dance influences. It's not a combination that goes down well with everyone and I know some fans now are getting annoyed because their more recent work is heavily dubstep influenced. That said, I still love them. They put on an amazing live show and they're very much worth checking out. Try Adieu, No Sssweat, Mothership and Labyrinth from Take To The Skies, Zzzonked, Antwerpen and The Jester from Common Dreads and the two latest singles Destabilise and Quelle Surprise. Love the Zzzonked video - I was at that gig (trying my hardest to avoid falling in the numerous mosh pits).
That'll do, right? Check it out, let me know what you think and pass it on.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Band of the Week: super-mega-awesome feature... again
Yeah yeah yeah, blog neglect. But anyhoo, I has music scrummies to share.
First, earthtone9 and particularly their new EP For Cause & Consequence. I don't think it's available digitally (and legally) anywhere outside of PledgeMusic, but if you can find somewhere to listen to it, DO IT. And you can always get hold of a physical copy. I only started listening to them after getting their greatest hits compilation free sometime last year and I've still not got round to properly checking out their material, but they're a pretty great British alt-metal band.
Next... hmmm... choices. How's about There For Tomorrow. I only know a couple of songs by them, but they're a decent alt-rock/pop band. Lovely stuff.
That'll do on the artists front. Now for some songs.
Japanese Voyeurs just released their new video for Cry Baby. Awesomeness as always.
Then, there's this epicness, which I already posted yesterday, but it's awesome so I'm posting it again.
And then this, because I think I've fallen in love with the Wicked soundtrack. I should probably point out that I usually hate musicals. Something about them just grates on me, but I love this. And I just had it stuck in my head all the way through my Tasmanian Fauna exam.
Anything else... Lady Gaga's Judas has become a bit of a guilty pleasure. Although, I wouldn't exactly call it a guilty pleasure - I try not to feel guilty about anything I listen to.
And this. I've never listened to Yellowcard and then I got a free sampler from Hopeless Records last week. This track's pretty cool.
And to finish, one of my favourite videos of all time to go with one of my favourite tracks of all time. I'm not much of a fan of Avenged Sevenfold but this is just epic.
For some reason the official video doesn't show up when I search via Blogger. How odd...
First, earthtone9 and particularly their new EP For Cause & Consequence. I don't think it's available digitally (and legally) anywhere outside of PledgeMusic, but if you can find somewhere to listen to it, DO IT. And you can always get hold of a physical copy. I only started listening to them after getting their greatest hits compilation free sometime last year and I've still not got round to properly checking out their material, but they're a pretty great British alt-metal band.
Next... hmmm... choices. How's about There For Tomorrow. I only know a couple of songs by them, but they're a decent alt-rock/pop band. Lovely stuff.
That'll do on the artists front. Now for some songs.
Japanese Voyeurs just released their new video for Cry Baby. Awesomeness as always.
Then, there's this epicness, which I already posted yesterday, but it's awesome so I'm posting it again.
And then this, because I think I've fallen in love with the Wicked soundtrack. I should probably point out that I usually hate musicals. Something about them just grates on me, but I love this. And I just had it stuck in my head all the way through my Tasmanian Fauna exam.
Anything else... Lady Gaga's Judas has become a bit of a guilty pleasure. Although, I wouldn't exactly call it a guilty pleasure - I try not to feel guilty about anything I listen to.
And this. I've never listened to Yellowcard and then I got a free sampler from Hopeless Records last week. This track's pretty cool.
And to finish, one of my favourite videos of all time to go with one of my favourite tracks of all time. I'm not much of a fan of Avenged Sevenfold but this is just epic.
For some reason the official video doesn't show up when I search via Blogger. How odd...
Monday, June 13, 2011
Randomness: PLUG PLUG PLUG
So yeah, I totally felt the need to plug my friend's new blog. It's also music based (probably more so than this one's turned out to be!) and she's just started it up. She's slightly less inclined to babble madly about stuff, so go and check it out HERE. And give her hugs. Hugs are always nice. Screw that, give me hugs, I have exams.
Ahem.
Just go check it out, 'K?
Ahem.
Just go check it out, 'K?
Randomness: Minecraft
Dear god, I haven't posted for ages. Blame end of term, coursework and now exams. Anyways, felt the need to blog. There might be a few more posts in the next few days, but first, MINECRAFT.
I can't even begin to explain why it's so addicting. It's a sandbox game. You dig stuff, craft stuff, build stuff and try not to get killed. And even with the monsters turned off, that's not always straightforward. The amount of times I've accidentally fallen into lava or off a cliff is ridiculous. Or all the way down my main mine shaft...
The graphics are basic. Everything's made of blocks, it's all pixelly and I LOVE IT. My housemate hates the graphics (because he's a graphics snob), but I think it's charming. It wouldn't be Minecraft without the pixelly graphics.
Almost more awesome (and definitely more awesome than anything I've done in Minecraft) are the videos on youtube. Current favourite: the Yogscast playing Minecraft. Two guys, trying not to die. Hilarity. X's Adventures In Minecraft is also pretty awesome, but nowhere near as funny. And then there's this.
Awesomeness.
Basically, before I just babble on and on for hours about how awesome this game is and the stupid shit I've managed to do (like accidentally opening my under-construction drawbridge while I was standing on it and falling to my death), go and check it out. You can play Classic for free online, but all you can do is build. You can't die, you can't craft and the world is small. If you like it, buy the beta. That's all there is at the moment. It's decent value and you get all the functionality, plus all updates. Or you could wait and buy it when it's officially released in November, but then it'll be more expensive.
Go go go!
I can't even begin to explain why it's so addicting. It's a sandbox game. You dig stuff, craft stuff, build stuff and try not to get killed. And even with the monsters turned off, that's not always straightforward. The amount of times I've accidentally fallen into lava or off a cliff is ridiculous. Or all the way down my main mine shaft...
The graphics are basic. Everything's made of blocks, it's all pixelly and I LOVE IT. My housemate hates the graphics (because he's a graphics snob), but I think it's charming. It wouldn't be Minecraft without the pixelly graphics.
Almost more awesome (and definitely more awesome than anything I've done in Minecraft) are the videos on youtube. Current favourite: the Yogscast playing Minecraft. Two guys, trying not to die. Hilarity. X's Adventures In Minecraft is also pretty awesome, but nowhere near as funny. And then there's this.
Awesomeness.
Basically, before I just babble on and on for hours about how awesome this game is and the stupid shit I've managed to do (like accidentally opening my under-construction drawbridge while I was standing on it and falling to my death), go and check it out. You can play Classic for free online, but all you can do is build. You can't die, you can't craft and the world is small. If you like it, buy the beta. That's all there is at the moment. It's decent value and you get all the functionality, plus all updates. Or you could wait and buy it when it's officially released in November, but then it'll be more expensive.
Go go go!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Randomness: character playlists
Many aeons ago (otherwise known as the time before my second year at uni), I wrote prose. Lengthy prose that rambled all over the place and didn't really have a plot. It was more a way of tracking the life of the character than telling any proper story. Because, you see, I have a huge number of characters milling around in my head. They live there and now and then they have been known to pass judgement on my every day life. It's very annoying, because I know they're not real, but for some reason this does not stop the snide comments (and occasional concerned comments from friends who seem to think there's something wrong with me). Anyways, given my love of music, it seemed only natural that at least one of this multitude of characters should have an interest in music. And then I wondered what music she'd like. So I strung together a playlist. That said, it probably says more about me than the character, but I can relate each song to something that happens in the character's life. The bad times and the good, all slung together in one little playlist. And because I'm feeling like death warmed up and therefore can't actually focus on the 4000 word report I'm supposed to be writing, I figured I'd share this playlist with the ether. Have fun. There's bits of all sorts, but it's pretty rock heavy. I've included Grooveshark links for the ones I could find there. I suspect some of them are dead links, but there's no harm in trying.
1. Mayday Parade - When I Get Home, You're So Dead
2. My Chemical Romance - Thank You For The Venom
3. Mindless Self Indulgence - Evening Wear
4. McFly - Down Goes Another One
5. Paramore - Misery Business
6. Mindless Self Indulgence - Issues
7. My Chemical Romance - I Never Told You What I Do For A Living
8. Hey Monday - 6 Months
9. My Chemical Romance - I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
10. Papa Roach - Hollywood Whore
11. AFI - Darling, I Want To Destroy You
12. The Blackout - ShutTheFuckUppercut
13. In This Moment - Daddy's Falling Angel
14. Lostprophets - Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)
15. The Academy Is... - Crowded Room
16. Cage The Elephant - In One Ear
For the most part, it's painfully clear to me that most of the choices were made in my first year at university. The songs meant more to me then, but even now I can listen to these tracks and know exactly what point in the character's life they're related to. And there's a clear enough chronology to them - tracks 1 through 8 represent a totally distinct period of life, track 9 is a transition and tracks 10-16 are more representative of her current state (in my head, at least). It's interesting to listen and remember all the shit I put the character through in the name of "character development". Rather misguided, I think, but it did make for an interesting personality. Anyways, enough babbling, because the nausea from this afternoon has just decided to pop in and say hello again.
1. Mayday Parade - When I Get Home, You're So Dead
2. My Chemical Romance - Thank You For The Venom
3. Mindless Self Indulgence - Evening Wear
4. McFly - Down Goes Another One
5. Paramore - Misery Business
6. Mindless Self Indulgence - Issues
7. My Chemical Romance - I Never Told You What I Do For A Living
8. Hey Monday - 6 Months
9. My Chemical Romance - I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
10. Papa Roach - Hollywood Whore
11. AFI - Darling, I Want To Destroy You
12. The Blackout - ShutTheFuckUppercut
13. In This Moment - Daddy's Falling Angel
14. Lostprophets - Rooftops (A Liberation Broadcast)
15. The Academy Is... - Crowded Room
16. Cage The Elephant - In One Ear
For the most part, it's painfully clear to me that most of the choices were made in my first year at university. The songs meant more to me then, but even now I can listen to these tracks and know exactly what point in the character's life they're related to. And there's a clear enough chronology to them - tracks 1 through 8 represent a totally distinct period of life, track 9 is a transition and tracks 10-16 are more representative of her current state (in my head, at least). It's interesting to listen and remember all the shit I put the character through in the name of "character development". Rather misguided, I think, but it did make for an interesting personality. Anyways, enough babbling, because the nausea from this afternoon has just decided to pop in and say hello again.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Randomness: a response to "you say [pop act], i say [generic rock band]" comments
This 'ere is a journal post from In-The-Machine on deviantART.
If people who post these "you say [pop act], i say [generic rock band]" comments really think so few people listen to rock, metal and the like, they must be even more stupid than the comment suggests. I think you'll find that while, yes, a huge number of people listen to pop and it does sell a lot more than anything else, that huge numbers of people also listen to other music. Also, if you really do want to pick fights with people over taste in music, at least chose some less generic bands to use. I like Evanescence and Linkin Park, but they're effectively pop simply because so many people listen to them. Try someone like... oh, I don't know, someone who hasn't sold millions of albums? There's so many brilliant bands out there you could use. It still doesn't mean they're any better than pop artists. OK, so maybe I think rock is generally better than pop, but that doesn't mean all pop is shit.
I'm kinda losing my thread here, so I'm going to go off on a slight tangent. It's related, I promise. The tangent is this - variety is the spice of life. I stand by that statement, so when I saw someone on YouTube say that we should stop people who like My Chemical Romance from listening to Murderdolls because MCR is "gay ass shit" and Murderdolls aren't "scene or emo", I couldn't help but reply. Since when did listening to one type of music disqualify you from listening to others? I pointed this out to her and to her credit, she was polite in her reply, which was "I didn't say you couldn't, but scene kids are taking over and we have to stop them in order to keep metal alive!!" Sorry, honey, but last I checked "scene" wasn't half as popular as it was a couple of years ago. Besides, you kinda contradicted yourself there - you're allowed to listen to whatever the hell you want, but scene kids aren't allowed to listen to some stuff because they'll kill it? Metal's in no danger of dying, dude. Let them listen to what they want and get over yourself. I dislike scenies if they're into bands because it's cool or popular to like them, but if they genuinely like them, then what's the problem? I also don't really like when bands I like suddenly get popular, but there's fuck all I can do about that.
OK, actually shutting up now. Apologies for the uber babble.
You say Taylor Swift,I say Breaking BenjaminThere was more, but I don't think I really need to post all of it. If you really want to read all of it, you can do so HERE. What I really wanted to say was: THIS PERSON IS MADE OF AWESOME. Now, while I am definitely guilty of bemoaning the love many people have for pop, I accept that it's their choice to listen to it. Besides, I like Lady Gaga and I like McFly and I like a lot of those 'alternative' bands who should really be counted as pop because they're so squishy and mainstream. For example, right now I'm listening to Mayday Parade. They definitely have pop-rock moments. Anyway, back to the actual topic.
You say Lady Gaga,I say Evanescence
You say Miley Cyrus,I say Slipknot
You say T-Pain,I say Three Days Grace
You say Kesha,I say Linkin Park
you say justin bieber, fuck you
You say Flowers,I say Puddle of Mudd
92% of teens have turned to pop and hip-hop.If you are part of the 8% that still listens to real music, copy and paste this message to 5 other videos. DONT LET ROCK N ROLL DIE ! , P.S Thumbs Up If You Agree ;D
You say "don't let teh RAWK die," I say you're overexaggerating.
You say "lol I'm hardc0re," I say you're attention-seeking.
You say "fuck da pop muzik," I say you're really desperate for approval from the big kids.
You say "you suck for liking this and my taste is better," I say you're an arrogant little fucktard.
You say you know what "real music is," I say "then why don't you have Def Leppard on here?"
You say bullshit statistics, I say if you honestly think rock is "in danger of dying" you need to get out more.
If people who post these "you say [pop act], i say [generic rock band]" comments really think so few people listen to rock, metal and the like, they must be even more stupid than the comment suggests. I think you'll find that while, yes, a huge number of people listen to pop and it does sell a lot more than anything else, that huge numbers of people also listen to other music. Also, if you really do want to pick fights with people over taste in music, at least chose some less generic bands to use. I like Evanescence and Linkin Park, but they're effectively pop simply because so many people listen to them. Try someone like... oh, I don't know, someone who hasn't sold millions of albums? There's so many brilliant bands out there you could use. It still doesn't mean they're any better than pop artists. OK, so maybe I think rock is generally better than pop, but that doesn't mean all pop is shit.
I'm kinda losing my thread here, so I'm going to go off on a slight tangent. It's related, I promise. The tangent is this - variety is the spice of life. I stand by that statement, so when I saw someone on YouTube say that we should stop people who like My Chemical Romance from listening to Murderdolls because MCR is "gay ass shit" and Murderdolls aren't "scene or emo", I couldn't help but reply. Since when did listening to one type of music disqualify you from listening to others? I pointed this out to her and to her credit, she was polite in her reply, which was "I didn't say you couldn't, but scene kids are taking over and we have to stop them in order to keep metal alive!!" Sorry, honey, but last I checked "scene" wasn't half as popular as it was a couple of years ago. Besides, you kinda contradicted yourself there - you're allowed to listen to whatever the hell you want, but scene kids aren't allowed to listen to some stuff because they'll kill it? Metal's in no danger of dying, dude. Let them listen to what they want and get over yourself. I dislike scenies if they're into bands because it's cool or popular to like them, but if they genuinely like them, then what's the problem? I also don't really like when bands I like suddenly get popular, but there's fuck all I can do about that.
OK, actually shutting up now. Apologies for the uber babble.
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