I shall attempt to keep this updated every week /2 weeks/ month, depending on how i feel. just a catalogue of my itunes <50 folder. In order put inside the playlist.
Under The Counter - Noo Terabii [in katakana]
Foo Fighters -Word Forward
ANECHOIS - love+serenity
Foo Fighters - I Should Have Known
Foo Fighters - Bridge Burning
Nirvana - Lithium
King Crimson - Starless
LITE - Fade
Maybeshewill - Not for the Want of Trying
65daysofstatic – Retreat! Retreat!
65daysofstatic – The Fall of Math
65daysofstatic – Radio Protector
65daysofstatic – PX3
Maybeshewill – Seraphim & Cherubim
LITE – Solitude
Radiohead – Paranoid Android
Ling Tosite Shigure – DISCO FLIGHT
Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group – No.1 (Live)
The Samuel Jackson Five - Easily Misunderstood
LITE – Ghost Dance
LITE – Red Horse in Blue
JABBERLOOP – Fiesta
The Bad Plus – Flim
Russian Circles – Death Rides a Horse
Hiromi Uehara – Green Tea Farm
Maybeshewill – Last Time This Year
Deerhoof – Super Duper Rescue Heads! (Live in San Fancisco)
Mogwai – The Sun Smells Too Loud
Mogwai – Batcat
Arcade Fire – Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)
TOE- “Guddobai”
TOE – I Do Still Wrong
65daysofstatic - Pacify
Animals as Leaders – An Infinite Regression
Cloudkicker - Dysphoria
I am deathly addicted to this band. Their album "Phantasia" is awesome. Recommended for those who have an obsession with listening to complex dissonant and/or very catchy riffs! Not recommended for those who dislike repetitive lines.
Just wanted to share some good music, don't think i know enough about the band to do a proper writeup yet...
The Who lasted from the 1960s to the 1980s... ah, what a good time for music... They created the genre "power-pop" which, I guess, was coined as though they had a "pop" sound, it was infused with more energy than other generic pop singles. They also had rock singles. They were, further, famous for instrument destruction- a feat that was repeated many times after.
The Who influenced many bands that came after- one of which was Pearl Jam, a band that I had talked about recently.
Substitute
As far as the lyrics go, Townshend's favorite song at the time was "Tracks of My Tears" by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. Townshend loved the way Smokey sang the word "substitute" so perfectly ("Although she may be cute she's just a substitute 'Cause you're the permanent one") that he decided to celebrate the word with a song all its own. - Songfacts.com
Keith Moon... the Loon. The fellow on the drums- haha look at the way he's playing. Anyway, he was famous for exploding toilets at hotels that the band stayed in. Graduating from cherry bombs, to M80s, and finally to dynamites, he caused the band to be banned from staying at several hotel chains.
It was to note that it was him who recommended Jimmy Page the name for the band Led Zeppelin. (The name arose at the failed attempt on part of Page to create a supergroup, therefore a "Lead Balloon" it was spelt as "led" to avoid mispronunciation.)
However, he was quite wild and uncontrollable- often on drugs and alcohol. During an attempt to stay clean from alcohol he was given pills, however, he OD'ed on the pills and passed away.
You Better You Bet
First song on the album Faces Dances; the first album released after Moon died.
"You Better You Bet" was both the 4th and 55th video to be aired on MTV, making it the first video to be shown more than once. - Wikipedia
Noted as one of the Best Guitarists of All Time and one of the Fastest Guitarists of all time! Paul Gilbert is by far one of my favorite instrumentalists- His influences stem from varying genres and out of all of these (rock, jazz, pop, ballad, etc...) 2 genres show themselves blindingly over the others- Metal and J-Pop. Seldom do you find pieces with mindblowing shreds and flowy melodic progressions... Actually, now it kind of feels like Maximum the Hormone... But I'll talk about that another time!
The first video I had ever watched of his was this:
Paul Gilbert- Get out of my Yard
Gilbert has a whole range of guitars, but he usually uses Ibanez guitars. Some time back, he started using the Ibanez "Fireman", which he designed himself, very frequently.
At 15, Ozzy had already identified Gilbert and they played together. Soon after, Gilbert, together with Juan Alderete (the bassist from The Mars Volta), Harry Gschoesser (Drums) and Jeff Martin (Vocals) formed Racer X in 1985. A year later, Gschoesser left and was replaced by Scott Travis (of Judas Priest) - this was the main line-up and the lastest that was seen in 2009. Racer X was primarily Metal-driven with songs like "Scarified" (featured previously), "Technical Difficulties", and others.
Technical difficulties
In 1988, Billy Sheehan joined with Paul Gilbert and founded Mr.Big, together with Pat Torpey (drums) and Eric Martin (vocals). Here, Gilbert moved into a more rock / pop-ballad zone. Playing songs like "To Be With You", "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy" and "Green-Tinted Sixties Mind". However, they broke up in 2002.
The band had a reunion tour and came to Singapore late last year, they have also recent released an album entitled What If...
Also to note, he taught Buckethead, a legendary figure himself, guitar!
Gilbert had married a Japanese woman and has adjusted to life in Japan, learning the language with fellow metalhead, Marty Friedman (of Megadeth fame). He is highly noticeable due to his very funny antics- such as very big actions and opening his mouth really wide!
He has to wear the headphones that you see him wearing in several pictures and videos as he is suffereing form tinnitus and needs to isolate and protect his ears...
Heres a video of him being on a gameshow!
LOVE the game at 2:55!
I'll end this off with one of my favorite videos- Gilbert double-tapping on his guitar and singing "To Be With You"- Awesome. It also helps that that happens to be my favorite song, hehe.
I had originally wanted to do a short write-up on Seven Mary Three - Water's Edge but the Youtube video can't show here... So I decided to write about another song i really like- that would be Pearl Jam's Do the Evolution.
It's pretty different from their usual stuff. Co directed by Keven Altieri, the director of Batman: The Animated Series, the video is going to make you think real hard. The lyrics tie in to the video very, very well.
The video starts with the basic units of life leading up to mankind. This is followed by the inevitable violence and fighting that the humans constantly create and face. From the crusades, to the World Wars to the KKK to the wall street crash... Internal, external, religious, economics, there is no escape from the violence and death no matter where humans turn; too greedy and too power-sickened.
The video also depicted other social and environmental issue - such as uncontrolled urbanization and the consequent destruction of the earth and the lives in it.
"I do what I want, but irresponsibly... Its evolution baby ".
A sadly painful but true reminder of the lives we are living right now. As well as whaling, slavery, addiction to computers, the loss of emotions- the branding of babies, bring about the loss of humanity- this would eventually result in the catastrophic explosion that would change the face of the earth.
The black lady represented "Death" and how it follows humanity no matter how far we try to evolve death seems to have always puppetted the leaders and strung them to the inevitable final destruction of the world.
Thrown into popularity straight from their first album, but currently on hiatus, The Hush Sound is an indie quartet, featuring Bob Morris (vocals and guitar), Mike Leblank (bass and vocals), Darren Wilson (Drums and vocals), and Greta Salpeter (vocals and piano)
It gives a very alternative pop feel, and goes somewhat off the beaten track, mixing in some jangle pop and other musics. It felt a little similar to The Killers in that though it is an american band, they have a very "English" sound.
Their third album Goodbye Blues, consists of tracks show casing more of Greta's vocals. It is by far, my favorite album from them. Prior to that, they had released So Sudden and The Vines. The most popular track on this album, however, would be Honey:
We'll head back to The Foo Fighters now - I'll go through each song, in the order that its played on the album! I had almost all the songs on repeat on my ipod for several days in a row (listening to one song for several days) just cause it's that awesome. I'm pretty sure I've played several over 1000 times haha,
Bridge Burning (Feat. Rami Jaffee; Keys)
A powerful start to the album....With an electrifying introduction. High tones, Mid tones, Low notes.... Rolling drums... "THESE ARE MY FAMOUS LAST WORDS!", screams Grohl. If this doesn't make you feel like screaming along I don't know what would! Its about leaving the past behind, and moving on.
Rope (Feat. Rami Jaffee; Keys)
Grohl start half a beat later than songs usually do.
Dear Rosemary (Feat. Bob Mould; Guitars & Backing Vocals)
It has this really catchy guitar riff! And Bob Mould's voice shines through during the chorus.
White Limo
Features the most screamo, oneof Grohl's favorites- it doesn't have much meaning, but it's really fun!
Arlandria
A favorite of many.
These Days
Back & Forth (Butch Vig; Percussion)
A lot of this song was writeen about the band, with the people Grohl worked with- to continue working with, and those that were dropped...
A Matter of Time
Miss the Misery
I Should Have Known (Feat. Krist Novoselic; Bass & Accordion, Mellotron; Keys, Jessy Greene; Violin)
One of the most featured songs of the album. It showcases the classic Foo Fighters music video style.... Melodious, with a raging bridge, the build-up here is so powerful.
I was talking to the guitarist earlier today, and we were discussing song choices. We ended up with Audioslave - Show Me How to Live and The Mars Volta - Cotopaxi.
A Progressive-Rock band, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, as frontman of The Mars Volta, boasts an exceedingly high tenor range, probably shocking for one when he hears it for the first time. The bassist, Juan Alderete had, prior, worked with Paul Gilbert on Racer X; Scarified (below). He had also played for Metallica for a time.He's a beast on the bass. His tone is pretty much perfect- fat, thick, yet, precise- and it does not cut into the frequency of the other instruments. His skill is off the scale as well- just listen to the chorus of Cotopaxi.
This video isn't prog rock but i wanted some PG!
Omar Rodríguez-López, the guitarist of the same band, has a side project:
The drums and bass in this set are tight as hell, The breakdown is awesome. I don't even know what genre this is, but its crazy.
The album consists of 11 hard-hitting songs- the atmosphere is usually heavy, there are no acoustic pieces, something that hadn't been done since "The Colour and the Shape". Every single track is different, powerful, and astoundingly real. The entire album was recorded on analog, in Grohl's garage- no pro tools, limited takes. The band was pushed, but in a different way- recording it in Grohl's house, with their families around, their wives and kids, it created a beautiful album.
The album is about time. It's trying to say- I recognize the pain in living. I've seen it, I've felt it, I've lived through it. But there needs to be this hope- and I will hold on to it, and move on.
Though I like every song on the album, my favorite song would be "I Should've Known".
I Should've Known
Its so fun to watch Taylor play
"I should have known that it would end this way I should have known There was no other way Didn't hear your warning Damn my heart gone deaf
I should have known look at the shape you're in I should have known, but I dove right in in One thing is for certain, As I'm standing here I should have known
Lay your hand in mine, Heal me one last time Though I cannot forgive you yet No I cannot forgive you yet You leave my heart in debt
I should have known I was inside of you I should have known There was that side of you Came without a warning Caught me unaware
I should have known I've been here before I should have known Don't want it anymore
One thing is for certain I'm still standing here I should have known Lay your hands in mine Feel me one last time
Though I cannot forgive you yet, No I cannot forgive you yet To leave my heart in debt No I cannot forgive you yet
No I cannot forgive you yet You leave my heart in debt I should've known
Maybe you was right Didn't wanna fight I should've known Couldnt read the signs Couldnt see the lights I should've known
Though I cannot forgive you yet, No I cannot forgive you yet You leave my heart in debt No I cannot forgive you yet
No I cannot forgive you yet To leave my heart in debt
No I cannot forgive you yet No I cannot forgive you yet You leave us all in debt I should've known"
It's probably the heaviest song on the album- so heavy that it would weigh in on your heart. Grohl's screams become so raw and true (he plugged his mike into the guitar amp), Taylor just crashes and goes crazy on the drums - and Krist Novselic played the bass for this song. He, Grohl, and Butch Vig (the Producer) hadn't been in the same room since the ground-breaking recording of "Nevermind" (of Nirvana) so many years ago.
I thought at first, before I realized Krist was playing, that the bass sounded different. The heavy, loud, precise sound of the bass, every note. Strong yet mellow.... it sounded kind of painful. But at the same time, so perfect and beautiful. He played it perfectly... Also, because it was him, I think it felt like this song rings a little more about Nirvana, and about Kurt.
But there are so many meanings that the songs could have. The song feels, at least to me, about life- more so, about losing someone, being in that helpless position. Not having noticed it earlier, not being able to forgive oneself for not doing something more, for not doing something less. Losing not once, but many, many times. Its about regret. And wanting the future to be different. Undoubtedly, when Grohl was writing this song, he did think about Kurt, how could one not? Seeing how things had turned out since then... But it wasn't just about him, it was about others- it was about that feeling.
"The idea is really more that you don't think about the specific person or who it's about. It's just about what it's about. I don't want to take that connection from you because it might have happened to you," he continued. "So when you're listening to it or singing it, you're doing it for your own reasons, not mine."- Dave Grohl on MTV News
These are the write-ups I'll be working on soon. This blog's just for me to share with people the music that I really like, just a fun thing... some of them I've read up and heard of their history and their reasons for music, but some I've only heard the songs. Kind of excited to read up on them!
The Foo Fighters (Rock)
Paul Gilbert (Metal, Pop-Ballad, Guitar Virtuisos)
Rise Against (Punk, Rock)
Sting (of The Police fame)
Yellowcard (Pop, Rock)
Colm Wilkinson (Les Miserables, the Musical)
Maximum the Hormone (Japanese Nu-Metal) Guitar Virtuisos (just some I've heard and liked- PG, Jeff Beck, Eric Johnson, Rosli Manor, Steve Vai, Buckethead, Kurikinton Fox, John Petrucci, MAB, Neil Zaza, Joe Satriani, the works.)
