I admit: I'm not a very big fan of the modern Weezer. But their first two albums are so god damn good that it's hard not to enjoy them every once in a while. While their debut, the Blue Album, was a complete commercial success and goldmine... I prefer the more looked down upon "retarded-twin-brother" sophomore album, Pinkerton.
This record means a lot to me because when I was a freshman in high school my first "band" played a cover of "The Good Life". I had never even listened to the song until the drummer told us we should play it. I was hooked immediately. It was completely different from their first album, and I can understand why they would want a different sound- making a follow up to a great album such as the Blue Album would be damn near impossible, and by going in a different direction made sense. To me, this is a better recording than Blue, but again, it's just my opinion.
Apparently the album is loosely based on an opera by Puccinni called Madama Butterfly. A lot of the lyrical topics and themes involve the Japanese, their culture, sex, sex with Japanese girls, etc etc. You can read more on Wikipedia if you're interested.
Anyway, here's "Butterfly" from Pinkerton.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Oracular Spectacular
A couple years back, I was wondering what all the fuss was about for this band called MGMT. Their debut album, Oracular Spectacular, was released in 2008 I believe. I went two years without listening to them...WHY WOULD I DO THAT. I love this album in all its synth-y-glory.
It took me a while to get into them but after listening to their hit singles a few times, I downloaded their two albums. They're both fantastic but I like their debut album more. To me, it's more cohesive and pure.
I love how down to earth the band members are. They don't take interviews seriously and just want to have a good time. They're high all the time and joke about everything. I can totally relate to them.
This song hit me like a ton of bricks: "Time to Pretend" by MGMT.
It took me a while to get into them but after listening to their hit singles a few times, I downloaded their two albums. They're both fantastic but I like their debut album more. To me, it's more cohesive and pure.
I love how down to earth the band members are. They don't take interviews seriously and just want to have a good time. They're high all the time and joke about everything. I can totally relate to them.
This song hit me like a ton of bricks: "Time to Pretend" by MGMT.
Monday, October 11, 2010
In Rainbows
I will be starting a series about my favorite albums.
I'm kind of a weird music-listener. I go through phases of a band where I listen to all their stuff. I dissect all of their studio recordings and learn how to play the majority of their songs on guitar, bass, and drums. I study their songwriting techniques and structures and find the things they all have in common. I go through the band history and study their stage presence. Then after a few years I move on to another band and start the cycle over again.
Currently I'm obsessed with Radiohead. I don't know why, really. I used to HATE them because they were so depressing. There weren't any sing-along pop/rock choruses. Nothing was really memorable for me. Everything was bleak and negative. They weren't nearly as accessible as some of the other British bands of their time. But...Then they released In Rainbows. The whole music industry was buzzing about Radiohead and how Thom Yorke is the most powerful man in music. Now that I think about it, I'd much rather have Thom Yorke and his reputation for pessimistic lyrics be the center of the music industry than Justin Bieber or some other pop star.
I started listening to In Rainbows religiously. It really struck me as a powerful and cohesive album, and suddenly Radiohead were my favorite band. I loved them. The song "Reckoner" really stood out to me. The way the instruments enter, one after another...The layers upon layers of instruments and how they blended together to form this massive crescendo at the peak of a song and then.....nothing. Just silence in the middle of a song. And then it builds up and swells with a string section and wall of vocal harmonies and fades out, seemingly never ending. It's just perfect to me.
Anyway, at the moment my favorite album is In Rainbows by Radiohead. If you feel like it, give it a listen.
I'm kind of a weird music-listener. I go through phases of a band where I listen to all their stuff. I dissect all of their studio recordings and learn how to play the majority of their songs on guitar, bass, and drums. I study their songwriting techniques and structures and find the things they all have in common. I go through the band history and study their stage presence. Then after a few years I move on to another band and start the cycle over again.
Currently I'm obsessed with Radiohead. I don't know why, really. I used to HATE them because they were so depressing. There weren't any sing-along pop/rock choruses. Nothing was really memorable for me. Everything was bleak and negative. They weren't nearly as accessible as some of the other British bands of their time. But...Then they released In Rainbows. The whole music industry was buzzing about Radiohead and how Thom Yorke is the most powerful man in music. Now that I think about it, I'd much rather have Thom Yorke and his reputation for pessimistic lyrics be the center of the music industry than Justin Bieber or some other pop star.
I started listening to In Rainbows religiously. It really struck me as a powerful and cohesive album, and suddenly Radiohead were my favorite band. I loved them. The song "Reckoner" really stood out to me. The way the instruments enter, one after another...The layers upon layers of instruments and how they blended together to form this massive crescendo at the peak of a song and then.....nothing. Just silence in the middle of a song. And then it builds up and swells with a string section and wall of vocal harmonies and fades out, seemingly never ending. It's just perfect to me.
Anyway, at the moment my favorite album is In Rainbows by Radiohead. If you feel like it, give it a listen.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
LET'S DO THIS
Starting in the next couple of days I'm going to write a series of guitar lessons. I just have to get some lesson plans ready and you can start rockin in no time. What kind of lessons would you be interested in?
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