i will admit that this is ported over from my personal blog, but alas, i can do what i want, so neener neener

once upon a time, i had a music blog. it was never anything over the top exciting, but id be lying if i said that i didnt spend nights agonizing over what to write about. most of peoples feelings on music are subjective. there are a few truths such as nickleback sucks. elvis costello is the only elvis in my book. type o negative was the best band to ever walk the earth. okay that last part might be a little biased.

but, none the less, i do enjoy talking about music, even if it sends me into heated tangents, one upping matches and hipster-esque rants of i heard of xyz before they were cool. alas i do pride myself in trying to learn about new bands all the time, and generally will give anything the ole college try as far as giving them an initial listen.

last night while tinkering around at around 4 in the morning, like any normal person does, i decided that i couldnt be bothered actually picking any sort of playlist for myself, so i resorted to my old friend pandora to do the picking. does anyone else ever feel like when you do this, its like caving in and letting your mom pick your school clothes for you? no? me either. ill admit, my pandora radio stations range from the raveonettes to delerium to johnny hates jazz to covenant to imogen heap to kenny loggins, one must have a radio station for every occasion, no? speaking of pandora, does anyone else hate the interface overhaul as much as i do? HATE IT. alas i digress, as i was putzing around on the internet at 4am this morning i figured it would be in my best interest to put on a mellow station to try and induce those feelings of needing to go to sleep. i chose one of my favorite stations based off the band delerium.

now if you havnt heard of delerium, you should probably check them out. infact im sure you have probably heard of one of their songs, silence ft. sarah mclaughlin (is that even spelled right?) as it has been used in quite a few movies and other promotional material. i originally discovered this band being a fan of front line assembly, and it progressed from there.

for the most part i usually have good luck with this station. it will throw a little enya, sarah brightman, depeche mode, and enigma my way, but will also toss in some new ones that i have yet to discover.

the first that i had heard for the first time (though im sure all three have played quite a bit, but sometimes its not always active listening going on) was sleepthief. much like delerium, the group has guest vocalists for tracks and what really drew me in was the track that had zoe joh on it – mostly knowing her from her work with delerium. they have released two studio albums, one of which contains a cover of the duran duran song ‘the chauffer’. i normally dont care for covers because so many artists botch them so badly, but i admit, i really do enjoy this one.

the second band that i was introduced to was over the rhine. composed mainly of a husband and wife duo from ohio, they are a piano heavy based group with overlaying female vocals. some songs have cocteau twins-esque guitar riffs to them, which gives me that warm fuzzy feeling inside. 12 studio albums later, they are still going strong and have toured with the likes of bob dylan, ani difranco, and squeeze.

and finally, swinging back towards the delerium spectrum, the third band that i am newly addicted to is a group called mythos. based in canada (where im convinced they have some sort of secret factory that churns out amazing electronic groups) an ethereal mixture of acoustic guitars, pianos and synths, also with guest vocalist tracks – the album purity would make a great addition to anyones collection.

so thats it. take off your pants and relax a bit to these new gems for your ears. and stalk my pandora account (pyropixie) and grooveshark account (ladycorrin) just promise not to make fun of me – too much.

So, it’s been about 100 years since anyone has even touched this lovely little blog of ours. I’ve decided to try and beat this dead horse a few more times and see what happens.

Last night I went to San Francisco to see Bad Religion and Rise Against at the Bill Graham Civic. It is rare that I buy tickets for shows, let alone drive all the way to the bay area to see them. But, I was going with a friend, and I haven’t been to a show in a while. That was, until said friend got the plague and bailed on me. Alone at a show? Something I’ve never done, and believe me, it was just as awkward as it sounds. The car ride there was oddly quiet, despite blasting music the entire way there, and It was weird to just stand in a room full of thousands of people alone. But, fuck it, lets make the most of it. I came to see a show!

There had been various rumors floating around that the Decendents were going to be opening the show, as they have been one of the supporting bands on various legs of the tour, but then I also heard that Four Year Strong was taking their place on dates that they were not playing. A friend had told me that The Decendents had opened in Long Beach, so I was confident that San Francisco would get that treat as well. WRONG. I don’t think I could be more disappointed. Well, I could, but work with me here.

Before the show began, I was privy to one of the weirdest rules(?) I have ever seen at a venue. Now, I have worked Bill Graham Civic before, and have never witnessed it, but at the same time, I don’t usually wander around until after the bands have started. Security was asking everyone on the floor to please sit down in the spot they were planning on standing in. This didn’t make sense to me because I knew everyone would rush the stage as soon as the first band took the stage. But like the sheep that people are, they complied. I, of course, did not, but I was standing near the back. And as predicted, as soon as the lights went up, everyone went running for the stage – so weird.

Why they went running towards it, I’m unsure, because Four Year Strong, is four tons of pure crap. And turning the volume up to the point where you are distorting the house sound doesn’t really mask the sound of awfulness. They had a lot of energy I guess, but honestly that first set was just pure ear torture for me. They tried to get the crowd to start a circle pit, that was cute. We will just leave it at that.

Next up, Bad Religion. They were really the sole purpose behind this whole trek, and I couldn’t be more excited. I kind of wish that I had made more of an attempt to get to the front of the crowd, but in all honesty, I don’t know if I’m either spoiled from being allowed various medical access to places where most people can’t go to watch the show, or if I’m just getting too old to enjoy being crammed in like a sardine with hundreds of gross sweaty people, but I just was not feelin’ it. I have seen Bad Religion a handful of times before, and knew what to expect, and as always they delivered and then some. Their set list was a great mix of old and new, and the sound was dialed in perfectly – loud enough to be enjoyable, but not to the point where you thought your ear drums were going to explode. The crowd to say the least was the weirdest mix of people I have seen in a while. It was nice to see a few older guys wandering around wearing old DRI shirts, and a few kids that knew every word to every song Bad Religion played, but for the most part, I was surrounded by bros, hipsters, and white trash. At one point, I was flanked by a group of girls all wearing skinny jeans, high heels, Coach bags on their arms, and perfectly highlighted hair and make up. I spent a brief moment trying to figure out what they were doing at the show, before I decided that they had spent 46 dollars to try and pick up the ‘punk rock boys’. I wish their set was longer than it was, but then again, I wish that they had headlined – but beggars can’t be choosers.

The place really filled in before Rise Against took the stage. I was excited that at least they were playing good music between the sets and was entertained by The Jam while waiting for the techs to finish tuning everything. Having seen Rise Against three times before, I expected them to do some sort of variation of what I have seen before, but I’ll be damned how much money a major label gives you access to while touring. Different backdrops during the set, light shows, etc. I was surprised but in a sad sort of way. I’ve always liked Rise Against. I take that back, I like old Rise Against. Their new found radio success and being used in a WWE promo has really skyrocketed them into the mainstream ear, and I think their music is suffering from it. They sounded really over processed and muddy. Their set list was made up mostly of their newer songs. I’m glad they decided to encore with some of their older stuff so at least felt like I hadn’t stood through that entire thing elbow to elbow with the guy wearing a Tapout shirt, and the group of soccer moms thinking they were so cool throwing the goat with their 12 dollar cocktails in the other hand and ed hardy shirts on, in vain. And to the drunk dude that did a TRIPLE take looking at me before deciding that he wanted to give me a high five, next time, use your better judgment and keep walking – I really could have gone the whole night without that little encounter.

All in all, I’m glad I went. For a brief moment I waffled if driving all that way alone was worth it. I can’t tell you how I made it home, because by the time I parked my car at around 1:30, I was comatose. Probably not the best idea I’ve had before having to be at work at 4AM, but shit, at least I had fun.

High fives and stage dives.
Tomorrow – Outside Lands line up announced!

The days are long gone when I could look at the back of an album to see what label the artist was on and could tell if I was going to make a good investment in playing a game of musical russian roulette. With some of my favorite labels picking up some pretty terrible acts, it’s rare anymore that I will buy an album without researching a little bit about the band. I remember when Roadrunner Records primarily only picked up metal artists, but now the likes of Collective Soul, Nickelback, and Lynard Skynyrd grace their catalogs. Not to say that genre specific labels picking up different bands is a bad idea, don’t get me wrong, I love Freebird as much as the next person, but I can say that it does diminish the trust I have that I will get something worth listening to. So! On this lovely Tuesday, I have decided to flip through the massive books of cds, rotting a slow death on the shelves above my bed to pick out five cds I bought on a whim.

Mono – Formica Blues
I will admit that I did hear the single off this album, Life In Mono, when it was being played non stop on the radio after being picked up on the soundtrack for Great Expectations. I would have to say that this album ranks probably in the top 10 of my favorite albums. I just can’t get enough of Siobhan’s voice. After telling my networking teacher in high school about my love for them, he suggested I listen to The Cocteau Twins, and thus planted the seed for my love of them as well. Who would know that Siobhan from Mono and Robin from Cocteau would later join forces to create Violet Indiana (which just so happens to be on my last Five By Five!). I suggest you buy this cd sooner than later, and listen to Penguin Freud on repeat.

Bury Your Dead – Self Titled
I didn’t start actually liking this band until they gave their old singer the boot. When I was working at Hot Topic, we had their album, Beauty and the Breakdown on our music player, and I would skip every single song that would play from it. I could not stand Mat Bruso’s voice. Such is the case with many bands for me. Megadeth, Rush, and quite a few others fall into this category. The music is fantastic, the vocals? Well, they just kill it for me. It wasn’t until Bury Your Dead released their self titled album in 2008 that I decided to give them another chance (mostly based on the fact that I liked the album cover art, I am definitely guilty of judging an album by its cover) and to my surprise actually really got into it. Sadly this album is a one trick pony and I don’t care for their newest album, It’s Nothing Personal. I can’t say that it really staked its claim in the metalcore world with measly sales, but it is an album that I will listen to on repeat.

Stick To Your Guns – Comes from the Heart
I decided to buy this album after getting my Stick To Your Guns tattoo. My tattoo is of course in no way related to the band, but more so a Nintendo reference. At the time I was heavy into the local hardcore scene and most of the kids would ask me if my tattoo was in tribute to the band, who I had never heard. Comes from the Heart had just dropped and I decided to pick it up, after deciding that because they were on Century Media Records, that it couldn’t be that bad. But I also had my qualms about buying an album by a straight edge band, because I usually find most of them too preachy for my liking. I’d say that this album falls pretty middle of the road for me. I like it, but its not something I have on heavy rotation.

The Flys – Holiday Man
This album falls into the classic case of having one good song on it, that usually gets released as the single and the rest of the album is 12 tracks of ear-drum-bursting-pure-unadulterated-shit. I bought this ablum in 1998, in hopes that the entire thing would fall in line with Got You (Where I Want You). Talk about being sorely disappointed about wasting 16 or so dollars. Cut to two years ago when I started converting my nearly 1000 cds to digital and stumbled across this cd. Chalking up my distain to the fact that I hadn’t yet developed the musical taste I have now, I decided to give it another go. Nope. Still. Crap. Don’t even spring for this cd if you see it sitting in the dollar bin at Amoeba, or in a pile of cds at a garage sale. Save your cash and buy a Reese’s. Trust me, you’ll enjoy those four bites longer than you will this cd.

MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
This was one gem that I acquired while working at Hot Topic. I honestly amassed most of my cd collection while working there, between the employee discount, the decent prices, and the occasional rare (not in the actual sense of hard to find physically, but rare in that it was uncommon to find something good in a sea of garbage) find in the cd racks. It was unfortunate that we had such a great music buyer, Jay, who I would have massive conversations over email with about music, yet was most likely forced to buy the crap that the kiddies wanted, couldn’t bring in more amazing bands. Anyways, I digress. MGMT was one I saw and decided to give a go solely based on the fact that I thought the cover looked interesting and I liked the font they used for their name. I can’t say that I really got into them on the first listen but quickly became a staple of my regular rotation in the early part of 2008. It is another album I can throw on and listen to start to finish. But sadly this band is a one hit wonder, and in my opinion, their new album flopped. I think they can be best described as Alternative Rock/Progressive Rock, and I’m sure you would recognize more songs than you think due to their new found radio success and how many commercials and movies have picked up tracks from this album. Listen to Pieces of What and thank me later.