Zeigeist - Tar Heart

Zeigeist is incredible. I like "Tar Heart" from their 2008 album The Jade Motel. Why did this band have to break up?! Another note on the song--many people claim that the song sounds like Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" and The Knife's "Pass This On". To me, the vocals more closely resemble Fever Ray's "Wolf" more than "Pass This On".


Zeigeist | Tar Heart

For an amazing look at Zeigeist playing "Tar Heart" live, click "Read More". Zeigeist is known for their eccentric fashion and artistic visuals during their live shows.

The Juliana Theory, Live at UCSD in 2003

Yes it's 45 minutes long. Yes, it's a full concert. Yes, Brett Detar is a douchebag. No, I don't understand his dancing.

TJT had a reunion tour this past summer. I liked their last album a lot. I'm sad this footage was too early for that.

Axis of Awesome - 4 Chord Song

Got this from a friend

Axis of Awesome - 4 Chord Song

Joe Hisashi - Ano Natsu He

From the movie "Spirted Away".

Joe Hisashi - Ano Natsu He



The music box version of this song is just as good also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RDaRKF8F9Q

Sublime with Rome - What I Got

I've been hearing the new song on the radio, liking the fact that I've been hearing ska on the radio, but not really realizing what's going.

If you didn't realize this like me, basically, two other guys in band wanted to start again, but Brad Nowell's family didn't want them to use the sublime name. In any case, they settled and now they're "sublime with rome" with this guy Rome Ramirez and I can't figure out if he's done anything before.

He's got a decent voice, but he's not Brad Nowell, and I hope he doesn't try to be. I liken it to Catch-22 after Tomas Kalnoky except Kalnoky is still alive and the bitterness was between members and family rather than members and ex-members.

Clara Chung - Winner of Kollaboration 10

Top three were clearly her, Bhangra Empire and Jason Yang. I honestly wasn't sure in which order to rank them though. I've got to admit, playing a song no one there had ever heard was pretty gutsy on her part.

Steve Vai - Now We Run

Steve Vai, probably most known for appearing in the movie Crossroads, staring Ralph Maccio, where he apparently loses a guitar duel because he can't play classical music or something like that.

In any case, guitar solos + violin solos = awesomes

Blink 182 - Stay Together for the Kids

Tom shouldn't be in the band any more. He's lost his credentials as a musician.

Travis is just as awesome as ever. Mark's voice has matured a lot. I wish he had stuck with +44

=D

Just heard of her just now.

Lisa - All of Me (original song)

The Mae Shi @ UCI?!

I recently made a Tegan and Sara post but I'll just re-post it tomorrow.

Why?

I just discovered that THE MAE SHI performed at UCI @ Phoenix Grille (in April 2008)!! How I found out? http://acrobaticseveryday.com/ (Ctrl + F "The Mae Shi").

They're awesome live, but it's a little difficult to hear them singing in the video.

Crosby, Stills & Nash

Happy Birthday, Dad! In honor of my dad's birthday, I'm posting a few songs by one of my dad's favorite bands--Crosby, Stills & Nash (the group included Neil Young at one point, but he left the group). This band is perhaps my favorite 70s folk rock band of all time (you know where I get my influence). Wish YouTube had the album recordings but CSN is great live!


Crosby, Stills & Nash - Just a Song Before I Go

(Expand the post to hear more!)


Crosby, Stills & Nash - Teach Your Children


Crosby, Stills & Nash - Cathedral


Crosby, Stills & Nash - Dark Star

The Higher August 20 at Chain Reaction

I'm definitely going to be there. The Higher is probably one of my top 5 favorite bands, and was the first band (besides Meg & Dia) to get me into indie music. I want to go and support them and buy their new album, which sounds awesome (scroll down for the Chain Reaction article). They'll be playing with Sky Harbor, The Break Up, Revenge on the Rocks, and Still Phantoms. Who's down for that? =)

Weapons Wired (my favorite song from The Higher).




If Justin Timberlake were a band, he'd be The Higher.

However, just because The Higher can bust out pop tunes, it doesn't mean that's what defines them. Their first two albums, Histrionics (2005) and On Fire (2007), branded the band's trademark sound of R&B and pure rock. "We fuse the rock and R&B that we know, and put it into our own words," founding member and bassist Jason "Face" Centeno says, citing Michael Jackson, The Dream, Al Green, Jimmy Eat World, and Maroon 5 as influences.

Now seven years since they first formed, and after some shuffling of band members, the Las Vegas-based band is back with their most radio-friendly album to date, It's Only Natural, out on Epitaph Records on June 23, 2009.

"We wrote the best songs that The Higher has ever written on this record. No matter what kind of music you listen to, you're going to find at least two songs that are your favorite," founding member and lead singer Seth Trotter says. "We have two songs the girls are going to love, two rock songs the guys who loved our old sound want, two R&B songs for those who liked our stuff like 'Insurance," two slow jams that people have been begging us to do for a long time, and two straight-up pop songs. It's like Noah's Ark on this record — there's two of everything!"

Not only is there something for everyone on this album, It's Only Natural also marks the band's first concept album, telling the story of what's been going on in The Higher's life. "It was written in the order it appears on the CD, starting with The Higher picking up the pieces of not having all the original members and going through betrayal, separation, and new beginnings, while also making the band thing happen, and moving forward," Trotter explains.

The album kicks off with two pop-rock tunes that reflect the sound early Higher fans know best with "Try Again" about separation, putting their best foot forward, and not dwelling on the past, and "Other Options" in which the band examines what they need to do in order to move forward. Those lead into the two most pop-friendly tracks, "Undertaker" about the band's roots and love for Las Vegas and the title track, "It's Only Natural," which addresses attraction and other 'natural' desires.

Next come the two most heart-wrenching tunes, the rock-based "Story of a Man Obsessed" about paranoia and obsession, and then the slow jam "The (Runaway) Artist," which Seth wrote on piano at the age 15, and adapted into a band tune, written from the point of view of a girl leaving town to follow her dreams.

"The first half of the record is about us realizing that things are falling apart," Trotter explains. "Then it goes on to make us realize we're going to be okay by ourselves."

The second half kicks off with the standout track, "Play with Fire," which Trotter calls their Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana" of the album. The essence of the lyrics are about overconfident girls whose beauty is only matched by their unoriginality. Next up is their New Found Glory-style "Burn and Turn" about the coming and going of people and their vices, while not getting lost in the shuffle.

The song titles then hit a darker turn with the jazzy slow jam "The Black Dress" about picking a girl up at a funeral and mourning the loss in the only way that feels natural, and "Beautiful Coffins" is about the sad departure of an old friend and allowing them to dig their own grave. The album closes with a two-in-one track starting with "Scandalous" about a girl who's simply no good, and leading into "The Long Con" based off of an episode of the band's favorite show, Lost, in which two characters mutually screw each other over.

And to cap off the album, the band ends with a cover of Ne-Yo's R&B hit, "Closer." "Our band listens to a lot of R&B," Trotter says. "People who like rock may never listen to Ne-Yo, but the song is so undeniable that they might give our version a chance. Plus we like to mess around with covers and mix them up."

The Higher may not be the same band that they were on their last two albums, but they aren't ashamed to tell the story. "The album starts with the most natural way our band could have formed, to who we are now," Trotter says. Centeno adds, "This is our natural progression."

It's Only Natural that the band tells their story through the album. It's Only Natural that their music reflects their diverse mix of styles. It's Only Natural that the band is who they are today.

Got 25 Minutes to Kill?

I was having a conversation with my friend. Well, less of a conversation, more that he was watching live videos of Coheed & Cambria. They are definitely worth watch.



This song is in 3 parts. Parts 2 and 3 are after the cut.

Highlights:
Talk Box v. Teeth Guitar Solo
Thermin Solo with Hair
Epic Length Drum Solo

David Cook - Declaration (Homerun Derby)

I never heard David Cook before this performance at the All Star Homerun Derby. Needless to say, I think I became a fan by this one song alone. He's definitely different from all those other American Idol "winners." I stopped watching the show after Ruben Studdard, so this was definitely a pleasant surprise.

The Morning of - Reverie

I want to start a series of a couple posts about live shows. Before I was 18, I had only been to about two live concerts in my life: Jethro Tull and Hootie and the Blowfish with my dad. Once I turned 18, I took my girlfriend at the time to Warped Tour for her birthday. It ended up being a pretty cool event, and it definitely wasn't what I expected. At the end of the summer I went back again to the final show (I got to see the first show and the last one) with Tony and Camila to see Meg & Dia. I didn't think it was all that great, but then Tony told me that a band I was starting to like a little bit (The Higher) was playing at Chain Reaction, close by our house, the following week. They were playing with two bands, June and My American Heart. That show at Chain Reaction set off a chain reaction that fueled my interest in indie music that has grown so much to this day. Had it not been for that show, I never would have heard of bands like My American Heart, June, We Shot the Moon, Waking Ashland, Everybody Else, Sherwood, A Change of Pace, and so many more. And if it wasn't for that first show, I never would have heard of one of my favorite bands, The Morning Of.

I remember going to this show in December with the best group of people ever (Charmaine, Mark, Charlene, Ace, Jerick, and Julisa) and it would have to be my second favorite show ever. The bands that played were Artist vs Poet, Danger Radio, My American Heart, and The Morning Of. The audio for the video isn't too good, but we're at this show, so there =P Look them up and check them out at

Enjoy






P.S.


I like this little link thing. Too bad I don't use it =P

Fearless Music

Apparently it's an East Coast version of Fox Rox based in New York City with a much creepier host. It's a recent discovery, and I'm pretty happy about it. It features bands from Streetlight Manifesto to the Jonas Brothers to Midtown (before Gabe Saporta got all trashy) and to Imogen Heap.

I've always wondered how she performed that song live. It seems like auto-tune of a really advanced version of a talkbox.

By the way, I really, really want a talk box.

edit: While I'm here, some basic rules of live music I go by

1. Go crazy
2. Expect vocal screw-ups (forgetting lyrics, voices cracking) but do not excuse continuous out-of-tune singing
3. Solos must be crazier than recorded
4. Real performers will sound better live than on the album

Tomas Kalnoky

This guy is a modern Ska icon of sorts. He has a terribly bad habit of forgetting lyrics, has a really bad reputation of reputation of continuously delaying release of albums, and despite that second issue, has set up an incredibly ambitious project known as 99 Songs of Revolution that no one has seen much of yet (though, not quite as ambitious as Sufjan Steven's Fifty States Project.

Anyway, his resume includes garage band Gimp, being the original singer for Catch 22, his main band Streetlight Manifesto, and the 14 piece Bandits of the Acoustic Revolution. This song is a pretty cool acoustic version of a song of Streetlight's most recent album. Gotta appreciate him realizing he starts off out of tune.

R.I.P.

Sorry for breaking the rule for double posting. I'm only probably going to do this once.

Michael Jackson: 1958 - 2009

The Jackson 5 - Life of the Party




Michael Jackson - Rock With You



The list of my favorite songs for him goes on and on.
Feel free to post other favorites of your Michael Jackson songs/tracks/hits as well.
Today is another sad day.

N*Sync - It's Gonna Be Me

This one is for Anna. I'm not going to be afraid to admit that I was a fan of groups like N*Sync, Backstreet Boys, and 98 degrees. These are the people that introduced em to popular music (I was more of a Backstreet Boys fan though). I recently saw Kris Mark and his friends do a cover of this song, but I couldn't remember who the original singer was. Once someone told me it was N*Sync, I remembered that this was my favorite song they sang. I'm sure it will bring back memories to lots of people. Enjoy =)

It's Gonna Be Me (oh, yeah)

You might've been hurt, babe
That ain't no lie
You've seen them all come and go (ooooh)
I remember you told, me
That it made you believe in
No man, no cry
Maybe that's why

Chorus:
Every little thing I do
Never seems enough for you
You don't wanna lose it again
But I'm not like them
Baby, when you finally
Get to love somebody
Guess what, it's gonna be me

You've got no choice, babe
But to move on,and you know
There ain't no time to waste,
You're just
Too blind, to see
But in the end you know it's gonna be me
You can't deny
So just tell me why

Chorus:
Every little thing I do
Never seems enough for you
You don't wanna lose it again
But I'm not like them
Baby, when you finally
Get to love somebody(somebody)
Guess what, it's gonna be me
It's gonna be me (eeaeayeh)
Hoo yeah yeah

Bridge:
There comes a day
When I'll be the one
You'll see
It's gonna, gonna, gonna, gonna
It's gonna be me

All that I do
Is not enough for you
I dont wanna lose it
But I'm not like that
When you finally (finally)
You get to love
Guess what, guess what (guess what)

Chorus:
Every little thing I do
Never seems enough for you (for you babe)
You don't wanna lose it again (don't wanna lose it)
But I'm not like them
Baby, when you finally
Get to love somebody (love)
Guess what,guess what, it's gonna be me

Every little thing I do(hoooo.. yeah)
Never seems enough for you (for you)
You don't wanna lose it again (don't wanna lose it)
But I'm not like them
Baby, when you finally
Get to love somebody
Guess what, it's gonna be me

Fox Rox

So, back in the day, San Diego's music scene was awesome enough to warrant its own TV show on one of the major networks. So late every Thursday and I think Sunday night, there would be the Show Fox Rox hosted by some cocky white guy and his slightly larger counterpart who sits in a music scene office of some sort and tosses out music trivia. But that's not the point of it. The point of the show was to announce major local shows around San Diego and showcase live performances. Sadly, it has since gone off the air, but the link a I gave you guys is a youtube collection of a pretty good amount of the live performances.

And these aren't all small acts. They got Aqualung, The Go! Team, The Fiery Furnaces, Maroon 5, TV on the Radio, Ben Kweller and countless other acts that have since gotten bigger.

Of course, there are also the San Diego Acts like Noise Ratchet, Slightly Stoopid, Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower, My American Heart, No Knife and of course Switchfoot.

So yeah, sorry this just was a list of links. I leave you with a band with a cello off Conor Oberst's label known as Cursive.