My mission is to find, create and share exceptional music for like-minded individuals who appreciate music as much as I do. I enjoy a wide range of different genres such as rock, blues, hip-hop and ambient and pride myself on learning a variety of instruments. Feel free to e-mail me to share ideas, or tell me how much I suck. Preferably ideas.
Inspriations
Andrew Bird Arkells Audioslave Band, The Beck Cake Chemical Brothers, The Chucky Danger Band Coldplay Counting Crows Daft Punk Dr. Dre Eddie Vedder Everclear Fatboy Slim Foo Fighters Gorillaz Hey Rosetta! Incubus Joel Plaskett John Butler Trio John Mayer Jurassic 5 Justice K-OS Keane Killers, The Led Zeppelin Lynyrd Skynyrd Matthew Good Band Matt Mays MGMT Modest Mouse Neil Young Nirvana No Doubt Odds, The Queens of the Stone Age Radiohead Rage Against The Machine Red Hot Chili Peppers Richard Ashcroft Sam Roberts Smashing Pumpkins Steve Miller Band Strokes, The Tragically Hip, The White Stripes, The Wolfmother
Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has released his second solo album a few week ago! (I know I'm late, but I haven't exactly been keeping up with this blog.) The album will mainly be Vedder alone with his ukulele, appropriately naming the album "Ukulele Songs". He gets help from a few friends on the album for several duets, including Glen Hansard from The Swell Season! If you aren't very familiar with this guy, he's one hell of an act, and compliments the track well with perfect harmonies.
This guy can jam. This was taken from Coachella 2011.
HE PLAYED A HOLE THROUGH HIS GUITAR, WTF? Not to mention he played it so loud and hard that the audio was peaking on the video. god damn.
The new album will be perfect for those who enjoyed the Into The Wild soundtrack. The simplicity of the album is refreshing and demonstrates Vedder's raw and natural talent. To be honest though, the album is so simple and raw, it sounds as if it could have been recorded in one afternoon.
My favourite song on the album is the duet he performs with Cat Power, a hippy alcoholic from Georgia. The song is called "Tonight, You Belong to Me", a beautiful old song written in the 1920's. As much as I love the Vedder version, This scene from The Jerk will always make me laugh. Check it:
This album is a definite yes. I'd tell you to buy it and support the artist, but let's get real, Vedder isn't exactly broke. But I'm not telling you to go to www.thepiratebay.org and searching "Eddie Vedder Ukulele Songs". Not a chance.
Since Much Music and MTV generally don't play many music videos anymore, music videos don't really impact me very much based on what I'm listening to. Growing up, Much Music was my only access to decent music since we didn't have youtube or the ability to download music.
While browsing through my youtube favourites, I found this music video, and I remembered why I favourited it; to write a song that flows with the video so well is usually unheard of. Rappers sing about Jesus, buuuut in the background they're wearing fur coats while committing acts of general douche-baggery.
Guilty Conscience by Eminem and Dr.Dre is clearly written with a clever music video in mind. The way they argue in the song and the video, the narrator in between verses, to write about one another as if they were talking to one another in person, rather than on paper is a great work of art, and a reminder of how Eminem became such a predominate name in the rap industry, as well as how no matter how old Dr.Dre gets, he still has the ability to write songs without becoming a washed-up gimmick (FLAVA-FLAAAAV). While you watch this video, don't just listen to the stories going on in the song, think of how good of an artist you have to be to write a rap song like this with all the elements of a hit intertwined into a perfect balance of creativity, art and entertainment.
And now, for quite possibly the worst music video in existence. Not only does this have all the elements of a typical music video, but it’s full of new things never seen in a rap music video, like a large black woman doing sign language of the lyrics while they rap! Unfortunatly, it's quite obvious that lil' Wayne is in a confusing point in his music career. He's the 13 year old of the music industry, and has a lot of confusing questions on his mind: Rock & Roll, or rap? How whiney and weird should my voice be for this song? How many women will it take for this video to make me seem not so insecure?
Sorry lil' Wayne, but having spikey haired white kids playing in a rock band in the background isn't doing you any justice, nor is it widening your horizons in the music industry. And you might want to take a few more guitar lessons before bringing it into the studio. I can see the conversation now:
Producer: Sounds good, Wayne. All that's left is some final editing. Lil' Wayne: Well, actually, I was kinda hoping I could try something new on this track... Producer: Umm, I suppose so. What did you have in mind? Lil' Wayne: Guitar solo. Producer: ...You play guitar? Lil' Wayne: Well, ever since Party Like a Rockstar did really well, I'm thinking I might run with this one! Producer: Well, I'll have to hear you first.
You can hear Lil' Wayne's guitar capabilities here. Or, something much more enjoyable here.
Lil' Wayne: So, what'd you think? Producer: That was probably the worst perfor-... Birdman: ...Just let him have this. He's been taking lessons for 5 months, is a professional musician, and this is the extent of what he can play. Go easy on him.
Thus, this horrible song was born, as well as a horrible music video, dropping the IQ's of teenagers all over the world!
Sorry, everyone, but I need an instant replay on that last part of the video. This time, take sharper notice of the shit train resonating from lil' Wayne's guitar, thus not only destroying rap, but slapping rock & roll in the face at the same time.
Honourable mention going out to the GS Boyz. You don't even deserve my words. Quite possibly even worse than Lil' Wayne. (Yes, this video is real, not a joke. Keep this in mind while watching it prior to scooping your eyes out with a spork and filling your ears with hot tar.)
May God have mercy on our souls. To end this post on a good note, I give you the best clip on the entire internet. Farewell, internets.
While making a mix for my girlfriend's mom, I was organizing my iTunes and realized something: of my "25 most played songs", the top 7 are ALL Justice. That really says something about the amount of techno I listen to. Since Justice is from France and techno isn't exactly a style of music most people read about or discuss, I figured I would do you all a favour and educate you on the world of Justice.
Justice is a duo from France, and are known for their religious symbolism, sampling hard rock (Metallica, for example) into their music, being extremely badass on a whole new level, and having the CRAZIEST concerts I have ever seen. Picture an underground rave in the Tokyo red-light district, multiply that by 10 and you're just scratching the surface of how insane these concerts really are. Here's a trailer for their DVD "A Cross the Universe" (not to be mistaken for 'across', keep the religious symbolism in mind). There's a few clips of what their concerts are like to give you an idea.
Please take note of the following: - Tits (touching of, signing of, general revealing of) - Men who resemble werewolves going apeshit at the concert - Anthony Kiedis - Sexy women having pillow fights in hotel suites - Wicked Dance moves - Kanye - Multimillion dollar mansions & cars - Fucked up religious rituals prior to concerts - Strobe lights gallor - Getting arrested after a concert for general badassery - Destroying equipment at the end of a concert Nirvana style - And so many girls that it's worth mentioning again
These guys clearly party like no other and make the traditional rock & roll lifestyle seem comparable to puppies and kittens playing patty-cake with helmets on. And the worst part about all this is that almost NO ONE HERE KNOWS WHO THEY ARE. How can an act like this go so unnoticed? These guys are treated like Gods in Europe, and judging by the amount of religious symbolism, they know it. Their first song on their CD is called Genesis, they have a song called Waters of Nazareth, one called Let There Be Light, their DVD/CD is named A Cross The Universe, and they perform on a huge glowing cross. THATS SO AWESOME.
I'll leave you with one of their most popular songs. Creative Video, too. Meery Christmas (eve)!
I came across a pretty cool site I wanted to share the other day. Its called ipaintpedals, and it's a really awesome art project. This girl named Hannah Haugberg paints custom pedals, and her resume of guitarists that shes worked for is astonishing. from AC/DC to ZZ Top, shes got everyone covered. Check it out, some of her stuff absolutely blew my mind.
I'm posting this because recently i've started experimenting with the world of pedals. I've always been a simple acoustic player and barely knew what multiple pickups did on electrics. However, the past 2 months I bought a simple Danelectro Fab Echo (cheap, but sounds surprisingly nice) and a great Boss OD-3 Overdrive. This Ipaintpedals site has inspired me to try and and repaint some of my pedals. I've had a Fine Arts mind-shift lately.
Hopefully I get another nice new pedal for Christmas. Maybe an Acoustic Simulator or a Flanger? Chromatic Tuner is always nice! Happy Holidays
Lately, I've noticed a lot more people playing ukuleles. Every time I go to the music shop, there seems to be more ukuleles on the wall, some of them with price tags of over $300. Martin now carries 6 different uke models, the most expensive being this one at $5449 (the cheapest still being a hefty $469). Ive even noticed more people posting covers of songs done on ukulele, including this cute little fella whose already got over 5 million views.
Part of this increase in the amount of people playing ukes is probably the simplicity (not to take away from this kid, hes good!). The line between toy and instrument can be fairly small sometimes. My ukulele is made by a company called Mahalo that outsources from China, and it cost me 30 bucks. It can barely hold a tune and the frets aren't properly aligned, making it impossible to play with other musicians and it generally just sounds crappy. But for some reason, I find myself playing it alone more than I play my guitar lately!
Part of the reason I love my uke so much is because I had a friend in Fine Arts do some artwork with sharpies on it. It's Japanese themed, and looks really cool. Unfortunately, it isn't complete, and I don't think I have the artistic capabilities of finishing it on my own. Here's some pictures:
You can see where it isn't completly finished. Here, theres a small flower almost done, and the beginning of a seahorse.
A dragon wraps around the entire bottom of the uke, with its head on the front with the panda.
Front is the only part completly done.
The koi is really close to being finished, all thats left is colouring in the bulk of it.
Unfortunately, the camera wasn't the greatest and I don't know much about photography, so the pictures don't do the artwork justice. I'm sure you get the jist of it though.
I think it'd be a cool project to paint a bunch of these Mahalo ukuleles for a hobby. Maybe after I take Fundamentals of Drawing next year, my art skills will be good enough to try it out. Happy Holidays!
With Christmas quickly approaching, I thought I'd tally up some of my favourite Christmas songs. Now, I'm not a fan of the traditional Christmas songs that are constantly playing in malls and on every radio station in existence; however, a few bands make something unique that isn't simply a cover of a traditional tune. They use their own sound and write original lyrics that are bearable (maybe even enjoyable) to listen to. 10. The Darkness - Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End) I'll be honest; I didn't even know The Darkness had a Christmas song until I started compiling this list. However, they stuck to their flashy guitar riffs and 80’s glam rock, and somehow pulled off a decent Christmas song. And man, those are some awesome Christmas presents! Robot, laser gun, and a double-neck Gibson SG? I'd be willing to put up with all the crotch stuffing going on in this video if I got gifts like that for Christmas.
9. Eazy-E - Merry Mutafuckin' Christmas I'm sorry, but I had to put this on here. But please, don't listen to it if you have any respect for me. I feel dirty just for posting it.
8. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer The only reason I’m really including this song is because I once performed it with a few people in my music class for our high school’s annual Christmas assembly. It turned out pretty horrible, to be honest. However, only Lynyrd Skynyrd is capable of taking an innocent, old-fashioned Christmas song and turn it into a rockin’ blues song with 2 guitar solos and a piano solo. At least those solos aren’t 9 minutes long like some of their other material…
7. Snoop Dogg – Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto I know I was aiming to find some Christmas songs that go off the beaten path, but I was sceptical before posting this one. However, hearing Snoop say those classic lines, “On the first day of Christmas, my homeboy gave to me / A sack of the krazy glue and told me to smoke it up slowly”, really reminded me what the true meaning of Christmas is all about… World peace. And giving bottles of champagne to homeless alcoholics. God bless you, Snoop.
6. David Bowie & Bing Crosby - Little Drummer Boy Okay, okay, I know this list wasn't intended to go back to the traditional, boring Christmas songs that we only want to hear at Middle School Christmas Pageants, but its BOWIE, PEOPLE! And Bing Crosby! How can you expect me to not include such corny and casual dialogue at the beginning of the video!? This is the true meaning of Christmas, everyone. David Bowie!
5. John Mayer - St.Patrick's Day I know what you're thinking. “A Christmas song called St.Patrick's Day? Phil, you must be crazy!” That's what's so great about this song! If you aren't familiar, it's wonderfully written; not so much as a Christmas song, but as a holiday song. He doesn't mention the presents, the stockings over a warm fire, or the Christmas tree. He talks about the realistic things. The true emotions that come around this time of year. My favourite line is when he talks about driving around looking at all the lit up houses, because that's always been what my favourite thing to do is when the holidays come around.
4. Smashing Pumpkins - Christmastime Okay, I know this one is mainstream and a common song heard on the radio, but I've always really enjoyed the Smashing Pumpkins. Billy Corgan's eerie voice singing such pleasant and simple lyrics really makes this an enjoyable song to listen to. However, Billy Corgan has always reminded me of a vampire. I didn’t know vampires celebrated Christmas.
3. The Killers - Don't Shoot Me Santa This is an awesome song. Really unique compared to other Christmas songs, and a pretty funny video. As a song writer, I wish I thought about writing a song of how Santas gone crazy, held me hostage and wants to kill me with a gun... Actually, maybe it's a bit reassuring that I don't think of things like this.
2. Run DMC – Christmas in Hollis This one’s a classic. I remember watching Much Music growing up when they had shows on like Tree Toss or Much SnowJam, and they would never skip on playing this one. And no one questions Run DMC despite the Santa being black and the incredibly poor green screening. People appreciated Run DMC’s music because they kept positive messages to younger kids. If you find massive wads of cash in dollar sign bags, give them back to their rightful owner, and karma will do the rest.
1. Jingle Cats – White Christmas I know this seems a little anti-climactic, but this is more of a personal choice. When I was younger, this song would somehow creep its way into my holidays, and would always leave me slightly petrified. However, I’ve learned to appreciate how hilarious this video really is. Whats even funnier is that Much Music used to actually run this during their holiday specials before they stopped playing music videos. That takes guts.
Well, there you have it; the list of songs that have impacted me at some point or another in the holidays. Some of them radio hits, others outcast. I hope you enjoyed! Happy Holidays.
