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Article #14 – Audio A.D.D.

March 23, 2007 By Tyler Hayes Leave a Comment

The life of a record in my player has gotten progressively shorter over the years. Once being able to have a cd spend a month playing over and over but now having anything last more than 3 days means that it’s an amazing cd. Is this because of so much access to music with the internet or is this just me?

Yes it’s very easy to just blame everything and frankly anything on “the internet” but I really do think that in this case it may be true. When I was in Jr. High and beginning of high school I seemed to be able to live on a single cd for a long time, dissecting every song, reading every lyric, and just leaving it on repeat. The case now is that I listen to a cd for a day or two and then am ready for whatever is waiting in line next. I almost usually always come back to the record but it’s just not the same as it was before.

That’s where the question comes in, is it me, the internet (access to music), or maybe it’s the bands aren’t as good anymore? I doubt the last is the case but I think it’s a combination of the first two. There are so many bands I enjoy. Let me say that again because it’s true, there are literally hundreds of bands I love and can’t wait for the next cd they release. The internet just provides such an easy access to everyone that wants to be heard. Before a band would have to gain local success and then tour for people to start taking notice and now it seems that a lot of bands are skipping that step and trying to record and gain attention, and then go on tour.

Does anyone have this problem with always wanting the next cd that’s coming out even when the disc that you’re listening to you enjoy? Is this something that has gotten worse with technology or is this something that’s always been around and the same?

Here are some of the cd’s I’ve listened to the most despite my audio ADD.

  • Mute Math “Self titled”
  • The Postal Service “Give Up”
  • Copeland “Beneath Medicine Tree”
  • Mxpx “Slowly Going the Way of The Buffalo”

Filed Under: Articles

Article #13 – Driving Music

March 16, 2007 By Tyler Hayes 2 Comments

There are a lot of places Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢d rather be than stuck in traffic on the 5 or the 805 freeways. Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢d much rather be in the park relaxing, not really doing anything. We canâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t always have our way though and living in a city demands that you face some kind of freeway traffic once a day. Over the course of my life I have grown to accept this, although like I said I donâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t enjoy it. What is the best way to combat the traffic blues? Throw in a good cd and just enjoy the time given to you to do so.

[I do not condone the use of electronic equipment in the car if it distracts from the ability to driving safely] now that the PSA is out of the way we can begin.

I love the time it takes to travel different places, and how it gives you time to listen to music. The driving time with a cd will, in my opinion, is the most quality you will get to spend with that piece of music. Like a lot of people I listen to music on my computer, but with all the distractions going on, I rarely â┚¬Ã…”listenâ┚¬? to the music well. I hear it and I can usually tell if I like it, but I donâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t fully listen to it and get to enjoy all of it.

Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ll tell you why music sounds better on the road. Itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s very simple really, you create this cinematic montage with everything you see while driving and whichever cd is the soundtrack to the journey. Everything looks better with the sound of music behind it and the open road is no exception. Below is a list of some of my favorite driving songs, what are yours?

  • Limbeck â┚¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ The whole â┚¬Ã…”Hi, Everythingâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s Greatâ┚¬? CD
  • The Decemberists â┚¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ â┚¬Ã…”The Crane Wife 3â┚¬?, â┚¬Ã…”Summersongâ┚¬?
  • Bush â┚¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ â┚¬Ã…”Speed Killsâ┚¬?
  • Fairweather â┚¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ â┚¬Ã…”Young, brash, Hopefulâ┚¬?
  • Northstar â┚¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ â┚¬Ã…”Two Zero Twoâ┚¬?
  • Over it â┚¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ â┚¬Ã…”Wrong Wayâ┚¬?
  • Third Eye Blind â┚¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ â┚¬Ã…”Blindedâ┚¬?

Filed Under: Articles

Cassino Posts 2 New Songs/Artwork

March 10, 2007 By Tyler Hayes Leave a Comment

Head over to Cassino’s Purevolume page to listen to 2 brand new songs from the debut LP. Below is the Cover art for the new album as well. What do you think? Let us know

cassino

Filed Under: Album Art, News

Article #11 – Recap

March 10, 2007 By Tyler Hayes 3 Comments

So the new year of music is upon us. Stereos are being filled with new music after the long void that is the holidays. Already though we have had some albums released that people were highly anticipating and were hoping would be good enough to last the remainder of 2007 without getting sick of. Some of those releases are from Bloc party, Anberlin, Fall Out Boy, Dustin Kensrue, Futures of forestry, Relient K and The Shins not to mention a bunch of other releases out so far, so how is this year shaping up so far?

Has the beginning of your year been filled with let downs or surprises? What are the releases that you are still waiting for 2007 to bring you?

Filed Under: Articles, News

Love Arcade Interview

March 7, 2007 By Tyler Hayes Leave a Comment

LA

Here’s an email interview with the lead man from the band Love Arcade

1. Who are we talking with and what’s your role in Love Arcade?

I am snowhite and I do everything in Love Arcade [Write, produce, arrange, play all the instruments on record, etc.]

2. What are some things you want to get accomplished in 2007?

I want to get to the point where we’re on the radio and headlining our own tour for 2007.

3. Are you happy with how your major label release turned out?

I am extremely happy with how the album turned out, and I’m lookin’ forward to working it!

4. What’s your stance on a growing number of kids downloading yours or others bands music for free?

Well, the way I do it is I download the songs and if I like them I’ll buy the record and I think that’s how it should be cause if it’s not a good record you really shouldn’t buy it.

5. What is the biggest issue you see facing the music industry?

It’s probably is the fact that every thing’s in and out like the wind and not as many people buy albums because of that. We want to be something that’s real, not just a fad.

6. Who would you love to tour with, and why?

I’d like to tour with Gnarls Barkley cause that seems like itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s the perfect fit for what we are.

7. What is one album that you would suggest as required listening for everyone?

Pussy Cat Dolls- PCD

Filed Under: Interviews Tagged With: Love-Arcade

Love Arcade – Self Titled

March 5, 2007 By Tyler Hayes 3 Comments

Love Arcade self titled

Artist: Love Arcade
Album: Love Arcade
Label: Atlantic
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: August 8th, 2006

Overall: 5.0
Music: 5.0
Lyrics: 4.0
Production: 6.0

Writing a review 101, welcome to the first day of class where we learn how to write a review that you donâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t necessarily want to write. The first thing you need is a mediocre (at best) record. The second thing youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ll need is a lot of time on your hands to craft your writing into something objective for the masses.

A popular thing to do is to compare the record that is being reviewed (in our case thatâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s the Love Arcade self titled album) to something. Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ll give you an example, the Love Arcade is the closest thing there is to actually being able to fit high school drama on a compact disc. The next thing that you want to go over is a few of the songs that you liked, or that stood out to you and you think will stand out to other people. Weâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ll point out the first song â┚¬Ã…”Keep it comingâ┚¬? which walks the fine line of catchy and annoying. The song â┚¬Ã…”Passengerâ┚¬? is another notable song which is probably the strongest song on the record (so take that how you will). Usually, if you love the album you can keep on talking about all the great lyrics and melodies that the record contains.

The end of the review is for giving an overview of the good and bad things about the record. For the Love Arcade we would talk about the dancey, sometimes catchy musical beats. We would probably want to mention the cheesy lyrics and the shallowness of pretty much every song. Then, conclude with mentioning that if people wanted to check the band out they can do so at a myspace page. There you have it, step one to writing a review.

Tracklisting
1. Keep It Coming

2. Sara
3. Candy
4. Passenger
5. Tease me
6. Moses
7. Can’t Stop
8. Sweet Thing
9. Party
10. Going Down
11. Waste
12. Open

Filed Under: Album, Reviews Tagged With: Love-Arcade

Article #10 – Band Websites

March 3, 2007 By Tyler Hayes 2 Comments

With the release of Anberlinâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s newest album â┚¬Ã…”Citiesâ┚¬? the bands website has been redesigned around the theme of cities. When you get to the website the first thing you see is a black and white spinning globe with different orange spots on it to represent certain cities from around the world. When you click on a city you then zoom in with a very cool transition to a content area of the site. New York City has the bands news and Seattle has videos of the band and so on. Some of the little touches make this website such a pleasure to interact with, for example, as soon as you start playing a video the main sites media player fades down to a pause and when you stop the video the media player starts back up again.

The Anberlin website made me start thinking about other bands sites and just band websites in general. Do bands need a website; do they need elaborate ones, what should be on the bands site? First of all I think bands do need websites, but I think a lot of time they are over done and a waste of time and money. This doesnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t apply just to bands but for a lot of bands out there I think a free MySpace, or Purevolume page is all they need.

When Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢m looking up and finding out about a band there are some key things I am looking for and I want to be able to find it quickly and easily (if they can do it in style then even better). The main thing Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢m looking for is a couple songs to listen to, either download or stream. The next is lyrics which tend to be a hard thing to find on bandâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s sites, the third is shows and a short bio and contact info is always nice. Those are some of the things that make a site useful for a band.

One of the worst band websites Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve seen has to be the Matchbook Romance website. It takes about 45 clicks to get through all the â┚¬Ã…”puzzlesâ┚¬? to the actual content, not to mention waiting for the loading times. There seems to be a growing number of bands/labels that just donâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t get the internet and how to present a band to the world through their website.

Is there any bands that have a website that youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve thought are really good, or really bad? I sure there are, let us know which sites attract you or just repel you.

www.anberlincities.com

Filed Under: Articles, News

Waking Ashland Interview

March 2, 2007 By Tyler Hayes Leave a Comment

Check out an interview with Jonathan from the band Waking Ashland over at www.whatsmoreimportant.org

Filed Under: News

Deas Vail – All The Houses Look The Same

February 28, 2007 By Tyler Hayes 11 Comments

deas vail all the houses look the same

Artist: Deas Vail
Album: All The Houses Look The Same
Label: Brave New World
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: March 6th, 2007

Overall: 9.0
Music: 9.0
Lyrics: 9.0
Production: 9.0

From a pretty unknown band comes the best release thus far in the year. Deas Vail has a style pop enough to attract almost anyone, but deep enough to earn your respect. â┚¬Ã…”All the houses look the sameâ┚¬? is an amazing full length debut from the band, and will surely put them on a lot of peopleâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s radar from now on.

Even the first time I listened to the record I knew I liked it; the more I listened the more I love it. Deas Vail will probably sound very familiar to you like it did me. At first I shook it off, but it finally hit me when listening to the mellower song â┚¬Ã…”Shorelineâ┚¬?. â┚¬Ã…”Shorelineâ┚¬? sounds like a song from Mae, it doesnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t stop there though. â┚¬Ã…”Stillâ┚¬?, the closing song sounds like Copeland, and â┚¬Ã…”Life in these little boatsâ┚¬? sounds like it could have been on a Mute Math record. I think mostly itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s the music thatâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s reminiscing of those bands but when I finally figured out who it was reminding me of, it surprised me how similar the songs sounded. Of course this is not a bad thing for Deas Vail I guess just a compliment to the other bands I mentioned.

â┚¬Ã…”All the houses look the sameâ┚¬? is beautiful both musically and vocally. The instruments lay down a perfect foundation for the stand out vocals. The album achieves a balance of rock and intimacy most bands only dream of. The stand out tracks would have to be â┚¬Ã…”Anything you sayâ┚¬?, along with â┚¬Ã…”Light as airâ┚¬?. Please check out this release, it will be worth your money for the disc.

Track Listing
1. Standing…
2. Light As Air
3. Surface
4. Rewind
5. Shoreline
6. A Lover’s Charm
7. Follow Sound
8. Anything You Say
9. Shadows and City Lights
10. For Miles To Come
11. Life In These Little Boats
12. This Place Is Painted Red
13. …Still

Filed Under: Album, Reviews Tagged With: Deas-Vail

Melee – Devils & Angels

February 26, 2007 By Tyler Hayes Leave a Comment

Melee Devils & Angels

Artist: Melee
Album: Devils & Angels
Label: Warner Bros.
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: April 3rd, 2007

Overall: 7.0
Music: 8.0
Lyrics: 7.8
Production: 9.0

Sometimes I wonder whether a band was crafted to be a top 40 pop band, or they were just destined to be that from the start. Melee is one of those bands destined to end up on your mom’s favorite adult contemporary station sooner or later. This piano rock is infectious and with the right marketing (one can only hope) this band will take off extremely fast.

Melee is one of those bands that have a funny name and may turn people off but donâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t let it deter you from some awesome piano rock. I enjoyed the album the first couple times I heard it, and there are a few songs such as â┚¬Ã…”Frequently babyâ┚¬?, and â┚¬Ã…”imitationâ┚¬? that you can’t help but just love but too many songs just fall short. â┚¬Ã…”Devils and Angelsâ┚¬? is comparable to suburbia communities; yeah the houses may be different colors but their all just same 4 molds over and over again.

The new CD â┚¬Ã…”Devils and Angelsâ┚¬? comes off a little too slick and too well done. I know itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s hard to argue that something is â┚¬Ã…”Too well doneâ┚¬?, but the music gets boring and repetitive in some spots and lyrically some parts are hard to take seriously.

With all that being said, I love this band. I love the strong and amazing vocals and the catchy melodies this band lays down. I think its worth you time to check out some songs from this record, but for the money I recommend buying their last record â┚¬Ã…”Everyday behaviorâ┚¬?.

Tracklisting
1. Built To Last
2. Rhythm Of Rain
3. Frequently Baby (She’s A Teenage Maniac)
4. For A Lifetime
5. Drive Away
6. Can’t Hold On
7. Imitation
8. Love Carries On
9. She’s Gonna Find Me Here
10. Biggest Mistake
11. You Got
12. Stand Up

Filed Under: Album, Reviews Tagged With: Melee

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