No one seems to notice, but Weezer was good, once upon a time.They are considered to be a nerd band, but most of their stuff in recent years has been more emo then nerd. So let's re-wind 15 years to 1994. One of their first big hits. I loved this song on so many levels. The music video was great too. A song based on being the nerd in high school, but a nerd who loves. This is the kind of music I wish Weezer still did. This is a nerd band (come on, the video is based on Happy Days, it doesn't get much nerdier then that). Also, remember that this video wasn't premiered on MTV or Much music, but on the Windows 95 CD after you installed it on your computer. Now that's oldschool nerd for you.
The full video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiIC5qcXeNU
Okay so originally I wanted to post something by Karen O, the lead singer of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, because she released this obscure little album of random tracks (I mean really random), but of course it's not on youtube and I'm a little too lazy at the moment to make a video. All of this to say that here's a track from Yeah Yeah Yeahs. This is, by the way, not the original track of Little Shadow, but the bonus track that's a little different, has more instruments and strings which is always good. Yeah Yeah Yeahs are awesome, much more upbeat than this song indicates but this is my favourite. Check out some of their stuff.
In the same vibe as The Ting Tings, this is yet another upbeat group that I'm listening to as a preparation for sunnier days. Be Your Own PET is from musical capital of Nashville, Tennessee. Needless to say, all four members have high credentials when it comes to music. Unfortunately, these four talented musicians announced last year that they will be disbanding. Well, I hope this won't be the last I hear of them. In the meantime, enjoy Becky.
In continuation of my list for the new President, this is Fiddle and the Drum, brought to you by A Perfect Circle. It's difficult for me to introduce bands that are already well known; it almost feels like they don't require introductions. Here we go anyways. A Perfect Circle was formed by the lead master mind of Tool, Maynard James Keenan, hence you would hear a lot of similarities in the two bands. For some strange reason, I love listen to APC, but can't find much appeal in Tool. Weird.
Moving on, the new presidency is marked by a very prominent and often repeated word: diplomacy. This song seems to be perfect to mark the end of the Bush era, and a time to begin reconciliation. Even during Obama's inauguration speech, hope for peace resounded. I only hope that this will be done in the most time-efficient manner, with consideration for the various countries whose people and government we've affected.
So I became a fan of Street Drum Corps back in high school, when I was going through - we'll call it - my Vans Warped Tour phase. SDC is a trio of amazingly, outrageously talented percussionists, who carry around drumsticks and bang on whatever makes sounds.
I was catching up on what they've been doing the last few years and found they've come out with a new album. I thought the first one was obscure, but I can't find this new album ANYWHERE, and needless to say the youtube video I found isn't that great either. Hopefully, you'll get the gist of their sound. At the beginning, one of the members actually uses a welder as an instrument... It's intense.
They used to be more pure percussion, and have added singers and other instrumentalists as features on their new album. I can't say I'm a big fan of these changes but they're still pretty effing awesome. The second video is just one of the guys, walking around some city and banging on random stuff. He does some pretty crazy rhythms, and there's a cameo by drummer of 30 Seconds to Mars. Enjoy!
Yes, today's feature band is a pop driven boyband from the state of Florida. Boyce Avenue is the three Manzano brothers and an odd ball, Stephen Hatker. The brothers began playing music at the age of ~14. The band was split temporarily as the brothers left for university (Architecture at U of Florida, and Harvard Law school... just for the sake of dropping names).
Their music is simple, with catchy lyrics and tunes that will get stuck in your head the whole day.
Oh and stop complaining about the boybands, at least I didn't post the Jonas Brothers... yet.
It was quite a reminiscent moment when I found Sugarcult. Their sound reminded me of my Jr. High/early High School years, back when I thought The Used was the ultimate in music. Sugarcult is pretty simple, some electric guitars and catchy lyrics, but although they're not part of my usual indie mix, they've made it as a regular into my playlist.
This is one of their softer songs, I'm not sure why it's done to clips from Titanic but... whatever. Enjoy.
Sorry for the late update, but Christmas is a hectic time for everyone. We will try to keep our posts up to date, but please excuse us if we have a bit of trouble.
Alright, on to the song! Crush 40 has 2 CD's and have been around for a few years, but the music that they only seem to be really known for is what they have written for the Sonic video games. Open Your Heart was originally done for Sonic adventure on the Dreamcast, but was remixed for the CD "True Blue: Sonics Best Music Hits." Crush 40 does a lot of good music that is both fast paced, but has deep emotional meaning to it, and I'm not just saying that to try and promote video game music, check out their pre-sonic stuff, or anything else they have written. It is all good. Now the video itself that I found.... I filtered through countless sonic AMV's and VMV's until I found this: Doctor Who. I hope Vivian appreciates this.
Music today is brought to you from the far corner of South Carolina. Unfortunately, despite having toured with some really big names (Our Lady Peace, Circa Survive), and at one point being signed by Universal Records, The Working Title never did catch the whirlwind of fame. Their sound is simple, with catchy lyrics and a mature voice to deliver them, so hopefully one day things will start going their way and they can climb up from obscurity.
This is The Morning Benders, yet another one from my seemingly endless list of obsession targets. Today, I found out they're going to be playing here in Montreal at a local club on, of all days, Valentine's Day and more importantly, MY BIRTHDAY! Can you say destiny?
So The Morning Benders are an indie band brought to you from the sunshine of California. They're recent debut album, Talking Through Tin Cans, is one of those few albums nowadays that are worthy of the ~15 dollars support-the-recording-labels fee as I like to call them. They toured with another favourite band of mine not too long ago, Ra Ra Riot, and are quickly making their way up from the depths of the unknown.
Ra Ra Riot is the first band I've noticed that has "healing" as their description on Myspace. I'm not entirely sure what it heals, but I'm just going to go ahead and put a disclaimer here that TMT is not responsible if you decide to turn this up instead of going to the hospital should you somehow unfortunately damage your body in the process of visiting our site.
Okay then, moving on. Ra Ra Riot are close friends with another band I've posted before, Vampire Weekend, and you can kind of hear the similarities in their sound. Although they are still very distinct. My favourite part is definitely when the violins play a counter-melody against the voice. My heart skips a beat everytime I hear that part.
This is my current obsession from them, I played it on repeat about 5 times before I stopped myself in case I get sick of them. Woot.
Yeah I know I've posted Rise Against before, and this isn't just because they're my favourite band and I just happen to have tickets to see them next week. No, this is in support of the Progressive Coalition of Canada.
Conservatives have done, as always, a superb job at spreading false propaganda to their ever willing sheep, and it's this same smear campaign technique that got them increased support in the last election. Progressive Canadians, it's time to stand up against the lies, it's time to spread our own message.
First of all, arm yourselves with knowledge. Refer here. This is democracy in action, be aware.
Start an argument, stir up some shit. It's time to get this tyrant out of the power seat.
If you want a quick brief on what this is about, check out:
So... many... nerdy... references... Not even I know all of them.
Before people go off thinking that this is a joke or something, no, this is a real band, and they make a lot of songs like this. Is it super cheesy, dorky, and nerdy? Yes, it sure is. But the point is, they are making songs that they can relate to and have fun singing. We've heard of "Nerd Metal" "Geek Rock" and maybe some "Video Game Rap", well prepare yourself for "Nerd Boybands!" 1337 STR33T Boys preform in many shows around the U.S.A. and Canada, and by shows I mainly mean anime and gaming conventions. They do all their songwriting, video animation, and even write their own online comic.
This song probably isn't for the masses, but this is more proof that the "Nerd under culture" is growing and becoming more mainstream in this decade.
So I honestly don't have much to say here. I just found this band earlier today and wanted to put this song up. The band has a few CD's out, so they're not new or anything. I like this song. I have read a few interpretations of it, but what I think it is trying to say is: "We're not living a perfect life, but I love you. I can say I love you in so many cheesy ways, and I will, but I love you" or at least that's what I think. I am hoping to hear what other people think, as I am still turning the cogs in my head...
For a while, every time I got on my computer my hands would go autopilot, searching for Lydia on my list of music and press play. Lydia is a group of six musicians from Phoenix, Arizona, with a beautiful layer of sound. I really don't think I can do them any justice by describing their music so please just let your mouse wander over to the play button.
Broken Social Scene is kind of like the Big Bang of music: a group of random really talented musicians traveling at high speeds crashing into each other, expelling a large amount of energy and creating something complex and beautiful at the same time. Or at least that's how I've always envisioned it.
It was funny how I actually came across BSS. I was in HMV, at one of those booths with a bunch of cds and a set of headphones, and I was looking for some new sound. One of the cds turned out to be pretty good so I found it on the supposed location and bought it. Thanks to the highly competent staff in retail, the cd (you guessed it, BSS) wasn't the same band I had listened to. Although it was a pleasant surprise, and I don't regret it one bit, I would still like to know who it was I was listening to at the booth.
So BSS is a Canadian group composed of x amount of people (this number tends to change randomly), and their sound is kind of experimental rock I'm guessing... I'm really bad at categorizing genres (I could say this is because labeling is bad, but in reality I just don't know my genres very well). Once again, one of those bands where it was really difficult to choose just one song to post. This is a hint to go listen to more of their stuff.
So basically, in my mind, anyone who doesn't like Muse is a loser (ahem Jeff). They're hardly the cool indie unknown band anymore, but they're still pretty effing awesome. They're like the new Funeral for a Friend, except... well okay they're really not like FFAF but they ARE both British! What's with the British and producing some of the BEST MUSIC EVER anyway?
Okay back on topic, this is one of the best songs by them, it was actually really hard to choose just one song to post. Oh well, you're bound to see more of them here in the future. Enjoy!
I've had this song stuck in my head all day, so you get to listen to it too. Here is one of my favourite classic rock songs, and one of my favourite songs ever! This is a blast, from even my dads past. But I would also like to take a moment to talk about todays music. Or at least bands in general. A lot more people are picking up instruments these days. With general interest, or playing to much guitar hero/rock band, we're seeing more garage bands. And with technology today, these small time bands can get their music out there to more than just their mom and the local bar. But this means a few things with the way music is heading as an artform, but most of it good. With more people creating music, we start getting different "sounds", also known as originality. This, in turn, opens up new genres of music. Where once there was just rock, it has seperated into other music types, such as punk, metal, classic, and so on. And even these sub-genres have gotten so big that they have branched off as well: Metal has got Heavy, Power, Progressive, and even "nerd" metal. This goes for all genres. There's light country, rock country, and a few types in between as well. With new bands turning out new music, listeners are able to find exactly what they want. Sure, a lot of new bands will turn out a little (or a lot of) crap, they are learning, and experimenting, just as you "experiment" when you listen to a new song to see if you like it.I guess this is just a long way of me saying: This is a great age in music, and this form of entertainment will only continue to grow and impress us, whatever it is you listen too.
But back to my original post, some of the old stuff never gets old:
Jonathan Coulton graduated from Yale and was a computer progammer. He likes to write songs about science fiction and technology...In other words, he's really a giant nerd who writes awesome songs! I'd recomend RE your brains
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