12.02.09
96_Mixtape Mondays Remix: Music We Aren’t Thankful For
_Last week we commented on some music that we were not at all thankful for. This list included some very popular acts that, for reasons of our own, we don’t care to listen to. As you can see in this picture of Kid expressing his lack of thanks for some of the music we have been provided:
Photo courtesy of The New Glitterati
_But that was before we entered into the official Christmas season.
_In light of the fact that we are now heading into a month solid of Christmas Carols and Holiday Specials, our good friend at The New Glitterati would like to add her pick to the list. She is not thankful for Dan Fogelberg’s “Same Old Lang Syne.” And neither are we. As far as Christmas songs are concerned, they tend to range from bleeding ears to merely bearable. And this one is an ear bleeder. It’s cheesy, it’s country, it’s got love on Christmas Eve in a grocery store. You heard us, a grocery store. In the second verse Fogelberg mentions drinking, which is what we are going to go down to try and wash this song out of ears.
_Keep listening, and we’ll see you on Monday.
- Kid
11.24.09
94_Mixtape Mondays: Music We Aren’t Thankful For
_On Thursday we will all be sitting around our dinner tables with our families, giving thanks to what we have, ready to eat ourselves into food comas. But for now, it’s time that we reflect on all the things that we really aren’t thankful for, so that those things we think of on Thursday are that much more sincere.
_In light of that, we at The Scene have come up with a few bands that we really, honestly, truly are not thankful for.
_Music We Aren’t Thankful For, 2009:
_ _The Beatles: Now don’t get us wrong. We enjoy listening to The Fab Four as much as anyone else, and we are still adamant that “Ticket To Ride” is their best song. But, The Beatles have become so commoditized that they’re basically on the same level of music as Christmas carols. There are so many different anthologies, best-ofs, remastered, naked and cover versions of The Beatles’ catalog that it’s actually kinda hard to find their original albums anymore. We just want to enjoy The Beatles for what they did, not for what everyone has done to them since.
_ _Fall Out Boy: Everyone I know who listens to the same style of music as us tells us that we would love Fall Out Boy. And every time we hear them there’s about five to ten seconds where we think they might be right until the disappointment sinks in. Fall Out Boy has, to our knowledge, only written three good songs, one per each of their first three CDs: “Dead on Arrival”, “Sugar We’re Going Down” and “Hum Hallelujah”. Since then the only really interesting thing they’ve done is get pictures of bassist Pete Wentz’s package leaked onto the internet.
_ _Jay-Z: Jay-Z is known as many things. Among them, he is one of the most successful rappers of all time, Beyonce’s wife and the Brett Favre of the rap industry. The guy just won’t stop. Since his “retirement” he has collaborated with Linkin Park for a mashup CD, done backup work on numerous singles by other artists and released two full-length albums. It’s like him and Favre have a bet going to see who can accomplish more after they announce their retirement. And we like Jay-Z, we really do, but we wish the guy would make up his mind. Either keep producing great music as a full-time member of the music industry, or retire and spend your time with Beyonce. Whichever he picks we kinda wish we were in his shoes, but please pick one or the other and stick with.
_That’s it for Music We Aren’t Thankful For 2009. Coming soon as an update to this post, our good friend The New Glitterati’s pick for the music that she really, honestly, truly is not thankful for.
_Keep listening, and we’ll see you next week.
- Kid
11.17.09
93_Mixtape Mondays: Music You Need (to be our friend) Round 1
_There has only been one downside to canceling our old Myspace accounts: we have a harder time tracking down the bands we love. We used to have them all constantly sending me annoying bulletins about new merchandise or some such and it made us at The Scene feel warm and fuzzy inside. But, now that those accounts are dead, we’ve had to track down our favorites using our amazingly well-honed internet detective skills.
_So, with two picks of my own and three of The Sexretary’s, we at The Digital Scene present Music You Need (to be our friend) Round 1:
_Kid’s Picks:
_ _Evaline: Evaline is one of those bands that is nearly impossible to describe. How do you describe a band where the lead singer goes from singing to playing piano to standing on top of that piano screaming to playing cello, all inside of one song where none of that feels wrong? Their Myspace has them listed as “rock/ambient,” but that doesn’t begin to cover the variety inside Evaline’s music. Their the type of band that always surprises, even when you’ve heard the song before, and that’s just lovely.
Myspace: www.myspace.com/evaline
_ _Marigold: These guys reinforce the idea that nothing good comes out of Jersey but the music. Marigold is melodic hardcore at its best. Guitars that aren’t afraid to be hard, melodies that flow through the rhythms and eerie vocals alternating with shouted vocals. In short, they’re one of those bands that when you listen to them, you wonder how that all came to happen on the same CD. Then you keep wondering for the next three weeks because you keep playing the CD straight through that entire time because it’s so damn good.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/marigoldgo
_The Sexretary’s Picks:
_ _Anchor and Braille: When The Sexretary sent me her picks I knew this name sounded familiar. It is none other than the side/solo project of Stephen Christian, lead singer of Anberlin. But, whereas Anberlin is the type of band that makes you feel like both moshing and starting a revolution because you’re so inspired, Anchor and Braille is the calm, insightful music you would listen to to wind down on the way home from the Anberlin concert.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/anchorandbraille
_ _Sarah Blasko: Alright, let’s be honest. Sarah Blasko is hard to really get your head around. She sounds sorta like Lilly Allen would if she was trained classically rather than by pop. That is to say, her vocals are gorgeous and seductive and every element she uses, whether it’s banging drums or melodic classical guitars, sounds even more seductive inside her songs. She’s hard to wrap your head around because she jumps through styles and moods, but we love them all. And she has an Australian accent that comes out every once in a while, which is really adorable.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/sarahblasko
_ _The Windupdeads: Speaking of accents, the last of The Sexretary’s picks is The Windupdeads from Sweden. On their Myspace there is a blurb saying that the Windupdeads might be “the best thing come out of Sweden since IKEA.” That is definitely selling them short. You turn to IKEA when you get your first apartment and want to seem classy. You turn to The Windupdeads when the weather is perfect for a good drive and you want to roar along with the sunroof open and the sun on your face not caring about the world.
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thewindupdeads
_Enjoy our picks for this Round of Music You Need (to be our friend). And always, if there are any bands that we need to know about to be your friend, feel free to let us know. We want to be your friend. Even if you do listen to too much Lady Gaga.
_Keep listening, and we’ll see you next week.
- Kid
11.02.09
88_Mixtape Mondays: The Morning After Playlist
_So last week The Digital Scene turned 2. We are now in the terrible twos, and to kick it off, The Sexretary and I spent the week celebrating. Yes, for a whole week, culminating in a very sloppy Halloween.
_And now that we’ve recovered (for the most part), it’s back to our regularly scheduled programming.
_So today on Mixtape Mondays, it’s time we talk about something that we have come to know a great deal about over the past week: hangovers.
_That’s right. There’s nothing worse than waking up with that head-crushing, stomach-churning, “I’m never drinking again” feeling after a wonderful night. So even though it hurts to hear loud noises when you’re hanging like a demon, we here at The Scene have put together a few songs that will sum up your hangover experiences.
_The Morning After Playlist
_ _Alkaline Trio – “Crawl” This song is perfect for those days that you wake up and, as the lyrics say “zero in on medicine.” Perfect for those days where it hurts to even open your eyes.
_ _Dave Matthews Band – “Grace Is Gone” Sure it’s a bit old, but this song is perfect for those lucky days when you wake still a little loopy from the night before and can grab a drink to take the edge off before pounding the water and coffee.
_ _The Dandy Warhols – “Sleep” This one goes out to everyone that has ever had to work early in the morning with a hangover and spends the entire day thinking “oh I could sleep forever.”
_ _Kings of Leon – “Use Somebody” A perfect, mellow, non-abrasive, but awesome and cute song to play with your significant other while on the way to get breakfast when you wake up at two in the afternoon, both still half comatose from the night before.
_If you didn’t know about those songs and their curative properties, you do now. Enjoy our playlist and as always, feel free to send us yours.
_Keep listening, and we’ll see you next week.
- Kid
10.19.09
86_Mixtape Mondays: Body Mod Music
_Of course there are things that we as people do to make ourselves feel better. Since I am not a girl and since I don’t care too much about my hair until it gets too tangled, my run-out-and-do-it type of feel good activity is not the hair dye/trim or the mani/pedi, but the full on body mod. Piercings lately, since I can’t afford tattoos.
_And since today was a failure of a morning, I decided to lighten it up by getting my ears expanded from a 10 gauge to a 6 gauge. Word to the wise: it hurts.
_Now I am a firm believer that anything like that should have its own ritual and its own procedures. Specifically, it should have its own play list. I know you know what I’m talking about, because we all have them. There’s the getting-ready-for-tonight play list, the power-hour play list, the in-the-car-on-the-way-out play list. You know the drill.
_So this is my Body Mod play list:
_ Pre Body Mod:
_ _ Eyes Set to Kill – “Reach”
_ _ Eyes Set to Kill – “Violent Kiss”
_ _ Placebo – “Pure Morning”
_ _ Cursive – “Shallow Means, Deep Ends”
_ Post Body Mod:
_ _ Deathcab for Cutie – “We Looked Like Giants”
_ _ Placebo – “Without You I’m Nothing” (Repeat at least seven times)
_Sure it’s short, but it doesn’t take long to get from my house to the Baltimore Tattoo Museum. If I go to get any ink done at a place further away, I will have to expand that play list.
_So that’s my Body Mod play list. What are your play lists or your songs? You know you have them, and you know we’d love to see them. What do you listen to to accompany your quirks?
_Keep listening, and we’ll see you next week.
- Kid
10.12.09
84_Mixtape Mondays: Fact
_Last night we went to see Senses Fail and A Skylit Drive rock the Recher in Towson. Of course both bands put on a great show, even if Senses Fail is starting to sound a little dated.
_But last night reminded us of one of the greatest joys of concert-going: the out of nowhere amazing opening band. The band we saw last night that blew us away was Japan’s Fact. There were two things that made Fact a great band. First, their music is really good. Second, they were incredibly fun. One of the usual downfalls of an opening band is they try and get the crowd worked up when no one really cares about them. But Fact was so much fun that the crowd couldn’t help but get excited. Of course, that might have been due to their accents, but hey, whatever works.
Fact:
www.myspace.com/factjapan
_Keep listening, and we’ll see you next week.
- Kid
10.05.09
80_Mixtape Mondays: Grundlehammer
_This past weekend, the Baltimore Rock Opera Society put on their first production: Grundlehammer. Set in a medieval kingdom, Grundlehammer is an all original rock opera about the power of heavy metal to rule the world. What makes it different from most rock operas is that this one was written for the stage, not for CD.
_The best thing about Grundlehammer is that the production was entirely a DIY, Baltimore effort. No big names, no fancy theaters, just a lot of people who really wanted to put on a show.
_Too bad we missed it. So, if anyone knows where we can find a video of the performance, let us know so we can share it. Because we’ve heard the music and we’ve seen the pictures and we’re really excited to see the whole thing together and we’re really sad that no one told us about it until tickets were sold out. So until the BROS puts on their next production, we have to be content with hunting down Grundlehammer videos. Which, if we find, we will certainly post if we can.
_Keep listening, and we’ll see you next week.
- Kid
09.28.09
77_Mixtape Mondays: What a Show Should Be
_Welcome back to Mixtape Mondays, now featuring blurry cell phone pictures.
_The past Thursday we got a great reminder of what a show should be. First of all, it wasn’t at a show space or a bar or a major concert venue. It was at a house in Hampden run by one of the bands. The concert itself was in the back yard’s tool shed, at basement level below the house. We were all outside on an overgrown patio listening to punk bands play in a tool shed.
_There was a small crowd, mostly the other bands and their friends, and everyone was there just to rock out or get drunk and rock out. There were no bouncers throwing people out or anything like that. Just us and the music.
_Mosh pits and festival shows are all well and good, but really the best shows are the ones where no one is trying to impress anyone. Which is why the blurry cell phone photos we took are kinda fitting.
Boatwater:
_Keep listening and we’ll see you next week.
- Kid
09.21.09
74_Mixtape Mondays: aKING
_Ya know, we were going to call this segment Moshpit Mondays, but we realized that there are some people out there who aren’t fans of moshing and it might turn them off to it. Of course, we don’t understand why people don’t like moshing, but each to his own or something.
_This week we’re looking at the South African band aKING. Originally an offshoot of the controversial Afrikaans punk band Fokofpolisiekar, aKING became popular during FPK’s hiatus. While they are very solidly grounded in the “rock” category, their latest release, “Against All Odds,” has some folksy, contry-esque riffs that give it a nicely balanced flavor.
_So why should you like them? Well, first of all, we would talk up Fokofpolisiekar too, but we doubt many of you speak Afrikaans. That hasn’t stopped us from enjoying them, but aKING’s English lyrics definitely help us sing along, which is important. Also, the only other band we can think of that can maturely handle self-deprecating and introspective material while making music that is fun to listen and dance to is Long Island based Brand New. Any band that reminds us positively of Brand New is definitely a winner. Whether it’s aKING or Brand New, it’s nice to listen to a band that is deep, but not in an abrasive manner. There are enough Bright Eye’s knockoffs out there anyway. It’s time for some music we can dance to.
_Find aKING at:
www.aking.co.za
and listen to them at:
www.myspace.com/akingband
_Also, speaking of Brand New, if you can’t wait till tomorrow to catch their new CD “Daisy,” you can listen to it on their Myspace page.
_Keep listening, and we’ll see you next week.
- Kid
07.14.09
68_Eyes Set to Kill: “The World Outside”
_This is Kid Brother, standing in for stat as music editor as stat is on vacation.
_A little more than a year ago, we reviewed Eyes Set to Kill’s debut CD Reach and honestly, we loved it. It was fun. It was ridiculous. It made us want to dance.
_Once we all got back from our respective study abroad programs, we threw ourselves into all the CDs we’d missed out on and found out that Eyes Set to Kill had a new album out. We jumped on it.
_It is not an album that leaps out at you, like the first one does. It is not an album that conveys the amateurish liveliness that is so much fun in so many debuts. Instead, it is a toned down, more mature, more subdued version of Reach. Take the title track, “The World Outside” for instance. Is it a better song than say, “Violent Kiss?” Yes, technically it is. Is it more fun? No, but I still like them both.
_While this CD might not be on the same level of moshability as their major label debut, this CD definitely conveys that first sort of awkward step towards real awesomeness that many sophomore CDs convey. We gave their last CD four out of five stars due to its sheer potential and we’re giving this one the same rating for the same reason. I mean, if they went on tour playing the best from both albums, I would gladly pay for front row tickets to that show.
The World Outside
by Eyes Set to Kill
Rating: Four out of Five stars.
- Kid
