Music Monday: Burning up the Radio Edition

One mistake that I used to make listening to music was completely ignoring current radio. It seems like a mistake that a ton of people are making, if you read youtube comments. Half of what i see is “Music is dead, the radio is horrible…” followed by 100 comments about Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. Well I decided that today I’ll list some currently popular bands I’m enjoying.

Foster the People:

If you have watched any music award shows this year you have probably heard “Foster the People” a few times. Their song “Pumped Up Kicks” was all over the radio for a while, and their recent Boom has surly got them pumped. First time I heard them I thought it was something off of the Gorillaz new album. It took me about 5 times hearing it on the radio to get enough lyrics to find the song online.

They really have a Gorillaz feel to me. Replace the Punk/Rap with Synth/Pop, and I can see the parables. They fuse two types of music, gave it a great beat, with some nice hooks, and hid in some anti-social lyrics. I’m interested in their next album. I’m a little worried they are going to be anouther Cage the Elephant; Who after having an Amazing first album, seemed rushed to come out with a second that was really flat in comparison.

Florence and the Machine:

Florence and the Machine is another winner off the first album. “Lungs” has been doing well, hitting 14 on the US top 200, and 1 on the UK charts. The lead Florence Welch is of course the big draw here. An odd collection of songs that cross category seems like a risky first album, but it’s a great listen. Each song is solid, and it has a lot to highlight.

Songs like “Kiss with a Fist” tell you it’s a English group, and Florence isn’t above utilizing that punk sound. Its followed by “girl with one eye” that has the guitar section of a Emerson Lake and Palmer song, mixed with a gritty, sexy, and dark narrative it certainly stands out.

The Big hit seems to have been “the Dog Days are Over”, but I”m shocked “Hurricane Drunk” didn’t get such Radio play. Seems like it could even compete with Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” for yearly breakup song. It’s got vulnerability, anger, bitterness, sadness, optimism, a fierce chorus, and it’s just 2 paragraphs Up (talk about convenient).

Black Keys:

This video is loud, but it’s a good thing. 

Deffinatly the new band that I have given the most play to. Unlike the past two their first album didn’t fare so well. It wasn’t untill their sixth album “Brothers” that they got a gold record. The reason I have put so much youtube time into them is their discography. “Brothers” was a big departure from their earlier works. They really went form a strict blues/rock, to a more radio friendly alt/rock (sometimes even more pop). They even did an entire album of Junior Kimbrough songs.

They seem to have a big influence with slower, Mississippi blues. Short repetitive songs with lyrics about hurtin’, great vocals, simple riffs, heavy percussion, all on worn equipment for that a distinct sound of a garage band. Albums like “Thickfreakness”, and “Rubber factory” don’t have much in comparison to “attack and release” or “Brothers”. I’m not mad at them though, because brothers is a good alt/rock album. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have my fingers cross that “El Camino” will be a bit more RL Burnside, and a bit less The Strokes.

Hope Keeps on Truckin’… or “Bus”in’

The Desert Bus for Hope group is currently doing another event. They are a group that donates to Child’s Play, a charity that  aims to give hospitalized children games to help encourage them during their hospitalization.

The group raises money by being sponsored to play arguably the most tedious video game of all time “Desert Bus” a mini game off of the unreleased 1996 game “Smoke and Mirrors” by Penn and Teller. The Game has you drive an empty bus through the desert from Tucson to Las Vegas. A real life bus trip would take about 8 hours. One in the game takes… 8 hours.

Gameplay starts at 1:50

The game demands your full attention because the bus constantly veers to the right and must constantly be adjusted. If you go to far off the road you are towed back to Tucson. Should you complete the journey you are given 1 point, and since your a bus driver… you drive back. You can drive back in forth until the counter is maxed at 99, which would take around 41 full days. There is no traffic, no real scenery, though at 6 hours in a single fly hits your window.

They are doing 2 full live streams, one of them, and one of the game. They are currently holding a live auction while playing, and have raised over $150,000 so far and are at the 137 hour mark. There still going, so check out the live auctions, special guest chats, viewer contest, nail-biting live gameplay, and DONATE.

Here is their current livestream and donation link:

http://desertbus.org/

Heart stopping LIVE gameplay steam:

http://desertbus.org/popups/live-feed-buscam/

Music Monday: Too Busy Playing a Game Edition

I got a new game on Friday, and because of it I haven’t had the weekend to go over Music. I woke up this morning thinking, what Band should I write about… then i remembered… The game is “Rocksmith”, the  music game that uses a real guitar. Problem Averted:

Rocksmith:

Rocksmith is a game similar to Guitar Hero or Rockband. The difference is that instead of a plastic peripheral, you can hook up any 1/4″ guitar jack. The quick description of the how it works would mostly talk about the cord that comes with the game. It translate normal analog sound into MIDI electrical signals….Basically Magic.
I’ve put in a solid chunk of time and learned most of a few songs, So here are some highlights.

Radiohead: High and Dry

This guy is playing lefty flip, so the notes are basically upside down.

Great song choice, and one of the first songs that when i finished playing it i instantly started it up again. I have to say I’m pleased that they went the Radiohead route over the Oasis Route. I was expecting to sit through “Wonderwall”, but this was the first song that got me excited about what other songs they were going to have. Nothing like a 90′s chord progression full of Teen angst.

Taddy Porter: Mean Bitch

This song caught me off guard. I had never heard of this one, and I thought it was a late 2000′s pop rock song. Little did i know it was a late 2000′s cross between Blues and Buckcherry. It was fun to play, and has a hell of a hook at the chorus. Taddy Porter is one of the more indie bands that Rocksmith chose. I’ve started giving them a proper listen, and I’m liking it (future Music Monday?)

The Pixies: Where is my Mind

I was playing the recommended songs that the game gave me, and i decided to take a quick look to see if all the songs were already unlocked. Alphabitically ordered by song title, I searched through them all. The last song on the list of at least 40 was “Where is my Mind”. 40 mins later, I was still playing it, and still in the state of catharsis that the song always puts me in. I’ve played it at least once every time I’ve started up the game since. If I had to bet which song i would 100% first, I would bet this.

I’m really enjoying the game, and would recommend it to anyone who wants to start out on guitar. Don’t go into it thinking it will be all fun, because it is more of a learning program then a game.

I was already and intermediate player, but I’ve learned a few cool songs, and the minigames have sped up my scale playing, and chord progressions a surprising amount in just 3 days. If nothing else, it makes practicing more fun, and i don’t think I’ve ever built up callous fingers so fast.

Music Monday: The “Hello You-tubes” Edition

Hope your ready for some techno, hip hop, synth, electronica rock cause that’s what I’ve brought. This next one started out on youtube and now has two decent selling Independent records. Time for Keyboard Extraordinaire:

Ronald Jenkees:

At first glance Ronald Jenkees might not make you think Hip Hop enthusiast/Electronic Rocker, but you would  be surprised. Videos on his Youtube channel have accumulated over 50,000,000 views and growing. The populaty has led to him realeasing two independent albums, the opening “Derty” to ESPN’s  Bill Simmons Podcast, the soundtrack of the indie game sequence, and mention on nerd mainstream shows like G4′s “Attack of the Show” and Totalbisquit’s “ShoutCraft”.

In 2006 Jenkees began a youtube channel with vlog post. Over time he began to post videos of hip hop beats he was working on, and even rapped on some. He occasionally played a short bit on a mini keyboard, but in January of 2007 he posted a video off himself playing an Improve of Led Zepplin’s “All of my Love”. His viewership began to grow as he started posting less vlogs and more videos of him playing keyboard, with his mixes.

Jenkees partially credits his popularity to his “goofy” look. He opens each video with a different hat and his now catchphrase “Hello You-tubes”.   Jenkees then plays his amazing compositions, and ends with an enthusiastic description. He has since stated that he was mostly self taught, and plays by ear as he didn’t want to learn how to read music.  You can tell that he really enjoys playing, and his enthusiasm really adds to his great music.

While this seems like the normal description for a decent musician who is fun to listen to once or twice, but not worth much else, it isn’t. The beats that this guy lays down are well worth the time. It certainly gives some ammunition for Hip Hop against the Gangster Rap that has taken over most stations. I Challenge you to listen to the piano line when the bass kicks in @ 0:20 on the track “Disorganized Fun” without bopin your head a little. I know I can’t.

His Youtube Channel has been silent for around 2 years, but his website has just recently picked up with music post and talk about a 3rd album. Me and the rest of his fans are looking forward to it.

You can buy his albums at his site HERE, buy them both and Jenkees will autograph them, or get the mp3 downloads HERE.

Gaming Disorders

With the release of The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim I found myself remembering my times playing the last installment, The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. I tried to think of what i spent most of my time doing in Oblivion, and i realized something. The thing I did most in Oblivion was Collect stuff. Actually, I wasn’t really collecting as much as I was hording. The more I thought about some of the things I did in games I realized that I was showing signs of behavior disorders in games that I don’t in life.

5 of these Potions are useful, and I won't be using any of them. (jbvw~alluring potions mod)

Lets Start with my first example. One thing I did in Oblivion, and that I’m sure to do in Skyrim is Hoard. Compulsive Hoarding is defined (by wiki ^_^) as “the acquisition of possessions  (and failure to use or discard them) in excess of socially normative amounts, even if the items are worthless.” Something I was certainly guilty of.

In Oblivion one of the main skills I leveled up was healing. Since I could heal myself I probably used a potion 5 times throughout my play-through of the game. However, if you went to my house in Skingrad I had about 2000 healing potions, 2000  fatigue potions, tons resistance potions, strength potions, the list goes on. My character had no need for potions, but every time I opened a treasure chest or looted an enemy I took everyone I found.

It wasn’t just potions either, it was jewels too. These were found throughout the world as a reward, and their only purpose was to be sold at various merchants for gold. I never sold one. I had a treasure box full of the useless things, that even if I wanted something purposeful like a sword, or arrows I never even considered selling. If that’s not hoarding I don’t know what is.

I didn’t just collect a bunch of stuff in games. I needed to have it organized too. Which brings up my next gaming disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD). . The game was “Golden Sun” for Gameboy Advanced. Unlike Oblivion, Golden Sun didn’t have storage boxes. Everything I had was on my character, so at all times he looked something like this . 

Another problem I had with Golden Sun was the lack of inventory organization. How did I manage this? Periodically throughout the game I would go to a merchant and sell everything I had, only to buy it back (At a markup). I had to have equipped items first, then other weapons, armor, items, then crap I would never use. Every time I did this i probably lost 20% of the total gold I had, and I’ll just say I did it more than once.

Don’t start thinking I’m only person who acts a bit quirky in games. For instance, I try to be a relatively good character in games, so I don’t steal often. Other people don’t seem to have that problem, so I hear the term Kleptomania being brought up In discussion about games like Fallout;

Things like that might make it a good thing people don’t show these habits outside of games. It certainly wouldn’t hurt being a little more tidy around the house. But while in the real world someone might make a model train-set, or scale version of a castle, in Minecraft you get things like this:

Since there aren’t random massive structures being built all over the world, I have to assume that gamers don’t translate these obsessive projects into the real world. In a similar fashion, I won’t take 10 mins aside to organize my school backpack, but I’ll be damned if my weapons arn’t organized based on magic type. It brings up the question; “Why do these “gaming disorders” only manifest themselves when playing games?”. Unfortunately, like “how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop”… the world may never know.

Music Monday: The Harmonica Bandoleer Edition

This week we have another great group, and this is one of the few that have a lead harmonica. I’m talking about:

 

Blues Traveler

 

A band of the 90′s they had a moment in the spotlight when their pop powerhouse “Run Around” from their 4th album “4″ hit #4 of US pop charts, as well as #4 on the adult contemporary charts… there where a lot of fours in that sentence. They are a rock/pop/blues band with a jam band playing style. This means it’s got a solid blues foundation, but they keep the songs upbeat, and improvise their solos.

The big draw to Blues Traveler would have to be their front man John Popper. He is one of the most well know harmonica players and backs it up. However, he can also belt with the best of them. He is a big guy, with a big voice, and he goes until he’s out of breath. He avoids alot of the cliche’s of pop music with some interesting writing.  He layers his pop visage over lyrics laced with some cynicism.

Take the song “Hook” above. The upbeat pop sound with the focus on the big “Hook” chorus hide the lyrics which poke fun at the genere. Lines like “I am being insincere… in fact I don’t mean any of this… It’s the Hook that brings you back”. This kind of snarky one liners fill songs like “But Anyway” and “Rubberneck”.

While most of their songs fit the jam band description, they don’t forget that pop got them famousl. The best part about that ironic cynicism is that you have to really analyze something to make fun of it well, and they really show a pop mastery with songs like “Canadian Rose” and “You, Me and Everything”.

Well Hope you enjoy Blues Traveler. As a bonus here is great live performance with John Popper Joining the Dave Matthews band on their song “What Would You Say”.

GTA5 Trailer Just Released @ Rockstar website

The grand theft auto series gets another installment. Rockstar just released this new trailer Nov. 2 12:00

http://www.rockstargames.com/videos/embed/8001

The BIG reveals:

1. Planes Are Back
2. Los Angeles, CA themed city
3. Older Protagonist (possible Tommy From Vice City)
4. No Release Date