Tag: music

Jeff Buckley – “Hallelujah” / Thoughts on God…


Jeff Buckley | MySpace | Twitter

I would surmise that a conscious being capable of creating the living world would possess an intellect far greater than our own. If someone that omnipotent spoke, would we really be able to clearly understand?

The analogy I like to use is the ant on the computer (Mac or PC, for once it doesn’t matter). The ant knows that it’s on the computer – it can feel the hard surface and warmth from the glow. It knows the computer exists, and the existence of the computer directly affects the life of the ant, if only in that the ant has to crawl over it.

The ant, however, can never conceive the full potential of the computer. While it may see the light, it doesn’t comprehend text, spreadsheet cells, wacky fonts or viral videos. The reality of the computer and the ant are both intertwined but with wholly separate purpose.

So when people talk about the “word of God,” I find it a little ridiculous. How can you understand something that big when you’re just an ant on a computer?

But then I guess if something created Heaven and the earth, it could learn to speak human too…

Kurt Cobain died sixteen years ago and we’re still talking about him

Nirvana | MySpace

Before our show at Red Devil Lounge last night, I had been watching music performance videos to sort of get me into “the mood,” which is, I think, the equivalent of watching porn before having sex. Though who does that, I don’t know. Anyway, I ran into a Rolling Stone article on Kurt Cobain, discussing the sixteenth anniversary of when the rock icon committed suicide. The article commemorates his life with an amazing photo collection and some updates on his legacy, including his inclusion in Rock Band and the planned biopic on his life, Heavier Than Heaven. Here was a guy, loved and hated musically, that stood for something beyond music, injecting something more meaningful than sex and booze into rock culture. And as destructive as he was, he was/is pretty damn inspirational.

As a musician, I think it helps to constantly reevaluate why you create music. I think great music comes through if it stands for something, if you’re motivated by something more than simply creating melodies for the sake of creating melodies. That’s what separates an artist from a hobbyist, I guess. Artists create largely because they have to. Like the need to drink water or breathe air, their medium is an ingrained form of expression that, whether they want it to or not, needs to come out. Not allowing it to would be akin to never speaking for a kid that can’t shut up.

Nirvana’s performance at Reading, regarded as their greatest, is available on an NME award-nominated DVD. I’m seriously considering finally picking this up.

The Wallflowers (band)

Top Ten – The Best of the Wallflowers

Few bands exhibit the robust and bittersweet sounds of Americana better than The Wallflowers. Fronted by Jakob Dylan—the son of Bob Dylan but a great musician in his own right—their melodies of overdriven guitars and lush vintage keyboards really draw up images of the heart of America, from wheat fields and highways to Hollywood and Vine.

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MUSE – "United States of Eurasia" / Exclusive Download!


www.muse.mu
www.myspace.com/muse

Yesterday, Muse released an exclusive download of a full-length track off their upcoming album, The Resistance. The track, entitled “United States of Eurasia,” continues their Queen-inspired musical journey through sonic battlefields of crazy sounds and lyrics about weird stuff.

Download here or just have a quick listen.

A little corny but I like.

What do you think?

Coldplay – Viva La Vida


www.coldplay.com
www.myspace.com/coldplay

Coldplay finally releases an album that tops even Coldplay itself. Produced by the great Brian Eno, Viva La Vida is an open and ambient masterpiece that celebrates life through glorious pronouncements of strings and beats.

I’ve been searching for something spacious like Radiohead’s Kid A, sans any of the depressing qualities, and Viva La Vida seems well suited for the job. It’s not quite as poignant as any of the Radiohead albums, but it also doesn’t leave you feeling like you just shot your cat and then thought too hard about why you did it. There’s a similar difference between rockets and fireworks, where the former creates more of a lasting effect, while the latter seems a tad prettier. Coldplay is the latter.

The other obligatory Coldplay comparison draws you to U2. On their last album, X&Y, the band professed an adoration for the Bono/Edge sound. While I think it worked for the most part, X&Y often suffered in garnering any semblance of boundary or form. Words sort of spilled out from Martin’s mouth, and the instrumentals blended into a blur. On Viva La Vida, Coldplay successfully finds the balance between all their previous work, discovering truly who they really are.

Viva La Vida opens with “Life in Technicolor,” a multi-textured instrumental opening that sort of explodes with, well, color. The following track, “Cemeteries of London” contrasts its preceding track with a haunting opening leading quickly into pounding rhythms propelling a full orchestration of sounds.

Later songs expand the juxtaposition between the first two tracks and the variation that conducts them. On “Yes,” violins jump between what resembles a Middle Eastern breakdown into a seemingly Western groove during the verses. Then there is the notoriously catchy “Violet Hill…

One cannot discount the album’s first hit and title track, “Viva La Vida,” showcasing Martin’s exquisite and illustrative lyrical work: “I hear Jerusalem bells a’ ringing / Roman Cavalry choirs are singing / Be my mirror, my sword and shield / My missionaries in a foreign field…” I’m a sucker for escapism.

The album concludes with the choir-driven “Death And All His Friends,” finishing with a reprise of the opening track. It’s an almost symmetrical end to an asymmetrical album. And, in doing so, Coldplay succeeds in crafting something bigger than themselves, which, given their earlier successes, is no easy feat.

Good work, Coldplay! You don’t suck again!

Wheee!! :-D