State Radio @ Terminal 5

Last night (11/29) I witnessed a truly awesome concert. State Radio and Anti-Flag at Terminal Five. I came into the show not knowing what to expect from Anti-Flag. All I knew was they were a punk band that started in like 1995. I was pleasantly surprised by the show they put on and didn’t mind their music at all. The crowd was definitely into it, once creating a circle pit on the bassist’s demand. They ended up playing for about 45 minutes or so.

About 20 minutes later, following a quick set change, the band everyone was there for took the stage. State Radio started off with a great rendition of Democracy in Kind. They continued and played some stuff off their newest album. I thought that their two best songs were People to People, with cool lights, and Camilio which got the crowd singing
“And from another land's war torn corners
To a prison cell in my own
Punish me for not taking your orders
But don't lock me up for not leavin' my home”
Both songs were really powerful, and got a huge reaction from the crowd.



Other highlights were a sufficiently long two man drum solo where Stokes basically went back stage and the drummer and bassist pounded on the drums. There were some other pretty good solos the best of which I though came from the bassist. They left stage for a few minutes a little over halfway through but returned in full force for another 40 minutes or so. Terminal 5 was a great place to see them, its big enough that the band and the crowd can really get going but is small enough that you feel you are seeing something most people don’t get to see.

I would definitely recommend seeing State Radio to any rock fan; they really get into their music in a cool way on stage. Most of the songs they played were a lot harder and edgier than the album versions, which I like and perfectly fit the crowd. Originally, I thought Anti-Flag and State Radio was a strange combination but they fit really well together with their politically charged lyrics and their differences helped each of them show off their strengths. For $25 bucks it was definitely worth it.

More pictures of the concert can be seen here

Robert Johnson and the blues

Robert Johnson was an original blues man. he lived to age 27 in the beginning of the 1900s (1911-1938). Unintentionally, he laid the groundwork for all blues to come.  though quite old-sounding nowadays, his original compositions were unique and advanced to his contemporaries.

he recorded only 29 songs (with some alternate versions, totaling 41 recordings). honestly, most of them sound very similar, starting with the same simple blues riff intro.

one of them was eric clapton's hit, "Crossroads"

i think it's a great kind of music. my favorite.

besides guitar and vocals, other common factors are piano and harmonica. around mid-century,  they added drums

this is my blues list:

artists, 

along with a good blues song of each:

old country blues: 1920-1950

robert johnson (walking blues)

Reverend gary davis (death don't have no mercy)

blind lemon jefferson (penitentiary blues)

charlie patton (a spoonful of blues)

furry lewis (kassie jones part 1)

early electric: 1950-1970

lightnin' hopkins (mojo hand)

john lee hooker (boogie chillen')

howlin' wolf (smokestack lightning)

muddy waters (mannish boy)

little walter (my babe)

electric/eclectic: 1960-1980

taj mahal (stagger lee)

buddy guy (money-that's all i want)

electric blues/rock: 1960-1990

led zeppelin (i can't quit you babe)

jimi hendrix (electric church red house)

allman brothers (one way out)

cream (crossroads)

johnny winter (it's my own fault)

ten years after (i'm going home)

Charlie Bartlett

This is your classic, Ferris Bueler style melodramatic metamorphasis style film about a kid trying to fit in and learns about himself in the process. Now do me a favor and please don't jump to conclusions. Ferris Bueler was great wasn't it? But regardless there are huge differences. Bartlett is a kid who is expelled from his private school for making fake ID's and is forced to go a public school. Initially he recieves a lot of crap for being a "suit" because he still wears his private school attire. Charlie gets picked on and laughed at for being different and new. First Charlie makes friends with this suicidal lonely kid who needs help and eventually becomes a student phycologist who makes recommendations to kids who are in need. Ironically, Charlie also is seeing a gullible phychaitrist who believes that Charlie has come down with all of these mental ailments, which he of course pretends to have. Charlie then decides to start selling prescription drugs after having an epiphany.

I wont give away any details but this movie encompasses a plethera of other teenage themes: wexuality, drug experimentation, mood swings, washed up alcoholic parents, and popularity. I'd give it an 9/10. Into the Wild gets about a 9.3/10 and Blues Brothers gets about a 8.9/10, just to give you an idea of where my ratings stand.

Charlie Bartlett Trailer:

GroupHug.us

So there's this site.

It's a good one...

People post confessions

anonymously.

And that's it.

You can read everyone's and post your own.

Some are gross,

some are adorable.

I've done a few myself.

Adorable ones, I promise.

grouphug.us

Daytrotter Sessions

For those of you who are unaware of what "Daytrotter Sessions" are, well...your about to become aware. I give special mention to these "sessions" because they are good and as a contributor to this here "blog" I want to be able to tell you, whats good. So in order to prove this to you, i'll start by saying that if you've ever wanted to hear a different side or sound from your favorite artists, then this is the place to go. They invite up and coming bands who are gaining popularity, or even just great low key bands, and let them record a few songs, either unreleased or just variations of their released music. The results are amazing.

Why just yesterday i downloaded music from at least 11 different artists including:
-Someone Still Loves You Boris Yelstin
-Port O' Brien
-Fleet Foxes
-Peter and The Wolf
-Spoon
-Iron & wine
-Born Ruffians
-Death Cab For Cutie
-Ingrid Michaelson
-The Morning Benders
-Phantom Planet
-Voxtrot
-Wye Oak
-Vampire Weekend
-Tokyo Police Club
-The Ting Tings

I mean really this website just kicks so much ass. It has everything for anyone who's a fan of "well" music (yes, not good music, well music). So check it out, give it a shot, and i guarantee you wont regret all the free downloads (really, they're all free and they don't require you to register for an imaginary ipod along with it.)

Here's some of my favorite sessions:
Waiting For A War - The Morning Benders
I Woke Up Today - Port O' Brien
Where Summer Goes - Peter and the Wolf

portuguese, sea adventure, musicfest

So, three things:

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou is a movie i saw in theatres with my parents and grandparents. My grandparents walked out within forty minutes because it was too rediculous for them.  I liked the movie a lot. In fact, now I have two copies. I've seen it about 5 times.  It's a Wes Anderson movie. He did the Royal Tenenbaums (I didn't like that one much), the Darjeeling Limited (good one), and a couple others. But in this movie, oh man, this movie... Don't even get me started...it centers around Steve Zissou (a spoof character of Jaques Cousteau) and his crew/adventures upon his ship.  I don't know what to praise in particular besides the music.  There's good music: Seu Jorge, David Bowie, The Zombies, Mark Motherbaugh, and other odds and ends. There are scenes in the rain. There are pirates, with guns and grenades. There is Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson.  There are colorful, fictional sea creatures.  It's filmed in and around Italy.

It's a grand adventure.

See for yourself. I have a copy to lend.

Seu Jorge:

a musician and also an actor, part of Zissou's crew, in the movie.  The soundtrack is studded with Seu Jorge's Portuguese covers of David Bowie songs.  There are also some real David Bowie songs in the movie (good ones). But the covers are worth mentioning. They're quite soothing.  Off the top of my head, there's Five Years, Rock 'n Roll Suicide, Queen Bitch, Rebel Rebel, Starman. All very soothing. Acoustic guitar and vocals in Portuguese.

Festival Express

A movie I've seen a few times so far; once last night.  It's a documentary, of a week during the summer of 1970, following a trainload of musicians "careening across the Canadian countryside". The Grateful Dead, The Band, Janis Joplin, Buddy Guy Blues Band, and some others you haven't heard of, all when they were in their prime. All on a train together, partying day and night, all filmed and recorded.  Some good music, some great music, some decent music. Nothing crappy though.  Highlights: Buddy Guy (killer guitar/stage presence), Mashmakhan (jam with a flute solo at the end), the Band (classic; all singing, everybody has a beard).

Peter and The Wolf

Next i'd like to discuss a band by the name of "Peter and The Wolf." I can sware and say that they are nothing like you've ever heard before. Catchy low key acoustic melodies, vocals that soothe and yet mystify, and even the occasional whistling to add a sense of joy to the song. I highly recommend this artist as one that stands out and has a great sound.

The album Lightness is "an album with a sound so unique and wonderful that it quite literally forces you to pay attention to it (Matthew Buck)." The lead singer, named Red Hunter, released this first album in 2006, and since has released 2 other studio albums every year since then. I seriously recommend listening to this artist, and start with this song:

Boomp3.com

Important Compact Discs

Enjoy every moment of this beauty. Jesse G. created this CD for me and Matt Clark (Cat Mlark) to get a taste of his musical likings. I hope you take a good listen to this one. Just click the links and your good to go. Then just drag all those bad boys into iTunes and your good to go. I'll also include the CD i made for him so you can get an idea of the type of music conversation we were having.

Jesse's CD

Kyle's CD

The List

I feel although it may be stupid to just list these bands, i'll be doing it anyway, because the people who contributed should write about their favorites anyway. So here it is:
-The Lucksmiths
-Voxtrot
-Bishop Allen
-Fleet Foxes
-Rogue Wave
-Beulah
-What Made Milwaukee Famous
-Shout Out Louds
-The Boy Least Likely To
-Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
-Suburban Kids With Biblical Names
-We're From Barcelona
-Neutral Milk Hotel
-The Decemberists
-Seabear
-melpo mene
-Slow Runner
-The Apples In Stereo
-Air Traffic
-Electric President
-This Bike is a Pipe Bomb
-Bedouin Soundclash
-Wilco
-Bright Eyes / Conor Obast
-Dear Juliet
-American Analog Set
-Lucero
-Velvet Underground
-Rilo Kiley
-Beirut
-Iron & Wine
-The Go! Team
-The Mountain Goats
-Peter and The Wolf
-Sigur Ros
-Andrew Bird
-Olivia Tremor Control
-Ratatat

Hopefully this list will continue to grow, but if you feel like writing about one of these bad boys (or girls) be my guest.

Love Me If You Dare

This is one of few movies that makes me cry, though I've only seen it twice so far. It's just because I relate to it so freaking much. It shows the best of the good times and the worst of the bad times, and how two people stayed with each other regardless and ended up happy together after 11 years of separation and misfortune. I don't know if just anybody could relate, or if the movie would be as significant or even entertaining if you couldn't.

They stayed together by perpetuating a childhood game of dares they devised, but alas it was the game that drove them apart when the dares turned to "we wont see each other for ten years". They couldn't help but cling to the game, unsure of whether or not to break the rules and seek out each other prematurely. So they each waited the ten years with internal agony, and when the time came, they were insanely elated to see each other again. All they could do was laugh. But then the movie neared its climax as, as a joke, the boy was forced to flee the police for no good reason. He outruns and escapes them in his car on the highway, eventually crashing into a truck and going to the hospital with just a slight cut on his forehead. The girl, who he had just a few minutes to see, before fleeing the cops, is called there and nonchalantly tricked to believing the boy is so brutally mangled, with his face not even recognizable. She sees this impostor and is overcome with grief. On the car ride back home, she somehow realizes it couldn't have been him. Simultaneously, the boy realizes he has played a mean trick, and runs outside into the rain to see if she is there. She returns to the hospital, and finds him standing in the rain. They are truly overjoyed. They are so grateful at having another chance with each other, having abused each other so much. They embrace and cannot be pulled apart by their respective spouses who watch in an emotionally disturbed and confused manner. Eventually the girl's husband punches the boy right in the face. He falls to the ground, rendered unconscious. The girl pleads for him to wake. And eventually he does. For a third time, they are overjoyed. To make sure nothing ever drives them apart again, they submerge themselves together, embraced, in cement.The movie then flashes to a sort of alternate ending in which the two have grown old together and are still happy. Both ways, they die with love, the second more risky, for fear of being separated by unforeseeable forces, so they go with the first, dead in cement in their late thirties.

The part that really got to me was the embrace in the rain. It was the happiest part of the movie. They were finally reunited. Fortunate and grateful and with strong mutual feelings. That is something worth crying about not having.

(You can watch it here, but you're probably better of renting it or borrowing it.)

Daniel Johnston

Yo okay i got another guy who is way different than anything you have ever heard. He has an interesting sound. You have to have a very open mind for this guy. His name is Daniel Johnston. And right off the bat im telling you he has a bad voice but there is just something about it that i like. He certainly is not for everyone but you should give it a try. 

The Story Of An Artist - Daniel Johnston

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Well well well. i decided to kill my last "blog" out of sheer embarrassment due to a general lack of interest and misunderstanding of what a blog really is. I've decided to instead of creating a chronicle of daily activities, to try something much more interesting. Every few days i suppose ill review something. Anything. A book, musician, movie; anything really. I think this will grab much more attention than talking about my insignificant life.

Onto business. Lets start with a band. An amazing band. One that is incredible and deserves a good listening to. These musicians go by the name of "Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin." Introduced to me by my friend Jesse Greenberg, this band has kept me occupied for the last two weeks even though they only have 2 released albums.

The band is what some like to call "indie" but that term just means "independent music," bands who are shifty, and change labels. They make music according to what they believe they should sound like. This band has a sound unlike any other. At first you may draw a few comparisons, but after listening to more of their music you might just be as addicted as i've become. Get a hold of a torrent or even buy it, because this is an artist who's music is worth the money.

They have a few of their unreleased songs on their website iamwarmandpowerful as well as tabs and lyrics for all of their songs. Enjoy. Included here is a song available for download (right click the link and save as) as well as a music video.

Heers - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin