The Album: Going back to local tunes, I want to look at is Exile on Mainstream, by Matchbox Twenty. This is a great album, mostly, in my opinion, because it included a lot of their older songs that I used to listen to when I was a younger. I like some some of their new songs, such as How Far We've Come, but I really like being able to listen to 3 A.M. and Push again after many years. What's sad is that before I got this album and listened to it, I didn't realize that all of these older songs were done by the same band. Back when these songs first came out, I didn't pay attention to the bands so I never knew that they were all done by the same one. I know that this is an older album, but I still recommend it to anyone looking for that nostalgic sound.
The Song: For the song, I want to go back to the Beat Crusaders' song Tonight, Tonight, Tonight. I first heard this song used as one of the opening songs to the anime Bleach. This song includes a cool lead guitar part, a steady rhythm, and is just over all cool. The music video is also really cool; the band is performing on stage with giant helium balloons on their heads. While playing the song, a few of the band members float around the stage, attached to the stage by cords. This song is also the first song by the band that I had heard so it's because of this song that I have gone on to pursue more songs by them.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Japan Rocks
I love a lot of Japanese music. Anyone who has gotten a look at my iPod knows that Japanese rock and Pop music makes about 60% of the music that I listen to. I have albums from bands like Asian Kung-Fu Generation, L'Arc~en~Ciel, the Beat Crusaders, and The Pillows, as well as various other songs that were used as openings and closings for different anime. This week I am going to start looking at my favorite Japanese rock songs.
The Band: I think that one of my favorite bands from Japan are the Beat Crusaders. Their music borders on the techno pop, but is heavily influenced by hard rock. Their songs are fast paced, and incorporate synth/keyboard in all of their songs. I think what first caught my attention with them was the first time I saw one of their music videos and they were wearing masks of their own faces printed using a dot-matrix printer. As I later found out, they wear these masks during their shows, and when they take them off, their faces are either blurred out, or they are digitally covered by their masks. The first song that I heard from them was Tonight, Tonight, Tonight which was used as one of the openings to the anime Bleach. Their music also heavily influenced (and was used in full) the music of another anime, Beck Mongolian Chop Squad. Recently I have discovered that they broke up last year.
The Song: This week I have chosen one of my favorite songs to listen to; the Beat Crusaders' Isolations off of their album P.O.A.~Pop On Arrival. I saw a youtube clip of them performing this song live and I couldn't get it out of my head. The concert I saw was the Rock In Japan Festival, 2005. They opened with the song, using the song's strong drum beat to get the crowd going. The concert footage has since been removed from youtube because it is almost impossible to post any music by the Beat Crusaders. The song itself is quite simple, but it's fast paced and there's a lot of energy. The drum beat is strong and fast with a a simple guitar riff being played over it. My favorite part about the song is the short synth/keyboard solo. The song is the second on the album P.O.A. right after a song called ~NAMPLA~ which acts as a soft intro to the album going right into Isolations which pretty much sets the pace for the rest of the album.
The Band: I think that one of my favorite bands from Japan are the Beat Crusaders. Their music borders on the techno pop, but is heavily influenced by hard rock. Their songs are fast paced, and incorporate synth/keyboard in all of their songs. I think what first caught my attention with them was the first time I saw one of their music videos and they were wearing masks of their own faces printed using a dot-matrix printer. As I later found out, they wear these masks during their shows, and when they take them off, their faces are either blurred out, or they are digitally covered by their masks. The first song that I heard from them was Tonight, Tonight, Tonight which was used as one of the openings to the anime Bleach. Their music also heavily influenced (and was used in full) the music of another anime, Beck Mongolian Chop Squad. Recently I have discovered that they broke up last year.
The Song: This week I have chosen one of my favorite songs to listen to; the Beat Crusaders' Isolations off of their album P.O.A.~Pop On Arrival. I saw a youtube clip of them performing this song live and I couldn't get it out of my head. The concert I saw was the Rock In Japan Festival, 2005. They opened with the song, using the song's strong drum beat to get the crowd going. The concert footage has since been removed from youtube because it is almost impossible to post any music by the Beat Crusaders. The song itself is quite simple, but it's fast paced and there's a lot of energy. The drum beat is strong and fast with a a simple guitar riff being played over it. My favorite part about the song is the short synth/keyboard solo. The song is the second on the album P.O.A. right after a song called ~NAMPLA~ which acts as a soft intro to the album going right into Isolations which pretty much sets the pace for the rest of the album.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Doing Things a Little Differently
So I realize that I haven't posted anything for the past couple of weeks, mainly in part because I have been listening to a wide array of music, rather than a single album. Because of this I have decided that for now I'm just going to post my favorite song(s) of the week.
The Song: My pick of the week is Kimi to iu Hana by Asian Kung-Fu Generation. AKFG is one of my favorite bands out of Japan and this song is my favorite. Kimi to iu Hana is off AKFG's album Kimi Tsunagi Five M which was their first full studio album released back in 2003. I first discovered this song when I was looking up AKFG's music on youtube and I found the video for Kimi to iu Hana (which does not make a lot of sense because for the most part it follows a little person dressed like an elf dancing around a pier, later joined by the band). The song starts out with a strong drum beat for a few measures then it is joined by guitars playing a relaxing (yet quite energetic rhythm). Though this song, like almost all of their songs, is sung in Japanese, it is still very fun to listen to, and I find it impossible to listen to this song without moving around in some way. For anyone who enjoys listening to music from any point in the world, I really suggest Kimi to iu Hana, or any other Asian Kung-Fu Generation song for you to check out.
Special Mention: My special mention of this week is The Bells of Notre Dame from the Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This song is proof that Disney movies of the 90s are more epic than those movies produced by Disney today. There is a lot of chanting and bell ringing, and though it sounds very operatic, it has a lot of power and emotion that really captivates people. I rediscovered this song when my girlfriend mentioned it to me (and I had no idea what she was talking about), and played it for me. I became hooked on the song. This song was used as the opening number to the movie, and from listening to it, it makes the viewer wanting more. After a lot of inner debate, I decided that this song had to go on my iPod. Like I said before, this song has a lot of power behind it, due to it's crescendos and epic ability to introduce the story to little kids; and because of this, I make this song my special mention of the week.
The Song: My pick of the week is Kimi to iu Hana by Asian Kung-Fu Generation. AKFG is one of my favorite bands out of Japan and this song is my favorite. Kimi to iu Hana is off AKFG's album Kimi Tsunagi Five M which was their first full studio album released back in 2003. I first discovered this song when I was looking up AKFG's music on youtube and I found the video for Kimi to iu Hana (which does not make a lot of sense because for the most part it follows a little person dressed like an elf dancing around a pier, later joined by the band). The song starts out with a strong drum beat for a few measures then it is joined by guitars playing a relaxing (yet quite energetic rhythm). Though this song, like almost all of their songs, is sung in Japanese, it is still very fun to listen to, and I find it impossible to listen to this song without moving around in some way. For anyone who enjoys listening to music from any point in the world, I really suggest Kimi to iu Hana, or any other Asian Kung-Fu Generation song for you to check out.
Special Mention: My special mention of this week is The Bells of Notre Dame from the Disney movie The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This song is proof that Disney movies of the 90s are more epic than those movies produced by Disney today. There is a lot of chanting and bell ringing, and though it sounds very operatic, it has a lot of power and emotion that really captivates people. I rediscovered this song when my girlfriend mentioned it to me (and I had no idea what she was talking about), and played it for me. I became hooked on the song. This song was used as the opening number to the movie, and from listening to it, it makes the viewer wanting more. After a lot of inner debate, I decided that this song had to go on my iPod. Like I said before, this song has a lot of power behind it, due to it's crescendos and epic ability to introduce the story to little kids; and because of this, I make this song my special mention of the week.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Some smooth Jazz
As I said earlier, I bought a lot few Tom Waits CDs with my birthday money this year. Rather than going on to talk about all of them, I think I'm just gonna pick the one that has really been playing a lot on my iPod. The being said, i shall begin with...
The Album: The Heart of Saturday Night by Tom Waits. This album is an incredible display of Waits' voice before the later 70s when his vocals became raspy. Like the music off of his first album, Closing Time, this music is smooth jazz. Imagine being in a smoke filled jazz club back in the early 70s. The songs, such as New Coat Of Paint and (Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night, are reminiscent of the old jazz standards of the 50s. The moment you put this album on, get ready to chill. Anyone who has heard later songs by Waits, they wouldn't even recognize this clean voice, smooth jazz, and lack of experimenting with various strange instruments. But, like almost all of his music (and the reason I say almost is because there are some songs that he has done that don't have lyrics), his ability to write great displayed in every single song, especially in (Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night;
"Makes it kind of quiver down in the core
'Cause you're dreamin' of them Saturdays that came before
And now you're stumblin'
You're stumblin' onto the heart of Saturday night."
I find it impossible to listen through this album, looking for a song that is better than another. For anyone looking for some good chill music, this album is perfect and I would recommend to anyone.
The Song: My pick for song of the week is the title track for this album, (Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night. This song is slow, and kinda sad sounding, and amazing. When I listen to it, I become immersed in the story, and that's something that I look for in music. This song doesn't have too much in terms of instrumental accompaniment, just Tom Waits, his guitar, and some background sound effects. This is the perfect song to play if you've had a rough day and just need to kick back and relax.
Special Mention: I won't be doing this very often, but a song popped up on my iPod and I thought I should give it a special mention; that song is the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children version of the song One Winged Angel. I love this song; it starts off with this high energy orchestra (which sounds awesome), then when the song starts to take off, add in some rockin' drums and electric guitar solos. Not epic enough? Then add some type of chant in the background. This song rocks something awesome; thank you Nobuo Uematsu for this masterpiece.
The Album: The Heart of Saturday Night by Tom Waits. This album is an incredible display of Waits' voice before the later 70s when his vocals became raspy. Like the music off of his first album, Closing Time, this music is smooth jazz. Imagine being in a smoke filled jazz club back in the early 70s. The songs, such as New Coat Of Paint and (Looking for) The Heart of Saturday Night, are reminiscent of the old jazz standards of the 50s. The moment you put this album on, get ready to chill. Anyone who has heard later songs by Waits, they wouldn't even recognize this clean voice, smooth jazz, and lack of experimenting with various strange instruments. But, like almost all of his music (and the reason I say almost is because there are some songs that he has done that don't have lyrics), his ability to write great displayed in every single song, especially in (Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night;
"Makes it kind of quiver down in the core
'Cause you're dreamin' of them Saturdays that came before
And now you're stumblin'
You're stumblin' onto the heart of Saturday night."
I find it impossible to listen through this album, looking for a song that is better than another. For anyone looking for some good chill music, this album is perfect and I would recommend to anyone.
The Song: My pick for song of the week is the title track for this album, (Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night. This song is slow, and kinda sad sounding, and amazing. When I listen to it, I become immersed in the story, and that's something that I look for in music. This song doesn't have too much in terms of instrumental accompaniment, just Tom Waits, his guitar, and some background sound effects. This is the perfect song to play if you've had a rough day and just need to kick back and relax.
Special Mention: I won't be doing this very often, but a song popped up on my iPod and I thought I should give it a special mention; that song is the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children version of the song One Winged Angel. I love this song; it starts off with this high energy orchestra (which sounds awesome), then when the song starts to take off, add in some rockin' drums and electric guitar solos. Not epic enough? Then add some type of chant in the background. This song rocks something awesome; thank you Nobuo Uematsu for this masterpiece.
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