More Christmas Songs

MORE TOP 5 CHRISTMAS SONGS:
1) "12 Days of Christmas" - Relient K
2) "Deck the Halls" - Relient K
3) "Christmas Canon" - Transiberian Orchestra
4) "I Celebrate the Day" - Relient K
5) "All I Want For Christmas is You" - Mariah Carey

And here's a bonus Christmas song, in honor of going green (despite the white Christmas we're having here.)

"I'm Dreaming of a Green Christmas" - MC Lars (feat. Jaret Reddick)

Check it out, go get it. It's funny. Though honestly, I was kind of over Christmas music this season. Anyway, I'm taking a break from work and life and everything, so...

Happy Holidays, everyone!
Emily Noel

A Very Notable Day in Music History

Today, MTV declared Lady Gaga to be "Woman of the Year" for her 2 albums, her ingenious fashion sense, and incredible stage performances. And, I couldn't agree more! Congrats, Gaga!

In other news, I haven't yet had a chance to review The Fame Monster, but that will be coming up soon. This month has been crazy with finals and such.

Happy One Week til Christmas!
Emily Noel

An Early Holiday Present from Coheed

As of 5pm (EST) Coheed and Cambria released their big announcement via their fan website, http://www.cobaltandcalcium.com/. The drawback? All of us dedicated Coheed fans crashed the site by all logging on at once, so luckily cobaltandcalcium.com took mercy on us and released the news via their Facebook.com fan page.

The News:
As of now, Coheed & Cambria intend to release their 5th studio album in April 2010, the deluxe version of which will include a full-length (prose--not graphic!) novel written by Claudio Sanchez. For more details, see cobaltandcalcium's Facebook fan page.

I hope everyone is as excited as I am. I already know that, no matter what happens on the release day, I am taking off school/work/any other obligation to get that album and listen to it on repeat for about a week straight!

I LOVE YOU, CLAUDIO SANCHEZ!!!! =D

Have a great week,
Emily Noel

MORE TOP FIVES!

TOP 5 ALBUMS THAT I’M OBSESSED WITH AT THE MOMENT:
Eager to Please – The Leftovers
Ocean Eyes – Owl City
The Fame Monster – Lady Gaga
Traffic and Weather – Fountains of Wayne
Sorry For Partyin’ – Bowling For Soup

BONUS - TOP 5 SONGS BLASTING IN MY CAR TONIGHT:
“Pink Tux To The Prom (In Love With The 80’s) – Relient K
“Alejandro” – Lady Gaga
“Miami” – Taking Back Sunday
“Do You Remember?” – Jay Sean (feat. Sean Paul & Lil Jon)
“Three Small Words” – Pixie Chicks

SO IN LOVE WITH THE LEFTOVERS RIGHT NOW! (They're opening for The Queers tomorrow night at Maxwell's in Hoboken - tickets are $12.) Can't wait to get their album when I have $ again!

Rock out this weekend!
Emily Noel

Another Music-Filled Month

I don't have a lot of time to post real entries right now because it's coming up to exam week and all, but I have been happily stumbling through waves of new music lately. (And it's only December 3rd!!!) I think I mentioned that I follow Jaret Reddick's podcast now (for those who don't know or remember, he is the lead singer of Bowling For Soup) and I picked up a couple of new good bands from the songs he played. One of these bands (my favorite right now) is The Leftovers, who are on Jaret Reddick's own label (Crappy Records.) And actually they are playing in Brooklyn tonight at South Paw--go look them up if you live in the city! Their hit single is called "Telephone Operator," and it is super catchy and lovable! Their latest album (the best from what I've previewed on iTunes; haven't bought any of their albums yet because I'm broke) is called Eager To Please and I think you should check it out!

You can watch the video of "Telephone Operator" on their website, or just listen to the song on Jaret's podcast.

The other bands Jaret introduces from his label are MC Lars and Skyfox. They're pretty good, too. From Skyfox he played this catchy little pop-rock single called "Run Away" from their EP called Twilight.

At the beginning of this year MC Lars released an album called This Gigantic Robot Kills. From what I've previewed of it, it's pretty funny, but the gem in the mix for me is "Twenty-Three," which is the song Jaret played on the podcast. It's one of the saddest songs I've heard in a long time, but I love it. It's about Pat Wood, a friend and former roommate of MC Lars. Wood committed suicide when he was 23, and so "Twenty-Three" is a tribute to him. I've had it on repeat for a good part of this evening; it's melancholy but I love it because even after 3 years it shows how such tragedies affect us. That kind of pain never goes away, but I'm glad MC Lars took the time to put that experience in a form that can help others who have lost someone that way.

Yeah, so, now that everyone is really bummed...

I also got Bowling For Soup's Merry Flippin' Christmas album (available ONLY by digital download from BFS's merch store) and it's pretty funny. Apparently they have 2 more Christmas albums due to be released fairly soon as well, but we'll see.

Hope you all have a good weekend!
Emily Noel

Top 5 Christmas Songs

If you're looking for music to match this holiday season, here's my top five!

All-Time Top 5 Christmas Songs
“Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” – Transiberian Orchestra
“I Hate Christmas Parties” – Relient K
“Same Old Lang Syne” – Dan Fogelberg
“Believe” – Josh Groban
“Where Are You Christmas?” – Faith Hill

And also, I have to recommend my favorite Christmas albums: Deck the Halls and Bruise Your Hands and Let It Snow Baby, Let It Reindeer, both by Relient K.

Also, note that Bowling For Soup has released a Christmas album a few days ago; it's called Merry Flippin' Christmas, though I have yet to preview it because it's not available on iTunes, only by digital download from their merch store. But you can hear some of their Christmas album, PLUS a lot more, on Jaret Reddick's podcast, either by clicking here or by going to iTunes (for free, on either.)

Enjoy this holiday season! Stay warm! =]
Emily Noel

I Have A Mission For You All

GO BUY THE FAME MONSTER RIGHT NOW. I previewed "Speechless" and it hit me so hard emotionally that I cried (yeah, I cry a lot about music, books, movie, and most forms of art--get over it, because I have!) and then I bought the album on iTunes 0.5 seconds later, and now I have to go to class, but I wish with all my heart I could skip it and just listen to Lady Gaga!

Okay, gotta calm down. I'll post a real review later. GO CHECK IT OUT!

AHHHHHH!
Emily Noel

Just Another Taste of Gaga....

I think Lady Gaga’s music video for the new single “Bad Romance” is a just taste of what is to come in The Fame Monster (to be released this coming Tuesday!) The video is…different. It’s ugly, almost, but in Lady Gaga’s own mesmerizing way. I mean, I’ve heard some guys going, “She’s so hot!” and maybe I’m not qualified to judge that, but for me her beauty is in how easily she can alter her appearance. And when I say the video is “ugly,” I don’t mean that it’s repulsive, necessarily, it’s just that it’s not what you would expect from a Princess of Pop. But she’s already established that she isn’t the typical pop girl. Her goal seems to be to make her songs into works of visual art through music videos.

Most artists attempt to tell a story in their music videos. Some really great ones, or at least some of my favorites, are “All That I’ve Got” by The Used, “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” by My Chemical Romance, and “So What?” by P!nk. You don’t have to like those songs to get what they’re about. Other artists just like to make videos that depict them rocking out in different locations, without any kind of storyline behind them. Most of Lady Gaga’s music videos do not have a storyline, or at least not a very linear one, except for the “Paparazzi” one.

As per her usual, Gaga changes her outfit and make-up at least 3 or 4 times throughout the “Bad Romance” video. And I must be honest: I don’t like the video, but only because it’s just not to my personal aesthetic taste, not because of her performance. And I’m not going to pretend to understand the storyline, if there even is one. I think it’s about her debut into fame and how she got her power, which basically explains the scenes with her struggling in the bathtub and then being encased in that spiky, glittery costume, and then ultimately combusting into flames at the end. My interpretation is that the video depicts her struggle with who she has become and where she’s going from here. The closing shot of the video, with the charred remains of a bed and her laying on it, seems to be (to me) her ultimate conquering of who she is and what she wants—all the power of Lady Gaga, be it the power of fame or sexuality or love.

There’s a quote I’m pulling from Rolling Stone’s June 11, 2009 issue that I really loved because I think it sums Lady Gaga up perfectly and really puts her statement out there point-blank. The article closed with her saying, “I operate from a place of delusion…. I used to walk down the street like I was a f—king star. I want people to walk around delusional about how great they can be – and then to fight so hard for it every day that the lie becomes the truth.”

I love that, because she imagined what she wanted to be, and became it. She wasn’t born Lady Gaga. She didn’t wake up as Lady Gaga. She made herself Lady Gaga, and I know she wants everyone to see that they can make themselves into whatever they want to be, too. I think that is her point in all of these seemingly eccentric music videos and fashion statements, bizarre face masks and dazzling make-up styles. I really don’t think she’s doing it for attention or because she’s insane. She’s called herself crazy and delusional in various interviews, but she says she fights that craziness when she’s working at what she loves—performing.

Give three cheers for Gaga – I can’t wait for The Fame Monster!
Emily Noel

Happy Friday the 13th!

Happy Friday the 13th! Hope it hasn’t been too unlucky for anyone.

I’ve had a lot of Death Cab for Cutie stuck in my head lately, and I have no idea why because I haven’t listened to them in awhile. Incidentally, they wrote a single for the second Twilight saga movie, New Moon, called “Meet Me On the Equinox.” Did I get it? Duhhh! It’s a decent song, and although I am not necessarily a Twilight fan, I do have to admit the first movie had a fairly good soundtrack, what with their little nod to Stephenie Meyer’s love of Muse with the single, “Super-Massive Black Hole” in the vampire baseball scene.

Side-note: Stephenie Meyer directly influenced my interest in Muse, as they are her favorite band and she credited them for their inspiration in all of her Twilight novels. (And yes, I have read them all; I went through quite an intense vampire-romance phase in high school. I am glad to say I have left those days behind. I am no longer really a fan of the novels, though I can’t deny I loved them when I was seventeen.)

About 3 years ago, I was introduced to Death Cab for Cutie quite by chance. Their album Transatlanticism (2003) was given to me by a friend, and it remains my favorite of their albums (though, yes, I have given 3 of their other albums proper listens.) They are clever, I’ll give them that—but not really catchy. You have to pay close attention to their lyrics, and sometimes that’s what I love about their songs, but sometimes Death Cab can be a little too sentimental and intense for my taste. I love Ben Gibbard’s soft, breathy voice, but I have to be in the right mood for it. (Fun Fact: Ben Gibbard is also the lead singer of The Postal Service and—allegedly—married to my beloved, favorite American actress Zooey Deschanel.) In any event, although Death Cab do not make my Top 5, they make it into the perimeter of the Top 10, simply because of my love for Transatlanticism.

Anyway…I’m getting severely off-topic here. I’m not very focused today, sorry. The point is that basically my love of Death Cab = Transatlanticism only. If you like their other albums better, then by all means tell me to go re-listen. But some bands just have that One Good Album, just like some authors just have that One Good Book, and for me it’s Transatlanticism. My three favorites on the album are “Expo ’86,” “Transatlanticism,” and “Passenger Seat.” I love every song on the album, actually, but those are the ones that have remained my unchangeable favorites. Transatlanticism, as with most of Death Cab’s albums, is a compilation of tiny slices of life, which is what makes the songs so beautiful. They tell a story, but subtly, so that you have to interpret the meaning in your own way. My love of “Expo ’86” is a bit personal in that way because it pretty much sums up my love life; it is one of those songs that I would consider partially biographical, which is ironic because I fell in love with the song long before I’d ever fallen in love for real. My favorite bit is:

“Sometimes it seems that I don’t have the skills to recollect
The twists and turns of plot that turned us from lovers to friends;
I’m thinking I should take that volume back up off the shelf
And crack its weary spine and read to help remind myself.”

It’s fantastic, but love really is like a story, and you do have to go over the plot of your love in retrospect to see where it was flawed, because you can’t see what’s wrong when you’re in it. And then there is this bit at the end that always gets me:

“I am waiting for something to go wrong,
I am waiting for familiar resolve
I am waiting for another repeat,
Another diet fed by crippling defeat.
And I am waiting for that sense of relief,
I am waiting for you to flee the scene
As if you held in your hand the smoking gun
And on the floor lay the one you said you loved.”

Love it! That last line always kills me. (Haha.) As for the title track, “Transatlanticism,” there is this kind of lulling background rhythm to it that reminds me of that swaying motion you feel on a train. (In fact, on a recent train trip, I listened to it and it was very peaceful and comforting.) It’s a very beautiful song, very rich in imagery, that to me seems to be about a great flood (or possibly the Great Flood from the Bible or legends) but where people are grateful for this influx of water, for some reason, when it goes, “The people were overjoyed; they took to their boats / I thought it less like a lake and more like a moat.” But the trans-Atlantic part comes in when he sings,

“The rhythm of my footsteps
Crossing flatlands to your door
Have been silenced forevermore.
The distance is quite simply much too far for me to row
It seems farther than ever before
Oh no, I need you so much closer.”

And although I’ve always loved the song, I never really understood that long-distance desperation until last spring when I spent quite a bit of time on the other side of the Atlantic from everyone I love. And I discovered that it really was “quite simply much too far for me to row,” and I needed certain people “so much closer,” at times. In fact I couldn’t even listen to “Transatlanticism” when I was in England; I refused, because it hurt too much. And that’s another reason why the album is so special to me—it was given to me in 2006, but I never understood those songs until 2008 and 2009, when I was older and more mature, so they almost foreshadowed certain events in my future.

And, last but not least, my love for “Passenger Seat” is personal, as well. It’s basically about being driven home on some dark night, which reminds me of all the times I’ve ridden shotgun with one or another of my best friends. (Which has been quite often, because I didn’t get my full license until this past summer.) And “Passenger Seat” gathers up that feeling, but not in a “Woo-it’s-a-fun-night-let’s party” kind of way, but rather with a slow, gentle, sentimental little melody:

“I strain my eyes and try
To tell the difference between
Shooting stars and satellites
From the passenger seat
As you are driving me home.
‘Do they collide?’
I ask and you smile.
With my feet on the dash,
The world doesn’t matter.”

I’ve had moments like that; moments that are perhaps some of the best in my life. For me, it’s not always the destination of a drive that is the most fun, it’s the driving itself. And as much as I love driving, you notice more from the passenger seat because you can pay better attention to the person you’re with and what’s around you.

So, there you have a taste of Death Cab for Cutie (albeit maybe a little too in-depth.) I hope you enjoy their other albums, as well, as I really do wish that I liked them as much as Transatlanticism.

Party it up for Friday the 13th! (’Cause I sure am!)

Have a great weekend,
Emily Noel

Disclaimer: All re-printed lyrics copyright of Death Cab for Cutie.

Going Gaga!

In case you hadn’t had enough of them, Bowling For Soup posted links to their first music video for Sorry For Partyin’ today, and of course it’s “No Hablo Ingles,” which in my opinion is probably the funniest song on the new album. The video is pretty clever; you can check it out here.

In other news, Lady Gaga released her new single a few weeks ago (October 26.) It’s called “Bad Romance,” but I avoided listening to it up until now because I’m not sure how I feel about her re-releasing The Fame. I mean, I feel like if you’re going to do a new album, then just do it. Don’t tack 8 new songs onto your old album and re-release it. But last night my best friend (Lady Gaga’s biggest fan) visited me, and of course he had to play “Bad Romance” for me, and I resisted it on the first 2 listens, but it wasn’t long before we were cruising to it and I was dancing and singing along. (I didn’t say I’m not impressionable!)

It’s big. It’s dramatic. It’s catchy. I LOVE IT. (And according to iTunes, I have played it almost 20 times today, and when I went out driving before, Gaga took major precedence over my stereo.) The chorus goes: “I want your loving and I want your revenge / You and me could write a bad romance/Oh whoa, caught in a bad romance.” My favorite lines are: “I want your love and I want your revenge / I want your love, I don’t wanna be friends!” and then the same lyrics repeated in French. She sounds powerful and intense in this song; in fact, my friend and I compared this single to her others and at some parts it sounds like a completely different singer. Could this be because of voice-changers and synths? Probably. But it’s also a slightly different spin on her old style. It’s definitely stronger, which isn’t surprising for someone with her stage presence.

It’s not my favorite—I still like her softer, more girly songs like “Summerboy” and “Brown Eyes,” while “Bad Romance” is definitely a flashy, heart-stopping dance-beat single like “Just Dance” and “Love Game,” which I am sure is what Lady Gaga was going for. She’s got style; I’ll give her that. Possibly she is certifiably insane, but part of me has to think she’s also a genius. I know those are very conflicting views, but it’s true. She’s not just another pop princess like Brittney or Christina, and she’s not the playful girl-next-door like Katy Perry, and she doesn’t have the sexy but bad-ass presence of P!nk. Lady Gaga is in a league of her own, if you ask me. Can she dance? Not in my opinion. Can she sing? Not live, from what I saw of the VMAs. Does she produce REALLY fun, catchy dance songs to rock out to in your car or when you’re prepping for a night out? Hell f—king YES!

Her music videos are nothing short of inspired—she is the queen of flashy costumes and make-up. I’d kill to have her designers and make-up artists. I mean, as far as beauty goes, I love Katy Perry’s cute retro styles and her subtle but always gorgeous make-up. But Gaga is all about the presentation. For instance, I love her music video for “Poker Face,” not because I love the song, or because of her questionable dance skills, but for her black-painted fingernails with poker card symbols on them, the sleek white-blonde hair, and the silver eye make-up. At times I am actually horrified and disturbed by her music videos. She can make herself beautiful or grotesque, but mesmerizing all the same. She makes her body a work of art when it comes to costumes and make-up; she changes her character based on the song and what the performance requires, and that takes skill. I do not think she is the most talented female pop singer of this age, but she is definitely taking the lead as a performer—that is her real talent.

But back to her music (as this is, after all, a music blog.) I will probably get The Fame: Monster on November 23 when it is released, because as much as I dislike female pop artists (P!nk and Katy Perry remain the only two I can tolerate—besides the Gaga, as one of my suitemates calls her) there is something about her music that I can’t resist. Last night, driving back from Stop N Shop with my friend, “Paparazzi” came on the radio, and let me just say that there is nothing better than singing, “Purple teardrops I’m crying don’t have a price/ Loving you is cherry pie!” to each other at 100-million decibels at midnight while cruising around eating cherry Dum-Dums and chocolate chip cookies. And that’s what is so great about her music—they’re not emotional or meaningful songs; you can just let go and belt it out. It’s just careless fun. At an open mic night a couple of months ago, some guys performed an acoustic version of “Poker Face” and we all sang along. It was great, and I got really into it. But those are her kind of songs, ones that anyone can sing—guys, girls, whoever—just for fun.

So keep an eye out for The Fame: Monster. I’m not saying it’ll all be good. I could very well end up hating it and writing a terrible review of it. But I don’t think people should judge Gaga as another dumb blonde pop-princess—she’s a talented performer underneath the dramatic exterior. And definitely check out the new single, “Bad Romance.”

My All-Time Top-5 Gaga Picks:
1) “Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)”
2) “Brown Eyes”
3) “Paparazzi”
4) “Bad Romance”
5) “Boys Boys Boys”

Have fun going Gaga!
Emily Noel

Disclaimer: All re-printed lyrics copyright of Lady GaGa.

I'm Having A Thought Here

Every once and awhile, I think I'm going to post some All-Time Top-5 Lists of songs, and occasionally some of my own mixes, just for flavor, I guess. (I just finished re-watching High Fidelity for about the eighth time; that's what gave me the idea.)

So, here we have:

My All-Time Top-5 Asking-Out/Just-Be-With-Me-Please Songs Ever
1) “Let’s Get It On” – Marvin Gaye
2) “I’d Do Anything” – Simple Plan
3) “So What Does It All Mean?” – West, Gould, and Fitzgerald
4) “Things I’ll Never Say” – Avril Lavigne
5) “Jenny” – The [New] Click 5

My All-Time Top-5 Most Painful Break-Up Songs Ever
1) “Famous Last Words” – My Chemical Romance
2) “Mr. Brightside” – The Killers
3) “The Velourium Camper II: Backend of Forever” – Coheed and Cambria
4) “Apologize” – OneRepublic
5) “Adrienne” – The Calling

Enjoy. More to come another time.
Emily Noel

All About The Party

So here’s my very belated and much-anticipated review of Bowling For Soup’s new album Sorry For Partyin’. My classes and internship and some weekend trips back home seriously detracted from my writing time last month, which is a shame because for some reason October really got me out of my writing dry spell.

Bowling For Soup did not disappoint on Sorry For Partyin’. Let me preface this review by saying that I jumped on the BFS bandwagon in 2004/2005 with the release of A Hangover You Don’t Deserve and, more specifically, the single “Almost.” I feel pretty confident in saying that Hangover is the album that cemented BFS’s fame, even though they were pretty well-known and well-liked for their single “Girl All The Bad Guys Want” on their 1999 album Drunk Enough to Dance. (I mean, I remember my friends and I rocking out to that in eighth grade like we were the coolest kids ever, which we were not.) I have several of their older albums, and although they are pretty good, I feel like they didn’t hit their groove until Hangover. Their older albums are unpolished and raw, especially in the sound quality, and that’s primarily why I don’t like them. (I don’t know what you call it, but there’s a certain sound that some bands have, usually very new bands, and it’s just very raw and irritating to my ears, literally. I physically can’t listen to it even if I want to.) Though all the classic BFS elements are there in those older songs, they didn’t really start injecting them with the humor and “who-cares-be-happy” vibes until Hangover.

But I digress. From the moment I hit “play” on my iTunes playlist, I knew Sorry For Partyin' was a winner. Like…I actually cried while I was listening to it the first time; that’s how amazed and happy and touched by it I was. I mean, their EP in August and the “No Hablo Ingles” single indicated greatness, but come on—BFS producing a dance song?! Well, they did. The first track is, quite literally, “A Really Cool Dance Song,” which grabs your attention. It’s set to a typical “dance song” beat with that techno-y electronic sound, and at one point the drums drop out and Jaret Reddick goes, “It doesn’t sound good anymore!” which I thought was hilarious because synth does sound terrible in general; it’s so generic. But this song is not just for fun: pay attention. BFS has this insane talent of mixing truthful, serious matters in their crazy-fun songs. It starts off like this:

“We grew up in the suburbs,
Got guitars for Christmas
And started a punk rock band.
Then we travelled the nation
Became a sensation
In our ’82 Dodge van.

Now we’re getting older and much more sober
And we’ve got some big-ass payments to make
The wife wants a handbag
The kids need some college
And we just need one hit single to break
Get ready, here it comes!”

Then it slips off into BFS’s classic joking tone—they laugh at themselves, admit that they’d never really write a dance song; it’s not their style—duh—and make fun of those who do make dance songs. They even say, “Who the hell are we foolin’? This isn’t what we really do /We had to borrow this keyboard, we only listen to Motley Crue /But it’s gonna be really funny, ’Cause this song will be number one!” (And it is number one…on the album.)

Now, don’t quiz me. I haven’t interviewed Jaret Reddick (unfortunately!) so I don’t know if they REALLY had an ’82 Dodge van or if their kids are even old enough for college yet. But I’ll bet you there’s something in there that’s almost true. (Like if you’re familiar with their 2004 single “Almost,” which by the way is the song that got me into them—I guarantee you some of that song is true.) But regardless, even if it isn’t, that’s even better. To me, that’s a great band with some insanely creative lyrics, if you can make me believe them like they’re a true story.

My favorite is “Only Young,” which as its title indicates pretty much sums up what it feels like to be young. I really just like the upbeat melody and the chorus. It’s really not their best song lyrically or anything, but it captures the mood well enough. Anyway, I could go through this entire album and have something to say on every single song while writing “OMG JARET REDDICK I LUV U!” at random intervals like the crazed fan-girl I very well may be at heart, but I won’t. To be honest, I originally questioned the potential quality of this album (despite the EP and the single) because I didn’t think they could top their last album, The Great Burrito Extortion Case (2006.) And then when I realized how much I love Partyin’, I had to reconcile that with my love for Great Burrito, and pick a favorite. And then I realized—no, I don’t. They are two different albums. I tried to gauge which is funnier and which is more emotional, and I really don’t think you can. They’re both humorous and heart-felt. Did they kick it up a notch? Definitely. It’s not the same album as Great Burrito, by any means. There are a lot more little asides, which is so classic, lovable BFS, like in “If Only” and “Choke,” and some just-for-fun songs like “Hooray For Beer” and “I Can’t Stand L.A.,” but there are still a few serious, down-to-earth, make-you-teary-eyed songs, like “Everything To Me.”

So, long story short—yes, I listened to this album all the way through. NO SONG HOPPING FOR BFS! Never! And, you know, if I listen to an album the whole way through (and then replay it straight through again and again) that pretty much guarantees it an automatic A+. SO GO BUY IT, LISTEN TO IT, AND LOVE IT! Emily Noel approves.

And (in case you’re curious) these are my top-5 picks on Sorry For Partyin’ (Deluxe Version):
1) “Only Young” – Track 4
2) “If Only” – Track 10
3) “Love Goes Boom” – Track 11
4) “No Hablo Ingles” – Track 2
5) “Me With No You” – Track 7

And, on a very un-related side-note, I discovered this morning THAT I AM CLAIRVOYANT! Yes, it’s true! Really! No, not really—but it was a very weird coincidence that this morning I was thinking about my best friend who is a HUGE fan of Lady Gaga (she is his wifey—don’t mess) and how great it’d be if she came out with a new album. And when I went online not long after that, I discovered that Lady Gaga is re-releasing her debut album The Fame under a new title, The Fame: Monster on November 23, 2009. Apparently it will contain 8 new songs. So, we’ll see, but I’ll write more on Gaga in another entry—there will be one dedicated just to her (in honor of her biggest fan!) before the re-release, and then I’ll do a follow-up. =]

Enjoy your Partyin’!
Emily Noel

(Disclaimer: All re-printed lyrics copyright of Bowling For Soup.)

DON'T BE "SORRY FOR PARTYIN'"!!!

OKAY, I WILL WRITE A PROPER REVIEW LATER THIS WEEK WHEN I HAVE TIME, BUT I JUST HAD TO SAY, I AM LISTENING TO BOWLING FOR SOUP'S NEW ALBUM SORRY FOR PARTYIN' REAL QUICK BEFORE I HAVE TO RUN TO CLASS AND OH-MY-GOD!

The boys did it again - they've produced another super hilarious, up-beat, catchy, PHENOMENAL ALBUM!

The real review will be a lot more coherent, I promise. Just...GO BUY THE ALBUM NOW. Do not stop, do not preview it, just BUY IT.

"If this collection of songs does not make you smile, you are quite possibly dead or a miserable person that should not ever be allowed to pet puppies or hold babies."
--Jaret Reddick, lead singer of BFS, about Sorry For Partyin'

WOOOOOOO!!! Awesome job to Jaret & the BFS guys! Love you!
Emily Noel

October: The Month of New Music

So, in edition to Bowling For Soup’s new album coming out next week, Relient K just released a new album this past Tuesday called Forget and Not Slow Down. They have been my second-favorite band since my junior year in high school, and I am very in love with Matthew Theissen’s voice. My favorite album of theirs will always be Two Lefts Don't Make a Right...But Three Do, but Mmhmm and their 2007 album Five Score and Seven Years Ago were really great, as well, and no one should miss their super-stellar Christmas albums Deck the Halls and Bruise Your Hands and Let It Snow Baby, Let It Reindeer.

But their style changed drastically after Five Score. Over the last 5 albums (Two Lefts, Mmhmm, Five Score, The Bird and the Bee Sides, and this one) their songs have changed from the “you're invincible if you believe in something real/do what your heart believes in” vibe to a “I’ve lost hope, oh no, wait, I’ve found it again, but ho-hum” kind of sound.

Their last album The Bird and the Bee Sides / The Nashville Tennis EP, released in the summer of 2008, was mostly a lot of acoustic versions and demos of their old songs, which was fine, but at least it had a lot of new funny, catchy, nonsensical songs, which is really their trademark. Like the 2 thirty-second tribute songs to the old ska band Five Iron Frenzy, a joke song called “A Penny Loafer Saved Is A Penny Loafer Earned,” and a catchy little 1:01 minute track called “Beaming.” Basically, it’s just their usual funny songs with Matt Theissen’s amazing happy voice that I love more than anything.

But on Forget and Not Slow Down - well, don’t write off this album on the first listen like I nearly did. I was a little disappointed at first because I was hoping for the good old attention-grabbing songs (like “Be My Escape” from Mmhmm) and they just haven’t been writing those lately. This album is a little more serious and down to earth, but by the fifth track I realized they still have their same old sound at heart.

“Therapy” and “Over It” are my favorites on the new album, although I can’t stick to that because I haven’t given the album a thorough enough listen yet. “Therapy” has these really great opening lines that I love:

“I never thought I'd be
Driving through the country just to drive
With only music and the clothes that I woke up in.
I never thought I'd need
All this time alone
It goes to show I had so much
Yet I had need for nothing…but you.”

I can definitely relate to that, because I’m going through a similar feeling and phase right now. (And I don’t know exactly what kind of “you” the song refers to in context, but it seems kind of like an ex.) But the refrain is the best:

“This is my therapy
Let’s call it what it is, not what we were
With a death-grip on this life always transitioning
This is just therapy
’Cause you won’t take my calls
And that makes God the only one
Who’s left here listening to me.”

Which, again, is something I can definitely understand, especially now.

And honestly, I disliked “Over It” on the first few listens, because it sounded so depressing and Matt Theissen sounded really tired out and down, and that’s just not what I associate with his beautiful, happy, soothing voice. But the more I listened, I realized that their old spark is still there, and the same sweet, soothing tone of Matt Theissen’s voice comes back by the end of the song as its message picks up. The refrain goes, “I'm over it / Yeah, behind me now, I'm just over it / Yeah, I'm finding out I'm just over it / No, I don't know what's over just yet /But I won't go slow /And time can let the mind forget / Don't tell me you don't know, already,” in this slow, swaying melody. And Theissen really does sound “just over it” – just worn out and tired, but not giving up – just ready to move on. LOVE IT!

So check out Forget and Not Slow Down, even if you don’t think you’ll like it at first. I was skeptical, too, but my love and loyalty to Matt and the guys won out. It is somewhat different from the older albums, yes, but all bands evolve. (And I am very sorry, Relient K, for giving you a less-than-stellar review.)

Here’s a quick list of my old Relient K favorites.

My All-Time Top 5 Relient K Songs:
1) “In Love With the 80’s (Pink Tux To The Prom)” (Two Lefts)
2) “Falling Out” (Two Lefts)
3) “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been” (Mmhmm)
4) “Jefferson Aeroplane” (Two Lefts)
5) “Pressing On” (The Anatomy of Tongue In Cheek)

There are a lot of others, of course, like their more well-known ones “Mood Rings,” “Be My Escape,” and “Sadie Hawkins Dance.” But those listed are the ones that have really stuck with me over the years.

Happy Weekend, everyone!
Emily Noel

(Disclaimer: All re-printed lyrics copyright of Relient K.)

"Get Happy" About Bowling For Soup

I’ve held back on today’s topic for about a month now, but today I discovered that Bowling For Soup’s new album Sorry For Partyin’ is coming out in about two weeks (October 13) so in honor of that, I’m writing about them, their latest EP My Wena, and the newest single (released Sept. 22) called “No Hablo Ingles.”

Bowling For Soup definitely makes my list of all-time top-five favorite bands, hands down. They probably come in at about 3rd place, after Relient K, but it’s a close call. This summer I read on their bio that they worked out mathematically the sad-to-happy ratio of lyrics in their songs, so that for every sad lyric they have so many more happy ones. I think that’s really clever (and it’s no wonder that lead singer Jaret Reddick has two college degrees and is such a phenomenal singer and songwriter) and I could not think of a happier, peppier, more life-loving band. Bowling For Soup’s songs are antidepressants, no exaggeration.

The My Wena EP came out August 7, 2009, and I got it not long after its release date. Normally I don’t buy EPs, or much care about them, but BFS is an exception. My favorite song on the EP is “I’ll Always Remember You (That Way)” because it’s about a guy and a girl looking back on their relationship, with the guy sung by Jaret Reddick and the girl sung by Kim Shattuck of The Muffs. They are each saying what they remember of their time together, but it is kind of funny how their perspectives differ:

GIRL: Do you remember the moonlight in my hair?
GUY: I remember pulling your hair
GIRL: I told my friends that it was love
GUY: I told mine you couldn’t get enough!

GIRL: I’ll always remember you
GUY: Always remember you
GIRL: The moon and the stars
GUY: The back of my car
GIRL: That song that was ours
GUY: The back of my car
GUY: The memories are different
GIRL: But we felt the same
BOTH: And I’ll always remember you that way.

I really love the realism in that. Everyone has a different view of how an event happened; nobody has the same memories, even in relationships. It’s kind of funny, because a lot of songs are all about “unity” in love, and thousands of songs say, “I’ll always remember you,” but Bowling For Soup takes it farther with the “That Way.” And it’s equally amusing because guys and girls really do have different perspectives, especially in relationships, and sometimes that’s the very thing that destroys them.

But I have to say, Bowling For Soup have REALLY outdone themselves on their newest single, “No Hablo Ingles.” It has the classic BFS humor and then some—basically the entire premise of the song is the joke that you can get out of any situation by claiming not to speak English. (If you can’t deduce that from the title.) Jaret Reddick and the guys are, as usual, off-handedly hilarious in their tone and use of lyrics, such as, “My teacher asked me where my homework was / And that's when I told her, ‘No hablo Inglés!’ / Policeman caught me doing ninety / And that’s when he pulled me over: ‘No hablo Inglés!’” And the chorus: “To make a getaway / It’s all you’ve gotta say! / (¡Cuatro! ¡Cinco! ¡Seis!) / ‘No hablo Inglés!’”

I really can’t describe all the humor of Jaret’s little spoken asides, though, so I really think you should just buy the single, or wait for Sorry For Partyin’ to come out on October 13th. (I can’t wait!!!) That’s going to be a very good day for me—just as Bowling For Soup intended. Because really, that’s what I love best about them: they just want everyone to be happy, and they make sure it happens with their music. (Just like they say in “Shut Up And Smile,” which by the title is probably a self-explanatory song.)

Happy listening! (Literally.)
Emily Noel

(Post title taken from "Get Happy" by Bowling For Soup. All reprinted lyrics copyright of Bowling For Soup.)

"I'm Leaving You My Legacy..."

This morning at brunch, my friend goes, “So how’s that music blog going?” And I said, “…It’s going. I’m working on it.” But as you can see, I am kind of a slacker in the blogging department. I could say I’ve been taking some “mental health days,” but if that’s really the case then this is rapidly turning into a mental health semester, and that isn’t what I want. So blogging it is. (So here you go, KDB—hope you see this update!)

I have been listening to my favorite female artist a lot lately—Katy Perry. (Though for a side note, I have to say that I used to be a huge Avril Lavigne fan in 8th grade and high school. I still love her first album, but as of late I feel like she tried to change her style too much, just to fit in. Maybe she wanted the change—I don’t know. But I didn’t like her most recent album The Best Damned Thing. It didn’t have the same spunk and fighting spirit of Let Go or even Under My Skin.) Anyway, nowadays Katy Perry is my absolute favorite female singer. Her songs are so down-to-earth and real, but fun and “sing-able.” Obviously she has the standard radio hits “Ur So Gay,” “Waking Up In Vegas,” “I Kissed A Girl,” and of course “Hot N Cold.” Last fall, I was all about “Hot N Cold,” but all of her songs are so upbeat and catchy that you can’t help loving them. I was once addicted to her music video for “Hot N Cold,” and I still really love it—because really, who wouldn’t chase her husband-to-be around town for ditching her at the aisle? My favorite line is, “Someone call the doctor, got a case of the love bipolar / Stuck on a roller coaster, can’t get off this ride” because it sums up the very essence of commitment-fearing guys. Her playful use of words is what makes her songs so believable and fun.

I don’t just love her hits, either—I invested in her debut album One of the Boys and discovered that there is not a single song I dislike on the entire album. No song-hopping for me when it comes to Katy! My favorite non-hit songs are actually two of the more serious ones—“Lost” and “Fingerprints.” If you don’t have the album, you probably will not have heard them, but they’re very heartfelt and emotional. “Lost” is about being out on your own but feeling like you don’t belong anywhere: “So sick of this town pulling me down / My mother says I should come back home / But can’t find the way ’cause the way is gone / So if I pray, am I just sending words into outer space?” And then the refrain: “Have you ever been so lost? Known the way, and still so lost?” Those are words that I can really relate to, and I think it might be a feeling that a lot of young adults can sympathize with—once you get out on your own, you realize that freedom can be a lot harder and sometimes a lot more lonely than you ever anticipated.

“Fingerprints” is nowhere near as somber, but definitely has a note of seriousness to it, if only because it carries such distinct tones of defiance and pride. It is basically about being put down and told that you can’t make it and do what you want with your life, but rebelling and going for it anyway. (I do not know if it is a personal statement from Katy Perry in that way, but it’s relatable nonetheless.) Obviously, there are thousands of songs with the same message, but Katy’s catchy music and playful wording make it different somehow. My favorite line is, “’Cause I’m worth more than this / So stop writing prescriptions for my Ritalin / I can’t focus my attention,” because it really puts some individuality in there. The entire song, underlined by the refrain of, “I wanna break the mold, I wanna break the stereotype / Fist in the air, I’m not going down without a fight” and “I want you to remember me…I’m leaving my fingerprints on you,” is saying, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do, just watch and let me prove to you that I can.” I really like messages like that, especially in songs. Songs like that are really uplifting and empowering; even when you feel down, they make you think that maybe there is a reason to fight for what you want, no matter how hopeless it seems or how many people tell you can’t do it.

Now go out and buy One of the Boys—it’s so worth it! I love you, Katy Perry!

Thanks for reading!
Emily Noel

(Disclaimer: Credit for the post title - Katy Perry's "Fingerprints." All lyrics are copyright of Katy Perry.)

Emily Noel's Music Video Judgement

In honor of tonight's MTV Video Music Awards, I'd just like to show you all the official worst music video ever, which I first saw at the Hard Rock Cafe in Cardiff, Wales this winter. Putting aside my personal dislike of Bono's music, I have not yet met anyone who enjoys this music video; it has no story arc whatsoever. If you do, please tell me why because I think it is the worst piece of visual art I have ever seen and yet it is continuously hiliarious to my friends and I.

And just for amusement, my all-time top-five music videos are:
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
Helena - My Chemical Romance
Apologize - OneRepublic
All That I've Got - The Used
So What? - Pink

Hope you all enjoy the VMAs!
Emily Noel

P.S. - I just flipped on the VMAs and saw Kristen Stewart from Twilight advertising the upcoming sequel New Moon. And then Beyonce came out half-naked, and I stopped watching. Especially because one of my roommates told me that Kristen Stewart is playing Joan Jett in an upcoming film. Why would anyone give Stewart a role of importance?! She was good in Twilight, but I can't see her playing that kind of role. Get Zooey Deschanel, at least! She could do it, I bet. But maybe I'm just biased.

Just A Little Movie Reviewing

So Tim Burton’s 9 came out on Wednesday, which besides being a huge Burton fan, I am rather indifferent about, but Coheed’s single “Welcome Home” was in the trailer which I was SUPER EXCITED about…but it’s not in the movie, unfortunately. In other news, I am switching the blogging schedule to ONLY Monday and Friday. Mid-week is not my best time, which is why I skipped the actual 9-9-9 blog date.

Anyway, yesterday I re-watched one of my all-time top favorite movies, Almost Famous. It is basically a movie about how I wish my life would play out: a 15-year old kid who writes for local underground music magazines is hired to work for Rolling Stone and tours with a band called Stillwater. It’s a really incredible movie (with Kate Hudson and Philip Seymour Hoffman) and I never get tired of watching it. And it is also really amazing the way the music works within the story—like how his older sister (Zooey Deschanel—one of my favorite actresses—and by the way, does anyone else agree with me that she looks almost EXACTLY like Katy Perry? I swear they’re the same person) leaves home to become a stewardess and explains it by playing Simon and Garfunkel’s “America” to her family. I love that. Music is the best way to explain an emotion, sometimes. You just have to be open to listen. You can really learn a lot about a person by what they listen to or what they try to play for you.

Anyway, the music from the film (aside from including a lot of Elton John, who I can only take in low doses) is perfect. For instance, Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” pretty much sums up Kate Hudson’s character, the stunning Miss Penny Lane, sometimes-girlfriend of Stillwater’s lead guitarist Russell Hammond. I believe Ms. Hudson is really the sparkle behind all the emotion of the film, in addition to the astounding choice of music. The lyrics “Blue jean baby, L.A. lady, seamstress for the band / Pretty eyed, pirate smile, you'll marry a music man” could not describe Penny Lane any better—she is in love with Russell, she is the soul of Stillwater and their biggest fan, yet taken for granted somewhat because of her groupie status. I would venture to say the movie is really as much about her as it is about William Miller, the boy journalist (played by Patrick Fugit.) The film isn’t just about William Miller’s journey across America and his adventures with the band, nor is it simply about the politics and trials of the music industry—it’s really about the undying love and loyalty of fans to their favorite bands. Long story short, I could not recommend any film more (except for High Fidelity.)

Happy watching & happy weekend!
Emily Noel

Mixing and Matching

On the same day that I discovered the Vitamin String Quartet, I also found this really fantastic workout music. They are iTunes albums comprised of dance and techno mixes by various artists. There are songs adapted from movies called Fit Flix Workout Music and pop music workout mixes categorized by year; for instance, I bought a few tracks off of the 70’s and 80’s Pop Workout Music 2 album. There are lots of different ones to choose from though, and some of them are specifically designed just for cardio, like walking and running mixes. Occasionally I’ve made my own workout mixes for walking and running, but it’s really neat that they come pre-made on iTunes. If you’re looking for new workout music, definitely check them out.

My favorite is the Fit Flix Workout Music 1 album (136-148BPM Music for Moderate-Fast Paced Walking, Jogging, Cardio) which has 8 tracks of well-known songs from movies, such as “My Heart Will Go On” from Titantic, “Eye of the Tiger” from Rocky, and the closing theme from Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl—all set to techno. I also got “Sugar Baby Love,” “Baby I Love Your Way,” and “Lay All Your Love On Me” from 70’s and 80’s Pop Workout Music 2, which are also set to techno, of course. I think these are really funny and clever and I cannot wait to put them to use in my workouts. Interesting music always makes working out more enjoyable for me; it’s almost like setting a goal of how much awesome music I can listen to before I’m exhausted or it’s time to stop.

While I am on the subject of interesting music medleys, I can also mention one of Girl Talk’s albums, Feed The Animals. This very intense and creative mix was introduced to me by a friend on the way to a Coheed and Cambria concert a few months ago. The entire album is made up of parts of rap and hip-hop songs woven together with old rock classics. I am generally not a big fan of rap or hip-hop, but I can definitely respect the effort and planning involved in creating such mixes. For example, in the track “Play Your Part (Part 2)” Lil Wayne’s “Lollipop” is backed by some of the guitar parts of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge,” and then “Pop, Lock, and Drop It” is set to Journey’s “Faithfully.” Feed The Animals made me think about what sort of songs I would mix if I had the proper software and knowledge to do so. It is really fun not to cheat by looking online for the parts, but rather to try to pick out the songs on your own and then check to see if you were right. But if you would like to see what songs the tracks are made from, you can see some fairly accurate lists on Wikipedia’s Feed The Animals page. (Found here—though I do not condone using Wikipedia as a trusted web source.)

Happy Labor Day!
Emily Noel

Happy Fall 2009

Happy Fall 2009! And no, I did not cop out on updating the blog – I’ve just been uber busy moving into my new apartment at college for the Fall 09 semester, unpacking, and going to classes. So now I’m back on track, and unless some huge assignment or something throws me off, I’m going to stick to it.

Today’s topic is one that I’ve wanted to cover since I started the blog because I discovered this group on the day I started it. The group is not actually one group, it is a number of groups that make up the Vitamin String Quartet. From what I understand, there are several string quartets in Los Angeles, all of which produce covers of well-known groups, such as Abba, the Beatles, the Killers, My Chemical Romance, and many others. (Full lists can be found on iTunes, or if you just Google search the quartet.) The reason I discovered them was because they did a cover of Coheed and Cambria’s In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 album and I had to get it, of course. I was elated because In Keeping Secrets is my second-favorite Coheed album, and it was so interesting to hear the tracks without the vocals, synthesizers, and drums—just string instruments. When I listen to the cover of In Keeping Secrets I can almost hear the vocals overlapping the instruments, but it evokes a totally different feeling to the song. When Claudio Sanchez (Coheed and Cambria) sings, he injects a lot of emotion into his words. Some of the depth of emotion is lost without his vocals, because the instrumentals on their own make the mood sound more upbeat when Claudio’s lyrics make the song so much darker. It’s a really interesting and creative concept, so I highly recommend checking if the Quartet has done tributes of your favorite artists. It really puts an interesting spin on the songs, almost as if you’re hearing them for the first time all over again.

The album was so fabulous that I had to find out more about the Vitamin String Quartet’s tributes. I also got their covers of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and Relient K’s “In Love With The 80’s (Pink Tux To The Prom)” because they both sounded really cool in purely instrumental form. “Don’t Stop Believing” is such a classic that I enjoy hearing it any form, but I had never heard it without the vocals before, obviously. The tune is clearly recognizable but the lack of vocals makes it a lot less upbeat and inspiring. “In Love With The 80’s” is still just as catchy, though, even if it does lack the beauty of Matthew Theissen’s voice. I plan to buy more of the Quartet’s tributes eventually because they’re so phenomenal.

Enjoy!
Emily Noel

Music from Travels in England, France, and Scotland

When I was abroad last semester, I discovered that American artists are extremely popular in Britain. I had hoped to gain some new music while over there, but in a London souvenir shop on my very first weekend, I found myself listening to Enrique Iglesias’s “Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song).” In pubs and on the radio, I’d often hear hit singles by The Fray or Kelly Clarkson. I did come across some “native” British music. There was a guitarist in Covent Garden in London playing Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” and a few radio advertisements for Morrissey, a British singer and songwriter I happened to discover about a year before going abroad. (You might be familiar with him from The Smiths. He also recently released a new album.) On one of our last weekends, my friends and I heard one of Coldplay's old albums playing in a pub in Salisbury. It was one of those depressing ones where all the tracks sound the same. (Until “Viva La Vida” I was not a Coldplay fan, so my apologies to any Coldplay fans. They are not my taste.) But although I know those bands are native to England, I was still disappointed that I didn't hear anything radically unfamiliar. It seems that America and England have done an equal trade in band popularity.

But one of my theatre/literature classes led me to discover an intriguing medley of music in the play The Convict’s Opera, which is a modern adaptation of John Gay’s play The Beggar’s Opera. It was one of the first ballad operas of its time (circa 1728.) But The Convict’s Opera, which I was fortunate enough to see in Oxford, uses such modern day songs as “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers and Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” the latter of which included lyrics such as “With one eye in the looking glass” instead of “With one eye in the mirror.” But interestingly enough, my professors had never heard of The Proclaimers or of their one hit single. Maybe some of you have never heard of it, but it was a popular song in its day, and it even earned mention on Family Guy, albeit in a cut-away gag. I really loved The Convict’s Opera because it mimicked John Gay’s plot while including a modern twist, featuring prisoners on a ship bound for New South Wales who must put on a performance to keep up morale on their voyage, which is where the ballads come in.

Another of my musical discoveries abroad was a real attraction to French pop music. I spent Easter weekend in Paris, and on our first night my roommate and I took a walk to a corner pizzeria not far from our hostel. While our (very delicious) pizza was being made before us, I walked over to listen to the radio playing in the corner and take a peek at the stack of French CDs beside it. One problem: I don’t speak or read French, so I don’t know what the CDs were and I don’t know what the radio DJ was saying about the songs. Whatever those songs were, though, they were extremely catchy. I don’t care that I don’t understand a word of French—music is music. I still got the general idea with the beat and tone of voice. I have taken to searching for French pop music on iTunes, but with little luck so far. I did look into the French artist Camille, who did the single “Le festin” for the 2007 Disney/Pixar film Ratatouille. I have several of her albums now but (of course) have not yet managed to listen to them in full.

But the gem of my musical discoveries abroad is an album I bought in my favorite country in the United Kingdom—Scotland. I first heard this album in a souvenir shop in Edinburgh just across the street from our hotel. As I was flipping through racks of plaid hats, kilts, and flags bearing the crests of Scottish clans, I realized that I knew the tune playing—though it was only bagpipes. I turned to my friend and said, “Doesn’t this sound like ‘We Will Rock You’?” And she agreed that, yes, it did. I wanted desperately to know where I could find a bagpipe rendition of “We Will Rock You,” but I didn’t know how I would go about that. Maybe, I thought, I was just missing America and merely imagined that those bagpipes sounded like “We Will Rock You.” That was until the next song sounded suspiciously like “Eye of the Tiger.” I couldn't have mistaken both, despite the bagpipes.

Yes, it turns out that Scotland is home to a very wonderful band called the Red Hot Chilli Pipers (with two L’s in “Chilli”) who play such famous American hits as those I’ve mentioned, as well as Deep Purple’s “Smoke On The Water” (which incidentally is the first song I learned to play on guitar.) The next day in the Edinburgh Castle gift shop, I heard those familiar bagpipe songs again, and this time I was able to find a rack of CDs and was ecstatic to buy the Pipers’ Blast Live album, which features the American cover songs as well as some Scottish songs, such as “Hills of Argyll” and “Celtic Bolero.” It’s an interesting medley, but endlessly creative and delightful to listen to. For weeks after I returned to my college in Oxfordshire, I would sit in one of the libraries and hear from various other rooms the strains of bagpipes playing “We Will Rock You”—it seems that many of my fellow classmates discovered and loved the Red Hot Chilli Pipers as well. Even if you don’t like bagpipe music (and frankly, before finding the Pipers, I wasn’t too fond of it) you should check out their albums, which are also available on iTunes.

Happy listening,
Emily Noel

“My Theory Isn’t Perfect, But It’s Close”

First, I’d like to give a shout-out to one of my best and long-time friends who left tonight for a semester abroad in Italy—bon voyage, mia ragazza! Party it up, take lots of pictures and, oh yeah—study, I guess. You’re going to have the best time of your life! Love you!

Secondly—yes, I know it’s technically a Tuesday entry, not a Monday, but it would have been on Monday except I was out late and then my laptop had a little bit of a meltdown and I couldn’t post in time.

So the other day a friend called and while we were talking I could make out music in the background, which I identified as the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It turned out to be their latest album, the double-disc Stadium Arcadium, which I acquired last summer. Unfortunately, I am sorry to admit that I have not listened to all of it. I have to admit a terrible flaw when it comes to music: after listening to an album all the way through for the first time, I tend to only focus on a few songs that I am instantly attracted to and ignore the rest, which is a constant source of annoyance to a lot of my friends. “How can you do that?” several have asked more than once. I don’t have an answer for this; I guess I just figure why waste time on songs that don’t really grab me when I can spend more time with the ones I love? It’s not a conscious decision; it’s just something I do. Of course, I will occasionally stumble upon these “reject songs” later, sometimes on the radio or played for me by a friend, and I’ll say, “Wow, what’s this? I love it!” And when I am told the song and artist, I say, “Oh, I have this album!” I usually get the knowing look: She’s had this song for years and never bothered to give it a second chance. Again. I generally don’t have this problem with EPs or short albums, but on one as extensive as Stadium Arcadium, I regret to say I have not given it all the attention it deserves.

But overhearing my friend’s background music led us to indulge in one of my favorite pastimes—discussing music! I love it so much and yet this happens to rarely with people that I really don’t know why I don’t actively try to engage people in the topic. Instead, I often bore my mother with long-winded descriptions of songs or bands or my idol, Claudio Sanchez, the front man of Coheed and Cambria. But it happened the other night, and I was very pleased. My friend told me how much he loves the Chili Peppers because their lyrics are often so in-depth and can be interpreted in a number of ways. He said you really have to give them a careful listen and pay close attention to get all the meaning. I definitely agree with that, but for me the Chili Peppers have such an easy-going beat to so many of their songs that I tend to just write them off as background music without paying much attention to the lyrics. Of course I know the old RHCP classics (because who could forget “Don’t Stop” and “The Zephyr Song”?) and about four years ago a friend gave me a number of RHCP albums. But, of course, I just picked out a few favorites, like “Don’t Stop,” and forgot about the rest.

So yesterday, keeping in mind my friend’s conversation, I made a point of giving the Red Hot Chili Peppers another listen. It seems that whenever a Chili Peppers song comes on, pretty much no one has to stop and wonder, “What band is this?” I think this is primarily because of Anthony Kiedis’s distinctive vocals, but also for that mellow melody I mentioned before that is such a trademark of many of their songs. As my friend said, they have a very unique sound that I have not heard elsewhere. I am not going to go into a RHCP back-story, because I know virtually nothing about their history as a band, other than that (I believe) they began in the early 80's (circa 1983) and are still going strong. But I do find it interesting that they have been able to uphold their own style for over 20 years without deviating too much in style, especially when so many of today’s bands can be mistaken for one another with sound-alike vocals and lyrics. And frankly, a lot of modern bands lack creativity. (I won't name names, but you might know what I mean--the pop boy bands or the screaming emo bands with uninspiring songs of unrequited love.) The Chili Peppers have held on to their own voice, and that is really something.

After listening much more closely to them yesterday, I have to concede to the talent of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. If you had asked me before this weekend what I thought of them, I would have said they are a decent band but not to my taste. I would have admitted that they are unique, but not extraordinary, in my opinion. But now I have come to think that they have been able to create something really amazing in their songs. One of my favorites off of Arcadium (skipping over the obvious hit-singles like “Snow (Hey Oh)” and “Dani California”) is “Wet Sand.” (And okay, yes, I am guilty AGAIN of skimming over a lot of the songs on Arcadium even yesterday—but hey, it’s a twenty-eight track album, and I’m definitely going to pay a lot closer attention to this band from now on.) Focusing on “Wet Sand” called to mind some of their older singles, again with the lulling melodies and the tapestry of lyrics that seem so simple at first-listen, but on reflection are actually a lot deeper than I originally thought. “Wet Sand” is actually a really beautiful song when you focus more on the use of the words, rather on just the simple phrases themselves—and to be honest, I am not even going to pretend that I understand it all. But the line, “I saw you there so unaware / Those hummingbirds all in your hair,” creates a beautiful mental image, and what about the lines that follow it? “The disrepair of Norma Jean / Could not compare to your routine / Balarama beauty goin’ toe to toe.” I really admire the ideas behind all the imagery in this song.

AND THEN! And then, as if the lyrics didn’t turn out to be fantastic enough, it really picks up at the last stanzas: “You don’t form in the wet sand / You don’t form at all / Oh, you don’t form in the wet sand – I do!” And it ends with a really fantastic guitar part that only adds another dimension to the Chili Peppers’ talents. If you have not given “Wet Sand,” Stadium Arcadium, or the Red Hot Chili Peppers a good listen, I definitely recommend that you familiarize yourself with them. Give those lyrics a good second look-over—you really might be surprised. Or, maybe you just aren’t as dismissive of spectacular artists as I am.

Goodnight, music-lovers!
Emily Noel

[Credit for entry title: lyrics taken from “Wet Sand” - Red Hot Chili Peppers.]

Tangent Thoughts

I have decided that I need a structure to this blog and so I'll be writing every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If I turn out to have less to say or one of those days ends up not working out, I'll change it, but for now that is the plan. Unfortunately for me, today is a Friday and that of course means I have to blog. But if I give up on the second day then I guess I'm not that serious about a career in writing about music. (Dream career: working for Rolling Stone or other music magazine.) But I am serious - I just have to prove it to myself this semester.

Fortunately for me and this blog, I have recently made several music discoveries. I won't discuss them all today, otherwise I'll probably run out of topics. But first, I'd like to give you a little bit more insight into what sort of music I like and what music means to me. (That kind of sounds like a 3rd grade essay: "What Music Means To Me." Oh well - the blog is kind of like an assignment, anyway.)

If you know me outside of this blog and you are not a random reader (which I assume you're not, actually, because I don't imagine that many others will stumble across this insignificant piece of arrogance) then you probably know that my all-time desert-island favorite movie is High Fidelity (John Cusack, Jack Black; a must-buy if you haven't seen it - don't even rent it, you will fall in love forever) because of its attitude toward music. It is based on the novel of same name by Nick Hornby, a British author who actually is coming out with a new music-themed book this September, to my ever-lasting joy. (Side note - I picked up several of his other books while in England; I highly recommend him, as well. He is extremely clever and funny.) Anyway, as much as I can't get enough of Hornby and as fantastic as the novel version of High Fidelity is, I have to say that John Cusack is what really gives the story a personality, or rather, makes Rob Gordon (the main character) come to life. He is a regular guy; he is that guy who sucks at love and relationships, which is pretty much every guy ever in my opinion. (Not that I can talk. Although I am a girl, if I haven't made that clear yet.)

But he also cares about music in a way that, until I saw this movie, I thought only I was capable of. (Not to be conceited, it's just that I have never met anyone who gets so into it.) I was unaware that there is this whole mass of people who will spend their afternoons tracking down old vinyl albums and still have record players and are into all that stuff. It's like they're tracking down lost memories, is what it sounds like to me. My dad has a record player that doesn't work and I want him to fix it. I think we sold most of our records at a garage sale like nine years ago, though, but I really like the idea from High Fidelity where Rob Gordon has shelves and shelves of records everywhere in his apartment. (I'm that way with books, though.) We also have a Victrola, which for those of you who don't know or are too young to know is the next step up from a gramaphone. It's this big wooden box that plays records just like a record player, though it only plays a certain kind. It won't play modern records. It's volume control are these two doors in front and the sound gets louder or softer depending whether you open them and how widely open them. Actually, I really hate the Victrola because the songs it plays are so, so old and tinny-sounding. But I think it's an interesting piece of musical history; without it, I wouldn't have my iPod. Besides, it's nearly a hundred years old and it still plays--I'll be lucky if my iPod makes it until next Christmas, and it's only two and a half years old.

Anyway, I'm getting severely off-topic. (Can you imagine if I was really trying to write for a professional music magazine and I lapsed off on a tangent about Victrolas? Fired much?) Back to High Fidelity. So Rob Gordon (John Cusack) is all about music. And I'm not going to give you a plot summary, you just really need to watch it and then watch it again because you might not fall in love with it the first time. I didn't, in fact, I can't even take credit for wanting to watch the movie of my own volition the first time I saw it. It was on some movie channel like TBS or AMC or something one day, and I only watched it because a friend once told me that it is a really excellent, really funny movie about relationships.

But to me, it is also more than that. Rob Gordon has this thing where he makes an all-time desert-island top-five list of everything--books, movies, songs, albums, artists, ex-girlfriends. Top-five break-ups, the ones that hurt the most. (I would so do that, if I had enough exes, which I don't. Although one of them would certainly be enough to fill all five spaces.) And his philosophy is that "it's not what you ARE like that matters, it's WHAT you like." I have to agree. Books, films, and music are really an excellent way to judge people in life. I'm not saying that's really all there is to it; obviously personality counts for a lot, too. But what if two people have ABSOLUTELY nothing in common? They're doomed, I think. But if they have ABSOLUTELY nothing in common EXCEPT a favorite band or book or film, then they could be saved. Maybe that one thing could hold them together. (I don't know from experience. But I like to think that it's true.) In High Fidelity, Rob and his girlfriend both love music, but his girlfriend starts to drift into the real world and become more focused on a "real job" as a lawyer. (Rob is the owner of a record store called Championship Vinyl. Did I mention that's another of my dream jobs?) But Rob says that their entire relationship is based on Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." Personally, I think that would be really great if I was in a relationship based on a song or a love of the same band or book. It sounds dreamy and stupid to more practical people, I guess, but I never said I was practical.

Okay, back to topic—High Fidelity is pretty much my music Bible; it taught me that it’s okay to be an appreciator of music and not feel like a total poseur because I don’t play an instrument (although I have a Silvertone acoustic guitar that gets messed around on when the mood strikes) and I can’t read music and I haven’t even sung for an audience in over two years, and that was just for chorus in high school. High Fidelity made me realize that music can be a lifestyle without being your occupation. I am not going to be the next Jimi Hendrix or Joe Satriani and I don’t want to be—I’ll leave that to some of my very talented musician friends. Yes, I do dream sometimes of what it would be like to be able to play guitar on stage for a huge screaming audience, and it wouldn’t even be my own song, it would be something fun and upbeat from Bowling For Soup, or a great hit single that everyone loves, like Journey's “Don’t Stop Believing” or Blue Oyster Cult's "Burnin' For You" or—my biggest desire—something by my own desert-island all-time favorite band Coheed and Cambria. I could write several books on Coheed and never say all that I want to about how much I love them, so I’ll save them for another entry, or several other entries. Actually, they will probably crop up a lot in this entire blog, and if you don’t like them I hope that doesn’t turn you off this blog because I think that if anyone gave them a serious listen and delved deep into those songs you would fall in love with them, too, because they are all perfect. But more on that another time.

My point is, I know I will never live that dream of covering my favorite songs on guitar with a band in front of a huge audience at a concert. Even if I learn to actually play the guitar, I know deep down it is not my calling. I’m a writer, and that’s all I’ve ever been, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still be a music critic. Sure, I have a lot more to learn about it, and I don’t even pretend to be an expert. But I’d have an opinion and frankly, my idea of a soul mate is, on some level, someone like the character of Rob Gordon who I could discuss and argue music with from the moment I wake up until the moment I fall asleep, and it wouldn’t even mean anything, because what do individual opinions matter in the grand scheme of things? But it would mean something to me, because all I really want to do is discuss music. So, instead, I’ll talk about it in this blog, and probably no one will ever see it except maybe my mom and a couple of friends. But it’s a project and that’s what I really need right now…so whatever.

I guess that’s all for now. I’m already getting LOTS of ideas for this, more than I’d originally anticipated. I kind of went off on a tangent that I didn’t intend to with High Fidelity, but at least that provided somewhat of a back story to this blog in general.

Ciao,
Emily Noel

The First Day

This is something that I have wanted to do for awhile and today I finally just decided to go for it. I figured, new semester, new challenges. Hopefully this will be a constructive writing project to complement my academic challenges in the Fall 2009.

On that note, a bit about myself - I am a junior in college majoring in Creative Writing. I have just returned from a semester abroad in Oxfordshire, England studying literature. The purpose of this blog is both a creative vent/mode of inspiration for my often-writer's-blocked mind as well as an outlet for my obsessive passion for music. I am aware that there are probably a million music blogs out there by emo teenagers and pop fans, but I hope that this can be more than that. I can't promise that I won't lapse into angst-filled rants occasionally, but I will definitely try to stay on topic. This is not an outlet like LiveJournal where I'll talk about boys and school and parents. Basically, I want to tie the two biggest passions of my life: writing & music.

Anyway, I'm getting off-topic already. Let's just hope I don't cop out and forget about this thing. My mentality for this semester is all about ACCOMPLISHMENT. That means "finishing tasks." For instance, I've written an entire novel (takes a bow) but I have yet to edit it. This semester is all about dispelling that kind of complacency.

So, if anyone is actually reading this, I hope you'll stick with me and are at least vaguely interested.

Happy reading (and listening, if you choose to follow along with the music I'll be talking about.)

Cheers!
Emily Noel