A Newer and Edgier Industry Packs a Punch

2009 is coming closer to its close and its safe to predict this is the end of flashy, bubbly, pop divas for now and it is the rise of more outrageous, controversy inducing, trendsetting recording artists. Artists such as Lady Gaga and Rihanna are on the frontlines of this revolution, trading in cropped tops and cookie cutter like looks  for darker rock inspired couture and dramatic costumes. Even the music has gotten harder– instead of lighter, over sexed, feminized pop the music has leaned gotten closer to hardcore rock and rap paired with techno inspired beats. Even artists as big as Beyoncé are catching on to the trend. This trend in music has also inspired the fashion industry with more hardware like clothing.

Fashion and music icons have recently have been exploring their dark and eclectic sides. For example, Rihanna, who used to be the long-haired, bright, radio-friendly ”Umbrella girl” released her first explicit album, Rated R (how fitting). On the cover of the album a short-haired Rihanna is pictured in black and white with dark, heavy make-up– like dominatrix chic.  About a month before Rihanna garnered much controversy upon the release of her lead single, “Russian Roulette”, surprisingly most of it was directed at the cover of the single instead of the actual song. On the cover Rihanna was pictured wearing eyepatch and  topless with barbed wire covering her boobs, which was obviously too dark for the public. Rated R has more of a rock feel to it, she even features Guns and Roses’ guitarist Slash on “Rockstar 101″. A snippit of the lyrics:

Rocking this skirt
Rocking this club
Got my middle finger up
I don’t really give a f***

Rocking these diamonds
I’m rocking this chain
Make sure you get a picture
I’m rocking my fame

To be with you is
You gotta be what you are
The only thing I’m missing
Is a black guitar

In this album, Rihanna shows her rocker-gansta side with more edgier music and a darker look.

Then there is Lady Gaga, the electic blonde who automatically embraced as a true artist as soon of her debut single, “Just Dance” was dropped. Gaga who brought her avant-garde wardrobe and captivating new perspective gave music an anti-pop electronica vibe. Her image is mixed, its is partly couture girl gone bad partly sci-fi glam. Her videos are dramatic and theatrical and were unexplainably different, like Paparazzi. In her videos Lady Gaga also portrayed sex in a more different, artistic, eclectic light in videos such as Bad Romance and Love Game. Gaga never censored herself in her videos showing everything form girl on girl action and other things that seemed just plain odd. Overall Lady Gaga’s main achievement was that she was able to be taken seriously as an artist within a year’s time.

Sasha Fierce (A.K.A: Beyoncé) has also gotten edgier. At first Beyoncé hit us with street smart pop-R&B in her two previous albums “Dangerously in Love” and “B-Day”, but with her third and most recent album, “I Am…Sasha Fierce” takes a different turn. On this album Beyoncé splits her self into two people the shy Beyoncé and the outgoing Sasha Fierce.  Sasha Fierce shows some of Beyonce’ s avant-garde side as opposed to the booty poppin’ Beyonce the world comes to know and love. The difference shows in her look, she trades in the tight jeans for more detailed metallic armor-chic clothing. She wears darker eye make up and rocking a bigger weave. In the ”Diva” video she rocks a pair of drape glasses and in the “Single Ladies” video she wore a metal glove where on her ring hand. Her videos changed also from full color to black and white, in some of her videos she uses some color splash. Even though her “Video Phone” music video with Lady Gaga  was in full color, her look resembles more of Lady Gaga’s outrageous look, but she maintains her identity by giving it some novelty like aspect as well of the style of the music video.

This music trend has affected fashion too. Models are being done in heavier and more dramatic looking make-up. Designers are playing with rock inspired elements like leather and metallic add-ons like studs. Clothing that imitate metallic elements are also are becoming more popular, like metallic colored leggings. What is also becoming popular on the music/fashion circuit are military jackets.  Fashion icons like Rihanna brought back the trend, but the death of MJ (the greatest military jacket wearer to inhabit the earth) escladed  the trend’s popularity. Other trends that have spawned from this musical revolution is vintage. Detailing like ruffles, lace, and button to the top shirts have made appearances. Fashion icons in music have greatly affected the trends currently on runways.          

This change in beat in the industry is good  because it is fostering more creativity and there are less cookie-cutter songs and artists that look and sound the same. This chance enables artists to establish more of a brand for themselves. What can come out of this? More innovation and the unpredictability of what is to come.

 

Bad Romance (Official Music Video) 

Run This Town (Official Music Video)

Diva (Official Music Video)

Video Phone (feat. Lady Gaga)

Wait Your Turn (The Wait is Ova)

ALL IN MY HEAD SPECIAL INTERVIEW: The Jim Ivins Band

from left: Jim Ivins, Jack Ivins, Bobby Gary, Drew Martin

For the people who really enjoyed Parachute or you are into Boys Like Girls’ heartfelt alternative- rock sound, you will really like this up and coming band. The Jim Ivins Band formed in 2007 in Richmond, VA.  The band is made up of Jim Ivins (of course) as the lead singer, Drew Martin (guitar/backing vocals), Bobby Gary (bass/backing vocals), and Jack Ivins (drums). They are an acoustic driven pop rock band who put their hearts out there in their beautifully crafted lyrics. Unlike most pop-rock/alternative bands they make a statement with upbeat pop-rock songs with an acoustic dominated sound, but it sounds finished– not like an iTunes live session (no hate directed there, but it usually sounds pretty raw). They have played with Parachute (for all the people who discovered Parachute through my previous article), Carolina Liar, and many others.  I was lucky to have the opportunity to talk to the guys from the Jim Ivins Band for the first interview in All In My Head’s short history.

How did you guys all meet and decide to from a band?

Jim: Bobby and I had played in a band (Busted Wire) together for 4-5 years so we were all ready best friends and had a good musical relationship with one another. Ironically enough, Bobby quit the band and Drew was his replacement. A few years ago, once that band started to fizzle out and do less and less stuff, I made a solo record called “99¢ Dreams”. This was a big deal for me because it was different from anything I’d ever done because my old band played pop punk in the vein of bands like Unwritten Law, Race The Sun, and Sugarcult, and this album was all acoustic/singer-songwriter based, much like Dashboard Confessional’s album “Swiss Army Romance”. Also it was the first release I’d ever done where I wear all the hats – music and lyric writer, guitar, bass, and drums. I put the album out and then wanted to start playing shows so Bobby and Drew were obvious choices for bass and guitar, respectively. Jack was not a difficult choice at all, being that not only is he my brother, but he’s one the absolute best drummers I’ve ever seen. This was my dream team lineup and I’m very happy to have these guys playing with me.

So you are multi-talented when it comes to music?

Jim: I am indeed. I play guitar, bass, and drums. As I said earlier, I played all the instruments on “99¢ Dreams” except on “Run” where Jack played drums and Drew actually sang backup so the seeds for the band were planted before I even knew it. I also played drums on “2 O’Clock Wake Up Call” off of our “Back To Reality” EP. I really want to conquer keys, though. I can’t play hardly anything on keyboard. Both Bobby and Drew can but I can’t. Bastards. 

Why acoustic pop rock?

Jim: After playing in Busted Wire for so long and I began to grow up (we started Busted Wire when we were 14), I started to branch out musically and was actually finding it increasingly more difficult to write Busted Wire songs. Completely coincidentally, I surround myself with musical people. I began looking at my friends Drew Martin (www.myspace.com/drewmartinband) and Zach Birnbaum (www.myspace.com/zachbirnbaum) and started really connecting with their music and connecting a lot with John Mayer’s music. I got to the point where I was like “I want to do that” and just started writing as much as I could. In Busted Wire, Bobby wrote most of the lyrics. I had written some here and there but for the most part that was him. I had never really taken on that role before. It was very exciting for me and it was acoustic pop music that was speaking to me the most and was able to effectively get the words out of me. It’s also just really fun to play. I love playing these songs and I try and write songs that are gonna be fun for people.

So does Drew play in two  bands or is this another Drew Martin?

Jim: Drew does indeed. He’s a fantastic songwriter himself and that’s pretty much how we became friends. He’s in a band called The Drew Martin Band that I actually play in as well. We’ve never been good with coming up with band names haha.

Back to the acoustic pop subject, I feel like it has some effect where words just come out naturally. What do you think? 

I absolutely agree. I’ve found that if you try and force the words for these songs, the listener will be able to tell. Whenever I break down and try and force something it’s never as good as a time where I am just patient let the words just come out naturally. If I get excited enough about the music then the words will just flow

When I was on your My Space music page. I viewed the lyrics. When I read them I really could relate, how do you go through the writing process?

Jim: Oh thank you very much I’m so glad you could relate to what I say. That’s really my number one goal when I write songs, I want to be able to write songs where our listeners can go “wow this is exactly how I’m feeling” and “I know what that’s like”. It’s those kinds of songs that resonate with me a lot and made me want to pursue this project the way that I did. The writing process for The Jim Ivins Band is kind of weird. I write musical ideas on my guitar and record them all the time and I also write lines of lyrics all the time however, for some reason, I’ve found that my favorite songs of mine, for the most part, are ones where I just take an idea that I’m excited about and don’t walk away from it until all the music and lyrics are written. I know some people sit on songs for ages doing touch-ups and re-writes and struggle with lyrics forever (which I do from time to time) but for me it’s like if I can’t do it all then it’s not usually an idea worth pursuing. Once I do this I write the rest of the parts and give them to the guys. They then take their parts and add flourishes and change them around to fit their own personal styles. There are also other times where I just bring them the acoustic guitar and vocals and I’ll just say “write your own parts to this”.

Do you have any tips for aspiring songwriters?

Jim: Write as much as you can and never ever throw anything away. Sometimes things aren’t as bad as you thought and sometimes you’ll just wanna see how far you’ve come. Don’t get discouraged, either. The first stuff you write will not be good. It’s just a fact. It’s different for everybody but it took me years to write a song that I consider to be really good. It just takes practice. Also write from the heart and don’t try and write about things you don’t know and don’t feel. 

Are you going to have an album out soon?

Jim : I don’t know the answer to that. We have a bunch of songs that need to be recorded or re-recorded but we have no current plans to do that. We are about to put out a physical release compiled of remixes and re-recordings of songs from the “Back To Reality” EP and “Free-P”. We’ve never had those songs to sell at shows (and in the case of the “Free-P” songs, to sell at all) so we’re excited about that because its frustrating to have people come up to us after shows trying to get certain songs that they enjoyed during the set and we don’t have for them at that time. We’re also in the process of giving away a lot of free music. If you go to our myspace (www.myspace.com/thejimivinsband) and sign up for our mailing list, you not only get our monthly E-Magazine “Jim Ivins Band Monthly”, but for the next few months we’re giving away a free song every week. These could be live soundboard bootlegs, acoustic and alternate versions of songs, new demos, etc. You get a studio recording for free when you sign up as well. We’re just really in to rewarding people who support us in any way because we appreciate it so much, it means the world to us.

You guys are an independent band does that mean you have your own label or are you guys waiting to get snatched up by a record company?

Jim: There is nothing I would like more than to get signed and tour the world. I just want to get our music out to as many people as possible. We’re grinding it out as much as possible right now trying to make it all happen so fingers crossed.

How was touring? Where have you toured?

Jim: Touring has been cool. In addition to doing a lot of regional shows in the Virginia, D.C., and North Carolina areas, we’ve done touring through places such as Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and more. We’ve also been very fortunate to share the stage with such national artists as Parachute, Carolina Liar, Mae, The Ataris, and Pat McGee Band. Our first official tour was interesting in that we were a very new band and we didn’t have a van or trailer so we packed four dudes and all of our gear into a Ford Expedition. We had never been closer haha.

That must have been interesting. How was driving for 8 hours all cramped (I’m guessing with all the stuff you guys must have been cramped)?

Jim: It redefined family haha. It was very interesting indeed, I had never heard of anyone doing that before. And we did 8 hour drives a few days in a row so cramped is an understatement. Even so, we still had a total blast on that tour. Just going out and seeing the country together for the first time was a really great experience.

How was playing in the Northeast? Was it different form playing in Virginia? Would you guys drive back up?

Jim: We will drive anywhere to play shows north, south, east or west (though being in Virginia we can’t really go any farther east). I would only say it was different playing up there because we were playing to people who had no idea who we were.

What was your best and worst touring experience?

Jim: Funny story – we were trying to get our car into a parking deck in New York City and got stuck so we had to take the top compartment off of the car then take a lot of the contents of the car, put it in the top compartment, and put the top compartment inside the car. The guy in charge of the parking deck was yelling at us so we weren’t too fond of him. Another funny story was when we found out that New Jersey can sometimes lose its creativity in relation to street names. On our day off we saw John Mayer play and on our way back from the concert we got lost and saw two interesting signs – one was an exit for “Street Road” and the other was a sign for “New Road Road”. Our GPS told us to turn on New Road Road and we thought there was a glitch. Sure enough, there it was. There wasn’t really a bad experience per sé. We had a great time and can’t wait to get out on the road again.    

If I decided to put your iPod on random what music would I see?

Jim: You would see literally everything haha. I know I myself have 14,000 songs on my iTunes but it goes for the other guys as well, none of us are confined to one style of music. For instance, my top five all time favorite artists are Oasis, Radiohead, Coldplay, blink-182, and John Mayer. All of us also love hip hop. From Mos Def to Jay-Z to The Roots to Atmosphere. Me and Jack’s cousin Bill Leverty is in a band called Firehouse who found great international success in the 1990’s and were the last big “hair band”. Bobby, Jack, and I all love Killswitch Engage and a lot of other bands in the metal scene. I know Bobby and Drew just got the new Pearl Jam album and love it and Drew likes artists such as The Black Keys, As Tall As Lions, Deer and the Headlights, and Pilot Speed. We all love different things and we like a lot of the same things and it’s always interesting to me to see how people in certain types of bands don’t have to only listen to the kind of music that they play. Here’s what Bobby and Jack themselves had to say about it:

Bobby: “Lots of different styles. From alternative to rock to jazz and even a little classical (I’m a music major in school).”

Jack: “ABBA, Creed or anything I can punch myself in the balls to ease the pain of what I’m hearing.”

Haha some humor there. You guys have a variety of music you listen too, like I always hear people say  that certain groups of people do not listen to certain genres (for example: I always hear something like rap guys dont listen to rock and vise versa), which I think is absurd because I like everything. What do you think about such generalizations when in comes to music?

Jim: I think it just goes back to not judging a book by its cover. I know a lot of people that like a lot of things that, on the surface, you wouldn’t think they would like. I’ve found that you just never know what you’re gonna find in someone’s record collection, or I guess now its more appropriate to say in their iTunes.

So are all you guys in school?

Jim: I am not but the other three are. Jack graduates in May so we’ll see what happens then.

Who were your greatest influences?

Jim: When I was a kid, seeing Bill become so famous with Firehouse made me want to do what we do for the rest of my life. I know that goes for Jack as well. Other than him, I would say my greatest influence are Oasis, blink-182, and John Mayer. blink-182 seems random but I, like many fifth graders of the time, had my life changed when they came out with “Enema of the State”. Critics will always bring up their immaturity but they are brilliant at writing great melodies and harmonies and specifically if you listened to the “untitled” blink album, they are fantastic songwriters all around. I know Drew has definitely been influenced the most by artists like John Mayer, Ryan Adams, Steve Moakler and Mae.

Bobby: “Taking Back Sunday, Dave Matthews Band, and local bands like Race the Sun who show that you can be from anywhere and make it big and share your music with the world.”

Jack: “Bruce Willis’ first album, The Mamas and the Papas, anything involving ‘Wah-Wah Watson’, and the soundtrack to ‘Mighty Joe Young’ “

Jim: Yep, that’s my brother Jack for you.

I like blink too, but I wonder what ever happened to their comeback?

Jim: Their comeback is in full swing from what I understand. I saw them twice on their reunion tour (which I heard was the biggest tour of the summer) and they were incredible. They’re supposed to have a new single and a new album real soon and I can not wait for that.

I know this is random, but are you going to go to the theatres and watch Michael Jackson’s This is It Movie?

Jim: I saw it at midnight last night and it was phenomenal. MJ was dancing and singing like he was 20 years old and its such a shame because that show was gonna be amazing.

I know someone who saw This Is It two times and is thinking about going again. Is it really that good?

Jim: Absolutely

Everyone pick a color.

Jim: Are you asking what our favorite colors are? If so, mine is blue.

Jack: Green

Bobby: Green

Drew: The color of Love

Its Halloween

Fall Flat

Parachute Follow Up

I was mad when I opened up the iTunes music store because I saw Parachute’s re-release of their first album, Losing Sleep. The reason I’m mad because I already bought their original release of Losing Sleep which is basically the same thing without the two bonus tracks that the re-release has. I brought the two extra tracks anyway but the thing is now my Parachute music collection is skewed forever, but it is okay because these two songs are worth it. The frist one is named after their album, “Losing Sleep”, has a constant beat paired with an organ sound with gives it a bleak feeling (bleak in a good way) the vocals have a live acoustic sound to it. I feel like it is a good song when you are thinking. The other song is called “Be Here” sounds like a classic Parachute song- good lyrics, strong piano part, and heartfelt pop-rock vocals. The other tracks that the deluxe version of Losing Sleep has that the normal one doesn’t is a bunch of acoustic full band versions of songs that are on the other one. For me these songs weren’t worth the money.

Parachute also released a Christmas EP called Winterlove, on it they have its self titled single which is  starts slow  then it grows into sweet flowy mid-tempo ballad that has the sprit of Christmas (which is a change because Losing Sleep is mostly a summer album). On this song Parachute does what they do best- making hearts melt like snowflakes on your hand. There are parts of the song the melody sound identical to a Christmas carol. On this EP Parachute also covers “What Child is This”, the song itself sounds similar to the original folk song, but Parachute gives it a modern rock noir sound with a jazzy feel.  Their last song of the Winterlove EP  is a track off of Losing Sleep, “The New Year”, which the title explains the whole concept of the song. And for you Parachute fanatics that visit All In Head, they made two new music videos “Under Control” and “The Mess I Made”. “Under Control” is hilariously bittersweet and is a must see. After seeing the new things that Parachute have done it makes me fall in love with this band more and more.

Under Control (Official Music Video)

Winterlove

The Mess I Made (Official Music Video)

ATTENTION: Musical Junk Foods

Okay this sounds ridiculous, you know what I mean, the songs that are about pointless sex (ie.being slutty just to be slutty), just being pointless, or just don’t any depth at all. Don’t get me wrong I’m not dissing Soulja Boy  or anything, even though he is a talentless hack. I understand, I need to listen to my comfort songs sometimes, but lately there has been a serious overdoseage on songs with no meaning at all– mostly in pop and rap. To me music is a way to express ideas on life and everything around a person also making the world a happier place to live. When there is too much crap out there, then it becomes straight up musical pollution. To help elevate this situation, I advise people to start listen to music with more depth in the music and the lyrics as well as the mindless crap that we all love. There are many types of junk music, here are some of the categories:

Do you REALLY trust music from a guy who doesn't know how to spell?

1. Songs with Dances- In this category these are usually catchy, but pointless pop-rap songs. While the dances are fun , but they are so empty that it can’t stand-alone. .  It needs a dance to come with it to even stand a chance with the competion.These tpye of songs usually come from Southern rapper.

Examples: “You’re a Jerk”, “Stanky Leg”, and all variations of “Crank Dat”

2.  Songs With Endless Sex- You know the songs where singers sing in explicit details about their sex life  what they want and all those thing that can’t be aired on television.

Examples: “3″

3. Annoyingly Repeative- Songs with a catchy hook– and thats pretty much it.

Examples: ”Hi Haters”

4. Lost in Translation- Like annoyingly repetitive song, but the difference is that no one

Grow up! If you want to listen to rock, listen to REAL rock. Not the Jonas Brothers.

 understand what the person is saying. Or what they are saying doesn’t make any sense

Examples: ”Ay Bay Bay”

5. Kids Songs- Basically any song from Miley Cyrus, The Jonas Brothers, or anyone else from Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, or such kids channels. Note: Demi Lovato is an exception because she actually has a shred of talent.

Examples: “The Climb”, “Lovebug”

If you want to find more music with meaning then, in most cases don’t listen to the radio because songs that mean anything are few and far between. Go on sites like Pandora for example to find new music that is probably is never going to get airplay. Lets face it crap music gets significantly more airplay than real music. I’m not saying give up these musical vices, but I advise listening in great moderation.

It Me Or is Rihanna Going Crazy?!

Russian Roulette is the last straw… Rihanna has officially gone nuts. Like I know people get traumatized after an abusive relationship (especially it is with a douchebag like Chris Brown), but why go all suicidal? actually I saw this coming like months before Russian Roulette was even thought about. Know why? because the incidents that follow the Chris Brown incident were dropping serious hints about her mental stability. For example, there were rumors that said that abuse runs rampant in her family and she  is used to taking and giving abuse. Sounds normal for people who grow up with abuse…don’t worry it gets crazier. She not only takes him back, but also takes nude pictures with him in a hotel! That evoked a serious “what the hell?” moment for me, which made me come to the conclusion that this chick has some serious issues. Russian Roulette just set my opinion of Rihanna  in stone for me and a bunch of other people who just saw this coming. Most people realized she was crazy as soon as they listened to Russian Roulette. And there are the slow ones who still don’t they fact get she is crazy. From what I heard of the song, I can say from a musical and artistic  standpoint it is pretty good (my compliments to writer Ne-Yo), but damn, its creepy as hell.  I’m afraid to download it. As expected the  song received a lot controversy– mostly about the cover art for the single. That doesn’t make any sence to me, even though the cover is slutty, but really, why don’t people focus on the SONG!! This chick is singing about a suicide game and everyone is worried about a provocative cover?! And Tiffany Evans after hearing the song decides to go on a Jesus rant on Twitter which is completely irrelevant. No offense, but who really cares about what she has to say. All she is a ”Star Search” alum that was lucky to have a micro-carrer after the show was over–and thats even pushing it. I would have respected it more if it was coming form someone, you know… important! She basically hating because no one bought her goody-goody crap song. Honsetly who wants a song about a stupid promise ring?! Why the hell are people give promise rings, anyway. There is no point in ring unless there is marriage involved. And her video sucked too. She get with the nerdiest guy that casting could pick. Bottom line: she should be focusing on he 1/1000000000000 th of a career instead of hating on other people’s. But Russian Roulette is an okay song… if you like that creepy stuff. But hey it’s probably just me….

New Show: Glee

Singing, dancing, and high school? No this is another High School Musical movie (thank you God), but its Glee, the new sensation that is sweeping the new TV show scene. The show is about a small town high school where teacher,Will Shuester (Matthew Morrison), tries to bring back the school’s glee club which has been in a graveyard state for many years. In the club there is a great cast of characters: Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz), the goth-punk girl; Kurt (Chris Colfer), the fashionable, showbiz bent gay guy; Artie (Kevin McHale), the lovable handicapped guy; Mercedes(Amber Riley), the girl with the big voice (and bigger attitude): Rachel (Lea Michelle), who is the star of the show- in her mind. Overall, they are all at the bottom of the school’s social ladder which make them often susceptible to slushies randomly thrown at them in the halls. But Will wants to change glee club’s rep around school that so he recruits star quarterback Finn (Cory Monteith) who is a closet singer, like Troy Bolton just more normal. As soon as Finn joins, he grabs the affection of Rachel and not so much later  feelings become mutual. But there is trouble in paradise for this budding romance, there is head cheerleader,  Quinn (Dianna Argon), Finn’s pesky purity slut of a girlfriend who is pregnant and trying to pass the unborn baby off as Finn’s son by saying a hot tub fling got her pregnant. But the father is really Puck(Mark Salling),  Finn’s best friend, a wannabe womanizer who has a thing for hot moms. See, that what a lack of sex-ed does to these kids. Don’t think that the drama ends with the kids, there is more than enough drama with the faculty members. Will and the school guidance counselor, Emma (Jayma Mays) have a mutual thing for each other, but Will is married to ex-cheerleder, Terri (Jessalyn Gilsig). Terri is faking a pregnancy to make Will happy. Ken (Patrick Gallagher), the football coach, has a crush on Emma, but Emma doesn’t feel the same way, but goes with him so she won’t be alone. As glee club develops, it gains an enemy Sue (Jane Lynch), the head cheerleading coach who is out to destroy glee to preserve her own legacy.

Glee is a good show. It is a realistic portrayal of high school where everyone doesn’t act like elementary school kids , but at the same time everyone doesn’t act like a bunch of hookers. The show is straightforward with things such as race, sexuality, drugs and sex, but it also maintains a clean atmosphere also. Something I’ve noticed from the show is that there are parallels between the teachers and the students: the golden boy (Will and Finn), the quirky yet pretty girl (Emma and Rachel), and the spiteful cheerleader (Terri and Quinn). They also are in similar situations: the two golden boys have things for the quirky girls, but they have commitments to their spiteful cheerleader girlfriends who are keeping secrets from them. There is one thing that bothers me about the show is the stereotypes, for example why is the only important black character overweight with an attitude (why couldn’t she be a skinny, attractive cheerleader and has some other defining personality trait). Overall, I like this show. It is funny and honest, it is good for anyone who is into music laughs or both!  

Kurt ansd the football team doing the “Singlie Ladies” dance

Interviews with the Glee Cast during the premiere

Glee Definitions

The Tourtured Romantic That is Paramore

The got their big break with their hit single Misery Business. And on September 29th they will release their third album, Brand New Eyes. The alternative rock band formed in Franklin, Tennessee knows the true meaning of love and loss. Even their name implies it, paramour, a close homonym of Paramore, means a lover or a close intimate relationship; oddly enough a good portion of Paramore’s music is about love and relationships. Even though like most rock bands, their music sounds angry and edgy, if you dive down deep in the words in the music you see a romantic soul whose heart has been broken one too many times. I think their edgy sound helps project the pure emotion that comes out of Haley Williams belting throat. One day I decided to take a look at Paramore’s first CD, All We Know Is Falling, which is mostly ignored by the pricks in the mainstream Top 40 circut  (who have too much power over the music in the world), it was a pretty good album which was worthy of attention. The track on there that stood out to me the most was My Heart , a romantic rock ballad where the band is spilling ther heart everywhere for the world to hear. What especially impress me about the song was the end of the song, which has a heavy metal sort of feel to it. It was what I had mentioned above, the contrast between the angry sound and the heartfelt brought out the vulnerability of the music, especially with Hayley. When you listen to Hayley you can feel the word she was singing, it really came out in My Heart. Then there was Riot! their breakout album, Paramore was still going strong. Misery Business and Crushcrushcrush were just scratching the surface of what this band can do. There were a lot of songs on this album I completely loved like Fences, Hallelujah, Born for This, and others. There were absolutely no fillers on this CD.

Another thing I like about Paramore is also they are willing to experiment with sound and to see how far they can push the envelope. For example in the single, Just Like Me, the band plays with sound to produce a creepy, yet alluring sci-fi feel to the song. Or in their new single, Ignorance, the gutiar riff had sort of Spanish feel that reminded me of flamenco dancers.

The bottom line is that Brand New Eyes is surely going to be an artistic success, given Paramore’s way with music, words, and them daring to be different. The way they bring heartbreak and romance into alternative rock is amazing. I just cannot wait for their new CD.

Kayne’s Big VMA Outburst

Kayne congratualtions you reached a whole new level of douchebaggerey. First you come into the VMA, drunk with a bottle of Henny in your hand with your girlfriend (who looks like a Barbie doll with the hair chopped off). Secondly you decide to step on stage when Taylor Swift is getting an award and you snatch the mic from her hand belting out that Beyonce’s ”Single Ladies” video should of won right in front of the poor girl’s face. Like his opinion was not bias because Beyonce is hid friend’s wife. Bottom line the guy needs therapy. Deep down I feel bad for Kayne he breaks up with his fiancee at the same time his mom dies, it can’t get any worse than that. But it no reason to stamp on a young artist’s moment especially when it was her first VMA. One way to know that you are a serious douchebag if the President of the United States stop his interview to call you a jackass. The President dealing with terrorists, the economy, and other problems takes time of his busy life to call you a jackass. That how you know you really messed up this time. Beyonce gets some serious brownie points for that night because she gave up her speech for Taylor. Major grace on her part. I think I have much more respect for Beyonce (I already thought she was cool) than I had before. She has reached a whole new level of coolness.      

Yes, Another Michael Jackson Rant

Even though MJ is already dead, I’m going to rant about him until the cows come home because MJ was that cool.

Earlier this month, it was announced that they are going to use the “This Is It” rehearsal tapes and mash it together into a feature film. The concert-movie will hit theatres in the fall. I will be completely excited when it comes out.

Secondly the LA coroners office declares that MJ’s death was a homicide and his jackass yes man of a doctor is getting charged. Well I have to say that he is screwed beyond screwablity right now. He will literally go down in history as the guy who killed Michael Jackson which I bet makes Rod Blagoevich feel so much better about himself. And if he actually makes it out of jail alive a) he will have to take an early retirement b) he be flipping burgers for the rest of his tired pathetic life.

As I have been browsing the Internet I found a bunch of ways that people were honoring MJ. I saw this blog post that was talking about a editorial spread honoring MJ. And there is also a statue contest, which I’m curious about who will win. I think it would be funny if someone did a spin off of “Obama Girl” but instead the should have “Jackson Girl”. Sorry but that would be beyond awesome.

When some fans talk about him, I think they forget that they don’t even know the guy. I think its so weird how people don’t even know him but yet at the same time they talk about him like they just had lunch with him the other day (its almost like the Oprah Effect -discussed in Dr. Denis Leary’s “Why We Suck”). America basically took him in as a part of each and family that inhabited this great nation. He was the first childhood crush of many young (and old) girls. He meant something to us. Probably it was his innocent, genuine, and kind personaltiy that seems to radiate off of him even if you are 50,000 miles away in rural India watching him from an old semi-broken TV set, his inner beauty was inevitable. It also showed in his music, he had message that told us to stop fighting, make peace with our fellow human. His music did just that.

 

 

 

New Show: Making His Band

Diddy has taken his ego to a new level because now he is making a new show called “Making His Band” not “Making The Band”. Who does he think he is God or something? Whatever goes on in Diddy-land, the show is about Diddy making his final album, Last Train to Paris, a concept album that is supposed too show a different side of the rapper. What different on this album is that he want to have a full band/orchestra to record the album and tour with him. So in traditional Diddy fashion he collaborates with MTV and starts a televised national search/reality show about him putting together his band, the show will often take a break  from the reality drama to focus on how Diddy’s album is going.

As for the contestants, they are all pretty good. During the auditions the people who stood out to me is the only violinist in the house, Lee, who showed that he could do hip-hop/ R&B on the violin well and I think having him in the ban will have an interesting sound. I’m also rooting for the keyboardist, Brokett, one of the few white guys in the house, but he can really play. Joy,the only girl drummer, in the house, but what make her awesome is that she is just as good as the guys. There is Alex, the other white guy he can play gutitar really well. There is drama, but is standard crap that goes on very reality TV show that is not that important. What I like about this show is that they foucus on more of the talent less on the drama.

Overall, I’m looking forward to watching the future episode and who will make Diddy’s band. I’m also excited about Diddy’s CD comes along. It seems much different than the BS music that is currently popular on the radio. The sound has a electronic R&B feel to it like “When Love Takes Over” which is very different and new. This is a really good show because you are watching highly talented people do what they do, an I feel it can inspire aspiring musicians to perfect their craft.