Radiohead Announces New Album: King of Limbs

Drugs: Great For Music; Bad For Music's Wallet

I know that this post is a long time coming but I really wanted to plan out what I was going to say here. Drugs are often inextricably linked to music, almost all of the greatest artists at one point or another did drugs, often time to great detriment. Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Bonzo, Keith Moon, and countless other artists lost their lives to drugs and music has mourned their losses. But despite the risks associated with drug use, drugs are essential to ensuring the purity of the medium.

Artist(s) You May Not Know: I Blame Coco and The Chapel Club

Firstly, let's get a bit of an apology out of the way. I left a lull in my posts and that was something that I promised I wouldn't do. So let me make that up to my followers. Here are two bands you may not know:

The SuperBowl Halftime Show: Preferable to Rape?

Pictured Above: The Black Eyed Peas
Not Pictured: Talent

 

Well boys and girls, I, like many of you tuned in to watch the Super Bowl. And like any similar minded people I dreaded the half time show. If only The Who could play again. But no, instead we got the Black Eyed Peas. And with that, allow me to review this "performance".

Collaboration of Genius Minds

If you don't know who the two men mentioned in the above video's title are then you are in the wrong place and the Beiber blogs are Pr0b@bly WhErEd Ud B M0r3 @ h0m3. But if you've got any musical acumen then please, read on past the jump.

Artist You May Not Know: Dr. Dog

First thing first, I have to make a quick edit to my last post "Band You May Not Know". I mistakenly named it "Band" instead of "Artist". That being said, let's jump right into it.

Electric Drum Kit: Effective Replacement?

(Image courtesy of drumza.com)

I recently purchased an Ion IED12 Pro Electronic drum kit. It seemed like a good choice, electronic drum kits have headphones so you can plug in and enjoy/practice enjoying your drumming without risking the wrath of the neighbor with the noise complaint. There is a huge range of prices that you can pay. I shot for the lower end because, as a musician, I'm about as broke as can be without being homeless, the kit only cost me $250. If you have more to offer than that you can buy kits for as much as $2,000. But should you?

Cigars and A Playlist

(image ironically provided by helpquitsmokingtoday.com)

            



I took the opportunity today to just sit back and enjoy a good cigar and a playlist. The cigar wasn't anything special, but the playlist had me in a great mood. Some really good indie stuff, some blues courtesy of The Black Keys and a bit of hip hop thrown in (found through Matt Helders', aka The Agile Beast of the Arctic Monkeys, Late Night Tales Compilation). It's still wicked cold in New York and I had to sit in my car the whole time but hell, it put me in such a good mood I didn't give a damn. The playlist was as follows:

I Dislike All The Right Things: Artists to Avoid

As much as I'd like to keep this simply about great music that isn't as well known as it should be, I have to highlight artists to steer clear of. This will probably be fairly expected, and to be honest, I'll most likely just be raiding Billboards to bring you the worst that music has to offer. But as with everything else I'm gonna post here, I'll explain myself. So off the top of my head, here are the worst artists out today.

Artist You May Not Know: First Aid Kit

First Aid Kit is a Swedish folk duo, composed of sisters Johana and Klara Soderburg. They have been composing since 2007 and feature a very stripped down style focused around harmonies. The attached video is from a featurette where they preformed some songs in the woods behind their home. This song specifically is called "Our Own Pretty Ways" and features heavily folk influenced lyrics. Among their influences are the ever influential Fleet Foxes. The song is heavily focused around the vocals and the piano and guitar, while repetitious, subtly enhances the vocal performances rather than detracts from them. Personally, the song calls up warm imagery and features enough pitch changes to and vocal inflection to keep one interested while still being relaxing.