Circa Survive: Appendage (EP)

Circa Survive has long been recognized as one of the most influential bands of their time in the the Alternative Rock genre. Every album they have released has had it's own special attraction, more notably the more recent LP "Blue Sky Noise," which (for those who are familiar with Anthony Green's struggles) carried a very aggressive, angry, and scared tone behind it. That being said, Green has a talent for writing lyrics that can be interpreted into just about anything the listener is feeling, and that trend continues into their new EP "Appendage."

The first song titled "Sleep Underground (Demo)" has a haunting, yet soothing feel that brings you into a relaxing openness. With beautiful harmonies and lyrics, this song definitely sets the mood for the rest of the EP. The next song is "Stare Like You'll Stay;" There is a lot of talk going around that this song is about God, but Anthony has yet to comment on this. The musicianship in this album is incredible, and it fits perfectly with the tone Green sets with his vocals.

Although this album is an extended play from Blue Sky Noise, it could have (and should have) been it's own album. This EP is an expression of hope in Anthony Green's life, characterized primarily by him becoming a father recently. There is, however, no doubt in my mind that this album has to have had some form of spiritual influence as well; namely because of the final song, "Lazarus," which is the name of a man in the Bible who was raised from the dead by Jesus and began a new life. Although Green makes no reference to this story whatsoever in his lyrics, the song can be interpreted as a cry for change. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, Green's lyrics are universal in the sense that they can be interpreted into whatever the listener wants them to be. This is just one of the many views of the song.

However you look at "Appendage," one thing is for sure: Circa Survive has created another successful and inspiring compilation of songs that spread beyond the boundaries they had once set.

Here is a link to purchase "Appendage":
Appendage

Call of Duty: Black Ops

For those of you vidya game folk out there, I'm sure you've already tried your hand at Treyarch's newest creation Black Ops. I must admit, I've never been a fan of Treyarch, and their last attempt at the CoD franchise sickened me excluding the zombie mode, but I decided to give Black Ops a shot regardless.

My first rating of the game would have been something like this:

Single Player 9/10
Multiplayer 5/10
Zombie Mode 10/10

Needless to say, my expectations of it were held pretty high considering the hype it was gathering up from the media; but I have to say I was initially let down pretty hard by the multiplayer. The entire time I was playing I was plagued by missed knife attempts that seemingly slid right through the enemy, enemies knifing me through gunfire, and horrid levels that seemed too focused on the background rather than the actual playablility therein.


However, I felt that maybe I dropped the gavel too soon and decided to give Treyarch a second chance; after all the single player was a stroke of genius! I had actually been telling my brother only earlier this year that they needed to make a game that took place in Vietnam, and behold, Treyarch offered a startlingly realistic portrayal of it. And the fact that the whole thing is a flashback was a pretty neat take on storytelling in the fps realm.
Back to my point though, I tried my hand one last time at the multiplayer experience; and suddenly, something clicked. The controls became recognizable and the levels became more clear! There was still the issue with my knife attacks going right through enemies, but aside from that I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Bringing my newest opinion of the game into effect:

Single player 9/10
Multiplayer 9/10
Zombie Mode 10/10

Now I know I have yet to say anything about zombie's, and you are probably curious as to why it has such a high rating in my books. So here you go:

The zombie mode blends the CoD gameplay with Left4Dead-like levels and enemies. The intensity of the whole game mode has been stepped up drastically, and the numerous things you can do within the levels themselves is remarkable. Treyarch even took it a step further by giving us an Arcade mode of zombies (which is extremely fun I must say) and another game mode that allows players to become JFK, Castro, Nixon, or McNamara -- it should be noted that this game mode (called "Five") is significantly more challenging than the others.

Now, back to the multiplayer. Treyarch added a boatload of new features in online play including a point system that allows players to unlock weapon attachments and things of the sort in whatever order they desire as opposed to waiting until a set rank to unlock it. They also gave players a great amount of customizing capabilities for their weapon classes, literally giving you thousands of options for creating your own unique weapons class all the way down placing your own customizable emblem on the side of the gun!

All-in-all, I'm glad I gave this game a second chance; and if any of you want to play online sometime, I'm on the PS3 and my ID is Noobs_4_Lunch
I gotta warn you though... I'm a beast ;)

Sorry about the dry period!!

Hey readers! Sorry I haven't been posting lately! I've been super busy with school, work -- and get this-- MY OWN BAND!
That's right! I have finally started up my own band and we are currently in the process of recording our first demo! So if you guys are interested in checking out our sound give us a listen at myspace.com/epochinepitaph or find us on facebook by searching "Epoch In Epitaph."

We are a progressive/alternative rock band. So hopefully you all are interested!

Band Reunions

In the current fast paced music industry, bands are breaking up and reuniting constantly, and the past few years been great for reunions; some of the more notable bands that have gotten back together are Sunny Day Real Estate, Smashing Pumpkins, The Police, and Guns n' Roses. But with the way things are going, I think any one of us could be hopeful enough that one of our old favorite bands might one day reunite and tour near us.

The Deftones have also reunited recently and are currently on tour with progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria. Following this trend is the Misfits with a slightly modified all-star cast, and Stone Temple Pilots. To elaborate more, Van Halen has announced a reunion tour; however, a lot of people seem to be upset about this, deeming it as unnecessary.

There have also been lots of rumors floating around about bands that are planning reunions, these include The Who, Radiohead, Led Zepplin, and System of a Down. In the end, I believe it's only a matter of time before most past bands (the ones that made names for themselves) decide to do reunion shows. So if your favorite band hasn't announced a tour, keep your chin up, maybe it will happen soon!

Also, if you have heard of some reunion shows that I didn't name, go ahead and post them in the comments!

Coheed and Cambria: Big Finale?

Coheed released their final concept album earlier this year, and while some people seemed unsatisfied with it, overall I would have to say it is one of their best albums yet. So what will Coheed do now that they are finished with concept albums? Will they continue to write music under the same band name or will they disband Coheed and Cambria and pursue their own separate endeavors?

Coheed and Cambria has made a career out of pleasing and wowing their fans in concert and through the sheer genius of their music. Despite criticism from all sides of the board, they have continuously written great music and a deep story line. And now, in what could very well be the last days of Coheed, they have gone all out for their fans embarking on multiple tours in this year alone! Touring with bands like Circa Survive, Porcupine Tree, The Dear Hunter, and- on their latest tour- The Deftones.

But aside from pleasing fans, what underlying message do all these tours present? Could this be a "grand finale" to end the path of this masterpiece? Now, let's assume this is the end of Coheed and Cambria as a band, should this mean it is the end of the story for the Coheed and Cambria story? I have reason to believe not. Rumor has it that Claudio, in addition to finish releasing the comics, has plans on releasing a movie- either in several animated installments or a few movie releases (do I hear an epic coming along?).

Whatever the case may be, I think it will be a good while before the tale of Coheed and Cambria is finally laid to rest, and until then, go enjoy some of their concerts! I've personally seen them 3 times this year.

A Mission and A Plea

Ok readers, there are very few times in life that I will ever ask you for a favor this huge. But In this case, I definitely need your help more than anything else. For those of you who read my interview with Tides of Man and my album review of them, you should guess that I pretty much like them a lot. haha.
Now, they are holding a contest and the first prize gets a lifetime guest pass to all their shows! The way you win is by doing the best out of everyone when it comes to promoting and advertising the band, and although I've done my fair share of that, it still isn't quite enough. So what I need you guys to do is "Like" their facebook page, and leave a comment telling them that I showed you their music and sent you over. So something along the lines of this, "Hey guys, Alex Miller showed me your stuff, sounds good (or good job, or keep up the work, or good luck or whatever)."

Do this for me please and make me the happiest man alive! Thank you!



facebook page

Music Projects

Hey everyone, I'm terribly sorry I haven't been posting lately, but I've been uber busy with my own music projects! We had our first jam session with a potential drummer yesterday, and we've been writing songs for the past two weeks to get ready for an open mic night this Friday. If I can get a video up of it I will, other than that my birthday passed recently and I went skydiving :)
So I'll DEFINITELY get a video up of that when I get it back so all my readers can see what it's like living life on the edge! lol

Anyways, I'll hopefully catch another break here soon and update you guys more on stuff, but to be honest... I haven't heard a good new album or seen a new good movie in a while :/
Let me know if you guys have seen anything interesting come out recently so I can check it out!

More Than Just Music...

With all the posts about music I've been doing, I'm sure most of you forgot that this blog is actually for digital media in general as well as bands (I know I forgot!).
So here is my first posting about video games!

For many of us gamers, the console wars of this new generation are the most competitive so far! But it seems as though, even with all the cool new technology, the failure rates of consoles are at an all time high! The big question has always been, which gaming console is the best? But I am urging you all to rethink this question, as each console is nearest to perfect in it's own respect:

 -  The PS3 may be a gaming console, but it's actually a multipurpose multimedia entertainment system.
 -  The Wii is a gaming console aimed not at graphics, but uniqueness and individuality.
 -  The Xbox 360 is a gaming console made with only one thing in mind; gaming.

That being said, I am a PS3 owner, and a recent encounter with the Yellow Light of Death, or YLOD (the PS3s instance of RROD), has made me consider new factors in the gaming field: console failure rates and what the companies are doing about it.

Sony, unfortunately, does very little for their end users concerning YLOD- unlike Microsoft who spent over $1 billion in an effort to supply a solution for the RROD. My personal conclusion for this is that YLOD is nowhere near as publicized as RROD, and thus Sony does not feel the need to spend such large sums of money to fix it.

Now, I must admit when I first got YLOD I had NO IDEA what was happening. I, like many of you probably, didn't even know there was such a thing. So I searched... and searched... and searched more. And after two hours of searching I learned everything I thought I needed to know and began a grueling process of taking matters into my own hands and reviving a supposedly dead PS3.
During my time searching, however, I also came across the failure rates for all three next-gen consoles, *they are as follows:
Xbox 360 has the highest failure rate of 23.7%
PS3 has the next highest failure rate of 10%
Wii has the lowest failure rate with a mere 2.7%

*please note that these are legit statistics taken in Sept. '09
You can read the full statistics here.

It's obvious that with so much attention being drawn to the 360s alarmingly high failure rate, Sony can be slack on their out-of-warranty repairs.

So how did I take matters into my own hands you might ask? Well, since my PS3 was out of warranty I was left with only a few options. 1) Send it to Sony and get charged 150 bucks for a refurbished system and lose ALL saved data and not have a system for up to 6 weeks, 2) Send it to one of the many Ebay users who charge anywhere from $35 to $90 + shipping and handling, or 3) fix it myself for dirt cheap.
Also note that options 2 and 3 void warranty and literally make your console a ghost in the eyes of Sony.
I went with option 3, and thanks to a little guidance from Gilksy's ad found here I was able to repair it. It now works perfectly fine.

So I hope this post is useful and informative. And if nothing else, maybe it will encourage you to take matters into your own hands on occasion when life sticks you the finger. :]

You Voted! Thee Armada: The New You, The Old Us

Thank you so much for the participation everyone! And as you selected, here it is!

For those of you who aren't aware of Thee Armada already, they are a pop/rock group hailing from Houston, Texas.
Their first EP, titled "Rock, Shock, And Load" was full of tasty hooks; it was also the debut of the original version of "Rock, Shock, And Load" (the song). In this album, they combined songs from the first EP and the second EP, "Sweat Tease," as well as add some new songs AND a revamped version of "Rock, Shock, and Load." Thee Armada's guitarists are very exceptional, though they tend to not showboat much. But you can tell from the songs they write that they have a lot of potential.

The opening song "Guess I'm Inconvenience" which was the final track of their first EP, remains unchanged from it's original version but brings a relatively high energy to the table and sets the mood for the rest of the album. The high energy pop/rock feel continues through the next 2 songs before coming to the new "Rock, Shock, and Load." I personally prefer the original version to the new one and feel that it would have been better to introduce the changes as a new song rather than a revamp. In any case the guitarists finally add more taste and fills to their songs all the while most certainly improving their overall sound. The last three songs are all new and show more of a progressive side to Thee Armada.

My only complaint about this album is that at times it seems the vocalist strained to hard to reach the higher notes, almost like they were rushed through the recording and didn't have time to polish over the vocals. Aside from that, they have great catches to their songs, sweet guitar riffs, and tasteful breaks throughout the album. I rate "The New You, The Old Us" a 3 out of 5 in their respective genre.

Here is a link for the album as always!
The New You:the Old Us

Interview with Tides of Man: 9/22/2010

Interviewer: Alex
Interviewee: Tilian


Alex: How long have you known each other and how did you meet?
Tilian: I have known Josh for about 13 years. We went to Middle School together. I knew Alan and Spencer a little bit a couple years before we started the band in December, 2007. We didn't really hang out before that. The other three members had a band 5 years ago but they broke up after a year or so of jamming.


Alex: How did you get your start as a band? Who were the founders?
Tilian: We are all the founders really. Alan and I were living in LA (not together) and we both came home (Clearwater, Fl) for Christmas in 2007. Alan wanted to do a kind of reunion show of Spencer, Josh and his old band. Adam and I were listening in on their practice and we all decided to form a new band. We played our first show after being a band for 10 days.


Alex: What caused you to pick your band name?
Tilian: Tides of Man is kind of an analogy to the rise and fall or ebb and flow of empires. It can also be taken as the "tidings" or story of a man.

Alex: Is there a relation between your band name and the lyrics you write?
Tilian: The name is pretty broad, so yeah, it has to do with our lyrics.

Alex: Who writes the music?
Tilian: We all write the music for our respective instruments for the most part. Usually Spencer or I will come up with a series of riffs and chord progressions. We then move on to the next instrument (usually drums) and work out a structure. Sometimes I will have a whole song in mind and I will teach the parts to the other guys.

Alex: Who are your biggest musical influences?
Tilian: Musically, A Perfect Circle, Radiohead, Days Away, The Dear Hunter, The Sound Of Animals Fighting, Death Cab, Circa Survive, more recently Veil Of Maya and Karnivool. I am also heavily influenced by movies and books: American History X, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, etc.

Alex: How did you come about getting signed to Rise Records?
Tilian: We did an interview with indiestar.tv. Emarosa had also done and interview with them, and Craig Ericson was checking out the website when he saw our link on the page to our myspace. He hadn't heard of us before. Within hours we were talking with Rise.
- What was the initial feeling you had when you got signed?
The initial feeling was amazing. We were done being a local band. We had people giving us advice not to sign, and to wait it out, but we were tired of waiting and didn't want to miss our window. I think we made the right choice :)

How does it feel to travel and tour with bands that have already made pretty big names for themselves?
It's rad, man and very inspiring. You get to know great musicians and form relationships of mutual respect.
- Who, if any, has been your favorite band to be on tour with so far?
My favorite band we have toured with has to be Karnivool. They are incredible.

Alex: What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
Tilian: Money. Really it's no joke. It is extremely difficult for a touring band still paying their dues to stay solvent on the road. And it gets really stressful at times.

Alex: What is the ultimate direction for you as a band? Do you seek fame and fortune, or do you do this for simple love of music? (or both, I understand that totally. haha.)
Tilian: I listen to music for pleasure and enjoyment, but there are also times when I need it, even if I didn't know I needed it. At certain times I have been in a tough spot or faced with a tough decision and I have listened to a song that was so beautiful that by the end of the song I had the answer, the solution. That's what we are trying to create with our music.

Alex: And finally, are there any last words you would like to give to the readers or any advice on getting a their band up and going?
Tilian: Right now... My advice to bands is to get some chugga chugs and breakdowns and scary notes with br00tal screamz. Get some auto tune and try to find a singer who sounds like N'SYNC.




So there you have it guys, br00tal screamz, chugga chugs, breakdowns, and an N'SYNC autotuned singer. Hahaha
Thanks so much Tilian and congratulations to Tides of Man on their success so far and on their new album!

Passing the Time & Question For My Readers 2

Thanks again everyone for the support! Participation, feedback, and followings are up 20% in just a week or so! But that's still not enough, of course, I need to reach 100 followers before my video interview with The Orphan, The Poet!

In other news, I have decided to make "A Question For My Readers" a weekly posting! It seems people enjoy it when the writer of the blogs they read ask them interesting questions. So here is the next question for my readers:

If you could only listen to one band for an entire month, who would they be? (this means all of their albums are available to you)

I would have to say Coheed and Cambria, simply because they have a very diverse selection of albums, none of their albums sound like the others. The closest similar albums would be Second Stage Turbine Blade and In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3, but even then, IKSSE3 had more intense songs in it and several different sounding songs including the Velourium Camper I and III.
Anyways, lets see what you all come up with!

Interview with Tides of Man

My first interview is coming up guys! It'll be text based so be looking forward to an update soon! I hope some of you guys are as interested and excited as I am! So let's get some more followers in here, I'm thinking this interview is going to spark a lot of traffic through this blog, especially with my rating on the google search constantly rising on a daily basis! Hope you guys continue to enjoy my blog and invite your friends and help spread the word!

Big News For My Readers!!

Hey everyone I've got exciting news for all of you! A new up-and-coming band has agreed to do an interview with me (probably over skype) SPECIFICALLY FOR MY BLOG!!
They are currently in the process of recording their first LP, but you can check out their EP on the link below. I am hoping to have a high participation by the time they finish recording, but I need everyones help to get more followers and spread the news! I am running out of ideas, but I am glad to see I have over 50 followers now!

Anyways, they are called "The Orphan, The Poet." They have a very cool sound and are very talented so I hope you like them as much as I do!

The Orphan, The Poet

Poll: You Decide My Next Album Review!

Hey everyone! I'm starting up a new poll! This isn't like the Band of the Week poll (recurring), this will be a one time only deal.
On the right-hand side of my page you will find the poll, I want YOU- my readers- to decide what album I review next, the reason I am choosing only one album is because none of these are new releases, they are all relatively unknown bands and/or non-mainstream bands who I believe deserve some more attention, but only one band will be chosen, the rest will be up to you to listen to or not. So here are the choices:

Closure in Moscow - First Temple

Damiera - M(US)IC

Saves The Day - Through Being Cool

Thee Armada - The New You, The Old Us

*Note that by non-mainstream I am referring to bands who you won't hear your typical wannabe music fanatic talk about :)

Tides of Man: Dreamhouse

Hello readers! For those of you who are not familiar with Tides of Man... it's perfectly understandable, they are a new band who released their first LP last year titled "Empire Theory." I stumbled across them while searching for new music via last.fm (great way to find new music btw), and I have to say I could not be more satisfied with what I heard. Well, to my delight they released their second album, once again targeting fans of the progressive/indie/rock scene.

I must admit, upon discovering that ToM released a new album so soon, I feared that they might have rushed it and made a diabolical screw-up, but they musically stuck it to me from the beginning of Dreamhouse; opening with beautiful harmonies and exploding into total epicness (for lack of a better word). The intensity doesn't stop there, however, "Statues" kicks it to any doubters still remaining. There isn't any one point of the album that stands out above any other, with intricate chord progressions, vocals that soar to extreme heights, technical drums and pulsing bass lines, Tides of Man continues to do an outstanding job of blowing me away.

I really don't have any negative comments about Dreamhouse- and believe me I tried to find some; the only comment I can make is that I highly recommend everyone to check it out. Even if you don't like this style of music, surely you can appreciate the musicianship at work in this talented band. So as per my method thus far, links provided below to purchase the album and to check out songs from both of their albums.

Listen here:
Empire Theory (old recording but still decent)

Dreamhouse

Purchase here:
Dreamhouse

Empire Theory

A Question For My Readers

Hey everyone, I do appreciate the support I have gotten thus far, and I would like to thank everyone who has told their friends about my blog. But all that aside, I would like to know more about my readers.

So this time around, tell me what YOUR favorite bands are and/or what your favorite album from that band was!
Also, tell me what your favorite movie is or what your favorite genres of movies/music are! So get at it readers! Let's hear what you are interested in!

Low Participation :(

Hey everyone, obviously my Band of the Week poll isn't working out very well. I guess not as many of you participate as much as I had thought. Hopefully this will change in the future, but until then I am just going to cancel the Band of the Week poll for a while. I might move it to once a month later. But for now I'll just cancel it.

Emarosa Self Titled Album (2010)

I am a huge fan of Emarosa. From when they released their first EP in 2007, I was hooked; and before I get a bunch of "hurp-a-derp u leik terrible music" comments, I will admit that the introduction of Jonny Craig into the band has been an incredible improvement. Although none of the original members are in the band, they have continuously written some of the most complex and intense music in the genre. In their latest self-titled full length album (their second with Jonny Craig, former vocalist for Dance Gavin Dance), however, it would seem that they are steering away from the fundamentals that put them in the forefront of musical elites.

"A Toast To Future Kids!" debuts the vocal capability of Jonny Craig for any would-be first time listeners of this post-hardcore band. That being said, let me set something in stone right off the bat: if you were a huge fan of the complex instrumentation of Relativity, then you are in for a bit of a change with this album as Craig's vocals definitely take precedence over the music- which, unfortunately, has been pushed to the back this album. One major downfall of the album is the introduction of solid chorus' and more steady song structures, which can get a bit repetitive at times; this is why I preferred Relativity more.

Now you are gonna have to let me rant for a moment as I reach the point that I consider the biggest let-down of the album. For any musicians out there like me, when you hear great music, you don't want that to be covered up by vocals (even good ones). That was my big complaint about the last album, it was and continues to be apparent that Craig loves the sound of his voice; and even though he has an outstanding voice, I would much rather prefer to hear the music. The only redeeming factor in his vocals for Relativity was that his lyrics were superb. The same can not be said about this album however. "Live It. Love It. Lust It" is the perfect example to prove my point. His lyrics were whiny, it was sickening to be honest. I was also disappointed in the amount of cursing he used. I'm sorry, but he may as well have just said that he can't think of anything to put there and moved on, that's just lack of creativity when you can't get the point of a song across without dropping the f-bomb half-a-dozen times.

When it comes down to it, I personally think Emarosa took a step down from Relativity in what appears to be an attempt to attract a larger fan-base. This is a typical cycle in music nowadays it seems though (sound like Damiera much?). A band will come out with an absolutely incredible album, then, after getting a lot of attention, turn around and conform in an attempt to gather more fans. I'm hoping they don't continue in this trend though, I would hate to see a band with as much potential as they have cease to release good LP's. I give Emarosa's self-titled album a 3.5 out of 5. Please leave feedback in the comments if you have listened to the album already.

Here is a link to hear one of their better songs from this album:
Emarosa

If you would like to hear a song from Relativity, check out this link:
Relativity

And if you are interested in their first album, here is a link for that:
This Is Your Way Out



Here are the links to purchase each of their albums:

This Is Your Way Out

Relativity

Emarosa

Band of the Week #1: Iron Maiden!

Let me start by saying sorry it took me so long to get around to this. My computer crashed Thursday and i had to send it up to Houston to get it fixed.

Now that we got that part out of the way, I can continue.

Congrats to Iron Maiden for winning the first Band of the Week poll! Thank you to those of you who participated, I hope you are satisfied with the results, and if you aren't... well that sucks, get more of your friends to vote next time. :D

I'm pretty sure everyone knows who Iron Maiden is (if you don't then something is wrong with you or you're deprived). I know I said I would post links to purchase all the albums of the winner, but Maiden has way too many albums to post links for so I'm not going to bother, that and if you like them you should already have their albums to begin with.. I mean c'mon... it's Iron Maiden.

The next Band of the Week poll will be delayed for a bit, I'm trying to find a good program to rip the files off my iPod since I lost my music library on my last OS. Stay up to date and I'll get back up to speed ASAP!

Site Updated 9-1-10

Hey everyone, thank you so much to those of you who have supported me so far!
And a special thanks goes to Taylor for helping me improve the overall appearance of my blog AND for making that awesome logo at the top! (doesn't it look great?!)

Not much has changed as far as the layout of the blog goes, just updated the appearance for now. Hope you all enjoy the new look. Please stay updated as I will hopefully catch a breeze to start getting more relevant posts going! Also remember there are only two (2) days left for the Band of the Week, so get your votes in quickly!

Band of the Week!!!

Hey everyone! Starting this week I am going to start a band of the week poll. The bands chosen for the week will be totally random each week, with the only exception being that any band which has already earned this title will be left off the list (yes, each band can only win once).

I have been thinking of a way to include my readers a little more often, and this is it I believe.

So here is the way this will work,  there will be a poll set up on the right-hand side of this page (above the followers section) with 4 choices. The winners of the Band of the Week title will be revealed every Monday, and the next poll will begin that same day (note that polls will close on Friday night). I will provide links to purchase every album for the winning band as well! Remember, you will be able to choose one band only, so if you want a certain band to be picked then I encourage you to tell your friends about my blog and send them this way. So in a sense this is also a way for me to pick up more readers on the blog. Keep this in mind, the more I feel like people are reading and keeping up with this thing, the more often I update posts and come up with new ideas to involve you guys!

Now, for those of you curious about how the choices are picked:

I have created a new playlist to my iTunes library, in this playlist I have placed one (1) song from EVERY band in my library. I then turn on the shuffle mode and click play. The first four (4) bands to be played are put on the poll. After a band is selected by you, the readers, that band's song will be removed from the playlist.

One last thing! I have a pretty wide ranging group of bands on my iTunes, but if you have a band that you would like to see get a shot at this list, then leave a comment giving me the band name and your favorite album of that band (if I don't have them in my library or haven't heard of them then this is a good way to get me some new music!)

So there you have it! Get to voting everyone, leave feedback, subscribe!

-Alex

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is the story of a young man who falls in love with a girl and is forced to defeat her 7 evil ex's in order to continue dating her. It's a superb example of what love might drive us to do. And in the midst of movies like Inception, Twilight (even though I'm not a fan of it), The Book of Eli, and The Expendables -all of which were released this year- Scott Pilgrim delivers what is easily one of the most entertaining and relatable films so far.

Full of epic fights, quirky comedic moments, and semi-romantic scenes, this movie will keep you locked in until the end and make you want more. However, there is one thing, out of all others, that really deserves some appraisal: the soundtrack. That's right! Edgar Wright brought together a team of indie bands to compose the sound track, and I must say I am more than impressed. Some of the more notable groups were Beck, who wrote the music for the Sex Bob-omb's, and Metric, who contributed their song "Black Sheep" to be played by the Clash at Demonhead. And, for a special treat to any would-be gamers out there, Wright even went so far as to get permission from Nintendo to use music from The Legend of Zelda game series during Scott's dreamlike scenarios.

Wright utilized a unique blend of comic book animation and theatrics to bring us a new style of movie, proving once and for all that it is not impossible to give a movie a comic book feel (yeah I'm talking to you Ang Lee, thanks for ruining the first Hulk).

Anyways, when it comes right down to it, Scott Pilgrim delivers in all areas. And despite what the Box Office or Wall Street Journal says, it is easily one of the best films of the year (one of my top picks of all time personally). I encourage everyone to watch it at least once and experience the uniqueness of this film.


To see the trailer, click the link provided here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgOLmjhxVVU

I will provide a link to purchase the movie ASAP, thanks for reading! Please SUBSCRIBE, give feedback, tell your friends! Check back regularly. ;)

VersaEmerge - Fixed at Zero

  

Alternative/experimental rock group, VersaEmerge, scores big with their debut album Fixed at Zero! 

For those of you who haven't checked out this band, I highly recommend them. I have personally been a fan of their music since Sierra first joined. Their style in music has changed over the duration that they have been a band, but this album is still good nonetheless.

The album opens with "Figure it Out," which has an almost mesmerizing intro, lulling you into a brief splash of electronica. This song was a great choice as an intro, exposing the bands potential without overdoing it.

The next two songs continue with the upbeat rush of Blake's guitar work and Sierra's surprisingly powerful voice before slowing down a bit with "You'll Never Know." This song reminds me a lot of Paramore, using a very linear drumming style and fairly simple yet driving guitar work.

"Stranger" is arguably my favorite song on the album, Sierra has a great hook in the chorus, and the bass in the verse has a fresh appeal. Of course, being a drummer myself, I cannot overlook the drums in this song; superb, to say the least. Now, for a bit of a twist, "Fire (Aim Your Arrows High)" features a blend of Sierra and Blake in vocals in addition to it being one of the more intense songs on the album. "Your Own LoV.E" and "Mythology" definitely have a taste of  pop-punk and progressive, but the real treat is the epic 7 minute closer "Lost Tree" which opens with beautiful acoustics and vocals. My only complaint is about halfway through when the build up hits and Sierra attempts a scream or something like that. Other than that the song is great.

All in all, Fixed at Zero is an intuitive album with a blend of many different styles that many people will enjoy, and everyone should give a listen to. Sierra's vocals are among the best you will hear out of female singers and the album is a truly captivating work of art.

To give the album a listen, visit this link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLlQrQx_jUY 

Or to buy the album click on this link:

Fixed at Zero

This is me

I'm a musician, born into a family of musicians, who grew up playing with some of the best musicians around. My father traveled with such renowned musicians like Johnny Cash, toured with bands over seas, established connections with members from such old school hits like Petra (if you don't know who they are then I suggest you look into them, great band), and even had multiple offers to tour with huge country and gospel bands during that time.
I personally have been involved in music since I was 12, when I decided to pick up the drums. Since that time, I have toured America with a youth band and played with top-notch professional musicians from Florida and Nashville. I plucked at the guitar for a year or two, never really attempting to learn, when I was 17, then one day an offer came up to travel with a band playing lead guitar, so a good friend and AMAZING professional lead guitarist taught me (thank you Danny). That, combined with a guitar course I took in college, launched me out into the world of guitarists. I picked up bass somewhere along the line but I don't really remember when, I just sort of naturally adapted to it.

All that being said, I used to have a very one-sided opinion of music. I hated anything with screaming in it, I hated country, I hated rap, etc. etc. Until one day, traveling in Ireland, I came across a drummer from Italy who completely revolutionized the way I thought about music. We met on a bus, spoke for a little bit and I finally asked if he was in a band. He said yes, he played in a black metal band -my brother listens to that sort of music, and my brother hates most other styles of music despite being one of the best musicians I've ever known in my life- so I automatically assumed he listened to nothing else other than the underground styles of metal. But, to my surprise, I was wrong. This particular man also played in a pop band with his dad. POP. I was astounded. And when I asked why the strange mix of music he told me this (paraphrasing of course), "As a drummer, or a musician in general, it is important to be familiar with all genres that your instrument is associated with. Limiting your taste in music limits your ability as a musician."
I will never forget that lesson for the rest of my life.

To wrap this up, I hope this back-story gives me more credibility as a critic of music, and I hope it gives you more insight into how I think.


Sincerely,
Alex.

Introduction...

Hello any would-be viewers, this is my first time blogging legitimately. My goal is to deliver ratings and overviews of music, movies, games, and anything else along those lines. I will try my hardest to ensure that I am not biased towards any particular thing simply because I am not a fan of it.
I really do hope you enjoy reading and following my entries, I promise to not be too boring. :)

So please, follow this page, leave feedback, and check back regularly as I will try to keep up to date with new media coming out.

Thank you,
Alex.