Life is a f*cking circle

So remember how I told you, gentle readers, about the theft of my collection of CDs from my car all those years ago?

Life's mocking circle just completed a rotation:

- Guess who's laptop got stolen out of his house today?

- In the morning.

- In broad daylight.

- While not one of my 3 other roommates got robbed (at least that we know of).

Granted, the door was opened, but I never in a million years thought that some (insert your own explicative here, I've run out of creative ones) would come into a house in the middle of the day and steal from me.

I just hope that this is a BIG misunderstanding with my one roommate who I lent the laptop to last night so he could do some work in bed (he has a terrible Dell desktop, but at least he still has it.) He said he put it on my desk when he left this morning to go to NYC for a few nights, when I came home from work at 2:30, it wasn't there. I really don't think that he would take it.

So to you my gentle readers, I must preemptively apologize for the lack of up coming posts. But there is a tiny shimmer of hope. The crook(s) did not manage to acquire my iPod, so maybe, jsut maybe, if I wish upon the right falling star, I can find some way to update this.

As Tall As Lions - Lafcadio

Due to me being called out by a certain someone a few days ago, I decided to make amends and write my latest entry on the Strong Island, excuse me, Long Island, band As Tall As Lions.

To be fair, I had heard of the band before they were mentioned, but I never took the time to check them out. And I concede that I am happy I did. For some reason, going in I expected a sort of Circa Survive-like lyricism with a dash of dance-y Cobra Starship rifts.

Please don't ask me why I thought this way, it just happened.

Turns out As Tall As Lions plays kind of like a harder version of The Kin, a band I reviewed earlier. On first listen today, As Tall As Lions didn't really do much for me. But as I listened to their debut album Lafcadio again, the band is starting to grow on me. Having been listening to a plethora of Dear Hunter lately, it's a bit refreshing to listen to an album that's weaving part of a six-arc story.

The biggest thing that I got out of the album is that an As Tall as Lions live show would be awesome. Passion seems to flow through the vocals, guitars, bass and drums that usually only gets seen when bands play live.

(side note: it is this passion of live shows that bugs the hell out of me when people say that they have never been to a show. And no, that Dave Matthews concert you saw in high school while drunk of off stolen booze from Mommy and Daddy doesn't count.)

Another thing I like about Lafcadio, is that while the songs don't race or scream, I can still get hyped after listening to them. Also, I find it really weird that the song 'Acrobat' reminds me of Seal's 'Touched by a Rose.'

Sadly, I wish I could have discovered As Tall As Lions a month ago when they played in Pittsburgh. If anyone went, how was it/are there bootlegs out there on the interweb?

Live-y Goodness

When I'm at school, I don't have a car. Because I don't have a car, I pretty much never listen to the radio. Because I don't listen to the radio, I really don't know who, what or where good music is being played in the greater Pittsburgh area.

I follow the bands I like the most via their website or sites like AbsolutePunk.net to find out when and where their next tour is going to be. I also sometimes pick up a copy of the Pittsburgh City Paper and make a note if I band I like will be coming through the venues advertisements.

There is nothing like live music and in a day and age where downloading is so popular, it's one way to support the bands you love.

So I ask you, my gentle readers, what is your method de jure of finding out about bands playing live?

The Dear Hunter - Act 1: The Lake South and the River North

They're are all different types of mediums for telling a story. Obviously the written word and acting stand out, but there this also exists in music as well in the form of a concept album.

After being impressed with their live show last week, I picked up a copy of the debut album from The Dear Hunter. The band plans to set up a six-arc story telling the tale of the "The Dear Hunter" or "The Boy."

Before I picked up this album, the only other band I knew of of that was working a series of albums telling a story was Coheed and Cambria. I am a big fan of Coheed, but don't really know much of the story being told in there songs.

This is different so how. In the first album, Act 1: The Lake South and the River North, The Dear Hunter tells the story of the birth of the boy to his mother, a prostitute named Ms. Terri (Ms. Terri = Mystery. Witty, I know.)

Maybe it's because front man Casey Crescenzo used to be part of one of favorite bands in The Receiving End of Sirens, maybe because I miss that band terribly and The Dear Hunter embodies many of the same sounds as the band, but I'm really digging this band.

I'm looking up lyrics to each song, trying to get a feel for what the story is about this boy known as The Dear Hunter, something I never did for Coheed.

As for the type of music, it's very hard to describe as anything but 'experimental electronic progressive alternative rock.' To give you an example, during the show, the band played with three keyboards, sang one song totally acapella, another with just a banjo and a little drum work with a band of six members playing at once.

This a band that needs to be experienced in order to truly get a notion of just what they are.

Check out one of my favorites off the album - 1878.

Another quality song - The Pimp and the Priest.

If your into new types of music, layered locals, great lyrics, simple, yet smart technical rock, give The Dear Hunter a shot. I promise that you will not be disappointed.

A terrible quality cell phone pic of Thrice from Sunday night.

Thrice 11/15/09 Diesel, Pittsburgh PA

While I can't say that I have a favorite band, if I was forced to choose, I would have to say it would be Thrice. Everything about them, from the deep lyrics with a plethora of literary references, to the head-rocking drums, Thrice is everything I want in a band.

That said, I was as giddy as a schoolgirl last night when I saw them live at Diesel nightclub in the Southside. I was supposed to see Thrice with Circa Survive, another one of my favorite bands, last year, but I had to skip it due to my grandfather's viewing, so needless to say I was pumped.

Since most, if not all, of my friends are rap-heads, I decided to take a Lady Friend along with me. When she showed to my house wearing heels, I knew I was in for a memorable night. Polar Bear Club, the first opener were alright. They were a young band and this tour was probably the biggest thing that has happened to them. Hopefully the guys from Thrice will offer some guidance, because I would like to see them do big things.

The second opener was a band called The Dear Hunter. It's almost impossible to describe their sound but I sum it up as 'electronic experimentation hard rock.' Check out their Myspace for a better example.

I really liked The Dear Hunter and I picked up a copy of their first album so watch out for that review coming later this week.

Then it was time for Thrice. The crowd was moving, but not active, for the first two bands so I thought that my position in the front center of the stage would be safe from a pit when one sprang up.

I was wrong.

With the first cords of "Of Dust and Nations" the once calm sea of people turned into a raging, rip tided filled, ocean of jumping, pushing sweating people. To be fair, I had not given the Lady Friend the proper warning about the pits at these concerts in fear that she would change her mind.

One glance at her during The Push, told me that we needed to get behind the pit sooner rather than later. And I was honestly glad to get out of the pit myself. After a sleepless weekend with the Pitt-Notre Dame game, my body was shot.

The concert itself was plagued with technical difficulties. After almost every song, the band that usually doesn't talk much during shows would stop and say a few words as the roadies worked on one thing or another. The band apologized and thanked the fans on their Twitter account after the show.

Yet I didn't care about the problems. The set list (see below) was filled with new songs off the summer released "Beggars" album. And it was fantastic. A great mix of power and calm, new and old.

As with every Thrice concert I've been too (all ten of them), I left the show with goosebumps and a big grin on my face. If I had any semblance of money, I would love to follow them on a few dates. But alas, I'm broke.

Kudos to Setlist.fm for a copy of this. If you never heard of Setlist.fm and your a music geek, really check it out it's worth it. The name in parenthesizes is the name of the album from which the song appears.

1. Of Dust and Nations (Vheissu)
2. Silhouette(Artist in the Ambulance)
3. All The World Is Mad (Beggars)
4. The Weight (Beggars)
5. Helter Skelter (Beggars)
6. In Exile (Beggars)
7. A Song for Milly Michaelson (Reworked Version) (Alchemy Index Volume IV: Air)
8. Hold Fast Hope (Vheissu)
9. Artist In the Ambulance (Artist in the Ambulance)
10. The Melting Point Of Wax (Artist in the Ambulance)
11. Deadulus (Alchemy Index Volume IV: Air)
12. Like Moths to Flame (Vheissu)
13. The Arsonist (Alchemy Index Volume I: Fire)
14. Beggars (Beggars)
    
15. The Earth Will Shake (Vheissu)

If you're not a Thrice fan but like good music, good writing, or a good time, you need to be. Right now.

R.I.P

I'm pretty sure that my iPod is dying. Granted it is like the second version of the iPod to be released, but it still holds many of my favorite songs that I do not have on my computer.

Anyone know a way to transfer the songs on my iPod to my computer? I heard of Ephpod, but I have a Mac, not a P.C.

Help!