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!

Gitty

http://www.circasurvive.com/2009/11/07/final-studio-video/

This just got me all sorts of excited for Circa Survive's new album.

Halestorm - Halestorm

Y-100, a local alt-rock radio station in Philly, used to play nothing but local music on Sunday nights before the station switched formats to play nothing but rap.

I remember sitting in my room, listening to new and local music while cursing my way through calculus or history homework. It was during one of these sessions where I first discovered the band Halestorm.

The band consits of siblings Lzzy and Arejay Hale with Joe Hottinger and Josh Smith.

While not exactly from Philly, they're from York, Pa, Y-100 played their song "Shadows of my Heart" fairly often as part of their Sunday play list. This being the height of the Limewire/Kazza era, I downloaded some of their songs and threw them onto my iPod.

While I hadn't forgotten about Halestorm over the years, searching for more of their music was not a priority. But when I was bored one day making a play list of female fronted bands, I decided to re-check out Halestorm.

It was a lot different then the band that I had listen to on Sunday nights.

Their self-titled debut album was released in April of 2009 and their lead single is titled 'I Get Off.' It means just what you think. The band that I had listened to all those moons ago had no blanent sexual references.

But I like it a lot.

There are a plethora of male-fronted bands talking about sex, how cool they are and all of the things they do. This is the first female led band that does this. And Lzzy sings over some pretty catchy and 'head-bobbing' guitar rifts and intense drum beats.

Look at one of their songs, "Innocence." Here are some of the lyrics to the song:

I've been here too many times before
And your tears don't mean a thing
I only come
When you scream

I told you
Child don't follow me home
You're just to perfect for my hands to hold
If you choose to stay
You'll throw it all away
And I just want to take
Your innocence

While not exactly 'dirty,' I dig the fact that there is a women out there who is not afraid of singing about things that make some people cringe.

Besides the lyrics, the music itself is fantastic. Lzzy has a phenomenal, almost haunting, voice and the rest of the band are all above competent artists.

Check out these songs for an overall view of the band's talents:

Familiar Taste of Poison
I Get Off
Love/Hate Heartbreak

How do you feel about a women singing overtly sexual songs? Do you think it's progress or a step back for women? A cheap record stunt? Share.

Take 2

I had a whole, well thought out, descpritive post all ready to. It had imagery, character development and a whole mythos behind it. I swear.

But apparently Blogger told me to fuck off and deleted it before I could finish. I'm not going to give in to the power of technology and retype it all, so I'll give a shout out to someone else who feels the same.

http://www.rationalresponders.com/Empire_State_of_Mind_Ill_State_of_Mind

Check out both songs. One's by a pro, the other by an underground sensation.

Go Phillies.

Do you listen to music while you study?

What bands?

The Kin - Rise and Fall

These times, they are a changing.

Used to be that I as an older brother would discover new music and pass it on to my sister. But the other day as I was taking out the car that we share, I found a little LP in the center console. Curious I popped it into the CD player to see what kind of girl-rock she was listening to these days.

Long story short, it was nothing like I suspected. I picked up the paper CD case and looked at the cover - The Kin - Rise and Fall.

After some research, I discovered that the band is made up of two Australian brothers who recorded this CD in Buck County, PA, not that far from my home. My sister has no idea where she got the CD, but it looks like the ones you can pick up from an opening act a big concert.

What initially drew me into the CD was the fact that the first couple of songs feel like they were solely recorded for a movie, especially the second track, 'Together.' The sounds are quick and epic-like with lyrics that draw you in, not only to the song, but oddly enough make you more focused on the task at hand. As I type this post, I feel kind of empowered and focused, which is amazing considering how exhausted I should be.

If you want some music that can inspire you, pick you up and draw you in all at the same time, pick up this LP immediately.

Thought

Whatever happened to the concept of internet radio? Back in the day I was always on Radio Wazee finding new music and listening to some favorite old alt. rock tracks. But as time went on it seems like people just forgo the radio, internet or broadcast, altogether.

It's been documented here how I find new music, but I'm curious how others do it considering the death of radio.

Thoughts?

Heroes Get Remembered, but Legands Never Die

Learn it and love it because this is what I hope to be singing after every Phillies win from here on out.

Rest In Peace, Harry....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbJrAAaUcKg&feature=related

Donavon Frankenreiter - Move By Yourself

So it's kind of been awhile since my last post, but with school and planning a road trip last weekend for fall break, time hasn't been exactly abundant. But now that I spent 3 days basking in the warm fall sunlight of the Jersey Shore, things seem to be a lot better.

We got to the shore Friday afternoon and immediately went down to the beach. To all of our surprises, the water was a warm 65 degrees. We ran back to the house, got in our bathing suits and swam for a few hours.

The drastic change from crappy rainyish weather in Oakland to 75 and sunny down the shore was better than any pill to lift my mood. After swimming, surfing and boccie balling all day, we went back to the house and crashed. It was then that I turned on my iPod, sunk into a couch, closed my eyes and mellowed out to Donavon Frankenreiter.

I initially heard of Donavon after listening to him sing with G. Love and Jack Johnson on the song "Rodeo Cowboys." His voice isn't that strong in the song and it was clear he was just jamming with some friends on the track.

But I went out and picked up his album "Move By Yourself" anyway, just to see if he had the same kind of flow and rhythm as G. Love and Jack. He does and he doesn't. The title track of the album has instrumentals that seem like it belong in the background of cheap 70s funk movie with lyrics that feel like they should be read at a self-help seminar. But it works. You can't help bobbing your leg to the beat and sing along.

But Donavon does strip it down and get mellow and emotional. "These Arms" is a song to his young son about Donavon and his wife always being there even though the life of a musician is confusing and difficult. It has some kind of funkiness to it, but more along the lines of a Wallflowers type of funk than 70s porn funk that populates some of the other songs on the album.

Donavon's southern Cali and former pro surfer roots can be clearly seen in the album as well. Listening to tracks like "Girl Like You" and "That's Too Bad," one gets the sense of Donavon and his friends sitting around a beach campfire and jamming out.

While not as mellow as Jack Johnson or a rappy as G. Love, Donavon Frankenreiter's "Move By Yourself" brings a weird combination of relaxed energy. I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but check it out and you'll know what I mean.

Young James + Rocky Theme + Highlight Tape = Awesomeness.

Cage the Elephant - Cage the Elephant

Fall is in the air. Mornings are cold, afternoons hot. Playoff baseball returns (although my Phillies again have gotten screwed. Two consecutive home games at 2:37? Bullshit). And with the coming of fall comes Pitt's newish fall break.

With no classes on Friday and Monday off, the obvious plan for the weekend is a road trip. But not just any road trip. This is a trip to my second home - the Jersey Shore. After working down the shore for three summers and going down weekends since birth, a trip to the coast is just what I need after the madness in Oakland for G-20. A few days surfing and hanging on the beach is just what I need to get my head together for the rest of the semester.

But with a road trips, quality music is a necessity. And while the trip should take around 6 hours, I have at least 37.7 minutes covered in the form of Cage the Elephant. Best known for their song 'Aint No Rest For the Wicked,' Cage the Elephant's self titled album brings the long forgotten 70s guitar rifts, unique voice, and relaxing-yet-intense sound back into the musical world.

I first heard of Cage the Elephant after hearing a radio promo for a Sliversun Pickups tour that was coming to "Pittsburgh." Well it turns out the venue is like an hour away. Automobileless, I cant attend (Anger! Rage! Weeping!) but I did hear 'Aint No Rest'. The song was catchy enough, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

And Cage does not disapoint. Mixing quick paced songs like 'Aint No Rest' and 'James Brown', songs that make you want to jump around and singm with slower jams like 'Back Against the Wall,' which makes you wanna melt into a couch and sing, Cage is a band that makes you want to look up the lyrics to the songs as soon as your hear for the first time.

But as started earlier, Cage is the perfect road trip band. Listening to the album and closing my eyes, I can picture myself moving down the Turnpike at 85MPH singing along and looking forward to feel and taste of salt water once more.

Sonic Weapon

Looks like Disturbed was right, music can be used as a weapon...

If anyone wants a copy, just ask. Just when all the leaves outside are changing colors, pop in this mixtape and it feels like a summer night in the clubs.

Artists remixed include Ladyhawke, 3OH!3, The Killers, Trouble Andrew, The Chemical Brothers, Chase & Status, The Crystal Method, Rammstein, The Presets Peaches, Benny Benassi, Missy Elliott, Black Rob, Young Jeezy, Jay-Z, Notorious B.I.G., Local H, Keane, Ghostface Killah, Katy Perry, Prodigy, Numberning, Pantera and Nine Inch Nails

Adema - Adema

Oh 90s rock. How I sort-of miss you.

During the Daily Show last night, there was a segment titled "Moral Kombat," a play on the video game franchise Mortal Kombat. But it got me thinking about the promotion for Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance. The developers of the game put a trailer online backed by the music of 90s NuMetal band Adema.

I hadn't listening to Adema since the Great CD Capper. So today I picked up a copy of their self-titled album, and I'm actually kind of happy I haven't listen to them in years. Like a lot of NuMetal, most of the songs sound exactly the same with some campy synthesizer in the back and lyrics about being different or about being angry.

The one song I did enjoy, maybe only because it brought me back to my highschool days rolling around in my 1996 Mazda Mellenia, was 'Giving In.' I remember bumping that song on the way to and from my highschool thinking I was all angst ridden. I was the furthest thing from angst ridden (but it beats trying to relate to rap).

It's no wonder that only a few NuMetal bands are still making successful music. It seems like NuMetal rode the wave of Nirvana, Alice in Chains and the Grunge wave, only to crashdown after the wave broke.

While the music may not be the best, Adema's self-titled album makes make for a good trip down memory lane.

With the weather outside being gorgeous, a rarity for Pittsburgh, I decided today to do a little outdoor reading. Not actually wanting to be schorlary productive, I grabbed an old 'Surfer' magazine.

I was immediately depressed.

For three consecutive summers, I worked down the Jersey shore, surfing everyday. This summer I got a real job, a non-paying internship writing for NBCPhiladelphia.com While the internship was awesome, it obviously limited my surfing time. Reading that 'Surfer' today made the fact that i'm 300 plus miles away from the nearest wave sink in.

However the depression was soothed by the discovery of Grinspoon. Without giving too much details, there was an article in 'Surfer' about Mick Fanning's title win and the big party that was thrown just after. Mick's wife organized the shindig and even got Grinspoon, Mick's favorite band, to play live.

I thought to myself, if I can't surf, I can at least listen to the music world champion surfers listen to.

Grinspoon's "Alibis and Other Lies" is, well it's different. The guitars, drums and bass are all like normal rock, but the difference comes with the lyrics. Unlike most rock, if you look at Grinspoon's lyrics without hearing the music, you would get pretty confused. After two or three lines, the lyrics don't relate to the ones that came before it.

It's actually refreshing. Some rock is starting to get stale. Bands sounds alike, the songs are bland with no personality. While Grinspoon may not be great storytellers, you feel like you know the band by listening to thier songs.

The best track on the album may be the opener, "Black Tattoo." It's quick, short (2:49) and full of energy. If you close your eyes, you can deffinitly picture Mick tearing a wave apart while the song plays in the background.

If your looking for something that brings back the old energy and fun of yesteryear rock, pick up "Abilis and Other Lies" and rock out like Mick Fanning.

Purpose

I'm starting this blog as a way to convey my explorations into finding and listening to new music. The music may not always be new in that an album was just released or the band just formed. Rather it will be about the way I hear about band I don't listen to, my reactions to the music and other various things I feel like writing about relating to the music.

The blog will also cover me rediscovering bands that I have forgotten about or haven't listened to since the "Great CD Caper of 2003.'

Allow me to explain.

In 2003, while I was in high school, my car was robbed sitting in the driveway of my house. Among other things, the thieves stole my CD case which contained around 150-200 different CDs. What made it worse was that this was before I had iTunes, so the music was really gone.

So I hope that you find Adventures in Audio in Exploration, not only an amusing read, but maybe find some new music out of it as well.