Overload

Is it just me, or does anyone else feel incredibly inadequate whenever someone comes along and seems to rattle off names of bands you've never heard of, but you SHOULD have, plus numerous details about their concert dates, discography, influences, etc... ?

Maybe it's a by-product of not intentionally focusing on only a paticular niche in music. Maybe it's a by-product of a concientious stand on not downloading music illegally, and thus not having convient access to new music. Maybe it's both... But I just feel behind constantly.

Take the group 'Metric' for example. I found this group, fronted by the lovely Emily Haines, on iTunes about a year & a half ago (the album itself was released in 2003). I didn't love every song, but the majority of songs on 'Old World Underground' were certainly a breathe of fresh air, and a nice break from the 'My Chemical Romance' songs I was introduced to at the time (not that I don't like my MCR, mind you).

But my whirlwind romance with Metric (as whirlwind romances are want to do) ended. Not that I had forgotten the band completly, but there was too much music I still needed to catch up on. Snow Patrol, Coldplay's newest album, The Decemberists, plus some Gloria Estafan songs I'd been DIEING to download for some time. Now come to find that Metric released 'Live it Out' in 2005 without my even having heard about it! Why didn't I check up on it? Why didn't I bookmark the bands web page?

I don't know. Maybe keeping this blog will motivate me to keep up on a few specific groups more often... Carbon Leaf is another band that lost my attention unfairly quite a while ago. It's some solace that any given CD mix I create will have more than a couple of songs that the majority of my friends haven't heard, and will probably scratch their heads at. But on the other hand, it's difficult to keep up with both the 'pop' and 'underground' scenes, let alone all the in-betweeners I'm so very fond of, without becoming sort of lost in it all.

Anyway. Panic! at the Disco and Metric are going to be in town very soon, and I'm considering going to an actual concert for the first time in a long time. I'm quite sure I'm going to hate everything but the music, but concerts are a topic for another time.

Goodnight, (does that work as a sign off? I think it'll do)
Niqorasu

Am Radio - Radioactive

Just a short post to get us started.

'AM Radio ' was a group that I found, not surprisingly, on iTunes a couple years ago. What WAS surprising, at least to me, is the fact that I hadn't heard them at all on any of my local radio stations. (Apparently Am Radio was featured on 'One Tree Hill' at some point, but since this blog is at least partially dedicated to non-negative comments, we won't talk about televised teen drama)

Their one and only album, cutely titled 'Radioactive' features not one single song not worth listening to. It opens and finishes strong with 'If This Is the End of the World' and 'Distant Shining Star', but the real highlights for me come at the slower 'I Just Wanna Be Loved' & 'Oh Oh Oh'. Pick any song of the 13 tracks, and it could easily be a great single.

The vocales are very smooth sounding throughout, quite a bonus if you're one who prefers the non-screaming bits of any given 'Linkin Park' song, but not so pure as to irritate one's inner angst-ridden teen. The music itself is as fast paced and alternative sounding as it needs to be without being overbearing. 'Radioactive' makes for one very accessible album that is at the same time unique.

Still-not-having-thought-of-anything-clever-to-sign-off-with,
Niqorasu

A music critic? Hardly.

This *ahem* "'Blog'" as the hip-kids like to call it, is a kind of expirament for me. I'm not exactly sure what I hope to accomplish... But it isn't exactly directionless, either.

On the surface, it's really just a way to organize my thoughts. In paticular, my thoughts on music. But do I want to make an attempt at genuine critiquing? I don't think I could do so and feel honest about it. I don't attend concerts (but not as a rule). I'm barely a musician (I play a guitar, but very poorly). I know very little about the industry on a commercial level... I have so many other things to worry about in my personal life to keep up with, that I just don't have the energy to stay so keenly interested in every single band reaching some minute level of noteriety.

That isn't to say that music is not important to me. 'Love' is a big word to me, and I try not to throw it around lightly. I make note of that becuase I want to convey my full meaning when I say this; That I love music. I spend a fair amount of time looking for new, exciting bands... iTunes is the preferable method used to track down my quarry, but I'm certainly not above rummaging the bins at local record shops, or even buying a brand spanking new plastic-covered album at, oh, let's say 'Wal-Mart', just to be controversial.

I don't let good songs pass me by, and I do not let my tastes narrow based on the whims of popularity or age. Matthew Sweet gathers as much playtime on my list as Jefferson Starship and Twisted Sister. I once had the 'Ghostbusters' Theme song follow Imogen Heap's 'Hide & Seek'. Ever heard of The Concretes? Camera Obscura? Royksopp? Do you remember Lit, or Sugarcult? Throw in a Beatles song or two and you've got a pretty good road trip mix, methinks!

I think what I'm trying to convey is that I'm not a elitist. But you will find that my tastes jump all over the place, and that's something I'm proud of. Some stuff that people who are not your grandmother could only ever enjoy ironically I will play over and over again (though fans of irony will find my comments on certain artists amusing).

I won't always be up on the newest or most trendy stuff. But, hey, I've got something to say about what I do listen to. If you read this blog, I hope you find something you hadn't heard before that you'll like - or hate - and that you'll leave a recomendation in your comments of a song or band that I might not be familar with. I'm always interested in checking out stuff thats new, or new to me.

Still-thinking-of-a-clever-way-to -sign-off,
Niqorasu

Testing

This is just a test run. Whee!