Music Weekly

This is my first review of a foreign band. Blood Stain Child hails from Japan. They are a power metal band of (in my opinion) high caliber. Their music is definitely different than anything I’ve listened to, aside from the fact that they are Japanese. It’s interesting that many of their songs have English throughout them. If you’re looking for something different, or if you want to listen to a Japanese band, you should check them out. Links of streams and lyrics are hard to come by for them here in the States, as they are pretty underground, but if you’re interested, look here: Blood Stain Child on Myspace here: Blood Stain Child on Wikipedia and possibly here: Note, it’s all in Japanese

For those who like to lean back and relax to some peaceful music, Augustana is your band with their album “All The Stars And Boulevards.” They began in 2002 with Dan Layus gathering friends together to record some music, and started their band shortly after.My personal favorite is “Stars and Boulevards” (track #5), and I suggest you give it a listen. You might like this band if you listen to bands such as Snow Patrol or The Fray. I do agree that the album cover is.. different, but don’t let it dissuade you.

If you decide to check them out, here’s their website: http://www.augustanamusic.com/

Track listing:

1. “Mayfield” – 3:16
2. “Bullets” – 3:11
3. “Hotel Roosevelt” – 3:50
4. “Boston” – 4:06
5. “Stars and Boulevards” – 4:21
6. “Feel Fine” – 3:45
7. “Wasteland” – 3:59
8. “Lonely People” – 3:48
9. “Sunday Best” – 3:22
10. “California’s Burning” – 3:45
11. “Coffee and Cigarettes” – 4:02

This style of this album varies from the other albums and artists I have posted. The band, “The Flobots”, combines Hip Hop and Rock elements. By this, I mean that they combine guitar and drums in a way that sounds like Rock, yet they freestyle the lyrics together.

“Fight with Tools” by The Flobots

One of the most important parts of any song to me are the lyrics. They have to be meaningful and inspire me in some way. This album certainly does just that with every song. My personal favorites are “Stand Up” and the more popular song “Handlebars” (you may have heard Handlebars, so check it out). The songs vary from one another in an interesting way, yet the entire album feels tied together. The Flobots give the listener the sense that they are listening to a broadcast that is taken over by some rebel group trying to get their message across to the masses. The album is certainly worth listening to, so check it out!

The Flobots Myspace

The Flobot’s Official Site

Buy the Deluxe Edition on amazon.com

I was going to creatively rick roll you all today, but I got to writing the article… and it just…failed. Wasn’t worth having a low quality post just to make a joke. Instead, I’ll do a somewhat mainstream album and call it a day. Its a late post, and I apologize for that. Today has been… eventful. So instead, I’ll do an album that was released today. That album?

“Ocean Eyes (Deluxe Edition)” by Owl City

Yes, Owl City. The first time I gave him a listen, I didn’t really care for him. Just like other bands that have taken over my life, I’m sure this guy will too. The guy being Adam Young and his instruments. I love his synthpop/electronica/Alt Rock sound, that is unlike most mainstream music. Give them a listen, you might enjoy it. The deluxe version of the album has 19 songs total, one of them being a remix of “Hello Seattle”. If you buy the hard copy of the album, you get a picture book full of pictures of Adam and him playing.

Owl City Myspace

Buy the Deluxe Edition on amazon.com

Innerpartysystem began as The Takeover in 2006, started by Patrick Nissley and Jared Piccone. They are known as an alternative rock or electronica band, and are becoming increasingly popular. They signed to Stolen Transmission, who also helped bands such as the Killers and My Chemical Romance. Their discography consists of 3 EPs, 1 full-length album and a couple of mix tapes. After The Download EP, the band signed onto Island Records, and a year later released their self-titled full album.

Innerpartysystem [2008]

Track listing

1. Die Tonight Live Forever [4:41]

2. Last Night In Brooklyn [4:20]

3. Don’t Stop [4:18]

4. Structure [3:58]

5. Everyone Is The Same [3:49]

6. Obsession [4:20]

7. This Empty Love [4:49]

8. New Poetry [4:02]

9. This Town, Your Grave [4:55]

10. Heart of Fire [4:08]

11. What We Will Never Know [4:15]

12. Home [2:54] (instrumental soundscape, hidden on cd)

One of my all-time favorite bands, Breathe Carolina is a mix of screamo and electronica. So for those who have listened to The Medic Droid, Kill Paradise, and Attack Attack, be prepared: you’re going to love this band. They have two published albums, however its Hello Fascination [2009] I want to talk about.

Hello Fascination is the most recent of their albums, and my personal favorite. The entire album is great, and there aren’t any songs that you won’t listen to. As with most albums these days some titles may seem strange but don’t doubt them. My personal favorite is “I Have to Go Return Some Video Tapes”. Here’s the track listing:

1. Hello Fascination [3:21]
2. I’m the Type of Person to Take It Personal [4:14]
3. Take Me to Infinity [3:35]
4. Dressed Up to Undress [3:40]
5. I.D.G.A.F. [3:14]
6. Welcome to Savannah [3:36]
7. I Have to Go Return Some Video Tapes [3:43]
8. The Dressing Room [3:28]
9. Tripped and Fell in Portland [3:56]
10. Can I Take You Home? [3:53]
11. My Obsession [4:22]
12. Velvet [3:15]
13. Rescue [4:57]

Visit their website to find out more: http://www.breathecarolina.net/

Give it a listen and I hope you enjoy.

Straight from Woodstock, New York I bring you “3″. How did they get that name? Well, It was founded by just three people. However, It wasn’t just three regular old people. It was Josh Eppard, Joey Eppard, and Chris Bittner. Who are these people, you ask? Well you may or may not know Josh Eppard as the former drummer of Coheed and Cambria. Joey would be his brother and Chris is just another random person i’ve never heard of until I found three. Now, the only founding member in the band would be Joey.

Anywho, Some of their best songs are on their newest album, titled “Revisions”. You should check it out. His voice is very much original, so be aware that you might not like it.

3’s Website

Edit: Just found out who Chris Bittner is! Thanks to Neesh, I learned that he is an engineer who recorded the first 3 Coheed albums and mixed the first 2. That means that all three founding members of the band are important people.

Hey y’all, just wanted to note that we have had a couple changes. You know our real names now! Under the title of each post, you’ll see our names, followed by our Zune Tags. What are our zune tags, you ask? Its those things on the right that show our plays, and names on the Zune Social.

Also, I need to back down from having myself on the posting schedule, so there is a new writer to take my place. His name is Darren and is a good writer. Welcome, Darren.

I will still be posting when people can’t make their posts, so i’m not leaving completely.

Much love,

Dylan

Our writers like to share their favorite music, why would they write here if they didn’t? We talked about something cool to do before the end of the year, and we thought of this. We each do our top two favorite albums of 2009. We considered doing the whole decade…but that would be too hard and it would have to be our top 50 or something like that. While we could have done it, it would have taken too long and we were running out of time. Alright, enough babble, I’ll start. 

Dylan’s Top Two 

The Dear Hunter – Act III; Life and Death 

Casey Crescenzo is right behind Claudio Sanchez when it comes to vocals. The third part of the story, it is full of emotion filled songs perfectly done by Casey and the rest of the band. 

Say Anything – Self Titled 

This was actually the first Say Anything album I’ve ever heard. I’m really happy I got it. There’s not really too much to say about it, other than Max Bemis is ah-maz-ing! They also released an acoustic version of this album, which for some reason I like more than the regular album. 

Red’s Top Two 

Thrice – Beggars 

So, I’ve already said that Thrice is my favorite band, but this album is truly amazing. They have once again shown that they can change their style and still sound awesome. I think you should all check it out. 

Mastodon – Crack the Skye  

This is another awesome album. I hadn’t heard of Mastodon until this year, and I decided to check out their new album. It has really deep sound and makes me think. I really like music that makes me feel thoughtful, and it sounds really awesome also. 

 Haley’s Top Two 

Kid Cudi – Man On The Moon: The End Of Day (Deluxe Edition) 

I chose this album as my number one favorite of 2009.  Listening from the beginning to end of the CD is hearing a story in five different Acts.  Kid Cudi’s lyrics are deep and thoughtful.  He opens up so honestly which allows himself to seperate from mainstream rap and give him a uniqueness that listeners can easily identify with and recognize.  I can’t wait to hear more from this kid from Cleveland. 

Metric -Fantasies 

Fantasies is the fourth album released by Metric and my favorite so far.  Emily Haines’ voice is stunning and beautiful as always, so full of emotion.  If you are new to Metric I recommend giving “Gimme Sympathy” or “Help, I’m Alive” a listen.