indie music lover. interactive marketing junkie. suspended from Twitter once. good guy. dad. husband.
// December 15th, 2011 // No Comments » // life, Music & Entertainment
Because everyone does lists and I obviously don’t like to walk the same line… I give you my list.
My favorite record of 2011?
As if you had to read this post to realize that. Rock is alive.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year friends! Much love to you in 2012!
// April 11th, 2011 // No Comments » // Music & Entertainment
For the past few weeks I’ve been overwhelmed with Foo Fighters and I have no complaints (well, maybe one- see below).
The new album is absolutely amazing. I know, you hear that about records all the time but this album is one that will go down as a classic. Dave Grohl and crew have absolutely out done themselves this time. This album is pure rock. I mean, no acoustic guitars anywhere on the album! Most people won’t notice but I do… I remember the first time Green Day used an acoustic guitar on an album (utter shock and sellouts – kidding!).
So why do I love the Foo so much? It starts with Nirvana as it may with many. I am and will always be a Nirvana fan. The first time I heard the Bleach vinyl still makes me sappy. It was the beginning of my love for music and the beginning of my musical ‘career’. Career is loosely defined, I played in bands for a while then transitioned to the studio and now run an indie label/distribution service. It’s in my blood. I owe a lot of that to Nirvana and the Pixies. I can’t forget my dad on this one though… we had guitars and pianos around the house along with the Beatles and plenty of other awesome music. It was the Nirvana album though that made me commit to learning guitar, singing and how to rock.
When Kurt Cobain passed I was devastated, I shed tears. Go ahead and laugh- most people do but it hurt. I was pissed too. Suicide sucks and it’s hard to defend someone like that. So, I don’t defend him, I defend the band and his music. Like it or not, it was the voice of a generation and changed music (for the better). I tribute Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and the Screaming Trees to killing hair bands or at least creating a shift in the music scene.
I remember a few months after Cobain’s death that I heard a rumor the drummer for Nirvana was working on new music. Well, of course I wanted to know more but without search engines and dedicated music news websites I had to wait on Martha Quinn and those MTV news updates and it seemed like an eternity before real news surfaced. Then it happened. Foo Fighters were the real deal and and album was coming out. Of course I bought that CD and the rest is history. I’ve been a fan ever since, while not always this hard core I do have the mp3 collection show for it. Wow, that sounds weird. Mp3 collection.
Foo Fighters have done an amazing job prepping the fans for this new album. The most significant was a documentary called “Back And Forth”. I bought tickets to the national screening at a local theater… I was pumped for that screening and for the special live concert presenting the new album in 3D after the film. It didn’t work. It sucked. I was so pissed as the theater manager walked in to let us know we’d be getting refunds. Ok, there’s the one complaint I mentioned above. I did see this documentary and it’s now playing on VH1 and Palladia. Well worth the time. An inside look at bands like that can create a connection with fans like no other… or solidify existing ones.
Now that you have the history on my love for the Foo… here are some thoughts on Wasting Light which hits stores Tuesday, April 12th.
The album couldn’t start any better than “Bridge Burning”. It’s what you expect when you start a Foo Fighters record… guitars, drums and a build to the screams of Grohl, “These are my famous last words”. The album continues to prove me right as a rock classic in the making. First single Rope is a hooky and a little off the standard for a Foo Fighters single which is a good thing. Dear Rosemary is an amazing song and definitely one of my favorites- love the Bob Mould vocals and responses. He’s a legend himself. While I’ve heard negative comments on White Limo- I love it. It’s hard, it’s in your face and feels like a modern day Motorhead. Of course, maybe that’s just in my head seeing Lemmy in the video.
The song These Days stands out to me- the mellow guitar and the lyrics really seal the deal. This would be my pick for a single for sure. Huge track and the intensity you’d expect from the Foo. Other standouts? – Back and Forth, Miss The Misery and I Should Have Known. I Should Have Known is the closest thing anyone will ever get to a Nirvana reunion. The bass features Krist Novoselic former bassist for Nirvana. While it’s not a Nirvana song, the lyrics are haunting and leave question to the feelings behind the song.
Wow. That’s the longest blog post I’ve written in years! It’s all in the passion people. I hope you enjoy the Foo Fighters album as much as I do. I’ll be in line Tuesday morning to pick up the vinyl. One other note on this album. It’s analog. It’s pure. No Pro Tools. I have no problem with digital and Pro Tools but those tools bring simplicity to the album making process… allowing for shortcuts. I love knowing they took no shortcuts on this album. I can’t wait to hear this on vinyl, pretty sure the best way to hear an all analog album at loud listening levels. Maybe a vinyl listening party is in order? Come on over!
// March 28th, 2011 // No Comments » // life, Music & Entertainment
In my world of indie music I get to participate in cool stuff sometimes… however this time I’m honored to help. Last week our indie label Velvet Farm (a sub label of Tone Box Digital) partnered with Hello Somebody to release their compilation cd as an exclusive to iTunes. It’s simply called Volume One.
The cool thing about this album is that 100% of the profits will go to help the Japan relief efforts. 100%. Not sure who Hello Somebody is? Then I encourage you to visit their website and learn more. Here’s a quick piece from their site:
Hello Somebody is a non-profit brand that exists to impact and change the world through love, passion and creativity. Our purpose is simple: feed the hungry around the globe.
To change the world, you must first start by changing individual lives. To empower a hopeless human, you must first begin by filling his or her stomach.
Hello Somebody’s first action to end hunger provided 50,000 meals to homeless and desperate Haitians. In our inaugural year, Hello Somebody provided food for over one million starving people.
Join us in our fight to save lives and change lives. Listen to the call of the hopeless and the hungry. Will you help us answer it? Hello Somebody…are you out there?
They’ve had some amazing artists come on board. Bands/Artists like The Almost, The Rocket Summer, Kari Jobe & Group 1 Crew have all given time and music to help this cause.
So. I’m asking you to buy music to help Japan. Or better yet- Help Japan and Get Music. However it needs to sound in your head to get you to help the devastation that has happened.
Once you buy can you please tweet, post to facebook and email your friends. Please? I thank you but I’m sure the people of Japan will thank you way more.
Here you go… the buy button. Do it then ask others to do it.
Check out this video from Bryce of The Rocket Summer. Their cover of Maps is stellar.
// March 19th, 2011 // No Comments » // Music & Entertainment, video
Love the motown feel. Love the song… Moneygrabber.
// February 24th, 2011 // No Comments » // Music & Entertainment
I’m so excited for this record and this single delivers exactly what Foo fans were hoping for… Rock & More Rock.
Take a listen… what do you think?
Rope by Foo Fighters
This video dropped last week as well featuring Lemmy. Yeah, that Lemmy. Motorhead. The video is quite funny.
// January 6th, 2011 // No Comments » // Music & Entertainment, video
This is fascinating. Not sure it’s on my list to ‘do’ in NYC next week but… wow.
UNDERCITY from Andrew Wonder on Vimeo.
// December 22nd, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Music & Entertainment
Nope. No top 10 list. Pretty sure I’ve seen 45,679 top 10 lists for music and movies already. So… since this is my blog I wanted to share the music that I loved in 2010. Sure, I’ll tell you which one was my #1 (the one I listened to the most) but you’ll have to wait till the end.
( if you want to listen and see if I’m crazy or delusional this list is also on Listmania! on Amazon- look and listen here–> Listmania for My Favorite Music of 2010 )
Albums that were great and listened to a lot:
So I guess it turned into a list either way, huh. At least I didn’t rank them! There was a lot of great music this year and a lot of great music that evidently I just didn’t get into (Mumford & Sons, Deerhunter, Arcade Fire). I’ve definitely lost my ‘cool’ since those were the hip/amazing bands of 2010. Sorry!
So what was my favorite of 2010??? It’s 30 Seconds To Mars – Wait, what? That didn’t come out this year? Well, it was released in December of 2009 so technically it’s possible to be my favorite of 2010. I listened to it more than any other record! Second was Grace Potter & The Nocturnals then The Dead Weather.
What was your favorite record of 2010? What should I listen to that I might have missed?
// November 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // life, Music & Entertainment
I need motivation. Lots of it especially when it comes to working out/exercising or doing anything physical (mowing the yard). Since I’m so musically ‘driven’ I figured I’d share a 40 minute playlist that really keeps me moving and pushing thru that workout! What kind of playlists do you create? Go ahead and share them!
If you’d rather here this playlist you can hear all but 2 on this ‘listmania’
I created this list on Amazon- You can preview them all in one place. All but Grammatizator by Rise Against and Time Bomb by Hollowick. However both of those are on iTunes! Hopefully the iMix will be available on iTunes in the next few days as well.
// October 25th, 2010 // 4 Comments » // Music & Entertainment, video
The past few years I’ve been sucked in by so many documentaries. These are my reality TV. This really started with Netflix- then being able to stream on the ipad and Xbox just took it to another level. When I work I either listen to music or listen/watch documentaries. I figured I’d start sharing the different documentaries I like, I’ll start with the ‘Rockumentary’. The Rockumentary is usually a documentary that is music focused… it will follow the rise, fall and in between of a band or artist. So here are some of my favorites (with a ‘Mockumnetary’ thrown into the mix)… what are yours?
***Just a warning- many of these contain STRONG language. Just FYI. The links are to the actual documentary on Netflix***
This is a super short list and just the ones that I’ve watched recently so come on and let me know some great ones that I’m missing!
// August 27th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Music & Entertainment
