Music roundup

This roundup is a rough round up of what I've listened to this year. now it's not necessarily music that came out this year just what I've been listening to in a rough order of how bomb I think it is.

So here we go a rough top 15 (with a runner up!) albums I got into in 2008

Runner Up!. The Basement Tapes. By Bob Dylan and The Band
amazing unreleased material by the most amazing artists I've ever heard

15.Discovery. By Daft Punk
I hated techno until this. it contains Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger for those of you who only know a bands most popular song but it also has so much more. It reminds me of Tokyo at night time.

14.Moment of Truth. By Gang Starr
This year was defiantly a year that got me out of my usual rock and roll and into some serious Hip Hop. Gang Starr's got that old school flavor that I have come to love in Hip Hop.

13.LaDeDa. By Joel Plaskett Emergency
an album I got a while ago that I never really paid attention to until I saw Joel Live and I realized how many amazing tracks this album contains

12. The Cool. By Lupe Fiasco
amazing hip hop by my favorite rapper. Very original in a world of cut and paste hip hop great concept album.

11.Feed the Animals. By Girl Talk
very unique album that's free to download. it's made up completely of samples from other artists and is very fun to listen to. It also takes a stand on copyright in music and all that jazz.

10.Sky Blue Sky. By Wilco
Amazing easy listening album. I really got into it after seeing Wilco live at NY. great album I recommend it to everyone.

9.Alive 2007. By Daft Punk
Daft Punk live. amazing mixes of my favorite Daft Punk songs. really gets you in the mood for serious party/dancing.

8.Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. By Wilco
crazy noises and sounds all coming together to make beautiful music just the way I like it.

7.Magic Potion. By the Black Keys
Amazing album I really got into it it's got some quality blues-rock and maybe the most air-guitarable album ever

6. Food and Liquor. By Lupe Fiasco,
This album is easily one of my favorite Hip Hop albums ever to be released it's not something you'd expect to hear in today's hip hop (it even criticizes modern rap videos) great album I'd recommend it to anyone even people who don't like rap/ Hip Hop

5.Stage Fright and The Last Waltz. By The Band,
A tie between these two incredible Band Albums Stage Fright has some incredible band songs. Now keep in mind The Last Waltz would easily be #1 if it weren't for me reading Levon helm's book and learning what a rip off it was but it's still amazing and still one of the best thing's I've ever heard

4.Enter the Wu, (36 Chambers). By The Wu-Tang Clan
Enter the Wu is the first and best (in my opinion) Wu Tang album. It has such a genuine sound to it and it really opened me up to some heavier Rap.

3. The Mouse and The Mask by DANGERDOOM.
The mouse and the mask is a great collabaration between MF Doom who has become one of my favorite rappers and Dangermouse who is and incredible producer/beat maker. Doom is a lyrical genius and Mouse knows how to make some sick beats together they make an incredible Hip Hop duo

2. Real Emotional Trash. By Steve Malkmus and the Jicks
one of the few albums that where I love every single track. Steve and his crew of Jicks have a unique indie rock sound that I've never really heard but I've fallen in love with. It sweet simple and amazing.

1. Things Fall Apart By. The Roots
This is my favorite Roots album. It is not number one because it is nessicarily the best album on the list it's number one because it introduced me to Rap and Hip hop. Before the Roots I was your every day rock and roller with a narrow vision in music and little respect for the rap world let alone any other genera of music but because of the roots I've been introduced to so many rap albums that I've fallen in love with and some that I thought were bomb. So thank you The Roots for opening my musical doors and introducing me to new artists and new music.

So there you have it a list of albums that I got into heavily in 2008 I recommend every single one of these albums for anyone reading this blog.

Happy new years everyone
-Grant Hawkins

PS: here's a quick list of my favorite albums released in 2008

5. Feed The Animals. By Girl Talk
4. Flight of the Conchords. By Flight of the Conchords
3. Rising Down. By The Roots
2. Attack and Release. By The Black Keys
1. Real Emotional Trash. By Steve Malkmus and the Jicks

Wilco

Just before I get to say what i have to say, I would just like to comment about my last post. It was really hard to pick 10 albums that were released in 2008, there were MANY that I discovered this year but where older. So my list isn't perfect, its just a rough outline of what i listened to. Okay... back to the topic;

One of the great bands I was introduced to this year was a band by the name of Wilco. It was my friend Ian that let me borrow their CD Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. He had told me how great it was and so i was eager to give it a listen. At first I didn't really get it, a lot of random noises, and affects that seemed to take away from the primary instruments. I put it on the back burner and moved on to other albums. It wasn't until the countless nights driving around with Ian with YHF playing through the car speakers that I started to understand it. The album is to complex to understand after hearing it just once. But once it becomes clear, you can truly understand the extraordinary musical harmony that Wilco creates. The album evenly covers all of the bases of tempo from soft folk, to upbeat rock and everything in between. Not to mention their lates album Sky Blue Sky (but that's a post for another time)

It was simply fate that they happened to be opening for Neil Young at the concert I attended in Halifax. In the film about Wilco "I am trying to break your heart" Rolling Stone's David Fricke is quoted by saying 'I truly believe that later on down the road Wilco will finally get the credit they deserve.'

That's all I have to say, I don't know if any of it made sense... because I can't really explain what I want to say, but what is important is that in my opinion Wilco is one of the best bands of it's time.

Thank you

-Brendan

Top 10 Cd's of 2008

Good afternoon avid readers,

As you all know 2008 is coming to a close so I thought I would give my top 10 favourite albums of the year. This is not necessarily an order of the best albums, just which albums I listened to and affected me the most.

10.Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

9. Attack & Release - The Black Keys

8. Love at the End of the World - Sam Roberts

7. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes

6. The True Love Rules - Dave Marsh

5. Oracular Spectacular - MGMT

4. The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs - Bob Dylan

3. Gloryhound & the Skyhawks - Gloryhound & the Skyhawks

2. Terminal Romance - Matt Mays & El Torpedo

1. Real Emotional Trash - Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks

Thanks and Have a happy New-Year!

- Brendan

Happy Birthday Santa!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Spin-off / Common Courtesy

Hello, I just read my comrade Grant's post and decided to add to it, like a sequel... or a spin-off. But not a cheesy, bad spin-off that gets canceled after 4 episodes, a good spin off like Fraser, or Joey... actually just Fraser. Any way, this story takes place not with I, but a friend of mine by the name of Colin. Colin woke up this morning at 8:30 to the site of his buss driving passed his house. Instead of explaining to his mother that he had slept-in and missed the bus and having to endure a huge lecture, he decided to just walk to school. This would not be that big of a deal, but Colin lives a good 40 minute drive from the school. So Colin sets off into the cold. After walking for about and hour he is stopped by a young couple in a car who were quite lost and need directions. They were very grateful and just before driving off they asked him if he needed a ride. He was very cold and accepted their offer. When they came to a fork in the road and Colin was headed one way, and the young couple were headed the other way, he got out of the car thanked them, they thanked him, and he was on his way again. After walking for about another half of an hour another car stops along the side of the road, this time it is an elderly lady and a baby. She asks Colin where he is headed and he replies 'Lockview'. Her only reply was "hop in". Again, These random acts of kindness helped my friend Colin arrive at school.
*INTERMISSION*
Lunchtime... The snow is coming down really hard and for some reason Colin and I decide it would be fun to walk down to Monster Pizza. So we set off, Colin, Matt, Tyler, and myself. We arrived frozen to the bone. I sadly realized that i had no money and so I could not buy anything, however, my friend Matt treated me to a slice. We get a hold of our friend Mike, who had his car with him, but he only had enough seats for three of us. Instead of just one of us walking back in the snow storm, Colin and I both decided to walk back. We were both in a good mood, talking about common courtesy and random acts of kindness when we had an idea. We decided to shovel this elderly lady's drive way. This driveway is on a corner of two streets and is often used as a shortcut by hungry teenagers. The old lady who lives there is very nice and so Colin and I thought it would be nice to shovel it for her. There were two shovels on her front porch that we grabbed and went to work. The entire thing took about an hour, in which we got a lot of funny looks from people passing by. In the end we were very proud of what we did. I'm assuming the lady was not home because she did not come outside. Its a great feeling knowing you've done something nice for someone. In this story I just told you their are at least five acts of kindness, you would be surprised how giving someone a drive or paying for someones meal will affect others around you. So that's my post, and that's how it connects to Grants through "common courtesy" So I hoped you enjoyed reading about our Day.

Peace peacemakers!
- Brendan

A New Years Reslution

New Years is coming which means resolutions that will more then likely be broken. This year I decided that I'm gonna give myself a bit of a resolution. I don't normally give my self New Years resolutions cause I figure whats the difference between any other day of the year to start changing yourself? But since I coincidentally came up with this idea around this time of year I figured I'd slap it with the title of "New Years Resolution."
Pretty much what I plan to do is be more calm and more peaceful. I consider my self a very peaceful/calm guy already but even more peace and calm couldn't hurt I figure (It would be pretty ironic if it did hurt). I recommend everyone put this on their list of resolutions because I think if everyone followed it, it would make everyone a little happier and a little more nice . So next time you're stuck in traffic cause someone is being a bad driver or waiting in line cause someone can't make up their mind of what they want at McDonald's instead of yelling at the person or making a scene consider what it would be like if you were trying to make up your mind and someone started yelling at you. You probably wouldn't like it very much. So next time a random stranger is doing something that annoys you don't think "uggghh that son of a bleep-bleep-bleep-mcbleepidy bleepery bleeperson is being an idiot and I hate them and I'm gonna tell them" just try and focus on something else, think about how much you'd like it if that person freaked out at you or just keep your mouth shut cause yelling at random people makes you look like an idiot.
I'm saying all this because of something that happened to me a while ago that I remembered earlier today. It all started one day when I was talking to Brendan trying to convince him to let me on the loft at our school (this was back when B-ren was on students council) and some random chick who I've never seen before was like "hey are you in grade 9?" and I was like "...yeah" and she said and I quote "I can tell... Grow the fuck up" I just kinda looked at her and thought "...oooookaaaayyyy.........youcrazybitch" and walked away. But it was at that moment that I thought we all need to be a little more polite and even though I never took it very seriously from my parents "if you don't have something good to say don't say it at all" seriously it's a good idea.

Sending messages of peace and love,
Grant (The aspiring peacemaker) Hawkins

Boring Saturday afternoon.

Good Afternoon,
I am bored, so decided to pass the time by blogging. Lately I have been feeling more and more compelled to make music. It is really bothering me because I miss being in a band a lot. It is hard to form a band, you need many assets, first; you need to find people who are cooperative, are good at their instrument, and most importantly enjoy the same music styles as you. Its pretty damn near impossible if you ask me.
I've been bored lately so i have filled in my spare time with good music. Sometimes I forget how awesome "The Band" is. Which reminds me, there is a "The Band Tribute" concert at the end of the month at the Seahorse Tavern and I would really really love to go. However, I am not +19, so I can't go. It really sucks, all of these great musicians come to Halifax and I can't go because i wasn't born in 1989. It sucks.
Well. thats all I have to say for now, have a good one.

- Brendan

Dear Santa

Good morrow,

As you may know Christmas is just around the corner and today I have been getting in the festive spirit. I woke up to find out school was canceled due to a snow storm, I spent the morning decorating my Christmas tree and drinking hot chocolate and listening to Vince Guaraldi 's 'A Charlie Brown Christmas'. Christmas is a great time of year, that people begin to forget because they get caught up in the materiel things or the 'every thing has to be perfect' state of mind. I find to make the best out of the holidays is to go with the flow, spend time with your loved ones, listen to Christmas music watch Christmas movies and reflect on past Christmases. One thing that really grinds my gears is when church and state get mixed in with Christmas. For example: Every year of my elementary school life we would have an annual "CHRISTMAS Concert" and we would sing "CHRISTMAS songs". My younger sister came home from school the other day and invited me to her "HOLIDAY Concert". Turns out the school took out everything with the word Christmas and replaced it with holidays. Now that's just silly, i don't care what religion you are you can still celebrate Christmas. It has become more than the celebration of the birth of our lord and savior Jesus Christ, it is a time to spend with family and friends. eat cookies, and exchange gifts. Call me Ol' fashioned but I believe Christmas has kind of gotten carried away, i mean some of the gifts that i hear people getting these days cost more than my house. And these spoiled children make lists longer than themselves with useless electric gadgets that they play with twice and than put on a shelf to gather dust. Maybe that is what is expected nowadays, maybe that is where this "Holiday" is headed. I sure hope not. What i love about Christmas is the traditions, the opening of one present on Christmas Eve, and the Advent calender leading up to that special day. And watching the best X-mas movies of all time; A Muppet's Christmas carol, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and Rudolph the red nose Reindeer.

I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and in the words of Michael Scott "Happy birthday Jesus, sorry your party's so lame"

-Brendan (Santa's little ginger) Morley

NYC

I also went to the Neil Young concert so let me give you my perspective on the whole thing. You're probably thinking "won't this be like the exact same as Brendan's post?" No because my post is from the perspective of someone sitting about a foot to Brendan's right. so The night opens up with Everest who were pretty good and kinda reminded me of a Matt Mays/Sam Roberts type band but all I can remember was when the lead singer got everyone to clap and it was like *clap clap clap clapclap clapclap clap clap* and Brendan had a slight struggle catching on. Then Wilco came on. At the time of the show I was a complete Wilco amature save a couple songs (the only one I recognized was Walken) but before the concert Brendan showed me a bunch of Wilco songs which happened to be almost the exact set list so when ever a new song would start I'd hear a "this is the song I just showed you!" coming from about a foot to my left. That live preformance lead me to get Sky Blue Sky and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot from Brendan which are amazing albums. now on to the real deal, the man himself, the shark among fish, the god among men, the god among fish.....? Niel Young! who burst onto the scene and rocked the house down! Ignoring the fight behind me the first song got everyone "rocking in the free world" if you catch my drift. he then went into Hey Hey My My which was conveniently written on the shirt I had just got from the roadies running the T-Shirt booth. Then after that he broke out like a tiger breaking out of a cage into "Everybody knows this is nowhere" followed by a personal fav. "Cinnamon Girl" After that he played Powderfinger and an amazing version of Cortez the Killer which was the cats pajamas if I do say so myself. Then Neil did a little Harvest section with such songs like "Needle and the Damage Done", "Old Man" and "Heart of Gold" (On Old Man Neil had a banjo player who had quite the stache) Then during a little break Neil started to strum his guitar and talk to his drummer for a second and Brendan goes "cowgirl in the sand" and whadda know? he started playing it! and let me tell you it was the best version I've ever heard of it. (sometime in there Neil played 3 new songs which were pretty damn good) at the end of it all Neil closed off with my personal anthem "Keep on Rocking in the Free World" I was rocking in out and all around the free world when he started to play that it was just spectacular! After that the big NY left the stage and the whole place started to yell his name until he came back on and put the cherry on top of the awesome sundae and played "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles which I think was a surprise to everyone.

all in all it was probably the best thing I've ever seen. if he ever comes back I'll be there front row to watch one of the few true rockers left today.

-Grant

This Note's For You

On November 29th Neil Young played a show in Halifax. Opening for him were the bands Everest and Wilco. This was an incredible concert, the best i have ever seen...EVER!
The night started out with Everest, who were pretty good for a no-name band, they played for half of an hour. Than Wilco came out, those of you who know me know that i am a HUGE Wilco fan. They did not disappoint, they were absolutely fantastic. They played all of my favourite songs from opening with "You are my Face" from their latest album "Sky Blue Sky" to finishing with "I'm the Man who Loves You" from one of my favourite albums of all time "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" At this moment in the night i could not imagine it could get any better... oh but it did.
At around 8:30 the man himself Neil freakin' Young, dressed in blue jeans a white t-shirt and a jacket with a pin saying "Hippies for Obama" walked out on stage, the packed crowed went insane! Just then, a fight broke out behind where Grant and I were sitting, i had to make a decision whether to watch the fight or Neil, I chose Neil. He opened with "Love And Only Love" followed by an energetic "Hey, Hey, My, My". I was surprised to see an ageing man like Neil Young rock out the way he did. He rocked Old Black until i was sure the 45 year old guitar was gonna break. Neil went on to play a lot of great rock tunes from the Crazy horse days "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" "Cinnamon Girl" and one of my personal favourites "Powderfinger". Then came the most epic version of "Cortez the Killer" i have ever heard, it was simply magical. As the night continued Neil switched it up a little and played some acoustic 'crowd pleasers' such as "Heart of Gold" and "Old Man". He also played some new material which was very good.
As Neil was getting ready to play the next song and lightly strumming some strings he was talking to his drummer, just then it hit me "Cowgirl in the Sand!" I shouted, and sure enough just after i yelled that the epic snare and ride intro to Cowgirl in the Sand broke out, great song. Neil's closer was the epic rock balled "Keep on Rocking in the Free World" awesome!
As Mr. Young walked off the stage the crowed began chanting "Neil! Neil! Neil! Neil!" Before i knew it he was back out for the encore which was the classic Beatles song "A Day In The Life". What a great ending to a great concert. I must have gave him at least 10 standing ovations.
All in all it was a great night that I will never soon forget, and it has revived my faith in good music. In the words of the great man himself; "Hey, Hey, My, My, Rock n' Roll can NEVER die!"

Keep on Rocking in the free world.
-Brendan

Keep on Truckin'

Good evening avid readers....

So today i was watching the classic Simpson's episode entitled "Homerpaloza" and it came to the scene where Homer was doing this funny walk where his legs were stuck out far in front of him. This captivated me because for some reason it was very familiar and because it is the Simpsons i figured it must be a cultural reference. So I did some research and found out that it is from the 1960's Robert Crumb one page comic "Keep On Truckin". The strip's drawings became iconic images of optimism during the hippie era. Like most underground comics "Keep on Truckin'" was not copyrighted, and images of it have been widely reproduced on T-shirts, posters, and other items.

So in conclusion...

Old Simspons episodes are great.

Underground comics are great.

And i hope to purchase a "Keep on Truckin'" t-shirt in the distant future

- Brendan

Things I don't Understand

hello one and all

it's Saturday afternoon and my house is covered in a thick blanket of snow so I figured I'd post in the ol' blag-o-blog.

today I will be sharing with you a list of stuff. On this list are things that I can't understand how they became popular or why anyone on earth would like them.

1. Black Licorice: Gross just soo gross

2. Country Music: it's the twang on everything from the guitar to the vocals it just irritates me to no end

3. Auto-tune: This is really popular today for no real reason. The only time I can stand it is in the occasional Daft Punk song but even that's pushing it.

4. Bad Rap Names: Hurricane Chris? Lil (insert name or strange adjective)? what happened to the creative names like; inspectah deck, Black Thought, Ludacris, or even Will.I.Am thats freaking clever.

If you like any of this stuff thats alright but personally I just don't see the appeal of annoying high pitched voices or the taste of black licorice. I dunno maybe I'm just nuts

-Grant

Someday Baby

Ok, so.... I know i said I'd update the ol' blag weekly and I kinda let it slip a couple of months.

So, let's do a little bit of updating:

OBAMA WON!

I had a birthday!

I bought a new harmonica in the key of G.

Scrubs is one of my new favorite TV shows.

My dog got these cool socks, and now its funny when she walks.

I borrowed my friend Ian's CD collection, all 200.

Well that's about all that happened in about 2 months. Sometimes it amazes me how exciting my life is.

Also, The Neil Young concert is 20 days away, it is going to be aw some! especially since Wilco is opening, and I've been really getting into their music.

I don't have anything else to say so i won't waste any more of you're precious time. It may be another two months before I update this, I'll try to blag more often.

Go in Peace - Brendan

oh, and about the picture... i have no explanation

RIP

This morning I woke up and read the news paper like I always do only to find some horrible news....
Richard William Wright the piano/keyboard player for Pink Floyd died in his home on Monday after battling cancer. This is horrible for me cause Pink Floyd is one of if not my most favorite band of all time. I don't know if I could pick a favorite Pink Floyd song but if I had to it would probably be Great Gig in the Sky which was written by Wright.

RIP Richard your music will always live on in the hearts of not only myself but the hearts of millions of others.

-Grant

Happy Birthday Brendan! Go learn to drive!

- Grant

Seasons Greetings

Happy Birthday Brendan

-Brendan

Random thought

I do a lot of thinking and my regular thought process is usually goes along the lines of me watching people and continually asking why we do stuff. Just about everyday when I go to school I see people interact with each other and I always ask why? Why are we nice to each other? Why are we mean to each other? Why do we care about each other? Why don't we care about each other? Since I'm a man of science it usually all roots back to the basic reasons for living which is surviving and reproducing. Thats not a new thought though people have realized that before so I dig deeper why do we want to survive and why do we want to reproduce? that leads into genes and the fact that were naturally programmed to pass on our genes. This is where my thought process gets hazy. I'm no scientist so most of this is just theories and stuff in my head. Which might explain why I always can't dig deeper then genes. I mean genes are made up of what? Chemicals. Could it be that we're all just a huge chemical reaction? and how do all these chemicals react to make us do the things we do? It's not like chemicals have thoughts or plans for us they just react in a way that gives us life..

any how if that made any sense to anyone let me know and help me with my theories I always like to see other peoples point of view. if it didn't make sense don't feel bad I was kinda just rambling on here I don't even know if it makes sense I just kinda wrote down my thought process.

In conclusion.... Am I crazy?
- Grant

Summer / Back to School

Well, summer is coming to a close and i have to say, I'm not very good at summer vacation. I do not make the most of it and always waste it. This is the first summer that I've had a real job. I did landscaping, let me be the first to tell you Work SUCKS. I've said it a thousand times this summer 'I'd rather be broke with no job, than have a job have some cash'. All year I thought that last summer was the worst, but I've realised that I think that this summer has been even worse. And that is hard to believe, because last summer we were building our new house so we needed some where to stay and ended up and like 6 different places. the whole month of August was spent in a small apartment in Shwartzwald. I didn't think it could get any worse, but now that I look back, i actually miss that small apartment. I look back and think of all of the memories, I would not have made it through the summer without the help from The Strokes first Album "Is this It?" Sleeping on a couch for two months and falling asleep watch the biography channel. and hey, at least I still had my band. This summer I feel lost, with my band breaking up and this shit job, I've been looking for new priorities, and I have found none... yet. For the first time, I am not dreading going back to school, seeing all the new niners looking lost and scared and also getting to see every body again. Which brings me to my next topic: 'Back To School Clothes' Stores make it sound like another holiday or something, like it is necessary, and its NOT. I have nothing really against buying a new t-shirt or a pair of shoes, if you need them but don't go out and buy a bunch of shit just because you think you have to. I have a challenge for you, when you go back to school don't wear you new clothes, wear something old, because every one will be wearing their new 'tees & bling & kicks and trousers' so just wear your old Adidas t-shirt you got from your Aunt at your annual family Christmas party three years ago. And slowly work in your new clothes.



Wow, that is allot of words.

Happy Birthday Grant!


Peace - Cha Boi Brendan ;)

Nothing More to Say

Wow, its been a while, sorry about that, I guess Grant and I have just been busy (not really). Anyway, i thought I'd post something but i have nothing to say... and now I'm being called for supper. We're having BBQ hamburgers, its hard to make a good burger. They never turn out like Wendy's, or Harvey's. First of all they make the buns to thick and the meat to small, and you need a good meat to veggie ratio. Today, i climbed onto my roof and listened to Neil Young and almost fell asleep. Which by the way, Grant and I are going to see Neil Young in concert!
Well, I think that's all for now, I'm going to try and post daily from now on (if i can remember to)
Peace - Brendan

The Memories

So I was sitting around one day on my computer when a buddy of mine sent me a link to this website where they take rock/punk/metal bands and turn their songs into lullabies. I forget the web site now something along the lines of "rock-a-bye somethingrather" but that's not the point. I was going through some of the renditions of the Metallica songs. One particular song struck me though, that was Battery off Master of Puppets. the intro of that song reminded me about how awesome Metallica is and I began to think why did I stop listening to them? Then I remembered that they were total jerks when they cracked down on Napster but you know what? Even though I don't like those guys doesn't mean I should stop listening to their music. Master of Puppets was the first CD that I bought with my own money and I listened to that album until I knew it inside and out. I also got the Black album later on which was really good too. So moral of the story is even if the people in the band are jerks now they made good music at one point and you shouldn't give up on the old stuff. Also Master of Puppets rocks especially Battery and Welcome Home (Sanitarium).

-Grant

Gloryhound & The Skyhawks Come Home!

Gloryhound & The Skyhawks came home to Fall River to play a show on the 25th of July. It was a great time. The opening act was 'Dave & confused' a few local ol' timers who could really jam. they opened with some recognisable tunes from such bands as: The Beatles, The Hip, Skynyrd, and.... some more Beatles. Gloryhound came out around 10 o'clock and opened with one from their new album. (By the way, super duper CD!)They played allot of their new stuff from the album and none released, they also did a fast paced song by the Ramones (Rockaway Beach) and ended with a great version of "I wanna be your dog!" by Iggy Pop. As good as the concert was, their were a few things that bothered me. Up until recently, Gloryhound consisted of 5 members, now there are 4. Adam Baldwin (on keys) is no longer a part of the skyhawks, I do not know details, but i know he is now performing with Matt Mays. It must have been hard for him to stand and watch his old band mates rocking out while standing on the sidelines. Also, the other day i was listening to my ipod and a track from "New Vinyl" came on (Gloryhounds old name) and it just reminded me of how things were when they were not so complicated. Anyways, back to the concert... good crowed, cool t-shirts, good music, free RedBull = awesome time!

ps: I got a new Ipod BITCHES!

More than an ipod

Friday, July 18th, 2008. My ipod passed away.

It was a good ipod, nothing special, just a 2 gig 1st generation black ipod nano with a nice black leather case with a red racing stripe. It got the job done. I bought it second hand. The previous owner hadn't taken good care of it by adding such music as Nickleback. I rescued the ipod in early October of 2006, we bonded right away. It seemed to be alive. It had all of the same interests in music as I had. We got through some rough patches and alot of adventures, we traveled across the country together. Whenever i had it on shuffle, it always knew just what songs to play. My ipod's battery had never died on me as long as i had it. Today, as i was carelessly putting on a wash of my clothes I forgot to empty the pockets and my ipod was left to die. It's weird... I feel like i'm loosing a friend, the one friend who was always with me, no matter where i went. Its going to be weird not having that object tucked away in my pocket now.

We've had a good run you and I. I hope your in a better place.

rip,

-Brendan

"This Wheels' On Fire" Levon Helm and the story of The Band.

This Wheel's On Fire is truly the perfect "Untold Story" of the Band. The Band's story was never well documented besides... The Last waltz (bullshit). This book really brings you close to Rick, Levon, Garth, Manuel, Dylan, The Hawk, and many friends, hell... even Robbie. All of the stories and experiences told by none other than a true American Hero Levon Helm. You will not find a more in depth piece of literature about any band especially one as great as THE BAND. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, but more than that, it will take you back to when music was MUSIC.

-Brendan

A Bit of a Rant

You know whats been getting on my nerves lately? Disney but more specifically Hanna Montana/Jonas Brothers/High School musical. These seemingly harmless kids shows are whats killing music. I know it's cool now to act like you enjoy these things even if your a teenager (oh har har I like kids shows and I'm not a kid! Real original guys.) but can't you see that it's all about the money? These people are only puppets in Disney's money making scheme. Now some of you are probably arguing this saying "these people are musicians weather you like them or not" well guess what I might believe that if there wasn't so much god damn merchandise out with there face plastered on it or if they wrote the music they release. There are people out there who say "yeah but they're still good singers....Who cares? Bob Dylan couldn't sing and he wrote the best songs of the 20th century that are still being covered by countless artists today.

So to rap things up it's not about how good you look or how well you can sing or how much money you're making it's about the music.

-Grant

Terminal Romance revue

Matt Mays & El Torpedo's second album "Terminal Romance" was released on July 8th and I have to say "Bravo" *claps, claps* Matt Mays has found a way to mix the eastcoast-rock methods of their first CD which was self titled with the electric synth style of Matt's second solo album "When the Angels Make Contact". Do not be fooled by the cheesey Album Cover. I will now go through track by track and give you some details:





1.Building a Boat - Building a Boat is a fast paced catchy rock song with a Catchy sing-along chorus.

2.Digital Eyes - Digital Eyes is a slower song with a "Digital" aspect to it, great lyrics with another catchy pre-chorus

3.Tall Trees- Tall Trees is the albums first single, its sort of a "heavier" song with a catchy guitar riff.

4.Rock Ranger Record- Rock Ranger Record is an up-beat fast rock song. It is a little short at only 2.01 minutes but is one of the most up-beat songs on the record.

5.Terminal Romance- Terminal Romance, the title of the album is a slow song played on piano. It is the longest on the album at 7.40 minutes, but don't get me wrong, you will not be bored and it is very well written. The drums and guitar don't come in until 4 minutes in where the tempo of the song changes and eventually falls into a heavy ballad of the line "She sang Rock n' Roll with the Devil" very good song.

6.Shining Eyes- Shining Eyes is a great light rock song with a brief piano & synthesizer intro. I have noticed that on this album Matt Mays changes his voice a bit from his other albums, it is a more mature deep voice but only on some words, you can notice it in a couple songs but especially in some parts of this song.

7.Northern Belle- Northern Belle is a great rock song about the end of summer, it has a mix of rock organ, electric geetar and tambourine on the chorus.

8.Stand and Deliver- Stand and Deliver is another great fast rock song with a catchy " Do do do do do" in a few parts of the song. Allot of tension and release in this song, which makes it great. Overall good song.

9.Laser Guided Love- Laser Guided Love starts out with a long heavy synth-electric noise that breaks into a great guitar riff. Great chorus. This is a good example of a mix between "When the Angels Make Contact" and self titled album "Matt May & El Torpedo"

10.the Hunter, the Hunted- The Hunter, The Hunted is a dark song with almost an eary tone, with a soft chorus that starts to get a little faster and darker. Great pre-chorus.

11.Long Since gone- Long Since Gone is a great ending song, it is slow and emotional, with some strage lyrics, "President Bush is dead"? Nice song with a good chorus.



There you have it complete overview of the Album, I strongly recommend that you buy it, along with the related Albums that i mentioned. They've done it again! Great Job MM&ET!



-Brendan

The Name

So.. you may be wondering "Grant, Brendan, what the hell is up with the Name?" if you were wondering that... you are incredibly rude. But fo real, the name "Crazy Chester, and the Old Fashioned Sugar" derives from two sources;
First is: "Crazy Chester" is a character often used in songs by THE BAND specifically a verse sung in The Weight by a great man by the name of "Rick Danko" (you'll hear us talk about him)
Second part is: "Old Fashioned Sugar" There really isn't much to this part, Grant and I were at Tim Horton's one day and notice the doughnut shelf was almost bare except for the lonely shelf with "Old fashioned Sugar" doughnuts. This sparked a conversation, "no body eats the Old fashioned Sugar doughnuts, its like they are there just so you won't buy them and buy other flavours instead."
"That's sounds like a good band name" says Grant
And that is where we came up with it, Just to clear it up
-Brendan

Juggling

the other day I was sitting around my basement and I found three little hackey sacks. Thats when I remembered I could juggle. So I've been spending a lot of my time sitting around juggling trying to learn new tricks which led to a revelation, juggling is one of the best things I've ever learned. Why you ask? because there are a bunch of benefits from juggling. Now you're probably wondering what benefits could come from such a seemingly useless skill well let me lay 'em down for ya

-increased hand eye coordination (this can help in a lot of everyday activities .)
-Patience (When teaching yourself to juggle your gonna drop the balls a lot and theres no one to get angry at other than your self)
-Reflexes
-Ability to absorb information (As a juggler things seem to move a little slower cause I'm able to think quicker.)
-It's impressive (It's nothing thats gonna have women all over you but it entertains people.)

I had a few more but I forgot them all. Another pro to juggling is it's cheap if you don't already have three spherical objects that are roughly the same size and weight it's not to expensive to go pick up three tennis balls. It's also a great cure for boredom especially if you have a lot of time to do nothing I taught myself to juggle in about one day with three little bouncy balls I found. So if your like me and have a lot of time on your hands with nothing to do I recommend picking up some tennis balls and teaching yourself to juggle. It will test your patience at first but it'll be worth it in the end.
-Grant

The Danger of Bathrooms

Public or Private, bathrooms are very dangerous places.

Every time you sit on that toilet you are taking a gamble. You are completely vulnerable to anything and anybody because once you have started you can't stop until its done. Its risky buisness. And anything could happen to you when you are on the toilet, ex: Nucleur bomb attack, spiders, robbery, pedophile, bullies, or pedophile bullies who rob you with spiders who have been mutated by nucleur bombs! and once those pants hits the floor and you sit down there is nothing you can do abut it.
So the next time you have to go to a bathroom just remeber... you are taking a riskl and gambling your life.
Good Luck - Brendan

The 1st and 2nd

This post (The "Attack of the Clones" post) is my introductory post.

Well well well...where to start... I'm Grant who is the second man in this blag and I'll probaly make a lot of posts about weird observations/ideas/theories and I'll probaly also talk a lot about music considering thats what I live off (I know thats cliche but I really love my music.) You can also expect a lot of weird referances from all over the place.

You're all probaly thinking "this guy sounds like he's got some stuff to say about things. I got stuff to say too!" well if you have something to say about something I posted or something completely different feel free to leave a comment.

To start things off I have a question that I address to everyone who reads this. If Wendy's never freezes there beef how do they get it to the resturant? Does the meat come strait from the slaughter house to the resturant before it rots away? or is it some kinda air tight thing that they use to keep the germs out? If anyone knows how they do it give me a shout it's been bugging me for the last few weeks.

I think thats about all for now I don't think I have anything left other than feel free to come here anytime and lay down your ideas/opinions and I'm sure me and Brendan will listen to you and discuss it with you.
- Grant

The Encore

Oh, your still here? We'll play one more song... Happy Thanksgiving

And so it begins, if our Posts were a Starwars saga this would be the "Phantom Menace Post".

I had a thought, if a "semi-circle" is half of a circle then does "semi-formal" mean half formal and half not? So you could where a fancy shirt and tie... but then just have your old pajama pants that you made in grade seven Family Studies class on and that would be considered "semi-formal?"
Thank you - Brendan