live how i wanna live, die how i wanna die

If It All Ended Tomorrow - John Cena

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Now playing: Eminem - No Apologies
via FoxyTunes

crank what?

my brothers are, unmistakably, more immersed in no other stream but the mainstream when it comes to their music tastes, and most of the time it's too much in the mainstream. while i have no problem listening to my own music library (thanks to my own laptop) which maintains a certain distinctness while having some sort of connection (perhaps 30-40% of the contents are similar between the two), i still feel pretty bothered at the direction theirs is going. let's compare.

fall out boy? okay, that's fine. i have my own stash, but only because 90% of my fall out boy content involves kanye west in mash-ups. it's decent. avril lavigne? ew. while "hot" is interesting due to the... well, interesting tempo changes within the song, and while she still puts out a good melody, it's still painfully bland when you listen to it. sorry, dianne.

kanye west? definitely. t-pain, akon? best hook singers at the moment, definitely. but we scroll down to mr. soulja boy tell 'em (yes, that's his whole handle) and here i am, flabbergasted. somehow crank that is way more inane than anything lil' jon and/or the ying-yang twins have tried to put out. hell, i'd even bet that jim jones and his ballin' self is better than this kid. i do applaud him for producing his entire album all by himself, but tell me, is that why it sucks? is the fact that he did his own producing something to marvel at or the cause of his stupid song? i mean, the song consists of his multi-tracked voice... and synthed jamaican-style steel drums. while i love steel drums, it's boring when you get to the first time the hook is sung. or spoken. whatever.

and these are the kinds of songs (crunk and 70%-80% of mainstream hip-hop) that are killing the hip-hop genre. i empathize with kanye when he started bitching that he didn't get any VMAs, not because i think graduation was a magnum opus (the college dropout is still the best one in my opinion), but because he's been working so hard to be different and to rise up against the tide of inane hip-hop songs (even though "golddigger" walks that fine line). i believe he and chamillionaire (go listen to ultimate victory, which, curiously, does not have any profanity. applaud) are leading some sort of revolution, some sort of new wave. the gym class heroes are one of their foot soldiers, the hook singers are their specialists, and the producers, oh, the producers, are their strategists and tacticians.

the mainstream is the mainstream because the mainstream is generally stupid. only a few are barely recognized as diamonds in the rough. here i wonder why they can't be the ones who consistently rack up number one spots. fuck you, soulja boy, your potential is seemingly wasted at the moment - if you rapped smarter, i'd be a big fan by now. and this wraps up tonight's ranting.

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Now playing: Kanye West - I Wonder
via FoxyTunes

what i learned today from long lines and industrial-strength ink

so i was forced to vote in the SK elections this morning (learning process. then we're carefree about however we want to vote next time - which is never). the highlight(s) of the whole shebang were an old man humorously trying to join in the line of us SK voters (because, he says, he's "seventeen". don't worry, he wasn't even half-serious), discovering an uncle's long-lost real name, and finding out that the moran family is an amalgam of all the other "it" families in sta. rosa. i'm actually amazed that we're not suffering from inbreeding.

i was also amazed at the fact that i was actually wasting taking some time out to vote for people i barely don't know. my dad told phim and i to vote whoever had "rico" in his name, because apparently he/she was a relative. it seems that while sta. rosa may be a city, it's still not big enough. that or the whole clan was amusingly bigger than i thought it really was.

in other news, leiron and i are world-building for a new fantasy e-novella we're writing (yes, i'm calling it a novella... but only for now). if it goes well, we might be singing to the tune of "we got a hit". good news.

plug: go buy the eagles' new album! quoting will smith, "don't download, go out and buy the record!" for the record, i will personally be refraining from torrenting the album - i'm spending cash, because the eagles deserve to be paid.

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Now playing: Brad Paisley - We Danced
via FoxyTunes

living someone else's life

i just got wind that westlife's covering home by michael buble for their next single. (that would make it the second song also called home in their catalog.) while i respect westlife as a cover band now (they sort of pigeonholed themselves into the category anyway... they did it sparingly and surely early in their career but now they're blatantly turning it into a living - but do listen to their rendition of more than words and all out of love), it annoys me that home became their next target.

why? aside from the fact that i am indeed a big buble fan (and i do see the irony that he also makes a living singing covers, but the main difference is that michael is singing a genre that does call for covers and innovation), they're completely rearranging the song from quiet, chilled love song to a power ballad replete with the trademark westlife backing chorale.

once again, it may be a matter of getting used to, but i don't like it. messing with michael's chemistry is not a wise move, in the case of more mainstream pop artists. this song doesn't need your help.

because whatever will be, will be

at first play, i didn't like queen's innuendo. i thought it was too slow, too crawling, freddie's rough vocals partially wrecking the song (though this would be the case in late queen albums anyway), steve howe's guitar solo only eliciting a meh from me, etc etc. in short, i thought it was a stain in what was a good greatest hits II compilation (next to headlong, but its tempo saved it a little).

but of course, such music that grows on you over time does exist, and innuendo is one of them. maybe my first time hearing it, it was a fleeting moment. maybe i wasn't paying attention too much. first, i gained respect for the classical guitar solo, followed by brian may's own rendition of it on electric guitar. then i gained respect for the very elaborate orchestration. and then i really just loved it for what it is, down from the first note to the lyrics. then i learned it was a tribute to led zep's kashmir. (it does sound somewhat like it. makes it better.) that just took the cake.

so, here it is - innuendo. one of the most underrated masterpieces in the catalogue.

why does love got to be so sahaaad

this morning (somehow i just don't want to sleep yet) i'm downloading the rest of layla and other assorted love songs - which is, like, the songbook of songbooks about unrequited love - while downloading allman brothers band songs (there's a connection between the two, figure it out, click the link, read). they're quite ethereal, perfect for a long night.

anyway, i'll upload the pictures when i regain the gumption to even think about some of them.

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Now playing: Derek & the Dominos - Bell Bottom Blues
via FoxyTunes

we're gonna find out, pretty mama, what turns on your lights

as i type this i am watching the eagles' farewell concert I, live from melbourne, australia, being telecast over at star world. man, these guys are the shit - they're still class acts even though they're 'round 40-60 years old. of course, it seems that don henley has never hit puberty, but that's what makes the songs great, innit?

it's a shame, however, that don felder had to be kicked out from the group. i had always thought that don felder > joe walsh (as seen on hotel california from hell freezes over) and i really wanted to hear visions... as if they would actually play it. joe walsh was always the mid-tempo slow rocker kinda guy (listen to his songs, from rocky mountain way to the rather candidly amusing I.L.B.T.s) and i preferred don felder's much more energetic style.

timothy schmit is as mellow as ever. i prefer his high voice to don henley's.

one of these naaaaaaaaghts!

under my artificial moonlight

the current soundtrack to my life:

1. creedence clearwater revival - fortunate son, from the album willy and the poor boys. it almost completely describes my life up to the present.
2. derek & the dominoes - layla, from the album layla & other assorted love songs. if fortunate son described my life, layla describes my love life. most of it, at least. plus the present as well. clapton is a genius.
   
3. don henley - the last worthless evening from the album the end of the innocence. what i really want to say is something along the lines of this song.
4. eagles - you never cry like a lover from the album on the border. somewhat something i'd like to say to a few certain people.
5. the who - odorono from the album the who sell out. i'm not saying i stink - i just wish all commercial jingles were like this. (some, however, are on that direction already.)

and on another note, y'all gotta download jenny by the flight of the conchords. you'll love it, i promise you.

music philosophy pt. 2

there is a corollary to my previous posts, and it involves old songs.

i do realize that listening to classic rock/classic pop/old songs in general does not equal to listening to what is mainstream in the present, and that would fall under the non-conformist category.

but!

the 'classic' genre is called classic for a good reason - they were mainstream back in their day. therefore, you can be considered conforming... just not with your generation. it was the 'in' thing some years ago - just not now - but the fact remains that it was the in thing after all.

despite stepping in each other's territory sometimes, nostalgia is quite different from being a bit esoteric.

hey, what's your name, baby, maybe we can see things the same

have you ever woken up in the morning, turned on your radio, iPod, or what have you, and the first song you heard would not only instill energy into your sleepy soul but set the mood for the rest of the day?

seems like i just took the opening lines of boston's more than a feeling, but you know, such cliches are sometimes true.

it's funny how it works, right? you hear something like queen's it's a beautiful day or the who's won't get fooled again and suddenly the rest of the world is on an upper.

music, and what it does to the human mind - now there's something that should be given more study, so that our psychologists aren't just set for life with the notion that only classical music (by Bach, to be specific) can relax the brain and any other kind of music (i.e. rock, and just about any kind of music that plays to one's emotions) just upsets it and even dumbs you down. sometimes, such studies are clouded by personal preferences.

may you wake up more to the music of your soul.

shifting gears

in his book, edge recounts the story of how he, still as a young amateur working independent shows, watched a live taping of a talk show that had bret hart as the guest. edge asked bret, "how do you get better?" bret shared a good piece of advice that edge adheres to and would like to share with the next generation, one piece of advice that i'm currently taking good heed of:

"get experience."

and by making the jump from school orchestra to the local city band, that's one hell of a vault of experience right there. i'm grateful that the melvin is joining me in this endeavor.

wise men say, "only fools rush in"

x-posted from my lj.

So, as the "corollary", as my brother leiron put it, to my best friend's post, I'll post my Top 10 Songs the Pope Has To Hear [Immediately].

However, my list almost doesn't look anything like his, and is more concentrated on a smaller number of artists.

And so, it begins:

10. Chicago - Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?
From the album The Chicago Transit Authority

"Does anybody really know what time it is? / Does anybody really care? / If so I can't imagine why / We've all got time enough to cry"

This song is here to let the Pope know that rock songs are not just emotional, but also socially conscious. So, does anybody really know what time it is?

9. Audioslave - Show Me How To Live
From the album Audioslave

"Nail in my hand / From my creator / You gave me life / Now show me how to live"

A song sung by a lost soul. What is life when you don't know how to live it? So you turn and ask how to live.

8. Roger Taylor/Queen - Heaven for Everyone
From the album Shove It/Made In Heaven

"This could be heaven for everyone / This world could be fed, this world could be fun / This could be heaven for everyone / This world could be free, this world could be one"

Like another Queen song goes, "peace on earth, and an end to war." World peace, everyone. Oh, how Satanic the message!

7. Eagles - Learn To Be Still
From the album Hell Freezes Over

"We are like sheep without a shepherd / We don't know how to be alone / So we wander 'round this desert / And wind up following the wrong gods home"

We, as a people, are never satisfied with what we have, admit it or not. This is why we constantly complain, constantly wish for something more, in turn, constantly forsaking what we already have. Dear Pope, could you get that from any "Satanic" rock band?

6. The Who - A Man in a Purple Dress
From the album Endless Wire

"How dare you be the one to assess / Me in this godforsaken mess / You, a man in a purple dress / A man in a purple dress"

Okay, maybe not the best song to play for the Pope, but it's one of the most humbling. The song questions why people have to be of cloth just to be called men of God. More like, why do we have to listen to the Pope when he says all rock is bad?

5. Queen - Jesus
From the album Queen

"Then came a man before His feet he fell / Unclean said the leper and rang his bell / Felt the palm of a hand touch his head / Go now go now you're a new man instead / All going down to see the Lord Jesus"

This one I'm sure His Holiness will like. It's a pretty straightforward song, made up of parts of the Gospel. I can imagine it now: "But the lead singer's gay!"

4. The Beatles - All You Need Is Love
From the album Magical Mystery Tour

"All you need is love, love / love is all you need."

Now if the Beatles were "demonic", all instances of the word "love" would be replaced with "war".

3. Eagles - The Last Resort
From the album Hotel California

"Some rich men came and raped the land, / Nobody caught 'em / Put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and Jesus, / people bought 'em"

The demonic band is telling us that we're raping the Earth. However, a true demonic band would encourage us, not warn us.

2. The Who - Two Thousand Years
From the album Endless Wire

"Two thousand years / Have I waited / To ask if I have loved you /To know if I have served you / To find if I've obeyed you / To know if I've betrayed you"

A song somewhat from Judas's point of view. It's a kind of song that makes theologians think: did Judas really betray Jesus or was it all part of Jesus's intricate plan to save all humanity by dying for us? He also has to wait another two thousand years for people to actually think about that explanation, since, you know, medieval thinking is quite narrow-minded.

1. Queen - Somebody to Love
From the album A Day at the Races

"I get down on my knees and start to pray / Till the tears run down from my eyes / Lord, somebody, somebody / Please can anybody find me, somebody to love?"

I wonder what got the Pope thinking that all of rock is evil. Sure, you hear one anti-Christ song and you apparently hear them all singing the same song. But this is not the case, friends! Of all the band's catalogue I have never heard a song that sang about the devil. No, in fact, Somebody to Love is actually a prayer in itself.

If anyone has anything to add, feel free.