by Bruno Gianni There isn't a better description for their songs than their first album name... An Awesome Wave... You probably haven't listened to anything similar, it might sound weird at first, but you will definitely enjoy it as you listen to it more frequently. It is indeed an awesome wave.. Gwil Sainsbury (guitarist/bassist), Joe Newman (guitar/vocals), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards) and Thom Green (drums) formed the british band ∆ back in 2007 at Leeds University where they met... Gus studied English Literature and the three others Fine Art... But wait, is the name of the band ∆? Yes, but you don't call it delta, you say Alt-J, which is the command to write the greek letter on a Mac... Why ∆? "In mathematical equations it is used to show change" noted Gwil... And there you have it Alt-J, a big change to what you are used to listen to. Their debut album Awesome Wave has many references to films and literature, and it won the Mercury Prize this year (2012). Simply amazing I would describe it... All great songs! All of them... Enjoy the ride..
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By Luigi Gianni The first time I heard about The Shins was while I was watching this really strange (kinda awkward) movie called Garden State. In one of its most memorable scenes, Natalie Portman’s character gives her headphones to Zach Braff’s (Yes, the dude from Scrubs!), saying “You gotta hear this song. It will change your life, I swear.” I didn't get it. I mean, the song was ok. I heard it a couple of times after the movie, I liked it, and then I downloaded it and threw it along with every other song I had ever listened to before. And then I forgot about it. The thing about The Shins though is that it’s hard to understand them at first. They’re not exactly likable. They're odd. They sound too calm for people who appear like they're repressing way too much anger. Or they just don’t take life that seriously. Either one. Trust me, it’s strange. But, as long as you give them time, you understand exactly that. And that’s about when they go from “ok” to “you gotta hear this”. Two years later I saw the same movie again. And there she was, giving her headphones to a random guy she’d just met, telling him about this not so known band that, supposedly, was pretty damn good. But this time… Yeah, this time I got it. Oh, by the way, you really should hear this song. It will change your life. Or, you know… It won’t. It’s just music. Worst case scenario: you’ll hear it a couple of times, like it, and then throw it along with every other song you’ve ever heard before… And then forget about it. Still worth the shot, right? by Max Thur Now it's time for my first Post on this awesome page. I pick a Band which reminds me of the beautiful time i had in New Zealand. I really like their sounds, because listening to it makes my mind to fly back in the Time and to forget about everything what´s around me. Portugal. The Man is an American rock band based in Portland, Oregon, but originally from Wasilla, Alaska. The first time the group really shows up, was in the year 2005. One of my favourite albums is THE SATANIC SATANIST. It sounds a bit like the Beatles, but with a good dose of Portugal. Enjoy the Sounds! by Bruno Gianni I sure don't need to talk much about this one, and I really don't want to tell their story anyways... We all know them... But we do need to have something about them here in our blog... We have been talking in a few posts what music means to us, and that we all could name our favourite bands and songs... Maybe we could not explain why we enjoy them, but we sure know that each of them have a singular meaning to different moments of our lives... It is almost like each one of us had a particular soundtrack for what we live... We all are going to have good and bad moments, and certainly will have moments that wont make much difference, but I believe that each one of those would pair up perfectly with a specific song... Well, at least there will be songs that will remind you of them, maybe you don't know them yet... Well, I don't like much to philosophize about our real lifes but I sure do enjoy a good trip in my personal mind, like everybody out there... These moments when you just wanna lay down, travel far and pretty much forget everything else that is going on... When you want to make all the troubles go away... Or maybe solve them... They sure have a soundtrack too... And you might not agree with me, but Modest Mouse songs are the ones for that... And don't take me wrong, I am not saying their songs are about that... What happens is that they act like pain killers, they make your troubles go away and we all know we are going to chill with it... Deep thoughts of a different universe will certainly appear, an universe where we can all idealize what will happen without fears and regrets... So, why don't you take a pause from what you are doing, forget it for now, forget your troubles, your work, your life... Take a trip, go wherever you want to, I am sure that in the end of this you will be fresh new, ready to start over... "And we will all float on okay..." Here is a little help for that... By Luigi Gianni Ok, I admit it.
I’ve been wanting to write about these guys since Panda started, almost two months ago. Hell, I wanted to write about them before, and I didn’t even have a blog. I opened a Word document and typed Death Cab on top just so I could have the excuse to turn off shuffle and listen to them only. Of course, I had to deal with my brother’s complaints, but you get used to that. Because here’s the thing: there’s music before Death Cab for Cutie, and there’s music after. I can even let go the fact that they made a song for Twilight, which is saying something! (I guess we all have dark days…) Why, you ask. ‘Cause Ben Gibbard was born to compose. Long time ago, he convinced me there was (much) more to music than good rhythm and catchy beats. He made me pay attention to the lyrics. I mean, really pay attention. I should contain myself though. I get easily excited when I'm talking about these guys, and it's common knowledge that high expectations usually lead to high disappointments. Maybe I should lie and tell you that they're not that good after all. But you know what!? They are THAT good. Listen to Transatlanticism. Or Plans. Or Narrow Stairs. And then I promise you, music will never be the same again. So much for lowering expectations… By Lorenzo Giusti Remember the "Yeasayer"? They showed up in our facebook page a while ago, the kind of band you would have trouble fitting into a genre. Well, what they say they do is : "Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel". I'm not really sure if i would say exactly that but what i do know is, they are something else. This experimental rock band came out from Brooklyn and started to get some attention after playing on the SXSW festival in early 2007. Their songs have a psychedelic beat to it which has even been called "synesthetic" by some. They often try to incorporate that on their live performances with some trippy visuals effects. They featured on the blogotheque's Take Away Show (if you don't know what that is, be sure to check it out here) with a great A Cappella performance where they used nothing but their voices, a beer bottle and a spoon. Being a relatively young band they already played in quite a few festival, released two albums and play songs that will get you high just on music. by Erick Yoshida I always liked Kasabian since they released their first eponymous album in 2004. After some years, they seemed to improve and when I first heard Velociraptor!, their latest album, it was clear that they had become one of the best British bands (maybe the best) of the last years. I also noticed how their lyrics usually had some disturbing themes, such as violence, insanity, homicides, war, blood and so on. In a certain way, contrasting with the cheesy Coldplay songs (no offense if you like Coldplay). As a typical engineer, I needed to prove this theory with numbers. So I checked all their 44 songs in their four albums and it came out that 30 of them, or 68%, had at least one line about one of the topics above mentioned. Quite much for a non-heavy-metal band. Have a look: Album: Kasabian Club Foot: I'm chasin down the wolves to save ya. Processed Beats: Terrorists on a day of rest singin'. Reason is Treason: Tell his family that he will be ok. K-I-L-L! L.S.F.: Sayin' "You're gonna kill us all!" Running Battle: I'm cutting and I'm bleeding here with you. Cutt Off: And all those spies that strikes you here are clinging to their gun. Butcher Blues: I said that, you must believe me when I say I'm fightin' the dead. U Boat: Sellin' arms to strangers, watch them shoot ya down. Album: Empire Empire: Tell me that you've seen a ghost, I'll tell you what to fear the most. Shoot the Runner: Shoot the Runner! Shoot! Shoot the runner! Me Plus one: I should have shot myself on the run. Sun-Rise-Light-Flies: I chase the devil just for one night. Apnoea: Pick diamonds up, set demons free. By My Side: Separate the idols and commit your deadly sin. Stuntman: We got taken by a rush of blood. Seek and Destroy: Seek and destroy all you have cos' I know. Album: The West Rider Pauper Lunatic Asylum Underdog: Kill me if you dare, Hold my head up everywhere. Where did All the Love go?: What do we become trying to kill each other? Fast Fuse: I'm like Lucifer's child, wild, acid done. Take Aim: Nightmares, oh nightmares come on now. Vlad the Impaler: I'm pleading homicide Fire: Find it hard to believe, you are my murderer Album: Velociraptor! Days are forgotten: Hombre! I got blood lust. La Fée Verte: There's policemen in my bed telling me i'm dead Velociraptor: He's gonna find ya! He's gonna kill ya! He's gonna eat ya! Acid Turkish Bath (Shelter From The Storm): Sons of time are rising, 16 minds exploding. I hear voices: My soul you can have it cause it don't mean shit. I'd sell it to the devil for another hit. Rewired: Now this blood and glitter, it tastes so bitter. Switchblade Smiles: Violence is coming, is coming, is coming. Neon Noon: Our skeletons remain under a neon noon. If you are still not convinced, have a look in some of their videoclips such as Vlad the Impaler, Empire, Club Foot and Fire. Moreover, the name "Kasabian" comes either from Linda Kasabian, one of the members of Charles Mason's cult, or from the arab word "Kasab", which means slaughterer. Indeed a very interesting band. Something quite rare these days in the British music scene. by Bruno Gianni So... I don't get tired of discovering nice music sessions around the web. And here is another one. But first a little bit on clothes... Allsaints Spitalfields is a british high street retailer, and I would not try to describe their clothing style, you can check it out by yourself.. They've had a long history of collaboration and supporting with the music industry. U2, Stereophonics, Kelis, Robbie Williams and Kings of Leon are some of the artists they have worked with. And as if that is not enough they have created their own music sessions. The Allsaints Basement Sessions is filmed in a warehouse below their E1 design studios in London. And there they record interviews, podcasts and of course, a lot of great live music. Okay, enough of words, lets go to what matters... The first video I selected from these sessions is a really nice acoustic version of The Beginning of the Twist by The Futureheads. Then I present you this version of Second Chance, by Peter, Bjorn and John, a great trio that has been around for more than 12 years... But, the main reason I wrote this post is about to come... Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People... In my opinion this version is even better than the original, but who am i to say that... Decide by yourself... Of course, there is more of it, and I suggest you to go to their website or to their youtube channel to check it out. By Luigi Gianni There’s this weird thing about music. If anybody asked you why you like a certain kind of music, specially if it is Alternative Rock, you may find it’s quite a difficult question to answer. One, ‘cause well… You’d classify alternative as everything that isn’t mainstream. So you get a pretty big scope there. Two, it’s hard to put it in words. I can’t answer that myself. But I can tell you, for example, the bands that brought me to this other side, so often ignored, of rock. Throw in the bucket Modest Mouse, Snow Patrol, Death Cab for Cutie, The Thrills and a couple of others. But one band stands out. Nada Surf has been on the rock scene for 20 years now, but it hasn’t been exactly easy for them. They enjoyed a period of great success around 1996, but were dropped by their label in 1999. Until 2002, the band members had to take regular jobs to survive: vocalist Matthew Caws worked at a records store, drummer Ira Elliot did drum and guitar session work to other artists, and bassist Daniel Lorca worked on computer projects. Their “luxury period”, as Caws later referred to. Their great comeback came with the release of the acclaimed “Let Go”, in 2002. Since then, they’ve released four albums, with the last one coming out last January. “The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy”, as indifferent as they are to wherever they stand nowadays in the rock spectrum. It’s been a rough path for them, but they sound better than ever. A few years ago, I was exercising my weekly routine of seating back, every Sunday, and just listening to music. It started raining, then Blonde On Blonde, Nada Surf’s song and reference to Bob Dylan’s album, started playing on my stereo. Now, there are these little moments in life, when everything comes together – the music, the environment, everything –, and suddenly it all makes sense. Like Noel Gallagher’s concert Erick told us about yesterday. Like this forgettable Sunday a few years ago. I got this e-mail from my brother yesterday. Apparently, in the end of April, Nada Surf themselves will be doing a concert in Florianópolis. One of the most ignored Alternative Rock bands in a, well, quite ignored city. I guess you’d go to Florianópolis for the beautiful beaches, not exactly for the music. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. I promise you, I’ll be the first guy standing on the line… After all, it can be a tough life sometimes. It’s a rough world. But oh, the little things, these little moments when everything comes together. They make it worth it. That’s why I love music. By Erick Yoshida I've already been to some huge rock events. Novarock Festival in Austria in 2006 (more than 90 thousand people), Pearl Jam's first visit to Brazil in 2005 (40 thousand people), U2's No Line on the Horizon gig last year in São Paulo (about 70 thousand) or the Red Hot Chili Peppers' night at Rock in Rio (more than 100 thousand), just to mention the biggest. But none of them was better than Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds on March 11th at the modest Tonhalle in Münich with less than... let's say, 10 thousand people watching. Why, you ask? To start with, the ex-Oasis guitarist and band leader, was in a great mood that day: talking to the audience during the songs, making jokes about a guy in the front row who was asking for a guitar pick ("Oh, you want this. You want a guitar pick? For your girlfriend? You love her and you want to give her this f*cking stupid piece of plastic?!") and so on. A totally different guy from that ill-humoured Noel Gallagher I saw in Curitiba 3 years ago playing with Oasis. Second, most people there were true Oasis fans or Noel's fans. You could hear them singing most of the songs, even those which were not famous. Actually, I believe that only Don't Look Back in Anger was a well recognised song. Besides, I did not hear anyone screaming "Play the f*cking Wonderwall", as it would be considered normal in a Gallagher's concert. Finally, I was less than 10 bloody meters away (about 33 feet, if you are American). To tell the truth, I am almost sure that he starred at me while checking the audience during one of the songs. I could imagine the 14 year old me, a huge Oasis fan, proudly telling the present me something like "I would never imagine that we could get so close to 'god'". And I feel that I should try to get further. Maybe the backstage someday? I'm sure I'll be still mad fer it by then. |
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