Thrice

This isn't a countdown posting, just a small blog about a big band: Thrice.

Thrice have intrigued me ever since I picked up their cd 'Vhiessu' after playing their song 'Red Sky' on myspace a few times. The lyrics are incredible, even biblical in places, and the frontman Dustin Kensrue addresses issues that a lot of us could relate to.

I've gotten back into them recently, into Vhiessu and the new songs from their upcoming Alchemy Index series of 4 Eps: Fire, Water, Earth, Air. They're releasing the first 2: Fire and Water on the 16th of October and I will be amongst the first people to purchase this in Australia if it comes out that day (it might have to wait until the following Saturday when JB has lots of stock).

The 4 Eps have a variety of sounds: Fire is a heavier ep with more metal influences (listen to Firebreather on their myspace, Water has less metal and more digital sounds (listen to Digital Sea), and the other two are supposedly more epic/stadium (Air) and folksy (Earth). Watching the Video updates you can tell that Thrice aren't your normal metal/post-hardcore/hardcore band, they don't go after the same look or sound as other bands. This is why I respect them, because they break out of the scene expectations and norms and make their own path.

So that's my recommendation for the day :)

Ben

+44 - Make You Smile

+44 - Make You Smile

This song is fantastic, I love to play it when the weather's sunny with the windows down, but it's not your typical album. It's actually pretty laid back, with a bit of electronics mixed with guitar, the vocalist Mark Hoppus and a band member from a previous incarnation of the band, Carol Heller.

The dual vocals of Carol and Mark trade back and forward like a conversation between two people, and the lyrics point me to the idea that the people being talked about were together once, and the heartbreak experienced by the man is exacerbated when he never seems to be able to communicate with the girl he once loved. 'Man: The last time I saw you, you turned away. Woman: I couldn't see you with the sun shining in my eyes.' etc.

The story looks like the man just wants to be friends but his feelings of being disconnected keep him distant from her. 'Woman: I couldn't feel you, you're always so far away.'

Sounds quite depressing, but it actually provokes a smile rather than a frown.

+44 were formed by former blink 182 members Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker with the idea of using electronics and keyboards in parts of their songs. The best songs from this album apart from this one are 'Little Death', 'Weatherman', 'Lillian', '155', and 'Chapter 13'. I saw them earlier this year and they played through the album pretty much how it was, however I was extremely disappointed that during Make You Smile, Mark sang it all by himself, it sounded rushed and didn't do the song justice.

That's the next one down :)

Ben

Jars of Clay - River Constantine

Jars of Clay - River Constantine

This song is a calming, still, reflective song. Jars of Clay have drawn upon a large number of different influences in their time as a band, and this song is one of their better ones. River Constantine is from the album 'If I Left The Zoo', which was released in 1999, which makes it about as old as the Stereophonics song in the previous countdown post, and marks the last of the pre-millenial tunes.

I've listened to this song countless times before going to bed at night, or whenever I feel like putting something quiet on.
I'm not sure what Constantine refers to in this song, however the meaning I attach to this song is from the POV of me, to God.
'Carry me, Your love is wider than my need could ever be.' is the first line of the song and is probably my favourite lyric from the song, equal to the chorus line 'Pour out, come down on me.'

I think when I got this album I was more into the faster songs 'Collide', 'Unforgetful You', but in time I think the slower songs are much more memorable: 'No One Loves Me Like You', power ballad 'Famous Last Words', and 'Hand'. But obviously, nothing has ever hit the spot from this album as much as 'River Constantine'.

for the curious

I found a youtube video of a live version of 'The Widow' by As Cities Burn, with one singer with a guitar, singing about his father leaving the family when he was young, and if the lyrics are anything to go by, drugs were a factor. Pretty honest stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMBmfhmHj4s

On a lighter note, a band called 'Polysics' added me on myspace today. They looked quite interesting so I checked em out. Little did I know what I was getting myself in for. We're talkin new wave dance rock from Japan. Japan really is a golden place to find bands.

check them out at their myspace and listen to Catch on Everywhere, Baby Bias, I Me My Mine, and look at their video clips on the page.

I'll put the next top 30 entry up when I've done it :)

*edit* I bought 'pick a part that's new', 'the widow' (as cities burn), and 'have a nice day' - stereophonics in itunes today. i love itunes. so good.*

Stereophonics – Pick A Part That’s New

Stereophonics – Pick A Part That’s New

This is an absolute trip down memory lane. I think only my brothers Mat and Pete will recognise this song as being part of my life. I first saw the video clip at home when I was 13, and was immediately hooked, but I only saw the second half of the clip so I didn't get to see the actual title of the song, which is quite annoying obviously. It was kinda a re-do of the classic Italian Job (from the 60s(?)) and I was pretty impressed. But anyway it was lost to me, for the time being, with me only remembering the catchy chorus line 'you can do all the things that you like to do, all around, underground, pick a part thats new'.
Fast forward a few months, I'm on the plane with my family going to the UK for a few months. I'm listening to the on-board 'radio', which is really just a cd mix, that loops over and over for the duration of the flight. So I'm listening away and I hear 'you can do all the things that you like to do, all around, underground, pick a part thats new'. Needless to say, it piqued my curiosity. I madly flick through the airplane magazine that has a track listing for the cd. I look down the list, which one could it be? It all becomes obvious when I catch the title. Who are these Stereophonics people? So I listen intently, listening to the whole cd over and over again to try and catch the song as it rolls around on the loop.
But, another problem arises. I'm going overseas for a few months, with close to no internet connection so I can't download it (that's how I did it back in the days). So it almost becomes lost again, apart from the fact that it's running through my head for the duration of the trip. By the time I got home approximately 3 months later, it was a given that this song would be chosen from among the many songs in the world for download. That's right, I downloaded it, shock, horror.
I listened to this song a lot, and by that, I mean lots. But this is the age before music statistics became a thing of importance, so I can't tell you how much I listened to it. I never actually got a legal copy of this song, it makes me tempted to grab it off iTunes. It'll be a good soundtrack for summer I say.
Stereophonics are a 3 piece from Wales, I enjoy the singers voice from other songs I've heard but it does get grating after a while, another strong song written by the trio would be Dakota. Love singing it on that playstation karaoke game.

So there we have it, the second entry in the 30-25 category.

From Benjamin

P.S. I bought 2 cds yesterday - Dashboard Confessional - Swiss Army Romance (from 2000, Chris Carrabba makes a big dent on these charts, you'll see why later (unless you already know!)), and New Buffalo - Somewhere, Anywhere. Both good, quite relaxing cds.

As Cities Burn - Bloodsucker Pt 2

As Cities Burn - Bloodsucker Pt 2

I first heard this song after downloading the (free and legal) SolidState Sampler from purevolume.com, and didn't like it that much, in fact, most of that sampler i really don't like and wouldn't choose to listen to.
however, there was something about this that was really hooky, that kept me coming back for more. it wasn't the whiny vocals, i didn't like them much, but after a few listens i started to really get into the 2 very different styles of singing, and the constant barrage of singing/screaming. This song really doesn't let up, there's barely a moment that isn't filled by voice, constant overlapping.

Then I really started listening to the lyrics:
"And I swear, I swear not to scream at my becoming part of the machine."
"And no one wins against the machine, so get back, get back in line."
"Well, it's yours, you can have it if it means that much to you, don't let me stop you (now)"
"Are you the man now, that you got what you wanted? are you the man now, that you got it?"
"Turn me into someone else, someone more like yourself."

I don't know the meaning of the lyrics from the writers perspective, but I take it as an call to break free of the pressure of the 'machine', or the 'man', and to truly aim to be myself. It also makes me think of when I have been that part of a machine and have wanted people to change to how I want them to be, which is inconsistent with what I believe about God and church.
As Cities Burn are an interesting band, im thinking of getting their new cd 'Come Now, Sleep' but I'm not sure if i'd get the album that this song is on, but that's pointless information really. Their lyrics deal with a christian's perspective on various issues, something that is always a drawcard.

To prove my point about statistics, this song is ranked #133 out of 399 rankings on last fm. it's #195 out of 1,087 songs in my itunes. This isn't accurate, I can assure you of that.
Well, thats the first post done!
Any feedback or suggestions would be nice :)
love from me

note: this picture is as cities burn from the time of the publication of the song, they now have 4 members.

About the 30

So, with this top 30 business, I had already decided the songs in the top 30, however they aren't ranked. I find them impossible to rank, so i'm going to do it in categories:

30-25,24-20,19-15,14-10,9-5, and 4-1.

hope this gives you a better idea of the sort of impact each song has had :)

next post will be the first entry into the 30-25 category. there will be ranking numbers within the categories but they aren't indicative of rank, only the categories are.

also, unlike david, i won't be consistently including statistics: from using various computers and having an ipod shuffle makes it hard for last.fm to be truly accurate, it's actually far from accurate because it is only from when i am sitting at home, mostly in front of the computer, or doing the dishes, stuff like that.

anyway, onto the first post!

love from me

The Top 30

Hey-0h

This blog is pretty much set up for one thing:

The top 30 posts.

If you go to one of my great friend david's blog: daviddouglasgoode.blogspot.com, then you can see that he did a top 25 songs of his life so far blog series. in fact, it is still going.

He's been wanting me to do this for a while, only now getting sorta around to it.

I went through a lot of songs to get to this point, my first list was 85, which is obviously too many, but i whittled it down to 30, and find it hard to go further than that.

I hope in this blog series that you get a better idea of what I like in an artist, in lyrics, in musical style and any other factor that might make me like a song, like emotional attachments and that. it could be a quite informative experience.

enough of the serious talk, i really don't know how often these posts will be made but i'll try, with a little encouragement needed, to get them done. if it's been too long between posts, sms me some abuse, and i may just run to my computer to get the next one out.

love from me