Stephen Lynch...deserves to be heard

If you're looking for a good laugh with some melodic tunes to accompany your laugh, Stephen Lynch is just what you're looking for.  He is a comedic musician who definitely deserves some attention.  Some of you may know of him already, but I still feel the need to talk about him.

I first heard of Lynch when I was in the car with my cousin and she put on a song entitled "Vanilla Ice Cream."  This song is absolutely hilarious.  The song is essentially a claim that the singer is not racist, he simply prefers girls of races other than white.  He basically says that he is not racists against his own race.  I would definitely recommend taking a listen because some of the lines in the song are priceless.

Another song by Lynch that is always funny is "Little Tiny Mustache."  This song starts by describing the relationship between the singer and his girlfriend.  He describes various things relating to Nazis and the Holocaust.  Then the chorus breaks out in which he repeatedly says "I think you're a Nazi baby."  Two very funny lines in the song go like this:

You showed up late to our very first date
I said "How are you?", you said "White Power"

One other song entitled "Beelz" by Lynch is about Satan.  The song starts off very dark, but then he starts singing in a very flamboyant voice in order to portray Satan in a very different light than usual.  Again, the lyrics are hilarious.  You should really take a look at some of Lynch's songs because they are all pretty comical.  Also, if you just love to listen to music all the time and you also love comedy like me, you can get both of those very things from the same person which is awesome.

Javier Diaz...deserves to be heard

Javier Diaz was a contestant on the show "Mi nombre es" which means "My name is."  This is a show where people come on and try to imitate famous artists.  In his first appearance on the show, Diaz walks out on the stage and says "Mi nombre es Eddie Vedder" (My name is Eddie Vedder).  For those of you who don't know, Eddie Vedder is the frontman of the band Pearl Jam and his voice has an extremely distinct sound to it.  I personally love Pearl Jam and if you are a fan as well, I would definitely recommend checking Javier out.

Diaz sings "Yellow Ledbetter" in his first appearance and he absolutely kills it.  His voice sounds as close to Eddie Vedder's as anyone's voice can.  I have posted the video of this performance above which is just one of his many performances on the show.  The lyrics of "Yellow Ledbetter" have a lot of disagreement over them because of Vedder's distinct yet hard to make out voice.  Nonetheless, Diaz manages to sound exactly like him.  He also sings "Even Flow", "Alive", and other popular Pearl Jam songs.  In each of these songs I find myself feeling astonished that the person singing is not Eddie Vedder.  Without seeing the video, I am sure I could fool most people with thinking that Eddie Vedder was the one performing.

A friend of mine showed me the video of Diaz's Yellow Ledbetter performance a while ago, but I recently stumbled across the video again and I decided he was a good candidate for a blog post.  If you are a fan of Pearl Jam, you'll definitely enjoy and more than likely be amazed by Diaz's voice.  If you just know what Vedder's voice sounds like, take a listen and hear the resemblance for yourself.  I promise you won't be disappointed.

Rodrigo y Gabriela...deserve to be heard

Rodrigo y Gabriela are unlike any band that I have discussed in previous weeks.  They have a very unique style of playing and their music is all instrumental.  I don't even know what to call their genre of music other than acoustic.  Their original songs also have a very "Spanishy" feel to them, but I still don't know if there is a genre that can accurately describe their music.  They play very fast paced and use their guitars to keep time much like drums would in a normal band.  What I mean by that is they use their guitars as percussion instruments as well as playing the guitar as it is normally played.  They hit the body of their acoustic guitars and the guitar acts like a drum since it is hollow.  This is technique is used by many artists, but there is truly something special about Rodrigo y Gabriela.  Gabriela mainly keeps the rhythm and Rodrigo plays the lead guitar.

Just a little side note, I am currently listening to them while writing this post and I honestly forgot how impressive and talented they are.  I don't know how else to describe them other than unbelievable.

Mountain Weekly News

Anyway, I would highly encourage you to take a listen to them.  One of their more popular songs is entitled "Tamacun" which is extremely good.  I posted a video of that song above.  The riffs played throughout the song are extremely catchy and fast paced and I can't imagine anyone disliking it.  At the very least, you have to at least listen to them to appreciate their talent.  I haven't heard a song by them that I didn't like, but if you're looking for something you can relate to a little more, they do a cover of "Stairway to Heaven" which is very good.  That is always a good song to listen to in my opinion.

They recently released a new album entitled "Area 52."  I have not had a chance to listen to it yet, but I'm sure it is just as amazing as all of their other music.  If you enjoy "Tamacun" or anything else of theirs, you should take a look at their new album as well.

ah horse hockey...deserves to be heard

Bandcamp

I know what you're thinking.  What kind of a name is "ah horse hockey."  That's pretty much the same first thought that I had upon finding this band, but I've come to disregard the oddness of the name as I have listened to their music more and more.  ah horse hockey is in my mind, an indie rock band out of Philadelphia.  The reason that I say in my mind is because according to the Facebook page their genre is friendshipcore which is something I have never heard of before to be honest.  They have a very interesting sound to their music.  The only songs that I have heard by them are the five songs on their EP entitled "The Friendship EP."  They have actually reported recently that they are working on a full length album which they hope to release before June so I will able to listen to some more of their music in the near future.

"The Friendship EP" is a very good EP.  It is available for download for free on their website so there is no need to be concerned when you realize that their music is nowhere to be found on YouTube.  This album is unlike most music that I have heard before.  It is kind of hard to describe their sound, but I enjoy it nonetheless.  They start most songs with just an instrumental for about a minute or so before they really get into the song and start singing.  However, this really does not bother me.  At first, I thought that I would not enjoy the songs on the album if they were all like that, but that was not the case.  The first track on the album is entitled "You Turned Off Blink 182 For This Shit?"  I would say the oddness of the track title falls in line with the oddness of their band's name so it makes sense.  Anyway, the lead singer does not come in until a little less than a minute into the song.  This song may be my favorite on the EP.  I really like how they change the strum patterns multiple times throughout the song.  It just makes the song catchy.

All in all, I think ah horse hockey deserves some recognition.  They are not very well known at the moment, but maybe the new album in coming out soon will help with that.  I'll be sure to check that out when it comes out and I hope you do the same.

Baseball...deserves to be heard

Wikimedia

This week I'm doing this blog in a slightly different way.  I decided to do it on an album entitled "Baseball:  An Album by Sayanything".  This album is by the band Say Anything which many of you may know.  However, I would guess that you have not heard of Baseball.  This is because Baseball is a very old album of theirs.  It was released in 2001 at a time when the band went by the name of Sayanything rather than Say Anything.  Most people know Say Anything by their album "...Is a Real Boy."  This album contained hits like "Alive with the Glory of Love" and "Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too."  Both of these songs helped to gain popularity for Say Anything.

Back to the real reason I'm talking about Say Anything.  While I do enjoy Say Anything's more current releases and I am looking forward to their upcoming album "Anarchy, My Dear", I find myself going back to Baseball every time I want to hear some Say Anything.  The reason for this is that, in my mind, Baseball is by far their best album.  However, Baseball is not recognized nearly as much as it should be.  The band did not play any songs off of Baseball for years because .  In 2009, the front man of Say Anything, Max Bemis, released a video of him playing "Colorblind" which is the first track on Baseball.  This was the first time he played a song from Baseball in seven years.  Since then, Say Anything started to play "Colorblind" at live shows.

In 2011, Say Anything signed to Equal Vision Records who regained control over all of Say Anything's releases including Baseball.  Bemis has mentioned a possible reissue of Baseball which I am really hoping for.  If this happens, all of the fans that Say Anything gained following the release of their more recent albums like "...Is a Real Boy."  Once this happens, I will be able to share my love for Baseball with many other fans.

The overall reason that I love Baseball is for the same reason that I love most music.  Passion.  I'd be surprised if I don't mention passion in just one of these blog posts.  It is just the most important thing when it comes to music or performing of any kind for that matter.  Bemis' raw vocals sound amazing.  The album details some of the struggles one may go through at a young age.  Bemis wrote the songs when he was still in high school.  The pure talent of this band is emphasized through this album in that they didn't need maturity in writing lyrics or playing music.  Their current music obviously sounds much more produced and clean.  Nevertheless, Baseball has been and always will be favorite of their records.

Captain We're Sinking...deserves to be heard

Captain We're Sinking is a punk rock band out of Scranton, Pennsylvania.  As the biography says on their Facebook page, they are "four strapping young men who write songs about the dangers of getting too close to wild animals."  Obviously, this is not what they do, but I found that biography funny so I figured it was worth mentioning.  Anyway, they do consist of four members being Bob Barnett, Leo Vergnetti, Zack Charette, and Bill Orender. I am 99% sure that Bob, the lead singer, is Greg Barnett's brother.  Greg is one of the lead singers of The Menzingers which is a band that I discussed in an earlier post.

Bob Barnett has an amazing voice and one that is very distinct.  The song that I first heard by this band is "Crushed by Milwaukee's Best".  It is still one of my favorites by them and I think it portrays Barnett's voice very well.  You can hear the passion in his voice throughout the song.  Like his brother Greg, he uses slight screams in their songs to add even more emotion.  I am not personally a fan of when artists scream, but both the Barnett brothers have perfected a subtlety in their screaming that makes it enjoyable.  As I mentioned, I find that it simply adds to the emotion of the song.

"Crushed by Milwaukee's Best" has very powerful lyrics as well.  Though, I may be wrong, it seems to be about a boy who has been bullied and after a while contemplates suicide.  The first three lines go as follows:

This is forced and I am drowning now,
I'm buried underneath the ground
and I've learned that my face, it molds into my hands.

These lines show that boy is struggling and feels like he's suffocating from the pressure he's under.  I think the line "I've learned that my face, it molds into my hands" is very powerful in that it is a very visual depiction of someone that is upset.  People rest their face on the palms of their hands all the time when upset and in despair.  The fact that his face molds into his hands shows his face is constantly in that position and he is constantly feeling upset.  The song then goes to talk about how after ten years, he can not deal with it anymore and decides to commit suicide.  The song also depicts the strong relationship that the boy had with his mother very well.  While I do really like this song, it is just one song.  I would definitely recommend checking out others as they are all pretty good.  The band actually just came out with a new EP a couple months ago as well.

The Sidekicks...deserve to be heard

Altpress

The Sidekicks are a band that I have recently started to listen to.  They are a pop punk band consisting of four members.  They are from Cleveland, Ohio and they are starting to gain more recognition.  I find the band to be very talented and they have a very calm tone to their music.  Its just good music to listen to when you want to chill and relax.  The lead singer's voice is very clean which is something that I find adds to the music.  His voice helps create that calm tone throughout their songs.

The lead singer also has emotion in his voice, specifically in their live performances, which is something that I have referenced continually in this blog as being important.  The main reason for that is...well its just very important.  At least to me anyway.  I think emotion and passion in a band can make or break you.  Lacking emotion makes it seem as though you don't care or believe what you're saying which can really take away from the song.  Luckily, The Sidekicks have this emotion and it is for that reason that I particularly enjoy listening to them.

Before finding this band, Jack Johnson has always been my "go to" when doing homework.  I listen to plenty of other bands while doing homework as well, but the calmness and chillness of Jack Johnson's music makes it very easy to listen to when I'm trying to do work.  I can easily see this band becoming a popular band of choice when I want to listen to some music while I get my work done.  If you are someone who likes to listen to some chill music when you're doing work, then I would recommend checking this band out.  If not, I would still recommend checking them out.  They actually just came out with a new album entitled "Awkward Breeds" which is very good, at least from what I've listened to so far.

Songs like "A Healthy Time" and "Day Staring" are perfect examples of the very clean, yet punk sound of this band and they're worth taking a listen to.  These are also the first couple of songs that I listened to by The Sidekicks.  This is mainly because there are not many of their songs on YouTube which is usually the first place I check to find music.  Nonetheless, they're great songs and they're a great place to start in getting into a great band who is deserving of some attention.