Feeling like an Outsider?
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and each year I save and save to be able to watch my favorite bands when they come into town.This means a couple arena festival shows and a sprinkling of small venue shows a year. Well, every year there is a huge festival each summer in Golden Gate Park, you may have heard of it… Outside Lands.
Usually the lineup is just okay, i won’t die if i don’t go… its so expensive anyways… NOT THIS YEAR. Foo Fighters, Metallica, Beck, Skrillex, Jack White, Franz Ferdinan, Stevie Wonder, Regina Spector, Bloc Party… I will stop there or I will start crying. I have been giving my boyfriend sad, puppy dog stares and hinting that if a bank robbery were to take place in order to secure tickets i would not turn him in. Alas, he is oblivious!
Why not just buy my own ticket? Well, it’s pretty much sold out AND I don’t wanna be so broke that I am forced to eat delicious Top Ramen for the next couple months. So my plan was to sadly sit outside the gates and listen to bits of music that drift into the streets. *tear*
However, my clever boyfriend has found a way for me and YOU to go for free! Click to see how clever he truly is… Read More…
Apparently Dogs turn into Lions…
Snoop Dogg has been put to sleep to make way for his “born again” persona : Snoop Lion. No, I am not making this up. Snoop is gearing up for his genre change from Hip Hop to Reggae with a name change. The west-coast gangster rapper announced on Monday that his new reggae album Reincarnated (on the nose much?) is set for release in the fall. During his press conference he played five songs from the album including what may be his first single titled, No Guns Allowed; which features Snoop’s daughter. When asked about what his intention was for the change he explained that he was ready to make music that, “kids and grandparents can listen to.”
This is a pretty dramatic change from his past career and apparently I am not the only one who thinks so. There was a documentary film crew following the gin and juice drinking artist throughout his reincarnation. The footage will be made into a documentary set to debut at the Toronto film festival.
I think that he had a better name in D-O-double G…. but i’m a bit old school like that.
Album of the Week: Superhero Edition!
Superhero mania…
Both summer hits The Amazing Spiderman and Dark Knight Rises had soundtracks with impressive scores, but for those of us who enjoy lyrics and melody over ambiance this post is for you.
I have been going through my library to seek out the perfect Superhero Soundtrack and I came across this album from a few years back, circa 2006. There are a few stand out Superhero songs that were left out, like 3 Doors Down – Kryptonite and SuperHero by Jane’s Addiction. Though I think this compilation is pretty good on its own. The tracklist is made up of some original songs and others that are covered by some notable new bands.
So this week’s Album of the Week is: Read More…
Coldplay Comic Book Series: Mylo Xyloto
Though not unheard of, the collaboration between the music world and comic world is still rare. I am not any sort of comic book aficionado, but when Umbrella Academy (written by Gerard Way front man of My Chemical Romance and illustrated by the oh so talented Gabriel Ba), was released I was well aware and even requested copies for myself. Today when reading Rolling Stone I came across this announcement of another comic series from the minds of Coldplay and decided to share.
During Comic-Con this week you may catch some news about a six part comic series, being published by Matt Groening‘s Bongo Comics Group, about the character Mylo Xyloto. The band Coldplay along with Mark Osborne an academy-award winning director and writer created this character a few years back with the storyline that inspired their latest album by the same name:
“It is the story of Mylo Xyloto, a young Silencer on the front lines of a war against sound and color in the world of Silencia. Mylo discovers that the enemy he’s been trained to hate his whole life might not be the enemy after all. There will hopefully be many, many connections for people who have heard the album.”
If this is something you fancy and you happen to be wading in the pool of nerdy bodies that is comic con this week there will be a panel to celebrate the first issue’s release on July 13th.
Uno! Dos! and Tre! news
Green Day is really gearing up for their most ambitious project yet. As we reported last month they have already been releasing Teasers. Their trilogy of albums so named: Uno! Dos! & Tre! are set to be released between September and January. When asked what their motivation was they related their a-ha moment:
“The songs just kept coming, kept coming. I’d go, ‘Maybe a double album? No, that’s too much nowadays.’ Then more songs kept coming. And one day, I sprung it on the others: ‘Instead of Van Halen I, II and III, what if it’s Green Day I, II and III and we all have our faces on each cover?'”
They are not stopping with music though, they are also releasing two documentaries to go along with them. When asked what these docs were about Billy said:
“It’s not going to be the sitting down, head shot of me going, ‘We started out blah blah blah’,” Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told Billboard. “We wanted to get into lifestyles of rock & roll and playing rock & roll and letting the story kind of tell itself rather than create revisionist [history].”
Uno! is set to be released on September 25th of this year, but if that is not soon enough for you the first single “Oh Love” will be available on July 16th.
Muse – Survival
I heard this song on the radio yesterday and for some reason Shazaam was totally useless. Then I came across this link that provided me with the name and huge news for a favorite band of mine… MUSE. This song has been chosen to be the official song for the 2012 Olmpics in London. Muse has truely outdone themselves this time, this rock-opera-queen-esque sound is perfect for olympians and us mere mortals alike. Have a listen….
Album of the Week… Linkin Park loves listening to Skrillex
Linkin Park’s newest album Living Things has finally arrived.
The reviews I have seen so far have been pretty brutal, but after first listen it is exactly what I have come to expect from Linkin Park.They deliver their album with an easy flow that links each track together and Chester Bennington breaks up the heavy guitar rifts with his seemingly softer tenor that scream sings you through the song transitions.
One of my favorite albums of all time, Hybrid Theory, has been ranked as one of the best albums of the 00’s and has been awarded Diamond status. This band has a distinctive sound that has lifelong fans. I think that Linkin Park would really have to pull a miracle to surpass Hybrid Theory’s success, but I will keep listening just in case. Living Things is a bit heavier on the electronic feel than usual and for a workout album it is not bad. Loyal Linkin Park fans will not be disappointed with this bass-heavy album.
Fleetwood Mac Tribute Album
Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac
Summer is a great time for new music, but what about your favorite classic hits? Best Coast, MGMT, Lykke Li, The New Pornographers and more have covered some of the best Fleetwood Mac songs as a tribute to an iconic band. Fleetwood Mac has been around since 1967 and continued to perform since give or take a couple years. This band has had its share of troubles and more than a few changes in its roster, but all that drama just made the music better. This album is not the first tribute that Fleetwood Mac has seen and most certainly it will not be the last. Even the new generation is getting into their music, perhaps in big part due to Glee‘s own tribute this past season. The most well known songs are from their Rumors album (1977) which stayed at the top of the charts for 31 weeks. The kills will have the honor of covering Dreams.
Here is a copy of the tracklist so you can get hyped up for the album’s August 14th release:
- “Albatross” – Lee Ranaldo Band Featuring J Mascis
- “Landslide” – Antony
- “Before The Beginning” – Trixie Whitley
- “Oh Well” – Billy Gibbons & Co.
- “Rhiannon” – Best Coast
- “Think About Me” – The New Pornographers
- “Angel” – Marianne Faithfull
- “Silver Springs” – Lykke Li
- “Gold Dust Woman” – Karen Elson
- “Storms” – Matt Sweeney And Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
- “Straight Back” – Washed Out
- “That’s All For Everyone” – Tame Impala
- “Sisters Of The Moon” – Craig Wedren with St. Vincent
- “Dreams” – The Kills
- “Gypsy” – Gardens & Villa
- “Tusk” – The Crystal Ark
- “Future Games” – MGMT
Green Day’s Official Trailer For ¡Uno!
It seems that everything now-a-days has a trailer, or a teaser for a trailer…
Movies, video games, music videos, books, and albums.
Most of us grew up with Green Day as one of our go to punk bands and it is always good news when they come out with a new album let alone a trilogy of albums.
“We are at the most prolific and creative time in our lives… This is the best music we’ve ever written, and the songs just keep coming. Instead of making one album, we are making a three album trilogy. Every song has the power and energy that represents Green Day on all emotional levels. We just can’t help ourselves … We are going epic as f—!”
Green Day is no stranger to staying on top of trends and so here is their trailer for their new albums: ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, & ¡Tre!
The first of these albums,¡Uno!, is set to drop on September 25, 2012. Keep your ear out.
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote many marvelous stories and a couple of the favorites have been successfully adapted for the big screen: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Great Gatsby. This year it is Baz Luhrmann who is directing this latest adaptation and I must say I am excited. The jazz age was all about liquor and music and the story does a great job of incorporating this environment into the lives of these characters.
Quick Story Detail:
Nick Carraway is the narrator who moves to Rhode Island to start his career. His second cousin Daisy lives nearby with her husband Tom Buchanan. Carraway’s other neighbor is the millionaire and titular character Jay Gatsby. Gatsby and Daisy used to be lovers during WWI, but were separated. Gatsby remained obsessed with Daisy and procured a fortune to try to win her back. When he finds out she has married he uses his newly acquired fortune to move into the neighborhood and throw lavish parties to get her attention, but she never attends. Gatsby befriends her cousin Nick and convinces him to arrange a clandestine meeting for him and Daisy. Their love affair begins again and sets the rest of the plot in motion.
Do not be fooled, this is not a love story people! This story has deceit, booze, women, secret pasts, money, and car crashes. All while delving into characters and examining selfishness at its core. Insight and action rolled up into one. That is just the book. Now you take this exciting plot and add Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan as seen through the lens of Baz Luhrmann and you have a promising movie. So dust off your copies of this amazing book and brush up before its release this Christmas. Perhaps also re-watch Leonardo DiCaprio in Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet.
Call Yourself A Nerd 