New Bands I’m Diggin’
December 29, 2007 by Ryan
Again and again we’re seeing why we don’t need record companies. Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” shows that even big bands can release albums on their own over the internet. I recently ran across the Doritos Contest where they are going to give some band a big break and let them play the Super Bowl Halftime based off of internet voting. Actually, to be more accurate I ran across this post from TechCrunch, “Digg May Land Digg Girl Record Contract”. Which led me to Kina Grannis and the video to the right. The “Digg Song” that she did gained her lots of notoriety but she is definitely a much better artist than just a gimmick song.
After voting for Kina on the Doritos thing, I decided to listen to the 10 other finalists. All were pretty good, I imagine they had to be to get to be finalist, but a couple did stand out:
- Dominic Castillo & the Rock Savants: I’ll be voting for them in the contest as well. The song is a great “funny duet,” to quote them.
- Landon Austin: Great voice. He’s probably so popular right now at school!
- Barra Libre: I have to admit, I was going to skip over this one because of the spanish name…really stupid. Very cool, big band/almost ska feeling song. Definitely, listen to this one too!
I know that I’ve posted about it before but I still haven’t gotten over Paramore! I found on MTV the live performance that turned me on to them here and included one of the songs here.
Two, Three, Four!
After looking around MTV.com for that Paramore show I also ran into Flyleaf. Their single is catchy, particularly the chorus, enough to check them out.
Is that the Smashing Pumpkins? No, this is…
November 1, 2007 by Ryan
My Paramore post got me thinking about the music I’ve been listening to recently. And while this is a little old, I still want to bring it up.
I was listening to a local station X96 on my way home from work when the DJ introduced this new song and my first thought was, “Is this the Smashing Pumpkins?” Because I had heard they were coming back. As it turns out, it was Silversun Pickups. I ended up buying their album and love it!
Then I finally hear the new Smashing Pumpkins song, and my first thought was, “This is the Smashing Pumpkins!?”
Seriously, it didn’t sound anything like I would expect. I was thinking that the Silversun Pickups’ album sounds more like the Smashing Pumpkins than the Smashing Pumpkins do! Tarantula eventually grew on me, but it still cracks me up how Well Thought Out Twinkles is so early-Pumpkins sounding.
Chick Rock that Rocks!
October 31, 2007 by Ryan
So it’s 3:30am and I’m up because I’m feeling like crap. I was flipping through the channels, trying to avoid the “paid programming” if you know what I mean, and I see: Paramore Live on MTV. I’ve been hearing their song Misery Business on the radio for a while now and really dig it. That girl has a great voice!
And how long as it been since a band with a chick singer has actually rocked? Everyone’s guilty pleasure, Kelly Clarkson? Maybe one song. Evanescence? Yeah, but that’s more opera meets metal. I’m talking like Joan Jett chick rock. Pink? Please! It’d say the last was Gwen. She put on some pretty good shows back in the early No Doubt days.
What was cool too was this lead singer, Hayley Williams, wasn’t all skanky! Just up there having fun. She has this great edge to her voice without sounding like a whiny girl. The band wore matching black and red, which I think is awesome…a little like The Hives. I love bands with great stage presence. For me, jumps and kicks and headbobs are all part of conveying the energy to the crowd.
Take a few minutes and watch the video. I think I’m going to have to buy the album or go see them live or something! Here’s to hoping they don’t get MTVified!
