30 Seconds to Mars

Friday, December 29 by Dan Lo

I was at sackielife's house the other day when i stumbled across a rare artifact: an actual album in Compact Disc format. It belonged to his sister, and after poking at it for a while, my curiosity finally got the better of me. I figured, if someone, anyone, finds a CD worth paying for in this day and age, it's gotta be pretty alright. I ripped the CD after hearing part of one song and I've been liking it more and more ever since.

30 Seconds to Mars features actor Jared Leto as the lead singer. I did not know this initially, but for some reason I liked them even more after I learned that little tidbit. He's not my favourite actor or anything; I've only seen 4 movies with him in it and only specifically remember him being in one of them. I might have to go back and rewatch a couple of them now, but enough about that... this isn't Moviemongers.

I think part of the appeal is that I finally ended up listening to a celebrity band (even if unknowingly so), as I have always generally and admittedly unfairly associated them as being glorified high school bands with a big name attached to it and therefore have never given any of them a chance thus far. 30 Seconds to Mars has definitely shattered that stereotype for me, altho I'm probably not going to go hunt down Russell Crowe mp3s anytime soon. One step at a time.

A cool bit of trivia is that they're the first "American rock band" to have a music video shot in China in its entirety. It gets a bit weird at some parts but the impact of the scenery is undeniable. The intro makes the most sense to viewers who understand mandarin.

As of now I have only listened thru their latest album, A Beautiful Lie. I skimmed thru a few samples from their first and self-titled album but nothing really caught my eye ears.

And last but not least, the links

A Beautiful Lie
The Kill
From Yesterday | video

Rob Dougan

Wednesday, December 13 by Dan Lo

Rob Dougan is a composer who is perhaps best known for the electronica-esque classic "Clubbed to Death", which appeared in The Matrix soundtrack. He has also contributed two more tracks to The Matrix Reloaded, and has done remix work for big names in dance music like Moby and Kylie Minogue.

Rob Dougan also hates electronic music and thinks remixes are a waste of time. In fact, he's not really a big fan of modern music in general, which shows thru in the extra bit of complexity that sets his "electronic" songs apart from the rest of the genre. That's strange too, because he aims to write "antigenre" music. As far as I'm concerned, he succeeds.

A somewhat amusing quote from Rob D:
"I'm associated with dance music, with electronica, which makes me feel ill. I only learnt all the boring computer crap as a means to an end. Virtually all musicians these days use computers, but if you write a book on a computer, nobody calls it electronic writing; the format you use doesn't necessarily affect the outcome. And rock'n'roll is electronic music par excellence - it's based on using electricity."
The following tracks all have the following in common: it features an electronic beat, as well as a real-life full sized string orchestra. Two of the tracks features his own vocals, which would not sound too out of place in an alternative rock song with comparable lyrics to match. So what sort of music is this, you ask? Give it a listen and decide for yourself :)

Clubbed to Death
Furious Angels
Born Yesterday

edit: I like this one too now

Nothing at All

Explosions in the Sky

Tuesday, December 12 by JR

these guys seem very normal and reasonably silly. possibly still broke. they have a bunch of road trip like photos on their site that appear to have been taken by a lomo. that's the next item on my 'to buy' list. it keeps getting shafted by things like toothbrush and mittens.

anyway, i found these guys in a very random way. i was looking up lyrics to find another song but got them instead. (fret not, i still found the other song.) it was their titles that caught my attention, things like "the earth is not a cold dead place" or "how strange, innocence" or "those who tell the truth...". their songs feel similarly intimate and dynamic, and i do mean feel.

as part of the instrumental genre, listeners may need to ease into them. if you enjoy 'the album leaf' or 'mogwai', i think you may enjoy them too. i like the moodiness of this genre bc it brings back the movements of classical music. sometimes the simplest sounds stir something within. it's so interesting to listen to.

on their site, you can click on each album, and there are free mp3s for dl or stream. but guess what? the bit rate is 192! gasp. no grounds for dismissal here. (edit: ok i lied - some are 160)

go check these out for a taste:
the earth is not a cold dead place (album) - your hand in mine
this song is gentle and hopeful to me.

the rescue (album) - these songs are titled days 1-8. i like days 5-8, but one of the earlier ones has a not as sleepy drumming.

lastly, they also have an upcoming concert at the metro:
EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY
ALL AGES
METRO
3730 N CLARK - CHICAGO
WED MAR 28 2007 6:30PM

tix are $12 for general admission - but after all the fees and taxes, it comes just shy of $22 per person. you can get them at ticketmaster.

Anything Box

Sunday, December 3 by Dan Lo

One of my favorite bands, Anything Box is best known for their 1990 dance single Living in Oblivion and has since developed their own brand of "Elektrodelic" sound. Synthpop with deviant tendencies, if you will. I like them in part that they're not afraid to push the envelope of the genre while refraining from turning too weird (in a bad way).

In 2003 they released a free compilation album online in mp3 format only, complete with downloadable CD sleeve insert. The album has since been somewhat dismantled, altho some of the tracks are still available for download on their website. These remaining tracks are a decent representation of their more recent material. [Warning: 128kbps]

Binaural Repeats: 1993-2002 (or at least what's left of it)

... and one more song that was originally part of Binaural Repeats but no longer downloadable. Because it's my favourite :)

Blue Little Rose