Idle minds are the Devil's workshop...

or something like that right? I've been busy busy busy and haven't had time to update. But I like to fulfill requests! This post may be short but it will feature one of my favorite bands to date.



Artist of the Week: The Postal Service
Album of Choice: Give Up
Song of Choice: Sleeping In

This band isn't really actually a band. Its technically a side project. The singer is the front-man for Death Cab for Cutie and the other guy (his name is escaping me, I want to say it's 'Chris') is a solo artist under the name Dntel. They are named The Postal Service because they started making music by recording a part and mailing it to the other and mailing back and forth adding and composing.

I'm completely convinced that Ben Gibbard's voice is perfect for any style of music.....no matter what. This project is almost like blending Death Cab with nice soothing electronica. Don't fret, it isn't techno. It's got a style all its own. I picked Sleeping In just for the fact that its my favorite. So if you haven't heard these guys check them out! They are uberpopular among the trendy people these days.

Funny factoid: I thought it was ironic that I saw a UPS commercial using The Postal Service as background music.

I Didn't Die.....

Ok, so it has been over a month since I last posted but I swear to you I did not die. I don't know why I haven't posted. I guess I just didn't feel like it. On to the artist of the week! This weeks band has been a favorite since about 10th or 11th grade for me.



Artist of the Week: Brand New
Cd of Choice: Your Favorite Weapon
Song of Choice: Jude Law and a Semester Abroad

Brand New is just a great pop punk/emo band. Well actually....just their first cd is really pop punky emo. For those of you who don't know what emo is.....good luck finding a definition. Emo has typically been described as "Emotion Rock". However, my beef with that is what kind of rock and roll doesn't have emotion in it? Lately (at least to me) it has seemed to mean music with an indie/punk feel that deals with ex girlfriends or politics. Both are great topics to talk about to me. Both are apart of life are they not? I think when listening to emo you really have to prepare to almost listen to someone's personal diary (just listen to Dashboard Confessional and you'll get what I mean).

Anyhow, back to the band. Your Favorite Weapon is my favorite CD the band has done by far. I also liked their sophomore album, but it is no where near as poppy as the first. I haven't heard the newest cd but I did see them on Jay Leno performing one of the songs off of it. It seems they have gotten alot more experimental. It really is weird because I usually like experimental stuff better. They succeeded so well at making poppy sing alongs I cannot see why they would stray away from that.

I must give you a bit of warning if you're planning on looking this band up. These poppy sing alongs are not exactly your "happy feel good 100 bottles of beer on the wall" sing alongs. It is like taking these bitter, spiteful, and hurt feelings and expressing them through melodies that would make anyone sing along. Somehow though you feel happy afterwards. I definitely wouldn't recommend this to anyone who is a fan of positive lyrics. I don't recall much cussing of the top of my head but I do recall briliantly hateful lyrics like "Even if you plane crashes tonight you'll find some way to disappoint me by not burning in the wreckage or drowning at the bottom of the sea." See, not exactly lyrics that show the most love and respect, but I'm telling you, the melody somehow makes it fun to sing along. So there is my disclaimer to those of you who are affected by harsh thoughts in lyrics.

Here's "Jude Law and a Semester Abroad"

Go Away and Come Back Another Day

Rain Rain.....I'm in Florida for Christmas. I drove down by lonesom on Christmas Eve and it rained the whole way down. There isn't a worse drive than a 6 hour one by yourself while its raining. It got me thinking about my rainy day band. Everyone has that music that they like to listen to when it rains. The band I listen to when it rains is the band I'm choosing for my band of the week.



Artist of the Week: The Verve
Cd of Choice: Urban Hymns
Song of Choice: The Rolling People

Well with the past couple artists of the week I have known a good bit of information about them. In this case, I do not know alot of information about this band. Everyone knows them, whether they know they do or not. They're the ones that sang that great song from the 90's "Bittersweet Symphony". It's a great song that is actually on the Urban Hymns cd. That cd is the only cd of theirs I have ever listened to. However, it's the only one I really want to listen to. They're one of those bands that I can't listen to for too long and that cd sufices.

My favorite thing with The Verve is their electric guitarist. This guy is SMOOTHE. The tone he gets out of his guitar is amazing and I have tried and tried to replicate it, but I have failed miserably. Everything about the band is tight though. They had some amazing songs, but unfortunately I do not believe they are a band anymore. But they are one of the bigger influential bands in my musical experiences.

Listen Here

2 Days Late and......2 Dollars Short???

Ok, so it definitely didn't take long for me to be late on the band of the week. Never-the-less, here I am...posting a new artist of the week. This week's artist of the week is probably my favorite band ever, at least right after Radiohead.



Artist of the Week: Anathallo
Cd of Choice: Floating World
Song of Choice: Hanasakajijii (Four: A Great Wind, More Ash)

This is seriously one of the most creative bands I have ever heard. They do not do the typical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-chorus formula that most bands give into using. This has inspired me in my own musical projects. I think that too often music becomes trite, boring, and predictable. I listened to Floating World for about two or three weeks straight and was honestly surprised everytime. The way this band writes music is so unique that it took me countless listens to finally start predicting when things were going to happen.

I think one way the band succeeds at approaching music so creatively is their instrumentation. The way they blend horns, chains, auxillary bass drums, bells, and plenty other unique instruments with the typical instruments you'd hear in a modern band helps give them a creative edge on most music that's out there. Plus it really helps that all of the musicians sing with the lead singer. They don't do incredibly hard harmonies or anything, but they provide the listener with the sense of a sing-a-long. The lead singer has a BEAUTIFUL voice that fits the music they write like fur fits a cat. I could go on and on about how this band does music, but this would turn into a book. So do yourself a favor and go listen to them. Do yourself a bigger favor and buy the cd. Only listening to a few songs will not do them justice. However, do NOT buy this cd if you don't have an open mind to music. Some say they are weird. But of course, I say they are BRILLIANT

Anathallo's Myspace

Better Late Than Never

Okay Okay, It's 11:30 p.m. but it is still Monday so I'm posting my artist of the week. I didn't want to have to go to sleep with the thought of breaking my promise to all 6 1/2 people who possibly read my blog. I meant to write more with in the week about musical things other than the artist of the week, but alas, I did not. Exams, buying cars, and nursing those whom I love back to health have distracted me delightfully (except for the exams). On to the artist for this week.



Artist of the Week: Further Seems Forever
Cd of Choice: The Moon is Down
Song of Choice: Monechetti

Further Seems Forever is a complicated band to say the least. Over the course of their existence they have had 3 different lead singers. I think it is very hard to keep your identity as a band when you lose your lead singer. That is why bands often change their names when they lose their singers. However, I think FSF has done a very good job at maintaining their image as a band through the drastic changes. All 3 singers have brought something different to the band to evolve it, but they never changed the band. Chris Carraba (Yes, the singer of Dashboard Confessional) brought gripping therapeutic lyrics much like he does in Dashbaord. Jason Gleason brought a source of power that took the band to a whole other level musically. And finally Jon Bunch gave the band....well...I don't know what he gave. I never really liked him.

While I feel the band hit its peak while Jason was singing, I believe Chris Carraba was my favorite singer for them. It could be because I'm a huge Dashboard Confessional fan, but the songs off of The Moon is Down bring back such vivid memories. The way he paints beautiful portraits with his words strikes me differently everytime I listen to the cd. I think the acoustic sound in Dashboard works for him really well. I DON'T think the alternative pop sound works for him as well. But I don't think any style makes him pour his self out quite like the intricate guitar riffs and hard hitting rhythms FSF provided for him. So there it is scoot on over to their myspace and you can hear a song off of each prospective singer's album with FSF.

Further Seems Forever's Myspace

Oh the excitement! Oh the Joy! Oh my very first blog!

Well well well, it seems everybody and their mother has a blog these days. So I got to thinking; why don't I have a blog? Well the practical answer is that I don't have anything to write about. Or at least nothing I want to share. But who am I kidding? I share everything with everybody. Some call it a character flaw, haha. However, I know that no one out there really wants to read about my life. So I have come to a conclusion. I will talk about something everyone likes and that will enrich everyone's life...MUSIC! It is pretty much my life, and it is all I ever talk about anyway. So forget the introduction, lets get onto what I will try to make a weekly installment.


Artist of the Week: Sufjan Stevens
Cd of Choice: Hark! Songs For Christmas Volume 1-3
Song of Choice: O Holy Night

Last night I was sitting on my computer doing a research paper (that was finished promptly at 3 a.m.) and in the midst of fighting my eyelids I decided it was time to start listening to some music. Now I know pretty much all the music on my laptop so I knew that I would start singing along and focusing on the music instead of my paper. But I needed something to help keep me awake. And then it came to me, like water hitting a want-to-be olympic diver doing a bellyflop, I had some Christmas music on my computer. It was a simple solution. I have no idea why it took me 20 minutes to come to it. For about a 2-3 month period all I hear is Christmas music. It is always in the background. You always hear it, but you never really pay attention to it. Allthough you find yourself singing the songs for hours after you hear it.

This Christmas music is a little different though. But that is why I like it. I HATE regular Christmas music, in fact alot of it makes me cringe. Don't get me wrong, I love the old time stuff from like the 40's, but this new crap from like Mariah Carey....ICK (sorry for the rant). This music is a compilation of 3 cds that an artist by the name of Sufjan Stevens recorded for his friends for Christmas. The music is absolutely splendid. He has quite an eclectic style. I haven't heard of alot of the songs that are on the three cds so I don't know if some are originals. But one thing is quite true of this artist, he can take a melody and make it absolutely warm and piercing at the same time. The way he arranges his music and the way he carries it out makes your heart feel warm and your ears feel blessed. It puts a smile on my face everytime I listen. That is why I have picked these 3 cds as my cds of choice for this week for this artist of the week. The best thing is that these cds can be downloaded for free...LEGALLY! Check it out:

Free CDs!

There is so much more to say about this artist, but I will have to explain him more in another post. For now this novel must conclude. No postscripts. No epilogues. Just the truth. This post is over!