Get Familiar w/ LISTENER

I was going to wait and write something on Dan Smith and Listener a little later, but it's difficult to not get excited about such an amazing artist who creates such original work. Shown to me by a good friend of mine, Listener's Dan Smith is known as the creator of a kind of out there genre of music known as 'Talk Music.' Talk Music you say? While it might not be for everyone, especially my lovely girlfriend, this two piece band really brings it in every track or whatever you might deem as an accurate label for what they might play, but rest assured it's becoming increasingly difficult to place any sort of 'label' on this duo. Dan Smith is the front man and most of the tracks come across as more spoken-word poetry rather than actual songs. One stand out track 'Ozark Empire,' which captured my interest in this group, is just Dan Smith spittin' lyrics over Christian Nelson, the #2 man in the group, banging an old washing machine with a baseball bat. Other 'songs' like 'Falling in love with Glaciers' and 'Wooden Heart,' the title track of their latest release, really showcase Smith's passion for what he does in his way too intelligent use of metaphor's and heart felt delivery of every word he says. It's really something to marvel at and respect, even for those who don't get it. While i could ramble on about the kind of musician Dan Smith is or how amazing his lyrics are, listen for yourself and see if you what you think...

listener- ozark empire or a snake oil salesman comes to your town

listener- wooden heart 

                            

Some people might not like this type of music and if that's the case, Dan Smith also has a side-project with about 6 or 7 guys called Deepspace 5. It's a rap group, think Jurassic 5 and the Roots. It's just a bunch of super talented people coming out with super positive hip-hop. Two of my favorite tracks are 'From the Outside' and 'Lord Willing.' As expected Smith adapts his highly intellectual lyrics to a wider audience and his verses definitely stand out among the array of high-class lyricists.

The Nitty-Gritty

IN the last post, I tried to describe what is going through my head in starting this. I really don't have any idea other than the sheer joy I have for finding new and exciting music. For a little background on my music taste, I'm just going to go through my current top 5 albums of all time. To be frank, regardless of your opinions on these albums, I can't stress this enough... I don't give a shit if you don't like these albums. I love them from start to finish and that's why there on my blog. If you don't like them, write a blog about how much you hate them, I don't care. On the other hand, if you share a similar opinion towards these, then you're pretty ok in my book....

In no real order:

1)

Every Time I Die- Hot Damn!

I honestly can't remember the reason why or how I even came across this album. I think I either saw a shirt for them or someone I went to school with said something, but that doesn't matter now.

For however long I've been listening to this album, probably at least 7 or eight years, I've never gotten tired out it. Track's like 'Ebolarama' and 'Off Broadway' are still some of my favorite songs to listen to when I'm having a shitty day or about to do some serious drinking. Probably my favorite build up of all time is the opening for 'Ebolarama.' Just a guitar, playing a tasty riff and right off the bat you know this song is about to just get ridiculous. Fortunately, due to sheer originality and die-hard following, ETID is still coming out with new albums every other year or so (and getting better with age)and still touring. Honestly, this is one of my favorite bands of all time and for good reason, for a band that's been around for more than 10 years, there's no one even coming close to touching them. And for any serious fans out there, the name of this blog comes from one of their songs from an early album.

2)

Circa Survive - Juturna

I remember hearing this album freshman year of high school and wasn't too impressed. Not too sure why, maybe it was cause Circa was something completely out of left field and I wasn't ready for it, whatever the reason was, I remember picking it up a year or so later because of the back beat off of 'Stop the Car,' which is still one of my favorite tracks to listen to. Steve Clifford is an an incredibly original drummer and, like everyone else, I'm in love with Anthony Green's lyrics and voice (even his way up there screams). 6 years and still spinning it whenever I get a chance.

3)

The Receiving End of Sirens- Between the Heart and Synapse

I don't even know where to start with this. I was introduced to this band at some point early on in high school, was able to see them a bunch of times before they broke up, and meet a few members of the band. If you're looking for an album to listen to keep peeling back layers and layers, BTHAS is definitely for you.  From the stand out single 'Planning on a Prison Break'  where they quickly showcase their ability to incorporate computer generated sounds in the background (which in many cases can be really cheesy, but these guys pull it off) adding another layer, on top of the 3(yes 3) singers in the band. Tracks like 'the Rival Cycle' and 'This Armistice' (probably my favorite song ever) show a lot of their ability to use off-beat syncopation and never disappoint in extended build ups culminating into, what i think are, amazing repeating lyrics over and over again until the songs finish. I could really go on and on about this album for the better part of a day picking apart each track and I'd still find new and exciting things that I've never noticed in the 6+ years I've been listening to them. Unfortunately their follow-up to this 'The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi' didn't even come close to their first release and due to personal issues, the band fell apart.

4)

Taking Back Sunday- Tell All Your Friends

An album I haven't picked up in a while but definitely couldn't put it down when I was younger. I think a lot of my, and a lot of my close friend's, musical taste was influenced by this band. I remember first hearing 'Cute without the E' and falling in love with the sound.  At the time I was kinda into numetal (everyone has that phase in middle school) and this was completely different. Say what you will about the TBS of today, but this album was the bee's knees of my middle school years. Adam Lazzara's voice is incredible and Mark O'Connell is more than a solid drummer, knowing when less is more, and when to really open up songs with heavy crashes and monstrous 2's and 4's. One of the more appealing aspects of this band is that they don't really seem to take themselves seriously (Flava Flav had a cameo on the video for 'Youre so Last Summer') despite finding large-scale success on their following albums which is only due to the fact that these guys are incredible musicians with the in-your-face showmanship that it necessary to make it today.

5)

The Postal Service- Give Up

Probably the odd man out in this list, but one of the most underrated albums of the last 10 years. For those not in the know, the Postal Service is a collaboration between Ben Gibbard (Death Cab) and Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel and Headset). It's manly electronic beats with some acoustic drums mixed in. Gibbard's voice couldn't be a better match for this type of music. Modest singing complemented by intelligent, often less-is-more electronic beats. Many of you have probably heard 'Such Great Heights' which was in a lot of commercials a few years back. 'Such Great Heights' draws you in and then tracks like 'Clark Gable' and 'The District Sleeps Alone Tonight' keep you interested. A little fun fact, they got there name from mailing each other what they were working on as they weren't even in the same state while recording this album. Just another showcase of how talented these two gentlemen truly are.

So thats that. My top 5 albums of all time so far, other albums are catching pretty quickly, but at this point in time, I haven't found anything that I've been continuously playing or have played longer or anything I really enjoy listening to as much. Needless to say, my musical tastes are not limited to these genres, but rather these albums molded me into the connoisseur, if you will, of new music and I will try as hard as I can to showcase as many artists and musicians as I my hectic schedule allows. 

Hello interwebs...

Short jorts ftw

So... not sure where to begin with this or who even might be interested in what I might have to say, but here goes nothing. I guess the cliche thing to do would be to say something about myself making myself appear to be someone who might know what they're talking about with a list of long credentials and bullshit . If that's what you're looking for then sadly you've come to the wrong blog. I have no qualifications other than a love and passion for listening to and discovering new music. 

SO, a little about me. I'm 21, a college student at UCONN, studying political science and to list a few other titles: son, brother, twin, boyfriend, roommate, partier, drunk, Jets fan, accomplished college chef and drummer. 

Currently have two things in life that I'm in love with: 

1) my girlfriend-Holly, yes this is extremely cliche to put this up on here but she's been there through thick and thin and is really the biggest inspiration in my starting this. If for nothing else, this, whatever it might amount to, is for her.

2) My '92 Honda accord: almost 20 years and still kickin'. Enough said

What I want to accomplish through this blog:

A difficult question...If anything, to potentially give back to a community that has given so much to me. It's difficult to describe what music can do to human emotions, and it's different for everyone. For some, music just might be simple background noise, or something to 'get da party started.' And that's cool, but for others, of whom I would like to consider myself, music evokes a wide array of emotions, good and bad, and, in my case, can carry you through the worst of times and celebrate with you in the best.  Without getting into too much detail on here, music has played a pivotal role in my life this past year. It was a doozy to say the least. So to all of you out there, or nobody, here's to the beginning of something that I have no idea what it will turn into, and I think that's pretty fucking exciting.