The Fray

I consider The Fray to be an indie rock band because their music isn't as hard as what most people interpret rock to be and that's just the way I like them. They started up in Denver, Colorado (which just happens to be where my best friend is from) and hit the world in 2002 and continue astonishing fans with every new song and album they release. Their lead vocalist Isaac Slade makes perfect sense for the music they are making because it's powerful and strong enough to be heard above the guitars and occasional piano and it's a voice you want to hear above the music. 

The album that put them on the map was "How to Save a Life" which was released in 2005. It contains an array of songs some of the more popular one's being "How to Save a Life" and "Over My Head (Cable Car)". They hit the top 10 charts in Canada, UK, New Zealand, and Australia. In their song "How to Save a Life" I believe their message is about a relationship that didn't work out and how everything feels lost because of stubbornness and bitterness. I absolutely adore this song because it's kind of a tell all about the feelings I think most people get after a big fight ends a relationship with a best friend and you feel like it's all over. "Over My Head (Cable Car)" is, in my opinion again, about being overwhelmed by something and you don't know what to do. Again he mentions a girl in this song and it reflects on an argument potentially and says something about losing the argument in a cable car. What that lyric means, I'm not sure and I don't know even how I interpret it.

How to Save a Life - The Fray

They released the album "The Fray" in 2008 which featured one of my favourite songs from them "You Found Me". Another one from the album I highly recommend is "Never Say Never". In the music video to this song it shows scenes of the Boeing 747 crash I highly suggest you investigate more into some of their other music. I've got an array of it on my iPod and I haven't found a song yet that I haven't enjoyed. In this album they also have a song called "Look After You" which is probably one of the more happy ending songs they have because it describes things working in a relationship. At this point Isaac seems to really like to write his songs about relationships and their struggles and triumphs because in this song he sings how "I'll look after you", "you've begun to feel like home" and "what's mine is yours".  This could possibly be why I find all there songs so comforting because it's something extremely relatable to anyone who has ever dated and had unsuccessful and successful relationships. Honestly, who doesn't want a man to look after you and promise to always take care of you?

The Fray is a really good band to listen to when you're feeling down in my opinion because a lot of their songs understand what you're feeling in an omniscient sense. I had a really rough end of the year in 2009 and The Fray got me through the really rough patches because I was able to listen to something that was soothing and not Britney Spears on the radio every 10 minutes. If you're feeling really lost then "Never Say Never" is really touching because he sings about a struggle and says "don't let me go" because everyone needs some sort of support. They focus on a lot of feeling music, they put emotion into the words rather than sing about parties and "Last Friday Night" like Katy Perry. I definitely suggest that if you're ever feeling like you need a song to talk to you because you like to deal with things alone that these guys are going to be on your top played list. 

http://images.pictureshunt.com/pics/t/the_fray-4553.jpg

For any Fray fans out there it has been reported that The Fray will be releasing an album "Scars & Stories" on February 7, 2012. I hope everyone checks it out and keeps supporting this band because they are absolutely amazing. With all the new age music that emphasizes the party life and everything else all the popular radio stations promote the good guys who don't synthesize their voices deserve the support. 

On Female Concert Merch

A few months ago I went to see Judas Priest live in their final “Epitaph” tour. The show itself was amazing! Rob Halford did that thing where he rides his motorcycle on stage and they played all of their best songs. The merchandise, however, was not so amazing. The merchandise at shows is never amazing for me because I am a female metal fan. There were some amazing shirts there, one I really loved had every Priest album cover on it. There were others with individual album covers and general badassness. Unfortunately, they all came in size “huge male.” The only shirt that fit me was a tank top that simply said the band's name on it.

It expresses that I like the band and that's about it. I like it, but it's just not as cool as the men's shirts. The shirt my boyfriend got at the concert has your typical totally awesome heavy metal graphic on it. I am so jealous of men's clothes. The designs are so much better.

It's always the same problem. I've loved Iron Maiden since I was a five year old listening to my dad's old cassette tapes. However, I have never owned an Iron Maiden shirt because of the lack of cool designs for females. They are a bit better than just having the band name on the shirt but can't compare to the detailed men's shirts.

Lady's clothes need to be less concerned with displaying band names across chests and be more concerned with matching how awesome the men's clothes look. At the very least carry the men's shirts in smaller sizes.

Mumford and Sons: We Want More!

History
The story of how this folk/rock band hailing from Britain, first began is somewhat hazy. We know that obviously they are British. We know their instruments include the banjo, the dobro (which is a resonator guitar. The term dobro was coined in the year 1928 by the Dopyera brothers in their Dopyera Manufacturing Company, but is now owned as a trademark by the Gibson Guitar Company, picture to the left) double bass, and other assorted instruments. These instruments are artistically used to create the raw and twang-like sound the band produces. This type of music may seem out-dated and old-fashioned but in these modern days, with the hype of electronic music such as dubstep becomes more and more popular and common, this sound your grampa might enjoy, easily flows through the body like a breath of fresh air, a breath of real creativity and inspiration.
We know the band members, Marcus Mumford (vocals, guitar, drums, mandolin), Ben Lovett (vocals, keyboards, accordion, drums), Country Winston Marshall (vocals, banjo, dobro), and Ted Dwane (vocals, string bass, drums, guitar) and we know why the band was dubbed with the name Mumford and Sons.
Even though the band mates are not related by blood, they feel as though they have a brother-like connection, because of this they wished their fans, or at the time, potential fans to be drawn to the family oriented feel of the group, warm, and inviting. I believe that this was a smart tactic, because when I first heard of them, and thought that they were brothers, I immediately looked them up because I knew with a name like Mumford and Sons, it would be the kind of band that really cares about the music they are putting out into the world. Well maybe this background isn't so hazy after all.

Music
Mumford and Sons have only been around since 2007 and in that time they released an EP titled Love Your Ground which they broadcasted and toured all around Ireland to spread their music and achieve an audience base.
Their debut album, Sigh No More, was first released in Ireland and the UK in 2009 and later reached the United States in the year 2010. With this release came widespread love of the band, and they grew more popular and known in a whirlwind manner. The album contains hit singles such as "Little Lion Man" a song of what I translate into being about messing up and making mistakes in some sort of relationship but also keeping true to yourself and to what your heart feels. This song was probably what made the band spring into the musical scene with the kind of force that they did. Other tracks such as "The Cave", "Roll Away Your Stone" and "Awake My Soul" travel through journeys of re-creating yourself, or bringing yoursel up, and realizing what is important in life, and being reborn into someone better and stronger than before. This album in general, as said before, just comes across the music industry as a breath of fresh air, I haven't heard a band such as this before. No they did not invent folk/rock, but it is the first folk/rock band that I have connected with on such a deep and personal level. Their lyrics are pure, true, raw, and real and I guarantee that almost anyone who takes the time to listen to this band will find themselves somewhere in these songs and fall in love with the fact that someone else wrote it out so perfectly and without flaw.

New Music??? WE WANT MORE!
There has been no concrete news on when the next album for Mumford and Sons will be released. It has been known that the band went back to work on their music in August of 2011 after their 2010/2011 touring wrapped up, but there has been no set date of when a new album can be expected. However, there are various new songs available for listening on sources such as YouTube. Some people such as myself, are thrilled that we have access to some new material but others hope that having so much access will not ruin the surprise of the upcoming album. So in other words, Mumford and Sons...ya better hurry it up!


New Song: Home-Mumford and Sons

Dubstep, what is dubstep?

Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in  the United Kingdom. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals".

In 2011, Dubstep gained significant traction in the US market by way of a post-dubstep style known as 'brostep' with the American producer Skrillex becoming something of a figurehead for the scene.

In September 2011 a Spin Magazine EDM special referred to brostep as a "lurching and aggressive" variant of dubstep that has proven commercially successful in the United States.  

Unlike traditional dubstep production styles, that emphasize sub-bass content, brostep accentuates the middle register and features "robotic fluctuations and metal-esque aggression."

Sonny Moore: debstep figure head

Sonny John Moore better known by his stage name Skrillex, is an American electronic music producer and former singer–songwriter. Moore joined the American post-hardcore band From First to Last as the lead singer in 2004, and recorded two studio albums with the band before leaving to pursue a solo career in 2007.

 After releasing the Gypsyhook EP in 2009, Moore was scheduled to record his debut studio album, Bells, with producer Noah Shain. However, he ceased production of the album and began performing under the name Skrillex. After releasing the My Name is Skrillex EP for free download on his official MySpace page, he released the Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites EP in late–2010 and More Monsters and Sprites EP in mid–2011. Both have since become a moderate commercial success.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubstep
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/skrillex
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skrillex

Green Day

Green Day is a punk rock band that formed in 1987 with three members. The lead singer and guitarist is Billie Joe Armstrong, along with bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool who replaced John Kiffmeyer in 1990. They started up in California alongside bands like The Offspring which I will probably blog about later on seeing as I enjoy a lot of their songs too.

When I started listening to Green Day it was when they released their album American Idiot in 2004 which sold five million copies in the United States! I bought the CD and rocked out to it almost everyday for a month after bringing it home. Some of my favourite songs off the album are "American Idiot", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "She's a Rebel", and "Wake Me Up When September Ends". After that my punk rock music phase hit an all time low and I ventured into other types but I did enjoy "21 Guns" off of their album 21st Century Breakdown which was released sometime in 2009. I wish I would've followed the band a little more closely after American Idiot but I was just a kid and really bounced around my music preferences. 

Green Day - American Idiot

I feel like they were a great band and they worked for their success because they started as just an underground band and worked their way into a fan basis that spread across the planet. They've proved themselves honest to their music and stuck to their roots. In comparison to some other bands I don't feel like they have swayed to relate more to the masses. This hasn't been a very deep look into them but I was listening to my iPod last week and they started to play and I figured they were music worth mentioning. 

Marianas Trench - The Deepest Part of the World's Oceans

Marianas Trench is the deepest part of the world's ocean but also is a four man Canadian band with an emo/punk rock sound. I've been a fan for a few years now and seen them 3 times live. They seem to visit the Stampede's coke stage quite often since I've seen them twice there and once in a real concert atmosphere. Once at the coke stage I actually got knocked out because some chick behind me was so overly excited that she nailed me in the back of the head with her elbow and I went out like a light. I was okay, they just pulled me out during my favourite song and I got to go between the fence and stage but was in too much of a daze to take advantage of the opportunity. Aside from that though I've always had a really good time at their concerts.

Recently they've gone more mainstream which has put a few people off from their band but I don't mind it because I enjoy mainstream music as much as I love the stuff that not many people know. Currently their song "Haven't Had Enough" has taken on the radio, especially stations like Virgin and Amp which tend to over play songs. This can be an advantage as much as a disadvantage, personally I could listen to a good song on repeat for an entire day but when a bad one plays non stop I'd rather sit silently in my car for a week then listen to it twice. It's a really catchy song with an interesting music video where Josh Ramsay, the lead singer, is chasing a girl from different scenes that bounce from Egyptian to modern to pirate.

Haven't Had Enough - Mariana's Trench

I've found that this band has always been a little bit quirky and it especially shows in their music videos. Josh Ramsay is quirky though in my opinion, from the few interviews I've seen he's got something different about him. I guess I consider him to be a true entertainer, it's not just about the music, it's about having a connection with the fans too. He participated in MuchMusic's "My Date With..." and from how the whole thing went he seemed like he honestly wanted to be there. I've seen some where you can clearly tell the famous guest would rather be anywhere else and it's disappointing because we're the people funding their passion. I don't mean to rant about it but I think it's important that individuals and bands really appreciate their fans and all that they do for them.

When they were in concert in Calgary they were representing their album Masterpiece Theatre with they're song "Cross My Heart"which was number one on the MuchMusic countdown along with "All To Myself". These two songs were also a little more mainstream appropriate where almost anyone could hum along and enjoy it without it being that stupid song stuck in your head. "All To Myself" has to be my favourite song from this album because it just feels so real and to me he's singing about how he wants this girl to be all his and how he feels 'it's not enough, its never enough', and come on, what girl doesn't want a guy to want her like that? I have to say that this is definitely all together my favourite album because it has a little bit of everything I love about them. They also put out a really good duet on this album called "Good To You" featuring Jessica Lee which I really suggest you check out if you like soft emotional songs about loving someone you can't have without a fight.

http://blog.roots.com/.a/6a00e553c41c91883401157033aa40970c-800wi

I hope I've managed to convince a few people to give Marianas Trench a try because they are a good band and they're also Canadian and it never hurt to support our talent! Also, on a side note if you Google Marianas Trench, the geological trench will be the first find under Wiki before the band. I've always found that funny for some reason. 

City & Colour

For anyone who doesn't know City & Colour I want to first point out that it is a single person who named the band after his own name, Dallas Green. I'm going to focus specifically on the sounds of City & Colour in this blog but thought you might like to know that he was also apart of another band who's music I happen to also adore. He was the guitarist and vocalist for Alexisonfire which is more towards a post-hardcore band rather than the more folk and acoustic vibe of Dallas on his own.

Dallas was recently in Calgary promoting City & Colour's new album 'Little Hell' which contains two of my favourite songs 'Fragile Bird' and 'The Girl'. I wasn't able to snag tickets which was a huge disappointment because I would've done anything to have been there. These two songs are at parallel with each other in the sense that Fragile Bird is a more distant and about suffer where as The Girl he sings about his wife, Leah Miller who some may remember as a MuchMusic VJ, and how he cares about her and therefore 'wrote this song to sing to his beautiful girl' as said by Dallas himself. Fragile Bird was one that hit the radio and became a big hit. From my understanding of this song he his singing about a nightmare 'she' has that he want's to help her through but doesn't know how to help and must just 'hope she makes it through'. I definitely think you should all give at least Fragile Bird a listen and give me some feedback and if you like it I can definitely suggest some other great songs to add onto your playlists.

Dallas Green & wife Leah Miller
http://www.jessbaumung.com/portfolio/portraits/26.jpg

City & Colour is possibly one of the few great acoustic sounds I've ever heard and I bet if you give my two favourite songs a listen you'll agree with me too. He has a bit of a rustic voice that makes his music easy to listen too because it's not your top 20 on the radio that are always a hit and miss. The first time I heard Fragile Bird I loved it, the beat he has behind his voice is what caught me that first time and the more I listened the more I loved it for it's lyrics.

On a last note in case any of you are curious and want to look a little into Dallas Green's past back to Alexisonfire I highly recommend listening to Boiled Frogs from their album Crisis. Just a head's up that it is a little bit screamo so don't be expecting anything like his new sound.

The Best Music Videos in Metal

Music videos are a peek into the minds of the bands that create them. They help give meaning to a song. Sure, you could have a music video with the band playing and looking badass, or you could have random hardcore imagery. The best videos however, are the interesting and creative ones that are a joy to watch again and again. It's just not metal without the big show.

The Devin Townsend Band's “Vampira”

In this humourous gem, everyone in the video is decked out in dollar store Halloween costumes. Devin Townsend is prancing about in a sparkly red cape and devil horns while singing. The song is about loving a vampire lady with a bit of Satanic worship thrown in. The video is purposefully campy and fun. He's singing about the stuff that comic books are made of, he knows it, he shows us, and the result is this amazing video.

Finntroll's “Under Bergets Rot” (English: Under the Root of the Mountain)



Here's another mark of a good music video; it tells a story. Maybe not the most logical story though, but it's a good one and matches the art and music style. In it, a man goes to a strange bar, drinks a whole lot of weird drinks, get rejected by a girl with octopus legs, gets turned into a troll in a magic show, and then gets all the strange tentacled women he wants. Even if you don't know Finnish to understand the lyrics, the story and feel of the song remain. (The lyrics, by the way, are about hanging out with the mystical people who live under the mountain)

Stolen Babies' “Push Buttons”



I'm a big fan of surrealism and Stolen Babies deliver it. The whole dark cabaret Tim Burtonesque on acid fantasy just suits their sound amazingingly and is so interesting to watch. How many bands do you know that feature a gorgeous accordianist? Stolen Babies are one of a kind, a rare find in today's music culture.

Blind Guardian's “Mr. Sandman”



When I first saw this song's name I thought it was a mistake. How did something from the 50s get mixed in with my beloved songs about Lord of the Rings and general dragon slaying? Then I listened. Then I fell in love with this cover. A metal version of Mr. Sandman just seems so absurd. But Blind Guardian pulled it off and made it metal. Now the video...I can't find the words to describe my first reaction. Scary clowns rocking out in some kids bedroom? Somehow totally awesome instead of horrifying like regular clowns are. The entire concept for this is just amazing.


Judas Priest's “Breaking The Law”



(Oh look, Halford with hair!) Breaking the Law is just plain fun. It's pure 80s metal goodness with all the wonderful camp that comes with it. Music videos with cars in them, even for a small bit, are among my favourites because when listening to this kind of music I picture a car going way too fast and wrecking everything in its path. It's metal! It's about the power and flash and the hair! Judas Priest have more than earned their title of "Metal Gods"

For The Weekend.

Up incoming local calgary band "For The Weekend"  played a  show

 W/ TEN SECOND EPIC - NOV9 - REPUBLIK

                                            

                                                              at the event the band show cased there new sound.  I was able to sit down and speak to the member of the band.

  Myles Rivoire - vox

Colton Peters - guitar/vox

Matt Boutin - bass/vox

Denis Hann - guitar/vox

Jay Mcdonald - drums

I found out the band is about to release there second album  which the say is a step forward for them as a band and really show cases what there all about.

here's a preview of there new sound.

For the weekend is currently in vancouver promoting there new cd.

and will be playing a show on saturday jan 21st at 11am

at metrotown mall.

Back to Basics.

	For The Weekend formed in the early months of 2010. With each member departing from previous hardcore bands, these young men decided to create a pop / rock style of their own. For The Weekend's first official release came summer  of 2011 and promises hard-hitting drums, melodic guitars and endless vocal harmonies.

Website	http://fortheweekend.ca/  http://twitter.com/forthewknd                http://youtube.com/fortheweekendmusic                        http://www.myspace.com/fortheweekendmusic

& yes i got permission from the band

to use there info.