I am angry

Yes I am. I do not like this, Sam I Am.

If My Life

Was any more complicated or strange...

I'd need a hell of a lot more booze.

Also I just noticed that my profile says my industry is "accounting", which is amusing considering the fact that math=not one of my many and varied talents, despite my limitless intellect.

;)

On the Musical Front

I've been working on my first album with the intent of releasing it under my actual name for about a month and a half now. What that means is that unlike every other musical endeavour I've ever attempted, I'm not using a "band name" or anything of the sort. The album is basically trip hop/electronica, with me writing all the music, playing all the actual instruments, programming the synths, strings, electronics, and drums, mixing, producing, and whatever the fuck else I left out. As far as the vocal thing goes, I'm going to be collaborating with several different vocalists depending on the needs of the indiviual songs, in addition to myself singing on one or two tracks and probably doing backup as needed.

Thus far I have 13 completed songs (musically speaking), 1 more that just needs bass and a bit of tweakage, and 3 or so waiting in the wings. Of the 14 essentially musically complete songs, 1 has me singing on it and another features my good friend and reggae artist Rion I. Both of those are lyrically incomplete as of yet, but Rion I and I should be finishing up "Summer in Love" within the next two weeks or so. Once that track is complete, I'll upload it and a few instrumentals to my MySpace Music page (which is currently under construction, so don't go find it because it's boring).

Basically this is the best music I've done in 8 years, including a couple of tracks pulled from other projects from the last two years or so. I'm stoked to get some vocals laid down on the rest of the album and start promoting. This just feels... right.

Wish me luck.

-C.

Last Night I Climbed A Mountain.

Like, seriously. In Altadena. No ghosts, though. But it was a big mountain. And L.A. looks amazing from the top of a mountain just north of it at 10:30PM.

Pandora's pretty cool, too.

Pandora's Box

I've been listening to Pandora quite a bit lately and I have to say that its pretty good at picking music it thinks I'd like compared to what music I've rated or added to the channel. Because of Pandora I've been listening to a lot of acoustic music, electro/acoustic ala The Microphones, and instrumental metal ala Pelican. One thing I would like to see though, is a better rating system. I think they could do better than like or dislike. I mean, I may like a song but I don't absolutely _love_ the song and there is a big difference there. I _like_ Elliot Smith but I _love_ Bright Eyes. Even without the more detailed rating its pretty good at picking out songs I'd like, out of the stations I listen to on my pandora profile. There are a few occasional odd songs out, Deftones on my instrumental metal station seemed kind of out of place, but even the odd songs usually go pretty well with the station. The only glaring annoyance I have with Pandora is how they limit skipping tracks, you can only skip about five before it doesn't let you skip anymore. Gah, I hate that so much. If I don't like the damn song, I don't like the damn song. I know its not Pandora's fault but its still damn annoying. If you haven't given internet radio a chance like I hadn't, Pandora is a good place to start so give it a try.

Sam

No One Reads This Thing Anyway

But I'm still here.

Genius Like This

Deserves recognition.

Go. Now.

Uh... ew.

Jessica Cutler was kind enough to inform us of a video whose content far outstrips "tubgirl" in pure ick factor.

I HIGHLY recommend that you do NOT click here. Seriously, you don't want to.

In the NIN vein

Some of my favorite lyrics ever are the closing lines from "I Do Not Want This" on The Downward Spiral.

I want to know everything
I want to be everywhere
I want to fuck everyone in the world
I want to do somthing that matters

Music and Lyrics

Lists, lists, and more lists. It seems that I've entered into a list phase with my posts lately. I must admit that I love list posts because they are easy to do and I don't have to think much about them. I know, I suck, I'm not actually posting anything thats all that valuable but its fun for me! So here we go with yet another list post, this time I'm going to put up some of my favorite lyrics. So, without further adieu, here are some of my favorite lyrics (in no particular order of course).

• Bright Eyes - Road to Joy
• Well I could have been a famous singer
  If I had someone else’s voice
  But failure’s always sounded better
  Lets fuck it up boys, make some noise!

• Marilyn Manson - Last Day On Earth
• The dogs slaughter each other softly
  Love burns it's casualties
  We are damaged provider modules
  Spill the seeds at our children's feet
  I'm so empty here without you
  I know they want me dead

• Marilyn Manson - Fight Song
• You'll never grow up to be a big-
  rock-star-celebrated-victim-of-your-fame
  They'll just cut our wrists like
  cheap coupons and say that death
  was on sale today

• Nine Inch Nails - The Wretched
• the clouds will part and the sky cracks open
  and god himself will reach his fucking arm through
  just to push you down
  just to hold you down

• Nine Inch Nails - The Great Below
• Ocean pulls me close
  And whispers in my ear
  The destiny I've chose
  All becoming clear
  The currents have their say
  The time is drawing near
  Washes me away
  Makes me disappear
  
  I descend from grace
  In arms of undertow
  I will take my place
  In the great below

• Nine Inch Nails - Love is not Enough
• Hey, the closer we think we are
  Well it only got us so far
  Now you got anything left to show
  No no I didn't think so
  Hey, the sooner we realize
  We cover ourselves with lies
  But underneath we're not so tough
  And love is not enough

• Nine Inch Nails - Sunspots
• Now I just stare into the sun
  And I see everything I've done
  I think I could have been someone
  But I can't stop what has begun
  When everything is said and done
  And there is no place left to run
  I think I used to be someone
  Now I just stare into the sun

• Converge - The Broken Vow
• Those nights we had and the trust we lost
  The sleep that fled me and the heart I lost
  It all reminds me
  Just how callous and heartless the true cowards are
  And I write this for the loveless
  And for the risks we take
  I'll take my love to the grave
  As tired and worn it is
  I'l take my love to the grave

• Converge - Phoenix in Flames
• She burns as bright as the sun
  and she falls darker than night
  She shines as light as these days
  And she fades faster than time
  Phoenix in flames

• Converge - You Fail Me
• you fail me with every fatal crush
  you fail me with every abandoned love
  you fail me with your inferno fuck me eyes
  that burn as fuel for my city and its neon lights

• Bright Eyes - Lets Not Shit Ourselves (To Love and to be Loved)
• And so I've learned to retreat at the first sign of danger.
  I mean, why wait around, if it's just to surrender?
  An ambition, I've found, can lead only to failure.
  I do not read the reviews.
  No, I am not singing for you.

There you have it, some of my favorite lyrics! Perhaps a little boring for you to read, but I had fun so I figured I'd post this.

Rawr.

So I bought a piece of equipment that is supposed to make recording EASIER, but instead learning how to use it is just pissing me the hell off. I'm also musically uninspired right now, for whatever reason, which I didn't admit to myself until about five minutes ago. What the fuck.

Here's where you say "Take your own advice, dude. Just roll with it."

To which I respond, "Fuck you. I'll be rational and objective later."



Also, I was making some food which requires measuring cups, at which point I discovered that my measuring cups somehow went missing during the moving process. I tried eyeballing it, but it just came out all fucked up. This is why Jesus invented Subway.

Eulogy

Yesterday a friend of mine from high school died. It was a shitty way to go, and all the fault lies with his doctor. It is terrible, unfair, and just utterly horrifying.

I had my breakdown last night, after getting the news, but today I realized that he wouldn't want any of us that knew him to dwell on either his death itself or the way he went. He'd want us to remember all the good times, and live life, and just... keep going. I think about him and I remember his laugh, and his big stupid smile, and all of that... he was always down for a good time, always ready to laugh. He was loyal as hell, always there... just a great fucking dude. He will be missed by many, many people, but we can always remember his laugh.

I miss you bro... thanks for everything.

Drink My Kool-Aid, and Follow Me Into Oblivion

You might not know this, but I am a preacher. A pastor. A messiah. A messenger from God, if you will.

Now you're thinking, "Okay, I can't wait to hear what this asshole has to say."

Well, here you go. I have unlocked the absolute meaning and method of life, through experience, and achieved enlightenment. What is this truth, this absolute meaning and method of life?

Just Roll With It.

That is all there is, that is all you need. Now, I'm not saying to just kick back and do nothing because you can't really do anything. That would be a gross, utterly depressing misinterpretation of this briiliant philosophy. There are things you can change, things you can alter in your life- you need a new job, get a new job. Your relationship sucks, get out of it. These things require action, and one should readily rise to the occasion.

But all that's obvious. I mean, duh, right? Those things aren't what really get us, really piss us off and make us go "Oh hey what the FUCK." What I'm concerned with are the unexpected things, the things that life throws at you with seemingly no rhyme or reason, other than to piss you the fuck off of course. Those are the scenarios in which you must rise ABOVE the anger, the frustration, and realize that "Hey, I really can't do dick about this, so I guess I should just roll with it and see where it goes." Because, honestly kids, I've realized lately more than ever that everything really does happen for a reason, even if you have no fucking clue as to what that reason is. See, that's where most of us make a fatal mistake- shit happens, we get all flustered, then we're too uppity and butt-hurt about it to really learn from the situation, accept it, and be glad for it. Because it's these uncontrollable, apparently-bullshit-but-could-help-you-in-the-end-if-you'd-only-shut-up-and-pay-attention situations that really build and define you as an individual. It's the bad shit, more than the good, that makes you who you are. I've been fortunate enough to experience a lot of really bad shit, that most people I know don't know about, and I am thankful for every ounce of it because that is what made me the goddamned determined, solid-ass motherfucker that I am today. What I do wish, however, is that I'd known how to just roll with it at the time, because I would have gotten a lot out of it a hell of a lot quicker. I didn't know then, but I DO know now, and you better be absorbing this bullshit because my mac-n-cheese is getting cold while I rant-type this out.

No matter what happens, no matter how bad, or unexpected, or unfair it seems to be, you've just got to find the strength inside of yourself to realize that it's not the end of the world, and some good will eventually come out of it if you're patient enough to learn. We take life far to seriously in America, which is why we're all depressed and strung-out and die young. We're so high-strung and gogogo that when shit happens, we freak out and reach for the first solution that presents itself. What we don't realize is that not every situation HAS a solution, or an answer, or a quick fix. Sometimes, you've just got to know when to stop, sit down, and think about the situation. Just calm down, take deep breaths, and try to look at the situation objectively. It is in this state, when you have risen above your own anger and frustration and stepped outside of yourself that you realize "Wow, I think the best I can do right now is just roll with it." Because really, you never know where life is going to take you or what the plan is. You just have to be calm enough to really see and understand and ACCEPT when things change. Adapt and overcome, my friends. Because even when all the shit hits the proverbial fan, life has a way of just handing you the things you need to cope or overcome or indeed be happier than you were originally, if you'd only slow down enough to catch them. I was talking to a friend this evening, and he said "I don't understand how your life works. It's like life just throws these random things at you, and you just catch them." And that's just how it goes. If you really want something, and you focus your desire and your energies towards it (but not in a destructive, ridiculous manner, mind you), just be pure in your desire for true happiness, life will give it to you. One only needs to be aware enough to recoginze it, and brave enough to take that leap of faith and accept it. It won't always be the neatest, cleanest of scenarios; often, it seems like it's just a shitstorm of epic proportions, but all you've got to do is weather the storm until you reach the eye, at which point life will give you what you need. If you fight it- just dive right in and try to manhandle it- you're going to get all ripped to pieces. But if you roll with it, weather the storm, adapt and overcome, etc, you will be rewarded for your patience.

Just fucking ROLL WITH IT, kids! Live life, don't freak out, fall in love, follow your dreams; rise, fall and reclaim; live, love, ROCK! Just find happiness and contentment in what you have, and life will give you what you want. But do not be lazy, do not expect it to just fall into your lap while you sit on your ass watching American Idol; you must earn it. For you cannot truly appreciate the sweet until you have tasted the bitter. Life is like Chuck E Cheese's- you play the games; you win some, you lose some; but if you just keep on keepin on, eventually you'll have enough tickets to trade in for something really cool. You just gotta learn to roll with it, dude.

It's not too hard. Give it a shot.

Well fuck me sideways.

You should listen to The Birthday Massacre. Excellent industrial, if you're into that kind of thing. Think sparkly bright synths meets heavy guitars, plus hauntingly beautiful girl vocals. Good times. I'm enjoying Violet immensely right now. Look it up.

In other news, I want a new job. One that is NOT related to a corporation in any way, shape or form. Fucking corporate.

Also better pay would be nice, but hey.

Hot Damn

"Don't Let Go" (En Vogue) has to be the greatest love song ever.

Just accept it. I have, and now I'm going to go listen to Tool.

I MUST agree

that Thirteenth Step is one of the most flawless albums ever, and it's a goddamn motherfucking shame that they won't do it again. "WHY, Maynard and Billy, WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!?"

And goddamn do I miss Pop Up Video. That show was like blow for music lore geeks like myself.

Speaking of friggin awesome shit from the Nineties, today I decided that En Vogue needs to make some kind of massive comeback. Yum. Currently listening to Born to Sing, their first album, and... yum. "Don't Let Go" is like the quintessential love song for me.

How come pop music just sucks now? There are occasional pieces of gold here and there, but in general pop just... sucks. Record labels and media moguls and such just dilute the airwaves with so much cookie-cutter bullshit that almost nothing else gets through. Sad times. Money is, indeed, the root of all evil.

(Or was that women? Either way.)

Lesse... my top albums? Hmm...

(in no particular order)
APC- Thirteenth Step
NIN- The Fragile
Radiohead- Kid A
Deftones- White Pony/Saturday Night Wrist
Marilyn Manson- Mechanical Animals/Eat Me, Drink Me
Massive Attack- Mezzanine
The Unknownn- The Unknownn
Metallica- Ride the Lightning/Master of Puppets
Tool- Aenima

Single greatest piece of music ever written: Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata"

(POP)

Cory,

the (pop) part of your blog's title reminded me of one of the more awesome shows VH-1 had.

I give you:


Hell yeah.

A Perfect Album

I was listening to A Perfect Circle's album 13th Step when I came to a conclusion about the album. I think that 13th Step is one of the best albums I have ever heard both musically and production wise. I mean honestly, the production of the album is flawless. The tracks are arranged in the perfect order, the recording is excellent but not too over produced and everything is laid out without being too over arranged. Then the songs themselves just are amazingly well done. Maynard, Josh Freese, and Billy really put together some amazing tracks. (side note: it makes me want to cry when I realize APC won't be making any more awesome albums.)

Besides 13th Step, I can't think of many albums that achieve this level of excellence. Let me see if I can name them off (in no particular order):

• NIN - Year Zero
• NIN - The Fragile
• Converge - Jane Doe
• Radiohead - Amnesiac
• Minus the Bear - They Make Beer Commercials Like This
• Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals
• Failure - Fantastic Planet
• Depeche Mode - Violator
• Bright Eyes - Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground

So there you have it, the ten albums I think are pretty much Perfect in every way. What are your top ten albums and what makes them your favorite?

I Sincerely Hope

That everyone can appreciate this as much as I do.

I just want to say

That life never ceases to amaze me, and I can't begin to describe how thankful I am for that.

Black Sabbath

Makes me want to do acid.

In other music news

Anyone who says that Metallica's And Justice For All wasn't a good album can go suck a dick, while listening to the intro to "Blackened", and try to say it again. With the dick in their mouth.

We'll see how far they get with THAT.

Revel in the Nerdery

As you listen to the Diablo II Original Soundtrack.

That's what I'm doing, anyway.

I could wax poetic about this, but that would just be overkill. Simply stating that I'm listening to the Diablo II OST says it all, I think.

I don't usually do this

But I feel compelled to post the lyrics to Citizen Cope's "Fame", which is currently my favorite song. It's just so... good. The album is The Clarence Greenwood Recordings, which you should go buy right now. Oh, and the lyrics belong to him, so don't pilfer them and call them your own, copyright whenever etc etc.

Got the law man
The con man
The liquor store man
Got the man at the premiere to "Spider-Man"
Got the old man calling on the young man
Got the soul man
Trying to keep a hold man
I seen the stars lookin in her eyes
So many times i tried
Seen a man who caught the rainbow's end
He claimed
That the pot of gold resided within

For a name in the U.S.A.
For a little bit of fame today
For a name in the world today
You want to fly high
You want to fly high
You want to fly
You want to fly
For a name in the world today
For a little bit of fame today
For a name in the U.S.A.
You want to fly high
You want to fly high
You want to fly
You want to fly
You want to fly high
You want to fly high
You want to fly high
You want to fly high

Got the this is your land man
This is my land man
Got the blood on the tracks man
Got the guilty man
Got the innocent man
Got the buffalo soldier
The dreadlock Rastaman
Seen the stars looking in her eyes
So many times I've tried
Talked to a man who caught the
rainbow's end he found
That the pot of gold resided within

For a name in the world today
For a little bit of fame today
For a name in the U.S.A.
You want to fly high
You want to fly high
You want to fly
You want to fly
For a name in the U.S.A.
For a little bit of fame today
For a name in the U.S.A. today
You want to fly high
You want to fly high
You want to fly
You want to fly
You want to fly high

Good to know

If you listen to "Lux Aeterna" from the Requiem For A Dream soundtrack while smoking a cigarette in the dark and pacing with a head full of thoughts, you will both know and understand insanity.

Fucking balls, man

fucking balls.

You don't know what I'm talking about, and that's okay.

In other news, you should read Achewood. Ray is my hero, and Roast Beef is my emo side.

I WILL

rock you like a moherfucking hurricane.

Thank you Cory (not me, somebody else. I don't speak in third person.)









"Please hang up and try your call again later, when you're fucking rational."

Pivotal

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at 3:15 AM on Thursday, July 26th 2007, and it has affected me for the rest of my life.

Hey,

We've all got our priorities. I dropped out of college pretty much because it was peventing me from focusing on the things I love, the things that complete me- namely music. However, even if you had been inclined towards such an action, you have a family to feed. I've just got little old me, so a full-time job as a barista is plenty to feed and house me. Not so much with a wife and kid ;) Different scenarios, different priorities.

PS
You need to buy a Mac, and learn GarageBand. Problem solved.

;)

Damn School

I was looking around at new music I need to listen to / buy and it really is annoying me that school has taken up so much of my time I've had to neglect my music. I haven't been able to play hardly at all and I've been so poor I haven't been able to afford much of any new music. Fortunately I have a little over two months left and then I'll be down in Austin where I should have more free time to enjoy music again. You are lucky that you get to keep on with the music Cory, I haven't been able to and it sucks.

PS

You and I need to find a way to record music ala The Postal Service again.

Insensitivity's a Bitch

This JUST happened:

A Friend: "So a really good friend of mine's sister just miscarried in the third trimester."

Me: "Burn."

I'd like to thank the Academy, as well as society and pop culture for desensitizing me to that degree.

Nostalgia

Can suck a dick.

I'm depressed, and I want to work on some music.

To Follow Up

Here is an excellent interview with Manson from a recent issue of SPIN. Check it out.

Oh Paris Hilton,

Seriously? You've reformed?

Hmm.

...

Really?

I mean, you couldn't even say which Bible passage was your favorite. Pff.

Who knows. I'm intrigued, at least.

And still desperate for Ms. Spears to make a comeback. I mean, come ON Britney, get it together.

Pff.

Oh Baby

Yet another shot of Ledger's Joker from the filming of The Dark Knight:



Keeping the classic look, yet making it fucking scary. Rad.

Countdown to The Dark Knight

Praise Jesus, we finally have an ACTUAL picture of Heath Ledger as the joker-

Which is pretty rad. I was getting rather sick of all the fakes.

I think my level of stokage shot up about 75% the second I saw this picture. That makes me, like, uber-stoked. Or something.

-C.

Eat Me, Drink Me

I really love this album. It sounds like he has taken the sound from his triptych of Antichrist Superstar, Mechanical Animals, and Holy Wood and put it all together with Tim Skold. Its really quite an amazing album I must say. It does make me feel kind of sad for Manson though, it has a certain sense of hurt throughout the album and I'm pretty sure this album is about one person in particular.

Sarah Mclachlan

How is she so amazing? Somebody tell me.

Eh?

So last night I had some strange dreams, including one in which I was dating Liz Vicious-


Can you blame me? Honestly.

And I thought it would be a good excuse to post porn in my blog.

About damn time

So since I wrote that song mentioned in the previous entry, I've been writing a decent amount of guitar-based shit. Pretty basic stuff too, compared to the last electric guitar-based project I did, rise.fall.reclaim. That stuff was guitar-based, but I used a grip of effects and had quite a bit of layering going on, as well as electronic elements thrown in all over the place. This stuff is a lot more straight-up, just guitar, bass and drums, really simple sounds- clean, slightly distorted, and really distorted (as well as my ever-present reverb, for those who are familiar with my playing). I think I was more deeply inspired than I realized by the stripped-down rock vibe of Manson's new album (see entry: Eat Me). I'm pretty excited to be working on this sort of stuff again, especially writing some heavier stuff. I haven't written anything heavy in... what feels like forever, so this is rad.

That's about it.

-C.

I think I just

Composed one of the greatest songs I've ever written.

And that's saying something.

Back to basics after almost strictly composing electronica for a while- programmed drums, 2 guitars (live), bass (live). Can't decide if I'm brave enough to put my own voice over it just yet. If I actually write lyrics for it, maybe. We'll have to wait and see.

Eat Me

So, I got a chance to, uh... "preview in its entirety" Marilyn Manson's new album Eat Me, Drink Me. Now, that might make it sound like I've got some mad hookups or something, seeing as the album doesn't come out until June 5th; let me assure you that my "maddest" hookup is simply my internet connection and this handy-dandy illegal downloading tool.

Okie dokie, about the album... MY GOD. As you listen through the album, almost every song has a sound in it that is unique to this album. It's highly guitar driven, but not in his classic power-chord-strumming rock-out kind of way. Eat Me, Drink Me is easily Manson's most musically intricate album to date. Guitar solos are not uncommon, and a plethora of as-yet-unheard influences come right out to the forefront. Several tracks have a definite bluesy feel to them, while still retaining... Manson. That's something that's fascinating about this record- it's a HUGE shift in style, yet it is still undeniably him. This record is really everything that it should be for this point in his life, and that aspect shows most prominently in Manson's lyrics (and vocal delivery- there's definite successful experimentation on that front as well). Eat Me's lyrics are his most personal to date, dealing almost solely with the events in his life from the last couple of years (you know, Dita, Evan, etc... look it up).

That aspect of Eat Me is particularly interesting to me, considering the current trend in mainstream bands- "going political". Trent Reznor produced a freaking CONCEPT ALBUM to mirror our current socio-political scenario; even Linkin Park has gone political apparently. Yet, Marilyn Manson, who's lyrics have been predominantly socio-political in nature from day one, decided NOT to go that route. I think it's freaking excellent, personally; I enjoy Manson going all introspective (I think I've read his autobiography- here ya go- about 30 times).

To conclude (gotta get to my life outside the internet), even people that DON'T enjoy Marilyn Manson should check out Eat Me, Drink Me when it comes out June 5th. Drastic stylistic changes, all for the better. Some longtime fans might feel like they're getting jipped due to the complete lack of balls-to-the-wall headbangers on this record, but true fans and new fans alike will gladly trip balls all the way through.

-C.

Fish!

NIN's new live DVD would definitely be a bigger fish. I can't wait to buy it and beat off all over the case myself, but that probably won't be for a while.

In the meantime, my big fish coming up is Saturday night, when I shall be going to my first rave with a couple of friends. I'll DEFINITELY be writing about that, let me freaking tell you.

Until then,

-C.

Update

Cory, you are lucky. I don't actually feel like flaming you for your liking Rise Against. Strange? Perhaps, but I have bigger fish to fry. I just got Beside You In Time and I'm itching to watch it. What better excuse than to review it? Haha. I know, you might be sensing a trend in my reviews (NIN) but what can I say? Year Zero blows my freaking mind and I am on a huge NIN kick. Anyways, be prepared for that one. Cheers.

-Sam

lawlz

Sam's gonna have a field day over the Rise Against post, by the way. Let the flaming begin!

Speaking of Pop Sensibility

I can't get enough of Rise Against's new album (well, 2006 anyway).

I can appreciate Rise Against because while they are indeed a mainstream band, with lots o' radio singles that KROQ plays over and over again till you want to puke, they have enough punk cred to tour with Bad Religion. That, at least, says SOMETHING. And while the majority of "punk" bands today that actually get radio play fall more in line with the bubblegum punk movement (fuck you, Blink 182), in which pop sensibility is the ONLY discernible trait of the music, Rise Against sticks to a more classic format and actually infuse their music with some MEANING. Politics of a variety of sorts make up a good chunk of the lyrical content, but there are plenty of more personal songs dealing with love and life in general. Thankfully, though, Tim McIlrath manages NOT to come across like a whiny brat (see: Panic at the Disco, The Academy Is, Fallout Boy, etc) while still emoting as though he really does indeed feel the words he's singing. I think his vocals are probably one of my favorite aspects of the band, because his range is pretty damned decent and he knows how to cover all the bases. Soft and melodic, belting it, scratchy and frantic, balls out screaming... the man covers it all.

What I've heard of the new album is excellent. The only reason I haven't listened all the way through it yet is because I can only listen to so many of the songs before I'm dying to hear "Prayer of the Refugee" and "Ready to Fall" again. Those two songs (both of which are the singles released so far) are just... excellent, especially "Prayer". Few songs can get me pumped up enough to want to throw down my cool exterior and jump around like a lunatic, but this one does it every fucking time. It's one of those "Fuck you asshole, I don't need your kind of help" kind of songs, which is always fun, but this one manages to not be "just another one like that" (see: Linkin Park).

Well I'm not feeling incredibly eloquent or descriptive right now, so I'll leave it at that. Go check out the album, The Sufferer and the Witness, then follow it up with Siren Song of the Counter Culture. You'll be glad you did.

Unless of course you don't like that sort of thing, in which case you can just fuck off.

-C.

Catch my picture...

...Smack my bitch up

Whoa!

Not to ruin the sanctity of the blog or anything...

... but I'm drunk as fuck.

I sincerely hope

That all of you go here and listen to Marilyn Manson's new songs. Rather than Tim Skold simply jacking riffs from his former musical buddies KMFDM to insert into new Manson material like on the majority of GAOG, this new album is shaping up to be a COMPLETELY new musical direction for the band. The first time I listened to "Heart-Shaped Glasses" I was like... "No way." It's completely unexpected, yet entirely satisfying. "If I Was Your Vampire" isn't AS big of a departure as "Glasses", but it's still a pretty different sound and isn't what I really expected to hear. While Manson has always reinvented both the image and the sound of the band on each album, this seems to be the most significant departure for him thus far, leading the band into more of a gothy alt-rock kind of sound. The most interesting thing about it I think is that the whole feel is reminscient of certain elements of several of his other albums, as i he's taken bits and pieces of his old material and brought them together, creating something entirely new.

I love it, you all should check it out.

Cory,

I love three word posts.

Sam,

That was beautiful.

Art Is Resistance

What better way to start out my posts on this blog than to review Nine Inch Nails' new album Year Zero. There are so many things to say about this album that it has been hard to write something more coherent than it rocked my freakin' world. Although that might be an appropriate review for Cory, I have a hard time sounding like such a fanboy; so this will be my attempt at reviewing Year Zero and the universe it has created.

I first heard Survivalism when it was "leaked" a few weeks before its release date and I got the impression that the song was a loose follow up to The Hand That Feeds. In many ways, it really is, but what I didn't realize is that the whole album would have this political/rebellious/angsty theme. Unlike With Teeth, which is much more traditional Nine Inch Nails album refined to musical perfection, Year Zero is gasp A CONCEPT ALBUM. Thats right, you heard me, Year Zero is actually an album that doesn't have to do with Trent Reznor's self loathing. It actually has a story line and even has an entire alternate reality game that was started a few
months before the album was released.

I have to admit, my first reaction when I realized this was one of shock, surprise, and glee all at the same time. While there is a whole game with the album, I'm not going to get into that this post. I'll save that for later. Right now, I just want to review what I thought about the album
itself. The first thing I noticed about the album when I bought it (yes Cory, I actually bought it) was the fact that the CD is black, but when you heat it up, the black turns to white and you can see Nine Inch Nails, zeroes and ones, and the copyright notice at the bottom. Pretty damn cool I must say. Aside from that, you have your album artwork, which is kind of strange by
the way, and the liner with all the songs lyrics.

Year Zero starts out with HYPERPOWER! an instrumental intro that reminds me
of Pilgrimage on The Fragile. After that we kick right into The Beginning of the End which is a great opening track with a nice swagger to it. We move right into Survivalism with no delay and that songs just gets you really pumped up for the rest of the album. Oddly enough, I would say that Survivalism has the most energy in the album so it gets you all excited, just to relax and have a more political/angsty feel. Odd, but Nine Inch Nails pulls it off. Survivalism really sets the tone of the album for me with lyrics focusing on America and Americans attitude.
I got my propaganda
I got revisionism
I got my violence
In high-def ultra realism
All a part of this great nation
Selfishness, apathy, and manifest destiny run thoughout this song and the rest of the album.

The Good Soldier is one of my favorite songs on the album right now and it has a sort of relaxed and uncaring attitude. From The Good Soldier, Vessel breaks in with a noisy, very Nine Inch Nails beat. This song really is what Trent Reznor was talking about when he said Year Zero was "Very noisy, fucking cool."

I think the standout song on this whole album is Capital G. While all the other songs completely kick ass, this is just so good! If you haven't heard this song, you really need to go out and do that now. Last I checked, it was on Nine Inch Nails Myspace page. Go listen to it now, I'll wait, seriously.

OK good.

I'll stop reviewing each track individually now, but what I can say is that the
album has a great flow and each song is carefully ordered. Although I love the whole album, I have to say I have grown extra attached to a few of the songs. Right now, my favorite songs on the album in no particular oder are: Vessel, Capital G, My Violent Heart, God Given, The Great Destroyer, and Zero Sum. As you can see, I had a hard time actually picking out those songs that rose above the rest.

While Year Zero is quite a change from the Nine Inch Nails we have all grown up with and love, but Year Zero completely pulls off a musical reinvention without a hitch. I have become completely enamored with the new sound and attitude of this album. While it may be a bit shocking at first, once you give it a listen, you will never doubt Trent Reznor's genius
again.


Sam

Just for Sam

Write something, dammit.

;)

The Fragile

Gives me eargasms.

In other news, if I'm ever famous I'm going to randomly say the word "nigger" on TV or something, without a context, and just see what happens. Nobody would get it.

Happy 4/20 kids. Get baked.

NIN Reworked

Sam will be covering NIN's new album Year Zero as well I believe, so I'll just lay down my take.

At first, honestly, I didn't like it. It hurts to say that, because Trent Reznor is one of my Holy Trinity (Reznor, Yorke, Hetfield), but it's true. It was just so... unexpected. I couldn't even get through the first 4 tracks. But this week I forced myself to listen through the whole thing, and it's a goddamned good fucking thing I did, because it turns out Year Zero is an excellent freaking album once you get past the initial shock.

Reznor has once again successfully reinvented NIN's sound, while still making it sound like NIN. That's the damn cool thing about Trent- no matter how different the style is or whatever, you can always tell that he's touched it. The album is brutal, brooding, beautiful, intense, and most importantly, impossible to just write off. Believe me, I tried at first, but I just couldn't do it.

(Really, if Trent put out an album consisting in its entirety of him farting into a microphone and adding various reverbs and other effects to it, I'd freaking buy it, and I'd freaking love it in private. But I'd be a pretentious asshole about it in public.)

So, basically, Year Zero blows my mind, and you all should go buy it, and not illegally download it like I did because I'm poor (someday I'm going to send Trent a manila envelope full of cash to make up for all of his music that I've stolen).

And... stuff.

New Blood

My good friend and musical pal Sam has joined forces with me to rule the galaxy together as father and... a good friend of his. He'll apparently be writing about music and such, and hopefully not technological computer geek stuff, because that's what he does. If he gets out of line I'll just put it in his butt.

Better Late than Never pt II

YouTube stopped being shit, so here's Samwell's "What What" video. See "Better Late Than Never" from earlier today.

I obviously have nothing better to do today

I think Kate Beckinsale is one of the most beautiful women. Ever.

I think I'm being stalked.

And not by someone hot, either.

Yeah, I know. That sucks.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

clicky clicky

Better Late Than Never

Today I become the 2455877678764556th blogger to write about this video since it was released on Valentine's Day this year. I suppose it's okay though because Jessica Cutler only just wrote about it on the 9th of this month, and she's my hero.

Samwell is a freaking genius. I mean, that guy has some massive cojones. It's one thing for a straight girl or guy to sing about sex and be that explicit about it, but for a gay man to do a song called "What What (In the Butt)" is damned ballsy. The song and the video are hilarious as all hell too, yet another testament to his ballsy-ness. Not only is he totally fine with singing about buttsex to millions of YouTube browsers (quickly followed by the viewers of MSNBC and VH1, etc etc), but he can be FUNNY about it. It's like... a sincere parody? Or something. But it rocks, whatever it is.

Props to Samwell.

It's an Epidemic of Personal Proportions

Or something. I've been sick more times this year than the combined total number of times I've been sick over the last three years.

WTF?

Fuck college, dude. I stopped drinking and everything. Damn... life. Want to know how upset I am? I'm listening to Linkin Park. That's right, Linkin Park.

Yeah.

It's Just Neato

So tonight I actually programmed a dance song. Like, 140 bpm, cheesy synths, repetitive drums, etc. It's really simple, but it's still a lot of fun. It's posted on my SectionZ profile, along with 5 others that are my usual really dark down-tempo sort of style.

fyi

seven_of_arts
so are you gonna see tmnt?

Jeff
meh
i'm poor
i'll just download it
haha

seven_of_arts
hahaha
good call
i think it looks good
though splinter looks gay
sarah michelle gellar does the voice of april
thought that was interesting
alas, no corey feldman though
lol

Jeff
sarah michelle gellar does the voices of the women in my fantasies
fyi

seven_of_arts
hahahaha
sarah michelle gellar IS the women in my fantasies

By the by

Everyone (who?) should check out SectionZ, it's a sweet place to find some sweet electronic music by... people like me. Hence me putting my stuff up there, as mentioned in the last blog. Go go do do listen listen.

9 Days Later

I've been writing some songs for the new electronica project, and I'm absolutely loving what I've got so far. Thus far it's two instrumentals, both of which can be heard/downloaded here, and two more traditionally-structured songs with vocals. My neighbor and good friend Jules will be providing a female voice to flesh things out a bit as soon as we can mesh our two schedules. That very problem is the reason most bands fail, I believe.

In other news, I have one more class before Spring Break is mine, during which I will hopefully get to write more. I'd like to do a review of the album from the Unkownn that I've been raving about, but we'll see how that goes.

ah say gah-DAYUM

i am certainly hungry.

St. Freakin' Patty's, and some other stuff.

Started at 3PM. 25 beers and several gulps of Jaeger straight from the bottle later, I finally passed out at around 2AM.

Then I vomited at 3, and went back to bed, and thankfully didn't vomit again till about 8.5 hours later.

So it goes without saying that I had an excellent time, celebrated my Irishness rather thoroughly, and reclaimed my booze-related bragging rights after 2 months of not drinking. Of course, now I'm back to no alcohol, but I did my best to rock the house, and succeeded rather well I think.



In other news, I've been listening to a great deal of electronica lately, and that of course has made me want to write more electronica (which I haven't done in about a month). So I might be doing that whenever I have the time. If so, I'll try and post some here. In the meantime, I highly suggest the following artists:

not too well known:

The Unknownn

the classics:

Massive Attack
The Prodigy
The Crystal Method

That's basically what I've been listening to lately. Check em out, especially the Unknownn since they're so... unknown. They sound like if Amy Lee of Evanescence sang for a more consistently dark Massive Attack. Basically, they rock.

Oh. My. God.

Go see 300. Right now.

It was... godly. Capable of inspiring a multitude of reactions, not the least of which being this one.

Oh well.

Upon review of my last post prior to my month-long absence, I discovered that I did indeed briefly discuss the whole Paris Exposed thing. Maybe I had more I wanted to say? I can't remember.

Apparently I'm just retarded.

TA-DA! I'm not dead.

So I've been neglecting this cursed thing for about a month now, albeit through no conscious effort of my own. I'm just a busy guy.

Since my last post, Bob and I have firmed up our set list for this Saturday's show at DiPiazza's. We're doing five songs, as originally planned, although which five songs has changed on a few occasions. But we finally cut wha needed to be cut, and finished writing some new material, so we're finally sitting on a very solid set list. The show should go pretty well, so hopefully everyone we've invited will actually show up.

Because of my absence from the blogosphere for so long, I've missed the opportunity to blog on a couple of excellent pop culture topics, my favorite being the "Paris Hilton Exposed" fiasco. I actually started writing as soon as I heard about it, but thigs popped up and I never got around to finishing it. Our sadistic voyeuristic society never ceases to amaze, and that whole thing was such a boon of worthless personal information for us to drool over that it was just too good to pass up I suppose.

In other news, Britney Spears is a fucking lunatic, and looks like a goddamn cancer patient with that goddamned shaved head. Why, Britney? WHY?

I don't get her issue with rehab either. Twice she checked in (to two different facilities), and twice she checked out before her first day was finished. Just STAY for christssake, you need a good slap.

I've been writing some more electronica lately, which I think I might post on this page just for fun. I'll have to figure out how to do that first though.

Hmmm...

Ah yes, job search 2.0. I HATE my job (I work in foodservice, at the goddamned dorms). I have been hating it for, oh, two years now, and I'm finally at the point where I feel like if I don't leave now I'll be stuck there for the rest of my college career. And that is probably THE worst thing I can imagine having to do in college. So I once again put in a resume at Whittaker's, an instrument store close to here, because that would be THE job for me (selling guitars? how much easier could it get?). But since they're not hiring currently, I'll have to wait for that miraculous day when they finally go through their stack of resumes looking for new employees only to discover that I TAKE UP HALF THE DAMN STACK. However the comic book store practically next to the guitar store IS currently hiring, so I applied there. That would also be damn sweet... I've recently rekindled my ancient love of comic books and comic heroes, particularly Wolverine. I've recently purchased numerous books collecting specific runs of both Wolverine's series and his limited series. It all basically forms a biography of Wolverine, which is probably one of the most fascinating stories in comic books. Ever. I just hope they don't screw up his damn movie.

Speaking of shitty comic-to-movie scenarios, Ghost Rider was not so great. It SHOULD have been an ultra-dark, very very intense horror movie with action elements. Instead, it was ann action movie with horror concepts. And really it just wasn't a great movie, as far as filmmaking goes. Some of the acting was over the top as well, which took a great deal away from the quality of course. Cage was excellent though, I thought. It was fun, and definitely had its moments. Basically it was cool, but it wasn't good.

Eva Mendes was bangin though.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll

Welcome back to college.

Needless to say, I've been busy, hence the no bloggy. Currently I'm eating a Regular Chicken Carbonara from Quizno's and reading about the latest Paris Hilton scandal. How stupid do you have to be to not only stash that stuff in a storage facility, but forget to pay the bill? It's too painful to comprehend. If nothing else, at least now we all know what a kilo of blow looks like when it's on some dude's chest. Snorty snorty!

I wish I could get that kind of publicity. In the meantime, I'll just shamelessly plug my gig with my buddy Bob as Stone of Jordan on February 24th at 8PM, at DiPiazza's in Long Beach. Go. On time.

Speaking of SoJ, we're doing well in the practicing/writing department. Got some great shit going on, so hopefully we'll rock the house on the 24th (go.).

I'm out.

Stone of FREAKIN Jordan

So Bob and I recorded a rough demo of one of our songs today, and it is now posted on our myspace page. So check it out, kids.

Saturday Night Wrist

The new Deftones album is fucking mind-blowing. "Beware" and "Cherry Waves" could make the album rock all on their own, but they have no need to. The whole thing is just... amazing. Listen. Now. Or be damned.

Angsty-folksy-country-girly music

Is apparently the soundtrack in my brain today. I've alternately had "Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?" by Paula Cole and "My Favorite Mistake" by Sheryl Crow stuck in my head.

Where the HELL did that come from?

I listen to Ani DiFranco, Geri X, and a few other angsty-folky girl artists fairly frequently, but I haven't listened to Cole or Crow in like... years.

Damn my inner female folk singer.

So

I've decided that from here on out the only alcohol I'm consuming will be wine. It'll lower my intake, and I love wine. All better.

Bob and I sound freaking rad right now, we'll be amazing for our show Feb 24th. SoJ is on fire.

Other than that... Just chillin. Not feeling very interesting right now.

It's Been Awhile

Well, the reason I've been so... lame in bloggings post-return to LB is simply this: I've been partying like it was fucking 1999.

I've basically been intoxicated for 85 percent of the time since I've returned home. And I've been sleeping all day and staying up all night, so after I wake up, shower, get dressed, and eat, it's already dark- which means it's ok to party. See, I have a no partying till sundown rule that I only break once in a while, and this schedule completely does away with any concern about dayttime partying. But this can be rough, because if you do that sort of thing on this sort of schedule, it basically means you're partying for the entire span of your wakefulness.

And that, kids, is rough.

But HIGHLY enjoyable. We did some hardcore rockstar shit my first night back, and it was amazing.

But now I have a headache, and I'm tired, and I have to rehearse with Bob before our first gig as Stone of Jordan on Feb 24th, so It's time to cut back.

Except for the wicked party we'll be having this week, and on the 31st. And maybe a few more times.

Closing thoughts: watch Dark City and A Scanner Darkly. Excellent films.

In the Spirit of the Lesbian Love Bike

I decided to search "dildo" on wikipedia, because that's a surefire way to find funny pics. Turns out there's a town in Newfoundland called... Dildo.

Something You Don't See Every Day

lawlz

STILL

diggin the new Breaking Benjamin album. It's just so... listenable.

This blog has gotten progressively bitchier

Cope.

My return home has been delayed again, aggravating me quite a bit. It's only by a day this time though, so I'll live.

I'm DYING to get back to LB though.

I started working on a new song tonight that I think is going to be mightily awesome, if I can get my lyricy-ness to stop focusing on a single topic. Recently (see: past 3 months) almost every lyrical scrap I've written has revolved around a certain situation I was in a few years back, and while the songs were originally varied in their take on the situation, more recent ones have simply been what can essentially be dubbed rewrites o the same thing.

Obviously, this is a poor scenario.

But as I was writing that part I was slapped upside the head by inspiration, so I think I might have solved the problem AND ensured the might of the aforementioned new song.

So that's that, I guess.

I've been listening to Imogen Heap's most recent album, Speak For Yourself lately, and I must say I enjoy it mightily (word of the day: any derivation of "might," spontaneously invented or otherwise). It's... quirky? Very melodic, great vocals, rather original piece of work.

Of course, I could be talking out of my ass on that last part; for all I know she ripped off some unheard-of-by-me indie chick and some indie-elitist fuckhead is going to psychically sodomize me for saying otherwise. Oh well.

Speaking of sodomy, I dowloaded the Marquis de Sade's book The 120 Days of Sodom, which is probably the most disturbing work of art in any form that I've had the pleasure to enjoy. Check it out, kids.

In other news, I'm burnt out on porn and I need a cigarette. Those two things are entirely unrelated, thank you very much.

Also

Everyone should check out The Adventures of Dr. McNinja, because it's amazing.

Well

I've been neglecting the bloggings lately, my apologies. Who I'm apologizing to...

We may never know.

Anyway, I didn't wind up having my wisdom teeth out, because my dentist is a nice guy (not the actual reason, but it's quicker). So that brightened my... week. Life?

I'm half returning from vacation tomorrow. By this I mean I'm leaving my father's, and returning to my mother's, and will actually be returning home on either the 10th or 12th. Vacation for me basically went home->mom's->dad's->mom's->home. Truly an American family, we are.

When I get HOME home I should have a shit-ton more to write about. Kinda hard to blog when you're sitting on your butt all day, doing nothing "blogworthy." Since I don't feel like chronicling every aspect of my day-to-day (ick), you get an occasionally sporadic blog-post rhythm. Cope.

As I was saying though, things should get interesting once I'm back in LB. Bob and I will be practicing our stones off (haha, band name pun), in anticipation of our Feb 24th gig. So there'll be musical updates for sure. Also, most of my friends will be back as well, so we'll be partying it up for sure. ALWAYS blogworthy. And I'm sure we'll be watching all kinds of movies and doing other shit worth reviewing.

Speaking of reviewing, I have yet to give you a real review of Jessica Cutler's (see previous blog for infolinks) book, The Washingtonienne. And I'm getting to the point where I just don't feel like it, so...

The book was excellent. Well-written, easy to read, can't put it down, ABSOLUTELY hilarious, inspiring, and sexy. I can't say much else, really, except that it's one of my all-time favorites now. I suggest it to just about anybody who isn't an uber-conservative-right-wing-born-again-christian type (if you fall into this category, even if you weren't offended by her promiscuity, the anal sex scenes would do you in for sure).

Need I say more? I said anal sex scenes. Isn't that enough on its own to pique your interest?

I'm out for now. Tomorrow I'll watch Snakes on a Plane just so I have something to say. Yeah, I'm behind the Times on that one (media pun- I'm all over the place right now), but what the hell.

Joy of Joys

So today I had a routine dentist vist, just to check shit out, the usual. HOWEVER this revealed that two of my wisdom teeth are impacted, SO...

Tomorrow morning at 10:30 I'm having both of those ripped out of my head. In the most professional manner, of course.

I am NOT happy about this at all, as you can imagine. Not exactly a pleasant scenario. Hopefully they'll give me some righteous pain meds though, so I can spend the following recovery days in a haze.



In other news, Bob and I have our first gig as Stone of Jordan on Saturday the 24th of February at 8PM, at diPiazza's in Long Beach. We're both stoked, especially since it's so damn close to where we live. The owner, Mark, is an awesome guy too so I think we could possibly wind up playing there quite a few times. We'll have to see how everything goes. But if nothing else, Stone of Jordan is picking up.

I also finished reading Jessica Cutler's book, which was everything I hoped it would be and more. I'll write a full-length blog discussing it hopefully tonight, if I can get around to it. Soon, though.

Well that's it for now. Like I said, hopefully I'll get to the Cutler review later.

Ugh

HAPPY HANGOVER DAY!!!!!!


I'm in pain.


Party like it's 1999, kids. Party like it's 1999.

yay!

happy new year :)