Dan's Music Blog

Live Music

Dan — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:22:27 +0000

I went to a small outdoor acoustic performance by a local guitarist Kevin Neidig the other day. In between his songs he said something that I completely agree with: “Thank you for coming and supporting live music, because live music needs to be supported.” After he said this everyone there cheered very loudly. It was so great to hear that people know that live music needs to be supported and agree that it needs to be.

So here’s my advice, you can take it or leave it but, if you love music go and see a live performance. Now is a great time since it is summer and there are more outdoor concerts to go to. So whether you go to a small coffee shop, restaurant, or even a large concert by a famous band, just go and support live music! This will also help artist know that people still like their music and it may even inspire you to true to write your own songs.

Music Review: Moby

Dan — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:46:33 +0000

Moby, a DJ, singer/songwriter, and musician has a big fan following. He has 8 top 40 singles in the UK and sold over 10 million copies of his album “Play.” Along with turntables Moby plays the guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, and sings. He currently has 9 studio albums with his most current “Wait For Me,” which was released this year. “Play went 2 times Platinum in the US and 5 times in the UK, along with 18 that went Platinum in the UK and gold in the US. “Everything is wrong” went silver in the UK.

I think Moby’s music is very good. It is always a little different and has a good rhythm to it. He is a talented musician as well as a great DJ and songwriter. Check out some of his music.

Moby’s music is classified as dance, techno and alternative. Along with his music he supports many different charities such as The Humane Society.

His albums are:

Moby (1992)
Ambient (1993)
Everything is Wrong (1995)
Animal Rights (1996)
Play (1999)
18 (2002)
Hotel (2005)
Last Night (2008)
Wait For Me (2009)

Review: Modest Mouse

Dan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:19:40 +0000

Modest Mouse’s new EP was released today, as I was talking about in a post yesterday. This is in my opinion a great EP, maybe even better than their last album “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.” My favorite song so far is probably the B-side of “Autumn Beds” which is “The Whale Song.”

This EP features the usual Isaac Brock singing style that so many fans love. Also it features some interesting solo’s in “The Whale Song.”

It seemed to me that this EP was not promoted as much as their other albums. I know this was an EP and not a LP so they probably just didn’t spend as much money promoting since it doesn’t cost the price of a LP to buy.

I would give this EP a 7/10 rating.

A Great Fingerstyle Guitarist

Dan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:21:26 +0000

That was just one example of why many people think Andy Mckee is a great fingerstyle guitarist, and I agree. Not only does he do covers like this one of “Africa” but he also writes his own songs. He also uses some different, interesting guitars to play his songs. For example he uses a harp guitar for the song “Into the Ocean.”

He released his first album “Nocturne” in 2001, he is currently working on a new record, and he released 3 in between. Not only does he play guitar but he often adds in drum beats, where he hits the guitar with his hands to make different sounds. He is signed by CandyRat Records.

His albums are:

Nocturne
Dreamcatcher
Art of Motion
Gates of Gnomeria
Untitled New Album (not yet released)

Jack Johnson’s Upcoming Release

Dan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:01:42 +0000

Jack Johnson is releasing a DVD and CD called “En Concert.” This is going to be a live CD of some of his performances from his World Tour. The DVD is going to be about last summer’s European Tour, behind the scenes and some performances. On his website http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/archive tell said if they get 20,000 followers on twitter they will release a free download off of the new CD. Here is the link to Brushfire’s twitter http://twitter.com/brushfire. I think this is going to be a very interesting DVD and a great CD. Check out this trailer.

Upcoming release: Modest Mouse

Dan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:21:50 +0000

Modest Mouse is releasing an EP tomorrow, August 4th 2009 called “No One’s First, and Your Next.” Quick side note: For those of you who do not know an EP stands for extended play. An EP is too short to be an LP, long play record album.

Track listing:

Satellite Skin
Guilty Cocker Spaniels
Autumn Beds
The Whale Song
Perpetual Motion Machine
History Sticks to Your Feet
King Rat
I’ve Got It All

This EP features new recorded songs from “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank” and “Good News for People Who Love Bad News” also there are 2 b-sides on this EP. They released three singles off of this EP already. “Satellite Skin,” “Autumn Beds” and “Perpetual Motion Machine.” Here is “Satellite Skin.”

Here is “Whale Song” the B-side to “Autumn Beds”

There is a great solo in this song! Also there is some interesting singing over the back up singing.

“The Fab Four”

Dan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:35:10 +0000

I know a lot of people have discussed The Beatles but I really like their music and it has influenced tons of musicians, so I thought I would post about The Beatles. I’ll start with some quick facts about them (most people probably already know most of this).

Formed in Liverpool, England in 1960.
The Beatles
John Lennon, rhythm guitar, vocals
George Harrison, lead guitar, vocals
Paul McCartney, bass guitar, vocals
Ringo Starr, drums, vocals
Genre: Rock, pop
Known as trendsetters
“Please Please Me” / “Ask Me Why” was released in February 1963 as the first single in the US but failed to get on any charts.
February 1964 The Beatles came to the US.
Their success in the US started what was known as the “British Invasion.”

They broke up around 1969-1970.

The Beatles released 13 studio albums (unless I am missing some):

Please Please Me
With the Beatles
A Hard Day’s Night
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles
Yellow Submarine
Abbey Road
Let It Be

After they broke up they all released a solo albums. John Lennon was shot on December 8, 1980 in NYC. The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the first year they were eligible. Harrison died on November 29, 2001.

The Beatles music was featured in the musical movie “Across the Universe.” Which in my opinion is a great movie and features all of The Beatles top hits. I recommend checking this movie out.

How about Jack Johnson

Dan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 01:30:57 +0000

My last post was about some lyrics by Jack Johnson, and now I decided to post some info about him and review some of his music.

First if it isn’t obvious from his laid back lyrics and the relaxed sound, Jack Johnson is from Hawaii. Since he lives in Hawaii like most people he loves surfing. Surfing was mostly all he did as a kid and dreamed of being a pro surfer.

After graduating from Kahuku High School, Johnson went to college at the University of California in Santa Barbara. This is where he music passion started. He began writing songs and his friend G. Love recorded his song “Rodeo Clowns” (As I said in the post about G. Love).

Jack Johnson also started an organization called All At Once. Which is all about “being green.” Johnson is a huge supporter of this issue and even recorded a record in a green recording studio. Which used solar and has walls filled with jeans as insulation.

On Jack Johnson’s organization website http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/greening he has the facts about Brushfire Records: “Recorded using 100% solar energy, printed on 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper, and carrying the 1% For The Planet logo, Jack Johnson’s new album, Sleep Through the Static, is paving the way for responsible CD production and packaging.” I think this is great that he supports being green and encourages his fans to do the same.

Check out Jack Johnson’s music, he’s not only a great musician and surfer but is also a great person!

Hockey Mind Chaos

Dan — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 17:15:45 +0000

The band Hockey is coming out with a new album “Mind Chaos” which will be released on August 24. If you have never heard of Hockey I would recommend that you check them out and buy their new album when it comes out.

Hockey’s line up is Benjamin Grubin (vocals), Brian White (guitar), Jeremy Reynolds (bass), Ryan Dolliver (keyboards) and Anthony Stassi (drums). They have a great rhythm and lyrics that you will sing along to. This music is so catchy that you will fond that you will find yourself singing these songs even when you are not listening to them. http://www.hockeyband.co.uk/ Check them out!

Dave Matthews Band Hershey 2009

Dan — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:17:27 +0000

I went to the Dave Matthews Band concert in Hershey on July 24th, and I thought I would share my opinions of the concert. Overall I think it was a great concert, they played a lot of their new music off of their new album “Big Whiskey and The Groogrux King.” They also played some of their older songs which are always great to hear live. It was a great concert with nice weather!

The concert opened with a “Shotgun” tease solo by Dave Matthews and then they played “Squirm,” which is a new song off of “Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King.” In my opinion this was a great opener. The crowd loved “Shotgun” and then started to sing along with “Squirm.” The next song was “Proudest Monkey” this was great to hear live and surprised me since I haven’t heard of them playing this in awhile. Next was one of their popular older songs, “Satellite,” everyone recognized this song right away when Dave Matthews started to play the beginning of the song. The next two songs were new songs off of “Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King,” “Shake Me Like a Monkey” and “Seven” both of which the crowd sung along with and both sounded great. Next was “Seek Up” and then their most popular song off of the new album “Funny the Way It Is,” everyone cheered when they heard this song. Next was another new song “Why I Am” then a great older song “Crash Into Me.” Next was “Jimi Thing” which was about 20 minutes long. This was a great version, at the end of the song Dave Matthews started to sing “Sexy Mother F***er Shake That Ass” to a great beat and finished the song. Also at some point between songs he said something like “Tastes like chocolate, smells like cow shit.” The next few songs were all great also: “Alligator Pie,” “Everyday,” “Spaceman,” “Cornbread,” “Louisiana Bayou,” “#41,” and closed with “Don’t Drink the Water.” At this point the crowd was cheering and trying to get them to play more. They come back out for the encore which was “You and Me,” and “All Along the Watchtower.” Overall this was a great concert by the Dave Matthews Band.