Monday, October 31, 2011

Album Review for The Things They Carried 'There's Something I Can't Tell Anyone'

The Things They Carried a.k.a 3TC, are a Metal/Screamo band form Long Island who are making headway in the scene after releasing their first full length on 12/17/10, There's Something I Can't Tell Anyone, releasing their first single "364 Day Anniversary" on 1/15/11.

3TC released their debut EP Attention Crisis in 2009 and immediately began touring in promotion of it. In the summer of 2010 they hit the studio again to begin recording their current album. "We wanted to create something ...that all of us were equally excited about. We wanted every song to be as good as the next, no fillers!" said the band's singer, Steve Schwartz.

What you get from the band is a unique blend of metal, melodic screamo, and the famous post-hardcore sounds from Long Island music. The band has the uncanny ability to switch styles up in songs and still put unique musical parts over stunning vocals and catchy choruses. Vocally they are like a heavier Silverstein or Used while musically they compare to Dead Poetic and at their softer moments, Hawthorne Heights.

There's Something I Can't Tell Anyone opens strong with the quick pulsing and guitar riffed "Rationality of Failure." The song stands out because of the the unconventional guitar work not heard in their style of music. It has more of a mainstream feel to it.

The next track is"364 Day Anniversary," this song was the first single off the album and deservedly so because of the heavy scream filled opening that captivates from the start. The verse has a great back and forth flow of screams and vocals, but the best part of the song comes from calm part on. Once the calm building bridge sets in, the song quickly jumps into a heavy fast passed transition ending with awesome double bass and screaming.



"Less Fun Than Being Dead" is definitely a radio single if they go that route. It has a poppy hook and is one of the catchiest tracks on the album.

Perhaps the song with the most moving parts musically and certainly the most unique, is "Mosely." The song almost tells a story without the words and does a good job of staying interesting the whole way through. And of course the track ends with their signature heavy ending.

"Doubt" has a slow creepy intro with  good back and forth between the clean vocals and screaming like on "364 Day Anniversary." The chorus is very catchy and it also has a singlesque feel to it.

The following track, "18G," has an intense screamo intro switching between low bellows and high pitched shrills with singing following. Then it goes into this really dynamic psychotic screaming spoken word sounding part. It is without a doubt the favorite on the record.

"Is That Your Idea What a Girl Should Look Like?...Not Mine!" While posing a question and being extremely long, it also proves to be another strong track on the album. It features a soft intro with a strong chorus and a hop skip and a jump feel about it. In other words, it switches up between fast and slow and mixes patterns making a cool effect musically.

This next track is by far the best song musically. The guitar and drum work on here is phenomenal. There are plenty of strings and piano parts intertwined throughout the song, but they stand out the best toward the end when mixed with the choir like outro.

"An Ode to Rachel Winters" is more of a story telling type song and remains solid throughout. It has a soft intro and outro and brings some of the strings back. It features a nice smooth bridge with great guitar work layered with strings.

"Memoriam" is an excellent closing track. It's a stringy and acoustic ballad with "big" sound reminiscent of a radio soft single. The listener can definitely feel the emotion in the song that coincides with the music ending with electric guitars and harder vocals It's a build up that makes sense and is a nice capper to the record.

There's Something I Can't Tell Anyone stands out among many bands who dabble in the same genre because of the way they approach and create each song to be a work in of itself. They do a superb job of making every track unique but yet have the same feel with the rest of the album. The music seems to have a central theme and tells a wonderful story from beginning to end.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

New Music, Commercials, and More- InDisguise, Freestyle Fam, ErixFlix, and Courtney Zito

InDisguise
InDisguise just released a new single called "Soil Burns," off of their forthcoming album Ashes Divide, coming in 2012.


Voodoo Terror Tribe
VTT just released a new track called "Twenty 12," check it out below.




Courtney Zito
Director/actress, Courtney Zito of the "Hollywood Girl" web series is trying for a Superbowl commercial for the annual Doritos contest. Check it out and Vote!

Click the Link Below!
http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/#/gallery/?video=10202

Freestyle Fam
Two of the best rappers doing their thing right now, check out this 10 minute long cypher...


EriXFlix
This kid is nice with it, check out his other stuff on the Youtube page, interview soon

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Book Review on 'Fire' and Interview with Author, Mima

Fire is able to capture the essence of what it claims right on the cover, "The sweet side of love. The dirty side of rock."


The story follows the twists and turns of a music era that saw the beginnings of grunge music and gangster rap, the suicide of Kurt Cobain and the death of Tupac Shakur – both kings of the genre they helped set in place.


The sound was raw, the players were passionate, and music came from within the depths of the souls who created it.


Fire just doesn't define a band, it defines an era, an era where music shaped what was coming "tomorrow" and now that "tomorrow" is here, it never came.


The 90s are considered by many to be one of the biggest transitional phases of music following the unique sounds of the 80s and turning music into separate genres. 


The 90s split Punk Rock into hardcore, post hardcore, pop-punk, and power-pop. Metal became grunge, screamo, nu metal, rapcore, and progressive. And finally Hip-Hop became legitimate, leaving the confines of family friendly radio and party tunes with Dr. Seuss rhymes and becoming the powerhouse of music it is today. The 90s brought out West and East Coast rap, dirty south, gangster, pop rap, and political rap.


The author of Fire goes by the pen name of Mima. Fire is her first book and it starts with the initial spark of life in a band as they set their sights on something greater. 


Characters Tarah, Jimmy, William, Michael, and Eddie are thrusts into a whole new world – the music industry, where greed, tabloid gossip, and the party hard infested realities of being a celebrity become evident. 


The writing is witty, the emotions are real, and the story is heartbreaking and guaranteed to move you in some way. 


Once you pick the book up, you are sure not to put it down as you feel like you are inside the daily lives of the members of Fire.


The following is a Q&A with book author Mima

Where did you get the inspiration to write Fire?
The idea for Fire was actually floating around long before I actually sat down to write it. However, it was what I perceived as people's obsession with celebrity that probably was the biggest inspiration to actually start writing. It's the combination of everyone wanting to be famous but at the same time, almost not seeing celebrities as real people that I find kind of unsettling. With Fire, I really wanted to demonstrate that not only are celebrities real people with problems (that are often broadcast to the world), but also wanted to show that there is a great deal of work involved in 'being famous' - both breaking in and staying in the industry. And lastly, I feel that both the media, labels, management etc have a great deal to lose if celebrities aren't constantly in the public eye - whether it be in a good or bad light.

How long did this project take you start to finish?
I can't really say for certain because I always jump from one project to another, but I would say that I started to write and research for Fire probably in late 2008 - early 2009. The writing itself didn't take long, but research and publishing did take a little longer. Fire was published in January 2010.


What character do you identify with the most, and are these characters based on anyone?
It's funny because everyone always assumes I relate most to the main character, Tarah - but in many ways, I think Tarah is much more courageous than I am. I actually identify with Jimmy the most, although I relate to some aspect of all my characters. I never write about a character based on anyone. In fact, I introduce them into the story and they tend to form themselves. For example, Jimmy was supposed to be a minor character in Fire but he pretty much took over as soon as he arrived. That's why my next book is all about him.


What was the hardest part of the book and is there anything about the book you wish you could go back and change?
I would definitely go back and change my editor for the book! It's unfortunate how things played out, but it was my first time publishing and I was (and still am) learning as I go! There are definitely some things I would change in retrospect, such as dialogue and a few scenes. The most difficult part of the entire process would be getting a crash course on publishing, marketing etc...the actual writing, creating characters, etc is the easiest part.


Do you think this book would transfer well into a movie, and what actors/actresses would play the characters?
I actually think most of my writing would transfer better in movies than books simply because I often see writing as much more detailed in description and I would rather 'show'' people the story than have them read it. As for actors, it's hard to say. Best to not jump ahead of myself on this one.


What music do you listen to and what did you listen to in the early 90s?
POF of course! I actually listen to many kinds of music - everything from Katy Perry to Slipknot. I like music that is either really loud, really fast or has a lot of honestly and meaning in the words. I can't deal with country though. I listened to a lot of 90s music while writing, for obvious reasons. There is a very dark, intense feeling that seems to come with music during the entire grunge period that really sat with me the entire time I was writing Fire.

Why do you feel you were able to write this book, and what's your background/history with music?
Regarding 90s music, my background was mainly living through it. During the early 90s, music was a huge part of my life and in fact, most of the songs that I listened to during that time is connected to a very specific memory. I think just being a fan, reading a lot of biographies and really learning about the musicians and their lives is probably the most significant thing while writing this book. Anyone can look up facts - but you really have to understand the specific timeframe and how music related to younger people in the 90s. I also talked to various musicians and discussed their experiences, the good and the bad, etc.



What's in the future for Mima?
I have a new book coming out soon. It's the prequel to Fire, A Spark before the Fire. Right now that is my main focus, I also have another manuscript about teenaged bullying that I want to dust off. I also have another manuscript on the go about Vampires (just to jump on the bandwagon) and I might write a sequel to Fire. I also want to work on a screenplay someday....it's also on my never ending 'to do' list.




Check out Mima's sites
http://mimaonfire.com/
Facebook
Myspace
Twitter
Blogger
Goodreads

Read the first chapter of Fire here

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Link Drop of Videos, Music, and Good Reads




Sweet Lord this is good

Check out this new blog on Rap/Rock music, POF mentioned in it!

Check out my cousin DJ Menic's mix

You can now Download Process of Fusion's new album!

Awesome! If you're a fan of Queen, this guy is Freddie Mercury...

This Is Where I Work Now- Give Me Clicks!

I'm terribly sorry that this blog is getting neglected. Quite honestly it's killing me, but I assure you that I'm still writing. I got a job in Manhattan as the music writer for the ChristianPost.com and that is pretty much consuming all of my time as I'm writing 5-10 stories a day. This one ACTUALLY PAYS! So please I implore you to give me some clicks because that is one of two ways that I get paid! Keep reading my blog, and still comment and send me suggestions and I'll get to them when I can. Thanks!
- Justin

Go here to see a list of every article I've written

Here's a list of some of my better ones:
Kurt Cobain was a weird person...
Mark Hammit Creates album, almost loses son...
Amy Winehouse knew she was going to die...
Prince Michael Jackson Honors his father after death...
Kutless Christmas album
Relient K Covers Album
Rachael Lampa album review
David Crowder Band Christmas album