Today was a Beth Orton type of day. With the back drop of the moody, cloudy, and rainy day, her tunes carried a lot more power. They were also uplifting enough to provide a bit of silver lining to the day. Her voice is powerful, and with the backdrop of the soothing music, it's the perfect balance.
Each song on the album sounds different. One moment it veers into an indie pop inspired tune, or the next more with folk roots. I could see Norah Jones having potentially being inspired a lot by the tune of Beth Orton. The album did start out a little slow to me, but as it continue on I did relate to the songs better, and I enjoyed the instrumentals of each tune, and how it grew the personality of the album as the songs went on. It grows into a beautiful album.
The 1999 album will also bring you back to the late 90's, and make you think of the music that transcending us into another century. It received great reviews and feedback from the critic audience, and proved a success with fans as well by shooting to the top of many charts around the world. It would also win awards and receive recognition.
Now there are also many artists of varying genres these tunes put me in mind of as well if you enjoy these other ones, like Tori Amos or Sarah Maclachlan. She has a rustic tone to her voicing, and with the wide range of instrumentals adding a variety of emotions to her singles it adds impacts.
It will take time to know whether this will be an album I will go back to, but tunes like "Feel to Believe" still stick with me.
When you think about it Red Hot Chili Peppers have been around a very long time. There career actually spans back before I was even before. These guys have been making music since 1983, and are working on an 11th album now. One of their most popular albums, and arguably the most popular at that, is Californication. Even at the age of 11 I remember the hits that came from this album.
History: Dave Navarro leaving the band must have let loose a lot of pent up creative energy they wanted to disperse that they hadn't been able to since John Frusciante had departed the band after Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The album seems to emerge with a lot more maturity than even that album, and it channels sounds that sound more intentional. It would spawn many hit singles as well including "Californication" and the one I remember most clearly, "Scar Tissue".
Vocals: Anthony Keidis are very noticeable whether he is singing fast, or in a more serious tone. While I can hear the appeal of faster tracks like "Parallel Universe" I'm more into the tracks where not only the instrumentals slow down a bit, but also the vocals. Some of the favorite tracks where I thought the vocals were some of the highlights were "Around the World" or "Otherside". There seems to be a lot more burst of emotion throughout as well. You can't forget "Scar Tissue" though, which features some of the most impressive vocals because without the little emphasis on certain words you wouldn't have near as memorable a song that stuck with you after listening, which is also why it was such a memorable single.
Instrumentals: I assume that most fans of Red Hot Chili Peppers were very glad to have the guitar work of Frusciante back. While the various other musicians are good the other unique signature of Red Hot Chili Peppers is the way the guitar sounds. With the darker themes on the album the guitar still has a more upbeat vibe that just doesn't quite match the lyrical content of what ranges from drugs to suicide. For the listener it provides some introspective thoughts while also not getting us down in the dumps listening to the album.
Did I hear any tunes from this album prior to listening?: I was vaguely familiar with this album before listening, but this isn't one of the albums I had listened to as I had other albums from the band. It lives up to expectations though from the one single I had heard, "Scar Tissue". There were many songs that kept catching my attention on the album, to be honest though I still don't prefer the faster ones though and remain a fan of the slower tunes.
I think any album like this could be enough to convert a person into a fan of the band. There is a reason this band has found longevity in their music. It's remained consistent over the years in making music that stays in line with what fans know from the band, but always keeping it unique. This album provides a different offering with each tune, but regardless of what you like it sounds like the band.
Many have compared XTC's sound to The Beatles. To deny the guys might have had some inspiration would be a bit crazy. There are some strong similarities, but these guys do sound a bit more pop. There are some really beautiful moments on the album where the instrumentals soar and combine for a nice pop and folk sound. You sort of get a wide range that should lure in an array of people attracted to talent.
History: The band had established their own recording company, and their thirteenth album would be their first release with it. The band would also follow the trend of naming the album after lyrics that were on a previous albums of their. The album was a hit in the UK, hitting number 42 on the charts. The reception was a little mixed, but mostly positive for the album.
Well Sigur Ros is one of the bands that has emerged from Iceland to show the major talent that resides there. The whole album also seems to be sang in the language there as well. There are a couple of different languages in the album though, one known as gibberish. The album is a little puzzling for those who might have to get used to what they are hearing, but does have some beautiful moments, and moments that run a little long.
History: The English translations of the song titles haven't even been made official, so I assume the lyrics still have some obscurity as well. What this song does drive a lot off of though is the emotional sound of the instrumentals that are building up the tunes. The album didn't garner a lot of attention upon release, but did build a lot of exposure in Iceland on the radio, and eventually at the reward shows as they released singles. The album has since to grow to have worldwide attention with magazines often topping it as some of the music in the past decade.
You may have seen some of Dennis Dugan's recent movies like Grown Ups or Jack and Jill. It seems though that Happy Gilmore was one of the highlights of his career. I have to give him props though for being one of the few guys who will try to bring screwball comedy to the screen. It may not be laid out as well as Happy Gilmore was though. Gilmore I think mostly appeals to people because the movie does convey a guy just trying to get by and along with doing that he encounters some insane antics and people.
Summary: Happy Gilmore wants to be a hockey star, but that dreams fails. After seeing how accurately he can hit a golf ball from far away though he is encouraged by an old golf pro though to pursue it professionally. He finds a rival in another pro-golfer, Shooter. Shooter will do anything to win though if he can't on the course legitimately. Happy thought is more prepared to win than ever though because he needs to get his grandmother out of the nursing home she is sitting in because her home is being taken away and sold after she failed to make payments herself.
69 Love Songs means there are literally 69 love songs on the album. I never want to spend this long with an album again no matter how good it is. I was basically working through three disc of 23 songs per disc. By the time you've completed this album you've went through so many sounds that it may be difficult to remember a lot of the tunes, and some just seem so short they have no place the middle of the huge array of songs.
History: It's one of the few albums that doesn't sound like it's from 1999. It makes sense that the original intention for this album was one that combined sketches, dance, and live music because it truly sounds like it could be brought to life. Stephen Merriot originally said he planned that the album would have 100 songs on it, but narrowed it down to 69. The band has performed the whole album live seven times, and it takes about two nights to do so.
I underestimated this movie's ability to scare by a long shot. This also is one of the the biggest money making indie films of all time as it was only released by a small studio, and though the main actors never went on to achieve bigger fame you will always know their names as they use their actual names in the movie. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez team up to direct this film that features the very early and new way of making a horror movies in the late 90s by documentary style.
Heather, Josh and Mike are film students looking to make it big, and they believe that a documentary featuring the mysterious deaths and Blair witch in Maryland may be their claim to fame, but unknown to them it will be their disappearance that causes their names to become known. The three get lost in the woods and from there find themselves terrorized for several nights by whatever is haunting the woods as they capture it on the camera that they will leave behind.
