whoa, just watched the new weezer single called "pork and beans" on youtube:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WanLLnVixC4

so they took a bunch of 'youtube heroes' and made a video about it.. I didn't get some of them (the rainbow socked girl?) but jesus, this is just combining a bunch of shitty internet memes and putting them together into one video. Not that I lost any respect for Weezer (they're not all that great, but they have some alright songs imo) I think the video's kinda interesting and it'll get them a lot of internet attention (i'm not sure if it'll be positive or negative), but oh god why

also, I do think it's pretty smart on their part since they catered to their (previous?) audience, which is pretty much a bunch of nerds (though with the last album (which was really bad) I think they gained more mainstream popularity... so I'm not sure about this whole thing).

so the new death cab album got leaked -- it's officially coming out May 13th.  I was hoping more for a new Postal Service album, but alas this came ​. But that's okay since I still like death cab (no matter how "gay" it is).

The new single, "I will Possess Your Heart" is a whopping 8 minutes long...I certainly wasn't expecting that, though Transatlanticism was also nearly 8 minutes. The first four minutes or so of the song are pretty much a waste... it's an alright bass line but it's almost bore the hell out of me. Thankfully, the song picks up again after that and is pretty good otherwise.
I haven't really finished listening to it yet (doing so now) but from what I've heard, Cath..., Long Division and Pity and Fear are the standout tracks on this album.
While I like their older style more, I like the new direction they're going in and the way they're trying not to recycle the same old material over again. 

Actually I just finished listening to it once through, i'll need to listen to it more to form a stronger opinion, but other than a few standout tracks this album is kind of a dissapointment!

What do you guys think?





1. "Bixby Canyon Bridge" – 5:15
2. "I Will Possess Your Heart" – 8:35
3. "No Sunlight" – 2:40
4. "Cath..." – 3:49
5. "Talking Bird" – 3:23
6. "You Can Do Better Than Me" – 1:59
7. "Grapevine Fires" – 4:07
8. "Your New Twin Sized Bed" – 3:06
9. "Long Division" – 3:49
10. "Pity and Fear" – 4:21
11. "The Ice Is Getting Thinner" – 3:45

WHAT IS UP doods. I see there’ve been quite a few ‘genre’ topics springing up as of late, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to do one on indie music since no one’s really done it yet and most of GW seems to listen to metal/progressive/hardcore type stuff so I don’t know if you guys will like this stuff but you should definitely check it out! I know SOMEONE is going to come in and say "lawl indie music can be anything that's independant", but i'm sure most of us know now that indie has sort of evolved into it's own sound and even though it does mean independant, it doesn't mean every independant band is considered "indie", so to say. Kind of like how Pop really means popular but doesn't necessarily have to be popular or how shoegazing has it's own sound even though it's SHOEGAZING.
I have plenty more artists I can talk about (and more obscure ones if you think this isn’t OBSCURE enough for your tastes) so if you guys like this I can do these weekly or biweekly or something.

k so let’s start.

Arcade Fire

This is a pretty obvious choice. I’m sure more of you have heard of the Arcade Fire, but if you haven’t, it’s a multi-instrumental, “orchestral” band (as in more than just guitar, bass, drums) from Montreal that have something like 9 members playing in their band. It’s usually pretty layered in terms of instrumentals and I know sometimes people don’t like the singers voice but I personally enjoy it.

Rebellion (Lies):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NNfWC4Sgkcs

Keep the Car Running:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bFFpL6Jj5II



Stars

Next band on the list is the Stars. They’re an indie pop band that usually has fairly simple instrumentals coupled with a duet singing really catchy often-mellow lyrics. I particularly love this band because it’s both a male and female singer and they both have really nice voices so when you need to CHILLAX or whatever, this is the band to listen to! Their new album, “In Our Bedroom After the War” is really fucking good, I highly recommend it.

Personal:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fJ3cw_Er3hI

The Night Starts Here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uve64upuhrc


Beirut

This is a pretty interesting band. It sounds like an entire Balkan orchestra playing modern music, there’s usually tons of instruments in the music like horns, violins, cello, ukuleles, mandolins, glockenspiels, drums, tambourines, congas, organs, pianos, clarinets and accordions (the guitar is rarely the main focus of the instrumentals). Personally I’m a sucker for weird instruments like this and gypsy-like music so I really like this band.

Elephant Gun:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kjeh6P4sRfw


Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene is an extremely layered (instrumentally) indie group from Toronto. I think they’re one of the more “well known” bands here so you’ve probably already heard of them. I know a lot of people’s complaints with the band is that they don’t have a set, straightforward melody or song structure, but you get used to it and start enjoying it. The band is pretty much formed of extremely talented musicians, all playing at the same time (including Feist and Emily Haines (of Metric)) and some of them have their own solo albums/are in other bands, so you could check those out too.


Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xl3PyTqsc5c



7/4 Shoreline:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Uev2J_cBHjQ



Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

A band sort of similar to the Arcade Fire. Again, lots of unconventional musical styles all mixed into one but many people think that the singer’s voice is too “whiny” (I did at first too), but trust me, it’s definitely a grower. (And for those who like pitchfork, they rated their self-titled debut album in 2005 the “Best New Music” of the year).

Satan Said Dance (wait about 40 seconds (I’m also really hooked to this song)):
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QN0iYUaTL4M

Over and Over Again:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jvw2cf0DJYA


Deerhoof
I’ve already talked about them in the “what are you listening to” thread so I’ll just copy paste that.
I don't even know how to classify this music, it's pretty weird.  I've grown accustomed to it though and now I think it's really fucking awesome.   It's pretty much really experimental indie-type riffs with a japanese chick singing really horrible lyrics that are surprisingly extremely catchy. I know lots of people who absolutely loathe this band because of the really weird instrumentals and the singer's japanese accent but seriously it pretty different and maybe some of you will like it (indie trash).
They were relatively unknown prior to this latest release but now (especially here in Toronto), they've been getting a lot more attention. Who knows, maybe they'll become MAINSTREAM but I really doubt that. 

Check this shit out, but you may not like it:

Believe ESP:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OFJrfoZH1w4

The Perfect Me:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1rrnTDDhVnw



Final Fantasy

Copy-paste again

This guy is pretty great (despite horrible name (this also made finding his music really hard for me)), he's a Toronto indie artist whose songs are predominantly violin and he uses various effects and sometimes piano in his songs. The themes are sometimes horrible (DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS) but he sometimes has really good ones you can connect with as well.  I dunno, it's just pretty UNIQUE because it's just violin. 
I've discovered him from seeing him perform with Do Make Say Think last year on Canada Day and fell in love ever since. I'm going to be seeing him again April 8th with Jens Lekman (who is also pretty great), so if you haven't heard of either and aren't only into hardcore then you should check them out!

Cover of Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy”..just to see how he plays live:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0O_yyEA72HE

He Poos Clouds:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5pQl7kye_d8


The Go! Team

This is another pretty interesting band. It’s a mixture of action theme songs, cheerleader chants, noise-pop guitars, early hip-hop and some funk. Basically, it’s like a giant mess that brings out melodies, it’s pretty cool. A lot of their music is sampled but it’s all pieced together and makes really unique music.

Ladyflash:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=1lT2Tq2rC9I

Junior Kickstart:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wQg7qOB5Heg


Islands

This is a 6 piece also from Montreal (seems to be a recurring theme with indie music) that makes catchy indie pop music. They’re the result of the disbandment of the Unicorns and also collaborated with other acts such as the Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade. They’re coming to Toronto soon, hopefully I’ll be seeing them!

Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=F2SSIcG8FH4

Rough Gem:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RpQwZ_gdE1w


!!!

Finally, the last band is !!!, pronounced “Chk chk chk” or any other 3 syllable combination repeated 3 times. They combine a lot of funk, rock and electronica together to create very danceable “dance punk” or “punk funk” but I still consider their sound to be pretty “indie”.

Must Be the Moon:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wl0XLHy7kes

Yadnus:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pfAd6lG8TSM



So there you have it. As I’ve said, if you like it, I can show some more bands next or next next week.

So there's a talent show coming up soon at my school (April 11th) and I want to play something with my band.

However...we're having a LOT of trouble deciding on a song. We're trying to find a song that has 2 guitars, bass and drums, is ENERGETIC, is fairly challenging to play (not a must, though just a ton of power chords would be lame), is about.. 4 minutes long, AND that a lot of people will probably know. 

We were planning on doing either Pink Floyd's Have a Cigar (WYWH) or Time (DSOTM) and we can play both but not everyone is satisfied. For example, the drummer wants harder parts where he can do a drum solo or something and even though our bassist (who is really good) really wants to do Time, we feel we're wasting a lot of talent playing simple bass lines.  We COULD just add in fills and shit to Time but it's a pretty slow paced song and is kind of out of place.

So I come to you, fellow GWers, any ideas?

I'm quite surprised no one has made this topic yet (I think?).

So yeah. The Mars Volta released their new album "The Belam in Goliath" on Jan. 29th (well here in Canada, at least), so I bought it the first day and can't stop listening to it since. I think it's pretty fucking amazing.

Here's the cover art:



Tracklist:

"Aberinkula" – 5:45
"Metatron" – 8:12
"Ilyena" – 5:36
"Wax Simulacra" – 2:39
"Goliath" – 7:15
"Tourniquet Man" – 2:38
"Cavalettas" – 9:32
"Agadez" – 6:44
"Askepios" – 5:11
"Ouroboros" – 6:36
"Soothsayer" – 9:08
"Conjugal Burns" – 6:36


I think their sound has progressed a lot ever since De-Loused (even though so many people still claim everything they do is terrible/doesn't stand up to De-Loused), and this album is no exception. I think their tours with RHCP have definitely rubbed off on them, and there are some elements of funk throughout, which is pretty interesting. The album opens up with "Aberinkula" which really does smack you in the face becuase it has so much energy in it. I don't have a favorite song right now, but I've been playing this disc non-stop over the past couple of days; I'm at about 9 plays overall.
The new drummer, btw, is fucking amazing. Seriously, in some songs I couldn't even hear the other instruments at times becuase the drums were so dominant, it's DEFINITELY a big change from their old drummer...and you can hear the major difference in the very opening track. Also, if you look up their performance on David Letterman (I think it was?), you can see how well he plays there, too. Hell, here's a link:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uqVD7cxujb0

So, what do you guys think of the album? Is it better than De-Loused/Frances/Amputechture? Discuss.

Alright, for Christmas, my parents promised me I could get a guitar, so if I want to get one shipped outside of Canada (probably from the US) I'd need to start looking sometime soon so it actually gets here...being hectic and all during Christmas.
So I'm looking for a guitar that has the look of a Les Paul (preferrably a cherry sunburst color, but it's not THAT important), and it has to be pretty good and in the price range of $300-$400.  Currently, I'm looking at the Agile guitars over at rondomusic.net becuase I've heard a lot of great things about them. I'm deciding between these three:

http://www.rondomusic.com/al3000csbslim.html
http://www.rondomusic.com/al3000mapcsb.html
http://www.rondomusic.com/al3100wilkcsb.html

So yeah. I'm kinda liking the third one, but I'm not really sure about the technical aspects of the guitar, so you guys may be able to help me in deciphering which one's better. Or, if you know other guitars that are better than this for the same price range, please help me out!

Wow, Saudi Arabia is still in the fucking past. Only a couple of months ago there was that article which stated that women could get the right to drive in Saudi Arabia, and now we come to this and we can still see how fucking backwards their country is. Pretty horrible stuff!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7096814.stm

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1126753727013_118/?hub=CanadaAM

This is such racist bullshit.  First, they try to set up strictly religious schools in our city (Muslim, Hindu, etc), instead of trying to fund our already dysfunctional public education system. Next, they think of making "all-gay" schools. Now they're trying to make all-black schools? What the fuck? This is so wrong. This pretty much just segregates everything our city stands for -- MULTICULTURALISM and just isolates the oh-so-oppressed-blacks in our city.  I don't know, I'm pretty pissed at decisions like this in my own city and just the waste of money. If this happened in your city what would be your reactions? What are you reactions to this at all, even?

This guy is pretty damn awesome (apart from the whole immorality of theft). It's as if his story came straight from a movie, it's pretty interesting.  Especially how easy he (or the article) makes it seem it is to actually perform something like this and steal a shitload of cash -- becuase he sure did it a lot.

So uh, I just got assigned a project in my World Issues class (hello joke course), and our project is pretty much to perform a song that deals with a world issue.  My friend and I were going to do Tenacious D's Tribute, and just change the lyrics around, but due to a time constraint (must be performed by Thursday/Friday) and a loaded schedule, I can't learn the solo and all that quickly. So I need some recommendations on some fairly simple songs that have (or could incorporate) 2 guitars, perferably 1 electric and 1 acoustic, but it doesn't really matter.  Think...protest songs of the 60s, or something (this was the example our teacher gave us). A world issue could deal with war, poverty, environmental issues, etc.

Any suggestions?

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/05/25/monster.pig.ap/


Haha, this is some weird shit. A hick kid kills a huge 1,051 pound hog and feels he's made an accomplishment, and gets PRAISED by a bunch of random celebrities!  He'll probably have hotdogs to last him for his whole lifetime now (oh wait, more like 1 week they are amerikans lolz).