Category: music

Duane Allman

smackyjackjack1 Comment

There are those who spend their whole lives trying to be great.

There are those who die young and are remembered for their contributions to this planet.

Then there’s Duane Allman.

By all accounts, Duane Allman’s measly 24 years on this planet should not have built up to much. But he managed to become one of the most influential guitar players in history…a couple of years out of high school.

Duane Allman has, obviously, played for the Allman Brother Band. He also backed greats such as Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton (who was quoted as calling Allman his soulmate in terms of guitar playing), Wilson Pickett, King Curtis and Derek and the Dominoes.

He became the sound of American Soul before anyone knew who he was. Sadly, he died in a motorcycle crash before he became the next Jimi Hendrix.

Duane Allman isn’t the best guitarist of all time, or my favorite. But if I could sound like any guitar player ever, it would definitely be him. He has more soul than some sort of soul machine. Just listen to this song he played with Clapton.

Kanye West’s New Music

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Kanye west performed on saturday night live this week, and the only way I can describe it is… Interesting. He has changed his sound to a darker more industrial style which channels the Death Grips, and It works within that style.

My only problem is that I feel like the music is much too serious. He looks like he’s having no fun. I miss the soul-sampling Kanye from his early years. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was a Masterpiece and a fantastic summation of Kanye’s style, this new album seems as though he is changing his style too much and too fast. His songs “New Slaves” and “Black Skinhead” both have titles that will stir up controversy, and I think he wants them too.

His debut of the “New Slaves” video, which he projected on 66 walls across the world was incredibly cool, and is a testament to his marketing creativity.

Charley Patton

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Last Wednesday, or Ocho De Mayo, I got three albums of the partial anthologies of Blind Willie McTell, The Mississippi Sheiks and Charley Patton. All three of these artists are absolute blues legends that were instrumental in creating modern music.

One of these legends, Charley Patton, was perhaps the most influential of them all.


While I was listening to his album recorded entirely in 1929, I started to read his biography on the back of the album.

First of all, he recorded his biggest hit, Pony Blues, when he was only 19.

Secondly, no one knows when he was born or what race he was. Some people say he was fully African-American and others say he was part Cherokee.

Thirdly, and most importantly of all, he taught some of the other biggest blues players of his time.

Son House, Robert Johnson and Chester Burnett (AKA Howlin Wolf) were just some of the names who he taught how to play guitar.

I for one, am very, very grateful to Document records and Third Man for bringing some of these guys back into the mainstream to be appreciated by more and more people than ever. This is music that should be appreciated by everyone that appreciates music.

Shades at night

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Sitting in a daze

Surrounded by the haze

Like I’m rockin shades

At night.

Vampire bite.

She’s sucking my blood

Takin all my love

But never givin back.

I spit these stupid raps

I just want to sit back

Relax.

The years almost over

It’s like she pulled the wool

Over my eyes

Swat me away like flies

As the time goes by

Maybe she realize

She ain’t never gonna find

A guy like me

Never again

Love you more than friends but no.

Just kidding

What I meant was be friends

Nothing more than pretend

Fairy tail books

Ok, now here’s the hook.

(Insert hook here)

The Neighbourhood

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I have recently begun listening to a new band called the Neighbourhood. I heard about them through a suggestion from my brother. He said they had “really cool sound.” As always I looked them up on youtube and found a few songs.

So far my favorite is “Sweater Weather” it is a beautiful song following a love story that takes place on the California beaches, but is unfit for one of them. It has a great drum and bass line.

The singers voice is hauntingly intriguing. It echoes throughout your head. The chorus has a way of planting itself in your head, in a good way.

Another song that caught my intrigue was afraid. It speaks on the fear of losing someone close. Chillingly enticing the song brings you in and never lets you go. It is incredibly well executed and provides one of the most pleasant listening experiences I have felt.

They work around a darkly beautiful aesthetic and I am excited to see what else they put out in the future.

Bon Jovi

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It’s the first day back from break, and it is clear that everyone’s thoughts still center around their week off. So I thought maybe I’d share with you guys a small part of mine.

A while back, in the beginning of December, I was stressing out. My dad’s 50th Birthday was coming up and I wasn’t quite sure what to get him. I looked at paddle-boards and passes, but I couldn’t find anything within my budget. Eventually I visited the Pepsi Center website to see if maybe I could buy him tickets to a few Colorado Avalanche games.

Advertised across the top of the screen was a banner for a Bon Jovi concert occurring on April 16th, at the Pepsi Center. We had just been to a Bruce Springsteen concert, at which my dad had said that they’re are certain people if given the chance you have to see, even if you don’t like their music. To me, Bon Jovi was one of those people.

I’m not a particular fan of his music, but one of my little brothers favorite songs has always been Livin’ on a Prayer. This prompted me to buy the tickets, and on Tuesday April 16th we packed up the truck and drove down to Denver.

As we arrived at the Pepsi Center, we noticed the six tour buses (one for each member), as well as what must have been about a dozen semi’s. The parking lot was fuller than we had ever seen it, even for Av’s games.

The concert was by far one of the better one’s I’ve been too. Not because I like his music, because I don’t really, or because he’s popular. He put on a show. He threw everything he had into what he was doing on stage.

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We soon figured out what the absurd amount of semi’s were for as huge columns rose and fell from the ceiling, rising up and down from the floor to meet in the middle. Animated graphics were projected onto the columns, matching the song Bon Jovi was belting out. At first we thought they were just fabric or styrofoam, something cheap. That was until the famous rocker started walking across them.

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He sang his hit songs, as well as songs from his new album. He danced his heart out on stage, and changed his outfit twice. The lights were insane, pulsing to the beat of the music. The concert was over-the-top. It was loud. And it was awesome.

Third Man

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Honestly, I don’t see how I’ve gone this long without doing some sort of blog about Jack White and Third Man Records, so let me just start it by stating (or understating) that Jack White is my hero, so just about everything he does is awesome.

Third Man Records is the label that Jack White started in Nashville as a way to basically bring back the blues into the modern era.

One of the things Third Man has in their store that is extremely awesome is the reissue of the anthology of Blind Willie Mctell (one of the greatest guitar players ever), Charlie Patton and the Mississippi Sheiks (one of the first rock n roll bands ever). This is an awesome way to make sure that Delta Blues stays in our culture forever. This is some of the best music ever recorded, I highly recommend you all go check it out.

One of the acts signed to TMR is the incredible and unique Seasick Steve. Seasick Steve…well…he knows what he’s doing. One of his guitars only has three strings, while another one, that he made out of a broom stick and pie pan, has only one. Check him out if you like slide.

Some other artists that are or have been signed to TMR are the Alabama Shakes, Reggie Watts, Beck and Pokey Lafarge (check him out he’s awesome).  But above all else, just go  look around the website here, and you’ll be opening a door to some amazing music.

Jazz

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I have been listening to quite a bit of Jazz lately. Exploring the brass of Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis.

The upbeat rhythms and adventurous melodies get me excited to ordinarily mundane tasks like cleaning and doing math homework.

It gives everything a unique feel, and keeps me excited to do everything. I used to play Jazz, but I fell victim to the sports requirement for my last school. Jazz still plays in my soul, and whenever it plays that melody is reborn.

Currently, I have been listening to songs like “I’ll Remember April” played by Miles Davis.

The running bass line gives the song consistency while Davis creates beautiful melodies with his natural musicality.

It infuses the rhythm into ones soul, and plays against your own heartbeat.

Bebop
by Dizzy Gillespie is also a fantastic example of this upbeat style. The drummer’s play of the cymbal, and the fast tempo creates a nice sense of controlled chaos that is the essence of the style.

Joyeux Noel

Daphne Psaledakis1 Comment

Years ago, I remember watching a French movie about war. In all honesty, that’s about all I remember, except for this one scene in the middle of a snowy field with an officer in blue standing in the middle. The actors spoke in French, and being fluent in French myself, I followed along as best I could. What I didn’t quite catch, I would refer to the english subtitles in order to interpret.

Because I was so focused on understanding what the characters were saying, I missed a lot of what was actually happening in the film. I do remember that it was amazing though.

This week in A.P. World History, we were assigned group projects. My partners and I were assigned a prompt asking us to compare what our textbook told us about WWI to the song “Christmas in the Trenches” by John McCutcheon. As I listened to the song, I suddenly realized that the scene being set by the singer was one somewhat familiar to the movie I had seen years before, Joyeux Noel.

This week, my research has helped me to understand why that movie was so amazing. I had no idea that it was reenacting the Christmas Truce of 1914, where soldiers on a battlefield during WWI called an unofficial truce for the holidays.

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The Rolling Stone is Wrong. Part Four.

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I’m almost done with these lists, I swear. However, there are still a couple of lists that need to be corrected. Featured this time in part four of this series is why their list of the greatest albums is wrong.

The Actual Greatest Albums of All Time

1.   The Rolling Stone says: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band- The Beatles

      Jack Beverly says: Pet Sounds-The Beach Boys

Slightly before Brian Wilson went insane, he and the rest of the Beach Boys made what can be described in no other way than a pure masterpiece. Wilson produced this album in such a way where all of the instruments come together to make one pure and unique sound that flows all the way through the album. I cannot emphasize how unique and incredible the production is on this album.

2.   The Rolling Stone says: Pet Sounds-The Beach Boys

      Jack Beverly says: Exile on Main Street-The Rolling Stones

This is quite possibly the greatest rock n roll album ever made. Even though the album was made by several British people, it sounds so authentically Southern and true. Songs like “Shake your hips” and “Ventilator Blues” are jsut a few of the songs that get stuck in your head after hearing them. Plus, this album has some of the greatest, and most rushed artwork in music history.

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3.   The Rolling Stone says: Revolver – The Beatles

      Jack Beverly says: The White Album-The Beatles

It’s pretty hard to find fault with this album, or with the Beatles in general. The only reason I had a hard time choosing this album over anything else they’ve done is simply because it’s longer. Rubber Soul and Abby Road were easy contenders, but, once again, The White album is just longer. It is a pure masterpiece of the Beatles, and truly showcases all the were.

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