Category: music

Ellie Goulding.

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Ellie Goulding is what one would define as true talent. At the age 23 she has really accomplished a lot. Ellie is a singer, songwriter and guitarist who has created and released numerous hits. She is extremely popular amongst the U.K music scene, winning multiple awards for her immense talent.

Her lyrics are original and unique and she plays sensationally. She released her album Lights in March this year, which debuted at number one in the UK album charts. The album consists of hits such as “Starry eyed,” Guns and horses” and many more. Currently on a sell out tour across the United Kingdom she is now releasing a rendition of Elton John’s “Your Song” and a rerelease of her debut album named Bright Lights.

Ellie Goulding is truly inspiring, I would go as far as saying she is my favorite female solo artist. In an industry full of “plastic pop” it is nice to see a girl who writes and records all of her own music as well as producing faultless acoustic performances.

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Music

smackyjackjack1 Comment
As a lover of music, I sometimes feel that the music I like is GREATLY under-appreciated.  Many of my fellow students listen to newer, lamer music.  Music like Kanye West and Deadmaus are polluting eardrums all over the world. The music I like comes from the classic genres like blues and old school country, not techno and hip-hop.
The greatest genre of the two is definitely blues. Everything came from the blues and musicians like Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and Jimmy Reed. The best modern blues songs are by the White Stripes. Country is a great genre as well. The newer country is much worse than the older stuff though. By older I mean musicians like Johnny Cash and Hank Williams Jr.
Obviously though, not all new music is bad. As I said before, the White Stripes are amazing (even if Jack White has sold out). Bands like AC/DC and the Stones are classic. People need to remember where music came from in order to appreciate the music they like now.

LCD. Easy as 123

realtompagnozziLeave a comment

The latest musical phenom i’ve stumbled upon is none other than James Murphy, the renaissance man known in the business as LCD Soundsystem. The man could play all of the instrumentals in his band if only he had enough hands. But what’s really spectacular about him is that he can rock them all harder than most everybody.

Most of his songs start out with a grungy, Pavement style couple of verses that bring “lo-fi” back in to your vocab. But just when you think that he’s another ambiguous modern indie artist, his true skills as a producer take over. This guy can hold his own with some of the greatest electronic music producers out there if he had the drive. Clearly what is important to him, however, is creating original music in one of the most distinctly vague genres there is.

Get Your Soulwax…ed?

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Where to begin? This legendary Belgian DJ duo and their band headline every show they attend. Very few can create sounds as beautifully distant nor as overpoweringly raw in a DJ set, much less with a live band. The Dewaele brothers do just that.

The auxiliary percussion could only be described as janky in the best way possible. In other words, they just totally pull it off. I have no idea how else to describe this to you.

Their ubiquitous remixes add a distinctive and palpable energy to just about any song, and their album Much Against Everyone’s Advice has something that is sure to please ambient indie lovers as much as electronic connoisseurs. You’ll have to hear Soulwax yourself before you can truly understand why they are electronic music gods.

BetatraXx the Alpha Dog

realtompagnozziLeave a comment

There is nothing inappropriate about Gotta Dance Dirty. Believe it or not, it’s the undisputed largest and most respected blog in the west coast electronic music scene. So to kick off their new management label, they had to find someone spectacular. They had to find one of the craftiest, most cutting edge new DJ’s around. In my mind, they nailed it by signing Tim Nelson, aka BetatraXx.

Formerly Redlight, BetatraXx is the epitome of modern electro-house. Raised on Pro Tools, he is one of the first young DJ’s that hasn’t needed to make an awkward transition from a live band or turntables. Everything you hear from him is raw, unadulterated electronic music.

For the past four years he attended college on the east coast, and needed a fake ID to DJ at some of New York’s biggest clubs. Originally from Santa Barbara, Nelson recently finished up his first west coast tour. Under the new California based GDD label, it shouldn’t be your last chance to see him in the Golden State.

In Gotta Dance Dirty’s recent exclusive interview, he had this to say:
“The West coast is unmatched. Love it out here. And you guys are the center of good music. What more could I want?”
Couldn’t agree more, sir.

TechNO

shredicusmaximus5 Comments

Ladies and gentlemen, the past few days have been pretty frustrating. Thanks to Ojai Valley School‘s extremely poor Internet service, I have been unable to write anything on this blog for quite a while.

Either way, I’m back. Now, even though the past few games of the world series have been pretty interesting to say the least, I will not be writing about sports tonight. Rather, this blog will be more on the venting side. I need to blow off steam.
Music has always been a thing that I have enjoyed throughout the years, no question, yet every couple of months, I find myself swigging cokes on a sofa during a school dance and saying one thing, “Jesus, this really sucks doesn’t it?” That last statement was censored by the way.

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Lights

yourgingerkidLeave a comment

I’ve been to plenty of concerts in the last couple of years. From Gwen Stefani and the Black Eyed Peas to Attack Attack, I’ve made my way around San Francisco’s music scene. After attending the Bridge School Benefit Concert last weekend, I went with another friend to go see an small, Canadian girl perform at Slims. Seeing Lights was by far the best show that I’ve seen.

Lights

333 11th Avenue, San Francisco. I could almost call Slims my second home. I’ve seen friends play on that stage as well as large-scale bands. The small, but mighty, stage also has one other title that no other stage can hold, the host of the best show that I have yet to see.

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Battle of the Sexy

sennymcfly2 Comments

In all the time that television has existed there has been controversy about the overexposure of actors (mostly female) to their youthful fans. Their careers start out with a bubblegum pop image and then as soon as their fan-base grows to over a million the bomb drops; racy photos and videos that leave us flabbergasted.

Glee - GQ

Everyone remembers the concern parents had when Britney Spears went from Mickey Mouse Club princess to “not that innocent.”

And we can all recognize the semi nude photos taken of Miley Cyrus that were leaked out to the public and even the ones that aired in last years November issue of Marie Claire.

But, this year’s big dispute involves everyone’s favorite singing superstars: the cast of Glee.

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Bridge School

yourgingerkid1 Comment

Bridge School

Last weekend I went home to San Francisco, or more specifically, Hillsborough, California. I attended two out of three elementary schools, one being called “North School” while living in Hillsborough. At North, each student was required to help out in some sort of community activity such as helping out with the lower grades or working at the Bridge School. I was one of the very few in my class to choose the Bridge School.

The Bridge School was not something you’d find at an average elementary school. The definition provided on the website “a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure that individuals with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative & alternative means of communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT) applications and through the development, implementation and dissemination of innovative life-long educational strategies.” I have vivid memories of working with a girl who had a tube through her belly button so she could eat, and a boy who could not speak or walk. I worked mostly with the boy, hand feeding him, playing with him, and reading to him. I was ten, and he was thirteen, but I felt like we were on the same page. I’m not sure about what happened to him after I graduated, and I’m not sure if he’d remember me, but I do know that I’ll always remember him.

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A Tad Disappointing

theycallmedameLeave a comment

In a previous post I mentioned my love for The Lion King. I have seen it live once before when I was younger, but I do not remember much of it. Tonight I saw it again in Las Vegas, and too say the least, it was a little upsetting. The first act reined almost completely true to the actual script, and parts of it were extremely beautiful. However, it was the second act when it all spiraled downward.

Not only did it add and take out parts of the original script, but one of the most memorable parts (for me, anyways) was completely ruined. Scar was on stage with Zazu, who was locked in his cage of bones. In the movie, Zazu went from singing “Nobody Knows” to “It’s a Small World” to “I’ve Got A Lovely Bunch Of Coconuts.” It was all rather hilarious and it is one of my favorite parts of the entire movie.

Zazu

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