Never Underestimate Radical Vision

Recently I have been listening to The Last Kiss soundtrack. This is just an amazing collection of songs. Zach Braff can really put a compilation together. The album kicks off with a great upbeat song from Snow Patrol, my new favorite band, and ends with a touching duet from Joshua Radin and Schuyler Fisk. It probably doesn’t count as a perfect album by one artist but it counts as a perfect soundtrack. The other soundtrack that I listen to a lot is Garden State, another Zach Braff compilation. If you have ever watched the TV show Scrubs and have liked the music you hear you can again thank Zach Braff. Although he says he doesn’t have a musical ear I think he is spot on with all of his selections for the show and the two movies.

On a side note, The Last Kiss was a good movie. It really made me think as I am the same age of the characters depicted in the movie. It is about growing up and dealing with responsibility. It reminded me a lot about the characters in Sideways. I loved how the movie ended and the song that plays is great. I really paid attention to the song choices while watching the movie and knew this was going to be a great soundtrack. My wife didn’t care for the movie but she loves the soundtrack. Do yourself a favor and pick it up.

I recently purchased a couple of albums “Testify” by P.O.D. and “Eager Seas” by Watashi Wa. I give you a couple of thoughts on each and encourage you to give each a spin in iTunes.

“Testify” by P.O.D. – this is a good album. Fans of P.O.D. will not be disappointed. It has all the basic elements of a P.O.D. album with a little old-school thrown in for good measure. They seem to add more sprinkles of rap and reggae on this album. You have a little old-school rapcore P.O.D. mixed with the P.O.D. of the “Satellite” album. While this is no major musical jump for the band, like “Satellite”, it is a great album for fans of good, hard rock. I think Sonny’s vocals are really interesting in this mix. I would love for them to make another breakthrough as they did with “Satellite”, which may not be possible as it is one of those rare albums I would mark as perfect, but this album will be spinning in the car and on the iPod for days to come.

“Eager Seas” by Watashi Wa – this is a darn smoking album. The more I listen to it, the more I fall in love with it. The sound is just a great mix of brit-pop, alt tock and dream pop rolled up in a scrumptious little morsel to fully enjoy. The vocals on this album are just beautiful. You move from songs that have a brit-pop, Coldplayish feel to straight up alt rock goodness to some Blues Brother’s meets Starflyer 59 (then throw in a little Keane). This is the type of album I am just into in my advancing youth I will have to dig into the lyrics more to see if there is any more substance to the music but on just the musical front I can listen to this album over and over. I would say that so far I am into it as much as The Killer’s “Hot Fuss”, although they sound nothing a like. Give it a spin on the iTunes Music Store and let me know what you think. Don’t expect Radiohead type forward-thinking, challenging music; expect simple song construction executed to perfection.

That’s it for now….peace!

Here are five albums that I am currently listening to:

• Ryan Adams – Love is Hell: This is a very good album It is a mellow listen kinda like David Gray I would recommend this highly if you like that kind of music I think David would like this a lot.
• Keane – Hopes and Fears: This is a great album It has a very interesting full sound since they only consist of a singer, a piano and a drummer They have an alternative, Coldplayish beat but with a different sound I think Ryan would dig this band a lot Maybe Ryan can join a band now.
• Blue Merle – Bringing in the Sun: Very, very Coldplay like, which I love They don’t have as much guitar as Coldplay and use more piano and other instruments They have a great, easy-listening sound.
• Live – Awake (Best Of): A lot better than I thought it would be They have a great sound beyond just the top 40 hits they had Good alternative listen.
• Green Day – American Idiot: By far their best album They stretch the melodic punk mold in this album It is a little to political in the lyrics for me but I really never have listened to Green Day for their lyrics They have a great, catchy pop punk sound that is contagious There are some really good songs on this album, give it a listen.

What are some current albums that you are listening to? I would love to have some new recommendations.

“You wanna be president? Lemme tell you the first rule of politics; Always know
if the juice is worth the squeeze. You know what that means? It means you don’t steal
my girl unless you’re ready to accept the consequences.”
………………

I often wonder what I consider the perfect album to be. I love music. I
love music of all genres, some more than others. I buy music off of iTunes and
buy cds all the time.  Recently I have been going through my collection and evaluating
each disk as to what I like about it. What characteristics about the album so
draw me? Is the album stock music that someone else has already done? What
message does the album try to send? What is the quality of the music on the album?

Now, obviously, this is a very subjective matter that comes down to the personality
of the listener. With that being said, so far I have found what I consider two
perfect albums. The first is David Gray’s “White Latter” and the second is Don
Chaffer’s “You Were at the Time for Love”. These albums exemplify what I feel
is a perfect album. The music on both albums has a softer, folky feel. The
lyrics are powerful and often thought provoking. The songs flow from one to another
in a perfect dance of harmonies and storytelling. I would recommend you pick
up these exquisite pieces of work and give a listen.

So the question is offered up to you, what do you consider is the perfect album and
what is an example?

I am also going to put together a little compilation to give out as gifts the holiday
season. David has done this before and I think it is a remarkable idea. You
get to see not only what other people like but also a chance to discover a new artist
that you may fall in love with. The official title will be “Hot Cup of Joe -
Volume1″. The album will be great to listen to with a good cup of coffee while
working or just chilling.  I will have another compilation that will show off
my love for harder, edger music.  I hope to complete it after the first one. Do
I have any takers? I would like to get a count so I can anticipate how many to
make. Best of all it is free! I will do the best production with the equipment
I have. The album will have the track listing, a note from yours truly and hopefully
beautiful graphics.

later
……………..

Have mentioned recently that Elisha Cutherbert is
perfect angel of delight? Have I mentioned that she has the most intoxicating
eyes? Have I mentioned that you need to pick up The
Girl Next Door and watch it? I have, ohhh, sorry, my bad  Actually this
is just my sleazy attempt to get ranked higher on google for her name and maybe she
will stop by my little universe. It worked for the gapingvoid.

Some updates on the music I am currently listening to. The new Five for Fighting album is pretty good. I love the song �100 years�. It reminds me a lot of their �Superman� song on their first album. I just wish they would stick to more of the acoustic guitar and piano slow movement type songs. I like the more upbeat folk type songs; but I really dig the slower songs. They are great songs to code by. I also purchased the new worship album by Jeremy Camp. This is a very good album; yet, I am a little biased since his voice is so low that it is easy to sing his songs. Very good stuff.

I have to say that I love Apple and Pepsi. The new free songs under Pepsi caps is an awesome promotion. I was able to download the complete Newsboys worship album by collecting enough caps. Now I didn�t drink all those Pepsis, but I contributed greatly. I probably would not have bought the album outright. I didn�t feel to bad using my free songs on it. It turns out to be a pretty decent album.

later

by far one of the better bands i have been listening to recently. this band is really amazing musically and they have great lyrics. they have an advanced melodic emo sound (whatever the heck that is). ya know, i think people that have too much time on there hands in the music industry just pick genre labels randomly to fit some new band coming out like, “band so-and-so are an incredible blend of monkey-bottom-crunch and drunken indian spew, really good stuff!” or “so-and-so rocked my face off with their hardcore-melodic-pop-punk inspired midget punching rock” anyway cool hand luke’s new album, wake up o’ sleeper, is awesome. (dave, pick it up i think you will really like it).

other bands in the rotation recently that you guys should check out:

stavsacre – any album
further seems forever – the moon is down
further seems forever – how to start a fire
the juliana theory – love
mae – destination beautiful
good charlotte – the yound and hopeless

bands you should not listen to:

anything country – none of this unoriginal, depressed induced crap should be allowed on the air waves.

the franchise – scott silleta’s new band just does not have the same spark as plankeye, regretfully i bought this album on a hope, which consequently was dashed during the first song. no matter how hard i tried my brain kept yelling “this stuff really sucks, turn it off or i will make your finger turn to a country station.”

holland – the band is simple pop that just is not too inspiring. to bad though they have a fat guy in the band that would be a cross between me and adam taylor.

anyways,

i am really pumped about dashboard confessional’s new album coming out august 15th. he has a full band on this one and while they may turn off some fans, i am keen to the progress and/or change in directions a bit. keeps the stuff fresh.

as always, later