meandthestereo

When Vodes posted his Desert Island list last week, Joey and I thought it was a good list and a great idea.  Joey immediately commanded me to write up my own list for this week’s article and since I had begun thinking up my list immediately after reading Vodes’ post, I thought, “Woohoo easy article!”

Unfortunately, this article was not as easy as I thought it would be.  It turns out deciding on only five songs that I will listen to for the rest of my life (as in as long as the supplies on the plane last cause I’m not much of a survivalist) was not that easy.  My first list mostly represented music from the late 90’s and early 00’s but then I realized I would eventually get tired of all that angst.  I needed to diversify my list and include some more toe-tapping numbers.

My new list is better.  It includes music from more time periods.  It includes some singable songs (for when I get tired of simply talking to my volleyball) and is more of a broad sampling of Rock and Roll.  So here’s my list in no particular order and without any references to LOST.

Come On Lets Go – Ritchie Valens
Its singable, danceable, and gets bonus points for being sung by a Mexican.

Read the rest of this entry →

Artist: We Were Promised Jetpacks
Album: These Four Walls
Label: Fat Cat Records
Release Date: June 15, 2009
Decision: 3/5 Promising If Uneven Debut
Influences I Notice:  U2, Explosions in the Sky,
Favorite Tunes: “Quiet Little Voices”, “Moving Clocks Run Slow”

1.  The Album

We Were Promised Jetpacks is a band from Edinburgh, Scotland.  These Four Walls is their debut album and it is quite impressive.  Like most indie label debuts it has a very simple production but it is hidden by a very complex sound from the band.

From the very first track, “It’s Thunder and Lightning”, you can hear the repetitive beats of post-rock bands like Explosions in the Sky. Combine this with vocal stylings that remind me of Bono from U2 and you have a promising debut from a young band. Read the rest of this entry →

What image comes to mind when someone mentions Van Halen? Don’t be afraid; close your eyes and just let the thoughts and pictures flow freely. Is that a guitar you see? Is it the red and white striped one? Who is the singer? Is the bass guitar shaped like a Jack Daniels bottle? For me, Van Halen was one of those revolutionary bands that comes along every few years and raises the bar on rock music. The four original members, Eddie and Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and David Lee Roth combined to create a synergy that was unrivaled at the time and some would still argue, has not been equaled since. I like all the incarnations of Van Halen. I refuse to pick a favorite. There has been heated debate in recent years regarding which Van Halen was the best Van Halen. Let’s travel back in time to 1978 and have a little look-see; shall we?

Jimmy Carter jogging is sooo 1978.

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Van Halen, released 1978

In February of 1978, Van Halen took the country by storm with its self-titled, debut release: Van Halen. You have to remember that one. The cover featured a long-haired David Lee Roth, Alex and Eddie slightly blurred and Michael Anthony banging on the four-string. This album contained arguably one of the greatest, single guitar tracks of all time: Eruption. My God, man! Who is this guy? How did he play that? How many guitars are on that track? This instrumental, along with several other radio-friendly tracks like Jamie’s Cryin’ and Ain’t Talkin ‘bout Love, catapulted Van Halen into the national limelight. And the four original members would become rock icons before the decade was out. They went on to record five more albums; their last being 1984. I was lucky enough to see the original Van Halen in 1984 and I have to say, they kicked ass! The guitar solo, in and of itself, was worth the price of the ticket. David Lee Roth was a master showman and an unbelievable front man. They were so tight and well-rehearsed; I hated to see the show end. But, as we all know, egos got the best of the band and the original Van Halen was history…or so we thought. Read the rest of this entry →

Some bands stay with you through the years, others are just a passing trend.

In high school, I listened to Fuel and the Foo Fighters and Live and Counting Crows.  In college, my freshman year, I would listen to A Perfect Circle and Tool.  Later on, I would listen to The Shins and Elliott Smith.

I’ve listened to R.E.M. for many years, and their songs have stuck by me through good and bad times, thoughtful and emotional times.  The first R.E.M. album I got was New Adventures in Hi-Fi.  Because of my age, I was joining them late in the game.  It has been a treasure trove of albums to discover.  I admire how unique R.E.M.’s career has been and how they seem to continually challenge themselves to keep being creative. Of course, besides the music and instrumentation, I am a huge lyrics person.  My ears always strain to make out the singer’s words when I’m listening to any music.  Michael Stipe’s lyrics and delivery never fail to be poetic.  One of my favorite songs is “Find the River,” the last song on Automatic for the People.  In high school, my favorite R.E.M. song was “Strange Currencies.” Read the rest of this entry →

McTwist?! Who the Hell are these guys and why should I give a f*ck!?

Maybe you shouldn’t, but I’d check them out.

These guys are good (I’ve yet to see them play live yet), but I do like their songs on their Myspace (which you can check out by going here: Here!)

And this site won’t do heartless plugging, so there’s actually substance to these guys. I really like Achilles Tendency (I think it’d be a great song to use if I ever make an 80’s pop film (and I could if I wanted to)), so check that one out and then check out Late Night, Long Day which I think is an interesting 50’s/90’s pop/rock song. Hope they make an album soon so I can give it a raving review (or completely destroy it ; ))!

Anyways, they’ve got these shows lined up in your area:

May 16th, 2008 @ the Sterling Community Center in Sterling, VA @ 8PM
May 24th, 2008 @ the Brass Monkey in Baltimore, MD @ 10PM

Oh, and they look like this:

Their music is better than their band pics, I promise. What the Hell are they doing in this picture??

Check ‘em out! See them live! Shave their armpits!