Dear Rihanna,

Stay 

Everytime 

Britney did it better.

Shameful

Fall Out Boy's new video for the single Phoenix came out recently and I just watched it. This band frustrates the hell out of me because Evening Out With Your Girlfriend, Take This To Your Grave, and From Under The Cork Tree are three of the best albums in pop/rock history... then they just sold out, and they are proud of that fact. They featured shirts with "Sell Out Boy," on them. I don't really care about their yearly projections or their home lives, but since Infinity On High they've been making music that is a total 360 from the substance they used to deliver. Stump's lyrics have always been hard to follow, but they used to at least challenge thought. His vocals are now obnoxious.

I'd like to take this moment to acknowledge the bands out there:

1. Not in this for money, but the passion and physical need to express ones self. 

2. Bands that stay true to themselves and their supporters by continuing to challenge and keep their sound, but improve upon it. 

3. Individuals as well as bands that are rising through the airwaves providing listeners with more than just words to chords, but actual meaning and thought provoking  hope giving, and change inspiring, powerful lyrics. 

As much as I hate giving this more views, form your own opinions. 

Phoenix 

Tavi Gevinson and WHY

Tavi Gevinson is a 15 year old girl that's more successful than you. She's establishing her way into fame by being extraordinarily knowledgeable and a walking trend-setter emitting "cool" through everything she does. Starting a blog at 11, The Style Rookie gained a following and led to Ms. Gevinson's publication of Rookie Magazine. Tavi explains the blog and the zine as a sort of mecca for teenage girls, not promising an answer or an opinion, but a place to discover ones self. Watching her Ted Talk, Gevinson displays the new wave of Feminism, a "cool" that resembles nods to Margot Tenenbaum among others, a fresh fashion sense that evolves as fast as it catches on, and an enlightened teen spirit of not giving a decisive shit on anything.

Ted Talk

If that's not enough to hate yourself for doing nothing at fifteen but playing video games and prank calling Pizzahut, wait until you obsessively YouTube video clips of her. She's got gumption, and I like that. So three "You go Glen Coco's" to Tavi Gevinson, one of the few youngsters to remember for something more than a hit single or a sex tape. Not to mention her music taste is INCREDIBLE. 

Picture taken from thestylerookie.com 2013

What a schizophrenic hears

I ran into this audio clip that researchers put together based on information they gathered from actual patients. Listen to it with headphones, it's pretty powerful. I don't think it's exactly accurate, based on the little I studied when I was a psych major. Nonetheless, it's good to get perspective, to somewhat understand how devastating every second is for people suffering from this.

What Schizophrenia sounds like:

-m 

Warped Tour 2013

The Used is playing my dates. Done. I'm in.

Vah Beach 7/9

DCizzle 7/10

Also excited for Motion City, Chiodos, Story of The Year, Woe is me, We Came As Romans, August Burns Red, Bring me the Horizon, Silverstein, Oh Sleeper, and Billy Talent.

Super sad that Ice Nine Kills won't be playing our dates :(

The rest of the line up

See you there,

-m

E. Von Dahl Killed The Locals

The Storyboard is a good friend of mine's band. In fact, I guess I reserve the right to call all of the members  my friends, because honestly that's what they have all become. Their music is more on the indie side of things, it's got a dark alcoholic vibe though, highlighted by lighter fun songs, with a twist of horror movie and 80's film references that all comes full circle to melodic, 6 piece love songs. The best thing about them by far is the diversity of instruments they have on stage and the great one liners throughout the whole CD. It's something for every one in the indie fan base. They just released their full album on itunes not too far back and they have plenty on the way. Check them out! 

Facebook

Twitter

Booking

Kenny Custom man, what can I say. This kid is sick. His rhymes are well thought out and eloquently executed. He doesn't rely on bashing, cursing, speed or up-selling his ego to get his words to appeal. You can tell he's doing this for a deeper cause and it's bigger than anything you can buy or bang or smoke. He literally spits the truth and his old school sound as a backdrop compliments nicely. If your looking for a wholesome, more substanced rap with a bit of a soulful sound try him on for size.

Facebook

Twitter

I make dis: Paint sample calendar

I was browsing through Pinterest the other day and I found this picture of a diy dry erase board calendar. Since I will use any excuse to go to Lowes and steal thousands of free paint swatches, I decided I could fulfill that inner klepto as well as create something unique, useful and beautiful for my dorm/apartment.

What you will need:

- A frame no smaller than 13.5 by 17.5 but I used 14 by 18 I think, if that's possible. Mine was $4.99 at Gabriel Brothers. You can find them at Walmart, Michaels, and Ikea for cheaper though.
- Paint Chips/Swatches/Samples ( You can find these at any hardware or paint store & they are free so take as many as you want.
- Different colored pens/shaarpees
- Scissors & a glue stick.
- A ruler if you're good with one.
- Some type of background to stick everything on to, I suggest flipping over the picture insert with all of the advertisements of the frame and just use that.

WATCH OUT FOR:

- Touching the frame. My frame was black and cheap, as I held the edges to line up the paper and the frame the black paint from the frame rubbed off on my finger tips and I got prints all over my samples, not to worry, this came off with a damp paper towel.

- The only measuring I did was outlining my paper within my frame. All frames have a tiny 1/4 in. of space where the frame juts out and it will cover your work if you glue your swatches right on the edges of your paper. I recommend waiting until you're about to glue, slowly lifting your display onto the cardboard backing. Take the glass out of the frame and put it all together. Take a pen or pencil and go around the outside edges where the frame meets the paper. This way when you take it apart you'll have a line that shows you where to put your cut samples so no white shows through if you don't want it to.

All in all it was a little time consuming, but totally worth the price and a fun cute way to liven up a room.

I've been an awful blog mom!

Not that I'm a real mother in any way... I feel bad though nonetheless, I haven't been posting since school. I have however been "pinning" like crazy! http://pinterest.com/mryseas/ follow me.

Pinterest is a great little website that allows you to make visual pin boards of anything you want. I love it because it gives me a ton of diy ideas and crafty little rules to cleaning and making life simpler, as well as fashion trends and how to braid your hair, all organized neatly on one site. Loves it.

It's free to join, but it's invitation only, waiting for them to email you takes weeks, so if you'd like I can send you an invite via your email if you want to join. Send me a line at mryseas@gmail.com.

Anyway,  I'm going to try my very best to start posting not only music related articles, but diy, beauty & health, fashion, and random other organizational projects to keep your life stress-almost-free. Mind you, I do this while writing papers, dealing with roommates, and reading millions of novels. Sike, it's really not that big of a commitment, I'm just lazy. See you soon!

The Storyboard's Album Is Out!!

Upcoming indie/folk band out of nothern VA The Story Board just released their first studio album a few days ago.  I'm so excited for them. Go check them out and support if you love them.
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Facebook
Itunes

Good luck gents,

There's A NEW Mars Volta Song Out!

Check it!

Foster The People Fans

Finding some really good music on youtube right now.
Youth Lagoon, Princess Chelsea, Wolf Gang, Walk The Moon, Ron Pope, Neon Indian, Arsenal, Oh My!, The Honey Trees, The Art of Sleeping, Radical Free, Paper Lions, The Tallest Man on Earth, The Perishers, Memoryhouse, We Are Trees, White Flight, NonTiq & Those Dancing Days

Check em' all out. Similar to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Foster the People, The Shins, & Grouplove.

Enjoy, sorry this isn't more detailed.

Attack Attack Is...Not The Same?

Believe you me, despite my dislike of preachy lyrics, I was very excited to listen to the new Attack Attack album released earlier this week. Listening to the first few seconds of the first song I thought, "God damn are they god." Their sound somehow seemed to grow even tighter and their epic heavyness to their songs even bigger and bolder. Then The screaming settled in, "That's different. Is this the right band?" With the change of the logo and the completely serious and grimy artwork I thought I could have mistakenly listened to the wrong band. Nope, it is definitely them guys.

Things that I noticed immediately were different:

-Screamer

-Singer

-Techno interludes and break downs almost non-existent

-Funny titles GONE

-Lyrics not about jesus

-Sound darker

-Rooted more in metal and punk than hardcore and pop

I'm really kind of upset. I never got the chance to see them live and now the sound and line up is so different. They're practically a brand new band. I decided to do a bit of research to see what the hell happened to my crabcore saviors.

Bare with me, this cuss is harder to figure out then calculus. All of this information came from the know all of the internet Wikipedia, the only trusted source on the web, duh. Okay so let me break this down for you guys.

The first, and in my opinion best, full length album Someday Came Suddenly (2008) consisted of members Andrew Wetsel (drums), Andrew Whiting (lead guitar), Austin Carlile (Screamer), Johnny Franck (rhythm guitar/ lead clean vocals), Caleb Shomo (keyboards, synths).

Attack Attack - Stick Stickly 2008

So Austin Carlile gets fired, mistake one. They hire Nick Barham who takes over screaming. He was in the band for like 6 months, mistake two. He was never recorded on any album. Caleb stepped up and started screaming.

Austin Carlile (former singer/screamer?)

So then for the recording of the second self titled album Attack Attack (2010), the line up is recorded as Caleb screaming and playing synths, and Franck on vocals and guitar as usual. I went back and listed to this album while writing this post and I can admit that you can hear some of the changes. I only listened to Smokahontas about a billion times and the album as a whole still retained that techno-fun-rap-poppy singing-ness that the former had, just in less dosage. I guess i figured the screamer was just working on his range, not realizing it was a completely different screamer.

Attack Attack - Smokahontas 2011

Caleb Shomo (current screamer and keys)

Third mistake, Johnny Franck leaves the band to discover god or something. So now the band is forced to find a new singer again. I'm assuming that Caleb recorded screams, clean vocals, and keys on the new album This Means War (2011), I couldn't find much information on that. However, for touring reasons the band has replaced Franck with Sean Mackowski who fills in rhythm guitar and clean vocals while touring.

   Johnny Franck (former rhythm guitarist and singer)

So now, the line up is completely altered from the first album. In my opinion the quintessential element of a band that must stay the same is a singer and or screamer. You can generally replace instrumentals without being able to tell a dramatic difference, but singing and screaming to a band as unique in sound as Attack Attack  is detrimental. Certain critics have commented that on the self titled album Calebs screams were deep and almost disturbing to now on This Means War (2011) they are higher pitched. I don't hear it. To me his screams will never resemble those of Austin's. 

Attack Attack -Wretched 2012

Band Members:

Current

Andrew Wetzel - drums, percussion (since 2005)

Andrew Whiting - lead guitar (since 2005)

John Holgado - bass guitar (since 2007)

Caleb Shomo - lead vocals (since 2009), programming, synthesizers, keyboards (since 2007)

Former
Johnny Franck - rhythm guitar, clean vocals (2007–2010)
Nick Barham - lead vocals (2008–2009)
Austin Carlile - lead vocals (2007–2008)
Ricky Lortz - rhythm guitar, clean vocals (2005–2007)
Nick White - bass guitar (2005–2007)

Touring
Sean Mackowski - rhythm guitar, clean vocals (since 2010)

The first album is crabcore gold in a bottle. This last album however, has no oomph! They are turning into every other cliched hardcore band. Attack Attack used to be hilarious. They had serious lyrics, stupid and humorous titles (Bro, Ashley's Here), great rap intros ("Attack Attack where you at? 2008! hahaha"), and amazing electronica and keyboard break downs and solos. Not to mention their ridiculous invention of the "crabcore dance" (those guys must have thighs, glutes, and quads of steel). The meshing of techno rifs with the double bass and elloquent screams was what set Attack Attack aside from all other bands in the genre, love em' or hate em' you could dance and trash grab to em'! It's what made them famous and the lack of it is what will lead to their demise in mainstream hardcore/metalcore.

I for one am really dissapointed in this new sound of drab hardcore they have going on. There's nothing fun about their music anymore. Their singing parts have become seldom in the last album and their keyboard solos are almost nonexsistent. No more are the slow electronic songs with poppy upbeat breakdowns leading into the best three sounds ever struck. They are still talented no doubt, but they have lost their way as a band and it's very evident. They don't know who they are anymore, they have thrown away what sets them apart from other bands and they are quickly fading into the abyss of once great and unique hardcore music groups grasping for anyone that allows them to still tour.

I ask of you Attack Attack, where is my unknown rapper telling me I'm listening to a second wave of your greatness? Where are you're thoughtless and meaningless titles that I once so looked forward to reading? Where are the techno tracks that I can just skip ahead, and drive like a maniac to? Where are the sick beats interrupted with hardcore/techno break downs, base and double kick? In this new age of dubstep how are you not fitting in seamlessly to a new version of hardcore? Where is your prior genius and why has it been stifled? You have all the resources to grow within your original sound, so grow! Stop unplanting your seeds and joining an over populated garden. Find a field filled with epic beats and super sonic break downs and destroy it with your epic talent. Flourish my little crabkins flourish!
 

I want crabcore, I want clapping, I want chanting,  I want distorted autotuned voice being interrupted by base, and I want techno! So slop it on guys, you have your work cut out for you!


Time will only tell,

Natalie Portman

So I've been on a Natalie Portman kick lately. I think physically she is a perfect human being. Ratio wise she resembles a great likeness to Audrey Hepburn in my opinion. Anyway, I've loved her acting since Where The Heart Is. Recently I've become obsessed, so I IMDB'd her and 'm currently attempting to watch all of her movies.

This week thus far I have seen a recommended film by someone in my pop culture class, Leon: The Professional, which was awesome! It features miss Portman when she was thirteen. She was still brilliant. The movie is about a girl from a bad family being taking in by a hit-man. I will say no more. I give it 6 stars. I thought it was very well done for 94.

Last night I watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. For the most part I enjoyed this film, I wish the ending wasn't so abrupt though. 3 1/2 stars.
                                         

I followed that with Hesher, staring Joesph Gordon Levit. I thought it was pretty fantastic. The film is about a young boy that just lost his mother. Levit's character is a hardcore metal head that just ruins everything he touches. The movie is along the same lines of humor as Little Miss Sunshine. I laughed quite a few times. 5 stars.


More Later,

This is interesting...

Call It What You Want - by Foster The People

I don't really know if it's just me, but do music videos have no semblance to anything anymore? It's like artists/directors now throw in a ton of crap that makes no sense. Leave some things on the editing room floor, we don't need to see every thought that comes into your creative little brain. This video had a lot of potential.

Yeah,

HEY MARS VOLTA FANS!!

AT THE DRIVE IN IS GETTING BACK TOGETHER!!! Rumored sometime early next year. I'm so excited. One armed scissor is one of my favorite songs and I loved them before I understood and came to love THE VOLTA! I so can't wait to hear the new stuff, given last time they did anything they were all on drugs. This new sound better be just as good, but honestly HOW COULD IT NOT?

Lastly,
Dear Cedric please love me.

His eyes are like ghost prophets, that's the only way I can describe them. If you haven't seen Mars Volta or At The Dive In live then WHAT S WRONG WITH YOU? And if you've never heard of them it's time to do some googling.
GO SEE THEM LIVE, it changed my life.

Source: reblogged from yelyahwilliams.tumblr.com

Rolling Stone Post

At The Drive In Tumblr

Hollerr city in squalerrr!

Brilliant!

I love this commercial. It's so smart. 

I sell comics baby!

If you haven't heard of Courage My Love yet, you're  missing out. They are the new, fresh, young thang in the canadian music scene. I just found out about the trio a few days ago. I was at a friends house and he played their song I Sell Comics and told me the story of the band. He had a few details wrong, but we still love him for being such a new music buff. 

I Sell Comics- Courage My Love 

The group started in early 2010 with  twin sisters Mercedes Arn-Horn (Vocals/Guitar) and Phoenix Arn-Horn (Drums/Vocals) as well as David Blake-Dickson (Bass/Screams). The under 20 three piece has a pop/punk sound similar to that of Paramore and Versa Emmergae, vocals reminiscent of Evanescence, and guitar work hinting at Avenged Sevenfold/Bullet For My Valentine. They are a perfect mesh of metal, pop, and punk. The sound is surprisingly professional for how young they are. While their sound is heavy and tight, the vocals complement the guitar work and frame the song very well. 

Anchors Make Good Shoes (If You Have Issues) - Courage My Love

The group is making it look easy as they rise to fame. I assume they will be huge within the next few years. The female front and drums is a very new difference that sets them apart from most bands of their generation. They get their influence from bands such as Paramore, Anti Flag, Rancid, and Cancer Bats.  The twins write the lyrics and David usually supplies the song names. For their age they're pretty amazing. They just released their first EP entitled "For Now" which you can purchase on itunes or through their website. In addition to playing their first warped tour the up and coming super stars just filmed their first video for the first single off their first EP! 

Barricade - Courage My Love

Despite their age Courage My Love is not afraid to follow their big dreams. As if all of their new spotlight wasn't enough responsibility the trio has also started their own record label. That's right! Homeskool Prom Records is the newest affiliate under Warner Canada. 

It seems that these spring chickens have all the recipes for success they need. Plus can we just talk about how absolutely adorable they are? I wish them all the best and hope to see them on tour soon! Check them out and spread the word if you like what you hear. For more information go to Courage My Love's Bookface, Myspace, Twitter page, or Youtube channel. 

Also on the up&up, not necessarily from canada:

Never Means Maybe (Hardcore)

The Amity Affliction (Screamo)

Victory, Sweet Victory (pop/rock)

Darling Parade (Chick Lead)

Word bird,    

Marquese Scott: The Next Big Thing

This speaks volumes for itself. This kid is crazy talented and needs a dance scholarship RIGHT NOW. Check out that sick move at 4:13. INSANE. Props to you Marquese Scott, props to you. 

Some more insane dance videos:

Take that Toddlers In Tiaras, we just got one upped by Russia... "In soviet Russia steps dance you!" Seriously, these kids are five. There are so many people that are better than me in everything lol. 

Can't forget Robert Muraine! Bloody genius. 

If you got new moves, get out there! 

Heineken

Let me just say, my beer of choice has always been and always will be Heineken Light. I saw the new commercial for Heineken a few weeks ago and I thought it was odd, but I couldn't get over the song. The song in the ad is fantastic. I finally just remembered to look it up.

Upon doing 5 minutes of research it came about that the song is actually taken from an old bollywood musical called "Gumnaam" in the 60's. The commercial is much more exciting than the actual song.

Also found out that the clip above along with the original song was featured in the opening credits of "Ghost World".  I'm always looking for some new movies to watch and it looks like Ghost World just made my, "never seen and need to watch" list.

I was interested in what the song meant and found the translated lyrics from this lovely blog:

"Jan pehchaan ho

Jeena aasaan ho

Dil ko churaane waalon

Ankh na churao, naam to batao

(Let us get acquainted

It would make life easier

You who steal our hearts, do not avert your glances

Tell us your name)"

 Kind of disappointed though, I really thought I was going to stumble upon some outrageous underground band... Oh well. Heineken still makes the song sound great and this little excursion led me to this fantastic blog that I will most likely be frequenting. 

Jan pehchaan ho, 

Rom-com reviews

 Like Crazy

This little independent number looked fantastic in previews. I honestly think it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen. About twenty minutes in I thought, "This movie sucks," but I had to see if it got better. A lot of independent films come to fruition and turn out to be diamonds in the rough, not in this case unfortunately. I found it to be overdrawn, uneventful, and weak. The plot made little to no sense and the ending was god-awful. Rate it for yourself, but I give it two stars. 

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

 I actually liked this movie, but I thought it was going to be a lot better and by better I mean more meaningful or memorable. That being said the cast was great, the movie was cute, and let's get real I could watch Ryan Gosling make toast for hours on end so... It was a nice little rom-com though and it comes very highly recommended. Julianne Moore and Emma Stone two of my favorites as well. 

Last Night

Check out this upcoming rom-com! I think it could be potentially great. Honestly though who doesn't want to watch Kirra Knightly walk around in her skivvies dealing with love problems? I kind of adore her. Last Night is currently in theaters. I will not be watching it for a few months until it's released online.

See you at the pictures,