musicallyworded

I apologize, I'm a bit under the weather today, but I thought I'd post something anyway.

There are some amazing albums that are being released this week. I thought I'd just give you a run down of some popular artists whose albums are being or have been released:

Country: 

Charleston, SC 1966 - Darius Rucker (Released 10/08/10)
Hemingway's Whiskey - Kenny Chesney (Released 9/28/10)
The Incredible Machine - Sugarland (Released 10/19/10)

Rap:

I Am Not a Human Being - Lil Wayne (Released 10/12/10)

Rock:

Come Around Sundown (Deluxe Edition) - Kings of Leon (Released 10/19/10)

Easy Listening:

The Rock and the Tide - Joshua Radin (Released 10/12/10)
Foundling - David Gray (Released 10/12/10)

Soundtrack:

The Vampire Diaries Original Soundtrack- CD (Released 10/12/10)
Glee: The Music- The Rocky Horror Glee Show (Released 10/19/10)
Hannah Montana Forever- Television Soundtrack (Released 10/19/10)

I'm not sure who has or hasn't heard of Spose, I personally know of him because of where I'm from (as he is from the same place). Spose is actually a stage name for Ryan Peters, a Maine native, who was recently signed to Universal Republic Records (Three Doors Down, Hinder, Kevin Rudolph, Colbie Caillat among the many artists on this record label). 

It's unbelievable what you can do so long as you keep at it. He started writing rhymes in eighth grade, starting rapping in 2004, self-released an album in 2007, had a baby with his girlfriend, all the while working at Barnicle Billy's in Ogunquit, Maine.

Early this year his song "I'm Awesome," hit in the airwaves in Maine and thereafter hit radio stations in other parts of the country.

What makes Spose so special? I'm not quite sure. He mocks himself, that's what he does. All he does it seems. In fact, he's just an ordinary guy with ordinary lyrics fulfilling a not so ordinary dream. That's the special part, I suppose. An ordinary guy fulfilling a dream. That's quite the feat.

Check out his...interesting video here:

Random music post today, just food for thought.

Music videos? Who watches those anymore? I do! So it saddens me that MTV only shows music videos in the wee hours of the morning where the world is either asleep, about to go to sleep, or just getting up from a long night of sleep. Random question of the day is, what do you think of music videos? Are they outdated? Should artists even attempt to make anymore? Why should the continue? 

I recently saw Willow Smith's (yes, Will Smith's daughter) first music video ever called, "Whip My Hair." I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but I was highly impressed. It's unique, it's rich, and it attracts viewers (at least it intrigued me).

Here's the video for "Whip My Hair." 



What are some of your favorite videos? Old? New? Let me know!

Soon it's going to be that time of the year again where we're "walking in a winter wonderland," and we're "rockin around the Christmas tree," and listening to "Auld Lang Syne," on New Years. I've been feeling in the Christmas mood lately, probably since July, but that just means I'm listening to Christmas music daily.

My favorite Christmas songs of all time are probably, Oh Holy Night. and Silent Night. It doesn't follow the cheerful tone of all the other songs, but there's something about it that just makes me feel warm. Both songs make me think of stockings over the fireplace, Christmas lights, and opening gifts just after midnight. One song that always manages to get into the spirit is, Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24 (or as some may call it, Carols Of the Bells) by Trans Siberian Orchestra. It's completely non-traditional, but the intensity is always something that makes me want to get up and start putting lights up on trees and houses. I actually stumbled upon this video of The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney World. They used the Trans Siberian song in this dancing light spectacle and it's just unbelievably amazing, nothing I've ever seen.





I think a favorite of many is also, Winter Wonderland, as it is also a favorite of mine. A non-traditional song that I can't help but seem to like is, All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey. It's a song that is so incredibly cheesy that I can't but like it, the same with Last Christmas by Wham. Another non-traditional song that I've recently fallen in love with is, All I Want For Christmas (Is To Give My Love Away) by The Rescues, the song was on Grey's Anatomy Christmas episode last year.

Here are a videos to some of the songs I've mentioned or have not mentioned but love anyway:

All I Want For Christmas (Is To Give My Love Away) by The Rescues




Winter Wonderland covered by Dean Martin



Oh Holy Night covered by Kelly Clarkson



Jingle Bells covered by Dean Martin




Please feel free to let me know what your favorite Christmas songs are! What do you love about them? What songs can't you stand? Let me know! Hit the comment button!

James Morrison is 26 yeas old musician, born and raised in the U.K. As a young child, Morrison learned to play the guitar with his uncle, who taught him how to play blues riffs. (wikipedia) With his soulful and rather distinctive voice (said to have been caused by whooping cough as a baby), he's got everyone whose listened to "Broken Strings" asking, "who sings this song?" 

Fans can thank "Ryan's Bar," a pub Morrison discovered, who allowed him to perform on open mic nights for two years before he was signed to a record label.

Morrison has worked with Jason Mraz, and more recently, Nelly Furtado ("I'm Like A Bird").

Here are a few videos to some of his songs:

"Please Don't Stop The Rain":



"You Give Me Something"



"Love Is Hard" Live Version (my personal favorite song)




For more information, visit his official website here: http://www.jamesmorrisonmusic.com/ and his myspace here: http://www.myspace.com/jamesmorrisonmusic

"A live musical performance in front of an audience," that's the basic definition of a concert according to Wikipedia. It's more than that, right? Of course it is. Depending on who you see, where you sit (or stand), what kind of people you meet, it's all make or break.

I've been to a couple of concerts, some good, some not too bad, and some where I still think back about today and ask myself, "what was I thinking?" I know you're all curiously wondering what my first concert was, this is that one concert I was talking about, 98 Degrees. Perhaps I'll just go and hide in the corner of shame. However, I've been to many great concerts since then. I went to see John Mayer before he became infamous. I saw Adele, who is well known for her song "Chasing Pavements." As far as performance goes, this British singer knows how to put on a show! Her voice is not like anything I've ever heard, she truly sounds as amazing live as she does on her album.

One of the most memorable concert experiences was at a Keane concert. Keane was sort of an up and coming band from the U.K. at the time, and my cousin and I were both really into their music, so we thought why not? We took a chance on buying tickets, thinking they'd be sold out, but instead we manged to snag front row tickets. I'd never been front row before so it was a surreal experience, to be that close, it truly was memorable.

The point is, there are concerts that you want to relive over again and then there are those you are ashamed to admit to even going to. Nonetheless, music is music, and even if ten years from now you look back at in regret...in that moment, you wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.

What was your first concert? Which concert was the most memorable? If you had a chance, which artist would you die to to see? What music festivals would you want to attend?

To answer the last question, for me, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (also known as just Coachella). A three day music and art festival (kind of like a modern day Woodstock), with awesome musical artists and cool exhibits? So there!

On a slightly different note than my other two posts, today's blog is about rapper Lil' Wayne. It's a completely random post but it's music related and I've actually been thinking about it ever since I saw this huge Yahoo! article about it.

Lil' Wayne, as some of you may or may not know, is a well known rapper in the music industry. He has collaborated with a lot of other popular rappers such as,  Kanye West, Eminem, Jay-Z and a list of other talented rappers that also well known in the music industry today.

 Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr, has had his share of run in with the laws, but back in 2007 he was arrested for criminal possession of a weapon (registered to his manager) and marijuana. Wayne was sentenced to one year in jail.

However, as of late, Wayne is now serving the rest of his time (till November 4th) in solitary confinement. Why you ask? Apparently, Wayne was in possession of contraband, an MP3 charger and headphones (another inmate had the actual MP3). Reportedly, this is the second time the incident has occurred. (MTV)

I found this incident to be kind of crazy. Why? A musician, in jail, is put insolitary confinement for being in possession of a charger and headphones. I'm not sure if I find the "put in solitary confinement" crazy (maybe not, since both contraband's posed safety hazards) or the fact that he had these things in his possession, but either way it's interesting to think about. The fact that his contraband was not a weapon but rather an item that is related to music, well, it's kind of funny. A musician really is tied to his music!

This is my first post about an artist, so we'll put a spotlight today on, Ingrid Michaelson. I figure this would be as good a time as any since she just recently played to an almost sold-out crowd at Boston's House of Blues. Michaelson is an indie singer and songwriter, born and raised in Boston's rival city,  NYC. It's not hard to understand where her love for music began, with artistic parents (father a composer and mother a sculptor), she was bound to pick up a thing or two. At a mere age four she learned to play the piano and trained until she was seven years old. Now that's a child prodigy. Today she plays not only the piano but the acoustic guitar as well, as we have come to expect with most indie musicians. Staying true to her roots, she went on to major in theater at Binghampton University in Vestal, New York. Once she graduated she decided she wanted to be a director but instead became a musician, thank goodness because her music is truly awe-inspiring.

Her lyrics are soulful and she always manages to bring a sense of nostalgia. Her music invokes memories that have long been forgotten. She truly is an artist, not just because she's a musician, but because through her lyrics she somehow inspires us to create images in our heads.

She has toured with Jason Mraz, is married to Greg Laswell (also a musician), and has worked with Sara Bareilles ( hit song titled Love Song). Michaelson is currently on tour.

ETA: If you have twitter find her at twitter.com/ingridmusic or listen to some of her songs at her myspace at myspace.com/ingridmichaelson

First subject-specific entry, as you can see, my subject is music. What's not to love about music? This first entry is all about where to stream music.

"Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider." (wikipedia.org)

Honestly, when I'm bored of my iTunes playlist and really just want to listen to something else, I go to some of the websites listed below. You can find your favorite artists and then look for similar artists...then tada...you're on your way to discovering a lot of interesting artists you never even knew existed.

So, yeah, if you're bored (and  heaven forbid...don't have your iPod with you) and really want to listen to some music, there are a lot of amazing sites where you can go and listen to some of your favorite artists. Create stations. Share music. Connect with people!

Many people know of: 

Pandora - a great website where you can search your favorite artists and listen to other artists who share similar styles of music. "Users create custom streaming audio stations based on music tastes."

Last.Fm - actually one of my favorite sites because there's no limit to the number of songs you can listen to per day or hour or whatever. Create stations.  A great internet radio site to stream music. Listen to an endless number of songs! All day!

Songza-Similar to both Pandora and Last.Fm, it's another fantastic way to stream music. Find all your favorite artists or discover new ones!

Other similar sites include:

we7.com
jango.com
grooveshark.com

These are just a few of the ones I like, but there are a ton more out there. Which ones are your favorites? Hit the comment button and let me know!

Don't forget to support your favorite artists by purchasing their albums, songs, or videos!

I'm not going to lie, I'm not musically gifted. I don't sing. I don't play an instrument (though I have a guitar sitting in my room that has never been played, but would love to learn).  The only thing I'm musically good at doing is...well, finding music. I love discovering new artists and listening to new music. Believe or not, television shows have seriously become a great way to discover new music artists. And though Myspace is now super uncool, it's actually a great place to find a lot of new up and coming artists!

Anyway, point of this blog? Well to talk about music of course. Not too difficult I suppose. Since I don't have any musical talents I could possibly talk about, I figure the least I could do is keep you musically informed or perhaps you could teach me a little something.

So here we go. Hope you enjoy my music ramblings!