Now that Halloween is upon us I wanted to share some spooky music and whats better then This Is Halloween, this article and many more by this user goes on to analyze songs from Tim Burtons, Nightmare Before Christmas….
Here’s something I’m slightly ashamed to admit: to date, I have still not seen The Nightmare Before Christmas. I know it’s a classic, I know I should have seen it long since, but somehow I’ve just never gotten around to it, and I admit at this point I have no excuse. However, to somewhat make up for it, I thought I would start looking into the songs that appear in that film, some of which I am quite familiar with.
“This is Halloween” is the first major song that appears in the film, and as of right now is the song I’m most familiar with. It serves as our proper introduction to Halloween Town and its spooky denizens, where Jack Skellington rules as the Pumpkin King (it’s like Santa Claus and the North Pole, only everything is based around Halloween).
Out of all the concerts I have attended my all-time favorite has to be the Foster the People concert I went to back in 2017 in Rhode Island.
I drove down from south shore MA with my cousin Hannah, neither of us where really big listeners to the band but we did like their music and her mom bought her two tickets so why not? We waited in line for a bit and finally got into the venue. Now, this felt more like my first concert due to the Blink 182 concert I went to prior sucked because I had to deal with a friend high sitting in the center of a mosh pit.
Hannah pushed our way to the front of the crowd which made me feel quite awful, I apologized to everyone we passed. The band started playing once the opener finished and I stared, wide eyed. Mike Foster’s voice was absolutely beautiful and the sounds they used was mesmerizing. It felt like a high I never felt before. I rode it out every second up until they closed the show with Pumped Up Kicks and my personal favorite, Helena Beat.
As they got off the stage people where talking about an after party which is when Hannah and I looked at each other and started asking everyone and I mean everyone where the hell this party was. We found a tattoo place and upstairs was a bar, this was where the after party was. We somehow got in and FTP played a few songs at this small bar and then came to talk to Hannah and I. We just stood there in a circle with them, chilling.
As they got off the stage people were talking about an after party which is when Hannah and I looked at each other and started asking everyone and I mean everyone where the hell this party was. We found a tattoo place and upstairs was a bar, this was where the after party was. We somehow got in and FTP played a few songs at this small bar and then came to talk to Hannah and I. We just stood there in a circle with them, chilling.
Hannah and I didn’t think to ask questions but one that I remember asking was for the drummer, Mark Foster, why he played the drums with an eggplant. His response was simple, “thought it would be funny.”
I had found some new idols after that interaction, we didn’t even ask for pictures or anything we just said by and have a good night. It was a performance, a day I will never forget.
I would also like to add an interview that done with The Wombats, Matthew Murphy. She may actually be a better writer then I when it comes to music…..maybe.
I would also like to add an interview that Hannah had done with The Wombats, Matthew Murphy. She may actually be a better writer then I when it coms to music…..maybe.
Spongebob Squarepants may seem like the average joe but when you really think about it, get deep down into the core of this square man you can tell that this man, is a rock star.
SpongeBob Squarepants may seem like the average joe but when you think about it, getting into the core of this goofy goober you can tell that this square man, is a rock star.
I’d like to start this by addressing that Goofy Goober Rock is a classic for us adults at the ripe age of 21, it is a song that truly brings the classic rock of that of my dad’s generation and blends perfectly to that of SpongeBob. In an earlier post of mine I mentioned how rock music tackles issues like war and in The SpongeBob Movie (2004) Plankton, the antagonist has created a war that only SpongeBob and Patrick can save bikini bottom. What is it that saves the town? None other than Rock and roll. More importantly, the sickness that is SpongeBob’s electric guitar (again, electric guitars are almost always associated with rock) solo.
Here we can see Prince and Spongebob wearing almost the exact same outfit. This two rock legends know how to support one another
Not only that but listening to “Goofy Goober Rock,” you can definitely hear similarities to that of Twisted Sisters- ” I wanna Rock.” It is clear as day just how much of a rockstar spongebob is…..
Dave Mustaine also wrote a song titled, Sweet Victory. Sweet Victory is a song that I could relate to that of the band KISS or QUEEN or any band you can think of that can get an audience screaming the lyrics to.
Just listen to that voice and tell me this man doesn’t compare to Freddy Mercury. DO it, tell me….. Spongebob is a kid but more important is a Goofy Goober aka Rockstar.
Back in 2014, the new up and coming artist, Lorde, won Top Rock Song at the Billboard Music Awards with her song “Royals”. Beating out artists like Imagine Dragons, Capital Cities, and Passengers. Her win turned heads for many viewers including I, a huge fan of Lorde. “Lorde winning best rock single?” How could the slow and synth-heavy production be nominated, let alone win a Rock award?
Then little 14 year old me got to thinking, how could any of the people nominated in this category?
I had been conditioned up until then to believe Rock music was all about head banging, lighters swaying, and instruments going absolutely CRAZY!!! Queen, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, these were the names I associated Rock with but after Lorde won I realized that is not the case.
Lorde showing visible confusion with her Rock win.
Rock music has come very far from its origins:
“its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, a style which drew heavily from the genres of blues, rhythm and blues, and from country music. Rock music also drew strongly from a number of other genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other musical styles” – Wikipedia
Rock is a genre that can not really be put in a glass bottle, like most genres. It takes inspiration from its surrounding genres and becomes its own thing which makes totally since when you actually think about it. Rock created/ creates a counter culture. It is a form of music that is used more than just for infectious instrumentals with a dose of beautiful voices, it is used to tackle subjects such as war, religion, justice, and in short, the horrors of the world.
I could compare Lorde to Nirvana or even with the band Kiss, Lorde is an amazing artist and in short is a Rock Star.
For this post I am going to strain away from the genre jumping and stay in a more narrative driving blog post. Here I will introduce my favorite music genres as well as say some of my favorite bands/ artist that will more than likely be talked about in later posts.
First and foremost, though, The 90’s was my favorite period of music genre.. The music then seemed so much more fun and more imaginative and less production heavy. You could tell the artists where having fun with the music and not taking it o’ so serious like todays music.
Here is a great article about 90’s music and why it’s so great.
Now, for my favorite genre I am going to have to say my favorites are Rock n Roll (wood is that why the blog is pop ROCKZ crazy), alternative, and, wait for it…..Alternative rock .
Now, the moment you all have been waiting for, my all time favorite artists!!!!! DRUM ROLL PLEASE…….
Lorde, Gorillaz, Blondie, Foster The People, Pink Floyd, and Arctic Monkeys.
That’s it, I’m not going go into detail as to why but there you go. Have a good day
A band that has been burnt into my brain since the first time I saw one of their music video’s is the band Gorillaz. The music video I am talking about is none other than Feel Good Inc. Which I talk even more about my interest with the band as well as a few others on my College Project Website.
Animation in music has been done in the past but never to the extreme that Gorrilaz has done. Archie comics had an animated band and artists such as Paula Abdul used animation in music videos. Gorrilaz however, was a story and a concept..
Gorillaz however was something new, something never seen before that took away the child friendly cartoon feel in exchange for a MTV animation or adult swim cartoon feel, more dynamic cast of characters in the band with their own stories that came together in the music videos.
This post acknowledges to just who Gorillaz are, believe me, there will be more posts to come for one of if not my favorite bands. While you wait, here is a video of co-creator of the band Jamie Hewlett doing a quick sketch of the band as well as many other quick sketches.
Watch Jamie Hewlett sketchMy drawing of Gorillaz band member 2D
Summer came to an end its the release of Lana Del Rey’s sixth studio album, Norman F***ing Rockwell (NFR) . Summer is a time you figure you’ll be listening to some country music on the beach with a white claw in hand. That is until Lana released her album and summer nights turned to sitting in your car with a joint in hand. NFR was easily the best album of the summer and best album of the year (so far).
Lana does not jump away from her usual sound in this album. Lana paved a way for many new artists with her creation of “Dream Pop” music. She keeps her songs slow paced with a mix of hiphop, lo-fi, and rock, which blends perfectly with her lyrics. NFR produces songs such as “Cinnamon Girl“, “The Greatest“, “F*** it I love you” (my favorite on the album), and even a beautiful cover of Sublimes- Doin’ Time.
Lana’s beautiful cover of Sublimes- Doin’ Time music video is also beautiful and sublime
Lana defines a genre of her own and damn is it beautiful. NFR was put up against Taylor Swifts summer album “Lover,” and it blew Lover out of the water. I would go as far as to say this is a fact not just an opinion. With that being said, I have to go put in some headphones, listen to NFR, and pretend I am the sad misunderstood kid in class just like in the teen movies.
Growing up in the 2000’s meant a lot of people in relationships doing the Single Ladies dance, texts being abbreviated such as C U L8ER, and a whole lot of trying to match the pitch of songs that use auto tune. The auto tune voice we recognize more than any others is that of T-Pains.
Auto tune was not a new concept coming into the late 2000’s as it has been used in song by such artists like Cher (Believe 1998), however it was never used that much in hip hop music. That is until Mr. T, or uh, Mr. Pain(?) came into the picture. T-Pain changed the genre completely, which he even agrees with in his interview with Genius. T-Pain states how “[he changed] music completely,” and I 100% agree. T-Pain helped push auto tune into the hip-hop scene, creating amazing lyrics and dance inducing beats. People could now dance to auto tune songs like with Daft Punks- Harder, Better, Faster, and One More Time. However, now people can memorize lyrics and show off dance moves at 5th and 6th grade dances.
T-Pain Buy U A Drank
Today, T-Pain has voiced some major hatred towards the auto tune scene in hip hop. Telling how artist now will just slap auto tune on songs without understanding what auto tune really is. He tells how he wants the tunes to be put back onto songs that get people up and dancing at clubs, not just used to sing about explicit language and actions. Again, I agree with T-Pain. How do you feel about hip hop music and auto tunes in today’s music? Are you still able to get up and dance or is it more a head bopping, listen with the base up in the car music?
Trippie Redd- Rack City Q.-Do you agree with T-Pain and his view that autotune is used without knowledge of it?
Music is freeing, it can draw in everyone and anyone. Adding beautiful lyrics to the sound of pianos and electric guitars just adds more dimension and pizzazz to a song. Why is it then that we end up categorizing these beautiful sounds and songs into different genres of music?
Many artists within the music industry hate the idea of music genres, believing it to be walls closing them off from being able to break into more types of music or experiment with more sounds. However there is more to it then a disagreement with an artist and others. Music is something that has to be categorized due to its audience. With a given genre we can clarify what type of music we want to listen to, what style we are looking for, and what artists we should keep an eye out for.
Music does have to be clarified, that does not mean however that it shouldn’t be blended. Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus proved that by destroying the Billboards Top 100 record for longest number one song with there song, Old Town Road. A country/hip hop song topping the charts? Sounds to me like a great addition to the Music History books.
PopRockZ 