Yup you heard right. It’s a sad sad day. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten any mailing list updates from Silverchair, only to find that this one in particular is about their band being put into a “deep sleep”, as they call it. Not only are they not going to be making any new material, it gets even more depressing. They continue, saying they won’t be “… playing shows any time soon. It also means that the three of us won’t be working together unless and until it feels right again. “ Dig the dagger deeper why don’t cha?
But let’s get past the angst that comes with the news. It seems that each of the members of Silverchair will still be very much in touch with the music industry – Daniel is creating a film soundtrack, Ben is recording his own music and Chris seems to be on the business / musical venture side. And it’s also good to note that they’ve disbanded only because they wanted to pursue something that inspires them more, not because of some childish rift. In fact, the members even mentioned in the mail that “the three of us still truly care about each other”. So there’s still hope for the future.
For now, let’s take out all the Silverchair CDs from the rack, from Frog Stomp to Young Modern, and celebrate one of the most prominent and versatile names of the music industry, and one of the most influential names in my own personal music journey.
Post a comment below to give a nod to this great Aussie band! We love you guys!
The Michael Jackson hit song, “Man in the Mirror” has been sung again and again on the American Idol stage, the latest of which came from Season 10 contestant, Jacob Lusk, who for me, peaked during the first week when he sang “House is not a Home” and has yet to outperform that one ever since.
Another distinct performance comes from Kris Allen during top 36, the song that got him through to top 12. It was the song that made me remember his name and face for the very first time and marked the start of his great journey of growth throughout AI season 8 until finally winning the whole thing.
And as if that weren’t enough, back in season 9, Man in the Mirror was one of the songs you can sing during Hollywood week. Needless to say, several sang this Jackson tune, enough to subconsciously compel me to look in front of bathroom mirrors more frequently. One of them was Jermaine Sellers who let out his Diva attitude a few weeks too early, stating the band screwed up:
I also distinctly remember Thaddeus Johnson’s slower rendition, who didn’t quite make it through the big stage at American Idol:
And still others like Joe Munoz, who didn’t quite make it his own:
So in the heartfelt season finale of Glee, Mr. Schuster takes out his ukulele and sings for his class a rendition of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” – the same version Jason Castro was known for back in American Idol, and I must say the Glee club teacher’s version pales in comparison. His voice doesn’t have that unique quality to it (I feel that Schuster’s voice is very boy band / acapella) that the dreadhead has, and musical timing and interpretation was done better by the American Idol contestant. You be the judge if you agree:
Will Schuster’s version:
Jason Castro’s version:
What’s your take on this Somewhere Over the Rainbow duel?
Okay, so I am still having a Cougar Town hangover, so I’d like to show you just a couple of YouTube videos that clearly show why I love this TV series:
You have the crazy/slapstick-like humor:
You have the relationship-related satire, and dancing/singing:
The truth about women humor:
The Jules/Grayson romance, which majority waited to happen, with baited breath
And just the great chemistry among all the characters, like they’re really one big cul de sac family:
John Mayer is back with his fourth studio album, “Battle Studies, released last November 17, 2009. The first song I heard from the album was “Heartbreak Warfare”, and I enjoyed listening to it. The songs are laced with the trademark wit, heart, and storytelling feel to his lyrics, which I have always exceptionally loved about the American artist. He is certainly not one to toss the importance of the words on the back burner. And then there is his husky voice and distinct tone, that is an absolute comfort to listen to.
I must say that I’m not jumping up and down and raving nonstop about the album. I confess that I am still very partial to his first album “Room for Squares”, as it showcased more styles and beats. With that said, however, “Battle Studies” is quite a good album, none the less.
Here’s the “Assassin”, one of his less well-known songs on the album:
If you’ve been a fan of Switchfoot, you would definitely take a liking to the new album. Hello Hurricane does not do any dramatic breakthroughs in terms of music styling, nor is it a huge deviation from the Switchfoot-kind of music we’ve enjoyed in the past, and it’s actually a comfort to know that because the songs of the new album are just as catchy and emotional as we’ve come to expect their songs to be. You can listen to the songs over at their Myspace.
Hello Hurricane is the band’s first release on their indie label, people records, and it will be distributed internationally by Atlantic Records.
Okay I know this isn’t extremely fresh news, but I haven’t been on the loop in terms of sci-fi series lately, and I was never a huge follower of TSCC, so when I chanced upon a TSCC commercial with Shirley in it, I was surprised!
The Garbage singer has decided to make that ever-popular media shift from singer to actor… and, based on the teaser alone, it looks like she’ll do as good a job with this new stint as she did in her old one (that is, absolutely frikkin’ amazing!)
Shirley Manson played a heartless evil terminator (Catherine Weaver) in the second season of the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Check it out here:
I’ve been racking my brains out thinking of what to post for my own first article when I happened to come across this Facebook ad with a catchy caption that goes something like this (not in the exact words): “If you like Silverchair, you’ll like us for sure”. Silverchair, eh? It was definitely enough motivation for me to click on the ad.
Minutes later, I am led to the Bandcamp profile of a Vancouver band by the name of Run the Red Light, listening to all their songs, and I’m thoroughly enjoying myself.
I’m not quite sure if their songs are reminiscent enough of the genius music that Daniel Johns and company have delighted their fans with since the 1990’s but it doesn’t really matter. Run the Red Light stands on its own. Their music is a combination of several different bands out there and the singer’s voice is compelling enough for you to continue through all the tracks. I believe his voice is showcased best in their song, “Too Far”, but I also liked the deep voice he had when he sang “Brave New World” (which also happens to be my fave song of theirs so far). I’m amazed that both songs were sung by the same singer.
I also extremely appreciate the fact that almost every song brought out a different vibe, feel, sound effect magic, and vocal range/style.
Give their songs a try right here – Run the Red Light Bandcamp and support them by telling all your friends about them why doncha!
Our sounds combine our love for different styles, introducing the past to our present rock sound. We have been singing since we were about 5, and began our talents in church and school performances. After singing in several bands, we started our own Classic and Modern Rock/Country Top 40 cover band. We played around in various Irish pubs, bars, restaurants, and local private events, weddings, parties, and festivals. Our music was based on rock classics by Fleetwood Mac, Emmy Lou Harris, Tom Petty, Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin, Eagles, Patsy Cline, Lucinda Williams, Van Morrison, etc., in combination with more current standout songs from bands such as Bonnie Raitt, Susan Tedeshi, Feist, A Fine Frenzy, Colbie Caillat, Tracy Chapman, Dido, No Doubt, Sheryl Crow and KT Tunstal.
Check it out! This is Missy and welcome to our band’s website. Our band is called MissFit factory. No, it was just coincidence that the name of the band resembles my name – it’s not some ego trip, ask my band members. We called ourselves MissFit Factory because we’re a group of normal maladjusted ladies; hence the irony between “misfit” and “factory” (missfit because we’re all girls, you get the drift).
We haven’t gotten any singles out yet (this is about that time when you guys pull out your proverbial violins and mope with us) but the big rock and roll dream is there and a single is just waiting to happen. We’d like our songs to be a mixture of indie, rock, pop, electronic, and of course punk. We’re influenced by a large slurry of artists, since each of us in the band seem to have different variations of the same taste. You can check out our band profile to know
more about that.
MissFit Factory has mostly done covers – of songs by pop punk princesses such as Avril, Pink, etc. to rock groups like Stone Temple, Garbage (Shirley Manson rocks my world!!!), Nirvana. We’ve played in a few humble venues (from a high school gym to a few small bars here and there); rockstar dreams have to start somewhere, right?
Since we don’t have any singles or demo clips to share with you yet, we’ve decided to put up a blog so we can share our latest music discoveries, rant or rave about movies we’ve watched, and just ramble on about random stuff that can hopefully inspire us to write our own songs someday.
