Adam’s Top 10 Electric Guitars:
April 10th, 2009 / No Comments » / by admin
Adam’s Top 10 Axes: In No Particular Order
2. Fender Strat American Deluxe
“Keep Dreamin’ Everyone!…”
A-
For Those About to Rock… We Salute the Bronx.
April 7th, 2009 / No Comments » / by admin
In a gloomly land of punk rock, bands like Rise Against, Paramore, & The Offspring rule the land. But, if you dig deep enough into the heart and soul of the dark and musty caves of Los Angeles & New York; you will find a refreshing sea of musicians. The word “musician” does not do justice to these folk, the term “artist” is a better fit. One of the artists leading this underground revolution is a hard hitting group simply dubbed “The Bronx”.
The Bronx may not have the cleanest sound, nor the most complex song structure, but what they have is soul, something that 1 of every 50 punk bands actually have nowadays. Their sound is unique, but could be best described as a love child between the Stooges & Black Flag. Their songs are full of punch to the gut simplicity, fast bass grooves and guitar hooks, but most importantly, mud thick rich lyrics. Frontman, Matt Caughthran, grabs you by the back of the neck and pulls you close as he soulfully yells his message in your face. The first track “Knifeman” off the newest Bronx album (The Bronx III) proves just that…
“And I don’t know what’s found.
‘Cause we used to be gifted, and persistent.
Now we’re bored, reminiscent.
We used to laugh without misery, spoon-fed our desire
We’ve lost our fire!”
If you haven’t heard The Bronx, do it now and turn off your radio.
myspace.com/thebronx
Go here to read the lyrics from any Bronx song:
http://www.plyrics.com/b/bronx.html
My Top 5 All-Time Bronx Songs:
“Rape Zombie” (The Bronx II)
“Heart Attack American”(The Bronx)
“Past Lives” (The Bronx III)
“Six Days a Week” (The Bronx III)
“White Guilt” (The Bronx II)
- Nick Spears (Comedian/Writer)
http://nickspears.tv
Why The Killers are “Killer”
April 1st, 2009 / 1 Comment » / by admin
What do you make when you add a small-town Nevada kid, with a collegiate percussionist, a medical courier, and an ex-Banana Republic associate?? One word - KILLERS.
Why is this rock-band-in-new wave/synth-clothing so refreshing to the music industry right now? Because they chose this path early on in their career. Sure, you’ll read SPIN Magazine interviews and Rolling Stone poking into the psyche of Brandon Flowers again and again (like a love/hate relationship) - saying things like, “So what kind of music genre do you fall into?”…or “Why do you pick fights with rival label mates??”…it’s all a media snare for this under-appreciated rock band!
Lead singer Flowers commented - “We want to be important and to last”. I hardly believe Panic At The Disco or Fall Out Boy share that same perspective about their music. Most pop bands today want to get signed right off the bat - no touring, no incremental organic followers, no smoky club tour for the first couple of years, or a serious perspective on lyrical content or song writing. They’re teeny-bop hits…itunes top 40…MTV nonesense…and history has produced this type of rubbish for decades. From the Dave Clark 5, to Jackson 5, Backstreet Boys, and now the Jonas Brothers, the music industry has always indulged “a contrived” band to appeal to the masses. Maybe some of you thought the Killers personified such a “Pigeon Hole”, however, this band has one thing most bands do not these days: Talent & the artistic know-how in making their music stand the test of time.
Drummer, Ronnie Vannucci said, “I think that the public hear their pop radio or whatever and they just get sick of bad music. They want to hear songs again”. You can say what you want, Brandon Flowers is a prick, they are too synth/new wave based, or the song-writing is copycat of Bruce Springsteen. But the fact still remains, these guys are serious musicians with innovative sounds and song structuring in each album produced. From the pulsing beats of Hot Fuss, to the raw arrangements on Sam’s Town and Sawdust, to the overwhelming lyrical genius of Day & Age…THE KILLERS will no doubt be around for a long, long time….and isn’t that refreshing!
A-
New Respect for…Prince?!
March 30th, 2009 / No Comments » / by admin
I know, many of you may be reading the title of this post and thinking…..“What is this guy thinking?”
Well, as crazy as it sounds, I have to give it up for ….. yes…..Prince. I remember on my way to Hawaii on a plane I was listening to the random track listing of a pop channel and having the song, Little Red Corvette come through those cheesy, hollow headphones. It was catchy, and albeit bubble gum pop at its best. However, after I saw Prince perform at the Superbowl a couple of years back, I was taken by his musicianship. I have later found out that this individual has a fond respect of GOOD music.
This past weekend he entertained LA fans at Nokia Theater and two other small clubs that astonished the masses (and the small masses at the little clubs) at the smaller Conga Room and club Nokia show and contributed to his quaint little setlist. While I did not attend any show, I was taken back by the choice of songs he played. Why do I mention he is a lover of true music? Well, check out the setlist from that night. Aside from classics of Prince, such as 1999, Let’s go Crazy, I Feel For You, and a few from his new three CD release, he managed to add covers of the the Beatles’ Come Together, Presley’s All Shook Up, Hendrix’s Spanish castle Magic, and Joe Cocker’s A Little Help From My Friends. Clearly, this is a musician who enjoys playing and performing live great songs.
I also did some research and found other covers such as Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love and Radiohead’s, Creep. For all of you that thought Prince was some pop, over the top, washed up conceited performer…..he clearly has his eyes on the prize when it comes to knowing good music, and more importantly, when it should be played.
There is nothing I like more than a supposed pop musician; obscure to the masses that decides to put it all out there because of one thing. . . . . . the quality of the music.
Thank you Prince.
The Music Blog
December 10th, 2008 / No Comments » / by admin
Welcome to Chadam’s official “Music” blog! Here we will try our hardest to impose personal views, opinions, likes/dislikes about the music biz and related artists. Bias set aside, our goal through this journey of documentation of thoughts, ideas, and reviews will be to give YOU, the reader, our take on what music really is - or what it should be…
Feel free to comment your thoughts and opinions following some of our posts!
Cheers and keep making honest music,
- Adam & Chad
