Sunday, May 22, 2011
Music News: Set Your Goals
Saturday, May 14, 2011
New World Jive EP-Review
New World Jive’s “Greetings From…”
As I started to talk to Matt Lower about reviewing his EP, I was hesitant since I’m not incredibly familiar with World Music. I was kind of scared that I wouldn’t quite understand where it was coming from and not relate to it at all, which in my opinion is often crucial with albums. I was pleasantly surprised by the album; Matt Lower described it to me as an album describing “what it is to be human”. This sounds incredibly cheesy but the album overall is very good.
Song 1: It’s called Akulanga Lashona Lingendaba or just Akulanga for short, which means “no sun sets without its histories.” This song immediately caught my attention, with its catchy riffs, strong mature vocals from such a young male vocalist.
Song 2: Glad That I Found You: This song didn’t impress me as much. Presenting a standard chord progression, the song is not Matt Lower’s song writing at its best. With Generic Lyrics about a beautiful girl, and none of the instruments at their best compared to the rest of the album minus a spiffy guitar part and a well written piano part. The song is dull compared to the rest of the album. I wish something more original and less “A-typical” had made the album instead. Many will disagree and sing along but to me this song just doesn’t cut it. The song is ok, but is disappointing compared to the great songs on the rest of this EP.
Song 3: This is song also is just wonderful. It starts out with a very full piano part and then a vocal line that just carries through the song. It features in my opinion the best chord progression on the album. The chorus is much more driven on this album with the guitar presenting a nice overdriven tone. The piano really adds to this part of the album and should be heavily incorporated in all future albums. The vocals on this are not quite as stellar as on the first song. I think the part written, vocally, is too low to fully show off the vocalists voice, but it’s still decent just not as good as Akulanga.
Song 4: Party on the Streets of Rio- This song would be just a relaxing song with an upbeat feel. Featuring 80’s instruments, beats and synthesizers and even raw steel drums, this song heads into an entirely different realm from the rest of the album. This is much more what I expected from the album, but I feel like it does get a bit more experimental which in turn dilutes the song. The progression is much more pop oriented and less creative, but I still like the song.
Stand Out Tracks: Akulanga, Party on the Streets of Rio
Overall Score- 7/10
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Music News: Amor de Dias Album Stream
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Music News: Arcade Fire "Scenes from The Suburbs"
Resource: Hank the Pigeon
Video: Avenged Sevenfold "So Far Away"
Monday, May 9, 2011
Contest: Win Two Tickets to to the Jam for Japan
Contest Rules: You must be a registered student at Apex High School. Only one entry per person. By entering this contest you agree to all rules written and unwritten at the discretion of Lock and Key Music. Lock and Key Music reserves the right to deny any contest entrant without disclosing motivation.
Music News: Hopeless Records Announces New Samiam Record
Tour Date: Apex Interact Presents the Jam for Japan
The concert is being held at the Sertoma Amphitheater at Bond Park in Cary, NC. Four local bands will be performing, including Alex McKee (of Shades of Ember), Raydeux, Raising Anchors and Arms Length Away.
Tickets will be sold at the door for $10. Stay tuned to Lock and Key Music for your chance to win two free tickets to this amazing concert event!
100% of ticket proceeds are going to be donated to the Red Cross to help those in need in Japan.
Music News: Avenged Sevenfold to Release New Video
Music News: Patrick Stump "Explode"
The song is currently in rotation during P-Stump's live sets, and it's definitely a further step removed from his recent Truant Wave EP.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Review: The Manscout Jamboree
May 7th, 2011- The Brewery, Raleigh NC
It may have been the last night of the Manscout Jamboree Tour, but whether you consider it lucky or unlucky; it was the only night the tour as at full strength, with all five bands performing. Living With Lions kicked off the night with a cover of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones’s “The Impression that I Get”, at the request of fans who shouted that a cover would be perfect for the venue’s intimate atmosphere. The Brewery is a tiny venue that held maybe two hundred people, and it makes for a truly unique concert experience.
Make Do & Mend and Such Gold were up next, and both bands’ heavier sound created a nice transition between Living With Lions’ ska sound and the more traditional pop-punk of The Wonder Years and Fireworks. The crowd went wild for these two bands, literally climbing on top of each other and forming bizarre human pyramids to get to the microphones. Ben from Such Gold is still recovering, and new guitarist Skylar (from a Massachusetts band called Building) stepped up to sing vocals for the band until Ben returns. Skylar put on an amazing performance, and often relied on fans to jump in and sing along, which boosted everyone’s morale.
The big ticket bands were up next, with The Wonder Years taking the stage first. The Brewery was packed by this point, and the entire crowd huddled as close to the stage as possible. The Wonder Years was the one band whose lyrics were known by nearly every single person in the audience. The band played through a grab bag of hits both new and old, from “Keystone State Dudecore” and “You’re Not Salinger, Get Over it” to Upsides classics “Logan Circle” and “My Last Semester” and even “Local Man Ruins Everything”, the first single from their upcoming June 14th release. Notably absent from the setlist was the classic track “Won’t Be Pathetic Forever”, likely cut due to time restraints, and the band’s latest single “Don’t Let Me Cave In”.
Fireworks wrapped up the night, and fans went crazy once again, though the crowd had dispersed a tiny bit and many of the fans were worn out from The Wonder Years’ set. Fireworks played a series of hits old and new, and everyone was having a great time. Unfortunately, Fireworks set was cut short when the venue managers announced another show was going to start at 10:30 and the venue had to be cleared out (much to the annoyance of the fans, who booed). David Mackinder just gave the fans what they wanted and Fireworks closed their set with fan favorite “Detroit”.
Of course, it wouldn't be a concert if there wasn't a ton of swag. Personally, I walked away with an autographed copy of The Upsides, a guitar pick from TWY, a photo with Soupy, and shirts from Fireworks and TWY respectively. The best part of the show besides the actual concert may have been seeing the other bands’ members hanging out with the crowd, singing along and just having a good time. As I said to Josh from The Wonder Years, “It’s good to just be a fan, right?” Manscouts forever, forever manscouts.
Click "Read More" to check out more pictures from the last stop of the Manscout Jamboree!
