oh life...

so the past week and a half has been a roller coaster of sorts. i've written this blog post a couple of times and then promptly deleted it. it's not that i haven't wanted to write, it's actually all i've done, just didn't want to write a blog post. but here's a quick life update.

brianne and i are no longer together, she felt she needed time a part to work on herself and even though it sucks and i miss her, i'll respect the decision (don't really have a choice i guess, but you know what i mean) and give her the space she wants.

had an interview for a job in charlotte finally. not sure if it's something i want to do, some of it seems alright but a lot of it seems like it really wouldn't challenge me at all. granted, they have to offer me the job first so not going to get too ahead of myself. hopefully though this will at least get the ball rolling and i can start having more interviews.

i got to see bayside live, finally. they've been one of my favorite bands for a long while and have been on heavy rotation for the past couple of weeks. they didn't disappoint, played great songs from all of their albums and so much fun to watch play. it was nice to be able to forget about life for a couple of hours and just enjoy live music. plus mark came down from g'boro so we got to hang for a while which is always a good thing.

i've been writing a lot. at least 2-3 pages a day of just free writing. i've found that it helps me focus my song writing to be of a more concise, central theme/idea instead of all over the spectrum like it has been in the past. plus it's a great way to write out emotions, feelings, thoughts, fears, etc... without worrying about syllables and melody and whatever else. just get it all out there on paper and make sense of it later. i wrote about 5 pages yesterday since i had a couple of hours to kill in a starbucks before ryan and ash got home and i think i've got at least a couple of songs in all of that mess.

i think i'm going to start going back to jujitsu soon so i'm not just sitting around every evening and kyle and i have been getting together to write new metal songs a couple of times a week. when that's not going on, i'm writing my own music. trying to stay busy as much as i can.

2011, you've been one hell of a roller coaster and we're only seven months in...

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ten albums worth owning so far in 2011

since it is july and therefore half of 2011 is over, there are top ten lists coming out every where you look so i figured i would add to the list. there has been a surprising amount of really good music that has come out since january so narrowing it down to just 10 was more difficult than i would have originally thought.

10. The Wonder Years ~ Suburbia I've Given You All and Now I'm Nothing
A really good pop-punk album from a completely underrated band. hopefully 2011 will give them the recognition they deserve. surprisingly, the first show i played in charleston was opening up for these guys...pretty sweet.

9. The Swellers ~ Good For Me
i've already written about this album in a previous post, so instead of reiterating every thing, check it out here

8. Iron & Wine ~ Kiss Each Other Clean
another great album by another great artist. sam beam never disappoints, however, this album doesn't quite have the repeat power that his other releases have had on me. still better than 99% of the releases this year.

7. Manchester Orchestra~ Simple Math
i was really looking forward to this album, and they didn't disappoint. this is not "mean everything to nothing" part II and i'm glad. i really loved that album but simple math is a much more personal album. plus they have one of the coolest music videos i've seen in a while.

6. David bazan ~ Strange Negotiations
he's since dropped the pedro the lion moniker but his songs are even better since. this album was a huge step forward from curse your branches...and that album would've made my top ten for 2009.

5. The Dear Hunter ~ The Color Spectrum
i've already written about this album in a previous post, so instead of reiterating every thing, check it out here

4. Glassjaw ~ The Coloring Book
glassjaw's "chinese democracy" finally sees the light of day and it's well worth the wait. it's much more ambient than previous albums (think more deftones) but damn if they can't pull it off well.

3. Bayside ~ Killing Time
another completely underrated band who have consistently put out great album after great album. i love the way anthony writes and how every song seems to apply perfectly to some aspect of your life. killing time may be their best effort yet.

2. Bon Iver ~ Bon Iver
i'm sure you all thought this was going to be my number one...fooled ya! since i've already expounded upon the greatness of this album here, i won't go through it again.

1. Balance and Composure ~ Separation
damn i love this album. i heard a lot of good things about it a few months back and i listened to a few tracks online and instantly loved it. i can't count how many times i've listened to it, even months after it dropped i find myself returning to it on a daily basis. it's a pop record without being a pop record, a punk record without being a punk record and a hardcore record without being a hardcore record...it's one of my all time favorites.

notable mentions: cave in (white silence), taking back sunday (taking back sunday), thomas giles (pulse), appleseed cast (middle states)

obviously, this is just my opinion and are albums that consistently make their way back into my rotation well after their drop dates. feel free to share any albums you enjoy or just crucify me on my picks.

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tunage tuesday?

so i've realized that i am a major source of new music for a lot of my friends, or just music in general, not necessarily new music. i know a few of them would never own an album past blink 182's "dude ranch" if i didn't shove music down their throat (looking at you hef, yes i know you're reading this).

ok, maybe that's a bit of a stretch but still, i spend a lot of time every week recommending bands to friends or telling one if some band's new album is any good so i decided every week, i'll try to mention a few bands that i've discovered or can't take off repeat.

this won't be day specific but i'm gonna use alliteration for the title whenever possible...because this is my blog and i can do what i want.

and at once i knew i was not magnificent, high above the highway isle i could see for miles, miles, miles ~ holoscene
band: bon iver
album: bon iver
what i think: if you know me, and most of you do, you had to know this was going to be on here. i'll admit, i have a man crush on justin vernon's songs and there is nothing on this album that disappoints. this album is everything you loved about for emma, forever ago plus so many extra layers. each song builds on itself and if you happen to be a musician of any sort, you'll appreciate the complexity of the songs all on their own. i'm still processing everything this album has to offer but i listen to it at least once a day and love it more each time. watch the jimmy fallon performance (link below) and you can see the layers and the impressiveness of this dude's vision.
listen to: perth, holocene (link to performance on jimmy fallon)
for fans of: bon iver (i can't think of anyone else out there that sounds like him)

really this is all catastrophic, we're tethered to the hull of a sinking ship ~ filth and squalor

band: the dear hunter
album: the color spectrum
what i think: the color spectrum is a collection of nine eps(black, white, red, blue, indigo, yellow, green, and white), which is a really cool concept btw, and from what i've read he wrote the four or five songs for each ep trying to describe the emotions that are normally associated with each color. i really didn't listen to these guys at all until i came across the video of we've got a score to settle, featured on the red ep. anyway, i listened to we've got a score to settle entirely too many times and so then i listened to the rest of the red ep and then I listened to the Black EP and I was hooked. Yea, I spent the 35 bucks on all nine eps and have no buyer's remorse at all. it's fantastic and covers the spectrum (see what i did there??) on musical styles without any song feeling out of place. the notes this guy hits are equally impressive (must be the beard).
listen to: we've got a score to settle (red ep), home (white ep)
for fans of: thrice; o' brother; manchester orchestra

i wish you could see inside my head, to answer all of the questions that you have ~ inside my head

band: the swellers
album: good for me
what i think: happened to see this bands name run across twitter and decided to check em out, i was surprised on how solid this entire album is, as well as, disappointed that it took me this long to find them. it's good pop punk, really good pop punk to be exact. as wide as my music collection taste is, it's nice to have an album that is just drums, guitars and vox that stays upbeat throughout it's entirety.
listen to: runaway; inside my head
for fans of: hot rod circuit; no use for a name; acceptance


ok, that's what i've got for now. feel free to comment any bands that you think i should check out. if you'd like to listen to these albums, i'd suggest the site www.groveshark.com, it's a great site to listen to an entire album without buying it first.

as always, don't download. buy your music!

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