New Blog

Well, if you'd like to know what happened with the blog you can follow it here: http://seewhyising.wordpress.com/

It's cleaner and you can listen to the songs I talk about rather than having to follow links around. Eventually I might move over to tumblr.com.

...and that's why we're related.

I did not begin listening to my own music until I was in seventh grade. Before then, it was the sounds of oldies playing through the radio of my mom's minivan after school on the way home. Sometimes she would play music in the house over the old record player that they still have. I was well aware of most of the Beach Boy's catalog, as well as the early Beatles and most hit singles between the years of 1955-1968. By this time, most of my other classmates had already started to listen to their own style of music. I knew who Hanson was, N'Sync, Savage Garden, The Wallflowers (which are still good), and Tom Petty's "Last Dance With Mary Jane" was also still popular—though not many probably recognized the coolness of Tom Petty at that time. As a consolation, I am a little embarrassed that I just mentioned some of these "bands"... It will not happen again.

My first cd that I bought with my own money was Third Eye Blind's debut. It was money that was well spent. I listen to it incessantly. I did not own a personal cd player till I was in tenth grade (yes, I was behind on this as well—along with ipods, but that's much later). So to listen to my 3eb album, I had to copy it to a tape. This cut off the last two songs and I never heard these with the same appreciation as the other twelve songs till much later. 

I mark this purchase as not only my own musical liberation, but also my brother's. Since he is just over four years younger than I am, his own musical revelation was not due for another year or two. His head-start though has been a marvelous companion to my own exploration. During a performance of mine, I told a story of the two of us and stated that our musical preferences overlapped generously like a vin diagram, where he leans more to hip-hop and I lean more towards folk. He agrees with this idea. I tell him about what I believe he would like in the world of folk music and he graciously does the same concerning his genre of hip-hop performers. 

A recent suggestion of his was Girl Talk. He and I have been fans of musical mash-ups for a long time, but this is the epitome of songs strung together with central harmonies and melodies each taking their own time to shine. Listening to Girl Talk is a musical all-you-can-eat-buffet of every genre that you want to taste. My brother sent me the suggestion along with letting me know that he was going to see this DJ (if that even gives him enough credit) perform. Unfortunately, he had to make a choice between a championship club basketball game or going to this show. Like most of our conversations lately, he called asking me to help him make the right choice. We both ran through the pros and cons and happily decided on Girl Talk. Later the next day I asked how he enjoyed the show. He couldn't talk due to class, but texted me saying that it was the best party that he'd ever been to. "We danced for about two hours straight". 

Listening to Girl Talk for the first time is comparable to sipping espresso for the first time after drinking regular drip coffee for years. It's a similar taste, and you know that it is familiar, but there is a kick to it that makes you wonder if you really like it or not. Some choose not to and others begin to see their preferences and palates broadening. Girl Talk is fine on my own, but I would have paid good money to have been there with my brother. It is not the way the songs are mashed together, nor the beat that drives each of them—it is everyone in the room coming together to enjoy and experience what only happens very few times. That's what music can do. My brother gets it and he digs it just as much if not more than the biggest music fans out there ...and that's why we're related. 

Why I sing...

Girl Talk

Loney, Dear — I Am John

I spent the summer of 2006 living in Italy. We had classes to attend, but they seemed rather second choice for what we could be doing instead. Fortunately, those teaching us were well aware of our desire to explore and not stay inside an amazing 15th century Italian villa all day long. The classes covered an array of subjects, but could be largely put together under the humanities heading. One of these classes was a music appreciation class that lasted for three sessions and was guest taught by a man named Dr. Hopper. To call this man eccentric is to issue a mild judgment on him and his antics are quite entertaining from any seat that you may have to watch him. He does have an incredible appreciation for music though, and those three sessions were the best examples of what music appreciation should look like. During one session, he talked for several minutes about his favorite arches (literally... stone arches) where several members of the Medici family are buried in Florence. He then took this description of the arches to illustrate a wonderful song: The Boxer, by Simon and Garfunkel. The song builds, but not straight up. It builds at an increasing angle—just like the arches. 

Loney, Dear is a Scandinavian band, which is really a solo project from Emil Svanangen. The first three albums he released were recorded by himself in the basement of his parents house and were sold only through his website or at live shows that he performed. Loney, Noir is the first album to reach the states on a mass production scale. From this album, the song, I Am John, is one that does not seem to lose the magic the more I listen to it. 

Like The Boxer, there is a build to this song. The tempo is quicker and the lyrics not so clear to the ear than The Boxer, but the build is the same. From the second chord one's heart starts to pump in rhythm with the song, but this is so subconscious that the only thing that is felt is the attention move towards the song. By the time the second verse comes along, the foot may be tapping now and there is the pinnacle of the arch in sight. Emil's falsetto breaks the barrier that is needed to achieve the resolution that is coming. The falsetto is quite brisk at first, not like that of Sigur Ros, but soon it finds its mesh inside the drive behind the song. Then it comes, the best part of the song, right as his guitar finds the three chords that it has been searching for throughout the entire song. By this point, you are dancing—it is involuntary and your heart and muscles have taken over. Fortunately, I have a large enough room that I am able to allow myself to let my body flail like a fish out of water in choppy rhythm with the song. 

I enjoy writing music and find it difficult to write something that I truly feel is good enough to share. My greatest compliment that I can give to a song is to say that "I wish I had written that". I Am John is from beginning to end a song that I wish I had written. Enjoy for yourself. Do not be embarrassed to dance. 

Why I sing...

Loney, Dear — I Am John

Why Nachos?

Everyone seems to enjoy appetizers. At restaurants, the waitress or waiter will always point out the house speciality for an appetizer. At parties or gatherings, plates are passed around with tiny bits of food picked precisely for precarious fingers wavering on what might make the best choice for their palate. By definition, an appetizer is anything that whets the appetite for something to further indulge. Nachos, by definition, are a very sloppy form of appetizer that seems to gain credit for being of Mexican descent. I do not know if they truly are from south of the border, but the taste is quite fine. Anyone can make nachos. Chips, salsa, cheese... anything else is a commodity and only supplements them more. 

This "blog", or as I will probably be referring to it more as a "thought catalog", is the basis for what drives me musically. There are several things that propel me, but music seems to be one of a few parts that is continually consistent and carefully conscious in my mind. These thoughts of mine are just humble appetizers, or "nachos" if you will, for you to add the rest of your ingredients or thoughts. Nothing is wrong. There is no opinion that rests in better understanding than one's own mind. Therefore, thinking is one of our greatest gifts and the ability to provoke thoughts and emotions in others through our ideas should never be underestimated. 

This is a bit of rambling, but like the plates of appetizers, after minutes of being passed around they are scattered and shuffled. So, leave your thoughts. Leave your opinions. Leave your encouragements because even though rock 'n roll will not save the world anytime soon, music can bring people closer together. 

Why I Sing...