Design No No's

So my girlfriend caught this the other day while strolling through Barnes and Noble.
I guess it happens, I mean, book designing is a huge industry, sometimes forgotten, but nonetheless, a big market.

Anyways, not alot to say about it haha
just funny...

Made a Cool Decision Today

Yeah, it's coming.
More details soon.

Sky Eats Airplane - S/T

So I have to admit I fell into a deep trap with this band. My first impression with this band upon very first listen, was that they were just like everyone else, didn't give a ton of thought. Then my band actually played with them when we were on tour, maybe on 4 or 5 dates, and they didn't put off the greatest vibe in the world, so ultimately I just wrote them off. Upon second a second chance listen, I found myself being drawn into this band, listening, and looking deeper, and I remember thinking, wow there actually is something to this band.

Beneath the surface of downtrodden, carbon copy music that is almost put off from this bands reputation, lies an incredibly talented band. Probably one of the more talented new bands around. Sky Eats Airplane layers their mix of start stoppy metalcore, with electronic OVERTONES, not to be confused with undertones, and then distributes tastefully, a layer of power pop esque vocal hooks. This is where I think this band gets a bad wrap, because these choruses stick out so much, it's easy to turn ones back.

However, the appreciation for this band lies with the electronics. The digital beats lead the charge with this band, and almost let the music add the texture. The music itself is reminescent of bands like Scarlet, Misery Signals, and at some points Messhugah like breakdowns, not to mention som MASTERFUL guitar work. If there was ever any doubt, simply skip ahead to track 10, "Machines". If every track on this record was musically like this song, this band would take over the world. It's Dillinger Escaple Plan song structure, mixed with the attitude of Scarlet make this song stick out insanely, the song is SO impressive it's not even funny.

As far the record goes, it all goes toegether nicely, and it has its ups and downs. While the diversity is a good thing, some songs do have some cheeseball factor with the singing and lyrics, however everything works together good. The record has some songs that are straight singy, hooky power pop songs with a few breakdowns, and they have songs that are strictly techy, however the rest of the record include songs that blend the two together.

Bottom line is I think this band has it down, and I respect them. I would love to see more bands like this actually, maybe not with the whole electronic thing as present, and NOT with a keyboard. There is a big difference between electronic loops (more difficult) and a keyboard that adds texture.

FINAL GRADE: A-

Johnny Cash- God's Gonna Cut You Down

So I may be late as hell with this...
And you may have already seen this, but I haven't, and it's pretty old (2 years to be exact).

But there is a video for Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down" and it's pretty cool.
Tons of a-list entertainers and such jamming to the song.

Some of the cameos include...

Kanye West
Jay Z
Adam Levine
Chris Martin
Chris Rock
Anthony Keidis
Kid Rock
Owen Wilson
Sheryl Crow
Johnny Depp
Iggy Pop
Bono
Flea
Justin Timberlake
Travis Barker
Rick Rubin
and a ton more...

anyways...
it's sweet, check it out.

*NOTE*
Because of whatever reason, the video cannot be embedded.
Follow the link...
[link]

Movies Out This Weekend

Both movies have gotten decent reviews. I'll probably see at least one of them.

News and Notes

Underoath Announces New Record Details



Underoath's new record is done, and in the most recent Tooth and Nail newsletter, the band announces that the new record will be called Lost In The Sound of Separation. The album will be out September 2nd, and though nothing has been officially released, the cover above is the cover that was included with the announcement. It kind of looks terrible, but it also looks like their may be more to it. We'll see I guess.

Louisville's LORDS signs with Blackmarket Activities

Louisville's own, Lords, have signed with Metal Blade Records imprint label Black Market Activities. Look for new music soon.

NOTES

- July should be an amazing month for music

- Tuesday I trekked down to Nashville for probably the last time I would see Life in Your Way, but Cody from As Cities Burns played an amazing solo set (with help from a friend on drums), and covered one of my all time favorite songs, "Round Here" by Counting Crows.

Updates and Such

- Norma Jean has a new song from their upcoming record The Anti Mother
It's kinda crazy, and very rock and roll. I'm digging it.
[link]

- If you're into crazy experimental post hardcore/hardcore stuff, my friends in Thwomp in the House of Boo are looking for a new vocalist. Check out their blogs on their page.
[link]

- R.I.P. George Carlin

- Been rocking records that aren't out yet, but I will buy.

• New Misery Signals
• New Emarosa

Emarosa- Relativity

Around May last year, if you would have asked me what I thought about Emarosa, I would have told you I thought they lacked originality, musical maturity, and were struggling to find their sound. However, among this, I would have also told you that I saw an indescribable potential in their song writing capabilities. What it took to see that happen, or what changes needed to be made were unforeseeable at the time, but one thing is for sure, something did change, and something did happen.

Fast forward to the fall of 2007, after seeing Johnny Craig, former singer of Dance Gavin Dance, had parted ways with his former band, and Emarosa had begun writing new material for their follow up to their first release. Thanks to contacts, and what probably was their relationship as label mates, Craig eventually made his way to Kentucky, in an abrupt performance in the band's hometown, shocking most, and leaving people wondering what's next?

So here we are, i'm currently listening to the record, song for song, and from the very beginning, the albums introduction "The Past Should Stay Dead" sets the tone, in every since of the word for the rest of the record. The first thing that stands out, is maybe one of the most precise recordings i've ever heard from a Rise band. Crisp, layered overtones of ambient guitars, mixed with subtle drumming, slight atmospheric key parts, and of course, the harshness of Craig's phenomenal voice. The production on this record is every bit just right. Mixed perfectly, and NOT over mastered, in which is a rarity when standing next to most Rise releases.

Each song moves along masterfully, the music adding an almost romantic, yet epic feel, and using Johnny Craig's voice as almost an atlas to gude you through the journey, using intricate, and technical melodies, hardly ever repeating, and completely avoiding the use of a chorus.

Perhaps the strongest point of the record comes from "Heads or Tails, Real or Not"
The songs stands epic from start to end, with probably one of the most climactic melodies i've possibly ever heard. The vocal prowess, and presence in this song sounds like something one would see be highlighted on American Idol. It has such a strong, and heartfelt feel to it, it's almost impossible to describe with words.
Though this song seems quite the stretch from old Emarosa, there are songs with the same "attack" so to say as other bands would do. Songs like "Set it Off Like Napalm" and "Pretend Release the Close" both are a little more agressive than most of the other record, and I will say they take some getting used to, because they are quite different from the demo versions most have fallen in love with, but they're still great.

Bottom line is that this has completely estabilshed themselves, and developed an incredible sense of originality with this record. They could have completely taken the easy way out with what they have been given. A vocalist that could be singing songs on top 40 R&B radio, mixed with ambient, and melodic music. The band could have made every song on this record have choruses out the rear, but they completely avoid that, they also could have had catchy hooks and melodies, but they even go as far as to avoid that. Craig's voice, along with the music is every where, and instead of hitting you with "catchy" they grab you with force and drive, causing an almost trance like feel.

This record is amazing, and while I think the band still has some potential to unlock, this is quite the effort. It may not be a record of the year, simply because they are competing with an almost Beatles-esque Death Cab for Cutie album, but I guarantie you won't hear another record that sounds like this, at least not this year.

FINAL GRADE: A

Some Good Movies Coming Up...

So I haven't seen a ton of great trailers that i'm stoked on yet, BUT there are some. The one i'm maybe the most excited about is The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Apparently it's an F. Scott Fitzgerald book???

Yeah i'm lame and didn't know... you can make fun of me in the comments.
But yeah, it's looks great. There's a trailer below.

Also getting stoked for Batman obviously. I liked the new Batman, but it's hard to think it's better than the original. I know, i'm probably gonna get reemed for that one, whatever.
I'm mainly looking for Heath Ledger's joker, but seriously, it may be one of the greatest performances you'll ever see. No charachter in any comic is as intricate as the joker, but then again no story is as intricate as Batman. Maybe one of the more icnonical American tales of our time... just saying though.

Coldplay???

I Don't know if a ton of people have seen this yet or not...
It only has 300K views on YouTube, which isn't alot for what will be a huge viral video.

Anyways...
I'm skeptical on the new Coldplay record, I will say that everytime I listen to it, it gets alot better, but then comes along this video.

Did they write this song?

Photobucket Hacked, Project Update

So I don't know if anyone else has had this problem or not, but upon heading over to Photobucket yesterday, I noticed a message from Turkish hackers apparently.

Nonetheless, it's still not working for me, and if anyone has any insight as to what's going on, please comment and let me know.

Photobucket is my hosting site in which I host alot of my designs. Thank God the links didnt break, but I can't really upload anything :-/

Speaking of designing, I just picked up the new In Endeavors release. So...
be on the lookout.

The Happening

Yeah...
So I was super stoked on this movie when the previews came out. Seemed like a great cast, a super eerie plot, and it was supposed to be M. Night Shyamalan's return to glory.

When I walked into the theater on opening night, I had alot of anticipation. Mark Wahlberg is a great actor, and yes, i'm a fan of some of Night's work, but mainly Unbreakable.

The film garnered quite the eerie feeling, but the introduction to the problem addressed in the film took maybe 5 minutes before we saw people killing themselves, and at best the effects during these scenes were terrible and almost comedic.

The acting in this film is completely unconvincing, which for the most part is usually easy to overlook, however it was the phenomenally weak plot that just took the cake. The plot itself was so underdeveloped, there was little to no thought about anything that was going on, creating the worst display of dramatic effect i've maybe ever seen.

Shyamalan tells you fairly quickly what's going on, and jitters around from character to character, giving them each there own shot at his or her theories of what is "happening"

Unfortunately this is to possibly throw off viewers, but fails miserably. Certain parts of the film are shamelessly thrown in there for scare factors, including an unmotivated score, as well as the introduction to an old lady charachter that of course turns into a zombie esque feature that is simply laughable.

Nonetheless I can't really say much more except that this movie was terrible. The concept and idea behind it seems exquisite, but was approached in the most terrible way imaginable, and moves like a made for TV movie,and is simply terrible.

I can't go in depth as to what the movie is about because I don't want to be someone that spoils things, but I urge you to not see this movie.
I will however tell you how I would have approached the movie.

It would have been better if the film was about how the human species is just like any other species, and nature has to run its course just like any other species. Over time, every species figures out a way to remove itself, or overcompensate for overpopulation, but if not, nature finds away... nature just doesn't get pissed off.

Anyways
yeah...

FINAL GRADE: F+

Favorite Bonnaroo Performances

Hey all...
If you didn't know, the glory of the internet is you don't have to leave your home for alot of things. And for those of us who missed this years biggest and best concerts, Bonnaroo was nice enough to do a webcast for some of their more notable performance.
You can find full sets from tons of bands on YouTube, but I decided to show you some of my favorites.

METALLICA- Creeping Death


DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE- Cath


AGAINST ME- Sink Florida Sink


RACONTEURS- Steady as She Goes

Living Sacrifice, Oh Sleeper, The Famine, and Advent

Notice I didn't mention Demon Hunter in the title. That's because we decided to leave early, nothing against them, we just needed to get home.

The show in a nutshell was amazing.
Advent started the night of right, crushingly, heavily, and intensely. The ex-members of Beloved stomped around stage, showcasing their dark 90s esque hardcore with new school flavor flawlessly, even though the crowd was sparse and pretty weak.

PERFORMANCE GRADE: A+

The Famine took the stage and went straight into their metal drudgery, clinking, and clanking steel riffs, that crushed the mind. This is one of the heaviest bands i've ever heard, and they were simply fantastic!

PERFORMANCE GRADE: A

Oh Sleeper was the only band I was skeptical of, their record didn't have lasting appeal, and the last time I had seen them live, something was just off. However, this night, they were on all cylinders.
I love their tech-metal edge, almost reminding me of Scarlet type rhythms. Great performance from them!

PERFORMANCE GRADE: A+

So it was time...
5 hiatus, the all mighty Living Sacrifice takes the stage, starting their set off with "Imminent War" from their Symbiotic record, and man did they start off with a bang.
Song after song seemed to get heavier and heavier, and for once I think there was an almost unity between extreme metal heads and hardcore kids. Watching this band was like going back to my youth, and I enjoyed every second of it.

Amongst their set, they also played songs Hand of the Dead, Bloodwork, Reborn Empowered, Flattline, Symbiotic, Reject, Local Vengeance Killing, and even a song they had written for their greatest hits compilation In Memoriam, the song In Christ, which was quite a shock.

PERFORMANCE GRADE: A+

So yeah...
it speaks for itself, one of the best shows i've ever seen, it was a night to be remembered.

TidBits Section

There's a new section at the bottom of the page to kind of keep you updated on really small thoughts coming from my brain. Nonetheless, check it out if you're interested in that type of thing!

News and Notes (U2 Copies Radiohead/New iPhone)

U2 Takes Business Ideas From Radiohead
Everyone knows by now about Radiohead's massively successful "pay what you want" release, or "leak date" of their most recent release In Rainbows.

Well now U2 is jumping on the band wagon, stating that they will release their next record in a similar way. Think this is the future of music releases?
Yes and no.

I think bands of the scale of these two bands definitely can, however smaller bands won't be able to garner the same success. Not that it's a bad idea for them... but, there are better ways. More on this later.
[link]

New iPhone!!!

Thoughts on the new iPhone...
Well first i'll give you the details, which you can get the full run down here

Basically the big news is the fact that it's now $199, it's faster with 3G capability, and obviously the new update with the AppStore, which you can still get if you have the old iPhone.

The new iPhone also changes the aluminum casing on the back, to a plastic casing that comes in black and white. This alone is probably why the price dropped so much, it also saves Apple money.

As far as what I think about it...
I'm freaking stoked. I will never again use another phone, even though the price of the first one was pretty steep, you truly get what you pay for and more. The introduction of the AppStore is inovational, and that alone is a sole reason to buy the darn thing.

Switching Some Things Up

I've changed the name of the blog, as well as the address, just to make it more versatile.
I'll still be doing reviews often, but i'll be posting random tidbits here and there.

Also, sorry for anyone that couldn't find us haha, it was short notice, with no heads up, I know, I apologize.

For a bit, the blog also will feature the same posts as my bands blog which you can check out here
We're playing a big Christian music festival this week and we'll be posting some pretty cool stuff, so you might see posts from that blog on here.

Anyways...
Take care
-Jaye

Anticipating???

So the other day I was thinking of the some of the records people should be anticipating...
Well I think there are a few to note.

This year has proved to be quite the year for music. Alot of amazing changes, and I couldn't be more stoked to make my top albums list.
Let's also look at who some of the more notable record have come from...

Spitfire- Cult Classic
Quite the mix of scary, and heavy mastery, with hints of Nine Inch Nails aggression.

Radiohead- In Rainbows
This record TECHNICALLY came out this year... I don't know... it's been a long time sense its release, i've gotten bored with it, but it IS an amazing record.

Death Cab for Cutie- Narrow Stairs
I'll just be the one to say it...
This may be our generations Abbey Road.

Honorable top album mentions...
Shai Hulud, Misery Signals.

Anticipating

New Metallica
New Underoath
New Norma Jean
New Mastodon

Misery Signals - Controller

I'll keep this review pretty short and sweet. Bottom line, Misery Signals' Controller is hands down their best all around release. I will admit the record doesn't have as many memorable tracks, or the tracks don't live up to some of the more notable songs like "The Failsafe" or "In Summary of What I am" just to name a few, BUT this record works perfectly as one collective effort.
Overall, the record is notably faster, dwelling more on their influence from bands like Shai Hulud, which has always garnered the bands comparison. The record is put together nicely, and comes across alot more "thrashy" which seems to be a new trend upon heavy bands, however Misery Signals does it well.
This record is simply stunning, and only has a few low points. Lyrically, I think this record is great, however in possibly my favorite song lyrically "Parallels" the song is ruined when the singer drops the FBOMB out of nowhere. I have nothing against cussing in records, trust me, I don't, but it was very out of place and odd. Also, on the track "Labyrinthian" they showcase probably their most brutal side ever in the last 30 seconds of this song, however everything else leading up to is basically a snooze.
The record will hold its on amongst others for record of the year, but has quite the competition.

FINAL GRADE: A