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Tag: Music Page 3 of 7

~~~ A Cappella ~~~

We’ve started a new YA  CD collection devoted to the voice, and mostly the human voice in harmony. I’d recommend these CDs to anyone who’s enjoyed Glee (The Warblers, especially!) or has listened to (and enjoyed) your local college’s barber shop quartet.

An American programme called The Sing Off has just been renewed for its third season and has seen a resurgence in interest in ‘a cappella’ singing, which Wikipedia describes as ‘solo or group vocal or singing without instrumental sound.’ Watch a clip from Nota, the winners of the 2009 Sing Off competition here.

Here are some of the CDs in the a cappella collection!

The Sing Off : The Best of Season 2
Nota,
by Nota
The Sing Off : Harmonies for the Holidays
With a Twist, by Straight No Chaser
University A Cappalla!, by Ben Folds

Mo Music, Mo Poems

 

 

 white lies

Ritual – White Lies
Grandiosity
fills every second of
available songs

the drums

The Drums – The Drums
Heir apparents to
eighties indie empire start
out pleasingly strong.

keri hilson

No Boys Allowed – Keri Hilson
She only wants men.
I think that was the main
takeaway at least.

aha shake

Aha Shake Heartbreak – Kings Of Leon
Before they cut their
hair and shaved their beards, the songs
were much, much better?

youth and young manhood

Youth & Young Manhood – Kings Of Leon
Does this make them the
music version of Samson?
Yes, actually.

lasers

Lasers – Lupe Fiasco
Light amplifica-
tion by stimulated e-
mission of photons.

burlesque

Burlesque – Soundtrack
Christina Aguil-
era sings most of the songs
but Cher chips two in.

Tarot Card Rock – Barnaby Weir
Vaguely predicting
people’s futures through the rock
and roll medium.

New Books

Anna and the French Kiss, Stephanie Perkins (372 pages) – romantic tension in Paris, where Anna (against her will, go figure) goes to spend a year at school, leaving behind her almost-boyfriend and meeting the marvelous Etienne St Clair Smart who, problematically, has an actual-girlfriend.

First sentence: Here is everything I know about France: Madeline and Amélie and Moulin Rouge.

Across the Universe, Beth Revis (398 pages) – this one has an almost retro sci-fi type of cover (which you can’t tell much from the pic over there). Amy is cryogenically frozen, to wake 300 years into the future on a new planet, however her cryo chamber is unplugged and she’s stuck on her spaceship, Godspeed, with the scary Eldest and his son Elder, knowing that someone is trying to kill her.

First sentence: Daddy said, ‘let Mom go first.’

Matched, Ally Condie (366 pages) – The matching screen is a device used by society’s officials to determine who is matched with whom for life. Cassia’s best friend flashes up on the matching screen for her, perfect, she thinks, until she sees another face appear fleetingly. Cassia must choose between two lives, between “perfection and passion”.

First sentence: Now that I’ve found the way to fly, which direction should I go into the night?

Birth of a Killer, Darren Shan (253 pages) – a new series from the horror man! Larten is a young man all alone, until he meets Seba Nile, who teaches him all about being a vampire, but will Larten turn his back on being human and embrace this new world?

First sentence: When Larten Crepsley awoke and yawned one grey Tuesday morning, he had no idea that by midday he would have become a killer.

Into the Wild Nerd Yonder, Julie Halpern (245 pages) – Things are changing in Jessie’s world, her friends are getting cooler (she’s not), so she’s on the lookout for a new set of friends. But can she befriend the Dungeons and Dragons crowd without being tainted with their geekdom?

First sentence: I so used to love the first day of school.

The Radleys, Matt Haig (337 pages) – the humorous side of abstaining from being a vampire. The Radleys are a fairly average family (two parents, two kids) living in a fairly average British town, except for the one thing (they’re vampires, but they’re abstaining). Then Uncle Will arrives, the black sheep of the family, and he’s going to shake things up a bit.

First sentence: It is a quiet place, especially at night.

Yellowcake, Margo Lanagan (235 pages) – Ten short stories from one of Australia’s literary fantasy queens.

First sentence (from ‘The Point of Roses’) – Billy flew into the kitchen.

Angel, L A Weatherly (507 pagtes) – Willow doesn’t know what she is, just that she’s different. Alex does know what she is, and that they are enemies. An “epic tale of love, destiny and sacrifice.” With angels, obvs.

First sentence: “Is that your car?” asked the girl at the 7-Eleven checkout counter.

Not That Kind of Girl, Siobhan Vivian (322 pages) – Natalie is the good, bright girl in school, but she nearly gets expelled anyway, so what’s the point in being good? Is it better to be the bad girl?

First sentence: On the first day of my senior year, I happened to walk past the auditorium during the freshman orientation assembly.

Five Flavours of Dumb, Anthony John (338 pages) – Piper is in a band called Dumb, and her bandmates do indeed seem to be a bit that way, plus she’s deaf, which makes being in a band particularly interesting: she has no idea if they’re truly terrible or really good. This doesn’t stop her from determindely finding a gig for them, with some self-discovery along the way.

First sentence: For the record, I wasn’t around the day they decided to become Dumb.

Twelve Poems About Twelve Albums

 

 

Get ‘Em Girls – Jessica Mauboy
What is “’em”? And why
should girls “get” it? Answers are
on track number one.

glee 4

Glee: The Music, Volume Four
Three of these songs are
Britney Spears covers. Rejoice,
fake Britney lovers!

glee 5

Glee: The Music, Volume Five
Similar to the
above entry, but with Biebs
instead of the Brits.

sing-off

The Sing-Off: The Best Of Season Two
I think this is like
American Idol, but
acappella-y.

chiddy bang

The Preview – Chiddy Bang
Two dudes making rap
but with “alt” samples preview
upcoming album.

jessie j

Who You Are – Jessie. J
Spikily lipped Brit
does the Lady Gaga thing,
only with black hair

cee lo

The Lady Killer – Cee Lo Green
Despite swearing at
them, it is still possible
to make ladies swoon.

avril lavigne

Goodby Lullaby – Avril Lavigne
Still in and out of
love, but with sk8er men, no
longer sk8er bois.

justin bieber remixes

Never Say Never: The Remixes – Justin Bieber
Biebs re-imagined.
Biebs re-upped. Biebs re-loaded.
Biebs re-volutions.

Future Is Now – Cornerstone Roots
Future is never
actually now. Now is
always the present.

Pefect Flaws – Black River Drive
Flaws are defined as
imperfections. Another
title is debunked.

EPIC – Various Artists
Iggy Pop, Pixies,
Groove Armada, Basement Jaxx,
Nick Cave, Korn, Tricky.

Songs And Songs And Songs And Songs

baseballs

Strike – The Baseballs
Favourite modern
pop songs covered by three dudes
with big pompadours

black rebel motorcycle club

Beat The Devils Tattoo – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Dirty, dirty rock
and roll from garage rocking
traditionalists

jazmine sullivan

Fearless – Jazmine Sullivan
Fearlessly sequined,
purple tinged rhythm and blues,
slash hip hop, slash pop.

rocky horror

The Rocky Horror Glee Show
Exactly as it
says on the cover. No more
description needed.

tron

Tron Legacy – Daft Punk
Did you see Tron? This
is how it sounded. Minus
dialogue of course.

beach house

Teen Dream – Beach House
Everyone who went
to Laneways liked these guys quite
a lot. So they said.

Rocked 10 – Various Artists
The hottest new rock
songs of two thousand and ten
all on one CD.

Who Is Arcade Fire?

The 53rd Grammy Awards were held earlier this week in Los Angeles. There were plenty of notable stories from the event, Lady Gaga dressed up as an egg for example. But the one that amused us the most was the reaction to Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs winning album of the year, it seems that a large chunk of music fans around the world didn’t even know who they were. And were outraged. Which was hilarious.

We here at Teen Blog clearly approved of the decision as it was the only album of the year nominee on our Librarian’s Choice page.

Latest Sounds

clubbers guide spring 2010

Clubbers Guide, Spring 2010
If you are aware
of Ministry of Sound you
know what to expect

far east movement

Free Wired – Far East Movement
Does electro-hop
sound like something you would be
interested in?

black eyed peas

The Beginning (deluxe edition) – The Black Eyed Peas
The hologram man
includes some of the end with
the beginning

bring me the horizon

There Is A Hell Believe Me I’ve Seen It, There Is A Heaven Let’s Keep It A Secret – Bring Me The Horizon
When Death Metal and
Emo collide, it seems that
long titles result

mumford & sons

Sigh No More – Mumford & Sons
Neatly attired folk
singers nominated for
Grammy with this one

the script

Science & Faith – The Script
Celtic soul trio
get their Maroon 5 on with
the soft rock numbers

Aotearoa Dubsteb Allstarz
Optimus Gryme has
collected New Zealand’s
finest dubsteppers

For Your Listening Pleasure

pink

Greatest Hits… So Far! – Pink
Not finished making
hits, compiles previous ten
years worth anyway

lady gaga remix

The Remix – Lady Gaga
A more apt title
would be “The Remixes” as
there are quite a few 

altiyan childs

Altiyan Childs– Altiyan Childs
X-Factor winner
sings other peoples songs for
his debut effort.

infant sorrow

Get Him To The Greek – Infant Sorrow
Russell Brand’s fake band
scores a soundtrack for the film
Get Him To The Greek

Live vol.1 – The Black Seeds
A Teen Blog writer
is thanked in the liner notes,
we are connected

Fragile Thing EP – Tono and the Finance Company
Literate folk-pop
compositions housed inside
excellent cover

Best Mozart 100 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
I cannot believe
they left off Horn Concerto
number 8! Crazy!

Greatest Hits – Frederic Chopin
Long overdue best
of for nineteenth century
piano legend

Best Of 2010 : Music

At the end of every year, every single website is contractually obligated by the internet to publish a list of their top ten albums released that year. Not wanting to void our contract and, let’s be honest, because it’s fun too, here’s ours.

The rules are that it must have been both released and catalogued into the YA collection in 2010.

10. BARB – BARB
Local goodness from Liam Finn, Connan Mockasin and pals. Felt like this one flew under the radar a little bit, undeservedly so.

9. Dum Dum Girls – I Will Be
The best of the lo-fi indie girl band bunch in a year that said bunch was of a ubiquitously high quality.

8. Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot, The Son Of Chico Dusty
On this album Big Boi proved that he is far from just “that other dude from Outkast”

7. Connan Mockasin – Please Turn Me Into The Snat
My favourite NZ release of the year. It’s a psychedelic pop gem.

6. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
Apparently this is the last album from Damon Albarn’s cartoon band. If so, it was a great one to go out on.

5. The White Stripes – Under Great White Northern Lights
No new material, just some great live performances of old favourites, rarities and a brilliant behind the scenes DVD

4. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles II
The noisiest and most “punk rock” electro band returned with their second and it stayed on my ipod all year long.

3. Pavement – Quanrantine The Past
Do greatest hits albums qualify for lists like this? Seeing as it’s my list, I’d say yes. More so because this is some of the best indie rock ever made. Ever.

2. The Black Keys – Brothers
This album not only features the best use og guitar and drums this year, but also the cover features the best use of Cooper Black.

1. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
Pretty much the perfect electro album. Which is more than enough to qualify for album of the year.

So there you go. Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments section. Perhaps write your own, discussion generating list?

New Compact Discs

duffy

Endlessly – Duffy
Shyness forgotten,
the spotlight’s glare now embraced,
pop moves to the fore.

crowded house

The Very, Very Best Of – Crowded House
These three discs are as
crowded as a crowded house
hahahaha jk.

good charlotte

Greatest Hits – Good Charlotte
Identical bros
longetivity ensures
Christmastime release

 

cardiology

Cardiology – Good Charlotte
Oh, you wanted more?
Perhaps these “heartfelt” tunes will
scratch away your itch.

mariah carey

Merry Christmas II You – Mariah Carey
Second in series
of seasonal themed songs from
singer of Someday

glee christmas

Christmas Album – Glee
More seasonally
appropriate recordings,
this time from Glee Club.

tinie tempah

Disc-overy – Tinie Tempah
Rapper shares birthday
with Synthesiser Patel.
Good for him, I guess.

Semi-Charmed Life – V/A
Unlucky enough
to have missed nineties alt-rock?
Not with this you’re not.

Now That’s What I Call Haiku

Now That’s What I Call Music 34

Erstwhile collection
doubles runtime in thirty-
fourth incarnation

Evolution – Deceptikonz

Is “evolution”
“transformation”? If so, I
expect rapping cars

Humanoid City Live – Tokio Hotel

The last emos in
town turn on the bright lights, turn
dials to eleven

City Limits/Neon Sunrise – I Am Giant

Local X-Games
enthusiasts cut album
full of skater riffs

The Runaways – O.S.T.

Cherry-bombing girls
get biopic that sounds like
a roller derby

Bits of plastic with songs on them

soundgarden

Telephantasm – Soundgarden
Days they tried to live
apart were black. Together
again on their wave

maroon 5

Hands All Over – Maroon 5
Soon American
Idol contestants will be
covering these songs.

n.e.r.d.

Nothing – N.E.R.D.
Nobody ever
really dies, especially
trendy producers

klaxons

Surfing The Void – The Klaxons
Feline themed record
covers rapidly approaching
the “new black” status

metallica

Six Feet Downunder EP – Metallica
Napster opponents
release fan-made bootlegs to
fund Christmas shopping.

dubstep

The Sound Of Dubstep
If you don’t know what
dubstep sounds like, one presumes
this is the tonic.

step up 3d

Step Up 3D
Breakdancing in the
third dimension requires some
futuristic rap.

clubbers guide summer 2010

Clubbers Guide Summer 2010
As the weather warms
this faux Lonely Planet Guide
arrives just in time.

New Music And A Year-Old Joke

taylor swift

Speak Now – Taylor Swift

I was going to
write about this but Kanye
interrupted me.

camp rock 2

Camp Rock 2 : The Final Jam

Jo Bros. holiday
productively by kicking
out jams they then sell.

bruno mars

Doo Wops & Hooligans – Bruno Mars

Rising Hawaiian pop-
-star seemingly writes music
only whilst napping.

john legend

Wake Up! – John Legend & The Roots

Legends – self procaimed
and other – shake us gently
awake from slumber.

macy gray

The Sellout – Macy Gray

Apparently to
sell out means bizarre Velvet
Revolver guest spots

concord dawn

The Enemy Within – Concord Dawn

Music is for drum
and bassers, cover is for
entomologists

New Music, New Haiku

linkin park

Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns

Not even the light
from a thousand suns can pierce
maturities’ gloom

shihad

Shihad – Ignite

Stalwarts of local
scene truck on, introduce new
colours to palette

kelis

Kelis – Flesh Tone

Being overlooked
results in a move to the
dancefloor it would seem

scott pilgrim

Scott Pilgrim vs. the world : original motion picture soundtrack

Graphic novel as
film offers up better sounds
than most of its ilk.

interpol

Interpol – Interpol

Self-titled release
indicates return to roots,
results may vary

Animals, Sport and Music

Some new documentaries on DVD!

Best of Dangerous Encounters with Brady Barr

“Reptile agent Dr. Brady Barr has spent his entire career studying some of the world’s most amazing and deadliest animals. In the hit series Dangerous Encounters, Barr travels around the globe on a series of death-defying, hair-raising expeditions to study reptiles and other wildlife in their native habitats. His main goal is to study these animals before their habitat is destroyed to better understand what they need to survive in the wild. Best of Dangerous Encounters features Barr’s most dangerous moments with some of the planet’s most unapproachable animals, including his headline-making bite from a 12-foot reticulated python” (cover)

2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa : The Final, Netherlands vs Spain

“Every four years the world stops to watch football’s best of the best. Over a billion people tuned in to see if the Netherlands or Spain would be the 2010 FIFA World Cup Champions. Neither country had ever won the cup, so it would be a first for one of them. Here is the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final from start to finish including the presentations – an unforgettable souvenir for every fan of the beautiful game” (cover) 

2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa : The Highlights

“Here are the highlights of the 2010 FIFA World Cup including all the action from each group – A through to H, Round 16, the quarter finals, semi-finals, and the final itself. The goals, the drama, interviews and excitement – all the highlights are here, followed by the final summary from SBS special commentators Les Murray and Craig Foster” (cover)

2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa : New Zealand

Features all three matches played by the New Zealand team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. I don’t want to ruin the ending, but the All Whites ended the tournament as the only undefeated team. Relive the magic.

Crusty Demons, the 7th Mission

A group of men, set out on their seventh motorbike adventure together. Then they jump all their bikes of big cliffs and things and they crash, breaking bones and causing fleshwounds while Papa Roach, Powerman 5000, White Zombie etc. shout things. Mission accomplished?

Nirvana : Unplugged in New York

An acoustic performance taped at Sony Music Studios in New York City on November 18, 1993 for the television series MTV Unplugged. Features two songs not originally broadcast plus five previously unreleased rehearsal performances.

Awesome; I… Shot That!

“On October 9, 2004, at a sold-out performance in New York’s Madison Square Garden, longtime rap superstars the Beastie Boys revolutionized the formula for concert films by distributing cameras to fifty audience members and encouraging them to shoot their own footage of the musical performance. Capturing the event in a completely fresh and prismatic way, these fifty filmmakers used their diverse points-of-view to bring to life the total experience of a Beastie Boys concert, from the stage to the back rows, from the performers to the adoring fans.” (cover)

BIg Day Out 2011

The line up for next January’s Big Day Out was announced yesterday. There are usually another couple of announcements before the actual event, so while this list will be added to I thought it a good idea to highlight the artists we have in our collection to further inform the decision on whether or not to drop the $150 on a ticket before they go on sale October 8.

Haiku Review: Volume Two

jack johnson en concert

Jack Johnson – En Concert

Jack brings his guitar
around the world, along with
a tape recorder.

pitbull

Pitbull – The Boatlift

A man names himself
after a breed of dog and
raps about strippers.

gaslight anthem

The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

Four guys who enjoy
Springsteen make alt-punk music
and put out record.

american idol

American Idol : Season Nine

Did you watch the ninth
season of Idol? No, well
here is a recap.

beirut

Beirut – Lon Gisland

Can’t think of a thing
to say about this one. So
I apologise.

scouting for girls

Scouting For Girls – Everybody Wants To Be On TV

Everybody
Wants To Be On TV is
by Scouting For Girls.

opshop

Opshop – Until The End Of Time

I heard the singer
has a bunker in his yard
like Ned Flanders does.

Bandcamp And BARB

Hello, I’ll get to the new CDs later in the week, for now I just wanted to tell you about a site called bandcamp (watch the intro video, it explains the site better than I could possibly hope to). A lot of newer bands and artists have started to use it as a platform to release music over the past couple of blog years. Searching the tags is a great way to discover new bands and a lot of them are giving away mp3s and sometimes entire albums away for free. Free! Once you’ve found something cool it’s very easy to share on facebook, blogs etc. here is a song by Liam Finn and Connan Mockasin’s new band BARB

Incidentally, BARB is one of the new CDs on the shelf. If you enjoyed the track above, why not get the full album out from the library? Hmmm? It’s very good.

The Newest Music

eminemI seem to remember Eminem retiring for a while back there, but he’s now on to “comeback album” number two. I guess he wasn’t all that serious about moving to Florida, taking up golf and enjoying earlybird specials after all. So it’s back to the tried and true, rhyming about his troubled past and taking pot-shots at celebrities. Recovery will be a welcome addition to any Eminem fans’ reserve queue.

metricCanadian indie-rockers Metric’s third album, Fantasies came out late last year and signalled the band’s intentions to make the step up from underground favourites to overground rock stars. So it’s pretty much the same catchy rock formula, but with extra polish. This gives the songs a shine they lacked previously, kind of like how in every single teen movie when the previously nerdy girl removes her glasses for the prom – nothing’s really changed, but more people like it.

crystal castlesMore from Canada, this time electro, with Crystal Castles self-titled debut. The Toronto based duo make confrontational punk rock, but with synths in place of guitars. It was a favourite in Teen Blog Towers back in 2008 and nearly made our end of year best of list, until we decided we couldn’t really justify the inclusion of an album that wasn’t in our collection. It’s here now though, can something released in 2008 be considered for a 2010 list?

placeboVeteran glam-rockers Placebo collected together all their singles up until 2004 for Once more with feelings : singles 1996-2004. It’s a good entry point for new listeners unfamiliar with the band’s pre-emo (premo?) riffage and nasally anthems. All the big hits are present, including Nancy Boy, Pure Morning, Every You Every Me and Taste In Men.

dum dum girlsNoise rock pin-up girl Dee Dee Penny and her Dum Dum Girls have released their debut full length I Will Be on the back of several killer, buzzworthy singles and it is a real treat. Classic pop sensibilities covered in layers of feedback and sass, completely deserving of the blog-hype and message board anticipation. It’s Synthesiser Patel’s pick of the week!

glee regionalsGlee : the music : journey to regionals needs no introduction, it is after all the fifth (fifth!) Glee soundtrack on the shelves. Judging from the title, I’d say it’s the musical chronicle of the Glee crew’s eventful journey to the regional finals of the big glee-club-offs. Includes these songs Faithfully, Any way you want it ; Lovin’ touchin’ squeezin’, Don’t stop believin’ (regionals version), Bohemian rhapsody,  To sir, with love, Over the rainbow. Yup.

Local drum and bass/dubstep-er, Bulletproof, has released the loftily titled, Soundtrack To Forever. It features a wide array of guests including Tiki Taane, Boh Runga, Isaac Aesili, Deva Mahal, PNC, David Dallas, Milon Williams and Evan Kiljoy. If you’re digging on the New Zealand dance scene, this is a must have.

Here, Listen

rolling stonesThe Rolling Stones’ Exile On Main St. has been given a deluxe reissue, presumably for its 38th anniversary. On disc number one is the original classic (really, classic) album from 1972, considered by many as the definitive Rolling Stones work and on disc number two are ten bonus tracks originally left on the cutting room floor, but recently given a re-working. Kind of a borrow one free, get another one free deal there.

glee 3Glee : the music. Volume 3, Showstoppers deluxe is the latest from the Glee stable of cover versions. Included on this volume are Glee-a-fied tracks by The Beatles, Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Lionel Richie, Parliament and a whole lot more. It also features a guest spot from Olivia Newton-John. So far five Glee soundtracks have been released – that’s a lot.

jack johnsonThis month polite soft-rocker Jack Johnson released his latest, To The Sea. Mellow acoustic strumming and sleepy grooves with introspective lyrics sit side by side on this one. Jack Johnson fact: he was a professional surfer at the age of 17, but injured himself in his first competition and decided music was the better route. Then his first five albums went platinum and it seemed to be a wise choice.

black keysThis is a short paragraph about an album by The Black Keys. The name of this album is Brothers. This album is their sixth and it seems to be their big commercial breakthrough, reaching number three on the Billboard charts on debut – deservedly so, because it is great. Once I saw them play live and the drummer was playing so hard he broke one of his sticks, but then he picked up another one out of his kit and kept playing without missing a beat. Good stuff.

Australian drum and bassers Pendulum have a new one called Immersion on our shelves. It includes an appearance from Prodigy’s Liam Howlett. Pendulum have received a lot of praise from the drum and bass community since their beginnings in 2002 and it has continued with this release. Make your house sound like a commercial for a snowboard shop.

Local hip-hopper David Dallas used to be known as Con Psy and was one half of Frontline. He dropped the moniker for his solo career because he never introduced himself to people using his alias and felt more comfortable using his birth name. Anyway, his second, Something Awesome is now available.

lcdA contender for Teen Blog album of 2010 is This Is Happening by James Murphy’s LCD Soundsystem. Murphy has stated in interviews that this will be his last album as LCD Soundsystem and if so, boy oh boy has he gone out on a high note. More excellent dance music for the rock kids, especially the David Bowie sampling All I Want.

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