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Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Alright, so the headline doesn’t quite make sense. Allow me to explain.

Recently I have been using Youtube more and more to listen to music. I am using Linux, so Spotify is out (theres some bullshit with Spotify and Wine emulation). I can’t be arsed downloading entire albums, and there are simply some songs that only exist on Youtube. So wat do? Well obviously one would want to have these songs on ones mp3 player, or simply on the computer so you don’t have to actually open Youtube and stream it. Yes?

Well, I have been trying for a long time to find a program or a website that does this, and gets good quality. For a while i used Kickyoutube, but the quality was terrible, it often just downloaded 2/3 of the song and now the website is messed up. So today i stumbled across Dirpy!

Dirpy is a brilliantly awesome website, which allows you to simply copy the youtube link into the field, and then you can download it in 128 kbps quality. I am not an audiophile, so I can listen to this just fine. And the best part, when you look away from the fact that you actually get to download high quality songs, there are no irritating adds or popups. This site is awesome!

Enjoy it, darn you. Music to the people!

(Disclaimer: By no means am I a Dylan expert. I have not heard everything he ever recorded nor have I read every lyric he ever penned. What I have heard and read, however, inspires and amazes me.)

Bob Dylan is an undoubtedly gifted artist. From his start in the 60’s up until present day, he has been one of the most influential figures in the last century, possibly ever. What makes Dylan so special, in my opinion, is not his sheer talent, but is indeed the way he uses it for a greater cause. A self-proclaimed “social commentator” as opposed to a political activist, his songs reflect whatever it is he sees as reality and brings awareness to issues the world would have otherwise ignored. One of his most famous songs- “Blowin’ in the Wind” became an anthem for the American Civil Rights movement. The lyrics easily lend themselves to any worthwhile cause:

Yes, how many years can a mountain exist
Before it’s washed to the sea ?
Yes, how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free ?
Yes, how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn’t see ?
The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

Some people think Dylan is overrated. I disagree! I think he is quite underrated. We should be studying this man in school. He is a master of all things poetic and played a large role in the shaping of this nation. Some of you reading this may think that’s a bit too much importance to be placing upon an artist, but what many people don’t realize is how very important art is. In this particular case, Dylan’s words and melodies took a snapshot of history and preserved it for the generations to come. You know what they say, “If we don’t learn from our mistakes, we’re doomed to repeat them.” Well Bobby gave us the tools to look back in time and remember what it was we got wrong and how we progressed as a people. Unfortunately, my generation has yet to produce Bob Dylan’s equal, that is why I so vehemently suggest we hold on to his timeless words for dear life!

The greatest gift his music and words have given us is the ability to apply our own analysis and get whatever profundity we need out of them. His songs are timeless and should never, ever, be forgotten.

And it’s all over now, baby blue.

Elaine

Do you ever have one of those days where everything reminds you of a random song lyric?  Today is one of those days for me. Instead of posting them randomly on Facebook, Twitter, etc. I have decided to condense them into a blog.

“I’m half alive, but I feel mostly dead.” <– Describes how I’m feeling.

“When people run in circles it’s a very, very mad world.” <– There’s an idiot in my house right now.

“It’s the remix to ignition, hot and fresh out the kitchen. Mama rollin’ that body got every man in here wishin’. Sippin’ on coke and rum, I’m like so what I’m drunk? It’s the freakin’ weekend baby I’m about to have me some fun. Bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce bounce! Bounce bounce bounce…” <– No explanation needed. This song is simply badass.

I hope you enjoyed this blog. Look for my upcoming “Jamaica: A Review” blog soon.

Peace.
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Your beloved admin just came home from a concert with the Norwegian band Kråkesølv, which is the norwegian word for mica.

This is mica, which is not the band Kråkesølv.

Kråkesølv is a band from my home-town, Bodø, which lies in the northern part of Norway. I went to a concert they had up north some time ago, and was quite disappointed. I’d been told they were incredible, yet the concert was as boring as it was noisy. I do not know whether I was drugged, or they where, but this time the experience couldn’t be more different.

As some of the more perceptive among you might be able to tell, I was most impressed with Kråkesølvs performance. They started out with a promising tune, and their first song earned plenty of applause from the audience. Now there were two performances going on at the same time, of which this was the minor one, which I had only patriotically chosen to attend, so the audience must have fallen short of 60 people, but the atmosphere was great, and the warm-up band had really gotten us excited. After the first song ended, one of the band-members told us that he would like to dedicate the concert to his, and another band-member’s, late grandmother, whose funeral they had to pass up in order to play for us. That really gave the concert a personal feel, but without making it a dreary process.

As the concert went on I became more and more convinced that this was some other band than the one I had listened to before. They were all so into the music, and after one song one of them commented that they had not sounded that good in a long time. The music really did come alive on that small stage from which it blasted.

Amazing live artists, you can really tell they love what they do.

The concert ended with the best song I believe I’ve heard in 2010. I think they said it was brand new, it certainly had a different style than the other music they played. While the main focus had definitely been on the vocals up to this point, this one really let the instruments come into their own. It’s not like the vocals were neglected though, it was just that there was less of an obvious divide between the song and the rest of the music than there had been before. Their last song was also more upbeat and rocky than the rest of the concert, while remaining melodic, and it was still recognizably their type of music.

To summarize, if you ever have the chance to attend a Kråkesølv concert, take my advice and do so. Pass up anything you have to pass up, because when these guys are having a good day, they’re pretty much the best, and who doesn’t love awesome music? I know I am looking forward to the next time I can hear them live, and I’ll be checking out their recorded music too, first chance I get.

Jimmy Page has changed.

How did such a thing happen? What went wrong? Did his dabbling in black magic do this?

The answer is no. After extensive googling, it turns out Jimmy Page actually does have some Chinese ancestry. Why has it only recently appeared, though? For that, I have no answer. All I can tell you is that I was rather shocked at what popped up when searching for images of him. Perhaps I have this idolized mental picture of Page in his heyday, rocking out on stage in one of those satiny, bell-bottom suits with dragons crawling up the leg and his chest bared for the world to see, which is totally being contradicted by the more recent images of this other-worldly, albeit aged, man. What comforts me is the knowledge that after I finish and post this blog, all that will remain is that beautiful picture in my mind and gone will be the not-so-subtle reminder that even our heroes get old and eventually die.

Woah. That may have been a bit too deep for a blog about Jimmy Page looking Chinese. So be it.