Pandora

Sorry I didn't post much this week, but I'm back to posting every evening!

I went to the movies with my friend, Kayla, and then I slept at her house.  One thing about Kayla is she loves Pandora.

The popular music app allows you to select a "station" for, let's say, your favorite band.  For example, I would have a station called "One Direction."  The station then plays songs by your selected artist and/or similar artists.  The "One Direction" station always played a little bit of One Direction, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, etc...

Even though my friend does like different bands than I do, the stations she has selected all play really good songs that I find very good.  She has stations for Panic! at the Disco, Lana Del Rey, Relient K, and several more that all play catchy songs.

But, there's always a catch with apps like these.  If you don't like a song that is playing, you do have the ability to skip over the song.  Pandora only gives you a certain number of skips in a specified time frame.  If you don't like a song at all and never want to hear it come up again, you have the ability to hit the "thumbs down" button.  Pandora only gives you a certain number of dislikes in a specified time frame.  It is also possible to not be allowed to listen because you have "reached your maximum number of songs."  Please, ma'am.

Paradise

I bought a Lana Del Rey record on Monday at Jack's Music Shoppe in Redbank.

Paradise is her third EP and includes eight tracks all around four minutes in length.  One of the three lead singles off the album is "Blue Velvet," a cover of the popular song from the '50s.  The other two singles were "Ride" (which is the first track) and "Burning Desire" (a song available iTunes).

My favorite song would have to be "American."  I love the lyrics - very complimentary of her voice.

She makes a couple references to well known American artists.  She speaks of Elvis in the second verse by saying, "Elvis is the best, hell yes."  In the first verse she sings of Bruce Springsteen and says, "Springsteen is the King don't ya think / I was like 'hell yeah that guy can sing.'"

But aside from her vocal talent, Del Rey writes her songs as well.  She wrote all of the songs on Paradise with the exception of "Blue Velvet."  Although, the song could certainly be her own. 

Welcome to the Black Parade

It doesn't matter what genre a song is if the song has amazing percussion.  If your band has an impressive drummer, you will most likely win over my heart.

My Chemical Romance is one of those bands.  I vividly remember when their song "Welcome to the Black Parade" came out in 2006.  When it was released in 2006, I was in fourth grade, but the song wasn't popular in my school until fifth grade.  Everyone loved it.  It was requested so many times to the DJ at my fifth grade social.  Anyway, when I first heard it, at 11-years-old, the percussion was the thing that caught my attention.

Bob Bryar was the drummer for the band when the song was recorded.  The boy has major talent.  He's like the Stewart Copeland of alternative rock - to me.  In the song, the drums are really apparent, so when you listen to it, the drums kind of smack you right in the face.  But don't worry because the smack doesn't hurt.

Without You

I'm listening to "Without You" by David Guetta and featuring Usher.  I decided to write about this song because Usher's voice sounds incredible.  His ability to sing the higher notes may give you goosebumps.  Usher has had an extraordinary vocal range ever since he started in the music industry.  Have a listen:

His songs are the songs where I desperately want to sing-along with them while driving, but I can't seem to sing in his range, no matter how hard I try.  Eventually I just gave up with trying because there's no point in losing my voice, especially since I like to talk so much.  No point.

It's a "Grateful" birthday

Even eighteen years after his death, Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia is still honored on his birthday.  Born August 1, 1942, the musician/singer-songwriter was born Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia in great old San Fran.

As one of the founders of the band, Garcia remained with the band their whole career from 1965-1995.  Garcia wrote Grateful Dead songs such as "Dark Star" and "Scarlet Begonias."

The legend died eight days after his 53rd birthday on August 9, 1995 from a heart attack.  I hope that he is always remembered since he is such an inspiration for aspiring musicians.  It seems to be difficult for people to remember classic musicians, so we should not let our memories fade away.