Rather than going over music this week I thought I'd have a little public service announcement instead. See I found this petition about a documentary: IT'S HERE YA'LL
The documentary is called Bully, and wouldn't you know, it's about bullying. It has not come out yet, but it has been cited as being very in depth, revealing, and informative. It should be a view into every aspect of bullying in and out of schools. It is also alledgedly very graphic. It was rated R by the MPAA for language.
The petition above OH AND HERE IT IS AGAIN is asking the MPAA to change the rating from R to pg-13. The movie would be much more effective if it was ACTUALLY AVAILABLE TO THE KEY DEMOGRAPHIC. Kids in schools are the ones who really need to see this movie. They're the ones who have to deal with bullying in one way or another every day. But if it's rated R, it would be difficult for a student to see, but if it's pg-13 it could be shown in schools. I understand that the MPAA believes it has too much language, but I've always found that to be a ridiculous argument. Why would I be concerned about kids who already know these words, play Call of Duty online every day, and are exposed to violence and whatnot constantly. Makes no sense to me.
Your average 13 year old
I just feel it is so much more important for children to see the effects of bullying and see what this documentary has to say. Bullying is still a huge problem in our schools and anything that might help prevent it should be implemented. Did you know in just one week earlier this month, there were 3 attempted suicides in Avon Lake? 3.
So if you believe that this movie should be made accessible to kids in schools, please sign the petition. ONCE MORE. Help us try and stop all of the torment to these kids.
Hello. How are you. I don't really have much pretext here, I listened to a couple more albums this time and here they are.
Okay first, here's Epic45 - In All the Empty Houses
I rather enjoyed this, it's ambient, has some quiet rock influences in it, but mostly what I like about it was it had this haunting quality about it. The band really did a good job at giving this album that touch. It's not ina frightening way, it's more about remembering past regrets. Kinda sad sounding but the point is that it worked well and gave the album a great atmosphere. There isn't much to say about how it stands out though, some of the lyrics could be particularly good though. It's an album meant to make you remember and self reflect, I think anyway.
Gotye - Making Mirrors
Apparently that single I have above is getting pretty huge. There's been a lot of talk about this guy lately, but this is the first I've listened to a whole album. Pretty great album really. Indie sounding without getting pretentious, (except maybe that video though, what the hell) Though it does well and I can certainly see the appeal. A great mixture of sounds, I enjoy his voice, and as a whole the album was unique enough to keep me interested to see where it would go. The layers within that song are everywhere so there's always something to go back to and find something new to follow. Overall I rather enjoyed it, though I don't think any of the songs had as much of a single feel except for Someone That I used to Know. But more importantly, here is that song again, covered by another band using only one guitar.
I know that this has gotten a ton of views so you may have already seen it, but if not... watch it. That is just incredible. Though I wish the one guy didn't stare at me like that....
Okay so good news for me, I actually DID start listening to music again! Woo! I'm legitimately happy about this, I got some great new things and I'm sure more will follow. Of course most was pretty eh to me but hey good start. Now the only slight problem with this is that I didn't exactly listen to anything remotely current. But again, you know, it's a good start. So anyway, this is me talking about random music I was recommended, get excited.
I'll start with this one, Death Grips - Exmilitary.
WHAT AM I LISTENING TO. I really don't know how to feel about this. This album goes a lot of places and I wouldn't know where to start with a genre. It sounds kind of like dark, sludgy electronic, maybe dubsteppy, with aggressive rapping in the background. Later in the album it starts getting a lo-fi surfer rock effect in some places. In my opinion... I don't have one... maybe I could get into this album ifIlistened to it more, apparently it's been getting a cult following since it came out last year, but the lyrics, while they do flow well (I think?) and are interesting sounding, aren't exactly pleasant in that regard. The beats can get pretty amazing at times though and I'd say the production on this album is what it's best feature is. But I'm not wouldn't say I enjoyed it. Try it if you'd like, maybe someone else can help me identify the big deal about this thing.
Next here's an apparently pretty popular band I'd never heard of before, Mutemath
That one song was the only thing I particularly liked though. After listening to their self-titled album I found it entirely forgettable. There wa nothing really to make them stand out, just a plain old album by an alt rock band that might be trying to sound indie too. I do really enjoy this one song though, Typical, the music video is impressive too. It's a solid single.
This is Organized Konfusion
It's a 90's hip-hop outfit that actually sounds not bad to me, but unfortunately like with Mutemath, no reason for them to stand out. I like Pharoah Monch a bit but this was only good one time for me at least, I thought it was kinda cool to listen to 90's hip hop rather than current stuff. But it didn't stick with me. Fine beats, good flow, nothing special. Just somewhat entertaining once.
I Fight Dragons I actually rather liked this. It's a rock band with some pretty significant 8-bit and chiptune influences and they actually pull it off rather nicely. Made it interesting enough to get me to listen to it and the music itself consistently kept me entertained throughout the album. Nice little rock band and I'm gonna keep tabs on them in the future I think. If this is how they're starting I think they have real potential considering chiptune seems to be sticking around. Oh and the song above isn't on that album, but I felt it was a much better depiction of their sound and attitude. Also I love the little fan made cartoon.
Last one, Bonobo - Black Sands
This is my favorite one of this bunch in terms of entire albums. It's definitely the most chill sounding album I've heard in awhile and is fantastic background music for when I'm relaxing. It's beats just keep adding layer after layer into each work, and they all incorporate their many instruments well. It has elements of electronic, drum & bass, jazz, and some very beautiful strings which all seem to flow seamlessly. Altogether the album just creates a really calm atmosphere. It varies quite a bit as well which like, I dislike when primarily instrumental songs all sound similar to me. So as far as needing to calm down after defending yourself from a hoard of zombies, yeah this will do it.
That's it, I'd say Bonobo is the only one particularly good for a zombie apocalypse, maybe I Fight Dragons too if you'd like to be reminded of old NES games as you protect your loved ones and cry. Keep that in mind.
