First off, it’s been awhile since my last post. Things haven’t stopped since that time so it’s been difficult getting onto here. Anyway business as usual.

This past weekend I had my annual Science Club trip with 45 of my friends. It was about a 5 hour trip on the bus. Bus+lots of time=lots of music. Now put that equation to work and you find a lot of music you like. Basically I just put a play list together of about 19 songs on the way up. Started with Aqualung by Jethro Tull to My Sharona to Alive and right to Van Halen and ZZ Top.

The ride back home was a bit different. I started off listening to the same play list then my friend sitting next to me had some Queen playing so he let me listen to Don’t Stop Me Now. Man what an awesome song and a catchy one at that. We kept singing it basically the entire trip (and randomly too like we would just come out of nowhere and say “They call me Mr. Fahrenheit…!”

Other than that it wasn’t too much music other than getting a great chance to listen to a lot of it. The trip itself was fun other than it raining 2 out of 3 days. We made the best of it though and pulled a few pranks on two of our teachers/chaperons.

Until next time…hopefully not to long from now.

I haven’t heard too many new things in the past couple of weeks or so but I have heard some music that is well worth noting. After hanging out by a friend’s house and listening to his music mix I remembered how great The Dave Matthews Band is. Songs like Dream Girl, Ants Marching, and Warehouse. The rhythm behind these songs is absolutely amazing. The drummer, Carter Beauford, is an exceptional drummer and has his own style. Hi-hat and snare are his tools for this style and really needs nothing more to his kit, but he does and that’s what makes it all the better.

Dave Matthews is a great singer and song writer and is obviously talented like the rest of his band. From what I hear, DMB is a great band to see live as their performances are both musically accurate and entertaining.

I’ll have to slide this into my playlists now that I’ve have them fresh in my mind (not that I forgot about them).

Since my last post well over a week ago I’ve been listening to a variety of music. Literally A through Z, Aerosmith through ZZ Top and everything in between. I listened to a little Pandora in between but lately I’ve just been downloading all these songs that I should have had but never got the chance to get.

I’ll go through some of the songs I’ve been listening to lately along with why or what I like about them:

Aerosmith: Sweet Emotion, Love in an Elevator, and Janie’s Got a Gun

Pretty much Aerosmith is Aerosmith, they’ve been around long enough for everyone to know these songs so little explanation, I feel, has to go into them.

Bad Company: Bad Company

This is one of the all time kick butt songs. Paul Rogers is a great singer and this song proves it. I’ve been listening to the live version of this song on a concert they did more recently (within the past few years) and I like it better than the studio version. This is one of those songs you can drive with the windows down and crank the radio up.

The Cars: Just What I Needed

I hope your getting the drift here. What do all these bands and songs have in common? Age of course. They’re all from the 70s and 80s. Other than being the catch song for Circuit City it has a pretty good flow to it. Granted “The Cars” are not the best performers live from what people have told me they still were able to make some good music. Harmonics and synthesizers played a large role in this I believe.

Journey: Anyway You Want It

Still following the trend, this song I most recently placed in a Power Point Presentation I did in Computer Apps. 2 (believe me it fits ). Not much to explain with this song, the reason I picked it is for the lyrics “Anyway you want it that’s the way you need it.” But I really need to find the ride cymbal Deen Castronovo uses in this song, it sounds so bright!

The Knack: My Sharona

Come on it’s a great song, well for the first 10 times you play it, after which it becomes like your banging your head on the floor tom. It does have a great beat though (you’re reading a drummer’s opinion remember ). It’s catchy and it does actually have a good guitar lead towards the mid-end of the song.

Queen: Fat Bottomed Girls, We Will Rock You, We Are The Champions

Does this even need an introduction? Didn’t think so.

U2: Red Hill Mining Town, In God’s Country, One Tree Hill, Zooropa

Talk about rediscovering a band that you love, this is it. I finally broke out the Joshua Tree and Zooropa albums that I didn’t know were lying around the house. These are classic songs from U2 and probably from their best two albums. Each with their own taste but as I’ve said before still having that U2 feel. I’ve had some of these on repeat for a few days since the last post.

Warren Zevon: Werewolves of London

Some or most of you might not be familiar with Warren Zevon or his hit song Werewolves of London, but if you ever get the chance, listen to it. It’s not the same feel as these other songs but man when I was driving around town and heard this come on the radio I couldn’t help but think of good things. It’s just one of those songs.

The Who: Won’t Get Fooled Again, Who Are You

Hey I’m doing good we’re still going with the drift of older songs, hope your not getting bored. You’ve probably heard “Who Are You” if you watch CSI:Miami (I don’t and still know it’s the theme song), so chances are you know what song I’m talking about. “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is another good song by them and I think it’s better than “Who Are You” when compared to each other.

ZZ Top: Gimme All Your Lovin’

Alright we’ve made it to Z. This is a great song (of course it is if I’m mentioning it) that I’ve heard in more movies than I can count. Wasn’t it in Wayne’s World also? Probably, who knows. This is also one of those songs made for driving with the windows down. Not much else to say!

So that recaps everything music wise that I’ve done in the past two weeks or so. Don’t worry I didn’t forget about this place, just has been hectic as of late. I’ll get some more in later in the week if things go a little easier.

It’s that time of year again girls and boys. Time to clean the desk, the garden, and most importantly that computer of yours! I know, I know, no fun in any of that (well except the computer ). But spring is finally here and not a moment too soon. This is by far my favorite time of year. Track is well underway and all of us are looking for some more mild temperatures so we can continue running on the track. Ah, what a great feeling!

May is my favorite month for some obvious reasons (birthday? ) and for just the great weather. Nothing like taking a drive around or sitting on the front porch, or better yet going fishing (most importantly fishing ). Some great times. Nothing like enjoying a few 70-80 degree days outside. I just hope it doesn’t go too fast.

Now that I’m not in work because of track and field it’s much more enjoyable to finally remember that thing they call a weekend (What’s that?!). Got a few great things coming up including NHS induction which I most recently got accepted into (one year too late unfortunately), AP tests (which means the end and free time in Calculus and AP English. Thank God!), my birthday (Woo!), and finally Prom and camping over in good ol’ PA. Probably getting too far ahead of myself here.

That’ll conclude my second off-topic posts, which I hope put you in the mood for some lemonade and looking forward to good weather. Oh! and don’t forget to go get your free Dunkin Donuts iced-coffee tomorrow, they’re free! Eh, I’m not a coffee drinker but who cares!

Lately, I’ve had this song come across my Pandora “Chilling Music” channel called Marker in the Sand by Pearl Jam. I’ve heard it a couple of times and liked it more everytime. So I decided to download it and actually put it on my iPod. I must have listened to it 30 times in the past 2 days. I love it! It’s from their latest self-titled album Pearl Jam. The song truly is a song that feels like it can go on forever and something the band can just keep jamming to. It has a different feel to it than Pearl Jam’s usual stuff (but relative to their newest album which really differs altogether from their previous work). If you want to take a listen to it just sample it on Pandora by clicking here.

Pearl Jam is one of my favorite bands musically. I’ve listened to their older songs such as Can’t Find a Better Man, Even Flow, and Jeremy for a long time now. All of them have that classic Pearl Jam sound. This new album, however, has a new look to it musically speaking. It’s more laid back and just different overall to the feeling of the songs. I’ve started listening to Pearl Jam consistently again now that I’ve heard their new album work. Songs such as World Wide Suicide, Life Wasted, and Unemployable are all great songs off of the new album (plus Marker in the Sand).

I think it’s worth a shot to listen to some of their new stuff. I know some people don’t care for Pearl Jam while others are really fans, but for either it’s definitely worth a listen. I’d definitely give their new album 4 and a half stars.

First off, I’ll follow up on my previous post (What’s Red, Black, and White?). Hopefully, if you read the post, you decided to download the song I linked to provided by me. What did you think? What if I told you Red is a Hard Rock Christian band? I just thought I had to mention that because I am always hearing things like “Christian music is bad, slow, too ‘Godly’, etc.” Well here’s proof that Christian music can have good taste. Either way, I hope you enjoyed the song, if you want another good song by them just ask and I’ll see what I can do.

Secondly, Pandora came out with another Podcast this past Wednesday called “Pedal Point”. Like I told you previously, I have my Podcasts set to download automatically, so I had it and listened to it by Thursday. I must say, it taught me a few new things, especially the real meaning of a ‘pedal point’ within a song. If you want to listen just go to Pandora and download it here or simply set your Podcast receiver (ie iTunes) to the Pandora Podcast Series.

That would be all as far as music goes. Therefore, my only other update is to tell you that Track season has begun and that means I’ll be back in shape in no time. It looks like a good year for me as I’ll run the 100, 200, and do Long Jump again this year. This also means less time on the computer as practice is six days a week, so I’ll probably squeeze a post every weekend, or if I somehow get time during the week, I’ll post something then. That’s all for now, check back soon!

Alright, not black and white but what about red? Simple. The band Red. This band, that is new to me, was told to me by a friend of mine. He sent me over a song and I listened to it. What do you know, they’re really good!

Red is a heavy rock band who’s latest album End of Silence has a variety of hard rock singing, drums, and guitar riffs and at the same time has a softer feel with some of their other songs. Now this variety is what I like. You can rock out to a bunch of their songs and then relax with some of their other ones. I’ve been listening to their entire album the past week and I find their songs don’t go overboard with the yelling (as you might expect from a heavy rock or heavy metal band) which is something that I prefer since I don’t listen to yelling your head off songs.

Their one song that really caught my attention is Breath Into Me. This is the first song I listened to by them and I must have played it 20 times again after that because I enjoyed it so much. I really can’t explain much other than this so I decided to treat you to one of their songs. Click the link at the end of this post and download it. I’ll give you a follow up in my next post about them, so in the mean time enjoy Breath Into Me by Red.

Download Breath Into Me

In addition to Pandora having a wonderful database of music to listen to, it also has a newly founded Podcast section. Pandora explores a different aspect of music every other Wednesday and shares it via a Podcast. Don’t worry if you don’t have something to play a Podcast such as iTunes, they also come in MP3 format that you can download as a file. Currently I have my iPod synched to add each Podcast as they release them, so I grab it and listen to it while I’m out.

Now what each of these episodes (like I said released every other Wednesday) do is tackle a different aspect of music and a different genre within that. For example, one of their recent podcasts is “Recording Vocals” having to do with the different characteristics of singing. It not only covers that but covers what it sounds like in Soul, Pop, etc. Now naturally being a drummer, I’m into more of the instrumental episodes they have. Their most recent episode released yesterday covers the second part of Drums and Drumming, which I found to be very interesting and enlightening. Of course they have other instruments such as electric guitar (and effects), and soon to come bass guitar. But for now they are doing more back to basics to get things rolling.

Although it may seem like each individual sector or instrument of what makes up music or songs is being explained, there are other episodes that delve into the elements of genres. Take for example the episode before this past Wednesday’s that tackles Salsa and what makes it up. So if your the type to learn about new genres, they have plenty more coming your way.

The only thing about these Podcasts from Pandora is that they are relatively new with only 7 episodes that have been released. Since the new year they have been consistent with the release dates of every other Wednesday or about two a month. This was just an insight that Pandora does more than give you new music to listen to, it also explains what music is as weird as that sounds. You can find the already released Podcasts here and the upcoming list of episodes they have planned here. I can’t wait for some of the new ones such as Mixing and Mastering, Pedal Point, and The Science of the Riff. Be sure to subscribe to this Podcast on iTunes to get them sent to you automatically so as soon as they release it, your listening. Hope you enjoy these. I’m learning a lot about stuff I thought I knew on drums because it’s always the basics that build upon the advanced stuff. And you can never learn enough basics.

How about U2? Yup, that’s what I’ve been listening to lately. Not on Pandora but I’ve been listening to their best of 1980-1990 and 1990-2000 albums. I started off by listening to One and let my iPod shuffle the two albums from there. It took me to Even Better Than The Real Thing to Beautiful Day right down to Mysterious Ways. After that I jumped decades and went to songs like I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For and With Or Without You.

Now U2 for those of you who know them you’re probably saying, “Yeah, their OK for an older band” or you might be saying “Yeah, I love their music from no matter what era!” Whatever the case may be U2 has been around for quite a few decades still putting albums out every several years. Me, I’m the one saying the latter statement. I grew up on U2, a lot having to do with my parent’s influence since they listened to them a lot when I was young. I guess you can say it caught on. Since then I’ve taken their albums on the road with me and listen to them now on my iPod. I believe they’re a band I’ll still be listening to years from now. It’s hard to get tired of their music because each album is like a new band, one that explores a new sector of music each time but still holds onto the “U2 roots.”

Now there’s a difference between a group that can record well in the studio and a group that can perform well live. I can personally say they can do both. I’ve seen U2 live at Madison Square Garden in November of ‘05 while on their Vertigo tour. They by far have put on the best shows music and entertainment wise out of the bands I have seen. Sounding good is one thing, entertaining is another, Bono and the entire group for that matter know how to do that.

They definitely have some good songs from the past 10 years and you’re also probably wondering why I was playing all the 80’s and 90’s stuff. I just figured I would listen to the U2 of then rather than the U2 of now (not that I don’t because I enjoy both) especially with songs like I mentioned. I needed some change in music after what I’ve been listening to has seemed repetitious (see What I Tend To Listen To). U2 definitely has a different style, whether it is drumming or guitar or even singing, it all is different.

Now for those of you not familiar with U2 I’ll give you some background. The band formed in 1976 in Ireland with drummer Larry Mullen Jr. and then grew with bass player Adam Clayton, guitar player David Howell Evans aka “The Edge”, and Paul Hewson aka “Bono.” All of which make up U2 to this day. They started as “Feedback” then quickly to “Hype” before they settled on their name “U2.” It’s definitely an interesting band that I think deserves a lot of credit for being around so long without having any problems. Their induction into the Rock and Roll hall of fame I believe is well deserving. If you still want to check out more on the band then check their bio here.

Shoot your thoughts at me, I would like to know what you think of U2 and their years worth of music, new and old.

Well it wasn’t a great week except for a few things. To start off I was sick all day Sunday and went home from work early. But because I was sick I was then worried I would miss the Senior Trip Monday (the following day). Fortunately for me, I woke up 6 am Monday morning feeling quite good. The trip was a lot of fun and I had quite a good time hanging out with my senior friends, some of which I really don’t get to hang out with in school. For some reason it wound up being the girls that I hung out with more (never a bad thing ) which is what I really enjoyed.

Then Tuesday came along and we expected this great snow storm. Well it wasn’t exactly snow, we got some of that, but for the most part it was ice about 4 inches thick. So therefore, school was closed Wednesday and I got to stay home…boy I wish I didn’t. Why you say? Well because with a day off from school that allowed me to re-format my hard drive and put a fresh install of Windows XP on it. Yeah, great…well I backed up all my music, movies, downloaded files, and pictures/images…but I forgot one thing…hmmm…Oh yeah! All of my school files from this year. I ran a few programs to recover lost data and got back some files but for the most part they were lost. I kicked myself in the butt a few times before I forgave myself for doing such a stupid move.

Thursday was boring, nothing interesting. Friday, well that was sorta boring except I took a Calculus quiz that I felt like I took blind folded because I couldn’t remember any of it. Usually I can pull off some guesses on a Calc test or quiz that I can’t think of but this time I really had no idea. Friday night was better because I had services and we did some good worship I might say. Granted I wasn’t playing drums, but the CDs were still good.

Saturday wasn’t bad but I had work from 9am-1pm. However, I did put in my two week notice because I’m leaving for track so therefore I’m free from work (but hopefully not out of money ).

What you expected a more uplifting and positive week? This’ll be my first official “non music” post. Expect some more music and off topic stuff real soon!