Hey all! I’m back with a new blog. If you have any suggestions of who you would like that I review/research next just leave it in a note when you comment.
For me personally, Dido is one of my favourite artists. Her and her brother, Rollo wrote most of the songs on her most recent album, “Life for Rent”. I really get in touch with artists who write their own music because there is so much more of a personal touch to the album. That and because I am very interested in writing and poetry, and song lyrics are poetry from the singer’s soul.
I had first discovered Dido when I was younger when I heard the single ‘Stan’. I remember my sister saying to me that Eminem had started off her career with the hit ‘Stan’. This song had the beginning of her chorus from her song ‘Thank You’. Not only did it give her a bigger fan base in North America but it also promoted her album that had the full song ‘Thank You’ on it as a track. The video of ‘Stan’ featured Dido as ‘Stan’s’ girlfriend. Her lilting ethereal voice balances this song perfectly. This song is about an unhinged obsessed fan of Eminen’s and has quite a bit of controversial themes in it. Obviously it could have had the possibility of just sounding way too rough and hard for a rap song but Dido’s soft voice blended everything together nicely.
I really liked her newest album, ‘Life for Rent’ because of the blunt truth in a lot of the songs. I was only thirteen years old when I first bought the album and there were several different themes being sung throughout all the songs such as love, sex, drugs, break ups, change and so on. But I was hooked even if I wasn’t always certain of what Dido was talking about. Now that I am older I can appreciate the lyrics much more with a better comprehension and also appreciate Dido’s writing skills.
She is currently working on her third album and it is supposed to be out sometime in 2008, this year! I am very excited and am interested in seeing what Dido is going to give us this time.
Lata.
So, FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS has a new album out and absolutely everybody should indulge. Look them up on Amazon.com. If you’ve never heard of them…seriously? Get going. If you have, then you’ve probably already listened to their album, bought it, and shared it with all your friends. ‘Cuz how can you not love them?
If there was one artist I was pleasantly surprised with this year, it was Leslie Feist, who goes under the name of Feist for her music. She has done a few collaborations and even had two albums out before her commercially successful album; ‘The Reminder’ hit stores just this past summer. The first time I heard of her was when I saw her strange modernistic dance video, ‘1,2,3,4’. To me the video was a bit strange but appealing at the same time. After the video was done I did a quick internet search to see where she was from and what album the song was from. I found out that she was a Canadian and that she was an indie rock chick.
I picked up her album and was immediately impressed. Some artists that I listen to I have to listen to their album a few times and let it grow on me. From the beginning when I heard the first song on her album I was hooked. First of all the lyrics in her songs are like poetry. For me as a writer this made me like her songs even more with all the imagery and metaphors that I heard in all of the songs. Her voice is amazing; it can go to low and seductive to rock and roll. And there was that different quality to each song.
Feist used to just be an Indie rock chick but big things are coming for this artist. The Grammy nominations have come and Feist has scored four nods which is an incredible feat! She is nominated for Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Short Form Music Video. We will find out on February 10th how she does because she’s going up against a lot of big names for these awards. Should be interesting to see how everything pans out for this indie princess.
This is a band I recently came across when I was searching for some new tunes. Not only do they have a unique and appealing look, they also have a fresh sound. These boys are from Germany but one wouldn’t even notice that English wasn’t their first language. From the eerily chilling song “Don’t Jump” to their first English single (and my personal favourite) “Monsoon”, the lead singer Bill Kaulitz has a strong voice perfect for those hard rock songs and soft enough for the low trills found in most of their songs.
The lead guitarist Tom Kaulitz is Bill’s twin brother. The other two members are Georg Listing and Gustav Schäfer. Girls out there, let me tell you there’s a boy that you could all connect with in this band.
Sometimes you can place bands in certain stereotypical boxes but Tokio Hotel is different. Each band member has his own sense of style and it works well. I find Bill to be very attractive and original. Bill always wears black eye shadow, mascara and sometimes looks so pretty that he looks like a girl, also due to the fact that he wears his hear long and black. His twin brother Tom has his hair in dreadlocks and has the hip-hop style of big baggy t-shirts, jeans and a hat pulled over his dreads. Both of their styles are so different and I think this adds to the appeal of the band. The other two members, Georg Listing and Gustav Schafer have very low key fashion and more of what a typical rocker would wear jeans, icon t-shirts and leather jackets. With the interesting differences between these band members we see a bit of their personalities and this gives a more personal feel from the band. That they are willing to be themselves in front of thousands of fans, that’s something I can respect.
I think good things are to come for this band, especially now that they are reaching out to English audiences. Not only the fact that they have an original sound but I think also that being from another country will ignite interest in listeners. People who normally wouldn’t have listened to German music might try their initial albums that were put out in Germany. All in all, Tokio Hotel is a promising new band that offers cute foreign boys and good music. What more can you ask for?
