Rock On - Music

With Election Day fast approaching, undecided voters are scrambling to find the candidate with whom they have most in common. And while some desire to share no more than an energy policy or an immigration stance with the next president, others seek to “get to know” the candidates on a more personal level. Senators McCain and Obama know that if they want to connect with the voters, they should take some time out from political hardball to answer questions about the movies they watch, the teams they root for, and, most of all, the tunes they dig.

It’s no coincidence that when political banter veers toward more light-hearted fare, music tends to dominate the conversation. In a country of wide economic gaps and deep cultural subdivisions, an affinity for music is one common thread between all factions of American society. Even with the record industry in decline, Americans still consume music at a prodigious rate, and chattering about favorite musicians remains a national pastime. Any presidential hopeful who does not outwardly care about music risks appearing out of touch, even un-American. But in the heat of the electoral race, even a topic as innocent as music could turn controversial if the candidates fail to watch what they say.

Where musical leanings are concerned, Senator Obama has been the more forthcoming of the two major candidates. In a June interview for Rolling Stone, Obama said that his tastes are eclectic, ranging from jazz to folk to hip-hop. The senator lavished praise on a few of his musical heroes, but he avoided the appearance of having a single “favorite” genre. Whether or not Obama’s statements are genuine, they represent a politically savvy effort on his part to make himself more likeable to Americans of all musical creeds.

In the case of hip-hop, Obama seems acutely aware that his attitude toward the music could have a real impact on his public image. Given that most rap listeners are young and the most popular MCs are generally African American, an Obama endorsement of the genre would help play down concerns that he is not “cool enough” or “black enough.” However, he also runs the risk of alienating older voters, many of whom regard hip-hop as crass and offensive. In his Rolling Stone interview, Obama walked the line cautiously, citing Jay-Z as a favorite artist but also expressing concerns about inflammatory lyrics in hip-hop. “I am troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics,” he lamented.

Senator Obama also tempered his enthusiasm for music with hints that while he may be a fan, he is hardly a fanatic. Talking about his affinity for Bob Dylan, Obama mentioned that he has “probably 30″ Dylan songs on his iPod. (This reporter has 234, counting live and alternate versions.) He also indicated that his iPod contains only one Dylan album, Blood On The Tracks, in its entirety. Music nerds may recoil at this news, but Obama seems more than happy to distance himself from those “elitist” snobs.

If Obama has been self-conscious and calculating in his statements on music, he is only willing to carry this tack so far. On his Facebook page, Obama lists Dylan, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Johann Sebastian Bach, and The Fugees as his favorite artists. This list may exude fine taste, but from a political standpoint it leaves much to be desired. Neglecting country music means a missed opportunity to appeal to southern voters, and Dylan’s peacenik image will only reinforce the fears of those who see Obama as “too liberal.”

One comment from Obama’s Rolling Stone interview was far more risky. Asked to name a favorite Dylan song, the senator picked “Maggie’s Farm,” a classic that marked the beginning of Dylan’s controversial switch from acoustic folk to electric rock. “It speaks to me as I listen to some of the political rhetoric,” Obama said of the song. To be sure, “Maggie’s Farm” is overtly political, and its lyrics are often interpreted as a rebuke to the capitalist institution. If Obama wants to improve his rapport with moderate voters, he would do well to clarify that he doesn’t take “Maggie’s Farm” as a call for socialism.

Senator McCain, while not as outspoken about music as his rival, did issue one bold proclamation: the dude bops to ABBA. True to his maverick persona, McCain has stood by the Swedish pop group since October 2007, when he told reporters in South Carolina that he does not subscribe to the “rank hypocrisy” of ABBA-bashers. “Nobody likes them, but they’ve sold more records than anybody in the history of the world, including The Beatles,” he said. The factuality of this statement is questionable at best, but Washington rhetoric is seldom immune to hyperbole.

If ABBA is not the best-selling of all music groups, it might be the most polarizing. While music snobs deplore the band as an embodiment of the 70s in all their glossy excess, droves of fans still revel in the effortlessly catchy songs. Many ABBA enthusiasts may prefer to lurk in the shadows, but someone must be buying up all those tickets for Mamma Mia!, the ABBA-themed hit musical that made the jump this year from Broadway stage to silver screen. McCain is taking a chance on ABBA Nation, hoping that his love of the group will please more voters than it offends.

McCain’s courageous declaration about his favorite group represents a departure from his fellow Republican, current President George W. Bush. Bush has usually played it safe when speaking about his favorite songs, picking simple classic rock hits like John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” and Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl.” Choices like these fit neatly into Bush’s self-styled image: down-to-earth, none-too-cerebral, All-American.

Meghan McCain, daughter of the Republican presidential nominee, appears to be looking out for dad’s best interests when it comes to publicizing his musical tastes. In January, she told MTV that her father does not listen only to “really old music,” but also enjoys younger artists such as Lauryn Hill. Ms. McCain issued this comment as part of a claim that her father, despite his age (72), is in touch with the American youth.

Although Senator McCain and Senator Obama seem to take pleasure in music, both men appear to lack any musical ability of their own. Several previous presidential candidates have been eager to show off their chops on an instrument, and have done so to mixed results. Former president Bill Clinton, for instance, scored points for likeability by playing the saxophone on national television during his 1992 campaign. Senator John Kerry tried to emulate the strategy in 2003, when he took up an electric guitar and joined a local Boston band onstage for a Bruce Springsteen cover. Unfortunately for the Kerry campaign, this move did little to negate the senator’s image as stuffy and pretentious.

Ultimately, the fact that neither McCain nor Obama openly plays an instrument may prove immaterial. The American electorate, by and large, is above the need for a rock star president. But the people do yearn for a president to whom they can relate, and, above all, whom they can trust. Whether or not they realize it, plenty of voters are more likely to have faith in a candidate whose musical tastes they can respect. If a record collection really is a window to the soul, the glimpses Senator McCain and Senator Obama give us could have real implications for how we see them as potential leaders.

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wheni first herd of the jonas brothers, i was watching disney.
there song when you look me in the eyes started playing on the tv.
when i mentioned them at school, my freinds convinced me that they were bad.
for a year they cept saying that the jonas brothers were bad, and that they were freaks.
during the summer, i decided that i should at least listen to three of there songs all the way through.
so i did.
and i loved them!
i had been convinced that they were bad when i hadn’t even listened to them ollney one of my freinds likes them… and shes starting to loose interest. but i like them and i will like them for a long time.

i like their sence of style.
i’m an idiot, i dont know what they are called, but what they wore on the ellen de generuss show. if you dont know what i’m talking about go on youtube and type in jonas brothers on ellen de generuss.
anywayy…

their guitar playing is REALLY good. they are WAY better then me on acoustic guitar.
their music is so… i dont know how to put it… to me it just feels speical the other muisic i listen to…

ok… this wasnt the best review but… if yoo dont know about them… or have been talked into not likeing them like what happend to me, then go listen to their muisic all the way through.. i sudjust, Lovebug, Burnin up, And Please be mine original
hope you like them!!!
peace, love, jonas.

no meen or hate comments! plese if you leave meen or hate comments… my heart is fragile.

Each autumn, Jews around the world observe Simchat Torah, the celebration of Judaism’s Holy Scripture. Simchat Torah is a special time of spiritual renewal, a chance to reaffirm one’s faith in God and His commandments. But to this Jewish teen, the holiday has a more particular meaning: it is the one time of year that affords us the opportunity to dance around the synagogue to Yiddish folk music.

That’s an opportunity I would gladly take, were I not otherwise engaged. But as a musician in the Westchester Klezmer Program, I am responsible for laying down the tunes that drive the high-spirited party. While the congregation dances and parades through the aisles with the Torah scroll, we pound out the music of our Eastern European forefathers.

That music is called klezmer, a Yiddish word that means “vessel of song,” and it consists of wordless melodies – bulgars, freylekhs, horas, turkishers – meant to inspire dancing. Klezmer is not a religious form of music in the sense that Christian Gospel music is; rather than communicate a message about God, klezmer appeals to our sense of connection as Jews in the cultural sense. “We’re all family here,” we shout louder with melody than we could with words. “Bring out the chair.”

A love of the idiosyncratic is all but a requirement to thrive in a klezmer group, so it’s no surprise that strange instruments of all shapes and sizes show up in our ranks. I’ve spent most of my five years with the Westchester Klezmer Program playing the electric cello. There was also a brief stint on the electric ukulele, which made me the proud holder of the “weirdest instrument” belt until someone showed up with a superbone. What’s a superbone, you ask? It’s a trumpet-trombone hybrid that has often anchored our brass section.

Members of the Westchester Klezmer Program range in age from roughly eight to eighty and in skill level from beginners to concert soloists. We will play – and have played – just about anywhere: synagogues, private homes, libraries, hospitals and nursing homes have all been among our chosen venues. We shout out the Yiddish names of songs before we play them and let the grandmothers in the audience offer up a translation. We engage crowds in a two-word sing-along: “Oy, Tate!” We once played a show on St. Patrick’s Day and opened with an Irish jig. Any time we can bring some smiles to faces Jewish and non-Jewish alike – and do it with chutzpah – we can go home knowing our work is done.

But seldom does anyone have more fun than the band members themselves. Having played with many of the same musicians for years, I have the benefit of old friendships that transcend mere musical partnership. There are inside jokes, often at the expense of band members. There is gossip enough to fit the old Jewish stereotype. There’s even a welcoming (ok, hazing) ritual for new members at rehearsals: they must introduce themselves with their name, their synagogue, and their favorite Chinese food. Wrong answers are not treated lightly.

Often, those new members find themselves further confused by our foreign practice methods. When we tackle a new piece of music, the process begins not with a written score but with each person’s ear. We listen to the tune as our bandleader plays it on the banjo, then sing the wordless melody aloud. And once we can sing it like it’s been engrained in our DNA for a thousand years, we move to our instruments and feel for the notes.

When sheet music finally does arrive, we treat it not as holy writ but as a mere reference to be amended, rearranged and outright mangled at will. Once, we introduced a tune with an opening riff that we pulled straight from the 007 theme music. In an especially strange turn of events, I once found myself in an offshoot of the Westchester Klezmer Program, a hard rock-klezmer fusion band called Black Shabbos. The freewheeling approach leads to sonic mayhem at least as often as it creates moments of magic, but it amounts to a kind of freedom that is anathema to the more disciplined world of classical music.

Truth be told, most of today’s klezmer musicians arrived at the genre with a classical background. We’re used to the certainty and precision of the structured format, and it can be culture shock to try playing any other way. But klezmer is folk music at its core, and all folk music should live up to the promise of its title: it comes not from the mind of some deified composer but from the spirit of ordinary people – the folks.

At its best and purest, klezmer – indeed, all folk music – is music without ulterior motive. When I play klezmer music, I know I’m not playing it to win over college admissions officers, to impress girls, or to sell records. I’m playing for the part of me that loves the sense of culture and belonging that comes with being a Jew, no matter much or how little of the religious doctrine I may choose to accept. That part of me needs a voice, and I know just one way to give it one.

You’ve probably heard of them, I mean, how could you not have? They’re everywhere. You see the on billboards, the internet, TV, magazines, you name it, and they’re probably there.
What you may not know is who they are…
Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas are a band of brothers from New Jersey. The trio makes up the hottest band in the country, Jonas Brothers.
Unbelievably just a couple bros from Jersey, these boys have won the hearts of millions of girls all over the world, and their music continues to grasp the attention of more.
With their albums, It’s About Time, Jonas Brothers, and A Little Bit Longer, these boys have been recording their music since about 2005.
It all started when Nick, 16, was signed with Columbia Records after performing on Broadway for many years. While working on a solo project, Nick and his older brothers Joe, 19, and Kevin, 20, wrote a song together, which was their first they’d ever written together, Please Be Mine. Columbia Records heard it, and signed the three brothers.
After recording It’s About Time, the boys toured for a while, until Columbia Records dropped them. That definitely was not the end for the Jonas Brothers though! Hollywood Records then signed the boys, where they released singles featured on Disney Channel. Some of those titles were Poor Unfortunate Souls, American Dragon Theme Song, Kids Of The Future, and Year 3000.
As the boys became more known, they were recording for their self-titled album, Jonas Brothers which was released in 2007. After their first single off the album, S.O.S. premiered on Disney Channel, girls all over the world started to become diagnosed with O.J.D., or Obsessive Jonas Disorder.
Also, during that time, the boys filmed the Disney Channel Original Movie, Camp Rock, and co-started with Demi Lovato in the movie.
After the CD release, the trio joined Miley Cyrus on her Best Of Both Worlds Tour, lasting from October to December. While on tour, they recorded their latest CD, A Little Bit Longer, and while in a tour bus.
After the Best Of Both Worlds Tour came to an end for the boys, they went to California to film the pilot of their upcoming TV show, J.O.N.A.S., which at the time stood for Junior Operatives Networking As Spies. The plot has been changed for the TV show since then, and JONAS is now the street the “Lucas” brothers now “live” on.
The boys left on their Look Me In The Eyes tour at the beginning of February, where they promoted their own tour. Opening for them was the band, Rooney. The boys toured for a while, and then went on an international tour to Europe.
In that time, the boys also filmed the D.C. Games (Disney Channel), and had a short-series being filmed about them while on the Look Me In The Eyes tour, called “Living The Dream”, which showed on Disney Channel. In the short series, you got to see into the world of the Jonas Brothers.
The boys also have a YouTube channel, where the post videos constantly. Some are random, and others promote CD releases or other things.
Also, they have a MySpace, FaceBook, and official website and fansite.
After the international tour, the boys started their Burnin’ Up tour, which promoted their latest CD, A Little Bit Longer. The tour lasted from the beginning of July to the beginning of September.
In between all this touring, and even during, the boys had many TV appearances on shows like Ellen, Oprah, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With The Stars, and many more.
When the non-stop touring ended, the boys returned to California to film their Disney Channel show, JONAS.
Recently, the boys flew to Europe to promote the release of their CD in Europe. On their international tour in the spring going into summer, they toured with Avril Lavigne.
A Little Bit Longer was very successful, selling millions of copies world wide. On iTunes, there was a countdown to the CD where every week or so, a new song off the CD would release. The singles included, Bunin’ Up (and the official video), Pushing Me Away, Tonight, and A Little Bit Longer.
The boys have been signed to Camp Rock 2, but there has not been much information released on the filming of it.
Their 3D movie is rumored to release sometime in February, 2009. The movie shows concert footage off their Burnin’ Up Tour, and features country artist Taylor Swift. The movie also has action and some of their friends and family, like their friend Maya and younger brother Frankie.

The following is an archive of their CDs, songs, music videos, movies, TV shows, etc.:

• It’s About Time- Columbia Records- 2006
-I Am What I Am
-Mandy
-Underdog
-What I Go To School For
-Year 3000
-6 Minutes
-7:05
-One Day At A Time
-Please Be Mine
-Time For Me To Fly
-You Just Don’t Know It

• Jonas Brothers- Hollywood Records- 2007
-S.O.S.
-Hold On
-Games
-Goodnight And Goodbye
-Australia
-When You Look Me In The Eyes
-Inseparable
-Just Friends
-Hollywood
-Kids Of The Future
-Year 3000
-Still In Love With You
-That’s Just The Way We Roll
-Hello Beautiful
-Take A Breath (Bonus Jonas Edition)
-Out Of This World (UK Release)
-We Got The Party- (Bonus Jonas Edition, Duet With Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana)

• A Little Bit Longer- Hollywood Records- 2008
-A Little Bit Longer
-Burnin’ Up
-Video Girl
-One Man Show
-BB Good
-Shelf
-Pushing Me Away
-Sorry
-Can’t Have You
-Got Me Goin’ Crazy
-Lovebug
-Tonight
-Live To Party (WalMart Bonus Edition)

• Other songs
-Hello Goodbye (Target Theme Song)
-Play My Music (Jonas Brothers as Connect 3, Camp Rock)
-We Rock (Camp Rock)
-On The Line (Duet with Demi Lovato)
-Gotta Find You (Joe Jonas)
-This Is Me (Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato)
-I Wan’na Be Like You
-Poor Unfortunate Souls
-Kung Fu Grip
-Yo Ho (Pirate’s Life For Me)
-Girl Of My Dreams
-Take On Me
-Eternity

• Nicholas Jonas (solo songs)
-Dear God
-Time For Me To Fly
-Appreciate
-Higher Love
-I Will Be The Light
-Wrong Again
-Don’t Walk Away
-Joy To The World (A Christmas Prayer)
-Crazy Kinda Crush On You

• Music Videos:
-Mandy (4 videos)
-Year 3000
-Kids Of The Future
-American Dragon Theme Song
-Poor Unfortunate Souls
-I Wan’na Be Like You
-S.O.S.
-Hold On
-When You Look Me In The Eyes
-Burnin’ Up
-Lovebug (releases October 19th)

• TV Shows/ Movies

-Me and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas and Mr. Jonas- Hannah Montana Episode
-Camp Rock (movie)
-JONAS (not yet released)

• Official Websites
www.jonasbrothers.com
www.myspace.come/JonasBrothers
www.youtube.com/JonasBrothersMusic
www.facebook.com/JonasBrothers
www.teamjonas.com

Demi Lovato, an upcoming singer and actress, who recently starred as Mitchie Torres in Disney’s Camp Rock with Jonas Brothers (release in June, 2008), Lovato has definitely proven her singing talent with this CD.
Don’t Forget is most definitely a different edge on Lovato. It’s not like the sound from Camp Rock, but is definitely fantastic. She really lets her personality and feelings show through in this CD.
Her newly release single, Get Back, is one of the up-beat songs on the CD. The song talks about getting back with someone after the break up, unlike a lot of songs that talk about never wanting to see that person again after a break up. The video premiered on Disney Channel, and is now available on iTunes, and also viewable on Lovato’s Music YouTube Channel.
Don’t Forget is a touching song about losing a relationship through time, to where it finally burns out like a light. The song is very calm, and in a bit quiet. Lovato sings it incredibly, and the emotion in her voice is definitely noticeable. The song has a very person connection with Lovato, as she says, and it shows in the song. It’s one of my favorites off of the entire CD.
La La Land is most definitely a different song…in a totally awesome way! I think that it’s one you either like or don’t like, and I most definitely love it! It’s fun to sing along and dance to, and quote at random times (saying things like, Who says, I can’t wear my converse, with my dress?…).
On The Line is a duet between Demi and the Jonas Brothers, who were her co-stars in Camp Rock (go check them out! If you like her, you’ll love them!). Most of the songs on the CD were co-written and produced by the Jonas Brothers.
Believe In Me is a touching song about life in general. It’s about not fitting in and feeling like you’re useless in the world and nobody wants you. Finding yourself and being happy with who you are is what matters the most, and especially believing in yourself.
Another song that is one of the best (in my opinion) on the CD is Until You’re Mine. The beat is fun, and the lyrics are great!
Trainwreck is a fun song and has great lyrics! The beat is fun and catchy, and it makes you want to sing along. Lyrics like You won’t go to the doctor, he’s just driving you insane… get stuck in your head and before you know it, you’re going around singing the entire song non-stop!
Other songs on the CD include Party, Gonna Get Caught, Two Worlds Collide, and The Middle. All are amazing, and checking out this CD would most definitely be worth your time!