A song about a fallen friend

Memorial Day is a time when you look back to those who have passed away and you reflect on their life. Well, here's a song by the Mars Volta about a friend who commits suicide, via a drug overdose. Its depressing if you know the backstory and the video gives me chills everytime I watch it. I've teared up once or twice listening to this song because its such a departure from what these guys normally produce.

More Volta

I know that I'm uploading a lot of videos right now, becasue I finally learned how to do this on my blog. Expect more of this in the future.

Here's another video from the Mars Volta, this time at Lowlands, an European music festival, in 2003. This video is what I listen to every night before I go to sleep because it is relaxing and inspirational at the same time. Enjoy!

My boys, the Mars Volta, rocking it out

I often talk about the Mars Volta, my favorite current band. Well, here they are in action at a recent live concert. Good stuff.

Music I'm Feeling Right Now

A few months ago, a friend of mine named Mandy introduced me to Pandora, an online music program that allows you to sample full songs from various artists. For example, I’m a big fan of Mars Volta. I just make a Mars Volta station and I will hear that group’s songs along with other artists who have music similar to theirs.

This has allowed me to find about some other bands that I wasn’t familiar with and are now in my music rotation. I wanted to share some of these with you and encourage you to check them out or even mention some lesser-known groups that you like that I and others should check out.

The Rum Diary: These guys are a band that I’ve recently got into. They play some chill music that makes me relax. I just found that they are no longer a group, which makes me sad. They’re described as “dream rock” and “post-rock” which is a great description of them. I recommend their album “We’re Afraid of Heights Tonight.” Here’s some videos from them: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6725544983680535614&q=the+rum+diary&ei=HrkxSNuvN5GErgLlgtiKCg and http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6725544983680535614&q=the+rum+diary&ei=HrkxSNuvN5GErgLlgtiKCg

Minus the Bear: I was listening to Bloc Party and the music from this band came on and I was intrigued. I’ve enjoyed every one of their songs, even though they have some odd titles to their songs. I was afraid that I wouldn’t like their stuff because they sounded poppy like some bands such as Death Cab for Cutie, who I’m not a big fan of. However, like Bloc Party, these guys rock out solidly. They’re described as a “math rock” or “experimental rock” group, which is fair I guess. I recommend their album, Planet of Ice. Here are some videos from them: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8541991425406585658&q=minus+the+bear&ei=GLcxSK7AK6X2rAK0nsiACg and http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8541991425406585658&q=minus+the+bear&ei=GLcxSK7AK6X2rAK0nsiACg

Yes and Genesis- My old roommate had Yes music blasting at 3 a.m. one night and it was the only time that I wasn’t mad that he was blasting loud music late at night. I love these guys. Its funny that I’m into some progressive music like Mars Volta, yet I find myself coming back to these guys. They were the old school prog band that made it cool to play a song for 20 minutes without any apologies. Also, they would bust out with three and four-part harmonies vocally. Genesis is a different story. They kinda reinvented themselves throughout their career. There were the early years with Peter Gabriel, where they were the kinds of Prog Rock. Gabriel leaves and Phil Collins takes over the vocals and they stay true to their prog roots for a while before progressing into the most popular form of Genesis we know of today. I kinda like the band from 1976-83. This is when they blended all of their stuff. Mama is a good song, Home by the Sea and Second Home by the Sea are solid tracks. Even Supper’s Ready is good. There’s plenty of videos from these guys that you can check out.