Long time no speak, been busy.
Training--just got done with Smolov Jr. for Press. Entered 145 for a max. Handled the weeks surprisingly well. Did lots of back work, and of course, lots of pressing.
Today I maxed out, got 145 easy, then failed 150 several times.
Things affecting me:
- Low Blood sugar before gym, high during (overcompensated)
- Must've ingested gluten and had a stomach ache and felt like crap
- 6 hours of sleep.
I don't want to be a bitch about it, but I think that might've impacted my performance. 135 felt like a ton of bricks--130x10x3 however, felt fine.
Well, I will try again Wednesday, and hopefully things will go better.
I will try to keep up with this blog...see where it takes me. I've yet to finish that BTW album review haha. Spoiler: the rest is great too.
Anyway, until next time.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Monday, December 24, 2012
Album Review: By the Way, by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Part 1.
Well, let me start off by saying Merry Christmas to you all, and that the RHCP are my favorite band.
As of late, the switch to Josh was a traumatic one. I don't believe they have the same...artistry that they once had. I feel the new music lacks a dimension and that it's mostly a few good riffs thrown together. There's no essence like there once was when John was in the group. A friend of mine asked me what I thought of BTW, and I decided it would be a good idea to review it and write my thoughts on the album. There's so much I can say, but I'll try to keep it short.
Where should I begin? Perhaps by saying that when I first listened to this album when I originally explored the RHCP years ago I didn't like it as much as Blood Sugar, Stadium Arcadium, Californication, and the older ones. I thought it was a bit bland, too poppy, too sappy, etc. I liked the singles, but the album as a whole was bleh.
But upon listening to it more closely and developing my own music tastes (and ears) better, I realized that this album was a beautiful work, filled with complex harmony and true musicianship. I have to attribute that to John Frusciante, too. Not that the other guys aren't great musicians, but the control that John exhibited really lifts the album up into another plane. By The Way actually turned out to be the more boring song. Great bass riff and great pounding rhythm, but it just isn't as complex as the rest. Still, it's an excellent song, but one of the weaker ones of the album.
Can't Stop, another single, I have to say I really like. The mixing is a bit shoddy with the bass being so low and lacking any snap, but aside from that it's an excellent song. The guitar solo is simple but big. The subsequent backing vocals that mimic the solo tie the two parts together. It's melodic and harmonic things like these that make me look a John as a great composer as well as musician. The thematic unity of the songs makes them so great. What I also love about Can't Stop is that it's not about the lyrics, as quirky as they may be. The lyrics just keep the rhythm. I love that because Anthony really uses the voice as an instrument--a rythmic once over a melodic one in this instance. But in other songs like Dosed, the melodic (and harmonic) parts take over. The same is true for the bass. It's so rhythmic in Can't stop and BTW, but on other songs like Dosed, it's quite melodic. On Don't Forget Me it's harmonic. The instruments are used to their full extents on this album, and it's wonderful.
Cabron is a very fun song. Let me just say that. The bouncy double bass is fun, the lyrics are fun, and the feel is fun. Backing vocals are great. Throw Away Your Television is also a fun song. But do not count these out. These songs are "fun" but contain really good riffs and use of instruments.
The thematic unity of This is the Place is also worth mentioning. The bass just drives that rhythm the whole time until the break. It's such a great break because of the rhythm not being there anymore. The acoustic really shines through. All the layers of John's voices come through too. I feel that they're so under-appreciated. Layering vocals is not easy, and it's done so masterfully. They replace a keyboard. The guitar effects also deserve a mention. They cut through so well but don't step all over the other instruments. Great mixing, but also great choice of effects.
I'll cut this review off here and continue later in a different post. This covers the first..third of the album mostly, with some jumping around, but there's just to much to be said that a single post would get too wordy.
Pick this album up and listen!
Here's the full album...fairly short, but so so deep.
More to come!
As of late, the switch to Josh was a traumatic one. I don't believe they have the same...artistry that they once had. I feel the new music lacks a dimension and that it's mostly a few good riffs thrown together. There's no essence like there once was when John was in the group. A friend of mine asked me what I thought of BTW, and I decided it would be a good idea to review it and write my thoughts on the album. There's so much I can say, but I'll try to keep it short.
Where should I begin? Perhaps by saying that when I first listened to this album when I originally explored the RHCP years ago I didn't like it as much as Blood Sugar, Stadium Arcadium, Californication, and the older ones. I thought it was a bit bland, too poppy, too sappy, etc. I liked the singles, but the album as a whole was bleh.
But upon listening to it more closely and developing my own music tastes (and ears) better, I realized that this album was a beautiful work, filled with complex harmony and true musicianship. I have to attribute that to John Frusciante, too. Not that the other guys aren't great musicians, but the control that John exhibited really lifts the album up into another plane. By The Way actually turned out to be the more boring song. Great bass riff and great pounding rhythm, but it just isn't as complex as the rest. Still, it's an excellent song, but one of the weaker ones of the album.
Can't Stop, another single, I have to say I really like. The mixing is a bit shoddy with the bass being so low and lacking any snap, but aside from that it's an excellent song. The guitar solo is simple but big. The subsequent backing vocals that mimic the solo tie the two parts together. It's melodic and harmonic things like these that make me look a John as a great composer as well as musician. The thematic unity of the songs makes them so great. What I also love about Can't Stop is that it's not about the lyrics, as quirky as they may be. The lyrics just keep the rhythm. I love that because Anthony really uses the voice as an instrument--a rythmic once over a melodic one in this instance. But in other songs like Dosed, the melodic (and harmonic) parts take over. The same is true for the bass. It's so rhythmic in Can't stop and BTW, but on other songs like Dosed, it's quite melodic. On Don't Forget Me it's harmonic. The instruments are used to their full extents on this album, and it's wonderful.
Cabron is a very fun song. Let me just say that. The bouncy double bass is fun, the lyrics are fun, and the feel is fun. Backing vocals are great. Throw Away Your Television is also a fun song. But do not count these out. These songs are "fun" but contain really good riffs and use of instruments.
The thematic unity of This is the Place is also worth mentioning. The bass just drives that rhythm the whole time until the break. It's such a great break because of the rhythm not being there anymore. The acoustic really shines through. All the layers of John's voices come through too. I feel that they're so under-appreciated. Layering vocals is not easy, and it's done so masterfully. They replace a keyboard. The guitar effects also deserve a mention. They cut through so well but don't step all over the other instruments. Great mixing, but also great choice of effects.
I'll cut this review off here and continue later in a different post. This covers the first..third of the album mostly, with some jumping around, but there's just to much to be said that a single post would get too wordy.
Pick this album up and listen!
Here's the full album...fairly short, but so so deep.
More to come!
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Album Review: The Satanic Satanist, by Portugal The Man
This will be my first album review. As it's been one that I've been listening to for the past few days, I thought it would be a good place to start....here we go!
First off- beautiful album art. Always appreciate a good cover.
This album can be accurately described by the following words: fun, mesmerizing, and cool. I feel that it contains some great textures and arrangements. It's surely an album you can listen from start to finish and it wouldn't drag on. There is also an element of call and response that really engages me as a listener and wants me to sing along (in my head at least). Each song is digestible and appreciable as both its own thing and as a part of the canvas that is this album.
Instrumentally, each instrument does get a time to shine. The drums are generally straightforward, but songs such as "Lovers in Love" and "Mornings" have really great grooves that really open up the stage for everything else to come through. The bass is thankfully more than just barely audible. The bass lines are groovy and interesting. They interplay with the melody and contribute to the soundscape in an exciting yet subtle manner (i.e. "The Woods"). Guitars are of course the most obvious instruments. The tones are thick and meaty. The guitar is NOT overdone though. Because of its prominence it is used to support the sound as a whole, which makes it pleasant to listen to. Mild effects are used here and there, but a beautiful, warm, slight overdrive is the most common of these. Finally, synths and keys are used here and there extremely tastefully.
Vocals deserve their own paragraph. What we have here are vocals mostly in higher ranges. There is quite a bit of headvoice and falsetto--but not in the smooth Bon Iver kind of way--more like "I have a naturally higher range"/Neil Young kind of way. This range really stands out against the texture of the instruments. It doesn't have to work hard to pierce through. At the same time it's fun to listen to. The interplay between the higher range vocals and the guitar give a sort of...toned down Jimi while riffing feel to the album. By the way, the rhythm guitar gets totally Hendrixy all over. Yum.
The production and mixing on the album are extremely good, in my opinion. Volumes are very well in check and mesh perfectly.
One of my favorite aspects of the album is the descent into a nostalgic sadness that it incurs as it progresses. The tracks start light and fun, groovy, even danceable. Yet, as the album progresses, the songs, thematically, get deeper, and there is less of the happy go lucky sound that the first few songs provided. Even the song "Everyone is Golden" which is a seemingly happy song has this cadence of a IV-iv-I at the end of the verses. The turn to minor really evokes some previous happiness that tended to be part of the turnaround to the top. The ending lines "nobody will love you" certainly do not help. "Let You Down" fails to bring the mood up, for obvious reasons that include the title. Even the music has been simplified to a keyboard. The layering of vocals provides distancing experience, like going deeper into a cave of sad thoughts that oppose the start of the album. Then comes "Mornings" that with its ballad like 3/4 signature and desperate lyrics exiting the chorus "we'll be just fine." What I love about this song, though, is the guitar solo. The first little bridge connecting the chorus to the second verse has this chromatic solo that hits you like a brick wall. We expect a tonal boring filler to bring us over to the verse but what we get is a simple note change that makes a shiver run down my back. The note is so errant, so out of place, yet no better note could have been chosen to build tension. Incidentally, that same IV-iv-I cadence is used in this song as well.
It's the small decisions like that above that make the album a really really great listen for me and a beautiful piece of art. They take you through a swing of emotions from carefreeness to nostalgia for that same happiness once it is gone.
I thought of rating albums, but there's no point. I'll only be reviewing my favorites and they are great in my book.
Bonus points: saw them live...they played mostly the album before this but they were pretty great!
Stay tuned for further reviews. Here are some tracks you should listen to on this bad boy if you're interested and want a little taste:
First off- beautiful album art. Always appreciate a good cover.
This album can be accurately described by the following words: fun, mesmerizing, and cool. I feel that it contains some great textures and arrangements. It's surely an album you can listen from start to finish and it wouldn't drag on. There is also an element of call and response that really engages me as a listener and wants me to sing along (in my head at least). Each song is digestible and appreciable as both its own thing and as a part of the canvas that is this album.
Instrumentally, each instrument does get a time to shine. The drums are generally straightforward, but songs such as "Lovers in Love" and "Mornings" have really great grooves that really open up the stage for everything else to come through. The bass is thankfully more than just barely audible. The bass lines are groovy and interesting. They interplay with the melody and contribute to the soundscape in an exciting yet subtle manner (i.e. "The Woods"). Guitars are of course the most obvious instruments. The tones are thick and meaty. The guitar is NOT overdone though. Because of its prominence it is used to support the sound as a whole, which makes it pleasant to listen to. Mild effects are used here and there, but a beautiful, warm, slight overdrive is the most common of these. Finally, synths and keys are used here and there extremely tastefully.
Vocals deserve their own paragraph. What we have here are vocals mostly in higher ranges. There is quite a bit of headvoice and falsetto--but not in the smooth Bon Iver kind of way--more like "I have a naturally higher range"/Neil Young kind of way. This range really stands out against the texture of the instruments. It doesn't have to work hard to pierce through. At the same time it's fun to listen to. The interplay between the higher range vocals and the guitar give a sort of...toned down Jimi while riffing feel to the album. By the way, the rhythm guitar gets totally Hendrixy all over. Yum.
The production and mixing on the album are extremely good, in my opinion. Volumes are very well in check and mesh perfectly.
One of my favorite aspects of the album is the descent into a nostalgic sadness that it incurs as it progresses. The tracks start light and fun, groovy, even danceable. Yet, as the album progresses, the songs, thematically, get deeper, and there is less of the happy go lucky sound that the first few songs provided. Even the song "Everyone is Golden" which is a seemingly happy song has this cadence of a IV-iv-I at the end of the verses. The turn to minor really evokes some previous happiness that tended to be part of the turnaround to the top. The ending lines "nobody will love you" certainly do not help. "Let You Down" fails to bring the mood up, for obvious reasons that include the title. Even the music has been simplified to a keyboard. The layering of vocals provides distancing experience, like going deeper into a cave of sad thoughts that oppose the start of the album. Then comes "Mornings" that with its ballad like 3/4 signature and desperate lyrics exiting the chorus "we'll be just fine." What I love about this song, though, is the guitar solo. The first little bridge connecting the chorus to the second verse has this chromatic solo that hits you like a brick wall. We expect a tonal boring filler to bring us over to the verse but what we get is a simple note change that makes a shiver run down my back. The note is so errant, so out of place, yet no better note could have been chosen to build tension. Incidentally, that same IV-iv-I cadence is used in this song as well.
It's the small decisions like that above that make the album a really really great listen for me and a beautiful piece of art. They take you through a swing of emotions from carefreeness to nostalgia for that same happiness once it is gone.
I thought of rating albums, but there's no point. I'll only be reviewing my favorites and they are great in my book.
Bonus points: saw them live...they played mostly the album before this but they were pretty great!
Stay tuned for further reviews. Here are some tracks you should listen to on this bad boy if you're interested and want a little taste:
"Lovers in Love"
"The Home"
"Mornings"
Monday, December 10, 2012
Upcoming endeavors.
Hello all,
Another quick update. I will be starting to review some albums I really enjoy listening to. They'll be fairly in depth reviews. They will be mostly older albums since I'm not the best with up and coming artists....but they will include some of my favorite musicians and songs, which, of course, I think people should listen to!
Depending on if I get this essay done...I might do one tonight....
Another quick update. I will be starting to review some albums I really enjoy listening to. They'll be fairly in depth reviews. They will be mostly older albums since I'm not the best with up and coming artists....but they will include some of my favorite musicians and songs, which, of course, I think people should listen to!
Depending on if I get this essay done...I might do one tonight....
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Start of the Links section and quick training update
Howdy
You'll see that I've included some links in the Links section up top. I will be adding more as I come across/remember them.
Lots of good info out there. I feel those links (and the honorable mentions below them) contain some of the best.
I am currently bogged down with finals and essays and will be unable to post anything very productive for a little while.
Quick training update - trying to discover why my left shoulder is more anteriorly tilted than the right while bench pressing. Will assess and report. Might as well fix things when I can!
Have a good weekend!
You'll see that I've included some links in the Links section up top. I will be adding more as I come across/remember them.
Lots of good info out there. I feel those links (and the honorable mentions below them) contain some of the best.
I am currently bogged down with finals and essays and will be unable to post anything very productive for a little while.
Quick training update - trying to discover why my left shoulder is more anteriorly tilted than the right while bench pressing. Will assess and report. Might as well fix things when I can!
Have a good weekend!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
A continuation of the last post...
So if you've had some time to think about those questions, what did you come up with?
You see, I have little experience in the professional life--that is--work. I worked here and there as an early and late teen, and now, at 20, I'm about to enter the professional world. By this time next year, I should have had a job for a few months already. But where will I be 5, 10 years from now?
I think a thing to beware of is "growing up." Leaving youth and childhood behind to endure the new stresses of life, we put on our work faces and grind away at ourselves day in and day out to make a what? A living! But as Carlin says, where has our life gone? Where is the youth, energy, and childhood curiosity to motivate us if we've condemned it as "unprofessional" and "inappropriate?"
Kids have passion, lack shame, are curious, accepting, and open minded. They learn and adapt and grow. Why should we stop living this way when we hit a certain age? I fear that I will become a slave to a job. I will have to close off avenues to maintain the one street open and traffic--my energy and time--flowing through that street. That I will be constantly worrying about a career.
I really hate that word.
Since when has man been defined by his work life? We work to eat and we work to play. Our work shouldn't be an entity of its own. When we tire, we sleep. Just like every other species in the world. We shouldn't trap ourselves in the "workweek" and the "9-5." We are human beings. We are free to roam and wander, yet we chain ourselves down and call it "stability." Is that any way to live? Blessed are those who are truly free. Who live not to work, but work to live.
You see, I have little experience in the professional life--that is--work. I worked here and there as an early and late teen, and now, at 20, I'm about to enter the professional world. By this time next year, I should have had a job for a few months already. But where will I be 5, 10 years from now?
I think a thing to beware of is "growing up." Leaving youth and childhood behind to endure the new stresses of life, we put on our work faces and grind away at ourselves day in and day out to make a what? A living! But as Carlin says, where has our life gone? Where is the youth, energy, and childhood curiosity to motivate us if we've condemned it as "unprofessional" and "inappropriate?"
Kids have passion, lack shame, are curious, accepting, and open minded. They learn and adapt and grow. Why should we stop living this way when we hit a certain age? I fear that I will become a slave to a job. I will have to close off avenues to maintain the one street open and traffic--my energy and time--flowing through that street. That I will be constantly worrying about a career.
I really hate that word.
9 AM - Enter Cage. 1PM- Feed. 6 PM exit cage only to return again tomorrow.
Since when has man been defined by his work life? We work to eat and we work to play. Our work shouldn't be an entity of its own. When we tire, we sleep. Just like every other species in the world. We shouldn't trap ourselves in the "workweek" and the "9-5." We are human beings. We are free to roam and wander, yet we chain ourselves down and call it "stability." Is that any way to live? Blessed are those who are truly free. Who live not to work, but work to live.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Thought this deserved its own post. More on this later.
Think about this if you've got some spare time in your busy day. Think about why you're so busy and if that's fulfilling. Think about if you're the one in control of your life or if your life has control over you.
And stay tuned for related content!
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