“Let’s go back to the middle of the day that starts it all.”

I am just frantic.

If I knew how to react I would.  I want to fall out of reality and down the rabbit hole. I want to create a new world so beautiful it would trap out all the demons. I want to break every word you say, your petty comments and all. I wish you could see my insides. I am in a panic.

On Tumblr I came across a new picture of Gerard on the cover of SPIN magazine. I pulled up iTunes and started their Bullets album. “This Is The Best Day Ever” was playing. —Every song on that record feels so right.
I was nostalgic all over again for memories that were never there, for My Chem before Gerard was sober, for My Chem before The Black Parade, for the days before every band member was married and all too soon becoming fathers. It’s endless and yet it is a cycle most everyone goes through. But why is it like the writers say, that the good things must end?

This is really great news for Frank, but now that he and his wife are expecting twins, what now? Supposedly they are recording their best album yet, but will there ever be an album release tour? All their loyal fans will still love them to death, I still do but I am having a damn hard time. I wanted to go to more than one show. I wish I could tell you I saw them back in Jersey in ’03 or sang all the words to “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” in class in ’05, but I didn’t. I haven’t been alive long enough to have experienced something that could feel so infinite.

I still want to be angry with them when I listen to Three Cheers, and I want the special songs to continue getting me through the rest of the day. The lyrics that stick with you, they replay in your head like a reminder. Think happy thoughts, think happy thoughts. I want to be forever and always reckless. I want to wreak havoc. I want to feel like a trainwreck every time I listen to “Hang ‘Em High.” I want to be the kid in the crowd who sings all the words and crowd surfs close enough to the stage to get a closer glimpse of their faces before I get swallowed back up the crowd. I am hopelessly yearning for the past and I am sad.

And we’ll fly home, you and I, we’ll fly home.

-Nixie

“It’s better to burn out than to fade away…”

Not only am I fan of new age indie/alternative bands, some of my favorite artists are from the 60′s and 70′s. I grew up listening to bands like Yes, Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Phish, and Janis Joplin. What can I say, both my mom and dad listened and still listen to really great music. On my birthday I showed my dad that I had learned “Heart of Gold” by Neil Young on guitar. (It’s fairly simple; only a couple cords) So the next time I visited him he gave me Neil Young’s “Rust Never Sleeps” live DVD. I was so stoked and we watched it that night. It started out with the Jawas from Star Wars setting up the stage. The first third of the performance is mostly acoustic, then along comes Crazy Horse and they rock out and do their thing for the rest of the show. It has some of my favorite songs like “My My, Hey Hey”, ”Sugar Mountain” (which he opens the show with), and ”Cinnamon Girl”. He has been around a bit, and not only has he done his solo thing, but he was with the band Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Buffalo Springfield. He’s done rock n’ roll all the way to country with his album “Harvest”. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Buffalo Springfield and as a solo artist. Let’s just say, this guy is talented.

Lately, after coming home from a visit at my dad’s, I bring along a Neil Young CD to burn onto my computer. Each new CD is just as great as the last. Thanks to my dad, I now have great new music that I can lay down and listen to for hours to ease my mind!

If you have no clue who Neil Young is, you may find this song familiar. Then again, you may just be completely lost.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELakJxPiieU

-Maggie Marie

Maybe I’ll say goodbye to “empty sighs [and wine"]

Empty Sighs and Wine – Isles and Glaciers [it's a click through link to the song on YouTube]

One of my school teachers expects every student to answer her questions in complete sentences. She says never to start a sentence with the word “because” or “maybe” or other linking words. Sure, I believe this is great practice and builds up a habit for when it comes time for the state exams, but just for today I might slip.

Chiodos may never be the same without Craig Owens, their former lead singer and frontman, and maybe they will continue to lose their fanbase but maybe it’s time to move on to something greater. I have known about the project Isles and Glaciers for several months now and never paid my undivided attention to them. I listened to a leak song called “Clush” that I liked but like memories, songs fade.  So on this fine afternoon after I got home early and kicked back to read more of “The Sea of Monsters” I found myself yearning for the sound of Craig’s voice. I logged onto Playlist.com and searched through a long list of songs and settled for “Compromise of 1984”. For once I didn’t feel nostalgic for Chiodos. I scrolled through a list of Craig’s solo work in my head and then recollected the name of one of Craig’s many bands, Isles and Glaciers.

“Hills Like White Elephants” played loud through my computer speakers with a brisk start whisking me along with the fast but steady guitars and the sound of Jonny Craig’s dare I say soulful voice. I smiled and began thinking maybe this could replace the empty spot where Chiodos had once stood on my list of favorite bands. I thought again, maybe not. The old Chiodos will always be there and so it is not Isles and Glaciers place to take that spot.  Though who knows, they may soon reign in my top ten favorite bands.

-Nixie

It’s time to get your Pomplamoose on!

Not too long ago, I was introduced to a female-fronted,  ”VideoSong” band called Pomplamoose. Made up of only two members – Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn – Pomplamoose is primarily seen online only. After listening to a few songs on the band’s YouTube page, I immediately bought their album off of iTunes and downloaded some of their covers off of Myspace.

Pomplamoose is different from other bands in several ways, one of the most dominant being that the videos they create follow two rules: “1. What you see is what you hear. (No lip-syncing for instruments or voice) and 2. If you hear it, at some point you see it. (No hidden sounds)”

With Nataly’s crisp, talented vocals mixed with Jack’s creative instrumental techniques make them a band to remember. Give ‘em a listen!

http://www.youtube.com/user/PomplamooseMusic#p/search/0/fYy2p_0DVMU

Thank you to Maggie, my fellow Wonderwall contributor, for showing me Pomplamoose!

~Hannah

A favorite Jew and his island that is notoriously lonely…

Let me just start out by saying that I have a strange love for anything Jewish. I love Hannukah. I love bar mitzvahs. I love jew-fros. I would convert (although, I’m not exactly sure what I’d be converting from…) to Judaism in a heartbeat if my fiance insisted upon it. I’m unreasonably disappointed that I cannot create a jdate.com account. Kidding. Most importantly, I adore Jewish guys. Seth Rogen. Bill Hader. Paul Rudd. Michael Cera. Adam Brody. Ezra Koenig. And one of the most incredible? ANDY SAMBERG.

Andy Samberg is one of the main cast members of Saturday Night Live and is part of the comedy troupe/band, The Lonely Island. There was a lot of hype about this time last year after the release of The Lonely Island’s videos “I’m On A Boat,” and “Jizz In My Pants.” The Lonely Island’s music is completely different from what you normally hear and, I warn, R-rated. But, you must understand, the songs released by this band are purely comic.

One of the reasons for The Lonely Island’s sudden success was the guest-stars they feature in their songs. Justin Timberlake sang along side Samberg in “Dick In A Box” and T-Pain gained popularity for his role in “I’m On A Boat.” Not to forget Julian Casablancas, lead singer of The Strokes, featured in “Boombox.” The band always comes up with something new. They usually stay in the hip-hop genre but all of a sudden you’ll hear something completely different.

I realize that this post is belated–the obsession that others experienced last year only came to me a few months ago. But this is less of a “new discovery” and more of an ode. Oh, how I love Andy Samberg and his hilarious little band.

~Hannah

Past In Present

Past In Present by Feist

This is my song of the moment. Whenever I hear something really good I go all fuzzy on the inside. When I feel that way I start to think about my favorite parts of the past. For example, right now I can remember the old My Chemical Romance.

I wish I were a fan from the beginning. I bet you if I was older and the same person I am today, then I would have been. Having said that, I can’t exactly miss the old My Chemical Romance. They don’t suck now, they are simply grown up.

I think one of the reasons why I and many other fans like a bands’ older work is because they were younger then. The band was careless and reckless and angsty. Those bands were like us. We can relate and for me, I certainly like feeling wild. So I have come to the sick realization that a band makes better music when they are miserable. I realize how much I really do not want to grow up. I want to have a good time. I want to crowdsurf, I want to go in the moshpit, I want to be in the front row at a concert again, and I want to go backstage again. I want to do it all.

http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#past%20in%20present%20feist

-Nixie

Look outside at the raincoats coming

Have you ever been to a concert where the band sounded just like their recordings, but better? Have you ever been to a concert where you just wanted to run up onstage and hug every member of the band, including the very attractive Jewish lead singer? Have you ever been to a concert where you couldn’t help but dance wildly to every song, no matter what people thought of you? Have you ever been to a concert where the bands happiness and enthusiasm was emanating into the crowd, making you elated for the rest of your week?

I just went to that concert.

Two words:

Vampire. Weekend.

First introduced to Vampire Weekend about a year ago, I listened to their album several times over and they grew to be one of my favorite bands. The way Ezra Koenig could make his voice sound like nobody else’s, and the way the instrumentals were completely original was intriguing and powerful.

Oddly enough, my dad and I tend to have very similar music taste. When I showed this album to him, he started to love it almost as much as me. Nevermind, that’s not possible. Anyway, when he heard tickets were on sale, he went straight to the beautiful Crystal Ballroom and purchased two. One for him, and one for me.

It was a long wait from then until December 10th. But finally, the day came. We arrived shortly before the show was due to start, but were still pretty close to the stage. First, out came White Rabbits. These guys put on a show like no other. If there’s anything that White Rabbits can be known for, it’s their drumming. The bass drum, pounding away in my heart in every song, was something I’ll remember for a long time.

After White Rabbits, tiny Anya Marina came on. Anya Marina is the artist of “Satellite Heart,” one of the songs off of the recent New Moon soundtrack. A beautiful song, and it was very well played live. I got an EP of hers for free because I signed up for her mailing list. I have yet to listen to it, but it’s sure to be great.

Sound checks are certainly not my favorite thing in the world. The feelings of anticipation and impatience I get are enough to take down a mule. No joke. After a long wait, Vampire Weekend came on. I’d seen a small smattering of pictures of this band on the internet, but never had I paid direct attention to how cute Ezra Koenig is. And what an awesome name to top it off! He came on in his flannel shirt, they all got into position, and they started playing. The energy was incredible.

The first two songs were unrecognizable to me. Most likely from an EP, or something similar. But then, it was “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” time. Try saying that five times fast. The next song was the one that really blew me away, though. I’d hoped and dreamed that they’d play “I Stand Corrected.” However, I doubted they would. It’s a quiet, melancholy song that isn’t very popular, but I’d taken a strange liking to it. So it came as a surprise to me when they played it as their fourth song in the set list.

They ended up playing every song from their self-titled album, Vampire Weekend, besides “The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance,” three new songs (including “Horchata” and “Cousins”) from their upcoming album, Contra, and three others. The crowd went wild during “A-Punk.” Literally everyone was dancing. At some concerts, when everybody’s moving around, it gets kind of hectic and nerve-wracking. But here, amongst all these people at a sold-out concert, I felt joyous and safe. They played a three-song encore, ending with “Walcott,” which happens to be my dad’s favorite. I was devastated that the show was over. I wanted them to keep playing forever.

~Hannah

a little taste of something different…

A couple years ago I took a Music Appreciation class through online school. Every week the teacher would post a new artist to bring to our attention. I, being a total music lover, always looked forward to this. One week she simply uploaded a video of a french composer named Yann Tiersen. I watched the video and instantly fell in love. Watch this first so you can possibly feel some of the same love I felt:

After watching the video, I looked up some more of his other music. I discovered he composed music for two of my all time favorite french films, “Amelie” and “Good Bye Lenin!”. (If you’ve never watched either of these, you really should!) What really intrigued me the most was that (a.) very few of his songs have vocals in them, which I really enjoy and (b.) he doesn’t just use traditional instruments. In some of his songs you’ll hear different sounds such as a toy piano or a typewriter. Many of his songs remind me of a lullaby or a score to a movie. Almost at least once a week I put Yann Tiersen on to fall asleep to. He’s just one of those musicians that I can thoroughly enjoy whether I’m wide awake or trying to fall asleep.

-Maggie Marie-

From a mess to the masses

I’ve been known to love music by bands from all around the world. Whether they’re British like The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys, and Coldplay, or Scottish like Franz Ferdinand, even Danish like Blue Foundation. Phoenix, a band from Versailles, France, has been a recent obsession of mine. Phoenix’s fourth studio album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, was released in early 2009 and has been a big hit so far. Featuring singles such as “1901” (recently promoted in a Cadillac Crossover commercial) and “Lisztomania,” this album is worth listening to over and over.

Sadly, I’m not a long-time, devoted Phoenix fan. A couple of months ago, friends of mine said “Hey Hannah, listen to this!” and handed me the CD. Soon after, I loaded the music on to my iPod and gave it a listen. It was fresh and catchy, and fun to bounce around to. The album begins with the aforementioned tracks “Lisztomania” and “1901,” which are followed by “Fences,” another fetching tune. The CD then takes an interesting turn with “Love Like A Sunset,” parts I and II. These two songs are relaxing and vocal-free, just letting the instrumentals tell this part of the story. Next, Phoenix comes back with the energizing, “Lasso.” It’s lyrics utter “Where would you go, where would you go, with a lasso?” After that are “Rome,” “Countdown” and “Girlfriend,” keeping up the same tempo as the previous tracks. The album concludes with “Armistice,” a song that really fits the mood of its title.

Overall, this is an incredible album that is well worth your money. You’ll find yourself dancing around to it on full volume and memorizing all the clever lyrics in no time.

~Hannah

Paramore’s “brand new eyes”

I wrote this review for the teenage section of The Buffalo News called NeXt. I have been writing as a correspondent for it for almost two years and have contributed several CD reviews in that time.

Paramore is looking up with \’brand new eyes\’

~Emmie