Say 'No' to ACTA

"If you thought SOPA and PIPA were bad, let us introduce you to their Big Brother, ACTA.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which has already been signed by several countries, poses a dangerous threat to the inherent freedom and openess of the Internet. Under ACTA, ISPs and websites will be given more power to track what we do online, while forcing them to turn over our information and reporting our activity to the authorities -- all in the name of copyright protection! While we respect the rights of creators, ACTA's ill-conceived provisions will have chilling effects on free speech everywhere."

...now it's not just the EU, but also Australia, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerlandand the United States.

Sign a petition and say 'No' to ACTA

Older albums revisited: Alter the Ending

It's been a while since I listened to Dashboard Confessional for the last time, so I almost forgot how good their latest album was. And I'm of course talking especially about the deluxe edition of Alter the Ending, which contains both full-band and acoustic versions of each song. They NEED to release some new material soon.

"Vegas" Bands

I decided to put together a little compilation of songs by bands with the word "Vegas" in their name.

First on the list is French band Oh Dear Vegas with their song, "Little Thing".



Next we have Irish band Leaving Las Vegas with their song, "Exit".



Then we go to Californian band Vegas Is North with their song, "Parking Lot Kings"



And finally we have Indiana band Hello Vegas with their song "No One Knows"



I don't know if you know who Student Rick is, but three of the members of that band formed the band Hello Vegas. Here's the song "Falling For You" by Student Rick:

Charlie Simpson Unplugged

Watch Charlie Simpson perform an unplugged version of the song Farmer & His Gun from his debut solo album.

Psychedelic Furs - Heartbreak Beat

I heard this song on the radio and fell in love. Not sure why I never heard it before, as I used to love New Wave music.



Your thoughts?

Given To The Wild

For me, in the flood of UK indie music, The Maccabees used to be just a band to look out for, but nothing more. Sadly, they never stood out, and Young Lions was their only song I really liked. But that might have been all my fault.

However, Given To The Wild is a complete game-changer. It's definitely a step up from their previous records, whatever you think about them. They certainly weren't afraid of pushing their sound, not unlike The Horrors or Arcade Fire. And yes, by reinventing I mean adding up synths, a move that every indie rock band has to undergo come their third album. But nonetheless, in this case, it feels like a very natural progression. It doesn't distract at all and helped them to achieve even greater heights. In a way, the album is like ogres, it has layers, and it's fun to discover them all. Pelican is  the only faster song on the record, the other flow rather slowly, but are all equally atmospheric and captivating, reminding me of Raised By Swans a bit.

To sum it up, Given To The Wild may be this years first truly great album and you shouldn't miss it by any means.

The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy

At last, we've been given a chance to listen to the newest Nada Surf album, and words can't describe how much I was looking forward to this. It's without a doubt one of my most anticipated releases of the last few years, since, well, their latest album, Lucky. So this is a suitable and welcome opportunity to try a new thing on the blog. From now on, I would like to post more original content, short reviews mostly, not just music videos here and there. Or at least such is the plan...

So how good is the album actually? Reeeaaally good. Well, at least from my point of view, the view of an adoring fan. The first and foremost fact about "Stars..." is, that the band returned to their classic sound in the vein of the first three albums. No more Death-Cab-For-Cutie style, they've fastened up significantly and the guitars are distorted again. The rest is still Nada Surf as we know and love them, Matthew Caws' likeable voice, great melodies, anthemic choruses. In its approximately forty minutes, there isn't a single weak or boring moment.

They churn out the tunes with such an ease that it leaves me with suspicion they didn't even try too much. And frankly, that's the only problem I have with the record, because on Lucky or The Weight is a Gift the band tried to push themselves musically, shake things up a bit. And while this is still an extremely enjoyable record, it sort of leaves the bitter aftertaste of a band lacking progress. Nada Surf are situated in a similar position as Jimmy Eat World, both cult bands that can do almost no wrong, but struggling to come up with something particularly new and exciting...

...but who am I kidding, The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy still is a fantastic album and thankfully, we don't have to wait any longer to hear it.

The opening track Clear Eye Clouded Mind

As always, feel free to express your thoughts in the comments.

The best songs of 2011

With a little free time on my hands, I decided to look back at the year 2011 once again and make a list of songs that were somehow exceptional for me during the past 365 days. I hope you'll enjoy them.

Foo Fighters
Dear Rosemary
Out of all the great songs from the new album, this was by far my favourite...

Albums of the year, part III

Part I
Part II

#3 Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
M83

The single most atmospheric album of 2011. It delivers exactly what the title promises. This record most of all reminds me of The Suburbs from the last year, in terms of grandiosity, anticipation and achievement. Even if you're not a fan of electronic pop, close your eyes and let the music sink in. It will grow on you, I promise.

Best tracks: Midnight City, My Tears Are Becoming a Sea, Splendor



#2 Neighborhoods
blink-182

Just when I was beginning to fear that the album would never come out... Blink took their time, didn't leave anything to chance and it paid them off big time. Neigboorhoods eventually surpassed any expectations, if it's even possible, and people showed they still cared about Mark, Tom & Travis. The best thing about the whole album, though, is its lasting value. I can still spin Neighborhoods endlessly and never get bored with it. This will be the landmark album of 2011 for me.

Best tracks: Natives, After Midnight, MH 4.18.2011



#1 Welcome Home Armageddon
Funeral For a Friend

For weeks preceding the release, the number of rave reviews giving the album 9 out of 10 stars had been rapidly increasing. No wonder my expectations had been pretty high, if not unrealistically. That fact, of course, lead to me being a little underwhelmed by the final product at first. But it's not uncommon, that the best albums take time to grow on me. In the course of the following weeks, I slowly started to appreciate Welcome Home... more and more, and it eventually turned out to be that killer record I'd hoped for it to be.

It's perhaps their heaviest album to date, most of all reminding of their debut, Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation. Screaming vocals and heavy guitar riffs mark yet another change of direction for the band, who turned away from the more mainstream sound present on their last two full-lengths. The answer to whether this was a good decision or not is a resolute and loud yes.

Their last album also hit the top spot on my list of that year, so I might be a little partial here...

Best tracks: Front Row Seats to the End of the World, Sixteen, Welcome Home Armageddon

Albums of the year 2011, part II

Let's move on to the second part of my list, the quality rises, the curiosity culminates...

#13 Endgame
Rise Against

Prior to the release, there had been rumours about Rise Against splitting up. Fortunately, they didn't turn out to be true and so fans could enjoy the band's latest output. And here's to hoping that Endgame won't be their last either. Because Tim McIlrath & Co. still haven't forgotten the craft of writing urgent and powerful songs. Again, I may be "a little" biased here, because they're one of my all time favourite bands, but Endgame proves they're still one of the best punk rock bands out there...
Best tracks: Architects, Satelite, This Is Letting Go