CHRISTMAS EDITION (N2)

I decided to do something different for this week since it’s the week before Christmas. Actually, this was partly Vicky’s idea… Instead of writing a biography for a band this week, I will tell you what my favorite Christmas songs are! I can tell you why and pretty much just make this a CHRISTMAS EDITION!

My Top Ten Christmas Songs:

1. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”

2. “Carol Of The Bells”- Trans Siberian Orchestra

3. “Believe”- Josh Groban (from The Polar Express soundtrack)

4. “All I Want For Christmas Is You”

5. “Last Christmas”

6. “O Holy Night”- Josh Groban

7. “Island Of Misfit Toys”

8. “Sleigh Ride”

9. “Do You Hear What I Hear?”

10. “Baby It’s Cold Outside”

You may have noticed that I only have artists for a few of these Christmas songs. For most of these songs I don’t really care who sings them. I just don’t like it when people try to put their own spin on original, classic songs! It makes me really mad actually! Personally, I love the Glee versions a lot. They stay close to the original songs while still managing to make it sound unique. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen shouldn’t be made into a jazz song! Okay, I’m all good now. I bring CDs into the car because the radio stations play weird Christmas music that I don’t like. If I was a DJ, I would have the best radio stations EVER! I’d probably only become a DJ in order to avoid songs that I hate. I went caroling this year, and I had a blast! All of the carols, and I do mean ALL of them, were stuck in my head for hours afterwards. I was all ready for Christmas, and the next day all of the snow melted. I have been singing Christmas songs since my play started in October, so I’m a little ahead of everybody. J I LOVE CHRISTMAS MUSIC! It’s one of my favorite parts of the holiday season and the holiday itself.  

Top Songs For The Week Before Christmas! (N1)

Top Ten Alternative Songs This Week:

1. “Come A Little Closer”- Cage the Elephant

2. “Pompeii”- Bastille

3. “Do I Wanna Know?”- Arctic Monkeys

4. “Team”- Lorde

5. “Sirens”- Pearl Jam

6. “Demons”- Imagine Dragons

7. “A Light That Never Comes”- Linkin Park and Steve Aoki

8. “Out Of My League”- Fitz and the Tantrums

9. “Miss Jackson”- Panic! At The Disco featuring Lolo

10. “Afraid”- The Neighbourhood

Upcoming Concerts:

Since I updated the list of concerts last week, I actually have things to put in this section! Yay me! There aren’t any concerts, that I’m aware of at least, for the rest of December. That makes sense since IT’S ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!!!! People most likely won’t have the time to go to a concert when families are visiting, and there are a million gifts to be wrapped. This is just a busy time of year. Anyways, I’ll provide you with the dates for the first couple weeks of January. New Year’s Day Hardcore 2014 will be on January 1^st (obviously) at 2:00pm. This concert will be performed in The Lost Horizon in Syracuse, New York. Rusted Root will be performing on January 2^nd at 8:00pm. It will take place at Westcott Theater in Syracuse, New York. Eve 6 will be performing on January 11^th at 8:00pm. The concert will take place at Bears Den at Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel in Niagara Falls, New York. The last concert date that I will put in is for January 18th at 8:00pm. A Great Big World and Secret Someones will be performing at Tralf in Buffalo, New York.

Random Information:

I want to apologize for how Vicky was here. Yep, that’s right. She just took over my computer AGAIN. L Whatever, I wanted to apologize for how the chart with the concert dates turned out. It looked way better on Microsoft Word, I swear.

Of Monsters and Men (M2)

Hello again everybody! It’s been awhile, but I’m back! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Um, I’m sorry about that. I chose to write a biography for Of Monsters and Men for this week! I love them so much! My favorite song by them right now is “Dirty Paws”. I currently have four songs by them on my iPod. They would be “Little Talks”, “Mountain Sound”, “King and Lionheart”, and “Dirty Paws” (obviously). Also, I got really excited when I found out that they had a song on the Catching Fire soundtrack. The song is called “Silhouettes”, and it’s extremely catchy. Anyways, onto the biography!

OF MONSTERS AND MEN:  

Of Monsters and Men consists of five members at the moment. This band originated in Iceland in 2009. Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir started the band when she decided that she wanted to add to her solo project called Songbird. The band entered the Músíktilraunir contest in their native country of Iceland in 2010 with only four members. Nanna was the lead vocals along with Raggi, and they both played the guitar. Raggi also played the melodica and the glockenspiel. Brynjar played the guitar, melodica, and he was a back-up singer. Arnar played percussion, the melodica, the glockenspiel, the accordion, and he was a back-up singer. They won the competition and continued making music. Of Monsters and Men is considered to have a folk song feel to it, which is probably what makes it sound so unique. Kristján (bass, backing vocals) joined the group right after their awe-inspiring performance at Músíktilraunir. With the addition of Kristján, the band now has all of their current members. They signed on with Record Records in February 2011 to begin working on their EP, Into the Woods. Their claim to fame was the single, “Little Talks”. Of Monsters and Men was quite popular in Iceland before this, but now people from all over the world were listening to their music (including meJ). Their debut album, My Head is an Animal, was released in the United States April 3^rd, 2012. They’re continuing their rise to fame. I just have one last fact for you. “Dirty Paws” was featured in the trailer for the new movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next time!

NEW CONCERT DATES EVERYBODY! (M1)

Top Ten Alternative Songs for This Week:

1. “Come A Little Closer”- Cage the Elephant

2. “Pompeii”- Bastille

3. “Do I Wanna Know?”- Arctic Monkeys

4. “Sirens”- Pearl Jam

5. “Team”- Lorde

6. “Demons”- Imagine Dragons

7. “Out Of My League”- Fitz and the Tantrums

8. “A Light That Never Comes”- Linkin Park and Steve Aoki

9. “Miss Jackson”- Panic! At the Disco featuring Lolo

10. “Sweater Weather”- The Neighbourhood

NEW CONCERT DATES!:

Band/Event:	Date:	Location:
New Year’s Day Hardcore 2014	Wednesday, January 1st At 2:00pm	The Lost Horizon (Syracuse, NY)
Rusted Root	Thursday, January 2nd At 8:00pm	Westcott Theater (Syracuse, NY)
Eve 6	Saturday, January 11th At 8:00pm	Bears Den at Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel (Niagara Falls, NY)
A Great Big World And Secret Someones	Saturday, January 18th At 8:00pm	Tralf (Buffalo, NY)
10 Years	Wednesday, January 29th At 7:00pm	The Lost Horizon (Syracuse, NY)
Aaron Lewis	Friday, February 7th At 8:00pm AND Saturday, February 8th At 8:00pm	Turning Stone Resort and Casino Showroom (Verona, NY) SAME LOCATION
Lettuce Lettuce (continued)	Sunday, February 9th At 8:00pm AND Friday, February 21st At 8:00pm	Westcott Theater (Syracuse, NY) Tralf (Buffalo, NY)

	For Today	Thursday, February 13th At 6:00pm	Upstate Concert Hall (Clifton Park, NY)
	Wild Cub	Thursday, February 13th At 7:00pm	The Hollow (Albany, NY)
	Between The Buried And Me	Friday, February 22nd At 6:30pm	Upstate Concert Hall (Clifton Park, NY)
	Band Of Horses: Special Acoustic Performance	Sunday, February 23rd At 8:00pm	Hart Theatre at the Egg (Albany, NY)

My Top Ten Alternative Songs for This Week:

1. “Sirens”- Pearl Jam

2. “Who We Are”- Imagine Dragons

3. “Dirty Paws”- Of Monsters and Men

4. “Holding On For Life”- Broken Bells

5. “Do I Wanna Know?”- Arctic Monkeys

6. “The Walker”- Fitz and the Tantrums

7. “Imaginary”- Evanescence

8. “Missing”- Evanescence

9. “Ours”- The Bravery

10.  “Monster”- Paramore

Depeche Mode Biography (L2)

Now, it’s time for a biography! First things first, I’m really sorry that I didn’t post this last week, but I was busy. You know, Thanksgiving is a very busy day what with all of the cooking and such. I’m not even sure if that’s a good sentence, but it’s true. Anyways, the band for this week is Depeche Mode!

Depeche Mode: A Biography

The original members of Depeche Mode met in 1980 in Basildon. Basildon is a suburb of London, England. Their name was inspired by a French fashion magazine actually! I found that pretty funny. Depeche Mode is considered as an Eighties techno-pop band. I consider them to be an alternative band, especially because of their vast influence on modern alternative bands. This group originally consisted of four people: Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Alan Wilder, and Andrew Fletcher. Depeche Mode used synthesizers and drum machines because in all honesty, they were cheaper to use. They fit their style of music though, which has been described as moody. Their career began in 1981 with their album, Speak and Spell. It quickly became one of the year’s best-selling albums in England. “Personal Jesus” was Depeche Mode’s first great single. It came out on November 28^th, 1990. This single started them on a roll in the United States where they began to sell out arenas. Depeche Mode entered the American pop album chart at NUMBER ONE. Several other hit singles and albums were released, and their fan base continued to grow. The pressure became too much, as well as the constant touring, so several members of the band left. Gahan nearly died from a drug overdose in May of 1996. He survived, obviously, and was sent to rehab. When the police questioned Gahan, he had told them that he “needed to experience the pain of Depeche Mode’s songs in order to perform them”. The band made a full recovery, and they continued to tour. Depeche Mode’s 2009 tour in the U.S. was the country’s TWENTIETH highest turnout. THAT’S AMAZING! Well, this band is still out there creating amazing music seeing as my aunts went to one of their concerts in California a couple of months ago. Jealous? Yep, me too.