MusiBlog | Musiblog.Info – From One Music Fanatic To Another!

Music Therapy is something I remember hearing about right around the time I was going  off to college. I recently went and looked at the site “American Music Therapy Association” and it was established in 1998. I personally think it is a very creative way to addressing  stress and providing an alternative to medicine in the pill form. I believe that the world is already way too medicated. I also think people need to just calm down. Now even though I don’t see music therapy as being a widely accepted practice, I do think they have a great idea. I mean who didn’t listen to music when they were a teenager (not that I am saying you don’t now); your parents make you mad or even a sibling or maybe just school sucked that day. So you go home and go to your room crank up your favorite tunes and just relax. Teenagers deal with a lot of stress, not that I am saying that adults don’t however when you are starting to gain independence and responsibilities and your body in changing and your mind is developing and your hormones are going crazy; I myself just loved to crank up the music and let if all float away. Even today if I have a bad day at work the first thing I do when I get to the sanctuary of my car is blast the radio to a song I like scream it out to an audience of  myself and let all the days problems just go.

I see this therapy  being most helpful to young adults, because it is not just about listening to music and feeling better,  about palying or writing or whatever will let you express yourself and let it out. (Madonna had it right!) Now insurance does pay for this and like anything to do with an insurance company not all apply and not all will be covered but that site does go into pretty good detail about different states and coverage.

I think before parents throw their children on ritalin or concerta or zoloft or any more of those “make my children act right drugs” maybe this could be a safe and drug free alternative to calming and destressing. Music by nature is supposed to be joyous and a sort of celebration or at least that is my take on it. I mean to right down the words and put it to music and then lay it down on cd or vinyl or whatever it has to be something that not only appeals to you but is something others in the world can appreciate as well.

I think that music is a wonderful thing and I personally try and listen and watch as much as I can. I also think that maybe not as far as going to a doctor and be prescribed music, I have used music many many times to help me get into a better mood or let something go, and I am sure I am not the only one.  So anyway if anyone is feeling a bit overwhelmed try putting on something you find calming and turn down the lights and turn up the volume

So last night I was watching American Idol and even though I have not been a true American Idol fan; I watched a tiny bit of last season and I have seen about half of season 8 the current one; however I thought that it was insane to so pointly admit that it is not just about the perons ability but about their personal looks. Now I know that sex does sell but come on, why have a competition about sing and a person’s talents and then say in fine print say  ” oh by the way if we do not find you attractive no matter how good you are you are S.O.L.” I am sorry but what a load of crap. If the show is about music and singing then leave it at that if a show needs spark and fire and drama to sell then tell the person that they are ugly or unattractive but do not count out their ability because of there looks. Have they done this every season, does anyone know or is it just a new thing this season. I can understand to a point I can but I still think that the bottom line is ability.

I watched the judges go back and forth, about to put a beautiful girl that could not sing that well ahead of another girl who was not attractive but had a much better voice. Now I can appreciate a nice body as well as the next person; but is it not enough to take a young person and make a star out of them as well as anyone else with a lot of talent that makes it far in the competition. Must we hold the world attention by saying that singing is not enough to keep people watching and voting night after night, but that person must also have sex appeal or it is no good. Plus who could forget all the off handed remarks and flat out insults by the judges give frequently. I just think that music and talent are enough and I think it is a bad look of the world when a show like this say so blatantly that if it is not sexy then no one will like it.

So in the news today it has been brought to light that the U.S. goverment has been using music on detainees in Iraq.  This is a list of the most frequent;y used songs. I wander what the artist think about this?

“Enter Sandman,” Metallica.

“Bodies,” Drowning Pool.

“Shoot to Thrill,” AC/DC.

“Hell’s Bells,” AC/DC.

“I Love You,” from the “Barney and Friends” children’s TV show.

“Born in the USA,” Bruce Springsteen.

“Babylon,” David Gray.

“White America,” Eminem.

“Sesame Street,” theme song from the children’s TV show.

A- Amos Lee, Aaliyah, ABBA, Ac/DC, aerosmith, Alabama, Alanis Morissete, Alice Cooper, Alice in Chains, Alison Kraus, All 4 One, America, Audioslave, Atreyu, Art Garfunkel, Aretha Franklin, Aphex Twin, Annie Lennox

B- Bella Fleck and the Flecktones, B.B. King, Black Sabbath, Blink 182, Blessed Union of Souls, Blind Melon, Blondie, Blood Sweat & Tears, Bad Company, Blues Traveler, Bob Dylan, Bo Diddley, Bob Marley, Bare Naked Ladies, Barry Manilow, Barry White, Beatie Boys, BB Mak, Bone Thugs in Harmony, Bonnie Raitt, Beck , Boston, Ben Harper, Better Than Ezra, Breathe, Brian Wilson, Ben Fold Five, Bruce Springstein, Buudy Holly, Buffalo Springfiled, Buddy Guy, Bush, Burt Bacharach, Billie Holiday, Bing Crosby, Billy Joel, Bjork, The Butthole Surfers

C- Coheed and Cambria, Chuck Berry, Candlebox, Carl Perkins, Carly Simon, Vanessa Carlton, Carlos Santana, Carole King, Caroline’s Spine, Counting Crows, Cat Stevens, Cheap Trick, Chubby Checker, Chicago, Cypress Hill, Culture Club, Crystal Gayle, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, CCR, Crash Test Dummies, John Coltrane, Color Me Bad, Phil Collins, Natalie Cole, Nat King Cole, Eddie Cochran, Joe Cocker, Coldplay, Eric Clapton

D- Dire Straits, D’angelo, Damned Yankees, Damien Rice, Daniel Beddingfield, Dashboard Confessional, Dave Mathews Band, David Bowie, Miles Davis, Dead Kennedys, Deep Purple, Deftones, Deniece Williams, Dwight Yokam , Duke Ellington, Drowning Pool, Dr. Dre, Donavon, Don Henley, Dolly Parton, Do or Die, Disturbed, Diana Ross

E- Eric Johnson, Elvis Presley, Elvis Costello, Elton John, Elliot Smith, Electric Light Orchestra, Easy-E, Earth Wind and Fire, Eagle Eye Cherry, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Eminem, Evanescende, Eve 6, Everlast, Everclear, Everthing but the Girl, Everly Brothers, Ella Fitzgerlad

F- Frank Sinatra, Frankie Avalon, Faith no More, Fatboy Slim, Finger Eleven, Five for Fighting, Fleetwood Mac, Funky Fleaz, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, Peter Frampton, Foreigner, Foo Fighters, Foghat, Flogging Molly

So in an earlier post on Robert Johnson i made mention of the forever 27, well this is what i am talking about. Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimmie Hendrix, and Kurt Cobain all died at the age of 27. Just thing of what else they might have accomplished if they had not met their untimely deaths. This is a poster i do own a copy of myself when i saw it i had to have it. On the back of mine it has a piece of paper that tell 27 referances to one of the 4 artist in the poster see if you can find them and i will post all the answers at a later date. I still stand behind my earlier comment that Robert Johnson should have been  included.

for more information on each of these artist i have provided a few links below

Janis Joplin-  http://www.janisjoplin.net/

Jim Morrison- http://www.americanlegends.com/morrison/index.html

Kurt Cobain- http://www.burntout.com/kurt/biography/

Jimmie Hendrix-http://www.hotshotdigital.com/WellAlwaysRemember/JimiHendrixBio.html

also just some interesting links:

http://thechaosofdeath.blogspot.com/2008/02/27-club.html

http://www.the27clubmovie.com/production_synopses.html

…….Only 27 yrs. old at the time of his death (Anyone familiar with the Forever 27 poster, I wonder why he was not included.)

***** Rated 5^th on Rolling Stones 100 Greates Guitarist’s of All Time.

As legend would say:

With the desire to a great blues artist, Robert Johnson took his guitar to the crossroads at midnight where he met a large black man (The Devil, Himself.) The man took the guitar from young Johnson and tuned it and in exchange for Johnson’s soul, the man gave him the ability to sing, play and create wonderful blues music for all to hear

Though not something that can be proven by any means, many have wondered if it was all just a joke handed down or if there is some truth to the whole selling you soul, regardless the music Robert Johnson made was legendary

For

http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/robertjohnson2/discography

I was sitting listening to the Bob Dylan song “Blowin In the Wind”, and thought how is it that I have not written a single solitary thing on Musiblog about Bob. The man has got to my favorite singer/songerwriter. I will keep this short and sweet but throw out a few links for those who are interested to check out and learn more. Even though I LOVE LOVE LOVE his music after checking his site I found that there were still a couple great songs that I thought were someone else’s, but he wrote them and other people made them famous that has got to be both thrilling and a bit of a let down I would imagine. He was a man full of inspiring words but still true to life in a very troubling time in the world. Even if his voice is a bit hard on the ears at times I believe this man deserves two thumbs up and hats off for all the wonderful music his has given to us over the years.

http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs

http://www.bjorner.com/Covers.htm

We know that we not only have visitors here that love to listen to music but also love to make their own music.  If you are an aspiring rapper or writer, we found the site for you.  The site is called “My 16 Bars” and it is all about writing and sharing your own rap lyrics.  To our knowledge this the only site out there like this and it is growing quickly, so jump on board now before the site implodes from rapping madness.  We just love running across sites like these that are new and unique, they breathe fresh air into the world wide web.

I think everybody has taken a leap from time to time, from writing a poem, next thing you know it rhymes and starts to sound like rap song.  So why not take a shot at writing some lyrics and sharing them with the world? So you think you got the rap lyrics game all sown up?  Take a shot at the Rap Battle Lyrics and duke it out with others on the site.

So the next time you are hunting for underground rap lyrics or want to take your frustrations out via a battle rap, don’t forget to visit our friends over at My 16 Bars!

I listen to a lot of music, a lot of different genres and a lot of crap.  I think that I missed a band somewhere in the mix and the bands name is Gogol Bordello. These guys have apparently been around for years and I don’t know how they were able to sneak through the cracks.  If you have heard these guys once you cannot forget them.  They have a most unique sound that I have no  other way to describe than “Gypsy Punk” and I am not even sure that saying that gives the band justice of just how “different” there music is.

These guys have been on Letterman and performed with Madonna, so I take it they are big somewhere, but for now, take a listen below, and enjoy the Gogol Bordello Video!

Wonderlust King by Gogol Bordello

Not that we hate AOL but it is few and far between times that we have something good to say about them.  And well, I guess this is one of those times.  AOL’s new “Full CD Listening Party” section of there site is rather cool.  They post the newest albums from the pop charts and you can stream the full album for free.

Unlike Amazon and others, you can hear the full tracks here, not just a 30 second clip.  So take a second to get to know the good site of AOL and listen for free.

So sorry AOL you are worth having on the internet after all, we all appriciate the free music you offer!