Updates on my playing list

Precisely a year has passed. A lot of good music has come my way. The best source being movies and TV seasons. Here are some of the top songs on my play list nowadays:

• Maria Taylor -Song beneath the Song
• The Byrds - 'Wasn't born to follow' and 'Mr Tambourine Man'
  
• Iggy Pop - Louie Louie
• The Grateful Dead - Ripple
• Alexi Murdoch - 'Orange Sky' and 'All of My Days'
• Santana and NickelBack - Into the night
• MGMT -Time to Pretend
• Kim & Dave - Nobody Knows
• Sad Brad Smith - Help Yourself

And this list isn't exhaustive, I think no list can ever be.

A new wave of country

Country music is a genre that i simply cannot ignore. Maybe because i started playing songs on an acoustic guitar before getting my hands on my strat. I feel there are so many bands that you just cannot afford to ignore. I would like to share with you some of my recent discoveries. Of my personal favourites,its always been the eagles. But it was Steve Earle who inspired me to pick up the guitar in first place. When i heard his song 'Someday' in the movie 'Bridge to Terabithia', i just wanted to get a guitar by hook or crook,just to be able to play that song! His album 'Guitar Town' was a treat to this world. Recently i heard one more song that i've been playing frequently,called 'Galaway Girl',an Irish classic. Another great artist Yusuf Islam has a new album on the Shelves,'RoadSinger'. Needless to say,it is awesome,which proves that a real artist and his music never die. Jimmy buffet is another songer worthy of mention. Not only is he a great singer,he's also an enterpreneur too! The band City and Color formed recently by Dallas Green is another project which i liked a lot. Nowadays its very difficult to find real artists in the crowd of sellout teenage popstars and hip-hop punks. Speaking of punk,there's a reggae inspired song by Clash,called Bankrobber,do find time to hear it sometime! Till then,rock on good people, you make this world a better place.

Been a long time since this blog got some life. Talking of life,i've been busy with work in my new company over the last few months...But over the period i always find time for hunting for some new music. With the demise of Richard Wright,floyd would probably never perform again. Though not many,but rock bands still live on. Here is my review of some studio albums that i heard this year.

Death Magnetic (Metallica)

Since St. Anger Metallica went back to their good ol' thrash days. My first impression of this album was that of hearing raw thrash metal to its fullest. "The day that never comes" caught my attention. There is some really great work by Kirk on the track "Unforgiven 3". In fact most of the album has got really cool riffs. James Hetfield is still as brutal as he sounded in their 2nd album. The drums dont sound like tin cans anymore as they did in St.Anger. Overall not a bad attempt at saving their music,a dying genre.

Accelerate (R.E.M)

I have always liked R.E.M for their classic rock touch till this day. This album just rocks. Most of the tracks make an easy listening. Noticeable tracks include "Supernatural superseriou","Mansized wreath" and of course "Hollow man". "Horse to water" is another track that i personally like because of its tongue in cheek style. My rating:9 out of 10 for making this world a better place,without hurting everyone :D

Viva la Vida (Coldplay)

Ya i know,thats not the complete name of this one. I particularly had a lot of expectations from this album which is why i'm disappointed. Steve Martin wakes up one day and imagines his band replacing The Who,so why not create a rock opera like Tommy etc. The deep tracks dont exactly sound like Coldplay. Forget about the album sales which show this album as the best selling ever,the distinct sound for which we liked Coldplay has disappeared. Its ok to experiment with variety,but i would like coldplay to stick to their kind of stuff. I liked the opening track,"Life in technicolour" and some others though. Overall 7 out of 10.

Forth (The Verve)

They never had a mainstream success since Bittersweet symphony. But this one definitely is power packed. The album sounds fresh with the typical psychedelic overtones that made The Verve do business. IMO this band has succeeded a lot in bringing back the psychedelic rock of the 60s for today's audience. There is no such big track like Lucky Man or Bittersweet,but yeah the 1st number Love is Noise is particularly noticeable.


Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Counting Crows)

I became a fan of counting crows since shrek! This album is a lot different than any of their previous works. There is a lot of piano work here with some really melodious tracks. I just fell in love with the track "When i dream of michelangelo". Almost all tracks are great. Highly recommended for people with a taste for melodious music.

Journey through music

'Music is food for your soul'.
Whoever said that must have felt the same way i do when he said that! There is something for every situation,every moment in life. You can in fact associate your life's moments with a song for each situation you're in.That basically makes your life an everlasting long song as it ideally should be! (Never mind that philosophical side of it) Also as jim morrison once said,"music is your only friend till the end". Its so true.No matter whether you've been an angel or an asshole,the music is always there for you in your times of joy and sorrow unconditionally.
I dont know what kind of music does it for you,but in my case,its never some single song or a single band,it come down to genres. I would prefer classic rock ballads anyday anytime,and rock'n roll most of the times.The bands PF,led zep,queen and springsteen always have a veto power,they can move in anytime they want! I dont know why,but its been a long time since i heard any heavy metal.In recent days i've been hooked on to polish blues bands and russian bands.They're great to listen to,especially when you're busy with work!
Also cat stevens/yusuf islam has been a recent favourite for me.
If you're always exploring many kinds of music like me,i can assure you this search is gonna last you a lifetime and will never go futile!

Music through the ages

Rock music has gone a long way.It has split up into so many sub-genres that sometimes ppl(take wikipedia for example) are confused what kind of genre to fit in a particular band!
But the real term is 'rockability'. The songs which broke the rules in early days of rock n roll.
Earlier,lets say in the 40s,a typical musician(jazz most commonly) would be wearing a black coat with a bow tie,singing to a sitting audience,everything calm and quiet.I would rather sleep listening to that!
Just compare that to today's scenario,lets say in an Aerosmith concert,with steven tyler with his antics all around the stage! It all started when the king,Elvis started to shake his legs at concerts.Initially it was considered vulgar! Elvis Presley was Rock n Roll.
He defined what direction music should go into.Though his last days were not that glorious with the advent of arena rock in the 70s,he will always be the man.Another great pioneer was Chuck Berry.His antics at that time were the predecessors of what is today a rock concert.By the beginning of the 60s,the stigmata with performance style was almost gone.
Then of course came the Beatles.No second artist has sold more albums that the Sgt pepper lonely heart club.They paved the way for the legends of the 70s to walk in. Then what happened in the 70s is history.No other decade has produced so many legends.
The 80s though mostly were dominated by pop music and glam metal,they also gave birth to heavy metal like metallica,megadeth etc. In case of heavy metal,just one man comes to my mind,ozzy osbourne with Black Sabbath. That band's classic line-up with ronnie james dio and tonny iommi gave birth to everything metal in today's terms.
90s saw birth of grunge and alternative with nirvana ruling the world.But it all comes down to today,the 00s,when none of it exists.People now listen to bullshit hip-hop,girlie pop bands,gangsta rap and what not. Music was dead since the 70s,its now that we're realising it,when most of the classic bands have either gone extinct or the members deceased. Pink Floyd after live 8 comes to my mind when i think of end of an era.But still people live on,with good news once a while.For instance,lets say,Led Zeppelin reuniting(who could have thought,john paul jones to come back!) or the album,long road to Eden by the eagles,one of my favourites.
As jim morrison said,people are strange.Really the music is dead.Today when i was playing 'cant help falling in love' on my guitar,it came to my mind whether Elvis was talking about a girl or music.The sad days have just begun.As i see it,the next decade would see the newest kind of music that already doing rounds,'techno'!
Life moves on,bands breakup,legends die.but their records live on,and so do the people who listen to it.

The Greatest Indian ever

How many people can you command at a time,5,10?
Ok,take it as 20,if that is the size of your team at work.

This guy on the right,can command 1,40,000 people at the same time to do anything he wants.Not because of his power,its his charisma. He could enchant people with his shows to sing with,to dance with him,to say whatever he wants them to say! People turn into puppets in his presence.
I doubt if such a showman can ever be here again in today's world again.

Farrokh bulsara(freddie mercury) is the most popular Indian who ever lived.Brought up in Bombay,he learned his music in India before moving over to Britain to gain worldwide fame.
Even mahatma gandhi could not come close to him in terms of popularity,when seen from the international point of view.
His name cannot be separated from the term 'classic rock'.
The music,lyrics anything that ever rolled out from the stables of the band 'Queen',had some part in it as freddie's contribution.
I've always loved queen,ever since i heard the first song(we're the champions).
If you go deep into lyrics of his songs,you can see very well what he wanted to convey to his audience.He wanted people to win,to have a winning attitude in life.His songs can take you through the darkest sides of life to the sweetest victories in life.Personally,i worship him as the greatest one.He's my favourite rockstar and the only person of whom i've a poster on my walls.
I dont own any costly merchandise,but yeah,i own everything,'queen' and freddie mercury have ever given to this world,their songs. I've seen all live concerts(on video of course!) and have listened to all his songs by now. My favourite is Live at Wembley'86 and Freddie mercury tribute concert. However the compilation called freddie which came in '00 was awesome.You get to see freddie mercury as never before,just concentrating on him instead of other queen members.
And about songs,i can go on and on for days,listing out my favourites! Anyhow,the songs on the compilation 'Platinum Queen"(3 discs) have got the best of the best songs written by freddie.
Now he many people accuse him of being gay,which was the reason of him getting aids.But come on,everyone has his own choice.As for me,its his music and personality that matters to me.

Here is the song which can make any real freddie mercury fan cry.


Now i wont bore anyone with his life history,you can read it here anytime you like.


I just wanted to state how brilliant a person can be.So much that he can influence generations even after his death.As a true rock fan and Indian,i salute freddie.

Bodybuilding,Linux and Rock n Roll

Ok,here i am again.Its been a really long long time,1 year to be exact.In the blogging world,that is something close to eternity! Whenever we waste time,we think of the wordings of songs which express our views.Most importantly,'Time' by pink floyd and 'Wasted Time' by eagles.
Rock n roll gives me a song everytime i'm down with life.It is definitely something that we like to listen to when we have tough times with our daily lives.In recent times,i've been listening to a lot of classic oldies from the sixties and fifties,like sinatra,bb king and johnny cash.The beautiful melody and lyrics written from their very core formed the very early days of rock n roll.
We definitely cant ignore how rock music changes our life,gives us strength and makes us a fighter again.
But there are two other things on which i live upon.Including rock music....bodybuilding and linux form the 3 cornerstones of my life.I've tried almost everything to make my life interesting,in these years of engineering.And finally i found out what i really love.All three fit together like pieces which were missing in my life.
I love music,that is what makes my soul work.I love bodybuilding,it makes my body work.
And finally i love linux,which is what makes me the person i want to be in life,to work on something that i really love.And also it may someday make my career work.
All the 3 have a certain factor of coolness attached to them.Practising any of these religions makes you cool.I practise all three of them daily in my life!
And also bodybuilding has been linked very closely to rock music.Freddie mercury showed us some muscularity with his fit figure.And also i dont think any rockstar was ever fat or obese! Recently most of the metal bands have started pumping iron to show off onstage,especially the norwegian black metal stars(who of course show a lot more than just muscles!)
And its a general norm of the entertainment industry to show fit and muscular people,starting from porn,to modelling to mainstream movies(even in bollywood movies these days).So bodybuilding has always been a rockstar's passion.
Sometimes its the opposite.Take Kevin Levrone for example.He's one of the biggest bodybuilders who is also a rockstar with his duo band 'full blown'.

Some may disagree on the third link,linux! But its the spirit of linux that i'm talking about here.It started as an underground movement,and is gaining importance in recent years.Intially very very few people heard about it.Now with some new age distros like ubuntu and fedora,its a threat to microsoft's business.It is ready now after more than 15 years of groundwork.
It can definitely be compared to rock music.In initial days,parents would tell their kids not to listen to rock music,like 'the doors' and 'sabbath'.But it was such a strong force that everyone got infected.Let alone just kids,everyone was drenched to the bone with ecstacy and rock and roll during the seventies.
Same is the story of bodybuilding.It was also a really underground movement.Very few people knew about bodybuilding,and people like arnold who advocated and marketed it,were considered weird.But after the 1977 documentary ,'Pumping Iron',everybody wanted to be in shape. Fitness paradise opened everywhere.And today someone who doesnt workout and doesnt stay in shape is considered outdated.If you are not into it,its never too late!

Now i hope the picture is quite clear.
Its really interesting to note how all three of them are so different,yet are so closely related to each other.
If this is the kind of life you lead,then you're with me and rocking the planet.If you're not,you're missing a small thing called 'life'.