Music Now!

Archive for October, 2010

Away From The Sun is the latest release from Rock Sensation 3 Doors Down, and I can only think of one word to describe it, and that word is AWESOME!

This is the groups 2nd album and follows their spectacular debut album The Better Life. I have to admit that I was somewhat skeptical of this album because of the success of their first release as it is very difficult to follow such a huge success like that. A lot of times there is just that let down because the expectations are so high. I have to say though Away Form The Sun definitely lives up to the expectations.

Unfortunately, it is not everyday that I get a CD from an artist that I can just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. There is usually a song or two that I just cannot force myself to get through. Not at all the case with Away From The Sun. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.

One of the refreshingly nice things about this CD is the way all of the participating artists seem to be really enjoying themselves. Combine that with the overall presentation and you have one of 3 Doors Downs most impressive releases ever.

If you are not a 3 Doors Down fan this is a CD your collection flat cannot be without. In fact, this is one of those CDs that you do not even have to be a fan of 3 Doors Down, or even Rock to know is good. This is just good music. Period.

While the entire CD is really very good the truly standout tracks are When I’m Gone – track 1, The Road I’m On – track 3, and I Feel You track 7.

My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 5, Running Out Of Days. This is a great track!

Away From The Sun Release Notes:

3 Doors Down originally released Away From The Sun on Nov 12, 2002 on the Universal Records label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. When I’m Gone 2. Away From The Sun 3. The Road I’m On 4. Ticket To Heaven 5. Running Out Of Days 6. Here Without You 7. I Feel You 8. Dangerous Game 9. Changes 10. Going Down In Flames 11. Sarah Yellin’ 12. untitled – (hidden track)

3 Doors Down: Brad Arnold (vocals); Matt Roberts, Chris Henderson (guitar); Todd Harrell (bass). Additional personnel includes: Josh Freese (drums). Recorded at London Bridge, Seattle, Washington; Greenhouse, Burnaby, Canada and Ocean Way Studios, Hollywood, California.

What is it about song downloads that makes it so much fun to search for them? Is it because virtually every song imaginable is online in some form, typically through music stores, and record company websites? Or is it the fun of sharing music with friends, and family? Whatever the reason, song downloads are as popular now as they have ever been. Finding song downloads can be a difficult task if one does not know where to look. Further, song downloads can cost different amounts at different sites. Just like shopping for your favorite grocery item at the cheapest store possible, you should look for song downloads at the cheapest price online possible.

One place to check out all the latest song downloads is emusic, the place for independent, and rare songs. Similar to itunes, emusic offers it’s customers a special software application that helps them download songs fast. The best part of emusic is the price per download. Typically a music download will cost anywhere from 75 cents to 1 dollar. At emusic the cost is only 25 cents, and some are even less than that.

Another great place to download music is itunes. What might be the most popular song download site on the net today, itunes is a true winner. Virtually any music that is available for download on the internet today is available on itunes. The site offers users an easy to use interface for downloading music, and makes the art of getting your favorite song downloads as easy as can be.

Whatever site you choose to use, it is important to keep in mind that price is an issue. Many companies offer free trails, or free song downloads in a move to entice users to join their service. It is extremely important to compare these services and prices before signing on for any given program. Some services are priced by category, others are priced by year, and yet others are priced in bulk. This makes for a confusing, and sometimes tedious process of finding the best deal.

One way to find the best deal is to utilize review oriented websites, like Review Place. When looking for song downloads sites, Review Place offers unbiased customer reviews of the best websites and services on the net today. Combining the ease of use with the valuable customer ratings that it provides, Review Place makes choosing the right site for song downloads as easy as pie.

The key to getting the best song downloads is finding a service that is right for you. Many people enjoy the newest hits, or the biggest names, and thus want a service that will provide such a service. Others are more interested in value, and finding undiscovered acts. For them a service that specializes in this would make more sense. So, it is important to research exactly what you are looking for in terms of song downloads, and then try to review the various services offered by all companies that fit your criteria.

It is also important to research what it is that you can do with the songs you download. Some song downloads are protected, and only for use on your computer for as long as you pay your monthly service fee. Others are instantly available for you to keep, burn to CD, transfer to a portable device, and so forth. Whatever the method that works for you when it comes to song downloads research will certainly pay dividends in the end.

Richly talented Pop artist Al Stewart has released him latest album titled Russians and Americans and Wow! It’s really a good one.

I wish it weren’t the case but, it’s not everyday that I get a CD from an artist that I can just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. There is usually a song or two that I just can’t force myself to get through. Not at all the case with Russians and Americans. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.

Al Stewart is one of those musicians that has the ability to just win you over with him talent. The kind of artist it’s really a treat to be able to listen to.

Listen to this CD and I believe you’ll find there’s not much to dis-like about it. The songs are inspired, the production is simply outstanding, and Al Stewart is clearly in top form. So much so that if you’re even mildly into Pop music you’ll enjoy this album.

While this entire album is outstanding the truly standout tunes are track 2 – Rumours Of War, track 4 – Accident On 3rd St, and track 14 – The World According To Garp.

My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 1 – The One That Got Away. It’s a great track!

Russians and Americans Release Notes:

Al Stewart originally released Russians and Americans on June 22, 2007 on the Collector’s Choice label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. One That Got Away, The 2. Rumours Of War 3. Night Meeting 4. Accident On 3rd St 5. Strange Girl 6. Russians & Americans 7. Cafe Society 8. 1-2-3 9. Candidate, The 10. Gypsy And The Rose, The 11. Lori Don’t Go Right Now 12. In Red Square – (Bonus Track) 13. How Does It Happen – (Bonus Track) 14. World According To Garp, The – (Bonus Track)

Personnel includes: Al Stewart (vocals); Peter White, Robin Lamble, Phil Kenzie.

“Phantom Planet” are a four-piece indie/alternative rock band from from Los Angeles, California. There are currently four members in Phantom Planet, they are Alexander Greenwald (Vocal and Guitar), Darren Robinson (Guitar and Backing Vocal), Sam Farrar (Bass and Backing Vocal) and Jeff Conrad (Drums). Former members Jacques Brautbar left to pursue his interest in Photography while Jason Schwartzman decided to pursue his acting career. The band is widely known for their hit single, “California” which became popular for the TV series, The O.C.

Raise The Dead has an album title that kills. One would think that it’s a heavy or black metal album just by looking at the album title. Until you press the “Play” button, you would never know. Phantom Planet has really evolved and gotten stronger than before.

Raise The Dead crunches us with the epic title track, “Raise The Dead”. A track that is so delicious that it will gobble you down when Alex explodes in the chorus. The title of this song itself raise our eyebrows and making us wondering what would it mean. Raise The Dead is definitely an enjoyable song for the unseen… Phantom Planet made this song an instant click that anyone would find it impossible not to like it. And i seldom see Alex yells so powerfully. Enjoy!

“Dropped” is simply amazing! Phantom Planet show their stuffs with the guitars and teamwork as well. In the verse, you can find Phantom Planet singing as a team and during the chorus is even better, they go, “Drop.. Whatcha.. Got.. Now.. Drop.. Whatcha.. Got.. Now..” It’s like they’re having a group of people backing up their vocals. The guitar is really deadly too, they have the tempo-building parts, and the exploding parts. Words aside, you’d definitely like Dropped, or better you’d be all over Phantom Planet.

“Leader” features a group of children helping Phantom Planet out. They’re having a good time together. From start to finish, the backing vocals provided by the children are really something to be remembered. They hit a new high when they joined Alex in the chorus, “Join our hands and come along, the day’s about to dawn, i feel it coming, on and on the hour’s upon you, now it won’t be long, i feel it coming…” Honestly i don’t think the vocals fit in quite well with the music in Leader, but Phantom Planet made it a song to be remembered. It’s simply magic!

“Do The Panic” is definitely one of the best tracks on Raise The Dead. It’s also a song from Phantom Planet’s fan club CD called “Phantom Planet: Negatives”. They did a more than fine re-work version of Do The Panic, and the result is simply infectious. It’s like having a craving for something. So listeners, beware! Their guitar riffs contain some really catchy and unforgettable hooks. Phantom Planet would go, “Ba, ba, ba…Sha du bi du…Ba, ba, ba… Sha du…”. It’s an invitation for you to sing along as well, and when the chorus comes, just loosen up and be panic.

Phantom Planet slowed it down a bit with “Quarantine”. Reminds me of the movie which starred Jennifer Carpenter. After following the lyrics, i can only guess that Quarantine is trying to tell the story of a man who was trying to save his loved one from some sort of contagious diseases. Hence the lyrics, “And it was you I did this for, i put the deadbolt on the door, understand i can’t see you now, realize it’s not to keep me in, but to keep all the sickies out…” A lovely and somewhat touching ballad by Phantom Planet nonetheless.

“Ship Lost At Sea” is cute, funny and good. At the beginning, it already creates the atmosphere of being lost at sea with the sound of ships sailing at sea. It also has some cute sound to it, which i find quite hilarious. If i’m not mistaken, there were some electronic elements in Ship Lost At Sea, making it more tantalizing. Ship Lost At Sea is really a good track with some friendly choruses and smart lyrics if you pay attention to Phantom Planet’s singing lips.

“Demon Daughters” has some dark elements to it. It tells the story about demon daughters with some great music and vocals along it. Often than not, Alex yells and explodes in the chorus, and switches to a lower tone when telling the story in the verse. I’m really fond of the bass line of Demon Daughters. The dark elements aside, Phantom Planet still manage to belt out a really great track that showcases Alex’s versatile voice.

“Geronimo” is explosive from start to finish, kind of resurrecting some elements from their previous self-titled album. Throughout Geronimo, Alex’s voice is somewhat drown out by the loud banging music. Don’t get me wrong, even with that, Geronimo still make a good listen. Showing how versatile and talented Phantom Planet can be. It feels great to listen to Geronimo, especially when you’re too sleepy or bored and really need a boost to get you right up.

Phantom Planet bring back their friendly guitar hook with “Too Much, Too Often”. It’s a cheerful track with some really good music along side with the vocals of Alex. 3/4 of the time, Phantom Planet were trying to create a memorable moment on Too Much, Too Often. They finally did it near the ending part where the remaining 45 seconds store some really great combination of music and vocals. I just like it.

“Confess” started with a short bang and followed by some lullaby-like music and vocals. Confess is a mid-tempo track with some really smart musical arrangement. There are some ups and downs in this track, meaning some soft and loud elements. The chorus is really a good listen for your ears, where Alex goes, “Your number’s up, it’s by request, do you have something to confess? I’m out of touch, you’re out of breath, do you have something to confess?…” It’s just too good. In between, pay attention to the viola that comes on and off to help furnish Confess. Just love Phantom Planet on this!

“Leave Yourself for Somebody Else” is another track that resembles Too Much, Too Often. A cheerful and sun-shine pop/rock track. The best deal in this track is the repetition of “Leave yourself for somebody else…”, where the rest of Phantom Planet join Alex and make this track so much fun. A great team effort shown here!

Raise The Dead chooses to end with heart-broken “I Don’t Mind”. It’s a ballad where Alex almost sing as if he has no strength left in him, or perhaps he’s trying to tell us that he’s really sad and down when singing I Don’t Mind. “But I don’t mind … Just stay close by, like all the time, because either I’d bleed dry, or keep this thorn in my side, but I don’t mind…” The music plays a big part as well in making this song sounds so down, especially the viola (If i’m not mistaken). There is also a hidden instrumental in I Don’t Mind, where it filled the remaining 1 minute. From what i heard, it might have been produced by some flutes or synthesizers. Phantom Planet is ending Raise The Dead unwillingly i guess.

Rating: Raise The Dead is really enjoyable from start to finish. From their early days until now, Phantom Planet grew and evolved with every album. Raise The Dead proves to be by far the best album to date. It’s such a shame to see Phantom Planet signed by Fueled By Ramen as i don’t want to see them eventually and slowly become an emo band. I really hope they won’t become one, instead i just want them to continue write, compose and play good music. Most tracks on Raise The Dead are unbelievably catchy and possess some “instant-click” quality. And i found my favorites even at the first time of listen. Clever guitar riffs with great beat and rhythm, who wouldn’t like Raise The Dead. I would rate it 7.8 out of 10.

Stand-Out Tracks (My Picks): Raise The Dead, Dropped, Leader, Do The Panic, Ship Lost At Sea, Demon Daughters, Too Much Too Often and Confess.

Cheers!

Darren Tan

Indiesurf.com

Music is the universal language to communicate with others. Music can show love, anger, peace, and many other feelings. Seeing the importance of music in our life, many websites offer the easy access to download music for free because everyone loves music and music can brighten the day.

Now, you will not only able to download your favorite music from the internet, but also you can download the free sheet music from the internet. If you download a song, you will only enjoy that song, but if you download the sheet music, you can learn that sheet and you can improve, develop, and modify the music in that sheet into your style. The free sheet music is also useful for the song writer who needs to get inspiration and to learn more about sheet music.

Beside that, you can also get the free movies sheet music. The original soundtracks of famous movies are stored in the website and you can download the movies sheet music for free. The movies are put in alphabetical order so you can find the movies sheet music that you want easily. The cartoon movie like Dalmatian, the new movie like Avatar, the serial drama like Gilmore Girls, and many more movies sheet movies are there.

What is it about song downloads that makes it so much fun to search for them? Is it because virtually every song imaginable is online in some form, typically through music stores, and record company websites? Or is it the fun of sharing music with friends, and family? Whatever the reason, song downloads are as popular now as they have ever been. Finding song downloads can be a difficult task if one does not know where to look. Further, song downloads can cost different amounts at different sites. Just like shopping for your favorite grocery item at the cheapest store possible, you should look for song downloads at the cheapest price online possible.

One place to check out all the latest song downloads is emusic, the place for independent, and rare songs. Similar to itunes, emusic offers it’s customers a special software application that helps them download songs fast. The best part of emusic is the price per download. Typically a music download will cost anywhere from 75 cents to 1 dollar. At emusic the cost is only 25 cents, and some are even less than that.

Another great place to download music is itunes. What might be the most popular song download site on the net today, itunes is a true winner. Virtually any music that is available for download on the internet today is available on itunes. The site offers users an easy to use interface for downloading music, and makes the art of getting your favorite song downloads as easy as can be.

Whatever site you choose to use, it is important to keep in mind that price is an issue. Many companies offer free trails, or free song downloads in a move to entice users to join their service. It is extremely important to compare these services and prices before signing on for any given program. Some services are priced by category, others are priced by year, and yet others are priced in bulk. This makes for a confusing, and sometimes tedious process of finding the best deal.

One way to find the best deal is to utilize review oriented websites, like Review Place. When looking for song downloads sites, Review Place offers unbiased customer reviews of the best websites and services on the net today. Combining the ease of use with the valuable customer ratings that it provides, Review Place makes choosing the right site for song downloads as easy as pie.

The key to getting the best song downloads is finding a service that is right for you. Many people enjoy the newest hits, or the biggest names, and thus want a service that will provide such a service. Others are more interested in value, and finding undiscovered acts. For them a service that specializes in this would make more sense. So, it is important to research exactly what you are looking for in terms of song downloads, and then try to review the various services offered by all companies that fit your criteria.

It is also important to research what it is that you can do with the songs you download. Some song downloads are protected, and only for use on your computer for as long as you pay your monthly service fee. Others are instantly available for you to keep, burn to CD, transfer to a portable device, and so forth. Whatever the method that works for you when it comes to song downloads research will certainly pay dividends in the end.

Talented Pop artist Ginuwine has released him most recent CD on the 550 Music recording label, entitled Life.

I wish it weren’t the case but, it’s not everyday that I get a CD from an artist that I can just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. There is usually a song or two that I just can’t force myself to get through. Not at all the case with Life. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.

Life is a pleasantly varied, mix of 15 tracks that are very well written songs by this clearly gifted artist. With many of the songs displaying a lot of the kind emotion that makes for a really great listen. Clearly drawing from what I can only imagine are him own personal experiences. At different points touching on the most real emotions like love, and the pain of failed relationships can certainly be heard.

I’m of the opinion that Life is certainly Ginuwine’s best work in a few years. A totally enjoyable CD and an outstanding release. What I call must have music. I give it two thumbs up because it’s a collection that even the casual Pop fan can appreciate and enjoy.

While this entire CD is outstanding some of my favorites are track 6 – Tribute To A Woman, track 10 – Show After The Show, and track 15 – Just Because

My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 1 – Why Not Me. Great track!

Life Release Notes:

Ginuwine originally released Life on April 3, 2001 on the 550 Music label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Why Not Me 2. There It Is / Interlude 3. 2 Way 4. Differences 5. So Fine 6. Tribute To A Woman 7. Why Did You Go / Interlude 8. How Deep Is Your Love 9. That’s How I Get Down – (featuring Ludacris) 10. Show After The Show 11. Role Play 12. Open Arms 13. Superhuman 14. Two Reasons I Cry 15. Just Because

Life Album Notes Personnel includes: Ginuwine (vocals); Ludacris (rap vocals).

Producers include: Troy Oliver, Raphael Saadiq, Ginuwine, Cory Rooney, Loren Dawson.

Engineers include: Mario Luccy, Richie Jones, Dan Hetzel.