Musical Interlude

Two bands this time around. One is a blues rock artist called Joe Bonamassa. This fler plays the guitar and his playing sounds like another blues maestro, Eric Johnson. Saw his article in Seeva's old guitar magazine and decided to youtube his videos (always the best place to check out songs). And this was the first song we came across and it's called The Ballad of John Henry.

Massively heavy blues rock and fuckin awesome vocals and this is one song that blew me away the first time around. This song is a cover of a very old song though. But I love the way Bonamassa brings his own thing into the song.





The next band is one which I found out only by reading The Star. It's a superband with Chili Peppers' drummer Chad Smith, guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani, and Sammy Hagar and Mike Anthony, both former members of Van Halen. This band is called Chickenfoot. No shit. I kid you not.

Some of the songs I checked out (again) on youtube were pretty awesome. If you're expecting a Joe Satch show or a Van Halen or a RHCP show, this is not it. Joe Satch holds back alot and doesnt show off much, though same cant be said for Chado (who btw is my biggest drumming influence) because it's well, Chad. Songs are a mix of rock and roll and there are traces of funk, possibly due to Chad's drumming. Currently the top independant band on Billboard, I think this is a big middle finger/big fuck you to all other rock bands who are posers. Here's a song called Oh Yeah!





ps: A small announcement. Andy Timmons will be having a guitar clinic at Bentley at The Curve on I can't remember when. So if any guitarists are reading this, here's a lil something for you.

The Art of Ruin

And the world shalt be faced with Ruin, and everyone shalt learn the art of it.

Tinesh 6:66

Improvised version of Plug in Baby

The improvised version of Plug in baby...

Note: There are 5 people in the band..The lead guitarist coudn't make it for the previous jam..So dont be surprised seeing an extra person there lol

Review

Bought Dream Theater's new album Systematic Chaos (damn chunted title rite??) on Deepavali day. Eight songs in all and it doesn't disappoint. If the last album (Octavarium) sounded more hard rock than prog rock, then my friend, fret not.

Like it's title, the songs are chaotic. I meant the time signatures for the songs. It's unnatural to a casual listener, but for one who understands music, the time is literally chaotic. But it's systematic. Lol

I fell in love with the first and last songs- they are actually one song, broken into two parts. In The Presence of Enemies is collectively nearly 26 minutes long. It has the typical DT parts: Kick-ass intro (this time it's 5 minutes of intrumental before the lyrics start), funky chorus ("Dark Master, I will fight for you"), multi-part, offtime music; more intrumental section and by the time the song comes to an end, you want to replay it.

Other songs include Forsaken, Constant Motion, The Dark Eternal Night, Repentance (feat. a whole lotta singers including Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Corey Taylor of Slipknot and others), Prophets of War and The Ministry of Lost Souls.

I definitely recommend this to anyone who appreciates good music but if you're the kinda person who prefers songs to be in 4/4 time, then this is definitely not for you. Instead, go wank.

Untitled

Actually, I just couldn't think of a title la. As a matter of fact, I don't even know what to write about in this post. Life has been OK to me this break. Well, that's if you don't count last month's phone bill.

All I did during the break was go out with Leah, finish three books in a week (HP7, 4th reading of Anansi Boys and Doctors), and download songs. Sad, I know. But it was alright for me. Anywayz, I was just talking to Hema about passing me some songs from her boyfriend's (Dude's name's Shan and he plays the drums) bands ( Ask Me Again and Jah'z Disciples).

I watched AMA at a charity concert in Zouk sometime last month and they were the first underground band to perform (show was split in two: underground/unsigned and mainstream). Boy, did they rock! They set the standards that night and except for Flow, no other underground band could get the crowd going. Hell, they were so good that the crowd asked them to play an encore. AMA does not exactly play heavy music. More pop-rockish but certainly heavier than Frequency Cannon and Estranged. Feel good music, you can say.

On the other hand, Jah'z is a metal band, playing headbanging DUH! stuff. I haven't watched them play but I did hear some of their songs and I was equally impressed as I was when I first heard Dragon Red. Well, I don't actually have to say how good they are. They were good enough to be interviewed on FLY FM.

If you people out there are remotely interested in listening to either band, please check out their MySpace accounts ( nobody actually bothers setting up a real website anymore. MySpace rocks la!!).

Ask Me Again: http://www.myspace.com/askmeagainmusic
Jah'z Disciples: http://www.myspace.com/jahzdisciplesonline

Support the local music industry people. That means you gotta support Mawi. Screw Mawi. Support the local English rock scene. Plenty of talent out there which goes unnoticed, so start helping out by spreading the word.


~For those who are about to rock, we salute you~