Blogging for SIX Years and Ramblings About Music, TV, and Miss Peregrine

This blog turned six years old today... I feel really old. I say that every year, but seriously: Time goes by so damn quickly!

Sorry the posts have been coming really slowly lately - I'm afraid it might take a little while before things really pick up again. University + an assortment of major personal problems = no time for bloggie. I haven't given up though, and I'm still always thinking about stuff I could post, but those ideas are stored for a less hectic day.

After all, so many exciting things are happening. In the indie music world, we got new albums from Daughter and Radical Face (I've only listened to portions so far), and later on we'll be getting new metal albums from Lacuna Coil and Epica - I'm really excited about those. The new Lacuna Coil album is going to be called Delirium, and I have a feeling it'll resonate with me considering the craziness of my life this year and the hints the band has given about the overall direction and concept.

In terms of television, the only show I have been able to keep up with, Mob Wives, came to an end. Everyone's favorite star from the show, Angela "Big Ang" Raiola, passed away after battling cancer, and that broke my heart. She was so sweet and full of energy - I cried when I heard the news.

Now I somehow got sucked into Family Therapy with Dr. Jen... how the hell did I jump onto the reality TV bandwagon?

Also... have y'all seen the trailer for Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children? It seems like the rest of the Internet is pretty happy with it, so I imagine I might annoy some people, but... I'm not digging this at all. Like, nothing I enjoyed about the book in terms of feel/atmosphere looks like it'll be present. I think I might skip out on this one.

Well, that was nice catching up, but I'm going to do more homework now.

Amy Lee's New Covers

While Evanescence hasn't been releasing new material lately, lead vocalist Amy Lee has been involved in plenty of projects. She's been scoring indie films (War Story, Hammerstep's Indigo Grey) and has penned the theme song for Voice from the Stone (which has yet to be released). But recently, she began a YouTube channel and started covering songs from an interesting variety of artists - I immediately loved this idea and wanted to share what she's done so far! And what's perhaps even more interesting? I'm not a fan of any of the originals she's transformed, but I really like her new versions.

While it would be easy to imagine someone who looks like a goth-rocker to only listen to music that's dark or theatrical, fans know that Amy has an interesting taste in music. I always think that my tastes are really eclectic, but then I remember what she listens to. She may be in a rock band, but she's got a soft spot for electronic and trip-hop, so it was no surprise that the first cover she released was a Portishead song.

This first cover is actually my favorite. It's the closest to anything Amy's done before - a piano-led ballad that features some nice cello parts. It's such a fitting song for Amy to sing considering how the lyrics comfort and motivate (that's what Evanescence songs do for most fans): "'Cause this life is a farce / I can't breathe through this mask like a fool / So breathe on, sister, breathe on." By the time she whispers "sister" at the end my heart drops.



The next song she covered is one everyone seems to love even though I've always kind of hated it: "With or Without You" by U2. Even though I adore Jackie Evancho and Scala and Kolacny Brothers, I wasn't a fan of either of their covers either, but Amy's is the one that finally struck a chord with me. This one is more electronic - fans of both "Lockdown" and the epic backing vocals in "Lose Control" will appreciate how haunting it is. Somehow her rendition depicts struggle more than all the others.



The last cover Amy has shared with us is of Led Zeppelin's "Going to California." Recently Evanescence reunited to perform in three U.S. cities as well as Ozzfest in Japan and they played this cover at all the shows. Even though Amy's mellow tracks usually have piano or electronic roots, this cover only features acoustic guitars - what a nice surprise! While it's not exactly my favorite, it's very peaceful. La critica le gusta!



We don't have any more covers as of yet, but I hope they keep coming. Amy Lee is a highly creative individual - no matter what musical project she's signed herself up for, I'll be watching and I'll be supporting.

Grimes Unleashes New Video and Single: "Flesh without Blood/Life in the Vivid Dream"

Electronic prodigy Grimes has finally released the lead single and music video from her forthcoming album Art Angels, due November 6 for digital download. The video actually features two songs, "Flesh without Blood" and "Life in the Vivid Dream."

"Flesh without Blood" might sound like a scary title, but this single is anything but. It's actually quite lighthearted, with plenty of mainstream appeal, and even as an avid fan of her last album, Visions (which was rather dark), I found it enjoyable and meaningful. Much like I've felt that I've personally needed her older material, I needed this song both musically and lyrically: "If you don't need me / Just let me go."

"Life in the Vivid Dream" is a quieter, slower song, and I love it as much as its upbeat predecessor. Even though it's short, it definitely leaves an impression. It may not sound that much like her earlier material but it retains the relaxing, dreamy quality her fans know and love. The lyrics are poetic and heartfelt: "I could tell you that people are good in the end, but why / Why would I?"

The production of these guitar-led songs is just spectacular. As much as I love Grimes' older songs, the sound quality was very reminiscent of demos (albeit some damn good demos that I'd love with all my heart even if they were recorded in a windstorm). But now, everything's crystal clear - even the lyrics (for the most part), and we all know how Grimes likes to make it as difficult as possible to discern what she's singing.

As far as the video itself? Well, the quality is pristine. Grimes is the only artist capable of making a video so cute and evil, of being totally whimsical while also being serious. It gets kind of gory within the two minute range, right when the seemingly random elements first begin to come together. I love the concept - sometimes the people that are supposed to be angelic are the ones sticking knives in our guts.

Altogether, I'm very pleased. I can't wait to hear what else she has in store on Art Angels.

Hammerstep's Short Film Features Score by Amy Lee of Evanescence

Amy Lee of Evanescence has joined forces with Dave Eggar and Chuck Palmer to create another dark and beautiful film score. In the past they composed a score for the indie film War Story and released the music on an album called Aftermath, which I thoroughly appreciated. This time, they composed music for a project called Indigo Grey: The Passage, which is a short film by Hammerstep, a visually stunning dance group seen on America's Got Talent. The newly-released film features some lovely snippets from Aftermath, but the spotlight is on the new songs that Hammerstep dances to. Granted, the film is only seven minutes long - we don't have a lot of new material from the classical-contemporary trio, but what we have is pretty damn good. While Aftermath was very brooding, the music for this film was made to dance to and has more electronic influences; therefore, it has more of a sense of urgency.

"Resurrection," a song Lee fans may recognize from YouTube clips of her performance with her collaborators at Bluegrass Underground, is one of the most prominent tracks. Personally, I can testify that this is one of my favorite songs EVER, and I'm so happy we can hear parts of the studio version now. And of course, Hammerstep's choreography is always fun to watch. The concept is simple and appropriate for its tiny time slot - whether someone watches it for Hammerstep or Lee and the guys, they should be content with the final product.

Lee, Eggar, and Palmer have won the Moondance International Award for Best Score. Evanescence fans, be proud.

Emma Watson Speaks for the HeForShe Campaign... Amen

Emma Watson, who most of the world knows as the actress who portrayed Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film renditions, has recently become the UN Women's Goodwill Ambassador. She recently spoke about gender equality at a United Nations event. If you haven't seen it, I beg of you, whoever you are, to watch her speak in this video:

 

 

I have always been a proud fan of hers. I've always been proud when people have told me in the past that I look like her, for even though that comparison deals with our exteriors, I've always been happy to be compared to a woman with such a good head on her shoulders. I've always been happy that this child star seems to only rise in respectability and never decline. But now... I don't know if it's possible to be more proud.

 

When discussing the HeForShe movement, Watson calls for men to join in the movement for gender equality, for she doesn't only acknowledge how women aren't treated fairly; she also speaks quite a bit about male stereotypes. A lot of what she's enforcing deals with the fact that it should be acceptable for women to be strong, to have big dreams and opinions, just as it should be acceptable for men to show signs of vulnerability, to talk about their feelings. She wants to destroy all of the gender stereotypes and expectations that keep us from achieving true equality.

 

She's a feminist, and so am I. And she speaks the truth:

 

"And the more I've spoken about feminism, the more I have realized that fighting for women's rights has been too often become synonymous with man hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this. Has. To stop. For the record, feminism, by definition, is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes."

 

Amen.

 

I am so sick of the tarnish that seems to stick to this word and I know that I'm far from the only one. Unfortunately, I have met a couple of women that do suggest male inferiority without realizing it, but let it be known that that is not feminism. I have also met a young woman who has argued on several occasions that men are naturally superior. Both are rather sickening points of view.

She really took the words right out of my mouth here:

 

"Apparently, I am among the ranks of women, whose expressions are seen as too strong, too aggressive, isolating, and anti-men... Unattractive, even. Why has the word become such an uncomfortable one?"

The word has become uncomfortable because there are a lot of men and women who don't know what it really means. I've seen people indirectly advocate without any real knowledge of the concept. Because if people really did know its definition, wouldn't more people associate with it? Don't people want equality? Aren't most people largely feminist as most people can agree that gender equality is ideal? It's time to cut the cord on the ignorance that surrounds that word, to educate the people who are confused about the true definition.

Anyhow... Out of everything I said, Emma said it better, so watch that video above.

And thank you, Emma, for being such a fantastic person. You've made the Potter fanbase proud.

Epica Releases Online Studio Documentary and First Single

Epica's new album, The Quantum Enigma, is set to be released this May. On this post of their official site, we were given a ton of information concerning this upcoming release, including the cover, tracklist, and different editions that will be available. I became EXTREMELY excited based on that information alone; it reminds me of Design Your Universe, which is basically my favorite Epica album. I think I'm really going to love the concept of The Quantum Enigma... Even the song titles themselves sound cool.

But recently, the band released a two-part studio documentary to give us a sneak peak of what they've been working on. I don't want to babble too much because I'm positive I'll be reviewing this album when it comes out, but I must say, this sounds fantastic. People generally kept complimenting the way this new music is mixed and how 'awful' their previous albums' mixing jobs were... At first I thought "Well, I didn't think they sounded so bad," but once you hear how awesome the sound quality is in these samples, you can't unhear imperfections in past records. Seriously, these new samples are SO GOOD on so many levels! Fans must watch these immediately!

Both videos begin with the same intro, but after that, we get to hear different music on each part of the documentary. The first part deals with recording the drums, bass, and guitars.

My favorite parts:
0:00 - 0:43 (this is probably the album's intro; classically-oriented)
2:43 - 2:54 (HEAVINESS)
4:21 - 4:28 (cinematic)
5:35 - the end (even more cinematic)
 

This second part deals with recording the choir, orchestra, piano, and vocals.

My favorite parts:
0:44 - 0:53 (INTENSE)
1:40 - 2:09 (epic choir)
5:14 - 5:20 (You go, Simone! This is part of "The Essence of Silence")
6:21 - the end (piano outro)
 

The first single from The Quantum Enigma, "The Essence of Silence," was just released for digital download; you can get it on either iTunes or Amazon. I know I'm going to talk about it more when they release a music video or at least the album, so I'm not going to say too much right now... But this is one heavy single. It kicks ass! This great combination of Mark Jansen's grunts and Simone Simons' operatic voice will easily capture the attention of symphonic metal fans.

2014 Fills Me with Excitement

Whenever a new year rings in, there's always a list of releases or events set to happen within the new year for me to get excited about... This year, however, is a bit drastic. Honestly, there's so much stuff I'm looking forward to, I'm afraid I'm going to make this post and manage to forget something. ALL the things are going to happen in 2014... Okay, maybe not all of them, but a great deal of what I care about.

 

First things first: Part two of Teen Wolf's third season premiers January 6 on MTV. Considering how much I've loved this show, especially the first part of season three, my expectations are set relatively high. Hopefully I'll discover some new music from the show as well, like I often do... But either way, I know I'll have some new music by the end of the month, for Within Temptation will release their new album, Hydra, on January 31 - and let me tell  you, I'm SO pumped for this album. Within Temptation has been one of my favorite bands for about six years now, and Hydra's first single, "Paradise (What About Us?)" (a duet with Tarja Turunen, by the way) sounds amazing. I think I'm really going to love the direction of this album. From what this trailer tells me, it'll be very mystic and fantastical; reminiscent of both Within Temptation's newer and older material.

 

But even more of the epic forces of symphonic metal are going to take precedence this year! According to a news post on their official site, Epica will release their new album in the spring. Plus, Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish's keyboardist and the mastermind behind the majority of the band's music) is going to release a classically-oriented solo album entitled The Life and Times of Scrooge. Nightwish's mesh of classical and metal has had so many beautiful and bombastic moments, and I think it'll be really cool to hear Holopainen's music just from the classical perspective. We got to hear hints of that magic when Imaginaerum was arranged for a score.

But there are also a few movies I'm interested in seeing this year. In May, the film Maleficent is set to be released to theatres. Maleficent was quite a scary character in the Sleeping Beauty animation, and bringing her to a live action setting looks incredibly frightening and cinematic. Darren Aronofsky directed Noah, a film about the well-known Biblical tale set for a 2014 release. While some have expressed concern that Aronofsky, the man who directed Requiem for a Dream (the most disturbing movie in the world) and Black Swan (the second-most disturbing movie in the world) has attempted to work with a Biblical movie, it's important to remember that Requiem for a Dream was based on a novel and Aronofky didn't write the screenplay for Black Swan. Pay attention to the way these films were made, how they were executed so effectively, so perfectly and and not to mention differently for their individual storylines... That's what I love about Aronofsky. He's a genius. (Heh, that just turned into an Aronofsky-appreciation explosion.)

 

And of course, some book-to-film adaptations will come out this year. John Green's The Fault in Our Stars will make its way into theatres... Which I'm less excited about because I'm just going to sit there and cry buckets the whole time. In November we'll all get to go see Mockingjay, Part 1 in theatres. YAY!

 

I don't have too many books on my 2014 list because majority of the series I'm reading right now already have all the books out, with the exception of the House of Night series by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast. The twelfth and final novel, Redeemed, will be released. I'm still hoping for that Sailor Moon art book... Whenever... if it ever happens. I'm so impatient!

But, on a completely different subject: I'm so ready for the Winter Olympics in Sochi. It may seem to some that I'm not a sports person, primarily because I don't care much about football, basketball, or soccer, but I love winter sports. All of them - except curling. I've been counting down until we've come to another Winter Games year since the last one in Vancouver. Sure, the Summer Games are great too, but winter sports are definitely my favorite.

Well, I think that pretty much sums it up. Hopefully I didn't forget anything! So far, 2014 sounds like a great year for music and movies; I must say, I really cannot wait to hear the new symphonic metal material. I imagine there will be a lot of fangirling to come from me this year. (Then again, when isn't there?)

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

Hallelujah! Floor Jansen is Staying in Nightwish

Every fan of symphonic metal knows that Nightwish has had some very prominent line-up changes. They started out with operatic powerhouse Tarja Turunen, but Anette Olzon took her place. Much drama tainted the fandom with this switch (which I discuss a bit in this post), for Anette's voice is so different than Tarja's. Anette has more of a rock/pop sound, and many complained that she wasn't the true face of Nightwish. Personally, I loved the two albums Anette made with Nightwish (Dark Passion Play and Imaginaerum) but I've often been the odd one out in this situation.

 

However, even though I liked Nightwish with both Tarja and Anette, I never felt that either of them were the perfect fit for the music per se, with certain exceptions. Both have made amazing records with Nightwish, and both have made very different records with Nightwish. I love their sound with Tarja, and I love their sound with Anette. The only problem is, we'd never have both at the same time.

 

Recently, Anette left the band while they were on tour, and Floor Jansen of After Forever and ReVamp filled in. I'd never been a Floor fan simply because I'd never been a fan of any of the bands she's been in, I knew her voice well enough to know that she'd be able to bring older Tarja songs to the setlist, and all the tarja fans that loathed Anette would love Floor. I was indifferent. I tried looking up videos of live sets with Floor, but the crowds were oftentimes too loud for me to properly judge. Yet, I did.

 

Then, I saw an HQ video of Floor singing "Ghost Love Score" with the band in Buenos Aires. It's a long, classic Nightwish tune originally performed by Tarja on the album Once. I was sort of impressed, sort of indifferent as I heard the first half. It was good, no doubt about it. But then when things got epic during the second half, I kept becoming more and more excited. I saw how great she is with this band, a subconscious process I began to feel effects of amid my happiness.

 

Then I heard her new ending of the song; I heard the note. The note. I cried. This band I've always loved despite never finding either singer to necessarily be the perfect fit... Floor is the perfect fit. She didn't just fit; she helped enhance. Her ability to switch up vocal styles as needed made her unique as a singer already, but now that she's been with a band that has music that appeals to my personal taste, I can now truly appreciate her.

 

For a while, this was all very bittersweet. Though Nightwish finally found a singer that I consider perfect for the music, there was a possibility that she'd only stay for that tour and not an album. But, in this press release found on the official Nightwish site, it has been confirmed that she is the new lead singer of Nightwish.

 

I'm so excited and relieved to hear that she's staying. When I found out, I couldn't stop fangirling! She's a great vocalist and frontwoman for Nightwish, and the rest of the band seemed to be so happy with her performing alongside them. I can't wait to hear how the band will evolve for her voice on the next album, and I really want to see them live next time.

 

Towards the end of the year, their live DVD with Floor at the Wacken Open Air festival, Showtime, Storytime, will be released. "Ghost Love Score" is on the set, and the very performance in Buenos Aires that made me a Floor fan will be a bonus feature. It's as if they knew I'd want it. Until we can all get our hands on this DVD, I assume there will be much celebration among the fanbase. In all honesty, I haven't heard a single negative comment about Floor. For the first time since 2007, I think nearly all Nightwish fans will be happy.