Homegrown Talent Pt. 2!

Hey guys, it’s Tuesday which means here’s the next featured song review along with a video cover. This week I will continue to stick with the theme ‘homegrown talent’ by looking at actually another band hailing from Mississauga, Ontario. This band goes by the name of Billy Talent and they have achieved tremendous amounts of international acclaim. These guys, to those that have been following their career from somewhat early on, might seem that they have really exploded onto the international circuit in a very short period of time. In 2003, Billy Talent released the album that first drew the attention of the masses. Personally, I did not think much of the band when I first heard their song ‘Cut the Curtains’. In fact, I actually thought the song was pretty annoying. After being encouraged by many of my friends to give many of their other songs a listen, I was pretty blown away by the range of styles that appeared on the album. There are songs such as ‘The Ex’ and ‘This Is How It Goes’, which is actually the song I have covered. These songs have such aggression driven by the rawness of the guitars along with Ben’s powerful vocals. I have never been a fan of ‘screamo’ type music and angered a friend so much when I first referred to Billy Talent as a screamo band. Then there are songs such as ‘Try Honesty’ and ‘Nothing to Lose’ where they still stick to their aggressive assault but incorporate somewhat of a ballad feel that makes the songs appealing to a wider range of listeners as well as their main fan base. The way Ben and Ian blended their vocal harmonies together at first kind of bugged me but I believe it just took somewhat of a while to appreciate. Ian has a bit of a ‘whiney’ feel to his singing, and I hate describing it like that but it is the way it sounds to me. Nevertheless, the way they harmonize is amazing; definitely one of my favourite singer combos. The band has since then gone to produce a second and third album that have too succeeded internationally while keeping true to their sound.

‘This Is How It Goes’ is the first song I have covered in this series that is in a different tuning other than standard. Billy Talent writes all their songs in a ‘Drop D Tuning’. Drop D means that the low E string is tuned one step lower to a ‘D’ note. This can be done by tuning the E string with your finger placed on the seventh fret along with the open A string until they match. The song starts off with what will be used as the verse in the coming sections of the song as well. It is all single notes played on the A string following a progression of D, C#, E and F. The chorus I am not completely sure on but the way I play it is to start off ringing the open D chord and then barring the G, B and high E strings along the tenth fret. The next part of the progression is an A# chord followed by the same barring. Then an F with the barring now along the fifth fret and then the progression ends with a short riff stemming from an A note. The only other different part to the song is the bridge. Since I don’t know the names of the chords being used here I will break them down in a ‘fret(string)’ format, for example 5(b) means fifth fret on the b string. The chords for the progression are 7(g)6(b)5(e), 4(g)3(b)5(e), 3(g)3(b)5(e) and 2(g)1(b)3(e). This is by far probably the worst breakdown I have given of one of the songs in writing form so I am hoping the video might clear up some confusion and yes, I am aware I slipped up a couple times. Well that’s that for this week so check back for next week’s review! 


PS. I forgot to include that if you have been checking my 'Planned Covers' page, you would have noticed I was supposed to do 'Viking Death March' by Billy Talent instead. I liked this song more so I changed my mind, enjoy!

Homegrown Talent!

Blog Time! This week, yet again, I bring you another song and a new cover. Well, this cover is not exactly new but I’ll get to that in a bit. Let me first introduce the featured band this week, illScarlett. illScarlett are born and raised right here in Mississauga, Canada. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this band perform countless number of times and they are one of the best live bands I have seen. They can play in a small room such as The Edge Studios to large capacity venues such as the Sound Academy to outdoor festivals such as the Freedom Festival. They just kill it every time; it’s incredible. They’ve even played at my school, Humber College, back in 2009. Unfortunately, I did not yet attend Humber at this time but to those that did see the performance, I’m sure it was a treat. I’ve found a video recap of that performance on YouTube, it can be viewed here if you want to check it out. illScarlett is a band that fuses elements of ska, punk and reggae into a package that is sure to please any listener’s ear. Their songs range from up-beat mosh-able punk songs to slowed down off-beat reggae songs that you would just want to kick back to. The song that I’ve picked by them is of course their anthem ‘Nothing Special’.

The song starts off with the intro backed by the typical ‘ska’ rhythm guitar the follows a D#m, A#, B, F# and A# pattern. This chord progression is used for the other three times the chorus is played throughout the song, as well as when the lead guitar plays the main ‘wah’ riff. There is a short octave fill between every transition of chorus to verse. The verses throughout the song are palm-muted with slight breaks in the chugging here and there. They follow a B, D#m, F# and C# chord progression. The transition back to the chorus is simply a B chord being rung out. The bridge or breakdown of this song follows a B, F#, A#, D#m, C#, B, F# and A# progression. This song was actually covered by the band I was part of in high school. Ever since everyone in the band figured out their part, we were playing this song at every show we played at because the crowd would always know and enjoy it. The video below is a cover played by my fellow guitarist band mate and I. I was almost certain my video would not have been anywhere close in quality and if I’m allowed to say so, I think we both sort of nailed our respective parts. Really good job on the cover and video work by one of my oldest friends and former band mate! (I’m not sure if he wants his name disclosed so that’s why I haven’t mentioned it lol.) Be sure to check out his other covers on his channel too! That’s all for this week, be sure to keep on checking back!

It's freezing outside

Hey all, it’s that time again. Another week; another song. Who else is thrilled about the freezing weather out there? It’s as if we’ve skipped right through fall. In order to bring back that long gone summer feeling, I’m going to pick another ska song and what better band to pick a song by than one that comes from California. The band is called ‘The Dirty Heads’. They hail from Orange County, California. The band might not be that well known to a few but they’ve got this one song that I’m sure many have heard on the radio like two summers ago. Maybe three, don’t remember. Even though the song is at least a couple years old, it is one of those songs that I believe will last the test of time. Does anyone remember Sublime? They are (or were, depending what way you want to look at it) the godfathers of modern ska and have shaped the sound that we hear today. RIP Bradley Nowell. I feel like The Dirty Heads really tried to capture that Sublime sound with the song that I’ve chosen.

The name of the song is ‘Lay Me Down’. The perfect imagery description of this song is definitely along the lines of being on a beach. The off-beat guitar, running basslines, bongo percussion to compliment the standard drums and the rap-like flow in the verses are stand-out features of this song. The song features a guest vocalist/guitarist that goes by the name of Rome. Rome has also been picked up by the surviving members of Sublime a couple of years back to fill in for Bradley as Sublime planned on doing a come-back tour and eventually a new album. In order to not bring outrage to their fans that believe Bradley should not be replaced or dishonoured, they have called themselves ‘Sublime with Rome’. Most of the fans have come to terms that if you want to see Sublime live again since 1996, this is the closest you will ever get to the real thing.

Lay Me Down is an infectious song because of how catchy it is. It does a great job at showcasing simplicity at some of its best points. The rhythm of this song is pretty much the general ska rhythm of mute, then strum. My take was fairly sloppy but I tried to save myself losing count by adding a swing feel at those parts. Didn’t work out too well, but oh well. The chord progression in the chorus and breakdown part is just G and Am. The verse progression is Em, Am and B.

Check back next week for the next post, enjoy the rest of the week!

The music went and led me astray

Hey, I’m back again with another song. As I told you all a couple posts ago, this time I am going to give a shot at a bass cover. To do this I find it only fitting to pick another Drum and Bass song. Actually, I’m going to label this song as Drumstep. Some genre enthusiasts, I’m guilty of being one, become picky with the way some songs are labelled. Still in the end a good song is a good song though, right? Drumstep is a sub-genre of Drum and Bass. It is roughly the same temp but does not feel like it because of the half time feel and it features elements that are commonly found in dubstep. The song I’ve picked for this one is ‘Led Astray’ by Friction. Friction is a big name in the Drum and Bass scene. He is ranked as the second best Drum and Bass DJ, not to mention has produced some anthems such as ‘Back to your Roots’. He also currently hosts his own Drum and Bass show on BBC Radio in London, England. ‘Led Astray’ has been met with a mixed audience response. A large portion of the listeners believe Friction has lost his touch with production and is beginning to try to appeal to the mainstream. An equal large portion believes the song is of quality production and enjoys it.

The song is built in a similar format as a rock song. There is an intro, which in this case can act like a verse. There is the main instrumental part which acts like a chorus. The song starts off with some violins which personally, I love when producers add violins into their production. It creates a really grand atmosphere. The grandness of the song then continues into the big sounding instrumental part. The tone of the synth is not exactly one I would expect to follow such a violin intro but it works for maintaining that big sound. The bass emphasizes the lead melody by playing the same thing but in a lower octave. The song is in the key of Cm. The entire song follows the pattern of Cm, G, G# and Fm. The instrumental chorus builds on that pattern by basing the melody on it.

Hope everyone’s dealing well with the stress of mid-terms and all, next one should be posted in a week; check back then!

Little Talks Cause Storms on the Airwaves

So, I just found out a day ago that a show by an Icelandic (that’s right, Icelandic) band that I have really gotten into over the last half year has sold out at the KoolHaus in downtown Toronto. It’s kind of bummed me out considering it’s a band I’ve really wanted to see since I’ve discovered them. In all fairness I only found out about the show a week ago so I sort of blame myself for not keeping track of when such amazing acts might be passing through town. They are mostly well known for their popular song that I’m sure everyone has heard at least once on the radio over the summer. The band I’m talking about if you haven’t guessed it yet (has anything famous ever come out of Iceland before?) are called ‘Of Monsters and Men’.

I’m not even sure how to go about describing their style of music. The song that I’m going to cover is sort of their odd song because it is a representation of their style but at the same time it’s not. The best way I can describe their music is folk. I never really thought much of folk styled music and never thought I really would but these guys have completely turned my opinion of it around. The song that I’ve picked is called ‘Little Talks’. It is nothing short of a sing along anthem. Songs tend to sound redundant if you pick a very commonly used chord progression like this song uses. However, this is probably the most wonderful utilization of this chord progression ever. The addition of the accordion and trumpet really make the song explode with energy and the steady beat on that kick drum will have one tapping their foot throughout the entire song. As I said earlier this song in particular does not really reflect their style as a whole. Other songs I would suggest to check out are ‘Dirty Paws’ and ‘Mountain Sound’. These songs are put together so well and they showcase a more folk driven sound. Lastly, the singers in this band are phenomenal; two voices that complement the other perfectly.

To play this song on the guitar using open chords you will need a capo and place it on the first fret. If you don’t have a capo, you can still play it using barre chords shifted up a fret from where you would have played them as if they were open chords. The chord progression for practically the whole song is A#m, F#, C# and G#. The verse drops the G# out and instead the C# is held for a longer count. That is all there really is to it for the guitar. I’ll aim for putting up the next post by the coming Tuesday so please check back then! Oh, and to anyone actually going to this concert I envy you so much.

 

"Oh no! All my Best Friends are Metalheads!"

Hey, I’m back again with the next installment of my blog. I’m still sick and my voice is still failing me so again I will not be able to do a tutorial style video. For this next blog however, let’s jump from the electronic music scene to some raw ska. Ska is a genre of music that came about from a fusion of punk and reggae elements. It embraces the fast tempo aggression that has made punk so appealing to young rebellious teenagers and the offbeat swing feel that characterizes reggae. Combining the two, you have loud in your face choruses and the verses tend to follow the off-beat style of reggae. Another key component of ska is the addition of instruments that you would not normally hear in a punk band. These are mainly brass and horn instruments and the impact they have on the music is substantial. They add another layer of melodies that tend to follow the vocal melodies or complement them. This allows the guitar to focus on the rhythm of the song rather than the melodies so the song does not sound as ‘empty’. The last distinguishing factor of ska is the bass. The bass lines always tend to be a catchy sounding ‘run’ of notes. By this I mean the bass does not just follow the guitar progression like in a majority of punk songs but instead sometimes follows a melody of its own. My personal description of basslines in ska is that it tends to make you feel like you are walking up and down a set of stairs.

The song I have picked is “All my Best Friends are Metalheads” by Less Than Jake. It is off their “Hello Rockview” album. The song is known for its catchy guitar intro that is repeated twice more throughout the song. The song is in the key of E. It is put together by different segments which are intro, verse, chorus, verse, etc..   The trick in getting that ska sound in the verses is that you really need to put the emphasis on the higher strings of the guitar rather than the lower strings. Also the strumming pattern has to be chopped up in order to give it that off-beat feel. The easiest way in my opinion of doing this is by using barre-chords. Barre-chords give a more full sound compared to power chords. To achieve the off-beat feel, you have to mute the strings when strumming down. This is done by either covering all the strings lightly with your left hand or by lightly resting the palm of your right hand along the strings as you strum down. You then strum up by letting the chord sound out but attempt to only strike the top four strings of the guitar but sharply so the sound really pops out. This is the technique I use and it’s essentially all to do with rhythm. Once you feel comfortable with the pattern it’s pretty simple. The chord progression for the verses is E, A, B and then switches to A, E, B. The progression for the chorus is also E, A, B with a short slide before the A. Hopefully this helps for whomever is interested in understanding how to learn to play a ska song. My friend has left his bass at my place for the last while so perhaps I’ll show how horrible I am at it in a coming video.