This past weekend was the New York Comic Con, which was located at the Javits Center in Manhattan. This four day event is huge, as far as the guests who are there and the mass amount of people that show up to it. Some of the guests that were there this year included Adam West, Stan Lee, Carrie Fisher, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Davidson, Sean Astin, Tom Felton, and Robert Kirkman (as well as many others). This was my first time attending after many years of wanting to go, I finally got to with a one day pass for Saturday.
One thing to expect is enormous crowds with at least 2/3 of the people there in cosplay. There is a whole floor set to the various venders selling merchandise, an area for all the artists who are either signing, displaying, or selling their work, a bunch of spots for panels or screenings to occur, an area for certain guests to be signing autographs, and just a whole mass of booths set up where I would not be able to list them all. The whole experience is really fantastic though, seeing so many people in costume of their favorite characters, and just the wide variety of people who attend the convention all with common interests.
A major guest and panel for this year was various cast members from The Walking Dead. Outside the Javits Center they had the van set up with the actual zombies from the show, who were interacting with the crowd outside. Not once did they break character, and the detail of their makeup was amazing. It was really cool, they even would post for photos as you can see with me being attacked by them. This was so much fun, which made it really hard to hide my smile here since it was just so cool. Props to all the people involved with putting this all together, and really adding to the whole convention.
In addition to the zombies there was also Jeffrey DeMunn, who was Dale in the show outside taking pictures with people. All of this was occurring while people were waiting outside to get in (or back inside) during the afternoon. Now the reason for this major amount of dead at the convention was due to the panel for the show, and that the season premier was the following day. The panel however I did not get to see due to the vast amount of people who had just attended earlier panels and sat through them to make sure they would be in for The Walking Dead. So that is one of the downsides to the day, but I had a great time and I found an upload on YouTube that I shall watch later on, so not all is lost. But I am just so thrilled that I got to meet with some of the cast, and interact with the zombies as they poked and sniffed the various people around them.
Meeting Jeffrey DeMunn
There were a few people that I really wanted to meet, and two of which I did get to were the artists Yoshitaka Amano and Ben Templesmith. I was just so excited to meet them since I love their art, and they each signed some of my books (Amano signed Vampire Hunter D: Vol. 1 and Templesmith signed 30 Days of Night: Omnibus). If you are unfamiliar with either of them, go and check out some of their work since it's really amazing.
Another panel that I really wanted to see was the Firefly 10th Anniversary one, and that one I did not due to a similar situation with The Walking Dead. Basically some cast members from the show (Jewel Straite and Sean Maher) were just there to discuss Firefly and it's movie Serenity, while also answering questions from the fans. Knowing that Nathan Fillion made a surprise appearance makes me wish even more that I could have been there.
Though I shall watch through any uploads on YouTube (I believe I saw the whole thing up even if it was in parts), and later do a write up on it as well as The Walking Dead one. Now this little write up can't really describe the whole comic con experience, and I only have a few photos up here. The only way to fully grasp the whole experience is to go to one of these conventions yourself one day (if that's what interests you). I hope that maybe you will, as it is a ton of fun on top of being a tad tiring. And as of right now, I plan on attending again next year.
Now a little off topic from the whole music theme I have going here (and a little less formal)..
Since the New York Comic Con/Anime Festival is coming up, I thought I should take the time to discuss a similar type of event that I went to. Back in the spring, April 1st, I went to my first convention I-CON31 located at Stony Brook University. For those who are unaware, I-CON is a sci-fi/fantasy convention that takes place every year.
For me my two main reasons for going was that I had never been to any
sort of convention before, and that Paul McGann who played the Eighth
Doctor was going to be there. Since this was really last minute deciding to go, I didn't really get to prepare a cosplay. So I just did a quick Dib (from Invader Zim) cosplay with stuff I had lying around, since I already owned a shirt like the one he wears in the show and the rest is just all black. Anyway, like you would expect at a convention there were tons of people all in fantastic cosplays.
The whole convention was all across the campus of Stony Brook
University. The main focus of all the panels was really science fiction
related, but also a lot for anime. As from what I understand to be standard for cons, there was a whole floor dedicated to venders/dealers selling various merchandise. For any fandom, it is like a candy shop of almost anything and everything you can think of. There were even some tables, not relating to any fandom or series, that were just selling their work (some of which was of obvious fantasy as well as medieval/renaissance influence).
During the day there was a Doctor Who mega-panel, and the end of the panel I actually got to meet Paul McGann (which as you can see from the photo above I was completely thrilled about). I've loved Doctor Who since I was in middle school, and watched all of the Eighth Doctor through the present, with some old series episodes here and there. So I was just so psyched about this whole thing, and still can't believe I got to meet one of the Doctor's!
Earlier I had gotten to meet him when he was doing autographs, were I got a photo from the 1996 TV movie signed. But here he was just so friendly to all the fans, taking pictures with people, and even suggested for everyone to come together for a group picture (that is below). I didn't get to meet many people, but with really only meeting one of the guests I am just glad it was him. So also, if you haven't watched the 1996 movie, you are missing out (as I am still with the audio drama's, but that shall be fixed at some point).
The Doctor Who mega-panel consisted Paul McGann (obviously), Daphne
Ashbrook, Frazer Hines, and Colin Spaull. This was where they just
talked about their involvement with Doctor Who, as well as answering
some questions from fans, which was hosted by Ken Deep. It lasted for
Now here we have what was really completely wonderful, of Paul McGann reading the speech that the First Doctor originally said in the episode "The Dalek Invasion of Earth". This is just so touching and fantastic, seriously watch it now.
Aside from meeting the Eighth Doctor and going to view the Doctor Who mega-panel, I also attended what was about the last 30 min of “Doctor Who Lives On”, part of a discussion on The Lord of the Rings, as well as a bunch of time checking out the dealers floor. There was also a bit of time walking around the campus to the different buildings where things were being held, which takes time but also allowed me to see more of peoples costumes and what was occurring outside. Even though I only went to one day, and not even a full day at that due to it being last minute, I am eagerly awaiting the upcoming I-CON 32.
While I'm at it here is another paper that was an assignment, but this time from a little further back. This was for my IB Music musical investigation my senior year of high school, where you have to compare two pieces of music from different styles and time periods. Yes some of what is stated may seem obvious, but for the exam you really had to demonstrate that you know even what seems like the most basic of musical concepts. Well, I hope that you find this comparison and investigation to be of some interest..
The Native American piece “Qimmiruluapik” and “Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict” from Pink Floyd have many similarities between each other. One significant connection between these two pieces is that they both use the human voice in ways that are not usually heard. Pink Floyd's piece “Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict” uses electronic manipulations of the human voice to produce sounds that resemble that of animals, various sounds of nature, and even to an extent, throat singing. The piece “Qimmiruluapik” is a piece that uses a throat-singing technique throughout the whole piece to imitate the sounds of nature, and daily life.
“Qimmiruluapik” is a Native American piece from Eastern North America, specifically the Inuit tribe of Canada with it's use of throat-singing, which is currently reappearing in a tradition which uses katajjaq[1]. To produce the sound of throat-singing with the katajjaq language, it is typical for two women facing each other, where one begins a rhythmic pattern, followed by the other then filling in the gaps with their own rhythmic pattern in response to the initial starting pattern.
Throat singing pieces tend to focus on rhythms, syllables, inhalation and exhalation, as well as any contrast between the sounds made by each person's voice. When singing these patterns, the fact that the two women face each other making the transitions between sections easier for them both to hear.[2] In addition to this, the throat-singing is also accompanied by another rhythm of shuffling their feet. “Qimmiruluapik” starts with a slower pulse, with an accelerando starting within the first five seconds, and then staying relatively close to the new tempo, with just a little bit of an accelerando later on in the piece.
The words they are singing can either be actual words, or nonsense that the singer creates while exhaling. These throat singing pieces are generally intended to imitate the sounds that would be heard in every day life. Such sounds that tend to be imitated in throat-singing pieces are a river, puppy, motor boat, mosquito, or even the polishing of sled runners.
The piece “Qimmiruluapik” has a consistent creepy mood to it. This type of piece had originated as a form of entertainment for the women who were left home when the men left to go hunting. It sometimes would be considered more of a game, but in a musical throat-singing piece, there are phrases marked by repeated notes at the ends of phrases. “Qimmiruluapik” is actually focusing on a well known story about a small puppy who his in the entrance of an igloo. The two women in the piece described their performance as imitating the puppy's hunger cries. While another version of the story the piece is based on tells of a little girl who made the piece so the runt of the litter will grow to become stronger, and eventually the leader of the dogsled pack.
“Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict” from Pink Floyd takes various statements that the band says, which they wither speed up or slow down the recordings of to produce what sounds like a bunch of small animals in nature. Later on the piece you can hear spoken lyrics over the distorted sounds starting at 3:44 and going on until the very end of the piece.
While the lyrics are not distorted through being speed up or slowed down, they are spoken in an overly exaggerated Scottish brogue, or an accent and dialect, making it hard to make out what exactly is being said. At around 4:34 you can hear spoken words of “That was pretty avant-garde, wasn't it?” if you play it at half speed. Small sayings and noises like that add up to create “Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict” from speeding up and slowing down all the recordings of the band members voices, none of which were reversed or played backwards. The sounds produced from this speeding up and down of the recordings of their voice produced sounds that resemble animals, such as birds, monkeys, and chipmunks. At times the piece even has some sections where the vocals are resembling that of throat singing. This is most noticeable with the loud inhalations and exhalations being part of the rhythm in the particular section between 1:12 and around 3:40 in the piece.
This piece also does not seem to have a constant rhythmic pulse to determine a time signature, but have more of a musique concrète feel to it. In an interview with the University of Regina Carillon in October of 1970, Roger Waters was asked about the point of “Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict”.
He responded saying “It's not actually anything, it's a bit of concrete poetry. Those were sounds that I made, the voice and the hand slapping were all human generated - no musical instruments.”
Musique concrète is a specific type of electronic music, started by Pierre Schaeffer. It became popular after World War II, when people were looking into electronics as a new type of music. In the beginning of musique concrète, the composing of it consisted primarily of recordings of ordinary sounds and noises, such as railroads, eating, or walking.
“Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict” takes this musique concrète concept of using ordinary noises, such as voices and the tapping on a microphone. The piece also uses these noises to imitate the sounds of nature, as well as various small animals as the title suggests. The usage of ordinary sounds and noises, or imitating the noises of every day life, can also relate to “Qimmiruluapik”. With that piece, and with throat-singing in general, the piece is imitating the sounds of nature and everyday life.
Since the Pink Floyd piece, “Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict” does not have a constant rhythm or metric pulse, it would be in free meter. Typically a “pop” song by a band would be in common time, but with the experimental qualities of this piece, it also has no rhythmic pulse to determine a meter. For a piece to have a meter, it must be able to be recorded in measures which must have a specific number of “beats”, or pulses to them. “Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict” does not include pulses to count to determine a measure, but instead has no constant rhythm and just follows a musique concrète form.
“Qimmiruluapik” does have noticeable pulses, but due to the various accelerando's within the piece, it is hard to determine a meter for the piece. So for the throat-singing within “Qimmiruluapik”, it does have pulses, but they are not presented in a way in which you can determine a meter for the piece. So therefore, both “Qimmiruluapik” and Pink Floyd's piece are non-metric.
Both the pieces “Qimmiruluapik” and “Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict” have many similarities. Both of these pieces incorporate the human voice, but present it in a way that one might not recognize immediately, with neither of them really being pitched. One using electronic equipment, and the other using throat-singing. These two pieces also both are using the human voice to mimic sounds heard within daily life and nature. To a point the vocal techniques in the pieces make it difficult to immediately distinguish that they are only the human voice.
[1] Katajjaq is one of the names for throat-singing in the Inuit language, Inuktitut. Other names for throat-singing within the language are pirkusirtuk and nipaquhiit, which depends on the region for which would be used.
[2] Transitions and changes in throat singing music, are known as sanquagusiit. They can be transitions between patterns in the piece, or in the sounds being made in general.
[3] Inuit tribe is located within Canada, and is well known for their unique vocal techniques, such as throat singing which is only in a few cultures in the world.
[4] Pict was a tribe of people from northern Britain around the 9th century AD. The Pict's had co-founded with the Scots, the kingdom of Scotland.
Pink Floyd. "Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict." Ummagumma. 1969. CD.
Amaroalik, Lucy. "Qimmiruluapik." Native American Music in Eastern North America. OXFORD World Music. 2008. CD.
Diamond, Beverley. "Musical and Historical Encounter: Inuit Communities." OXFORD Native American Music in North America. New York: Oxford UP, 2008. 35-59. Print. Diamond, Beverley. "Musical and Historical Encounter: Inuit Communities." OXFORD Native American Music in North America. New York, N.Y.: Oxford UP, 2008. 35-59. Print.
Russcol, Herbert. The Liberation of Sound: An Introduction to Electronic Music. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1972. Print.
Sadie, Stanley, ed. The New GROVE Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 12. Macnillan Limited, 1980. Print.
"Pink Floyd - Behind The Wall." The Pink Floyd Fan Club. University of Regina Carillon Interview. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. <http://www.pink-floyd.org/artint/urc101970.htm>.
"Inuit Throat Singing: Encyclopedia II - Inuit Throat Singing - Inuit Throat Singing." Enlightenment - The Experience Festival. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. <http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Inuit_throat_singing_-_Inuit_Throat_Singing/id/5202815>.
"Backward Satanic Messages- Reader Comments -The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com." The Skeptic's Dictionary. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. <http://skepdic.com/comments/backcom.html>
"Throat Singing: Encyclopedia II - Throat Singing - Traditional Styles." Enlightenment - The Experience Festival. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. <http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Throat_singing_-_Traditional_Styles/id/2062003>.
"Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict by Pink Floyd Songfacts." Song Meanings at Songfacts. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. <http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=6593>.
"Simple Meter Simplified." Learn Piano Online at the Key-notes Virtual Piano Studio by Albert Frantz. Web. 29 Mar. 2011. <http://www.key-notes.com/simple-meter.html>.
Keeping in theme of music related posts, I have this little update to post. Here we have what was a paper for one of my classes last semester on the scandalous musical figure, Carlo Gesualdo. For those who are unaware, well, here is some brief knowledge on the Renaissance composer. I figured that I am starting to work on a paper for a related class this semester, I could post this in the mean time. Now there is a lot that can be added, but as I said, this is just some brief information that I hope to prove useful for whomever comes across it. I've also included my citations, which I would highly recommend reading if you find this interesting (or you yourself have a paper to write)..
Carlo Gesualdo was an infamous Italian composer from the Renaissance period. He is most notable for the murder of his wife and her lover, as well as the excessive use of chromaticism in his music.
Gesualdo was an aristocrat and had published his music, both of these aspects were out or the ordinary for composers of the time. Part of the reason behind that was his music was one of the earliest examples of a complete printed score. But from his childhood, Gesualdo was involved in music through the lute,harpsichord, and singing.
A notable aspect of his life, was that he was the only major composer of the time who did not have to write for and please a patron. He wrote both sacred and secular music, and most notably his madrigals.
For two years,Gesualdo's wife Donna Maria d'Avalos was having a affair with Don Fabrizio Carafa, who was the Duke of Andria. During that time Donna Marie and Don Fabrizio would allegedly bribe the servants to keep their actions secret.
After hearing rumors of his wife having an affair, Gesualdo had barged in on Donna Maria and her lover to whom he had then murdered. The murder of the two is believed to have been part of a trap Gesualdo set up, where they would meet when they believed it to be safe. He killed them both when catching them in the act by stabbing them multiple times followed by him ordering the public display of their naked bodies
Due to the nature of the murders, there were multiple rumors that were formed around Gesualdo. A lot of these rumors dramatize his crime, as well as his actions after the fact. He became a sort of legend due to the nature of his crimes. Even to this day the nature of his crimes, and the music he composed, remains an interest to scholars.
While he is most well known for his madrigals, Gesualdo did also write a fair amount of sacred music. He had four books of his sacred music published, which included Sacrae Cantiones I, for five voices (1603), Tenebrae Responsories for Maundy Thursday, for six voices (1611), Tenebrae Responsories for Good Friday, for six voices (1611), and Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Saturday, for six voices (1611).
Throughout his life, Gesualdo wrote many madrigals which were originally compiled into six different books. These books included Book I (Madrigali libro primo), for five voices (1594), Book II (Madrigili libro secondo), for five voices (1594), Book III (Madrigali libro terzo), for five voices (1595), Book IV (Madrigali libro quarto), for five voices, (1596), Book V (Madrigali libro quinto), for five voices (1611), and Book VI (Madrigali libro sesto), for five voices (1611). Books I-IV were written in the town of Ferrara, while books V-VI were written in the town of Gesualdo.
Even with the use of chromaticism, Gesualdo manages to avoid using jumps in intervals of the tritone, diminished sixths, and sevenths. In addition to this and the complexity of his music, he does not have many large jumps within individual lines.
Igor Stravinsky was fascinated with Gesualdo's madrigals, l lot of which was because of the unconventional chromaticism. When talking about Gesualdo's music, Stravinsky has said the following:
"... as Gesualdo’s mode of expression is dramatic, highly intimate, and very much in earnest, he weights the traditional madrigal of poised sentiments and conceits, of amorous delicacies and indelicacies, with a heavy load."
Much of the text of his madrigals had very a sensual theme to the text. Although often times madrigals in general would have this sort of theme for their text. Some people link the sort of text used for his works, to his own actions within his life. Specifically after the murder of his cousin who was also his first wife, during his second marriage he would apparently often cheat on his wife with others. This would then draw a connection between his life and the sensual theme of some of his madrigals.
A distinct aspect of Gesualdo's works, a his use of chromaticism. He would typically use chromaticism in order to highlight certain words or phrases within a piece. As example of this is within his work “Io Parto”, which was written for five voices. This composition uses unexpected chromaticism as well as some unusual rhythms for the time period that it was written
Within the Sacrae Cantiones the texts were chosen that often have a first person narrative, which tend to be asking God for forgiveness. This could be interpreted as a representation of his own inner discontent.
Gesualdo was not the only composer who used chromaticism at the time, but his use was far more extensive than other composers. He also made use of rhythms uncommon for the time, as well as using word painting through his chromaticism to accent and bring out certain words of a piece.
Rowland, Daniel B. Mannerism: Style and mood : An anatomy of four works in three art forms. New Haven: Elliots Books, 1964.
Borowitz, Albert. Musical mysteries: From Mozart to John Lennon. Kent, OH: Kent State UP, 2010.
"Don Carlo Gesualdo." Don Carlo Gesualdo - Principe dei musica. <http://www.gesualdo.co.uk/>.
"Biography - Carlo Gesualdo (Bio 1952)." Teploff's Music Collection. <http://www.mymusicbase.ru/PPB/ppb19/Bio_1952.htm>.
"Don Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa, Count of Conza (1561 - 1613)." Classical CD Reviews.<http://www.musicweb-international.com/gesualdo.htm>.
Estrella, Espie. "Carlo Gesualdo: A Look Into a Brilliant Yet Troubled Mind." Music Education.<http://musiced.about.com/od/famousmusicians1/a/cgesualdo.htm>.
Since the release of Get All You Deserve I thought I would go back to this little something I was going to do a while ago, but finally have together to be a bit more cohesive.. Here shall be a little review, or maybe more of a general "talk" of the album trilogy between Opeth's Heritage, Steven Wilson's Grace For Drowning, and the much awaited Storm Corrosion. So while the trilogy has been out for a while, I still love it to bits and would like to have my little input on the whole thing up on these series of tubes..
The albums Grace For Drowning from Steven Wilson and Heritage by Opeth are both part of an unofficial trilogy, both of which were released in September of 2011. The final album in this trilogy is titled Storm Corrosion, which is a collaboration between Steven Wilson (most notable of Porcupine Tree) and Mikael Åkerfeldt (of Opeth) which was released in April. Both the first two albums of the trilogy play tribute to 70's progressive rock, such as bands like King Crimson and Jethro Tull. This is especially true with songs such as "Raidar II", that have obvious influence from Crimson. Even lyrically, Heritage and Grace For Drowning have a darker tone than the albums preceding them (Watershed and Insurgentes, that were both released in 2008). The album covers for the three albums were done by Travis Smith, Lasse Hoile, and Hans Arnold, respective to the order of each release.
Heritage has been described by Steven Wilson as "... a kind of contemporary take on the darker side of seventies progressive music." While this album differs from most of their discography, it still maintains the distinct sound and style of Opeth. This is their second album where no harsh vocals are used at all, the first to do this being Damnation. Many people seemed to be surprised by the album due to this, but I find that it really doesn't sound too drastically different from what you might expect Opeth to do. Yes, it's no death metal album, but it has their core and distinct sound within each of the songs.
While the instrumentation used in Heritage isn't much different from their other albums, how they arranged and mixed it provided an obvious difference in their sound. The album presents itself as being less heavy than Opeth's previous albums, but somehow more melancholic. The track "Famine" draws many similarities to Jethro Tull with the use of flutter tonging in the flute, with a similar style to what Ian Anderson would use.
Grace For Drowning is a double album, disc one is titled Deform to Form a Star and disc two is Like Dust I Have Cleared from My Eye (as well as a third disc, The Map,
included in the deluxe edition). Aside from the deluxe edition having a
third disc and a blu-ray, it also has an amazing 120 page book of photographer Lasse
Hoile's work
The songs go through a variety of styles, from a 20-minute epic that pays tribute to 70's prog, to the more electronic and modern. This track is of course "Raider II", which I have seen on tumblr described as;
“Raider II” just kinda reminds me of if King Crimson took too much
acid and accidentally locked themselves in a dark room with Porcupine
Tree’s The Incident playing on repeat in 5.1 surround sound // in other words it’s amazing
Which I have to agree with, because that song does have many references to King Crimson, particularly their album Lizard and it's opening song "Cirkus". Knowing Wilson's appreciation of Crimson, as well as his work on remastering their catalog for the 40th anniversary editions, this was done intentionally. The influence of Crimson, 70's prog, and jazz is very noticeable on the album, and even more so in live performance.
Now to the final piece of the trilogy, Storm Corrosion, which itself is different from Wilson's and Åkerfeldt's other works. Though going based on what they were discussing about the album before it's release, nothing to really completely shock people with. Overall the whole album is simply a beautiful, solemn, piece of work. The album actually has very little percussion in it, but what it does have is performed by Porcupine Tree's drummer Gavin Harrison.
As mentioned earlier, the cover art for this album is a painting by Swedish artist Hans Arnold. This was not created for the album as it was painted in 1969, but chosen by Åkerfeldt and Wilson to be the cover. I think taking this piece adds to telling how they are paying tribute to the progressive and avant-garde music, most notable of the 1970's.
Storm Corrosion while different in style, really unites Heritage and Grace For Drowning. Throughout the album, you hear partial quotes from different parts of the other two albums.
"The album title came from reading stories and accounts of people who
have had near-death experiences with drowning. They all say the same
thing: They got a point where they stopped struggling where they reached
a point of calm, of grace. I like Grace for Drowning as a metaphor for
my life. I don’t really care anymore if I’m successful or if I’m going
to be more successful than I am already. I’d still like to share my
music with more people. But I’m not stressed about it. I’m making the
best music I’ve ever made now because I feel totally liberated from
trying to please anyone." ~ Steven Wilson
This
quote more than anything really describes all three albums, being where
Wilson (and Åkerfeldt) just go solely with what they want to create. Not
having to to stress about how people may react to it, just making the
music for themselves. With that sort of approach, you get the artists
full heart and soul put into the work. Once you create a piece of art that you put 100% of your emotions and efforts into, typically you are going to end up with something truly beautiful. For me, that is the case with these three albums, each one amazing in their own way. There is also the great experience of just listening through each album, one after the other with no interruptions. Through that you can really notice the similarities between the albums, with quotes and attributes to take note of the others, and really notice more details than you would otherwise.
Well, since Muse's new album The 2nd Law came out this week, I figured it would be good to review it (as well as do a write up of the two times I got to see them live). Now for the album, before hearing the whole thing I was having very mixed feelings on the whole thing, not sure if I would like it or not. I had heard three songs from the album, "Survival", "Unsustainable", and "Madness", so given that you can't really judge the whole product based off of three parts out of context. But now here we go upon hearing the whole thing..
First off, you can not judge an album based off of three out of context songs. I was honestly not sure if I would like this album or not, because I got such mixed vibes from what I heard. But hearing everything in context with each other, yes this is Muse, and yes they are still sounding fantastic.
You can definitely hear the Queen and U2 influences, but I think it still works to be an enjoyable album. Sure it's no Absolution, but I'm not saying that's a bad thing here as many people are, merely an observation. Matt Bellamy's vocals are really strong on the album, going into his falsetto at times that more resembles how he was singing on Origin of Symmetry. This with, as I'm sure was noticed by many in The Resistance, deeper range really adds a nice quality to the songs. Also from The Resistance now having Muse experiment with orchestral instruments, this continues with the addition of brass (and more than what was heard in "Knights of Cydonia" off of Black Holes & Revelations). Even if you're having doubts after a first listen through give it another shot, since at least for myself the songs really grow on you.
This album gives Chris Wolstenholme the lead vocals on two tracks, "Save Me" and "Liquid State", where he really does a fantastic job with them. On previous albums he's just done the back up vocals to Matt Bellamy, but he really can sing lead well. "Liquid State" reminds me more of their older material, but with the change of different vocals.
The only ssong I'm still not 100% with is "Unsustainable" because I feel like they're trying to do too much at once. If you want to do the dubstep and orchestral elements together, sure, but have it rationed out a bit more. It works much better within the album than just by itself, but I think it would have been better if it wasn't so much of it going on. I do really like how the album ends with "Isolated System", which is a nice blend of the electronic and orchestral elements.
I think if you write off the whole album based on one or two songs you heard on the radio, you'll be missing out. It's a good album with some really solid songs, that really work best in context with each other. It's still Muse, and they can still write new and interesting music while incorporating elements of the vast popular music scene.There are some parts as I mentioned where I think they are trying to do too much at once, but that's only in a few places. The album is a good one, that I would not only have as a "one time listen". Go check it out.
Left: 3/5/10, Right: 10/23/10
Now that the review of their new album is done with, time to get to the two shows. Both of these shows were part of The Resistance Tour, and come April they will be around North America for their The 2nd Law Tour. I really hope I can go to that, but I can't say for certain due to ensemble requirements that semester. Though I would be shocked if they didn't add a ton more dates for the States, or later on more New York shows for that matter. So in the (sad) case I can't see them in April, I would expect to be able to see them in the area at some point on this tour.
Madison Square Garden, March 5, 2010
This show I really like to attribute to really getting me into seeing concerts. I still consider it to be one of the best shows I have seen, since I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.
This show was actually an early birthday present from my parents, and I can't thank them enough for it. Tickets for this show and Blackfield are definitely up there for "best birthday presents". Anyway, the seats were way up in the last row of section 419, which at the time was pretty much as high up as you could go for the Garden.
The opening act was Silversun Pickups, and due to the stage set up and out seats I could not really see them. That being said, they sounded great. Their set was the following: 01. Growing Old Is Getting Old | 02. Well Thought Out Twinkles | 03. There's No Secrets This Year | 04. The Royal We | 05. Future Foe Scenarios | 06. Substitution | 07. Panic Switch | 08. Lazy Eye
Before Muse gets on stage they have projections of falling bodies over the massive towers, in the style of the Absolution cover, going as the "We Are the Universe" opening is playing. It still looked like the seats would have a blocked view, but once they got on stage, the curtains surrounding the towers dropped to have Matt, Dom, and Chris in the middle of each of the three towers. So what looked like it could have been the worst seats turned out to be some of the best with a fantastic view.
One of my favorite parts of that night was when they played "MK Ultra", which has to also be one of my favorite sons off of The Resistance (along with "Exogenesis: Symphony").
Their set was really extensive, not to mention long, including songs from all of their albums except Showbiz. I would have loved to hear some songs off of that album, but their set was amazing none the less. Being my first time seeing Muse, and first time at Madison Square Garden, I was just thrilled beyond belief to get to see one of my favorite bands. So sixteen year-old me sang along to every song, to the point of my voice getting really sore afterwords. That experience was really just incredible for me, and whenever I go to shows where it's appropriate to sing along with the crowd and band, I think of it.
Another really cool aspect of this show was the "Helsinki Jam" between Dom and Chris. Having not heard that before this concert, it was a real treat. Just those two playing, with Chris standing in front of Dom's set as it gradually turned to that at some point they got to face all parts of the audience.
For "Knights of Cydonia", it began with a harmonica introduction done by Chris, "Man with a Harmonica" which was a very suitable was to introduce their closing song. At the end, Chris even tossed the harmonica out to the audience, so who ever got that is very lucky in my opinion.
The amount of energy they had at this show just makes me want to see them again, especially at the Garden. I loved their show at Nassau Coliseum which I shall talk about shortly, but this show being earlier in the tour and with the venue, they really gave it their all.
The set for that night was: 01. Uprising | 02. Resistance | 03. New Born | 04. Map of the Problematique | 05. Supermassive Black Hole | 06. Guiding Light | 07. Interlude + Hysteria | 08. Nishe | 09. United States of Eurasia | 10. Feeling Good | 11. Helsinki Jam | 12. Undisclosed Desires | 13. MK ULTRA | 14. Starlight | 15. Plug In Baby | 16. Time Is Running Out | 17. Unnatural Selection Encore: 18. Exogenesis: Symphony Part I (Overture) | 19. Stockholm Syndrome | 20. “Man with a Harmonica” intro + Knights of Cydonia
Nassau Coliseum, October 23, 2010
Now while this show wasn't the same as the MSG one, it was still fantastic. This was towards the end of their tour, so granted they are going to be a bit tired from touring, but they can still put on a great show. The stage set up was the same for this show as the previous one, but this time I was sitting more across from the stage in section 303. It was nice having a different view, even if it was further away.
The opening act was the Canadian indie band Metric, who put on a pretty good opening set. It was the following: 01. Black Sheep | 02. Satellite Mind | 03. Dead Disco | 04. Gimme Sympathy | 05. Gold Guns Girls | 06. Sick Muse | 07. Help I'm Alive
One notable aspect of this show, was in the middle of solo in "New Born" the venue's PA went out. So you could see them playing, but barely hear them at all since they weren't being miked. This resulted in them taking a 5-10 minute break to solve the problem, picking up at the beginning of the solo. But they kept on strong after that, their music and performance was just too good the PA couldn't take it.
Anyway, another really neat part of this show was having a "House of the Rising Sun" introduction before playing "Time is Running Out". So what they did was play the instruments, as the whole pit (and some of the seated section) sings along. It was just a great way to lead into that following song.
This set consisted of: 01. Uprising | 02. Map of the Problematique | 03. New Born (+ Microphone Fiend riff) | 04. Supermassive Black Hole | 05. Resistance | 06. Hysteria (“Star-Spangled Banner” + “Interlude” intro) | 07. Guiding Light | 08. Nishe | 09. United States Of Eurasia | 10. Feeling Good | 11. Helsinki Jam | 12. Undisclosed Desires | 13. Time Is Running Out (“House of the Rising Sun” intro) | 14. Starlight | 15. Plug In Baby Encore: 16. Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 1: Overture | 17. Stockholm Syndrome | 18. Knights of Cydonia (“Man with a Harmonica” intro)
Between the two, the MSG performance was the better of the two by far, but that doesn't mean that they weren't both amazing. I just want to stress, I'm not putting down the Coliseum performance at all. It's just that the one at the Garden was just completely perfect to me. Now I'm sure I'm leaving out various detail here and there about the two nights, but with concerts you really just have to be there to fully enjoy the experience. Even though I post videos that other people recorded and posted on YouTube, it's no where near the same as being in the audience with the crowd all singing around you. I really loved them both, and hope that I get to see them again come April. If not, then at a later date in the tour. Based on my two experiences, they will always put on an absolutely fantastic show.
"Muse: Glorious"
Now going back to my whole "Lets draw something special for the various concerts I see!", we have what I did back in 2010 for the Madison Square Garden show. This took a lot of time, since first I drew and inked it on paper, then colored it in photoshop. Even though it was done over two years ago, I'm still really happy with how this came out. Muse is still one of my favorite bands, so this is my tribute to them. If you're on deviantART and are interested, I have it up there as well.
A major guest and panel for this year was various cast members from The Walking Dead. Outside the Javits Center they had the van set up with the actual zombies from the show, who were interacting with the crowd outside. Not once did they break character, and the detail of their makeup was amazing. It was really cool, they even would post for photos as you can see with me being attacked by them. This was so much fun, which made it really hard to hide my smile here since it was just so cool. Props to all the people involved with putting this all together, and really adding to the whole convention.
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