So, what are you listening to these days?

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I still love that band! I saw them play when they just got signed to a big label and played at a local bar. A lot of people in the punk world - the underground scene die hards - hate their success - that they “sold out”. But they are a solid band that’s done more than records. Even if they are not classic punk anymore, haven’t been for awhile, they are extremely creative and smart. They have 3 generations of fans now. That’s pretty impressive. American Idiot was an off broadway musical! And 21st Century Breakdown is a great concept album too! Check it out.

 
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Mendalla said:
If ever a song was due for a revival this year, it's Green Day's "American Idiot", originally released in 2004 during the Bush Jr. era. And, lo and behold, guess who was a headliner at Coachella this year?

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Also, remember when they did this protest in 2016? It’s in the middle of the song.
They didn’t tell the event organizers they were going to.


I mean, the world according to Green Day albums is pretty accurate and too bad more people didn’t listen. Oh, also, they have a shadow persona band called the Network that is also (mainly ironic) protest music in 80s new wave style. But understanding irony is essential with this band, too.

@Mendalla you might like this too. I don’t expect it’s everyone’s cup of tea.

m.youtube.com

The Network - Topic

The Network is an American six-piece new wave band. A secret side project of rock band Green Day, they released their debut album, Money Money 2020, on Adeline Records on September 30, 2003. After a 15-year hiatus, the band became active again, releasing a follow-up album titled Money Money 2020...
m.youtube.com m.youtube.com
 
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Kimmio Laughterlove said:
Funny everybody is too busy holding their phones up to mosh. The irony.
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LOL. I love watching the mosh pit at the European metal festivals. Those people know how to mosh, esp. with a band that likes to egg them on. Death metal crowds seem to be the best. Of course, at my age and with my joints, you'd never actually catch me in the pit but it's fun to watch.

Kimmio Laughterlove said:
American Idiot was an off broadway musical! And 21st Century Breakdown is a great concept album too! Check it out.
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I've listened to the original cast recording of the musical and it's pretty good. There's a few songs from 21st Century Breakdown in it, too (or maybe they were written for the show and then the band recorded them for that album, forget how it went). Who would have thought that a pop punk band would get a jukebox musical (as the industry refers to these types of shows)?

For all the wonderful energy in songs like "American Idiot", it's the intensely personal "Wake Me Up When September Ends" that remains my favourite Billie Joe Armstrong composition. Here Billie Joe discusses the meaning of it with Howard Stern before giving a live performance. Losing your father at 10 has to be rough and Billie Joe really poured that into the song.

 
He's actually closer to my little brother in age. Perhaps that's why, while I knew the music, I didn't really become a fan at the time. I think my earliest Green Day memory was the use of "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" in the clips show that was the penultimate Seinfeld episode..
 
Mendalla said:
LOL. I love watching the mosh pit at the European metal festivals. Those people know how to mosh, esp. with a band that likes to egg them on. Death metal crowds seem to be the best. Of course, at my age and with my joints, you'd never actually catch me in the pit but it's fun to watch.


I've listened to the original cast recording of the musical and it's pretty good. There's a few songs from 21st Century Breakdown in it, too (or maybe they were written for the show and then the band recorded them for that album, forget how it went). Who would have thought that a pop punk band would get a jukebox musical (as the industry refers to these types of shows)?

For all the wonderful energy in songs like "American Idiot", it's the intensely personal "Wake Me Up When September Ends" that remains my favourite Billie Joe Armstrong composition. Here Billie Joe discusses the meaning of it with Howard Stern before giving a live performance. Losing your father at 10 has to be rough and Billie Joe really poured that into the song.

Click to expand...
He did an autobiographical Audible podcast thing where he discussed his life and background. He’s actually a down to earth, imperfect but nice guy. He’s stayed real.
 
Mendalla said:
One of my unexpected favourite albums of 2024 was Tavern by German hurdy gurdy maestro and singer Patty Gurdy. And it is the gift that keeps on giving as she released another video from it today. A lively, uplifting tune to spin us into the weekend.

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It's not often you get to hear the story behind the making of a music video, but Patty Gurdy has nicely posted a behind the scenes look at "Rise Up". The man she is talking to is her producer/co-writer Gilbert Gelsdorf, who often shows up in her vlogs.

 
The Danish National Symphony does interesting concerts. Movie music, TV music, videogame music, you name it. So it's probably no surprise that they did a concert of Bond music. One of the defining characteristics of the action series has been the opening title songs. Originally mostly by the late John Barry, who also scored the movies, nowadays they are done by a variety of pop writers and singers. Here's a couple of the best from the Daniel Craig era of James Bond.

"Skyfall" was originally written and performed by British pop great Adele. And she successfully channeled the late John Barry's classic themes from sixties and seventies, fitting since the movie was the 50th anniversary Bond movie. Here, the orchestra performs it with Caroline Henderson and, if anything, it sounds even more like Barry Bond theme.


"No Time To Die" was a bit of an eye-opener for me. While I had heard Billie Eilish before, the idea of her doing a Bond theme seemed to be just the producers chasing the flavour of the moment. How wrong I was. Billie and her brother Finneas O'Connell, who is her regular co-writer, turned out a haunting, beautiful theme for Craig's final appearance as Bond. Might even be the best of the Craig era and landed Eilish one of her two Oscars (the other was for "What Was I Made For" from Barbie).

This performance by the orchestra with Danish pop singer eee Gee captures the song perfectly.

 
The Man of La Mancha is not a musical that's especially well-known nowadays, but its big hit, "The Impossible Dream" remains popular. It's a powerful anthem about pursuing dreams and shaking up the world. So it's a fitting choice for Broadway's elite to celebrate and support one of their own. Aaron Lazar is an award-winning actor on Broadway, film, and television who suffers from ALS. So for this track from his new album, some of the biggest stars from the world of musicals and music showed up. Even Sting is there, apparently he has a Tony nomination to go with all his Grammies and other music industry hardware. The number of Tony and Grammy awards in that room probably exceeds the number handed out in a given year.


Fittingly, Aaron gets the first big belt at 1:40. "This is my quest, to follow that star."
 
Emma Heesters is a Dutch pop singer that I more or less found through my love of her Dutch compatriot Floor Jansen. Emma and Floor were both on the same season of the Dutch music reality series Beste Zangers and Emma delivered a gorgeous cover of one of Floor's most personal songs that had Floor in tears. Emma announced late last year that she has cervical cancer but seems to be doing well based on recent updates. This is a new single she put out this week that came up in my YouTube recommendations. Good, powerful song. Still trying to get a good translation of the lyrics since it's in Dutch. TItle means, fittingly given her health issue, "Everything Gets Better".

 
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Here's how Google Translate rendered it into English:

Emma Heesters said:
My head sometimes runs away with me
I'm driving myself crazy again
I can't hear what you're saying
And I don't know how to do it yet
Because I've never been here before
I can't get past it so I have to go through it
Will you hold me
even if it's only for a moment
because it's storming
it's burning and it's raining
Hold me close
because everything is against you
say you'll stay and hold me
and everything will get better
Hold me close
and everything will get better
I've lost myself for a moment
everything seems cold and gray
I want the world to disappear
If it doesn't work today
then I'll put it aside
we'll try tomorrow,
we'll try again tomorrow
Will you hold me
even if it's only for a moment
because it's storming
it's burning and it's raining
Hold me close
because everything is against you
say you'll stay and hold me
and everything will get better
Hold me close and everything will get better
Hold me close and everything will get better better
Hold me tight and everything will be better
Hold me tight
even if only for a moment
because it's storming
it's burning and it's raining
Hold me close
because everything is against you
say you'll stay and hold me tight
and everything will be better
Hold me tight and everything will be better
Hold me tight and everything will be better
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What is better than Muse's space rock.opera Knights of Cydonia?
1,000 beautiful human beings playing it

Glory glory glory
I gotz goosebumps

So much joy here

 
Canadian indie singer-songwriter Lights has been around for a while now. Her sound is bright, melodic alt-pop. Lights' latest album came out today, entitled A26, and it's pretty dang good. Even had this metalhead bopping along. A couple samples of her craft. Her partner apparently sings in a metalcore band so need to check him out, too. Apparently, she herself sang in a metal band at the start of her career, while still in high school.


 
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