Today I bring you...MUSICALS! See, I've always had a love/hate relationship with musical theatre. I love the raw emotion that a song can express, and the power of live theatre. I still remember the time I went to New York when I was eleven and saw Miss Saigon on Broadway -- amazing. (Plus, Lea Salonga is the shit. Just sayin'.) But I also get really irritated and turned off by stupidly cheesy shows, hence the love/hate. My tastes tend to run more towards modern musicals with a rock score, and they MUST be depressing for me to fall in love. I guess the crying cuts the cheese (lol why am I laughing I am totally twelve) for me, I don't know.

So here are three of my favorite cast recordings, along with my typical tl;dr blather. I picked a handful of shows that, while popular, may not be household names. Give them a shot! Even if you think you don't like musicals. Musical theatre is a medium, not a genre, so there's gotta be SOMEthing you fancy in there. :)



( this ended up being a lot longer than i thought it would... )


If you read this entire entry, you have the stamina of an Arabian stallion. Ask questions if you have any -- I love talking about my music! I'd appreciate a comment, as geeking out was hard work! Or comment and tell me that I should really set a max word count and to not upload so much shit next time, idk. Hey, just tell me about your day if you want.


I totally started this on Thursday but didn't finish until right now, wow. Hence the tag. o___O I have also been meaning to make this post since like November, but I did not because I am a loser.

ARTIST: The Killers
ALBUM: Day & Age
GENRE: Indie/rock/alternative
RATING: B+
HOST: Megaupload
SIZE: 84.41 MB

( tracklist )


Once upon a time, Brandon Flowers, the Killers' frontman, made a snarky remark about my godThom Yorke and I've been giving the guy (and his band) a hard time ever since.

Music snobbery and complete irrationality often walk hand-in-hand.

Be that as it may, I found myself genuinely looking forward to the Killers' new effort. Their first album, Hot Fuss, with its thumping dance beats and anthem-inducing lyrics brought to mind chaotic nights in a club that you're not quite sure if you want to remember, but know that you will never really be able to forget. In a time where retro synthesizers were all the rage, the Killers emerged as one of the finest of the wave of bands to sacrifice at the altar of Dave Gahan.

Day & Age is a return to that pop feeling that they missed out on with Sam's Town, but this time there's a little less oomph, a little less swagger, and a little more world weariness. You may not want to go out dancing, but rather exchange the leggings and the lines for flailing around your own bedroom. It's a solid album, if a little bit weird at times. There is an overall feeling that there was meant to be a statement somewhere in there, some grand message, but it got lost along the way.

"Neon Tiger" and the bonus track "A Crippling Blow" are definitely worth third and fourth and oh hell, might as well put them on that repeat playlist, listens.

The theme of today's Tuesday Talk and mix mash-up is inspiration. Above all, for me, music has always been inspiring. The right kind of music can get your mind moving when even the strongest cup of coffee has failed. The right kind of music can free up your mind and let your thoughts go from hops to leaps to a whole story laid bare in front of you on your computer screen. Even if you're not an aspiring journalist who dabbles in the occasional flight of fancy (re: fanfiction) like me, we all still listen to music because of the power that it holds over us, the ability that it has to trigger some cognitive response that is sacred to the individual. It is an experience that is entirely personal, entirely our own.

There are many albums that I hold up as examples of musical excellence, but the one that has always been the most inspirational is Radiohead's In Rainbows. The surrealist lyrics juxtapose the quirky beats that the band is known for, but it's the album's more melodious moments that resonate the strongest for me. Today's mash-up mix contains some of this album, along with a few other songs that I also find stimulate the ever-perplexing mind.

In turn, as this is Tuesday Talk, I invite you to share and discuss what sort of music inspires you, no matter what it is that you do. Feel free to rant, rave, and even share videos.

( You are my centre when I spin away. )

Yup that's right. This Monday, this week will be a talk because I haven't had the time to make a mix that will be ready for today and absolutely have no time to do so for this week. Maybe next week and if I fall on a Monday ;D. Pushing that matter aside, I had intended to do a Review, but over the weekend I found a topic that is of EXTREME interest that I thought...I MUST SHARE THIS WITH THE COMMUNITY!~ so here it goes.

As we all well know, the year is ending and what's very special about the year ending for the music industry? The Music Awards and the immediate need to release the best albums as the year ends. And I know there has been a couple many that's been given out so far within the entire year, including movie awards and etc. But I'm sure many of you are asking, just what is so special about the music awards? Well I don't know about you, but for me, aside from the curiosity of who gets what awards, the next best thing are the performances of those "featured" for the show, which is in fact the topic for this discussion:

"What is (or are) your favorite performance in the many music awards shows?"

You can go as far back as...God knows when. It would even make this discussion much more awesome if you could share the awesomeness with video clips. And you can also pick from any genre awards, cause I also saw the Country Music Awards and that was awesome, but not in my radar and language too. Cause I seriously am such a fan of world music I try my best to see all music awards cermony available.

Discuss away!~

( for the curious, here's my favorite performance that...took my breathe away and initiated me to take upon this discussion )

Remember now, no bashing. Be nice. And sorry for the very early posting. Aside from dying to want to share this discussion, I needed a break from writing my paper and felt that this would be a good break.

I can't wait to see what performances you'll talk about!~ (Loves discussing if you can't tell)

Hey guys - it's me again :) Normally it'd be somebody else up here giving you your Thursday spotlight, but the person who was originally set for this week doesn't have full internet access (and thus can't upload all her stuff), so you guys will be stuck with me instead :p

I sincerely hope nobody minds that rather than doing an Artist Spotlight, I've uploaded a song mix instead - my main excuse is that since I'm doing the Artist Spotlight next week, I'm kind of stumped for ideas about what I could do two weeks in a row. My secondary excuse is that Mediafire, my usual choice of uploaders, refuses to work for me at the moment and I'd need to upload a good deal of stuff to properly feature an artist :p I'd use another uploader (Rapidshare, Sendspace, Megaupload) but they all take forever... :( And lastly, I had this song mix all ready anyways, and was really just kinda lazy. Which, given the kind of song mix this is, is a pretty appropriate response.


ALBUM: Wide Awake And Dreaming
ARTIST: Various
GENRE: Lo-fi, Ambient, Pop, Rock, Folk, Electronic, etc.
SIZE: 87 MB
RATING: A+
LINK: Badongo (Mediafire doesn't seem to be working for me lately D:)

( Tracklisting. )

I have to admit - I've made a lot of mixes in my time, mostly for personal reasons, but a lot of mixes nonetheless... and I have to say that this one? is really one of my favorites ♥ I'm not saying that just to "sell" the mix - obviously, if I've uploaded it, I'd love to have people download and give feedback - but I might say that out of all the mixes I've ever done, this sits squarely in my top three :) I'll admit I'm a biiig night owl (my motto: sleep is for the weak!), so more often than not I fumble drowsily around on my laptop at 4 AM in the morning, sleepless in Toronto, with nary a mug of steaming black coffee to sustain me. My subconscious has already reared its ugly head so my thoughts start spinning wildly out of control and my imagination makes fantastic, surrealistic leap after fantastic, surrealistic leap. Anyways, I made this mix to go with those flights of fancy, and it's a fairly eclectic mixture of defiant alertness and drowsy ambience. If you've ever gone through a frustrating bout of insomnia, or been plagued by seemingly alien late-night doubts and fears, here's a collection of songs to get you through the night.

Comment if you take!

Released November 11, 2008, Sycamore Meadows is producer superstar Butch Walker's fourth studio album. Having spawned hits for megastars like P!nk, Fall Out Boy, Avril Lavigne, Hot Hot Heat and many, many more over the past decade, Walker is almost a household name - except for the part where his personal work never sells even half of what his projects for bigger, badder Hollywood names do... a shame, because judging by the four solo albums under his belt, Walker has a great deal to offer the music industry: he's a good-looking guy with plenty of tabloid potential, a keen ear for catchy pop-punk/glam-rock anthems, and an impressive ability to churn out surprisingly fresh lyrical masterpieces to add substance to his rebelliously whimsical and deceptively flamboyant rock style.


ALBUM: Sycamore Meadows (2008)
ARTIST: Butch Walker
GENRE: Rock
SIZE: 67.85 MB
RATING: A-
LINK: Mediafire

( Tracklisting )

Sycamore Meadows is deceptively upbeat upon the first listen, sounding more like an album full of breezy summer blockbusters than a carefully woven narrative of heartbreak, cynicism, and at the risk of sounding schmaltzy, personal despair.

( Cut for more review. )

Comment if you take and remember to give us your feedback :) ♥ Butch Walker's a vastly underrated artist, so I'd be very interested in hearing what you guys think of him!

Okay, so, it's definitely still Monday in some places, right? Yes? Absolutely.



( optimism; the tendency to take the most hopeful view in all matters )

I know I'm not the only one who, after a long and particularly discouraging day, cranks up my music to drown out negative feelings and make myself feel better. There's something definitely cathartic, something definitely emotionally cleansing about listening to your favorite bands sing about the follies of life and feeling a little less alone in the world. In fact, I'd probably go so far as to say that music has helped me deal with a lot of difficult situations growing up, and that's one of the reasons why it's such a big part of my life today.

Some of my favorite songs to listen to when I'm feeling low, all for different reasons:

Moon River (Audrey Hepburn)
Creep (Radiohead)
Once More With Feeling (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.)
Wonderful World (James Morrison)
Girl Anachronism (The Dresden Dolls)
Let It Be (The Beatles)
Stab City (As Tall As Lions)
Vancouver (Jeff Buckley)
Time Won't Let Me Go (The Bravery)
Cold Desert (Kings of Leon)
Torn (Natalie Imbruglia)
Just Feel Better (Santana feat Aerosmith)
...and a lot, lot more, but we'll keep this short for readability :)

How about you guys? What music do you listen to when you're feeling blue? And do do you listen to music when you need a pick-me-up in the first place?

So... I had a lot of dilemma picking out an artist to do a spotlight for, simply because I have so much on my hard drive that I loved, despite the fact that I have still yet to collect all their album. But I finally came to a decision and picked Aqua Timez to be the spotlight for this week!


( WE ARE AQUA TIMEZ AND THIS IS OUR TIME! )

Today I come bearing the latest Snow Patrol release, A Hundred Million Suns, which was released October 24th in Ireland and October 27th in the rest of the Europe. It is the band's fifth studio album, following their 2006 release, Eyes Open. I'll be honest with you guys: I walked into this album fairly ambivalent about Snow Patrol - while I enjoyed the coherently dreamlike mood to their music, I also wasn't crazy about the whole mopey rockstar motif in the past. But like most rock bands from the UK of late (Oasis and Keane are two examples we've featured in this comm), Snow Patrol has quickened the pulse of their sound - and I must say, I quite enjoy it.


ALBUM: A Hundred Million Suns (2008)
ARTIST: Snow Patrol
GENRE: Rock
SIZE: (in total) 106.48 MB
RATING: A-
LINK: Part I, Part II (both Mediafire)

( Tracklisting )

Let's make one thing clear: Compared to Keane, Snow Patrol's 'sonic makeover' isn't nearly as extreme - A Hundred Million Suns is still recognizably Snow Patrol and in some respects very similar to Eyes Open - the romantic lyrics, the piano melodies and guitar bridges, and half-alternative/half-ambient rhythm are all present in the band's latest release.

( Read more. )

Comment if you take and remember to give us your feedback :) ♥ There's nothing we like more at stereokiss than a) discovering and sharing great new music, and b) hearing what you, our members, have to say!