Sydney on purevolume™

Say Anything

Rock / Acoustic

Band of Horses

Rock / Alternative

Danger Is My Middle Name

Rock / Powerpop / Pop Punk

THE HIT

Pop Punk / Rock / Pop

Shorelines End

Alternative / Pop / Rock

THE CAB

Pop / Rock / Soul

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I'm a simply complex girl, who loves music of all varieties, and is honestly relatively new to the music scene. But not to worry, I'm a fast learner. Over the past 3 years my CD collection has grown from 2-84, and it would be growing faster if money was not an issue.
On the for real, I just really enjoy good music, and think that every musician has a story to tell, something that should be heard, and a dream that I can help make come true by listening. And I will never turn a blind eye to real talent (even if I'm lacking that in the music department).
As for me the person I have a better pen than pick, and my pencil doesn't suck either. I like to write, draw, sing (even if I'm not good), dance, read, cook, bake, and live. Living is definitely up there on the list. Yeah I think that's it cause this is already a bit long.

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November 29

It Has Definitely Been A While

Well I keep finding myself contemplating my future, my life, the current, the past, and a whole bunch of other...well crap. And I'm kind of tired of it, so today I'm going to talk about music...again. I love music. In fact no matter how many times I say this I think it needs to be said, well typed, again. There is something truly magical about music, that I just can't touch, which says a lot because I am quite the magical being. That none of us can. And the people who get the closest are the people who create it. Which is why it kind of (_inset witty turn of cliche that means something akin to annoys_) me when people put it down. It actually bothers me when people feel the need to belittle most forms of artistic expression, no matter how little art seems to be involved. Even if you can't find the meaning, there is one for someone somewhere in there, no matter how blatant or esoteric it may be. So because of an episode of Big Band Theory, (one of the only episodes I've watched) a good portion of the US population understands the idea of Shroddinger's cat and the premise it sets. If you don't know it I'll give you a quick rundown. There's a cat in a box, and whether it is dead or alive will not be known until the box is opened and the possibly dead/alive cat is revealed. Life works that way in that we don't know what anything is really like until we experience it. What does this have to do with music...well honestly I kind of just wanted to type a bit about Shroddinger's cat. But I guess it can be relative. You see, with music you don't know what you like until you experience it. For a personal example I used to not really be knowledgable about music. In fact in my mind I am the equivalent of a...let me count...3.5 year old in the realm of musical experience. I used to believe that all rock music was dark, suicidal, and profanity (good call on that one Sydney who used to listen to Nelly and 50 cent all the time). I only listened to whatever was spoon fed to me by my sister and brother and their radio habits, which lead to my knowledge of the pop, R&B and hip-hop realms, as well as my dad's taste in motown and oldies. That was pretty much it for me, until one blissful summer. The summer of the year 2005 was kind of a magical year for me. It was the year that I started watching MTVhits when everyone else was gone from the house. Through this experience I found myself stumbling upon music videos that seemed so alien to the ones that I was used to watching. There were four guys and a deer boy, three guys in a car, cartoons that maybe were on drugs, a band named after an assassinated historical figure, and a bunch of Christian rockers that needed an escape. I was pretty much thrown head over neck into a world of music that I had been ignoring and even mocking but then...then I found myself appreciating it. It fit the way that I was feeling at that point in my life. I was going through things that 50 Cent didn't seem to be able to undestand and that Destiny's Child was not experiencing. Don't get me wrong I was still dancing to them, but I needed something, not better, but more...appropos to my life at the moment. Fall Out Boy seemed to have it in their lyrics, as well as Green Day, and Relient K. The Gorillaz were a different good time and Franz Ferdinand made me want to dance but not in a way I was used to. And I had formerly been such a severe critic of the Rock 'n' Roll scene. I was reformed. And to this day I still am. As I grew to experience more, Hellogoodbye, Head Automatica, Glassjaw, Jack's Mannequin, and even classics like Queen, Cheaptrick, Bowie, and a ton of other stuff I began to realize I was becoming more critical of the music that I had left behind. And I started despising that part of myself, the part that was leaving behind a whole other existence of music. The songs that were there for me when I had nothing else. I was devaluing the pop music that I had once loved, the songs I had once danced to, and the rap beats that were still in the back of my mind, and that's not my style really. I don't just leave things behind and I don't just put down art. In many ways I am an an artist and putting down another artist...well it sucks to be criticised as an artist. I can't take criticism unless it is actually constructive, and even then I sometimes just...take it to heart in the bad way. The same way that others that put themselves on the line for the world to see take people's criticisms to heart. So, why in the good name of cheese, would I think it's okay to tear someone else down? How does that seems like karma wouldn't come back to bite me in the neck and make me suffer an eternal damnation as an overly criticized immortal artist who only brings woe unto themself (I do apologize for my elongated and altered cliches/puns/stuff). Hence, I have tried to stop criticizing artists like Soldier Boy whose songs I do enjoy dancing to, even though I find not value in the lyrics in my mind. I may not be able to find some comfort in words like "Superman that ho", but other people are finding joy and smiles in them when they sing along and dance to them on YouTube. Now if I can simply put my criticisms back in my mouth, reflect on them, and realize that I'm being just as pretentious as some of the other people out there that seem to have no qualms about breaking artists down, I think that those same pretentious loud mouths can shut up. Or at least stop clogging the internet with your mindless jabber about people being sell-outs or rip-offs. It takes guts to put yourself on the line no matter what you're singing or performing and if you don't have the guts to do or, or even if you do, it doesn't give you the right to give someone else grief for what they come up with. Self-expression is primarily for the individual, so if you dont like it shut up, sit down, keep your hand off of any keyboard you come into contact with, and for the love of all that is sweet potatoe pie just don't. You don't have to listen to something you don't like. Experience it. Find out if the cat is alive or dead and then, move on. No one forces anyone to listen to something they don't like, and when someone bares their soul, unless you are going to be constructive, you have no reason to make your criticism known. On the brighter side of things the great thing about the internet is that it makes it so easy to find new/interesting/fun music to just enjoy and to experience. So search for something new and if you think it's interesting then I encourage you to try it. But if you even think a bad thought that is not in the least bit constructive keep it to yourself.

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July 21

I'm Late To The Game, But I Promise I'll Deliver...Or At Least Try

I don't know what it is about music. Maybe it's hidden in the melodies, or the rhythms. It could be buried beneath the lyrics, but it can't be that for classical music, or those instrumental jazz pieces. There's always the chance that it's inside of the notes, each individual one that makes up a song, tune, or ditty that gets trapped in our heads and has to be sung or hummed out. Whether it's the beat , the coda, the dynamic, the form, the measures, the octaves, the rests, the tone, or whatever I don't know what it is about music, but it's something amazing. So I just came back from a concert, and as I was there enjoying the show I noticed something interesting. Whenever a band played a song I knew and loved I felt it in me. I knew what was coming, and as it came out of the speakers, it also came out of me. I couldn't help but dance and sing (even if I was panicking whilst I searched the crowd for my best friend), to every Motion City Soundtrack song that had been there for me, when I didn't want to pick up a phone. The ones that helped me power through my workout helping me to get into shape (darn hill climb function on the elliptical...oh how I miss thee). The songs that were awake with me, when no one else was, or just the songs that I would blast in my dorm room and sing while I jumped around on my bed, heater, chair, and any other surface I could reach without breaking myself just dancing my heart out and smiling. It was as if the songs and the music were apart of me that I had to express, even if that one creepy looking guy was giving me a weird look. Even more interesting though, was the way I reacted to the songs that I didn't know by the bands that I now want to send friend requests to. When Black Gold, the band I remember from a previous Panic At The Disco show began playing their catchy beats and singing their songs I had to jump, move and dance when I heard the sounds. There was actually a lack of control over my hands being raised in the air, or clapping, and my feet stomping on the ground. By the end I was singing that one line from the song that it would be impossible to not know from listening to the song the one time. And as I was singing that one line, I was dancing, and literally feeling something in me that would not let me keep still. There is something wondrous about putting the right combination of notes, words (maybe not), melodies, beats, and rests together into the desired form to create a song. I want to be able to do that. To make someone else feel the way I feel when I listen to a song and try to sing it out as loud and hard as I can. I feel like maybe if I can get that song out loud enough, with enough passion and feeling, then it will come to life. Then it will happen right before my eyes, visible, solid, I'd be able to touch the song and I'd be able to understand every possible aspect of it. It's as if each song has its own spell, it's own dose of magic that can be brought to life if you sing it out with enough heart and soul. That may explain why we listen to sad songs when we're down, loud, fast and hard songs when we're angry, our happy music when we're in our more pleasurable moods, and whatever else for whatever possible emotion or dysfunction we may experience. We listen to what we feel to hope that we sing the incantation or feel it just right, to make the song come alive and have everything be alright. Music is something magical, that can turn a day around, and color a dreary world with vibrant splashes of rhythm, and violent splots of beats. I love the way it makes me feel. I love how, even though I don't have a great voice, I forget about it all and just sing my little heart out because the music tells me to. Whether it's Duke Ellington, Chopin, Meatloaf, Queen, or just the theme song to The Golden Girls (maybe even Veruca Salt's song from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory), it has to be done, and I can't stop myself once I start. In fact I don't want to stop myself until the CDs ended, the records stopped spinning, the tape is rewinding itself, and the radio hits indefinite commercial breaks. There's something amazing and fantastic (original definition) about music that just makes it apart of us, a necessary part, that we can't live without. (Insert awesome quotionary music relevant quote here. I wish I had this thing with me.) Hopefully Eloquently, Sydney

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