Not that I'm obsessed or anything...

But Jarle Bernhoft. JARLE BERNHOFT! Did I mention Jarle Bernhoft? Because I really like Jarle Bernhoft.

He has just put out his latest album, Solidarity Breaks, and I am still lamenting the fact I can't buy it on iTunes and have only been able to find it thus far on Norwegian sites. As much as I love Bernhoft, I am afraid of getting ripped off because I don't read a language well (or at all in this case). And I don't trust Babelfish enough to believe I'll keep from accidentally paying $4,000 for an album.

In any case, this studio album features both "C'mon Talk" and "Choices," the live versions of which I have posted previously in this blog.

In my opinion, C'mon Talk was WAY better live, and Choices was equally good both ways. The fun of the studio version is that it's far more danceable.

But the whole album is great. Every song. Literally, there was not a single song on the album I did not enjoy. And I can almost NEVER say that, both due to the fact albums are rarely that great, and the fact I am opinionated and critical.

I have posted Choices and Prophet (which did some special things to me for several reasons I shall not divulge) below, and recommend going to youtube and checking out EMuzach's account for the whole album.

I may be dubstep fail, but this guy is dubstep win in my book

In a quest to get me to fall in love with dubstep as he has, a good friend of mine sent me a multitude of his favorite tracks. After striking out with me about 5 or 6 times, he finally took a step back and gave up on making me "see the light" on what he liked.

Then he sent me a track that he knew I would like based on everything he knows about ME. The fact I go weak in the knees for strong, solid, unique, and clean male vocals. The fact that I want to feel the soul behind the music I hear. The fact I love music that can cross the boundaries between genres.

And with this one, my friend hit a home run with me. I hope you enjoy it as well. :-)

This Just Makes Me Happy

New Obsession for the Day (and Night)

Well, I suppose one could say I'm horribly behind the curve for making this guy my new obsession, since he died in 1944. Then again, one could say just about anything, really, and blogs like this one are proof of that.

Anyway, my point is, this: Agustin Barrios Mangore is THE MAN. No, not the white man "the man," but rather the shiz, "the man." I am so excited about him that I don't have any time to worry if that last sentence made any sense or could be written more eloquently.

I discovered him, by first doing a search on youtube for a very talented guy I knew in college (who, as I only recently discovered, is also friends with the female friend mentioned in my Deftones post). I had the distinct pleasure of listening to this guy play guitar through a cardboard thin wall that separated our two dorm rooms. His guitar playing made up for all the times his roommate's alarm clock woke me up.

He's the guy on the far right.

Well, after listening to the other two Gershwin... OH MY GOD WHY DOESN'T BLOGGER RECOGNIZE GERSHWIN AS A WORD?!?!?! GET THAT STUPID SQUIGGLY RED LINE OUT FROM UNDER THE NAME OF ONE OF THE GREATEST COMPOSERS TO EVER LIVE EVER IN THE HISTORY OF EVER, RIGHT NOW! I MEAN IT, BLOGGER!

Wow.

Sorry. But really, that outburst was completely warranted.

ANYWAY, after listening to the other two Gershwin Preludes performed by my friend and his friends, I moved on to a guitar solo video from the same youtube account. It was this one:

After hearing this, I decided I had to hear as much of Agustin Barrios Mangore as possible. I decided this at 10:45 PM, so I don't believe I will be listening to his entire repertoire tonight. Nonetheless, I have my playlist of discovery selected for the next several days at least.

And here are two more, for you who may not want to have to venture to youtube and look him up yourself (though you really should).

And if you're a fan of Mangore, and/or Gipsy Kings, or amazing edgy flamenco guitar in general... I also highly recommend checking out Paco de Lucia's music as well. But you'll have to go to youtube for that one because I've already rambled quite a bit, and if I start posting my favorite Paco stuff on here it'll take everyone 3 days to get through this post.

Something Resembling a Review of Deftones

I love reviews that come with stories. I will presume my readers feel the same way.

One of my dearest friends of all time informed me she will, in the near future, attend a Deftones concert with a gentleman who is a very big fan of theirs. I do not recall ever having heard a Deftones song, as they don't fall among my fave genres of music. I have never known my friend to be a fan of Deftones either. Thus I inquired about her motivation. She said "because my date has a ridiculous body that I want to eat things off of."

Since I have no visuals by which I may judge my take on her date's body, I am listening to several Deftones songs (spanning several years to gauge artistic growth), in order to determine how hot he must be. The logic being: the hotter his body, the more terrible music my friend would be willing to endure. Therefore, if a=b and b=a, the worse the music, the hotter his body.

Alright... here goes nothing.

Having listened to a song from 2005, two from 2006, and a few from 2010 (I think?).

I prefer the slower songs, on the whole. They are somewhat simplistic, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing in my opinion. Especially when so many songs of this genre tend to be really cogged up with so much shredding and drumming that I can't focus on any of the lyrics of the musicality of the singer's voice.

Speaking of the singer's voice, I can't say it's the most impressive voice I've ever heard, but it's still got several qualities I respect. Songs like Hole in the Earth, and Diamond Eyes, for example, show the quiet strength of Chino Moreno's voice. While I can give a nod to his ability to scream "cleanly," I most definitely prefer when he actually sings. There is a great deal of passion and intensity behind his voice, even when he isn't being loud. I can feel that he feels his music very deeply, and isn't faking it like some band fronters do.

I liked the song Be Quiet and Drive, for no good reason other than I found it kind of fun to listen to.

Okay, enough. I've made my determination.

Judging strictly by the music of Deftones, I'd say on a 1 - 10 scale of hottness (1 being sad-tastically uggo, and 10 being unfairly, obscenely, almost blindingly good looking)... my friend is attending the Deftones concert with a guy who's around an 8.95. Though I'm sure SHE'D put him at a solid 9.99. :-)