(50) Sundays of Music: #19

#19: Minus the Bear - Menos el Oso

Before we get in to today's post, I have to admit something that I'm sure no one is checking up on but I feel I need to discuss. This isn't actually #19, it was originally #18. But upon seeing what was #19 and realizing that band has a cd coming out next month, I'm moving it around to do a week full of posts in anticipation of said new cd. I can do this, because it's my countdown haha. And I'm pretty sure I'm giving away what the artist is (especially if you have seen my posts about September music on facebook) but it should still be fun.

Fun fact: Music Sunday wasn't always a countdown. For a few months before the end of 2009, I was coming up with various themes. And Minus the Bear was the band behind the very first post.

If you don't feel like clicking, I will give you the story in a nutshell. Hedman discovered this band and brought it into the house my freshman year of college. It was actually this cd he brought with him and he and Fricso immediately got into it. For whatever reason, it took me a little longer but when I did, this cd got played out in our apartment.

Like I've said in previous posts, I feel like my musical world exploded when I got to college. I was hearing sounds I didn't even know existed and Minus the Bear is definitely one of those sounds. (I say is because they put out a fantastic cd this year called "OMNI")

I really don't know how to describe it. I think I've heard it called "Math" rock before, but I'm not exactly sure what that means. I just know it feels very "jammy" with some chill moments. It's the kind of cd I can put on to fall asleep, to clean my room or put in the background while friends are over.

Later, my brother would even get into them and hands down our favorite track was "Pachuca Sunrise." It's just one of those where as soon as I hit play, I smile.

Like the last selection, I encourage anyone to give this cd a shot. And if you need help obtaining said cd, just hit me up.

For now, please enjoy a little "Pachuca Sunrise" from the awesomely titled "Menos el Oso."

Good News for Those Who Like Music News

Man, I'm on a blogging rampage this week. Hope you guys don't mind.

First off, I FINALLY have release dates for two of my favorite bands. Envy On The Coast's new cd, Lowcountry, comes out March 30 and Minus the Bear's new cd, OMNI, comes out May 4. Consider these dates marked on my calendar.

But on to the news worthy story: Fearless Records will release another "Punk Goes..." on April 27.

I have been a fan of this series for a while, with them releasing such stuff as Punk Goes (Pop, '90s, Crunk) which are all cover songs. (They also released two versions of Punk Goes Acoustic, but that doesn't really apply here).

Anyways, the one they will release in April will be called "Punk Goes Classic Rock," which means some of your favorite tracks are going to be butchered. But same may be given justice.

In these releases, they are always hit or miss. I have some huge favorites such as Halifax's cover of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" and Alesana's cover of Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around." There is plenty more, but I would just be rambling. Some songs just straight up suck. And I can already tell from the following list, some of these are going to as well. But I think there are going to be some gems in there.

The following is the track list for the release. I'm sure some are already out as I have seen one of them in a past post by jeanette at Cooler Ranch or Nacho Cheese? But the ones in bold are the ones I am looking forward to. The ones in italics are the ones I am curious about because the original is one of my favorites. The rest I guess we will just have to wait and see.

1. Hit The Lights "More Than A Feeling" (originally recorded by Boston)
2. VersaEmerge "Paint It Black" (originally recorded by The Rolling Stones)
3. The Almost "Free Fallin'" (originally recorded by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
4. Mayday Parade "We Are The Champions" (originally recorded by Queen)
5. The Summer Set "Rock 'n Roll All Nite" (originally recorded by KISS)
6. We The Kings "Caught Up In You" (originally recorded by .38 Special)
7. A Skylit Drive "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" (originally recorded by Journey)
8. I See Stars "Your Love" (originally recorded by The Outfield)
9. Pierce The Veil "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" (originally recorded by Blue Oyster Cult)
10. Forever The Sickest Kids "Crazy Train" (originally recorded by Ozzy Osbourne)
11. The Maine "Pour Some Sugar On Me" (originally recorded by Def Leppard)
12. Envy On The Coast "All Along The Watchtower" (originally recorded by Bob Dylan)
13. Every Avenue "Take Me Home Tonight" (originally recorded by Eddie Money)
14. Never Shout Never "Bohemian Rhapsody" (originally recorded by Queen)
15. blessthefall "Dream On" (originally recorded by Aerosmith)

Music Sunday: 2009 Concerts I Attended

The Sounds/Paramore/No Doubt
June 5, Atlanta

On our way to the concert
The Sounds and their awesome performance

Paramore (fun fact: heard "Ignorance" before it was released and thought "I really like this song")

With the lead singer of The Sounds, missing the beginning of No Doubt but it was worth it...

Because I asked her to sign the ticket like that (that's what she kept saying on stage) and she laughed and actually did it

No Doubt doing their thing

And this is apparently me rocking out to No Doubt doing their thing

Not to overstate, but they were amazing

And when we got home, we could NOT stop laughing about this:




Envy On The Coast/Anberlin/Taking Back Sunday
June 17, Atlanta

Envy On The Coast opening up (and doing a damn good job of it)

Anberlin getting us to the main event

The band we all came to see

And the man we all came to see (Adam Lazarra)

The following is a video I didn't take, just found it on youtube. I was probably in the back trying to catch my breath:




Warped Tour 2009
July 28, Atlanta

Warped Tour is always so much fun

Underoath

Me w/ Saosin

Bayside

Senses Fail

The Devil Wears Prada

A Day To Remember and their insanely huge crowd for not being on a main stage

w/ the lead singer of Senses Fail

Chiodos closing out the day

The following is the craziness of seeing Underoath live:

Incubus
August 14, Atlanta

I only got two good pics, which is a shame really

because that concert was absolutely amazing

And the following is one of the sickest intros to a concert I have ever seen:

Carolina Liar/Taking Back Sunday
September 18, Tuscaloosa

Now this one hurt, because I had to attend my rival school's campus in order to watch this show. And when we were there, the coliseum was not even half full so that was disappointing. But what wasn't disappointing was their performance. However, there was one more thing that was disappointing: no pictures. But I did a quick youtube search and found the following video from that concert that displays just why I love this band so much:

The Swellers/Paper Route/Paramore
October 27, Atlanta

The Swellers

A cool collage my friend made of Paper Route and their 27 instruments

Paramore owning the place

And Hayley owning my heart

These pics were taken from a friend's camera, and I had to search youtube once again for a video from that show. Everybody's (and my) favorite song from the new album seems to be Misguided Ghosts, and this their performance, complete with the crowd (that would include myself) joining in



Minus the Bear
November 10, Birmingham

A show we bought tickets for at the last minute, I also did not have a camera for this one and relied on the tube to bring the greatness to this blog post. It turned out to be our last show of the year after failing to see Anberlin/All American Rejects/Taking Back Sunday at the end of November and Saosin at the beginning of December (I also missed Blink-182 in September and still kick myself for it). But if this is a band you haven't heard of, you need to know. Show was epic.



So ends the look back at 2009. I already have Muse in February and Warped Tour (possibly in Chicago -- WHAT) to look forward to, but here's hoping that some of my favorite bands hit the road and here's really hoping I have my own camera this time.

Music Sunday: Minus The Bear

Confession: I am 100% stealing the "Music Sunday" idea from miss*H. I have always wanted to do something similar and I hope she doesn't mind if I take her idea. Especially because I am giving her full credit ;)

I know it seems like I am always talking about a show I'm going to (I didn't even talk about the Drum and Bass event I went to in October) but I guess you have to live when you are young and able, right? On Tuesday, I will be seeing a band I have liked for a while, Minus the Bear, in Birmingham. I usually go to Atlanta for shows, but Bham is also about two hours away. I have only been there once, for an Armor for Sleep/Underoath/Taking Back Sunday show in 2007. But this place I'm going to called The Workplay seems to be much smaller venue which should be nice.

We started listening to Minus the Bear during my freshman year when my roommate at the time, Hedman (who I am still friends with now -- he has been mentioned here before), brought them into the house. He and Frisco got into them first. For whatever reason, it took me a little longer. But once I did, and the entire house did, we REALLY got into their sound. It's just... different. Especially for what I usually listen to. It's very chill, but they can also jam with the best of them. We have kept up with them over the years and thanks to torrents were able to get their entire discography a few years back.

Last week, my brother went to a show of theirs in California. He was texting me telling me he was there and I was telling him I was jealous and that we were contemplating going ourselves. Afterward, he said the entire show, openers and all, was "perfect" and said that MTB was "fucking amazing." That pretty much convinced me to get on it and upon realizing that tickets were ridiculously cheap, they were purchased.

Now I would like to share some of the music I will be jamming to, in progression form.

From their first release, "This is What I Know About Being Gigantic" (September 2001)



From their debut album, "Highly Refined Pirates" (August 2002)



From an EP released between albums, "Bands Like It When You Yell "YAR" At Them" (May 2004)



From the album that has gone down as a classic, "Menos el Oso" (August 2005)



From the remix album, "Interpretaciones del Oso" (February 2007)



From their third full length, "Planet of Ice" (August 2007)



From an acoustic album, "Acoustics" (October 2008)



And finally, their latest single, off an album due out next year (October 2009)