If you’d rather see your favorite band perform for thousands at an epic radio event this winter than stay at home resenting the cold weather, then this is the time to act. This year, 99.5 WZPL is looking for a talented artist from the Rock, Pop, or Singer-Songwriter (Male and Female) Channels to set the rockin’ holiday mood by kicking off their annual Christmas show. And guess who else is on the bill? None other than pop sensations The Fray will be featured at the same event!
Head on over to the “99.5 WZPL Holiday Concert Opening Performance” Channel and judge to find the best song. As soon as you judge in your first battle, you’ll be entered for the chance to win two tickets to the Christmas show in Indianapolis. If you’re eighteen years old and reside in the forty-eight contiguous United States, then you’re eligible for the prize. Win and you might just find yourself in over your head this Christmas.
Punk rarely introduces itself. And it’s not like it needs an introduction (although, if you’d like one, we’ve got just the place for you to do so): this controversial culture has been touted as the voice of the anti-authoritarian youth since the ’70s and its cultural significance is undeniable. Since then, it has been adapted and transformed through its contact with other styles of music and ideologies, proliferating into dozens of subcultures, each with their unique blend of, let’s say, unrefined rock. Regardless of the musical and stylistic changes the genre has experienced throughout the years, punks have always been aggressive, dogmatic and eternally misunderstood for their unconventional lifestyle (not to mention questionable fashion choices). Love it or hate it, the music is here, doesn’t care what you think and is rearing to rock your socks off.
Bobot Adrenaline - YOU'RE MOSHING
“Dumb Bomb” – Bobot Adrenaline: Short, sweet, and to the point. This is punk rock at its purest. One of the finest tracks in the OurStage Punk Channel.
“Pieces of Four” – Sinister Trailerpark Magic: This trio of Canadian siblings brings to the genre a quality often overlooked in punk: good songwriting. Their songs usually clock more than than your typical punk track, but keep the listener involved with their eclectic style.
“Personality Overload” – The Beat Seekers: In a sea of over-produced pop-punk songs, “Personality Overload” provides a balance between catchy and gritty that is infectious.
“Gasoline Whiskey” – The Boston Thieves: Reminiscent of early Mí¶torhead, this band (interestingly from Chicago, considering their name) bring the speed and energy that get your blood pumping. If they need a song that will get people going at a concert, then here they have it.
“See You In Hell” – The Resignators: Ska revival is one of those sub genres that will never die. It’s too much fun for us to let it go!
“Kill The Youth” – Our Future Leaders: Even with a compressor smashing this song to a flat mush, it manages to blaze its way into our head. This proves that music comes first and will always shine. Also, lo-fi punk? YES PLEASE!
“My Pint” – The Bastard Suns: Recipe for a sick punk anthem: play fast, play furious/write about hanging out with the bros and having a good time/mix with a few pints of alcohol/add gang vocals to taste.
Have any tunes in particular that you care to share? Disagree with any of the picks? Want a theme in particular to be Shuffled? Let us know by dropping a comment!
Listen to previous Press Shuffle playlists over at 8tracks.com.
Time and time again, listeners shy away from instrumental music simply because it usually lacks an immediately relatable trait. It doesn’t have the traditional lyrical hooks and memorable vocal lines that popular music is known for and our modern ears are accustomed to. And, while the proficient composition and performance of instrumental music usually requires a certain level of musical skill, listening to it does not. The genre only asks for open ears and an open mind. Now, there are many ways in which we can approach instrumental music”as a pure, unadulterated representation of emotion, as a chance to fuse musical influences without the restrictions of convention, as background music for a film, slideshow or life, and so forth. The beauty of instrumental music is how open it is to interpretation by the listener. Much like in visual art, instrumental artists can channel a message without telling the audience explicitly what they were trying to convey.
Jeff Cochell
“Somehwere” – Jeff Cochell: First off, something familiar to the ears. Rock and folk musicians have flown the instrumental flag for a while now, and this style of acoustic guitar work has been explored by bands all the way from Pearl Jam to your local singer-songwriter playing at a coffee shop’s open mic night.
“Spirit Of India” – Meir Shitrit: Fusing traditional Indian instruments and scales with western songwriting, a style was popularized in the ’60s by pioneers like John Coltrane and George Harrison, this track shouldn’t feel too far away from home.
“Russian Concertino” – Giancarlo Angioni: The beauty of well-performed flamenco is lost on no one. The passion that goes into the playing and the sensual vibe that surrounds it has been captivating listeners for decades.
“Salsalito” – Level 10 Band: Latin jazz always brings rhythmic energy to any playlist. The danceable power of the clave is undeniable, and rightly so; these ensembles usually feature a large rhythm section with multiple percussion players.
“Mediterranean” – Fahir Atakoglu: Atakoglu is a personal favorite here in Press Shuffle. It’s easy to see why: this level of talent and skill isn’t something you come by too often, and we’re not ones to let it slip through unnoticed.
“Snizzle” – Justin Hellman: Small combo jazz is simply timeless. It’s the right music for so many occasions; from rainy day music while you read a book in your favorite living room nook to a night out to a bar with the guys, they’ve got you covered. The versatility of this music is unmatched.
“Temporarily Destabilized” – CHON: Instrumental metal tends to focus on complex songwriting and technical playing, and this is a perfect example of the outcome when those two. Not only do the gentlemen from CHON knock it out of the park with their musicianship, but they do so time after mind-blowing time. Prepare to have your brain melt out your ears.
Have any tunes in particular that you care to share? Disagree with any of the picks? Want a theme in particular to be Shuffled? Let us know by dropping a comment!
Listen to previous Press Shuffle playlists over at 8tracks.com.
In the rock world, guitar is king, so if you got the licks, we want to hear ’em. Ernie Ball wants to reward one up-and-coming guitar hero from the OurStage ranks with some major swag”free strings! Upload your best song in the Ernie Ball Modern Rock Channel by November 22, 2001. You might just get to deck your guitar out with fresh strings for a whole year. Now that’s something to be thankful for.
Start riffing for your chance to win.
Ghouls, ghosts and gore: With Halloween just around the corner, we thought we’d provide you with the right music to get you pumped for the weekend. As always, we aren’t taking the conventional route here in Press Shuffle. Rather than going for the gratuitous metal Halloween playlist (although you should expect a heavy dose of headbangin’ evil from next week’s Metal Monday post), we’re taking a lighter route. With Halloween, we convert that which scares us at any other time of the year into a great celebratory mocking, complete with delicious candy and humorous charades. So why not reflect this with your music? Sure, our playlist focuses on the lighter side of the festivities, but if you look into the songs, the Halloween spirit is right there.
“Pachelbel’s Panic” – D.P.A.: Your very own haunted house soundtrack.
“Ghost” – Robyn Dell’Unto: Back to normal. Or so it seems? Paranoia, talking birds, hearing voices, a haunted house? Count me out! At any rate, Robyn’s voice has a ghastly presence to it, and if you mix that with her breathy delivery, you get the unique vibe that this song thrives on.
“Morning Coffee” – Junction 688: These guys are obsessed with their coffee (or, more specifically, their pumpkin spice morning java) to the point of delusion. It scares us just to think what they’d do if they didn’t get their morning cup.
“I Still Remember” – Churchill: Autophobia is an extremely common condition, and understandably so. Everyone has an intrinsic fear of loneliness, and this fear can materialize in many ways. Some things are just best to forget, and sometimes it’s necessary to get away and hope that time will work its magic.
“Wake Up” – Variance: The other option is to do nothing, and hope for the best. This should tell you which kind of person you are. Passive reactivity probably isn’t the best course of action.
“Ghost” – Blameshift: Most of us have had relationships that don’t end too amicably, and probably not for the best reasons. Few things are more realistically terrifying than having bitter thoughts invade your every thought and dream. A literal situation of being haunted by the past.
“Pumpkin Patch” – Every Dying Day: This song takes the prize for the creepiest lyrics on the playlist. The minor chord riff in the chorus is so undeniably catchy and the drums drive this tune home with the perfect match up of power and simplicity.
“Hesitation” – Ronny Criss: Fears usually stem from the feeling that we are powerless to do anything about the particular situation we’re in. Sometimes, they stem from having too much power: in this case, the artist holds the happiness of another in his hands. Would you hurt yourself to spare another some pain?
Have any tunes in particular that you care to share? Disagree with any of the picks? Want a theme in particular to be Shuffled? Let us know by dropping a comment!
Listen to previous Press Shuffle playlists over at 8tracks.com.
He did it all for the nookie.
We all know Fred Durst is a man of (…ahem) many talents. From red Yankees fitted hats to Celtics jerseys and everything in between, the Limp Bizkit frontman has done it all. Or so we thought. It seems that the man has much more up his sleeve than we give him credit for.
It’s been announced that the renaissance man has successfully negotiated with CBS and CBS TV Studios to have his very own sitcom (temporarily referred to as “Douchebag”) in which he will explore and expose the high-profile lifestyle of a rock star trying to balance his stardom with his family life. Durst is to act as both the star and the producer of the show, and is currently working on a script to be reviewed by the network.
This isn’t Durst’s first venture into the world of motion picture. During his very profitable career with Limp Bizkit during the late 1990s early 2000s (in which they sold over 30 million albums), he tried his skills as a director for many of his band’s own music videos as well as vids for contemporaries such as KoRn and Staind. During the Limp Bizkit hiatus, he directed two relatively successful full-length films: The Education of Charlie Banks starring Jesse Eisenberg and The Longshots featuring Ice Cube. As an actor, though, his appearances have been limited to short cameos in a few films and shows. He’s never had a role in which he was able to showcase his acting skills, but it seems as if this doesn’t matter to the execs at CBS.
Do they see something in him that millions of others do not? Or is this another case of a major network attempting to bank on an artist’s celebrity status, regardless of what he brings to the table? Does Fred Durst have “celebrity status”? Let’s hope the show actually airs soon so we can see how much of a “Douchebag” he really is. Or isn’t. Or is.