So I've been watching America's Got Talent-- sparingly... jesus, it seems like it's already been on for 6 months. Tonight was the semi-finals, I believe. It's the semi-finals and yet we still see the following people...
Ronny B.-- this year's William Hung (from American Idol) He can't sing, he can't dance-- he's just funny because he has so much confidence. Shouldn't he have been eliminated by now? It's just embarrassing.
It's people like Ronny B. that make girls like Jessica Price look incredible. But- She's Not. She's a mediocre singer, and I'm not sure if she can really play guitar. At least the judges know Ronny B. is a joke. They fucking cherish this girl. A standing ovation? Are the entire audience and judges of this show DEAF?
It's become a show of sympathy. Each "contestant" has a sad sappy story about how they're broke, have cancer, their parents died, they are missing limbs, or whatever.
No, seriously. That's the name of the band. "Hi we're Fun... thanks for coming to the show."
I'm sure it will get annoying in a few weeks.
Anyways. Fun. To be quite frank, this is kind of my personal dream group-- and I think other hardcore Format fans can say the same. All three bands (The Format [no longer together], Steel Train, and Anathallo) have toured together- so this combination just feels right. An official single will be released in November, with the full length to follow in February of 2009. Fun will go on tour with Jack's Mannequin... however dates have not been released.
The boys have one demo posted on their Myspace, a song entitled "Benson Hedges" which was actually premiered during a Format show.
However, this seems to be a group that will quickly start paving its own path, and really doesn't need the assistance of name dropping.
I'm pretty excited. I needed some fun back in my life..... hehe. Sorry... but this band has asked for endless amounts of puns.
I recently came upon a hardcore band named Dance Gavin Dance. Because of the friend who referred them to me, I gave this band a shot. Right off the bat, I noticed this band was using the "Cher effect." [ For those of you who don't know what exactly the Cher effect its, it is a computer generated program that puts your singing into key, so if you hit aB flat for example and the program is set for B major, it will raise your voice to hit a solid B. Not only does the program disgust me but it is over used by fake musicians such as Britney Spears and yes the joke you all love, "AKON."
I decided to go straight to the source of this band, Rise Records. Upon gandering at their Myspace, I realized this label is about screamo/emo/hardcore that uses the Cher effect on just about all of their bands. Maybe they figure since their bands are mainly screaming, decent fans wouldn't notice? Either way, I was disappointed in not only my friends request, but independent music in general. I remember when someone asked my good friend Mondee, why he chooses to stick to underground. His response was simply, "it's where the real music exists. No labels changing things, no fake lyrics to sell records, just solid music."
In only 3 years I don't know if he could give the same response, thanks to the industry deciding Independent is the new mainstream. So now that we know the problem, what exactly is my proposition for a fix? I propose we, the fans, take underground music back. Metal, Grunge, Hardcore, Hip Hop, Electronica, let's take it all back. Don't fall into these phony record labels attempting to bite the bullet of talent to better their chances of selling a couple hundred more records. We are letting these kids write music in their basement with more machine than talent. Whatever happened to Trustkill, Victory, Tooth and Nail? All these labels who were once about the music, have seemed to lose heart and are not only screwing the bands that they own, but their fans as well. If you see a band selling their merch directly through their website, buy it. If you see a band selling mp3's directly through their Myspace and not iTunes, pay for it. Let's cut these middle men out of the equation; believe me they will still exist. Without our help the bands will continue to suffer which in turn will disappoint the fans, and lead us to the Cher effect on a global, independent, scale!
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