Most of the time when a musician screws up mid-gig, you feel kind of bad for them, like when Nick McCarthy screwed up nearly everything that could possibly go wrong in a performance of Evil Eye, all while looking generally depressed, or when someone from Interpol screwed up during their Spotify session performance of All The Rage Back Home. Those instances made me feel bad. Like a real person with human emotions and compassion and empathy. I don't feel bad for Van Halen in the video I am about to link. I feel no sympathy. I feel nothing. This video has rendered me emotionless, unable to react to whatever went down in Greensboro, North Carolina on this warm summer night in 2007. I was introduced to this video via a Cracked Spit Take video. I don't even know how I reacted when I first saw it. I think I just stared at my screen and didn't know whether I should laugh or just keep staring. I pretty much grew up listening to Van Halen. My dad was a teenager in the 80s and of course the music you listen to as a teenager sticks around so I heard a lot of them. It was also around the time of their big reunion and the induction of Wolfgang Van Halen as bassist. So, obviously, being five years old I thought Van Halen were the coolest people around. This video would have either crushed my dreams or just made me really, really confused.
Honestly, the video is kind of sad until David Lee Roth bounces around on a giant inflatable microphone for an extremely uncomfortable amount of time. I can kind of feel bad for Eddie, who is desperately trying to make the mess of a backing track sound like something, but that sympathy fades away when David starts walking away from the main part of the stage. That's when the reality of the video sets in. This is real, this is happening, and no one cares. If you ever think you did something embarrassing, just remember it most likely wasn't 'David Lee Roth bouncing around on a giant inflatable microphone for an extremely uncomfortable amount of time while Eddie Van Halen plays the garbage disposal in the background' embarrassing. Have a great day.
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Clickbaity BuzzFeed title aside, this thing EXISTS. It's that promo photo of an indie band in various degrees of sitting and standing in front of a blank background. The photo can be either blurry or sharp, and the background can be any color and sometimes even have a pattern. For example, here's the Strokes in their 2016 promo picture for Future Present Past: I can speak for every Strokes listener, we all thought Fabrizio left the band when we saw this photo. I guess he really is 'Lil Fabrizio.' And here's OK Go. As OK Go do with most things, they spiced it up a little. Yarn! How quirky. Also, I feel like everyone in this picture is ready to work at Dunder Mifflin. Andy as Jim and Damian as... Andy? Anyway, here's Phoenix giving us their take on The Picture: Blank background? Yes. Various poses? Yes. At least one person not looking at the camera? No. Strangely tight shot? No. Phoenix's originality has always been something I've loved about them, and their spin on The Picture shows that. Look at those poses! Look at that fluorescent light! Beautiful, Phoenix. Beautiful. Here's Weezer: Three different albums! Three different bassists! Three nearly-perfect examples of The Picture. BUT WAIT!!!! Weezer actually have a real Picture!!! Blank background, at least one member not looking at the camera, at least one member not standing, and some fun poses . Weezer have done it! Here's what Kings Of Leon did with their Picture: That lighting! Those poses! Those shadows! This is an interesting take on The Picture, since it isn't just a wall, but a whole room. And there's a prop. Nice one, Kings Of Leon. Here's Franz Ferdinand's spin on The Picture: Imagine this fun squad outing: going out in tight clothing and fighting each other in Squidward's alone room. And now they look like they want to take ME out (haha) instead of each other. Honestly, if they read my articles, they probably would. Matching outfits and fun poses in Squidward's alone room. Another great idea for a squad outing. These are the four moods a person can have. Franz Ferdinand have so many of these it's hard to choose which one to put in, so I just put in a bunch. I have to say, though, out of all of the images above I think the last one has to be the perfect example of The Picture. They do need some improvement in the 'not looking at the camera' department, but hey, that shows they're genuine, right? Honestly, I think having a lot of examples of The Picture is just what happens when your band fits the 'Cute British Boy' stereotype. Let's test this theory with Arctic Monkeys' Picture. Interesting, reminds me of Interpol. Let's see if we can find a better one. This one's got some color and pose action. We're getting closer. Here it is, in all its pixelated glory! The Picture! Look at those poses! 3/4 members not looking at the camera! The background! Everything!! Here's a fun one: Interpol. Look at this one! NO ONE is looking at the camera! How fun!!! Look at this fun squad outing! Not the ideal Picture, but still interesting. This is definitely Interpol's Picture. Those poses! 3/4 of the band not looking at the camera! So much fun. Squad goals. MGMT! What a picture! Half of the band isn't looking at the camera. Yeah, it's only Andrew, but hey. It's half. The Bravery! Does that count? It counts. Maximo Park! Everyone in both of these images looks so hurt and confused. Except Paul. He seems to know what's going on. Good examples of The Picture, though. Blur! That's The Picture, for sure. Arcade Fire! There are too many people in this band and it makes me uncomfortable. Kaiser Chiefs! That camera-avoidance! Metronomy! Y'know, I never thought there was a band where every member was really freakin' attractive. And then I saw Metronomy. Band concept: Oscar Cash, Daniel Kessler, Rivers Cuomo, and Nick McCarthy. They'd all look so average height next to each other. Anyway, both excellent examples of The Picture. We Are Scientists! Sure, I'll take it. The Killers! That's quite the Picture! So dramatic! After scrolling through pages and pages of outside shots of the Killers, I finally found it. The Wombats! Alright, that's all. Let's hope my next article is actually something quality.
Hello, readers. It's been quite a long time since I've written anything. I've been super busy with school, but I finally have some free time, so it's time for me to write!
Welcome to Songs That Sound Like Other Songs. I'm your host, Liah from Twilight Collective. Shall we jump in? I am a person who loves memes. I am also a person who loves music. In addition, I am a person who loves making fun of Coachella. I recently discovered the 'Coachella Lineup meme' so I'm going to take a look at a few and give my opinion.
(if your meme is in this article and you want it out, just shoot us an email or a tweet. we'll get it out of here faster than you can say 'GovBall is better than Coachella'.) I was watching VSauce this morning and came across a website called soundsjustlike.com, so I decided to check it out. I checked it out a lot. I ended up finding a Big Time Rush song that I actually remember quite clearly from my childhood that sounded EXACTLY like Song 2 by Blur. Here it is, if you'd like to witness that. Two more minutes of screwing around pass, and I see that someone's compared Get Lucky by Daft Punk to The Dark Of The Matinee by Franz Ferdinand. If you know any amount of information about me, you'll know this: I've had two separate "favorite" bands at two different points in my life. Those bands were Daft Punk and Franz Ferdinand, hence why you might notice that I spew more random trivia about them than any other band I talk about. Anyway, I got so excited when I saw this that I kinda had to take a break lap around my house. This was going to be awesome. The first song I heard by both of my once-favorite bands. I played Get Lucky on my laptop, and The Dark Of The Matinee on my phone at the same time, since I couldn't recall any point in either song where they sounded exactly alike. I couldn't get them to sync up. That was sad. I was just about to give up on this 'discovery' of sorts, that I may have stolen from some internet rando commenting on a website, when I just played the lyrics of one song over the other's instrumental. It sounded incredible, surprisingly. I then noticed some similarities in the guitar that weren't really noticeable before. I then scrolled a bit further and saw that Phoenix's If I Ever Feel Better also sounds like Get Lucky, and I noticed that and didn't need to sync it up. I also noticed that a lot of the songs on there were simply samples, or at least something close, or just similar riffs. Whatever. Until I heard Reckless by You Me At Six and When You Were Young By The Killers. This all makes sense, though. I did some research, and Blur actually let Big Time Rush sample Song 2. Reckless is 'inspired by' (but totally copying) When You Were Young, and The Dark Of The Matinee and Get Lucky just happen to sound alike. This actually reminds me, Alli and I spent a night a few months ago comparing songs, and found some pretty good ones that sound alike. So, follow me on a journey of copyright and "how many riffs really are there?" Red Light - The Strokes and Keep Fishin' - WeezerThe only part of these songs that sounds alike is the drum intros. Still interesting, because, um, THEY'RE EXACTLY ALIKE. Like A Rock - Box Codax and House Of The Rising Sun - The AnimalsTHIS ONE. THIS COMPARISON. Listen, I'm not sure if I'm so passionate about this because it was nearly 3 AM when we discovered it, or because the songs sound so much alike, but seriously. THE GUITAR. THE GUITAR!! WHOA!! Aerodynamic - Daft Punk and Oblivius - The StrokesIt's an established fact that Julian Casablancas is friends with Daft Punk, so it doesn't really surprise me that there are similarities in their music. The thing that surprises me, though, is that The Strokes recreated the iconic Aerodynamic guitar solo. Maybe it was a hint that Daft Punk would be back later in the year? Oblivius does represent the present, after all. And before I go, I'm just going to say that besides songs that are blatant copies (Reckless) or just generally pretty cheesy (Windows Down), songs that sound like songs that came out before them can still be pretty killer. Actually, they can be totally killer. All of the songs in this article besides the ones I mentioned in parentheses are totally killer, and not just because of the part that sounds like another song. It's the originality that's key in this situation, and the songs not mentioned in parentheses are all totally original. And I'm not going to say to go around copying your favorite bands, but if you like it, cover it, and it will help you find your own originality. I'm Liah from Twilight Collective, and I'll see you in another article. Stay cool. What started as an inside joke with my friend Emma at a Science Olympiad competition (which I placed fourth in the state in, btw) is now some sort of an Internet trend: The Captionator. Also known as YouTube's auto-generated captions, The Captionator works best, er, worst, on Franz Ferdinand interviews. So, here's the best, or maybe worst, of my dear friend The Captionator. Search Engines, Basketball, and Father Figures... Oh My? |
About The AuthorLiah is a high school senior who plays guitar and loves the color yellow. She doesn't post much, but when she does, it's awesome. We promise.
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