Use Somebody

Dear All!

I thought let's not keep my readers from a great song. I hereby tell you that you all should listen to the song Use Somebody, originally by Kings of Leon. This is a great energetic song, which can be defined as rock, but as pop as well. Therefore many people will like it. The song is very much worth listening to in the Kings of Leon version.
Another great version of Use Somebody is the (almost) acoustic version by the Dutch singer Laura Jansen. She is, at the moment, one of the greatest vocalists we have in our little country with a great sense of music. Please look them up on Youtube, and I wish you a lot of listening pleasure.

Why Do We Need Music In The World?

Well, to be honest the immediate answer to this question was: "Why don't we?" If someone could seriously agree with this statement, I would be stunned. Why? Because, I am sorry, it is absurd.
Music is the, very cliché but true, universal language that the entire world understands. Music is the 'force' that binds us all. If you let an African person listen to a song that is considered to be sad in Europe, he will call it that too.
Music is communication. African tribes used the sounds and rythms of their drums to communicate with each other over enormous distances. Nowadays commercials are full of music that communicate a certain feeling. Lyrics of songs communicate certain messages to the listener, whether it is serious or not. That does not matter, the fact is that a message get across.
Music is our history. In almost every event in history, music is in some way involved. When important people were buried, people always mentioned the music played. When colonisers entered a new territory they had a band or a small orchestra with them to impress the people. Slaves managed to escape due to hidden messages in music, etc etc.
Music is a bottomless well in wich you can place emotions, and from which you can get them too. You can leave your sorrow behind by making music. The Blues and Soul are all about getting rid of emotions, sing about your sorrow and the things you have been through instead of keeping it inside you.
Music is in everything. The beating of your heart is a rythm, as is the sound of someone walking, the hammering of a woodpecker, the sounds from a construction site, the sound of yout typing, your breating. All are rythms. Then the music. It is in the sounds of birds, of elephants, of cats, of dogs, of car horns, of a coin falling, of a bee buzzing, of the wind blowing through the leaves of a tree, of whisteling etc etc.
Music is the best thing to spend time on. You are training so many things at the same time. You are in contact with art, you aretraining your dexterity, your breathing, you learn to work together in a group, you train your rythm, your hearing, you train social and communication skills etc etc.
Imagine that all of this would not be there. This is IMPOSSIBLE! That is why we need music in the world: to keep it together

Addition to Desert Island Songs

Of course I hope never to strand onto a deserted island, especially not with just five songs. I found it so hard to make a choice, that I will list more songs or albums that I love below:

Songs In The Key of Life (album) - Stevie Wonder
Soundtrack of West Side Story - Leonard Bernstein
9 Crimes - Damien Rice
Continuum (album) - John Mayer
Funkoverload (album) - Maceo Parker
The Hermit Sessions (album) - Kyteman
Make You Feel My Love - Adele
Johnny B. Good - Chuck Berry
Ella Fitzgerald
Michael Jackson
James Brown
Lose Yourself - Eminem
John Legend
Ne Me Quitte Pas - Jacques Brel
Several Songs by Patrick Bruel
Les Misèrables (album) - Les Miserablès Original Broadway Cast
RENT (album) - RENT Movie Cast
Pick Up The Pieces - Candy Dulfer
OutKast
DJ Maestro
Futuresex/Lovesound (album) - Justin Timberlake
Keane
Coldplay
A lot of Acda & De Munnik
A lot of Prince
Miles Davis
A lot of Alicia Keys
Vivo Per Lei - Andrea Bocelli
Swing When You're Winning (album) - Robbie Williams
Amélie Soundtrack - Yann Tiersen
A lot of Diana Krall
Some things by David Sanborn
Wouter Hamel
Ray Charles
Call Me Irresponsible (album) - Michael Bublé
Snow Patrol
Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys
Just Dance - Lady Gaga
I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
I've Got Love - The King Blues
And many, many more.

Other Music Blogs: My Revelations

Dear All.

Looking at the other blogs I found some things which I really like now:
On Andrew's blog, The Best Thing Next To Silence Is Music, I learned of the band Lettuce. I looked it up, and it turned out to be one of the funkiest bands with a huge amount of groove. Lettuce is tribute band started at Berkley School of Music, which is probably how Andrew knows it, that plays covers of old funk and soul songs. I just adore them from now on.
On Joran's blog, Music Begins Where Words Run Out, I read about a song that I already knew, but never paid that much attention to: Fire and Rain by James Taylor. I have always preffered Traveling Star and Shower the People by that singer, but Fire and Rain can now share itself among those. It is a beautiful song, and I cannot understand how I can have missed it. I think it is great how Joran explains the song, and I totally agree on his opinion on the choice of instruments.
Last I read on Coen's blog, Music the God ff Silence, about the song Breakeven by the Script. I had heard this song a few times, and I knew the band already. Still, Coen made me listen to it in a different way. He and I (and Andrew and Joran) listen to music in a similar way, focussing more on the different aspects of a song, but this time his way was different. Through his explanation I rediscovered the song.
There were of course some songs that I did not like at all. Some of the Hip Hop songs for example, especially the Dutch ones. It is not that I do not like Hip Hop, but Dutch Hip Hop just does not work for me.
Looking at all the blogs, overall I think that our group has quite a good taste of music!

Desert Island Song (5): Shake Everything You've Got (Live), Maceo Parker

Dear all.

This song is a song that I do not have myself, but found on Youtube. I had listened to a CD I had by Maceo Parker, but this song is not on it. I looked for live performances of Maceo Parker, and found this, and I loved it.
Maceo Parker is a black saxophone player, who makes incredibly funky and groovy music. His lyrics are usually simple and kind of absurd. The title of this song, actually states what the entire song is about and almost all that is said in the song. He wants the listener to shake everything he or she has got.
The song starts with an amazing base line, which I adore. Then all the instruments fall in, and the groove goes on and on. the bridge is awsome as well, in which you only have three vocalists and the drummer. Just listen to it, and dance away!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABLwmYI09Lw

Desert Island Song (4): Stop This Train, John Mayer

My third post today, but not my last!

This song, from Mayer's album Continuum (2006), is a song I like because of the great feeling of the song, and that it is a little bit about me.
The entire song just has a great relaxed feeling over it. When you start it, you almost cannot do anything but to lay back and listen with your eyes closed, thinking the past day over. It is just a really enjoyable song, which, to me, just is a great break between all the busy things in life.
The reason why the song is about me, is because it is about not wanting to grow up and that growing up goes to fast. In the song, John Mayer sings about how he is "scared of getting older", and that he is "only good at being young". I feel the same way. The last few years have gone so fast, and sometimes I just rather be small again and not bear responsibilities etc. Just go back to the times when everything was carefree, when you did not know so much of the world, to the time when my parents were together....

Coldplay Concert: Viva La Vida Tour - 09-09-09

Dear All!

Here I am again. I now want to discuss the most awesome concert I have ever been to: The concert by one of THE most amazing bands in the world: Coldplay! They had a concert in The Netherlands on 09-09-09, and I know that that is a long time ago and that I should have posted about it long ago, but better late than never, so here is my story.

Directly after school, my father and I drove to Nijmegen. The concert's terrain (it was outdoors) opened at 15:00, and we entered it at 17:15. It was notably calm still, and most people were just sitting on the ground. We, my father and I, managed to work our way forward up untill the front boundary of our section. This was the closes we could poissibly get to the stage, and I thought it was a beautiful place: right in the middle, and with a great overview of the entire stage.

After one horrible (Bat for Lashes) and one moderate but funny (The Flaming Lips) preprogramm, Coldplay started at exactly 21:00 as they should.

They came on with firework in their hands, and started playing Life In Technicolor. This set the mood for the entire evening: it was one huge party. All their hits came by, and the crowd went wild. Everybody, young or old, sang along with every song. All of Coldplay's hits and recent songs came by, and especially Viva La Vida was a blast, with the entire crowd of 60.000 people chanting the chorus part for five minutes after the song was over. There also was a lot of humor, and a small awesome tribute to Michael Jackson: They performed an acoustic version of Billie Jean

Overall the entire concert was great. I loved every minute of it, and when it was over I wanted it again. I just LOVE Coldplay.

P.S. Below are some pictures and a video I made at the concert.

Desert island Song (3): La Dispute, Yann Tiersen

A new post today (with more to come)!

Another song I would take with me to a desert island is the song La Dispute, written by French composer Yann Tiersen. I adore this song, written for the movie 'Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain', because it carries so much emotion.
The song starts with a solo of an accordion. I do not know who plays the instrument, but he or she is an absolute master musician. This man (or woman) puts so much emotion in one single note, that it is hardly impossible not to get goose bumps or a shiver down your spine. The impressive thing is that the accordion part is so incredibly simple. It contains almost only long notes, and no more than two notes at the same time. Still it manages to grab your attention and take you in.
After the accordion part, the piano takes over. This piece is as, if not more, beautiful as the accordion part, carrying maybe even more emotion. Although this is not as simple as the accordion part (I can tell because I am trying to play it), it is as great. The song ends with the sound of the spinning of a bicycle wheel. Although this sounds odd, it just works out.
The entire song has a, as I call it, 'Yann Tiersen' feel over it. There is something characteristic to his music which you can very well hear in the soundtrack of Amélie. If you do not know more of his music, please look it up on Youtube, because it is great.

Desert Island Song (2): Hallelujah, Jeff Buckley

Dear all!
Long time no posting, but the coming days I am into a posting mood. Today, another great song that might be a little bit standard as many find it great as well: Hallelujah, by Jeff Buckley (and not the horrible version by Lisa, who is a great singer but not in this song). Usually a cover of a song is not better than the original, but in this case Buckley's version is better than the original by Leonard Cohen.
The melancholic minor guitar intro has so much feeling in it, and it sets the mood for the entire song. At the start of te song you can hear him sigh, which gives me goose bumps. And then he starts singing. The beautiful lyrics, sung by the Jeff Buckley with his fragile voice. The song, to me, is a true declaration of love, and it touches you right in your heart. Please listen to it if you do not know it yet, for it will take you away and never leave your heart again.

Desert Island Song (1) : Fix You, Coldplay

Hey Everybody!
Sorry for the long time between the posts (to you too Mr. Weisser). The reason for my postA new assignment for my music class: Choose five songs which you would like to take to a desert island. This is a very though assignment for me, becasue I cannot really choose betweent the many songs I like, and could not miss. The first one of my hard choices is the song Fix You, by the British band Coldplay (if you don't know the song or the band, SHAME ON YOU!).
The song Fix You is one of the greatest songs on earth, because of the emotion Coldplay has put into the composition. In basis, the song is very simple (although the transition to the bridge is a little more difficult). Still, Coldplay managed with these chords, the fabulous voice of leadsinger Chris Martin and the instruments used makes the song magnificent.
Take for example the intro, in which solely two different organs are used. This completely sucks you into the song, and you want to keep listening to it, over and over again, because when you listen to it it blows your mind; it takes you and your thoughts away from your body, flying to wherever you want to on the moment the bridge start and accelerating more and more untill you reach rocket speed and see all the things you want to see, just because you can.
This feeling of happiness is something that you barely ever feel, only when you do something you like so much that nothing can stop you doing it; when you realise that you are lucky to have that thing, that person, that moment in your life this is the feeling you get. This is what I felt when I was at the Coldplay concert in Nijmegen (about which I will write soon). When Chris Martin started this song I felt great because of the great concert. But as the song proceeded, I felt this feeling again, and I thought of all the things I had done in my life, and what was ahead of me, and that I was going to make in the future in whatever way I liked, because I wanted to, because I could. At the end of this song I had watery eyes, and was on the blink of crying because of all the emotion that got loose due to this song. And I have this feeling everytime I listen to this song.

Introduction to me

Dear reader,

As you can read in the 'About Me' part I am Jochem, 15 years old and I love music. I am practically busy with music all day. Whether it is listening to music, making music, talking to music or thinking about music, music is always on my mind. I go to school at Laar & Berg in Laren, The Netherlands, where I follow the MYP, a bilingual program by the International Bacculerate Organization. At my school, creativity is really stimulated, so it is a great environment for artistic development.

I am playing the alto saxophone for the sixth year now, and still enjoying it a lot. I have lessons once a week and I like my teacher, Luc van Gessel, a lot. He is a good teacher who gives you a lot of freedom whilst teaching you a lot as well.

Since this year, he also teaches me the piano. I have had piano lessons for a year when I was about six, but my teacher got ill and she had to stop. From that moment on, I have kind of taught myself how to play the piano, but I cannot really read the piano notes very well, and he is helping me with that.

Also for my fifth year now, I am following classes in musical theatre. I do this in Bussum and am busy with it about ten hours a week. I really love the way you can express yourself and your emotions in the acting, singing and dancing. I have done two major productions so far, being The Wiz and West Side Story. In West Side Story, I had my first leading role, which was really cool. I love being on the stage and doing my thing.

For my Personal Project I am composing a piece of music, so you might find some posts on that in the future as well. I really hope that I can make a nice piece of music that entertains the people that listen to it.

Well, I think I have told you enough about myself so far. I hope you enjoy the things you will read on this blog. You can expect posts on the musical events in my life: the concerts I go to, cool things I did with music and troubles in my Personal Project.

Enjoy!