Category: videos

Soundtrack of My Life – Torry Castellano (The Donnas)

Ever hear a song that reminds you of a very specific time and/or place in your life? I asked Torry Castellano of The Donnas if there was song from her past that brought back memories. Her answer?

“November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses.

In Torry’s own words:

“Every time I hear ‘November Rain’ I think about how I went and saw them on tour with Metallica. It was a really crazy time because I was super obsessed with Metallica. And I loved Guns N’ Roses. Faith No More was supposed to open but they didn’t, for whatever reason. Body Count played that show which was pretty exciting too.

I was going with a group of guys, and one of them I had a huge crush on, and that, of course was a big huge part of it. Not of me liking the bands, but a big part of the memory. We were going to leave a few minutes early from school but then we decided to just cut half of the day. We left and went to the concert and it was incredible. They played ‘November Rain’ and Slash was going to go up on the piano for his guitar solo and it took him a really long time to get on the piano because he had probably had a few drinks or whatever. People had to help him get up there. I was like, ‘Wow, that’s awesome!’

I got home really late from the concert. It was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to and I had so much fun. I probably smoked pot for one of the first times – I was 14 or something. I got home and the school had called my mom and been like “Is it okay that you’re daughter skipped these classes?” I totally got grounded, which sucked, because there was a dance coming up and I was hoping that the guy that I liked would ask me out to the dance but that never happened.

So that’s what I think of when I hear ‘November Rain’.

The Donnas new CD Bitchin’ is in stores now. Check out the video for “Don’t Wait Up for Me” over on Stereogum.com.

The Stenographer’s Alibi

Last week I ran an interview with Via Audio, this great new band from Boston/New York. Though there is a shared vocals responsibility in the band, it’s Jessica Martins who really does the most work and it’s her pleasant voice which will attract listeners to the music. I’m not really sure what the story is behind Martins’ side gig, The Stenographer’s Alibi. The best I can tell, it’s an outlet for some material she’s worked on that may not fit into Via Audio’s stuff but that she didn’t just want to toss away. A cursory search of “The Stenographer’s Alibi” on Google yields only MySpace bulletin results from bands who have played shows with Martins.

On her MySpace page, Martins makes 4 songs available to download, all of which are nifty little pop ditties that recall artists such as Fiona Apple (“Valley of Junipers”), The Postal Service (“Naps4Maps”), St.Vincent (“3D”), and The Beatles/Beach Boys (“Oh Blah Wee”).

Download: The Stenographer’s Alibi – “3D”, “Naps4Maps”, “Oh Blah Wee”, and “Valley of Junipers” (ZIP file)

Check out this video: Oh Blah Wee

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Via Audio

I was first turned onto Via Audio via TheTripwire.com, which asked the band to keep a studio diary while they recorded their SideCho debut, Say Something, earlier this year. As fate would have it, an advance copy of the CD showed up in my mailbox right around the same time. It’s a pretty fantastic debut from this New York/Boston-based band, Jessica Martin’s pretty vocals sure to break the hearts of many a young male music blogger. Martin’s band mates (oh yeah, THOSE guys) – Danny Molad, Tom Deis, and David Lizmi – lay down a smart and sophisticated pop sound behind Martin’s vocals and compliment her vocally as well throughout the 11 songs on the CD. It’s no wonder Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie) and Jim Eno (Spoon) took interest in the band early on.

MP3: “Presents”
MP3: “Developing Active People”
Buy: Say Something

Doing things the new-fashion way, I sent the band some questions via their MySpace account since I had to miss their show in Columbus this past weekend (who went? leave a review in the comments section please) and just a few days later the answers arrived … without a name of the person who answered them! So, I’m fairly certain it wasn’t Jessica or Tom since both are referenced in the interview by first name. That leaves Danny or David. Your guess is as good as mine.

Continue reading “Via Audio”

This week’s YouTube playlist

How about some filler for the weekend? Here are some of the videos that I checked out this week on YouTube.

Let’s start it off with two of my daughters performing their first single, “Looking for My Sister”, from their forthcoming album. The band name is yet to-be-determined.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=9bpc6NGGgZ4[/youtube]
Along the lines of two sisters, I’ve had the Fiction Plane song “Two Sisters” in my head all week. Here is the band performing it on Jimmy Kimmel’s show.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=dXIuJks2b4M[/youtube]


Blind Melon is gearing up for an October tour and released this 3-minute “in the studio” documentary featuring about a minute’s worth of a new track, “Sometimes”.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=0-ggua1ufzU[/youtube]
Discovered Lynam thanks to BringBackGlam.com. Flat out, I dig their sound but it’s reinforced by the long hair and Fastway (!!!!) t-shirt the singer is wearing. After doing some Googling, I found out that the singer, Jacob, used to front a band called Mars Electric that I sorta dug about 7 years ago.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc7Egs5_JWU[/youtube]

First Blind Melon tour date surfaces

Blind Melon reunited last year with new singer Travis Warren. Since that time, the band has been busy at work recording two CDs worth of material. Now it’s time to take the show on the road and play for the first time since Shannon Hoon passed away in 1995. I developed a special bond with the band earlier in their career and was saddened at the loss of Shannon as well as the inevitable breakup of undoubtedly my favorite band at the time (and probably in my top 3 favorites ever).

I was alerted to the fact that there is a Blind Melon show listed on the calendar for the club The Basement in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, October 13. It excites me to no end to discover that the first “leaked” tour date just so happens to take place in my backyard. And, it’s the same week as two other reunion shows I’ll be attending – Van Halen (Cleveland, Oct.10) and the Smashing Pumpkins (Columbus, Oct.11).

I suspect more dates will start showing up in the next couple of days.

Here’s a video of the “new” Blind Melon performing “Harmful Belly”.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ElXPGFThjwk[/youtube]