Review of “Days go by” by The offspring

I rented the newest album of the band “The Offspring” called: Days go by. To my surprise the album is really good and it's been on replay on my i-pod. There is only one song “OC guns” on the album that I don't like and it's the one most different from the others. It is kind of slow, it uses spanish words (+the whole song has a spanish vibe to it) and the instrumentation is cut down to half compared to other songs. All in all I think the piece is very boring and doesn't have anything to do with the other songs of the album. Their style is punk rock which is what I like to listen most of all now-a-days. My favourite songs on the album are the first one “The future is now” and the last one “Slim Pickens does the right thing and rides the bomb to hell”. The second song I mentioned has the most bizarre name I've ever heard and they say those words not in the chorus but in the verse. It is more unusual to have the name of the song that refers to words in the verse. What I like about the songs of the album is that the singing is pleasant to listen to but the instruments still play loud music that doesn't make you sleepy at all, one wants to stay and listen to the rest of the album after hearing the first song. The lyrics are also not very usual and common, but they have their own twist to it. All in all I would give a 9,5/10 to this album as it is very catchy and interesting.

  

Classical concert in Finland

I went to a very interesting in Rovaniemi of Laplands chamber orchestra. It took place in a new concert hall which is very nice and modern. As a visiting star there was “Piers Adams” who is a recorder virtuoso. I usually don't really enjoy the recorder but he was more like a rockstar than an orchestra member. He was wearing leather pants and like bright colored shirt. He played on many different recorders: from a very tiny one with a very high pitched sound to a big one with a very deep sound. All in all they played 5 pieces and one of them was his solo. My favourite piece was the third one: Vetrarmyndir (Winter Pictures-1990) by Sunleif Rasmussen (born in 1961). It was very fairytale like and it was very powerful even if it wasn't vey loud as a piece. It builds up slowly and I think the title fits the piece very well. It describes a wintery landscape which reminded me of the first Narnia. I'm usually not that into classical concerts so my expectations weren't very high, but in the end the concert was very good.

Review of album “Wake up world” by Isac Elliot

Isac Elliot is a finnish 12-year-old singer who has released his first album a few weeks ago. I found out about this artist through facebook and I heard his first single on the radio in Finland during the easter holidays. Being only that young and having an album out, is quite an achievement. He is still in school but sometimes he has to miss out because of his new career as a singer. Isac has already a fan base that follow him where ever he goes. In school he is asked for autographs and he already has shows and even sold out ones. He is often compared to Justin Bieber but he doesn't mind because Justin is his inspiration and role-model. Isac used to sing in a boy choir and that's where he has learned to sing, he says.

http://www.isacelliot.com

The album has 10 songs all very different to one another and they are all in english. The first song on the album is the first single “New way home” and thanks to that he has become popular because people liked it. I think that song is very catchy and I heard the song before knowing who this new singer was, and I went immediately to look for it on the internet. That song has a video on Youtube which was filmed in Florida and it has more than a million views and the number is growing all the time. The video reminds me of Justin Bieber's video: Boyfriend as they are both filmed on a roof and there are dancers behind the singer making a nice choreography. The song was on replay for a long time on my computer, I really enjoy the beat, it makes you want to dance and I like the build up from the bridge to the chorus. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6Ykor-8MAM

The second song is “First Kiss” and it's the second single which has a video coming up very soon, and this time it was filmed in New York. When he recorded the he had a crush on a girl and he wanted to sing about it. There is a funny noise in the beginning which makes the beginning of the song very interesting. That noise was made by the producer. The lyrics fit well the singer as he is young but this not one of my favourite songs as it's half way through being rhythmic/catchy and slow/emotional. There are parts of the song that I really like and others that I don't. For example I don't like in the beginning where there are barely instruments and he sings in a kind of rap style. Compared to toward the end there is a part where he sings with only a piano and one can here well his very good voice.

The third song is called “Let's lie” and it's one of my two favourites and it is also Isac's one of his absolute favourites in his album. He enjoys singing the melody in the chorus and I think the chorus is the best part of the song. He sang the song in Florida and for him it brings back memories of warm summer nights. It starts off with a just singing and piano and it slowly builds up until the chorus.

The fourth song is “Are you gonna be my girl” and it really makes you want to dance. Isac said it took quite some time to get it right as it has a lot of harmonies especially in the end. That what make the song very professional.

The fifth song “No 1” has very strong lyrics, they are about even if one is young one can sing about love. I must agree, because he is young and he sings about love very affectively. It has an R&B feel to it and there is a rapper in the song called “Johnel”. Isac has said that he listens to a lot of R&B and this is a very typical R&B song which fits him very well.

The sixth song “Party Alarm” is about when school is over and it's time to have fun. In this song there are a bunch of his friends singing with him which makes the song very youthful.

The seventh song is “Sweet talk” and it's my favourite, me and Isac have the same favourite's, it's quite rare to like most the same songs as the artist. He likes dubstep and this song has some dubstep in it, that is something different to the other songs. I really like the chorus when he uses his falsetto but in a very talented way as it doesn't sound weird or out of tune like very ofter. Apparently he has learned to use falsetto when he was younger and sang in a choir. It was more of a classical choir and that's why he changed into solo singing. But he still says that he has learned basically to sing in that choir as they had practice three times a week.

The eighth song is “Can't give up on love” and it was the last song that was recorded. In the bridge there is a cool heavy metal solo while he sings “gotta go, gotta go” which is not expected at all in this kind of song. He worked on the last harmonies just before a show in his hotel room. The ending of the song is very cool as it uses synthetic sounds and his voice is mixed to a great tune.

The ninth song “Paper plane” is the slow and calm song of the album. It has the sweetest lyrics ever: “I build a paper plane so I can fly over the skyline...”. They are not straight forward love song lyrics. They had to change studio to record this song because there were too many screaming girls outside the studio. Imagine then later on when he is older and is not just a cute boy but a attractive teenager. He'll maybe end up like Justin Bieber.

The last song on the album “A.N.G.E.L” is a ballad and as the singer says it: “Every good record has a ballad”. It uses a lot of instruments for example strings and it has something very unusual: gospel singers. It builds up slowly from a calm beginning and a very full ending.

All in all I think this album is very good and has a lot of different parts in the songs. I would give a 9/10 for this album.

Best Day Ever :)

I think this was one of the best days of my life as I got accepted into the conservatory of Antwerp in the classical department for the percussions. It is such a relief as I've wanted it so much and for so long. It's like a dream come true for sure. At a young I wanted to later study music and I've always been really into it one way or another. There are a lot of people that I have to thank, because without them I wouldn't be here. The first ones are my parents and my sister (always having to listen to me playing must be really annoying), then the two great percussion teachers I've had and all the other great music academy teachers that have always believed in me and had faith in me. Now I can be more relaxed and open a new page in my life. In 2012 I had visited the conservatory at an open day and I really had enjoyed it. It is one of my favourite conservatories and I've visited quite a few. I still can't believe I got accepted because in the past year I've been vey unsure wether my level in percussions was high enough for the conservatory, I guess now I have my answer.

One of the coolest female singers

That's what I call girl power, RIHANNA! She is one strong woman on stage that can actually wear a short skirt and not look bitchy at all and actually look good unlike Britney Spears. The supporting act was Calvin Harris. I'm not very much into DJ music when it comes to choosing what to listen on the ipod but when it's played live I enjoy it. He is actually of my favourite Djs and he made everyone jump up and down and dance. But I was so happy when Rihanna came on stage even though she was an hour late because she was just so awesome. The best part was when she rocked some percussions on a smaller stage. She banged them like she really knew what she was doing and I really liked it because the percussions are my biggest love. 

I've heard say around that she is not a good singer live, this point was proved wrong. People say you can't really hear her voice because of the loud music that is played when her singing so we can't really tell if it's playback. But she sang some acoustic songs and you could here her very unique voice perfectly. She is so energetic on stage and she is so sure about herself on stage. She knows what she is doing and she is doing it ever so right. Something I don't like about her that much is her vulgar lyrics, I don't think they are necessary because she has other songs that don't send a weird message and that are generally clean. These songs are just as effective and powerful, and actually even more than the songs that are about sex.

I've been a big fan since a long time

With the singer of Vienna

I look up to Avril Lavigne so much because I just think she is just so cool. Her style is awesome and she doesn't try to be like everyone else, I've got some inspiration from how I dress by her. She was one of the first artists I started to be a big fan of along to Enrique Iglesias. The supporting band was a Belgian band called Vienna which was not bad. We met all the member after the show and asked for autographs. Their style was rock and my favourite song was a cover of the great song: Baby by Justin Bieber. People often pretend that they don't like Justin Bieber but then they know all the lyrics and sing along to his songs. They made a cool cover of it as it had more of a rock sound to it. But they weren't at all as good as the stunning Avril Lavigne.

I think she is very talented and the songs come really from the bottom of her heart as she herself has been a part in the making of the songs. She has just improved and since she started she hasn't forgotten who she is. She has never copied anyone and she improved from being a 16-year-old skater girl to be a 20ish rock star. She played some of her old songs aswell as her new songs from the latest album. Avril Lavigne is down to earth and she had a dream that she persued. She doesn't only sing but plays the guitar and the piano too. This was the second time I saw her live and I wasn't disappointed at all. Last time I saw her she had her black and pink fase but now it was darker. I only have one critique and that is that she should interact more with the audience for example ask more questions so that the audience feels really a part of the show, last time she jumped more on stage and seemed more cheerful. Actually her previous album (The best damn thing) was more positive in general than this album (Goodbye Lullaby). This time it was more about her voice which of course is very special.

One of my favourite male voices

I was so happy when I got the news that Joe Jonas was going to be a supporting act for Britney Spears in some of the tourdates in Europe. We bought the tickets right away to the concert in London which was during the halloween holidays. We arrived at the Wembley Arena around two o'clock because we wanted to make sure to have places as near as possible to the stage. We did get second row because we didn't push ourselves through to the first row. There were two girls singing even before Joe Jonas. Joe is one of three brothers in the Jonas Brothers. He did a solo album called: Fastlife which is different compared to the Jonas Brothers album. His style is electro pop but the Jonas Brothers is more pop. His performance was absolutely amazing. His drummer was epic, he had a large drumset which he played with speed and variety. What I like about Joe is his wonderful voice. He can hit very high notes but with still having a very strong voice not only on the album but also live. The songs from his album are very catchy and the music is more “grown up” than with the Jonas Brothers. What I mean is that he has more an adult sound to it, lyrics and music. His performance was very powerful even though on stage there was nothing but him and the musicians. He is so talented he doesn't need anything else to make his show memorable.

A few words about Britney Spears. I've never really been her fan because I don't like her voice, I think it's not natural and isn't nice to listen to. I really sometimes think why has she ever become such a popular and successful singer. I have to say live she didn't sing very well either. Wha t was good about her show though was the staging. She had a real show, with things such as an Egyptian style boat, big colourful speakers and much more. Her show was about the special effects, about the dancers and about her jumping in not many inches of clothing. In my opinion it is better when the biggest focus goes on the music and not in all the things that are built around it. I defenetly enjoyed more Joe Jonas' show.