The Musiqtone Blog

The feature that started the features on Musiqtone.com is back…probably until the next time one of us goes on a rant & rave…which is quite infrequent.

A rant & rave by:  Ashley Fox, asst. regional head- East Coast

People are not defined by the music they listen to.

Sure, it can have an influence the way someone dresses, the thoughts they have or the things they do. It can affect the friends they make, the opinions they form and their lives as a whole.

But it doesn’t matter if someone likes Britney Spears and Boys Like Girls, or Taylor Swift and Weezy. It doesn’t matter if they only enjoy the songs you hear 30 times on top 40 radio. It doesn’t matter if they go to shows every other day of the week. it doesn’t matter if they only know a band’s “hit single” or if they can name of every song and can sing every word. None of that matters. Too many people put pre-judgments on people because of what they listen to. Some fans of certain bands are seen as being annoying or bitchy, and some kids pick on others just because they found out about a band (god forbid) after they hit the radio.

Music is the most wonderful thing in the world. It’s something that connects everyone to everything. So much can be held in a song. So much meaning, so many memories, so much love or hate. There is a reason why everyone says that music means so much to them. Why people look up to “rock stars” and spend money on music. It means something. It’s an international language. A way to explain thoughts or let out emotions. Music is just music.

Everyone likes something. There is a reason for different genres, and that’s because people have individual tastes. It’s something that makes us unique. And it’s okay to like something different. It’s okay to develop admiration for a band, whether it’s right as they are forming, or months after they’ve broken up. It’s okay to have so much appreciation for a lyricist or a musician you don’t know. It should be okay to listen to whatever makes you happy.

So please, stop giving dirty looks to the kid who likes Metallica and wears all black. Don’t make fun of the white kid who wears polos and enjoys Lil Wayne. Stop calling the kids who like All time Low and wear bright colors and Nikes “posers”. Close your eyes and open your ears. Stop judging on their appearance and their favorite bands, and start trying to appreciate music you may have not had much of a taste for before.

Who: Curtis Peoples
What:  Holding Me Down (Inside the Song)
Why you should listen/watch:  Get inside the head of Curtis Peoples as he outlays the influences behind his latest single, ‘Holding Me Down,’ the first single from his upcoming untitled album. 

Video/Song

Up to you to figure out this teaser released by Rockvine concerning legendary rock band Motley Crue:

http://www.ivpnewmedia.com/rockvine

While it has been very frustrating to say the least in getting any kind of Musiqtone pulse in my own home area of Chicago and it’s rather far reaching metro area, there’s plenty of music talent coming out of the Second City, all looking to put Chicago back as one of the top music destinations and cultivators of music talent.  In music terms, it was a long time ago in the mid to later 90s you had luminaries Liz Phair, Rage Against the Machine, and the Smashing Pumpkins dominating their part of the music charts.

Then…dead as the boy band era and cookie-cutter pop raged on and Chicago started to become more and more homogenized as a music market and shoving the indie and underground into deeper depths.  Of course, little did anyone know a group of men from Wilmette would eventually and with the help of a producer/MC turned hip-hop superstar would put Chicago back on the map for music.  That would be Fall Out Boy and Kanye West.

Since then, the city has produced plenty of talent including:  Plain White T’s, Rachael Yamagata, Treaty of Paris, Lucky Boys Confusion, OK Go, Lupe Fiasco, Powerspace, and The Academy Is.

So who from the Windy City is next?   Here’s a little list of some acts from the Windy City you need to watch out for, especially as alt-rock is exploding out of the area in recent years…

1.  The Audition —Expect this fine alt-emo rock group to explode in 2008.
2.   The Hush Sound —following the footsteps of fellow Chicagoans and labelmates Fall Out Boy
3.  Amrita —one half of the band is one part The Academy Is and one part October Fall
4.  Company of Thieves —why no one has signed this talented indie pop/rock band with a unique mix of sounds including the Beatles is beyond me.
5.  Todd Carey — could be leading a new group of talented singer-songwriters in 2008.  For now, it’s leading a new group of male singer-songwriters to come out of Chicago…or Illinois period.
6.  Daphne Willis & Co. —underrated college band with a Dave Matthews Band-like sound
7.  Brooke Barretsmith —former Idol contestant turns rejection into a major label…and maybe more in 2008?
8.  Sarah VonderHaar —former Top Model returns to roots in music and could be first female singer-songwriter to hit it big since Liz Phair
9.  Coventry —another gem in the sea of indie rock bands populating the North Side…hard to believe they haven’t been looked at by record labels
10.  The Hoodies —if Alex Gaskarth thinks they’re good, they sure as hell are good.

Well, that’s my top ten.  Feel free to agree, kill me, or whatever.

It’s January 15 and you know what time it is!  It’s American Idol!  The hit FOX show, now in its seventh season is doing a little spring cleaning but it’s not too evident in the first stop of the audition tour in the City of Brotherly Love (or Hate if you ask any sports fan outside this little cozy town), Philadelphia.  I admit, I missed the first 35 minutes of the show because family counts more.  So at 7:35 pm, Chicago time, I have seen nothing but a whole lot of crap.  And befitting the title of ‘Brotherly Love,’ we see a lot of ‘Brotherly Suck,’  So I wonder where the alleged spring cleaning is.  Watching some of these auditions have become a rather mind-numbing exercise even if you can remember yet another classic meltdown in the form of the oh-so eloquent speaker Alexis, a 23 year old full-time college student, presumbly at Kutztown.  All I’ll say is…for a meltdown, that was quite eloquent.  Well Day 1 did end on a great note as 26 year old Chicago native Angela gave me some hope that there’s some diamonds out there in Philly.  And kudos to her to go all the way from Chi-town to Philly to do this.

So heres the Day 2 recap cuz I was around to watch it.  And boy was that a bad beginning.  Just check the YouTube updates to see what I’m talking about.  Looks like we spotted a possible Top24er in Kristy, but as I continue to theorize…yes Carrie Underwood has brought Idol a sustained star, but you almost get the feeling, they don’t want another pure country girl or even guy to make it all the way to the Kodak.  And it just goes downhill…and downhill shall it go.  Bad audition after bad audition.  Then theres the guy with the weird stare and singing a dirty song about Paula Abdul.  Wait a sec, my creep-dar just started to go bonkers.  I actually will have to thank Simon for stopping this horror.  And a memo to FOX…please keep idiots like Ben Haar from ever gracing the television again.  Please.

Top24 radar just turned on to 20 year old Chris from Dover, DE.  Just wish Simon wouldn’t expound on the superficial aspects of how the industry works.  He certainly has a sound made for the new soul R&B that is currently paced by John Legend and Chris Brown and yes he has the made-for-album cover look.  I can see a possible Top 24.  So the Top 24 radar has beeped twice in Philly.  And the Top 24 radar just shut down again and the geek-dar has come up and its not for a good reason.  Poor Crystal.  And the day in Philly ends with nanny Brooke, whose voice is a little raw but might have a chance if given a chance to get to Hollywood and Hollywood they give her.

All in all, Philly disappoints again.  Let’s hope the trip to Texas is worth the time.

Till we meet again, I am OUT.