Hello again all,

I’ve been remiss in my duties to SATL lately, school and a new band will do that too you. BUT in my absence from the site I’ve been learning a ton of new stuff about how bands are recording these days as well as hunting down some great new tunes.

I’ve been stuck in an ..And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead funk lately. For anyone who doesn’t know, they are an art rock band from Texas that have been putting out solid albums for years now. They are in the studio recording a follow up to 2006’s “So Divided” and if it’s anything like that album it’ll be an aural assault that’ll leave you wondering how come you never sat down and learned how to write a proper song.

And isn’t that what it’s all about? Writing a song that makes you feel something deep down in the very cockles of your heart? What is music if it is not an emotional release shared between people that have never met? As I sit and write this it’s 3:43 AM on a Thursday night/ Friday morning and I’ve been doing nothing but hunt down bands all night. I’ve found a few goodies and hope to bring you some reviews when I get copies of the albums.

So back to the song and how it makes you feel. If you’re a musician what are you thinking when you pick up a guitar, bass, saxophone, or kazoo? What do you think is the point of that exercise? Is it to merely amuse yourself? Amuse others? Make money off of your god-given talent? Well…in this man’s opinion it’s a combination of all of those with a healthy dose of bearing yourself to the world mixed in. We’re all a little mixed up in this life. We’re all looking for the same thing when it comes right down to it and music, whatever kind of music you love, can be the vehicle that can bring you closer to the answer.

I just listened to a song that was 8 minutes and 20 seconds long by a band that I’ve never heard of before and was totally floored. They’re doing things that’s I’ve never come across…sure you can hear influences but as a cohesive musical snapshot I think it’s pretty brand new and that is an amazing thing in this day and age. I may have come off pretty cranky in my first post but to be fair I was listening exclusively to Travis Barker remixes of various rap songs. I could be forgiven for losing all faith in the industry I think.

In closing I refer to a line from the winner of the most recent Oscar for Best Song from a Motion Picture. They said “Make Art.” So make art in whatever sense you seem fit but make it mean something. You might only get one shot.

Bring it.

Stan

P.S. James said Jason Mraz’s new album might be good…I saw the dude give an interview and all he talked about was his new avocado farm…dude is HIIIIIGH. So yes it’ll probably be decent.

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