Album Review

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One of the many new albums I’ve been listening to is Motion City Soundtrack’s “Go”. It was released officially June 12 but was leaked a little under a month. I’ve only been listening to it for a day but I already know this will be the soundtrack to my whole summer. The first few songs, such as “Circuits and Wires” and “Son of a Gun” have very upbeat rhythms that have the potential to be heard at any summer party. There are also a few slower, acoustic songs like “Bad Idea”. My personal favorite is “The Coma Kid” because its “oooh oooh” chorus is just infectious. I would highly recommend this album to anyone who love listening to music of any genre.

Summer 2012 Playlist

Since summer is just around the corner, it’s time to blast music from every speaker you own, whether it’s from your laptop’s computer in your room to your car’s subwoofer. Here are some of the songs that I’ll be listening to this summer.

1.      “45” The Gaslight Anthem

2.      “The Human I Am” This Good Robot

3.       “Someday’s Gone” The All-American Rejects

4.      “Little Talks” Of Monsters and Men

5.      “Amelia” Tonight Alive

6.      “Sandra Partial” Anthony Raneri

7.      “Alligator Bop” A Great Big Pile of Leaves

8.      “Rumor Mill” We Are the In Crowd

9.    "Wishing Well" blink-182

10.  "My Heroine" The Maine

What I've Been Listening To

This week, I’ve been listening to a band called This Good Robot. The band, from Long Island, NY, recently won the 2012 Bamboozle Break Contest and got to play all three days of the festival in Asbury Park, NJ. The 8-piece band consists of band founder Michael Ragosta, Kyle Carberry, Louis DeRose, Ryan Mancine, Walter Mayer, Roberta Ragosta, Andrew Sclafani, and John Welsh. According to their Facebook, Michael Ragosta, who was a former member of the band Patent Pending, began writing songs for TGR while on tour. They began performing as a 5-piece band in September 2009 and in December 2010, they added three more people to complete their current lineup. They also call their music “postindiefolkelectropopcore” which may seem like a weird mix of music, but sounds very good.
Their album, The Human I Am, has 5 tracks, ranging from a soft acoustic-like sound (“The Human I Am”) to a head-banging rock ballad (“Call the Police”). My favorite off the album has to be “Woe is Barnaby Black”. The intro has an old school bounce to it while the chorus makes you want to sing along and dance.
If you want to see them live or stream the album, check out their website www.thisgoodrobot.com.

credit to thisgoodrobot.com

Punk Rock Singer Comes Out as Transgender

About 2 weeks about, Tom Gabel, lead singer of the Florida punk rock band, Against Me!, came out that he was transgender. The 31-year-old singer will be taking the name Laura Grace and will be undergoing changes to be a woman. He/she will soon begin the physical treatment consisting of hormones and electrolysis and potentially gender reassignment. According to the Rolling Stone, Gabel has dealt with gender dysphoria since a young age. Gabel, who is married and has two kids, isn’t attracted to men and will remain married to his wife. To get more details, read the Rolling Stone article here.

At first, being a fan of Against Me!, I was shocked to hear this news. After reading some more about it, I didn’t think of Tom/Laura any differently. I actually felt happy for him/her because he/she was able to come up with the courage to come out and say he/she wasn’t comfortable in the body he/she was in. It takes a lot of nerve to come out with that kind of news being at the profession he/she is in. The rest of the music community is supporting Tom’s decision as well. For instance, Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem wrote on his blog about how people shouldn’t be trashing Tom/Laura for his choice. You can read that here.

Unlike the numerous musicians supporting Tom/Laura, there have been multiple music forums blowing up with harsh and rude statements on the subject. To this I say people shouldn’t be so insensitive to such a serious decision. In my opinion, if it doesn’t affect you, don’t get involved. If anything be positive and in this case, be supportive.

Welcome!

Welcome to Vinyl Remastered! This blog is all about bringing the latest music related news to you. I’ll let you know what I think about the trending topics in music.  I’ll also give you my opinions on the hottest music releases.