Bw’s Blog

I remember seeing this video a while ago by a “band” called Metro Station, and being plagued by the song, Shake It.

This is a band that was basically formed on the set of Hannah Montana, in which the siblings of both founding members are the main characters. Guitarist Trace Cyrus is the older brother of Miley Cyrus, and lead singer Mason Musso’s younger brother Mitchell also stars on the show.

Now, as you can tell from the picture on the left, Trace Cyrus is one of the most emo people in the world, and the music reflects that. While, Musso can barely squeek out the vocals, Cyrus is just pathetic. His voice just sounds creepy.

The song, Shake It, is completely unbearable and barely passes for music. I was shocked to find that some of my friends believe that this band is credible…they are not. See how bad they are at myspace.com/metrostation

Unfortunately, I’m sure we’ll be hearing more music from this terrible, terrible, band. Thanks Disney.

BW.

This is one thing that’s been pissing me off for quite a long time and needs addressing. Not that it’s going to make a difference…

It seems that every time I’m on the bus or subway, someone has to abuse me with their abnoxiously loud music while I’m trying to read or listen to my OWN music. Yeah, even when I have headphones on I can still hear other people’s music…and that’s even more annoying.

Okay, when someone’s wearing headphones, and they don’t realize that everyone else can hear it, that’s not so bad (it’s still pretty fucking annoying). But when some ass thinks that because his cellphone has a speaker on it, that gives him the right to blast his awful music for everyone else to hear.

I’m not even going to mention what genre of music is the common choice, because that’s not important. Do these people think they somehow appear cooler because we know that their music sucks, and that they have no common decency? It takes everything I have not to fucking yell at these dumbass kids.

Anyone else know what I’m talking about?

BW. 

If you live in Canada, you may have heard this piece of musical crap on the radio. If you like it, you’re probably retarded…but then I don’t really blame you.

If you haven’t heard this song, you’ll probably recognize it from the original. It’s a cover of Toto’s popular hit, Africa. I know what you’re thinking…the song was bad enough already, why would someone cover this? You’re not alone here.

Enter Karl Wolf, an “artist” who decides he’s going to take the best part of the song (the chorus), add a terrible drum beat that would make Jeff Porcaro turn in his grave, and then make up some new verses that are somehow even worse than the chorus. Sound good? (Hint: No)

Somehow, the video for this song is actually worse than the music! If you need a good chuckle, watch it below…but you may end up hating yourself and never listening to music again - you’ve been warned.

After witnessing Britney Spears‘ video for Circus, I’m left with a really bad taste in my mouth. The song is pretty awful, but at least it’s a step up from Womanizer…that was just a piece of shite.

But back to the video, the one part that pissed me off most about it was the “nude” scene where we see all of Brit except for her nipples and a select few other areas of her body. Is this really necessary? (and I say this as a hetero male)

Didn’t this exact scene happen before in her Toxic video, and wasn’t that shameful enough? The second time round it’s just not even close to shocking. What is the difference between Britney and a stripper? A couple of nips? A slightly higher camera angle?

After witnessing this horrendous lack of creativity I’m left wondering: what the fuck is going on? Why is this music popular? 

I don’t think there’s an answer to that…but if Britney insists on forcing awful music down the throats of unsuspecting kids, for fuck’s sake, put some clothes on.

Sincerely,

BW.

When I was much younger, a friend came up to me laughing his head off. When I asked why, he started mimicking a recent song by a band called Linkin Park.

That song was called One Step closer, and it miraculously achieved mainstream success. There were some half-decent songs on the same album, but things quickly deteriorated.

With the next album, Meteora, listeners were subjected to the same fake-screaming-emo garbage that Linkin Park calls music. Unfortunately, the nu-metal-rap-rock-mash-up continued (don’t even get me started on the mash-up).

In 2007, things went from bad to worse. With the help of Rick Rubin, the band worked extra hard polishing turds in order to form their next album: Minutes To Midnight.

The first single, What I’ve done, was almost bearable, and I actually liked Shadow of the Day, but my ears began to bleed when I heard Bleed it Out. The fact that this song is getting continuous radioplay is just heartbreaking. There is good music out there!

Dear Linkin Park….please stop.

Sincerely,

BW.

If you’ve never heard of a band called Hinder, than you should consider yourself lucky.

I first heard this band with their single, Lips of an Angel, off of their debut album: Extreme Behavior.  I have to admit that I could taste puke in my mouth during the first chorus. This song is just awful.

But how about that album title? These guys are obviously bad-asses (see ridiculous band photo), but they’re not afraid of showing their sensitive side!

The rest of the songs on that turd they call an album were just terrible. I would go so far as saying that it’s a disgrace to music. If you’ve ever heard this band I’m sure you would agree.

But wait! Unfortunately this band didn’t give up after the first try…they actually wrote a new album. It has another uber-serious title: Take it to the Limit. That’s right, these overly styled pansies are taking it right to the limit…not just half way…alllll the way to the limit! Now that’s what I call bad-ass.

Apparently this album has sold over 80,000 copies. This leads me to believe that there are at least 80,000 people who are dumb enough to think that this is real music. This is what society has come to, and it’s a shame really.

Luckily for those of you who want the maximum amount of bad music in one night, Hinder is embarking on a tour with Motley Crue and Theory of a Deadman. Why can I hear “the day the music died…” playing in my head right now?

If you have any sense at all, you will never listen to Hinder. Luckily, I’m sure we won’t have to suffer through this much longer. Once they take their extreme behavior too far past the limit it will all be over. Thank god…

Sincerely,

BW. 

I’m really beginning to think that Travis Barker has a black fetish. By that I mean, he really likes the color black.

Zildjian just released a new model of Travis’ sticks…and guess what…they’re black! This makes them totally better than the regular white ones. But won’t they just leave black marks on all of my cymbals?

Not if you like black cymbals…like Travis does. Mr. Barker recently appeared in modern drummer magazine playing Zildjian “pitch black” cymbals. I’m going to put my money on the “I bet they sound like shit” category. They remind me of a tackier looking platinum series…and those sure sucked.

Anything else? Yep. Barker recently appeared in a remo ad, promoting their new black suede model of drum heads. Do they sound good? I guess. Are they black? You betcha.

Thanks Travis for really making me take a whole new look at playing the drums…or something like that.

Sincerely,

BW.

As a drummer in an independent band I find that a lot of people are wary of listening to new music.

When I ask someone “Hey would you be interested in listening to my band?” the response is usually them trying to say no in a polite way. I don’t even bother asking if they would fork over a measly $5 for an album.

I know you might be thinking “Well, maybe your music just sucks?” but about 90% of the people who actually listen give me some positive feedback. This leads me to believe that my music doesn’t necessarily suck, but that it is being pre-judged based on the misconception that most independent music sucks.

The thousands of teenage bands butchering their instruments and playing god-awful music have made it difficult for anyone with genuine talent to have a chance. But a lot of those awful teenage bands will evolve into something worthwhile in a few years. So, music can’t really go on without them.

The only way someone will listen to your music is if they are just being polite, or if someone else tells them it will be worth while. Most listeners have learned long ago, never to trust the artist’s opinions. Self-promotion is a dangerous addiction and one that often matures far too early.

The result: people lack confidence in new music. I can’t say that I blame them.

Sincerely,

BW.