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Last Dinosaurs

A band I recently discovered and instantly liked is 'Last Dinosaurs'. I came across them while searching an online music streaming site. This may sound superficial but i decided to give them a play because, to be honest, i thought the name and the album art were cool :) Turns out their music is pretty cool too!

In recent times I've really found a soft spot in my music tastes for indie music, and these guys certainly hit the spot!  This four-piece band is from Australia too, Brisbane, which is cool too. They seem to be a fairly recent hit, their debut album 'In a Million Years' was only released this year - 2 months ago in fact (so I feel like I'm pretty in the know right now :P) however the ridiculously solid sound of their album tells me that a lot more people are gonna find out about these guys very soon!

The sound of the album is really what captured me. The opening track, Zoom, starts with a nostalgically indie tape-deck sample which is then overpowered by an energetic guitar riff which quickly breaks in the full band. The song, and the whole album, keeps up this energy and makes for a very exciting, foot tapping (or get up and jump around) kind of listen. The band does not shy away from playing around with technique and varies texture (which i'm a sucker for) and also plays around with the tone of the guitars, which is pretty neat.

The lyrics, I feel, is the only thing that really let's me down on this album. Lyrics are a pretty huge thing for me but none the less, I can still enjoy a great song without having a clue what is being sung about. But anyway, I've found that after listening to this album for over a week, I still havn't been able to glimpse much of what any of the songs are actually about. Whilst some of them are a bit more obvious - 'Used to be Mine' - i still feel i'd be able to enjoy the album a lot more if i sat down with the band and they told me what each line meant.... And other songs would probably still just leave me scratching my head to be honest! 

No one's cool all the time, sometimes not at all
Treasure hunt, hope you'd find what you're looking for
Nikola, we gotta make a difference
Nikola, we gotta make a difference
     - 'Time and Place'

Perhaps I just need to listen to it more! I don't know.
Anyway, definitely a very interesting and catchy album. If you're looking for something, fun, energetic, interesting and indie, I would definitely recommend Last Dinosaurs.


Peace.

Two Door Cinema Club

Two door cinema club, an indie rock band that i started to listen when i played FIFA 2011 (i'm a big fan of soccer haha). FIFA 2011 has some good soundtracks in it, but the song from two door cinema club that they put inside is sooo catchy and it sounds soo great ! the song is called "i can talk". I wish i knew them in 2010 so that i could watch them when they came to sydney in 2010 :(

Tourist History (2010) Album Art Cover

This band was formed in 2007 and consists of 3 guys, they are Sam Halliday (lead guitars, backing vocals), Alex Trimble (vocals, rhythm guitar), Kevin Baird (bass, backing vocals). They only have one album and it was released in 2010 called tourist history. Honestly, i love every single song in this album, they are catchy, they have good beats and good lyrics ! i would recommend 4 songs from this album, which are "I can talk", "something good can work", "undercover martyn" and "what you know" (you guys should listen to all of their songs thou, you won't regret ! haha). Anywaaay, here is a video of my favorite songs of theirs, enjoy :

What I love About Music

So I thought I'd dive a little deeper into what it is exactly that I love about music. So here we go!

Music has always been an important part of my family and so, growing up I've been exposed to a lot of music. Whilst my parents may not have had the widest selection of music, they certainly helped to grow my love of the art form. My parents played their music constantly, in the car, at home, while cooking dinner, while I tried to watch tv... etc :) I remember when we went on long drives we'd always listen to a tape of 'The Seekers'... I listen to those songs now and they've become so nostalgic...

Anyway, my parents also loved playing music and they passed this on to my sister and I when they gave us both piano lessons. Today, I love listening and playing music. The best songs for me, are ones where the music and lyrics of a song compliment each other in an incredible and beautiful way. I love how music can shape and build on the mood you're in. I love how I can stay up 'till 3am playing guitar and singing in my back room. Music is just amazing.

So I guess I'll give you some examples of some songs that really 'do it' for me...

Anyway, I think it doesn't really matter what genre of music it is... so long as I can identify the beauty and the passion in a song. That's what I really love about music.

Peace.

Kings of Convenience

Hello guys ! let's go a bit slow today, i'm gonna review an acoustic band from  Norway, they are called "Kings of Convenience". Kings of Convenience consist of two guys, Erlend Øye (Guitar, Vocals) and Eirik Glambek Bøe (Guitar, Vocals). For you guys who love listening to an incredible melodic guitar with delicate tunes and calming voices, i promise you, Kings of Convenience are the right band ! Their songs have always been relaxing ! I often listen to their songs on my way to university haha.

Kings of Convenience albums (2001 - present)

Hmm, i have never watched their concert before, so i cannot judge whether their live performance is as good as their recording songs or not. However, i've got couple of friends who watched them playing live about two or three years ago in Indonesia and my friends said the live performance was good. Well, here is a video of my Kings of Convenience favorite song of all time. The song is called "Misread", give it a listen and enjoy !

Devin Townsend

So you've now had a look at my love for Blink-182 and all the members, so I think it's time to bring in my love for someone else. 


Devin Townsend is an amazing man in music, but due to his sound he is highly looked over by the "mainstream" crowd. But you know what? I'm okay with that. I'd rather he have listeners that understand him to some extent rather than the mindless followers of mainstream artists like Nicki Minaj. 


Devin Townsend has a vocal range that is absolutely insane, with different albums and connections to different groups, as well as a solo career for some time. Without going into too much detail, this is a quick description of his musical career.




Member of: Strapping Young Lad/The Devin Townsend Band
Looks like: 




Individual Career
Looks Like: 

Member of: The Devin Townsend Project
Looks Like: 

Devin has released over 20 albums. The best thing about them though is the difference between some of the genres. Ghost as an album by DTP is ambient. It was all i listened to when i studied, because it formed the perfect level of background music that I didn't have to think about, but it stopped my own thoughts from running a muck. I'll then post another song from his early days in Strapping Young Lad.
I encourage you to have a listen to things that he does, I truly can't explain how different and great every single one of his albums are, even though there are so many, and not all of them are my favourite genres.

Devin Townsend Project - Feather

Strapping Young Lad - Love?

Devin Townsend - Kingdom

The Devin Townsend Project - Hyperdrive

And just to leave you with another one of his projects, Ziltoid the puppet. A metaphor for his life and journey to getting clean. Heavy symbolism combined with one hell funny puppet that likes coffee. :)

xxx

Muse

Heyyow, today i'm gonna review a fantastic band from England, Muse. Some of you might have known them before, they are pretty famous, however, for those of you who have not know them, i really do recommend you to give it a shot to listen to their songs. They are generally a rock band but they've got lots of songs with different genres in their albums such as pop, electro, alternative, anything you name it. Pretty cool, eh ?

muse albums from 1999-present

I watched them while they were playing live in sydney in 2010, trust me it was worth every single dollar i spent. They were really fantastic and entertaining, great songs, great intros, outstanding solo guitars, everything were just perfect at that day, they even had a stage with 3 shiny pillars with them inside it. Okay, enough for the concert story, here is a video of my favorite muse song, it is called "new born" enjoy !

Blink-182

So even though Mark is 40, Tom is 36 and as is Travis, they still manage to take some pretty decent photos. Do they age emotionally? When they're together, i'm just not sure.......:)
Here's a couple of my favourites from my other blog

I remember back in 1999 when Enema Of The State was released, and my aunty bought it for me for an early christmas present, because she'd also bought me Dude Ranch for my birthday that year (in January). I fell in love with the band, they were just so different to everything else everyone was listening to. Everyone looked at me like guitars were the worst sounding things in the world! And my parents told me that they had bad attitudes and I shouldn't listen to them
Little would they know i'd become obsessed and not stop listening to them for the next 13 years ;) Their Disography has just gotten better through the years. My favourite Albums are Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, and the self titled, Blink-182. 

Here's my favourite song,

Anberlin

One band that I've loved for a long time is Anberlin. These guys are your classic Alternative Rock group - ranging from your rough, loud athem tracks all the way back to those soft, meaningful pieces.

I love the way that Anberlin can vary their sound like that. It gives their music a real genuiness because it shows that their music style reflects the content matter of the song. Their lyrics are another strong point... One track, The Unwinding Cable Car, is the story of a man who has been through his life and considers all the times he'd like to go back and relive - or do differently. The song ends up being an encouraging message - with the feel of a caring grandparent giving advice to a grand child.

The overarching message of Anberlin is a positive one, a welcome change in todays' egotistical music scene. The band has its roots in Christian music, as all the memebers express a Christian faith, however they insist that their music is for everyone.

They'll be visiting Australia this year for The Big Exo Day in september. Which I'm pretty darn excited about!

Angels & Airwaves

So if you read my post before about Tom Delonge, you'd know that his band Angels & Airwaves also means a lot to me and makes up a huge chunk of my music plays. I can be sitting at home eating cereal but as soon as AVA starts to play I can close my eyes and feel like i'm Lance Armstrong winning the Tour De France. An awesomely random example i know hahha


To me, Angels & Airwaves is one of the most incredible bands out there today. The amount of passion the band has for their music, along with their fans and their overall space theme makes them completely different to anything i've ever experienced. Under the direction of Tom they have produced four albums, We Dont Need To Whisper (2006), I-Empire (2007), Love Part I (2010) and Love Part II (2011). Every time I listen to any of these albums, but in particular Love Part II, I don't even feel like i'm human. I feel like i'm floating through space, on top of a mountain, and just that no matter what i'm dealing with, i'm not alone.


When I first heard the song Saturday Love, after months of waiting for the album Love Part II, I just sat there with my eyes closed while it took me away. Give it a listen, and just let it flow through you. 

“We’re not played on the radio.. We’re not played on TV.. You found us.. And we found you.”

—	Tom DeLonge

I saw Angels & Airwaves live on the 29th of February 2012, and it was the best night of my life. I was standing a meter from my idol, and he played every single one of my favourite songs. It might sound weird but I cried a few times throughout that night. It was a mixture of happiness, excitement and just pure raw emotions that I can't even label. The crowd was deadly, by the end of the night none of us knew who we were squashed up against, but none of us cared. And even though none of us knew each other, we knew who we were there for and for the first time, everything made sense in that moment of time.


Have you heard of the website Setlist.fm? It's absolutely amazing, it practically gives you the stat's about a bands setlists at different concerts. 
This was what AVA played at the UNSW Roundhouse when I was there :)
And here are the photos that were taken by Sludgefactory :)

I'm just going to stop typing about Angels & Airwaves now, I can't explain how much they mean to me and that's okay :) That's the great thing about music, you don't have to explain.


xxx

Hello, Wahab here !

Hello, everyone ! welcome to nomorethanmusic blog. My name is Wahab Lukman and i'm one of the members that also runs this blogspot.

I mostly listen to punk rock and pop rock music but actually, when it comes to music any genres would be fine for me (except R&B haha). My favorite genre is punk rock but recently i got bored listening to one genre over and over again so i change my playlists to indie songs. Here is my favorite indie song of all time :

Pretty good, eh ? Oh, anyway here is a screenshot of my top artists from my last.fm :

Okay, that's all from me. Last but not least CLICK HERE to go to my last fm account, and feel free to add me :D

Tom Delonge

Okay, now i've introduced myself, I think that I need to introduce one of the biggest parts of me musically :)

This is Tom Delonge, and he's my idol. 
Tom has famously been a member of Blink-182 from 1992-2005 and then reunited with other band members Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker during 2009 after their well publicised hiatus. A lot of blame and people were hurt by the break up, including not only the band members but the fans who had been with them since the start. But no one knows the complete story, so I really think unless you're Tom, Mark or Travis, you can't sit here pointing fingers at what happened..


During the hiatus, Tom formed two side projects, Box Car Racer with Travis Barker and Angels & Airwaves. You can track his maturation, his feelings and everything he went through while you listen to his music, and that's one of the things i love about him. When I listen to Box Car Racer I can hear all the pain, frustration and how misunderstood he felt in the final year or so of his membership to Blink-182

He's my idol because he represents everything that I love about life. He believes that we're not the only ones out there in the universe, that themes like Love extend beyond just being a human emotion, but a facet of life itself.


I've never met him, but when I do, I just want the opportunity to say thank you.


xxx

Hi, I'm Brendan!

Hi Everyone!
My name's Brendan and welcome to our blog all about music! This blog is run by myself, Tamika and Wahab from Macquarie University. Over the next few days we'll be introducing ourselves and the types of music we're into!

I really like most music but my favourite (right now) is indie rock. I also love plain old rock, soft rock, classic piano ballads, punk, emo and i dabble in a bit of hardcore and even enjoy a touch of rap. Hec! Even some dub-step can be alright! When it comes down to it though, the songs I like most though combine music and lyrics in a way that is meaningful and beautiful. These are the best songs.

Here's a taste of my tastes from last.fm :)

Mae, Anberlin, Relient K, The Getaway Plan, Paramore, The Classic Crime, Snow Patrol, The Fray, Switchfoot, Tokyo Police Club, Underoath, Hillsong UNITED, Death Cab for Cutie, Number One Gun, Terminal, New Empire, Madina Lake, The Killers, The Temper Trap, Barcelona, Emery, The Wombats, John Mayer, Yellowcard, P.O.D., Jeremy Messersmith, Playjerise, Planet of the Stereos, The Spill Canvas, The Afters, Sanctus Real, Two Door Cinema Club, blink-182, Daphne Loves Derby, Mumford & Sons, Hillsong, Kutless, Armor For Sleep, Saosin, Growing Feathers, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, System of a Down, Jack's Mannequin, Alive In Wild Paint, Phoenix, Lostprophets, Coldplay, Angelas Dish, Jimmy Eat World, Ivoryline. 

Check out my music taste: http://www.last.fm/user/scollop_is_nice

So sorry i'm late to say hi, but here I am!

Helloo! I'm Tamika. Or Mika. Like the singer, but not really. I don't think my voice goes nearly as high as his does..

I've started this blog with Wahab and Brendan about one of the only things that I love, and will always love, music :)

This is an intro, so maybe i'll introduce what I like listening to, and then later on post about why it means so much to me

The thing I love is that there is a genre, artist, band or even project in music for every single mood you're in. At the moment my music plays revolve around Angels & Airwaves, Blink-182, The Devin Townsend Project, Skrillex, Bring Me The Horizon and Escape The Fate.

Diverse, huh?

Like I said, that's what I love about it. It varies for a lot of people, but I think when i'm searching for new artists, the thing that gets me first is the vocals. If you don't get an instant connection with the vocalist, you're going to find it hard to really feel what the band is trying to show you. And I do mean feel, not just listen, or see film clips. The beautiful thing about this is that music can be a part of you, and no one really understands what it means to you,

but that's okay.

xxx

First Post!!!

Hello! Welcome to No More than Music!

We're three cool and hip music lovers who want to share with you our music tastes!


Over the next few days, our blog will be coming together. Soon, you'll see some posts from each of us introducing ourselves and our tastes (and last.fm profiles) so you can get to know us and what we like. Then in the coming weeks we'll be posting about bands, gigs and songs that we thing are interesting, ground breaking or just simply great! As we do this you'll see that up the top we'll have links to different types of posts that will help you find what you're looking for.


Here's what we're hoping the site will looking like...





Anyway, thanks a bundle for stopping by! Feel free to share a post you like or get involved in the discussion section :)