Gleeinvention

Over the weekend, I rediscovered my Glee fever. I had looked it up, just out of interest, because I hadn’t looked at it in a while. I was really surprised when I saw that Damian McGinty was on the show. I have listened to him in the group he sang in before he was on Glee, Celtic Thunder. When I did some research, I found out that he left the group L so that he could do a show called The Glee Project. According to the Internet, he won that show, and got onto Glee. This sparked my interest in the show again, and I checked Netflix to see if there were any new episodes. I was happy to discover that both season one and season two are available on Netflix.

So far, so good.

As I started to watch season 2, I was annoyed. All the characters that seemed so great in the first season had become repetitive and ridiculous. And now that I’ve started watching season 3, I’ve realized that they have to add a truckload of new characters to keep it going in future seasons, now that almost all of the characters are set to graduate. That won’t end well!

There is one good thing about all these new characters: They come with new voices.

image found here

Lately, Glee’s musical arrangement has become really cliché. It always seems to involve one person belting out the latest chart-topper, with other characters swaying and singing nonsensically in the background. There also seems to be a trend in the characters who get solos, but at least that is addressed in the show. Hopefully, Glee will get its act together in coming seasons.

Sorry it’s been so long,

Miss Treble

KeiLove's Feature Lead

     Usually when people think of music, they think of the internationally or nationally known artists, like Lady Gaga, Lil' Wayne, Taylor Swift, and Rihanna just to name a few. However, there are also a wide variety of local artists, especially in Austin. One well-known band is Austin's very own Schmillion, a batch of students who attend LBJ/LASA High School. No one would have thought that a group of high school students would become so well known in a matter of two years, and it's time someone found the inside secrets to their fame.
     <The message "Nut Graph" is unavailable at this time. Please try again later.>

Miss Treble's Lead/Nut Graph

The curtain closes one final time, hiding a stellar cast of students from view. The audience sits quiet for a moment, absorbing what they just witnessed. When the curtain swings open again for final bows, the room bursts with sound: Clapping, cheering, and the murmur of many conversations. As the auditorium slowly empties, the actors and actresses mill around backstage, congratulating each other on a story well played.

“The feeling of hearing applause… It’s just like nothing else, it’s like nothing in the world,” says Alina Vega, a junior at LASA high school. She performs with The Alley Cat Players, LASAs acting group. “The passion of being on stage is something I love,” she adds.

Theater can best be described as a creative outlet for those in need of a place to express themselves. Many students looking for a place to call home find themselves enveloped into this community-central program. Theater is an integral part of LASA, and for a good reason, too. “[Acting has] given me a way to feel more confident about myself,” says Vega, “knowing that I can create something beautiful, and something that other people will enjoy, even if they’re having the worst day ever.”

Dum Dee Dum Feature Lead

Austin is a city full of musicians, each with their own original vibe, but none like guitarist Tom Johnson. Unlike other musicians he doesn’t just sing the songs as they are, he translates English songs to Spanish, and Spanish songs to English. Nonetheless, like many things in life, there’s the right and wrong way to do things, as well as a great many factors, which ultimately lead to either fame or failure.

KAT-TUN's "ReBIRTH"

Wow, a week flies by when you're having fun.

Just so you know, my blog topic changes depending on my mood, and I'm in a KAT-TUN mood, so I'll talk about KAT-TUN.

KAT-TUN is another popular boy band from Johnny and Associates (the talent agency) which consists of Kazuya Kamenashi, Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, Tatsuya Ueda, and Yuichi Nakamaru. They had a previous member, Jin Akanishi, who served for the A initial until he left in 2010 (see my blog post about Akanishi here) to pursue his solo career in the US, but now Kamenashi serves for both the K and the A (it's convenient, considering his first and last name start with "KA").

Since their recent release "RUN FOR YOU," KAT-TUN's Kamenashi is starring in an ongoing drama called Yokai Ningen Bem (Monster Humanoid Bem), which started airing October 11 this year. I've been updated pretty well, and have watched all the episodes up to date (which is about 4 right now) and the main song in their upcoming release, "BIRTH," is the ending theme. Just by the TV size version (about a minute and a half) I'm really looking forward to getting the single when it releases.

"BIRTH," like many foreign releases, has three editions: Limited Edition 1, Limited Edition 2, and the Regular Edition. The single is planned to release November 30th (NOT SO FAR AWAY!) and the cover artwork hasn't been disclosed yet (it's a big surprise, I know it) but there's a sneek peek of the tracklist:

Limited Edition 1 (CD/DVD)

CD
1. BIRTH

DVD
1. BIRTH (music video + making of music video)

Limited Edition 2 (CD/DVD)

CD
1. BIRTH
2. Untitled Song A

DVD
1. Untitled Song A (music video + making of music video)

Regular Edition (CD only)
1. BIRTH
2. Untitled Song A
3. Untitled Song B
4. Untitled Song C
5. BIRTH (Original Karaoke)
6. Untitled Song A (Original Karaoke)
7. Untitled Song B (Original Karaoke)
8. Untitled Song C (Original Karaoke)

For those of you who know me (I mean REALLY know me) then you can see how excited I am about KAT-TUN or anything related to them (well, that's how it is for a lot of artists I listen to), so mention KAT-TUN and I'll just act like *identity censored*.

Since "BIRTH" isn't released yet, I'll use "RUN FOR YOU" as the image part.


From left to right: Taguchi, Tanaka, Kamenashi, Nakamaru, Ueda
Image found here

Tracklist:
1. RUN FOR YOU
2. DIAMOND
3. SWEET CHAIN
4. COSMIC CHILD
5. NOW & FOREVER
Plus Original Karaoke tracks for each song.

Note: "RUN FOR YOU" also has Limited and Regular Editions, but I only put the Regular Edition here because it's to much to have in one blog post.

Side comments about the "RUN FOR YOU" cover artwork:
- I'm in a state of surprise because Taguchi cut his hair (it was better when it was longer). He looks too visual kei now, which is sort of... odd? ._."
- Tanaka's a BLONDE! What is this?! (Well, it beats his previous style, and he looks really hot as a blonde in this hairstyle. But he still creeps me out though... -.-")

-RUN FOR YOU, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE-
KeiLove

Ya-Ya-Yamapi!

Hello, all! Did you miss me? No? TOO BAD. I'm back anyways.

For this blog post I decided to talk about Yamapi, one of my favorite artists, because he's just that cool.

But first a little background.

First of all, his real name isn't Yamapi, but Yamashita Tomohisa. He's a singer and actor, and is an ex-member of NEWS, one of Johnny and Associates' more popular boy bands. He was part of NEWS until last month (October), when he withdrew from the group to continue his solo career. Recently he hasn't been releasing any albums, but instead is focusing on his new drama, "Saikou no Jinsei no Owarikata~Ending Planner~" (It's the End of a Great Life ~Ending Planner~) which starts airing in January 2012.

In a past concert on the popular Japanese variety TV show "Shounen Club,"(when he was still part of NEWS) he told the story of how he got his nickname "Yamapi":

*Shounen Club: May 18, 2003*

Yamashita: Okay! Um... this is a bit sudden, but... "Pi-chan's Monologue"!

*crowd cheers in excitement*

Yamashita: Okay, today I'll talk about something that I expect you to find odd about me.
Um, my nickname is Yamapi. Yamapi, right? Where does the "Pi" in "Yamapi" come from? I expect there are a lot of people who wonder what "Pi" is. So today I'll talk about the origin. There were blue, green, and pink costumes. So I put on the blue... "Oh, hi, thanks..." I put on the blue costume. We have a teacher, a dance teacher, right? The dance teacher said, "Hey, Yamashita, pink! You've got the wrong costume! Not blue, pink! Pink!" He said, "Yamashita, pink!" "Ah, I'm sorry. I get it." So I changed into the pink clothes. But he'd shouted the "Yamashita, pink!" bit so many million, billion, trillion times! So then Takizawa-kun and the others were like, "Yamashita, pink. Yamashita, pink. Yamapi. Yamapi!"

-And that's the story of his nickname. (The actual video segment of the story is on Youtube. NOTE: I wasn't the one who translated the segment. All credit goes to NEWShFAN at his/her LiveJournal*.) Now, back to his new drama.

In "Saikou no Jinsei no Owarikata~Ending Planner~" (It's the End of a Great Life ~Ending Planner~), Yamapi will play an owner of a funeral parlor who succeeds his late father's business unwillingly. As he recieves bodies from the police, it's through these bodies that he's able to understand the fabric of human relationships.

Just by hearing about this drama, I really want to see it, even though it's still months away from broadcasting.
I don't understand why, but since his break up from NEWS he hasn't been coming out with any new music as part of his solo career. Oh well, maybe he sees acting as more of a priority, and he'll get some inspiration from his roles or something. Regardless, I'll look forward to listening to any new releases/dramas he comes out with! o(^w^)o


To keep the music aspect, here's a past single he did with KAT-TUN's Kamenashi Kazuya for their drama "Nobuta wo Produce" (Producing Nobuta) called "Seishun Amigo" under their character names, Shuji and Akira:

 Yamapi's on the left, Kamenashi's on the right. Image found here.
Shuji to Akira: Seishun Amigo
Tracklist:
1. Seishun Amigo
2. Colorful (Yamapi)
3. Kizuna (Kamenashi)
4. Seishun Amigo (Original Karaoke)
5. Colorful (Original Karaoke)
6. Kizuna (Original Karaoke)

Yamapi on January 18, 2011. Click here for more information on his drama.

-SET OFF, EMBRACE IT-
KeiLove

*Unfortunately, the LiveJournal account is purged/deleted, but the credits for subtitles are in the video segment.

We Lost Another One...

     I'm sure many of you have noticed that a lot of the new black eyed peas songs are just remixes to classic hip hop from back in the day. It's sickening (here we go!). A lot of my favorite songs are by the black eyed peas but none of them are from this decade. Those songs were actually written by them! These new lyrics to their newer songs sound like they're paraphrasing their older one, and now all of them are starting to sound more an more similar....which is so boring! The rest is filled in with a variety of techno sounds. Techno sounds are cool and all, but you can only use them so much in one song.

                                        Source

     Lyrics aside, I love to dance, and I also loved (key word lovED) the choreography in the BEP's older music videos. The costumes and  dancing were so creative and professional crafted! But now it saddens me to see that I can't find that originality in them any more. They basically jump around and walk slowly as they stare intensely in to the camera through their shades, occasionally pixelating themselves from time to time. And the costumes are looking  less and less related to the music video.

                                                  Source

      no! i stand coRrected! all thEy sing about now is partying I guess and its really really old. so how do they dance? juMpIng up aNd down, fist pumps, stuff likE that. ugh, how mainStream Can thEy get?

says Dum Dee Dum

Panic! at the Disco Fangirl Vent/Rant

Okay, I know I talk about Panic! at the Disco in a "godly" way (Because they are gods) but I think that they are one of the best bands out there with the least amount of fans...

<- I mean who doesn't think this face is adorable?









and the fact that he can sing like this!?!

Panic! at the Disco - New Perspective - Free Music Videos

and OMFG HIS STYLE!!
HIS STYLE IS LIKE HJFSLYUDGAFULDSHJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(P.S. Please Comment if you would like to see me walking through school like them^ [in a suit and sunglasses, possibly singing])

Then the way he makes people feel awkward is soo funny!

How is it, that a stunning lead singer like Brendon Urie, Can't make a band like Panic! at the Disco as famous as LMFAO or Linkin Park or somebody like that?!? I'm sure he can get an acting career since he played a pretty freaking awesome vampire in, fellow labelmate, Fall out boy's "A little less sixteen candles, A little more Touch Me"

Please Click on the picture to see the GIF move...

See! I think he makes a better vampire then Robert Pattinson (don't tell anyone I said that!)

I mean really, Brendon Urie looks awesome in just about anything, and I mean ANYTHING!

Whether its a mustache and a top hat, or a sparkly pink tiara or even..

Yeah, even if its a mankini.... well actually.. This picture was a little awkward to put on here...

(Sorry all u guys who wanted to see Brendon without the censor block)

Seriously though, I would like to know if you think I should come to school in a random suit and sunglasses just for fun.

and If you have any other ideas of what kinds of stupid stuff I should do in school, please, just tell me what it is and there is an 80% chance that I will do it.

Signing off!

Everlast

Arashi Is Back!

Today is a day... of excitement!

So I'm checking out music updates on my iPad (with my handy dandy Johnny's web App, and the first thing I see os an update on Arashi (Annie-senpai, this is for you).

WARNING: The following update is roughly translated from Japanese, so I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense. I'm trying the best I can with what little Japanese I know.

- Arashi is releasing a new single called "Meikyu Love Song" on November 2nd (today). This is their 36th single release. On its opening day, it has already sold more than 240,000 copies, topping the Oricon Daily Single Ranking*. This single is available in both limited and regular editions, with different coupling tracks for each edition. Please show your support and buy "Meikyu Love Song" wherever available. -

It's short and sweet, but it's enough to interest old and new Arashi fans around the world. The main song, "Meikyu Love Song," is the theme song for member Sakurai Sho's drama, "Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de" (which I'm really looking forward to seeing, because I'm an Arashi fan as well). So far, they've been at the top ranks of the Oricon Charts* for 24 consecutive times since one of their releases in February 2004, with a total of 31 times at the top of the charts. Based on that I'd say that they're a REALLY amazing boy band).

This is what the cover looks like:

Limited Edition [CD+DVD]:

[CD]:
1. Meikyu Love Song
2. Kienu Omoi

[DVD]:
"Meikyu Love Song Music Video

Regular Edition [CD only]:
 Both album covers founds here.
[CD]:
1. Meikyu Love Song
2. together, forever
3. Utakata
4. wanna be…
5. Meikyu Love Song (Original Karaoke)
6. together, forever (Original Karaoke)
7. Utakata (Original Karaoke)
8. wanna be… (Original Karaoke)

You can listen to them if you want to, but if you don't then that's okay.

See you next week!

-LOVE SO SWEET-
KeiLove

It's All About Mick Jagger

Sue Zola's Mick Jagger Made out of Glitter

Snapshot of the "Moves Like Jagger" Music Video by Maroon 5 ft Christina Aguilara

So what's with all the Mick Jagger References you might ask? Well I don't know but I think it's just artists ways to teach kids about the utter greatness of the what used to be the Rolling Stones. So I'd like to thank Sue Zola, Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj, Ke$ha, and all the other people who used Mick Jagger in their raps and art.

  

Signing off!

Everlast

‘Jai Ho’ says… The Pussycat Dolls?

At lunch a couple weeks ago, some friends and I were listening to music. When I heard the familiar lines ‘Jai ho,” I was pleasantly surprised. My non-Indian friend had Indian music on iTunes? That happiness lasted only until I realized that I was listening to the poisonous influence known as “The Pussycat Dolls”, not the Indian pop song that I like.

What on earth?!?!

Why would anyone want to destroy a cool song? It won an Academy for Best Original Score. The Pussycat Dolls shouldn’t be allowed to mess with a song like that. “Jai Ho” means ‘may there be victory’. The Pussycat Dolls added the subhead “You Are My Destiny”. It seems like they didn’t even know what ‘Jai ho’ means. So lame! They warped the beats, and changed the words.

The original is way better. There was no reason to remake it, whether in English or in Hindi.

 Why should anyone change such a sweet song?

Brett Randell and the Magical Box...

 Glow

His Website

  My daddy makes friends with a lot of people anywhere he goes (he loves to talk) and one day he got invited to go to a friends house to hear a bunch of musicians play. Naturally, i went as well as, I am used to going to the homes of complete strangers every time my dad meets someone new. All was well until a man by the name of Brett Randell took his place on stage and with him, a wooden box, about the size of one of those safes that Warner Bros. characters like to drop on each other. This box had one hole cut into the side of it and there were like, I guess wires inside (please not this was in no way powered by electricity).
He began playing and he was A M A Z I N G! But the box made all these cool sound, it's really hard to explain I wish I'd taken a video! That night he had just gotten back from a tour all over Europe.

THE CAJON

his (Friggin amazing btw) Looked shOrter But mOre square and, oh yeah, iT waS decorated!

Dum Dee Dum

THE SORRIEST EXCUSE!

    At first i was not a huge fan of that new "Dancing in the Dark" song, but I figured that since the song is about dancing and the beat/rhythm was all that bad, that there might be some good choreography in the music video. But now I absolutely love it! The music video was oh so beautifully crafted.

UH, YEAH RIGHT.                                                         Source

    After witnessing the train wreck i wanted to repent and punish myself for ever thinking that (the choreography theory). What was she doing?! The use of the hand patterns was a fairly good idea, but they did more movement than she did. The entire video with the random frame and hands encircling her could have been used just for the intro, but to drag on the entire video was torture! Seriously, was there one moment in the video where she took even one step? All she did was move her hands or roll around in painted hands, she touched her hair and hips, poked out her finger to "push to start" and stuff like that. Can you get any blander? That's something anyone can do, where is the art? Her outfits weren't even that interesting ether. It was all very generic, the club scenes were even more redundant (LABYRINTH!). Ugh, and the glasses were not in any way creative, no special effects or use of color. ThI certainly hope she wasn't proud of her work and that is why this is the sorriest excuse for a music video I've witnessed in a while.

Dum Dee Dum