Woodstock quick thought and comparison

Based off what I've seen from the film the festival seemed like a cool place to be in terms of everything being relaxed with a more mellow atmosphere and while it wasn't exactly the most hygienic or most pleasant place in the world (heavy body odor from people who didn't bathe, those who did, did so in ponds) though there were portable bathrooms some chose not to use them so there was a pretty high chance of  stepping in feces while walking around and not being able to really watch out because of the mud especially if your were barefoot you could catch some serious infections. Even with the failing hygienic standards and weak infrastructure (didn't expect so many to come, the army eventually lent aid) it seems like a much better festival to be at in terms of listening to music than others we have today such as Acl granted either one is extremely crowded, the bathrooms are both nasty (but of course Acl beats Woodstock in terms of basic hygiene and infrastructure) Woodstock is much better in terms of people being there to actually listen to music and not just get drunk and high like a majority of people at Acl and other "big" festivals today (yes I do realize people also got high at Woodstock, but it wasn't the sole focus). Overall Woodstock seems like the best place to be at if you actually enjoy listening to music (if you're worried about crowds you're kinda screwed for both).

In class we finished up Woodstock with none other than the great Jimi Hendrix and his performance which is the one you know about when anything related with Woodstock comes  up even if you are barely know anything about the festival. Jimi Hendrix (and his glowing aura of cool) at Woodstock and his rendition of the national anthem brought more to life with a guitar than most singers with full orchestral accompaniment can even come close to and ever will, complete with whistling and exploding bombs and sirens (American and British, yes they sound different) and other sounds from the battlefield played out on a guitar to bring a new perspective to the anthem while flawlessly transitioning to the rest of his equally great songs. The only bad thing is that the recording equipment used by the crew mashed a lot of the sound together comes off as white noise at times.

Here it is:  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2ALNd3kIH0

In class we listened to some bands that sounded a lot like The Beatles such as Of Montreal with Gronlandic Edit which brings me to a band that can sound almost exactly like The Beatles but is also more than capable of producing their own unique sound, this band called The Draytones first caught my ears with a song  that sounded very much like The Beatles that led me to check what Beatles song it was only to find it was by a completely different band.  My only concern is that they sound so much alike that it leads one to think they might just making their music a carbon copy of theirs (yes there is a difference between being influenced by a band and copying their sound). The way I found this problem to be countered was when looked further into their music and found that they were capable of  creating their own sound and an Argentine-latin influence can be heard in these songs (as the guitarist is from Argentina).

First one I heard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjK3hnDBl8k

This is where they sounded almost too much like them, (vocals, background harmonies, guitars)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=L0LvqufMK6I&NR=1

A few slightly more "original" sounds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=MqhRnlnBx_Q&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=SKPHJTYsbw8&NR=1

Of Montreal- Gronlandic Edit (heads up: super trippy video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HBfgQvM7wtE#!

In class we watched Woodstock (film) which was a documentary on the festival that is immortalized through many different forms including this one which covered not just the performances, but also the thoughts and feelings of various concertgoers, artist and various personnel on various subjects ranging from the festival and the performances to the Vietnam war. So far the performance I found most interesting and crazy was Joe Cocker and the Grease Band. What was was crazy was watching Joe completely tripping out while performing and I'm almost positive he thought he was playing guitar when there was nothing there resulting in the most epic air guitar ever and on-stage seizures. So far I've enjoyed the film and the perspective it gives from the people at the time.

Theophilus London

Theophilus London is a hip hop artist (though his music transverses several genres and sounds not limited to hip hop) that I came across a  while ago while looking through some Kid Cudi and had him cited a similar sound and at first just by hearing his voice you'd think he was a "carbon copy" as some described him but the more I listened to his various mixtapes and albums the more I saw the differences between the two and where Theophilus dare I say it, surpassed Cudi in some musical aspects and diversity.The first of his songs that I heard "I Stand Alone" caught me off guard from the way the song started off was composed in a way that completely shook my initial suspicion of just another rap song right away as I continued to listen to the lyrics and actual depth. While he is completely capable of creating straight rap (which he does from time to time) his variety is also what further deepened my interest as some songs wouldn't even feature a a distinct hip hop beat and instead featured a tropical-latin sound featuring various guitars and tropical style vocals. Theophilus could be described as a jack of all trades that was master of all.

Here's a few songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WRuDAasz-8  - I Stand Alone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv-zE3QYkYI   - Lighthouse (the dude spelled his name wrong)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syt6TtRPIm4     - Mothertree

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g57DacvzU1Q  - Last Name London

In class we listened to The Band's album, Big Pink which its story behind its development and naming are interesting enough without even getting to how some of the songs were written.  The album itself was named after the house where a considerable amount of songs were written and recorded, the house was literally big and pink. I was amazed when I found out that some of the songs' lyrics were written by different people as a way to get into the house and how well they came together which without knowing you'd think it was one person that had written them. Each song sounded alike in some ways but also had its own distinct and unique sound such as "The Weight" which is a slower song yet the constant kick of the drums help maintain a steady rhythm and split vocals around the chorus gives it a good hook. Overall I enjoyed the album which was kept interesting by various changes to each song.

Last Tuesday as I was in class conversing with classmates (as it was stated the class wasn't going to listen to anything that day) when something caught my ear and I stopped to listen to what seemed to be a distinct rapper's voice mixed with good guitar and band, at that moment I pulled out my phone app to identify the artist so I could look more into it when I got home, it came up with Danger Mouse's December 4th. As I later looked on to the rest of the album I found an equal amount of great songs resulting from combination of The Black album and The White album (ergo it's name being The Grey Album). Though interesting, this isn't the first of it's kind I've heard though it does seem people enjoy mixing Jay-Z as there is the great Jigga Hendrix which mixes Jimmy Hendrix and Jay-Z (which was inspired by The Grey Album).

December 4th

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRWDuqzc5q0

Jigga Hendrix

http://soundcloud.com/fattyhezlop/jigga-hendrix-99-voodoo-problems