Moving Mountains

If you are a fan of The Appleseed Cast, Explosions in the Sky, or even Brand New (post Deja Entendu era), then you'll probably fall in love with Moving Mountains. Hailing from nearby SUNY Purchase, these 4 guys make some pretty incredible, beautiful music. Entirely self produced, their latest effort Pneuma certainly deserves a hard, good listen.

www.myspace.com/movingmountainsmusic

Highlight Track - Cover the Roots

Extremely sad news

Some very sad shocking news coming out of Washington DC tonight. Before going to do their sound check today, the members of Hawthorne Heights found their fellow member and friend Casey Calvert dead. Cause of death hasn't been determined or released yet however you can read the band's statement I've provided below.

"Today is probably the worst day ever. Its with our deepest regrets that we have to write this. Casey Calvert passed away in his sleep last night. We found out this afternoon before sound-check. We've spent the entire day trying to come to grips with this and figure out as much as possible. At this time we're not sure what exactly happened. Just last night he was joking around with everyone before he went to bed. We can say with absolute certainty that he was not doing anything illegal. Please, out of respect to Casey and his family, don't contribute or succumb to any gossip you may hear. We don't want his memory to be tainted in the least. Casey was our best friend. He was quirky and awesome and there will truly be no others like him! His loss is unexplainable. As soon as we know more we will let you know. Sincerely, Hawthorne Heights Eron, JT, Micah and Mat

This is some extremely sad news. These guys certainly weren't the best band by any means however they were absolutely incredible people. My thoughts and prayers go out to Casey, his family, friends, and everyone in Hawthorne Heights.

RIP The Blood Brothers

I know this is old news but last week we saw the unfortunate passing of The Blood Brothers. Since this blog is fairly new I decided to give it an honorable mention.

It's sad to see one of the only talented true punk rock bands that gets a lot of play by kids these days fade out. I heard nothing but great things about their live show (unfortunely I never got to see them live) and fortunely they leave us with a pretty extensive catalog.

What's intriguing though which I wouldn't be surprised by is that the band's downfall was probably encouraged by the dismantlement of their record label V2 earlier this year. Either way, this shouldn't be the end of the members involvement in music. I am sure that they will toil a whole lot more with their current projects Neon Blonde and Head Wound City.

Bamboozle 2008

Has anyone else realized that ticket prices for Bamboozle 2008 have gone up from around $30 per day last year to $50 per day this year? Wow. So far really only "big" band announced has been Paramore (pictured above) which really isn't a surprise. Anyone have any idea why it's so much more expensive this year? Obviously there they must have something big in the works. Hmm, Blink 182 reunion anyone?

Promote!

Hey everyone! If you are reading this blog and you enjoy it, please pass the word around! It would mean a lot to me! Thanks!

No Country for Old Men

Last night I finally made the trip out to the movie theater to see the highly acclaimed, super buzzed about movie No Country for Old Men. After hearing so many Hitchcock references to the Coen Brothers recent work I was probably the most excited I have been in a long time to see a film. Needless to say it lived up to most of my expectations when all was said and done.

Javier Bardem's potrayal of the sick, psychotic killer certainly deserves an Oscar. His voice alone is so horrifically gut wrenching it pushes you to the edge of the seat every time he makes an appearance. Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, and Kelly MacDonald all deserve the same acclaim as Bardem. Everyone contributed their best efforts to making the film a memorable one.

The acting jobs were not the only well done thing in the film. The cinematography in the movie was breathtaking. There was simply no better way to capture the barren, dead landscape of the western Texas abode then what the brothers were able to catch. It simply completed the film and made it for what it was.

However, while there are elements of the film that are truly noteworthy, there are some that might confuse or strain the viewer. For example, the plot is very slow moving; there is no suspenseful music and quick cuts building up to a huge action sequence. Everything is very suttle which of course probably is too little for any movie goer expecting a tremendous, on-the-edge-of-your-seat thriller.

Also, it is a little more gorey then I expected so anyone of the faint of heart or doesn't like blood probably will get a little more than they bargained for.

Additionally, the towards the end of the movie (I'm going to try not to ruin the ending) don't expect much. This all might be a huge buzzkill if you are the average movie goer. Not to mention, the end is somewhat confusing and if you really want to understand the movie you might need to sit down for a few minutes afterwards and really try to analyze everything to get the grasp of the movie.

Other than that, if you have a really strong appreciation for film or if you want to go a movie that has some character (unlike every other movie these days), go see No Country for Old Men. You probably won't regret it!

Happy Black Friday

America's insane...

Band of the Week - Sing It Loud

Here is my first artist profile kiddies! Expect this to be updated every Thursday with a hot and fresh new musical act to dig your teeth into.

Today I bring Minnepolis' finest Sing It Loud. These 5 wonderful gentlemen are bringing their finest pop punk electronic effort to the table and man, does it rule. Coming out of the ashes of the mildly successful Jamestown Story, as well as heralded Minnesota local act, The Semester, the guys in Sing it Loud already have plenty of musical experience and talent under their belt. It also helps their self-titled EP produced by the very talented and young Jordan Schmidt who in his relatively short career has already helmed the board of some pretty fantastic records from Automatic Loveletter, All Time Low, The Morning Light, and a ton more. The band also recently finished an incredible tour featuring Universal act Between the Trees as well as the previously mentioned Automatic Loveletter.

Their active live show is refreshing breath of fresh air in a pool of boring live bands that simply can't maintain my interest anymore even though they might play incredible music. They love getting the crowd pumped out before lead singer Pat Brown bellows out his first note that any bystander has to stop in their tracks and watch what all their onstage fuss is about.

The record is just as good if not even better. Every song is unbelievably catchy and will be sure to stick in your head for weeks on end. Come Around is by far the highlight track and really captures the energy of the entire album. I would describe the rest of the record but I'm out of compliments for this band. Just click the link below and listen away!!

www.myspace.com/singitloud

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving. One of those strange "traditional" American holidays that comes to haunt us once a year with it's roasted dry turkeys, visits from unwanted relatives, and overly sweet pumpkin pies. I never particularly loved the holiday. The holiday has been more of burden than a bundle of joy. I mean sitting for 5 hours in a living room in relative silence with family you only see probably at most twice a year isn't exactly my definition of a productive day. However, it's probably the most productive my life has been the few weeks anyways.

Moving on, I've never liked the holiday and even though it's name is pretty self explainatory, I tend to always look over it. I'm usually too busy shoving my face with the buttery, warm stuffing my mom made earlier in the day to reflect on my life mainly because I'm just one of those people who tend to focus more on overly enjoying the food placed in front of me than reflect on my overlying pessimism on life at a table filled with drunk adults.

However, throughout the day today for the first time I actually thought, what I am thankful for? Of course I am thankful for having a loving, supporting family even though I want to pummel the crap out of my brother and sister sometimes and of course I am thankful for how privleged my life has been and the opportunities I have been granted. But, outside of the generic thankful thoughts of my life, shouldn't I be thankful for something else? Something more?

I know I am thankful for the friends who love me even though my anxiety makes me think they hate me most of the time but certainly there are much smaller things I can be thankful for that really effected my life and I am still trying to conjure up a list. It's a tough and daunting thing to think about. To be honest, it pretty much fucking overwelms me but I guess all the pieces of the puzzle will fall together for me sometime tonight or tomorrow or at some point in the near future. For the first time, in a long time, I've finally reflected on what my elementary school teachers stressed to me at no end; So what are you thankful for little guy??

Until next time...

Hello internet dwellers!

Hello and welcome to my blog. My name is Casey but most of you probably already know that if you are looking at this page right now. However, if you don't, if a 19 year old hailing from Fairfield County, CT who produces and promotes live concerts throughout the lovely state of Connecticut. BUT, don't expect me to do much talking about how fucked up the music industry is or what band I heard through the grapevine is reuniting this year at Bamboozle or the music scene in Connecticut is so bleak. No, I promise to spare you.

This blog is dedicated to my thoughts and stories of what is this crazy thing that has become known as my life. Lately, I've struggled with the worst of it and I thought what might be the best therapeutic medicine for myself would be to open my thoughts up on the internet not only to let it out but also opening it up as a public forum. Not only for other people to not only see who I really am but also hopefully get the feeling that they're, and hopefully I, aren't alone in the daily downfalls and highs that are thrown at us each and every day. I will also be sure to post a bunch random goodies from profiling awesome new artists/bands, why Britney Spears is the biggest douche bag on the planet, and plenty more.

Anyways, I hope you all can be open minded about everything I post on here. Hell, I hope you can really take something away from it that will stick with you and provide hope, thoughts, a lesson, awesome new music or just something to laugh at a random points in the day. I'm glad you are taking the time to read this. It already means the world to me. Now just hang in for the ride...