Candy for the Ears

Midterm exams are underway soon and I'm trying to hit the books. On the other hand, I just got a Playstation Vita and I'm trying really hard to not play with it too much. Predictably, I give into temptation easily.

It's been a long time since I had anything to say about my taste in music. Over the past several years, my library has slowly grown and my mood has fluctuated. My Pandora account is in use sometimes, but I only really expand unless I'm really bored. The last musical goldmine I ran into was Bentley Jones.

Covering J-pop, remixing currently popular songs, and overusing autotune might not sound very appealing, but if more pop music sounded more like what Bentley does, then I'd love to turn the radio back on again. Heck, his PHUNKSTR remixes often sound a lot better than their original versions. Or maybe that's my biased ear talking.

Regardless, I've been listening to his new album lately. It took several listens, but it has grown on me. Such a decent voice should not be masked by so much autotune. (TT-TT) At least his melodies are really good.

Yeah, if this blog goes down like the Titanic, I only hope that at least one person that visited here would be interested in this guy. The dude needs more attention. His stuff is on iTunes. Give the guy a buck or two. Or at least five minutes of random music preview samples.

*shrug* I'm used to preaching to the choir.

When I'm not indulging in pop music that only the Japanese are willing to put on their store shelves, I always go back to HIM. No surprise, I know. After XX - Two Decades of Love Metal came out, I decided to go through their entire library again for old time's sake. Whatever comes of Tears on Tape, I really hope their cover of "Strange World" is not them at their best after that post-Screamworks hiatus. They better not be out of juice yet...

At least they have seven other albums to cling to.

Okay, that's enough cheesy-poppy music to make your teeth grow cavities. But heck, it could be MUCH WORSE. All the girls get into Justin Beiber and One Direction, I get into sappy pop-rock with pretty-boy singers that make and perform their own music without as much exposure. So hipster of me.

Anywho, the third piece of musical awesome I'm diving into is good ol' Breaking Benjamin... which are also on hiatus. (Just my luck.) They are probably the only "nu metal" act I still enjoy. Ever since the un-freakin'-listenable A Thousand Suns, Linkin Park just continues to piss me off. Evanescence continues to subconsciously come off as trying to be gothic metal while actively denying any hints proving the statement right. Three Days Grace has some great emotion... with hilariously silly lyrics. Nickleback does not exist on my playlists, and Disturbed is a kiddy meal next to In Flames. I can go on and on...

Breaking Benjamin... I'm not sure why I go back to them so often.

For actual metal music though... hmm... I go back to Moonspell sometimes. Too bad Grooveshark has deleted their entire library of songs. Now how am I to get my fix without commercial interruptions? They just released some new material too. Yet another thing to add to my list of music to listen to before I kick the bucket.

I guess for now a whole assortment of songs are floating around in my head. Some rock, some pop, some video game soundtracks, some obscure, some embarrassingly not. It's kinda hard to pinpoint what exactly I listen to when talking to people. It's even more fun when people have no damn clue what I'm talking about. Try asking some random person on the street what symphonic metal is. Then good luck explaining it without boring the person to death.

Which is why I keep to my self like a recluse. :)

Enjoy [or ignore] the rest of the songs I randomly post here.

And the finale. I have no shame. This song is awesome.

Credit to all the people who worked their butts off on these songs to get a paycheck.

Now... back to studying...

May/June Update: Holy Crap Exams Are Almost DONE!!

Thank goodness I graduate in a few days, because I'm at the end of my rope. While I was finishing up last-minute projects, I spent hours on TV Tropes, hoping I could get a jumpstart into a story I wanted to write for years, and sat on my ass playing video games and reading manga. Most of my time has been... unproductive... to a degree.

As some of my dear readers may know, I suffer from ADHD when it comes to blogging about my meager existence. One month I squee like a fangirl over a new album I just discovered, then I'll jump onto movie reviews, and then without warning video games pop up out of the blue. Inconsistent, but hopefully refreshing.

Anywho...

Other than school, my brain has been exposed to such a crap-load of information that it's on the verge of frying. My dad asked what I wanted for a graduation gift, even if it was a video game console. This was not long after I heard about Sonic Generations, and I finally had the incentive to reeducate myself on the video game world. (I stayed comfortably under a rock with my Playstation 2 and Gamecube.) After months of browsing console libraries, interviewing my peers, visiting various stores, and watching Youtube videos, I finally settled with the PS3. I know that new consoles are coming up in the next year or two, but at least for me, I can get a bunch of games under $60. Sure, I'll need a job to keep my expensive hobby going, but I can survive.

Yes, Link talks.
No, his dialogue doesn't suck.

While still in the similar realm of video games, I recently discovered a series of manga adaptations of various games from The Legend of Zelda. I plowed through them within hours and squealed for days. With no updates on the series I read (looking at you, Dengeki Daisy!), I needed something to nom on. Maybe when I do get that miracle job that will help make my wallet grow, I might buy a box set.

"Du bist hier im meinem Land"

And my other loves have not been ignored! I recently got Rammstein's Made in Germany greatest hits album and love every second of it. Dark Adrenaline still plays often on my iPod, and Apoptygma Berserk's You and Me Against the World is fantastic as well. A few other albums have been on my mind and I wish to check them out as soon as possible.

Movies, however, have been very hit-or-miss. Cabin in the Woods was pretty campy but badass for a horror film, touched by the awesomeness of Joss Whedon. Dark Shadows was a billion times better than the terrible Alice and Wonderland, but it's still in the lameness that Tim Burton has been trapped in. The Avengers... ... maybe I should review that one later. Ever since my violent vomit episode, I need something else to talk about.

So much potential wasted...

The past several months have been me trying to enjoy everything I can while I'm still a spoiled little kid. I'll be in college, I'm gonna have to find work, I'm going to take care of myself soon. It's a series of spiked and flaming hoops that I have to jump through. I am all for going through it not just because I have to, but because I hope that something fun and rewarding is on the other side.

In the meantime, this blog still exists and I will continue to update it... on a not-so-regular basis. 

I'm baaaaaack! XD