Debby Ryan
Welcome to my Official Website!  

Main Navigation

11-27-09

"There's nothing new under the sun." It's true, and that's what can be great, or horrible, about music. There's only a certain amount of notes and chords and feelings and words. It's why songs can end up sounding very similar, but it's also why an original song can be such a hit. An true artist can take the same amount of materials, sounds, feelings that exist and creates something that nobody else has.

In my personal opinion, a majority of the best music has already been made. Legendary songs are passed on, whether through a soundtrack, covered by a modern artist, or your mom singing it while doing dishes. From  "Hound Dog" (1952)  to "I'm a Believer" (1966) to "ABC" (1970) "Magic" (1974) to "What I Like About You" (1980), these are songs we've all probably heard of, while possibly not knowing their origin.

"I'll Melt With You" has been covered over 10 times and used in films, commercials, and television episodes. The song "Lovefool" by the Cardigans (1996) has been covered by 8 or 9 different artists, including The Hush Sound (whom I love. Their whole Goodbye Blues CD is one of my favorite of all time), New Found Glory, and most recently by Justin Bieber in his third single, "Love Me", with a restructured chorus. Now as long as respect and credit is given to the writer or original artist, I don't mind cover songs. I kinda like hearing how an artist's unique style can tell almost a different story to a different audience with the same song.

In the preface of "The Weight of Glory", C.S. Lewis states, "There comes a time (and it need not always be a long one) when a composition belongs so definitely to the past that the author himself cannot alter it much without the feeling that he is producing a kind of forgery." Now, though I'm fully taking this out of context, it does apply a bit to the principle of cover songs. While good songs are timeless, styles and sounds change as the decades pass. If Michael Buble was deeply moved by "Party in the USA" and decided to sing it, it could be a cool cover. He has such a defined style that's personal to him as a dude and as a singer that would decorate that song with a jazzy soul. But if he walked in there trying to be Miley, his rendition could be sorta horrifying.

Respect the original, don't try to recreate it; that's the formula behind some brilliant remakes. If you've ever checked out "Punk Goes Pop", "Punk Goes 80s", or "Punk Goes Crunk" compilations, that's what they do: personalize &stylize. But readers, every song has an initial story that may affect the remake, so never judge an artist



...by it's cover:

"Free Fallin'" -John Mayer

"Halo/Walking on Sunshine" -Glee cast

"Heartless" -Kris Allen

"See You Again" -Breathe Carolina

"All Along the Watchtower" -Jimi Hendrix

"Magic" -Selena Gomez

"One Love" -Jason Mraz

"Feelin' Good" -Michael Buble



11-22-09

Ohhh, pop music. The term 'pop' means "popular" which is extremely broad terminology, and kind of inaccurate seeing as what's generally 'popular' among preteen girls is not necessarily 'popular' among, say, middle aged men in South America. Hence, the variety that exists within pop. There's teen pop, pop/rock, bubblegum, punk pop, the list goes on.

Now, yall might know that pop isn't fully my thing. But every teenage girl needs a few snappy tunes to sing along to. Good music is good music and music libraries need variety, right?

I feel like some of the best music has already been made, but more about that in my next blog. This quick little blog-ette is dedicated to pop oldies-but-goodies. So here are a few well known, funny little

pop jams through the decades:

50s: The Lion Sleeps Tonight- The Tokens

Don't Be Cruel- Elvis

60s: Build Me Up Buttercup- The Foundations

Sugar, Sugar- The Archies

70s: Saturday Night- Bay City Rollers

You Sexy Thing- Hot Chocolate

80s: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go- Wham! 

Video Killed The Radio Star- The Buggles

90s: I Believe I Can Fly- R. Kelly

Spice Up Your Life- Spice Girls


11-17-09 

Well, hello. Today was a pretty monumental day in "much anticipated" album releases. All we'd need is for a legendary pop-icon to raise from the dead and release a "The Best Of.." compilation album and we're set for the decade.

Whether you're a fan of John Mayer, Norah Jones, Kris Allen, OneRepublic, Justin Bieber, Leona Lewis, Forever the Sickest Kids, Them Crooked Vultures, or Casting Crowns, you're pretty much set with new music for the winter. I've loved Norah Jones' voice for a while now, and her fourth album "The Fall" is addictive, and uniquely Norah. I'm vibing a country presence in it, and I feel like, when put next to her debut album "Come Away With Me" (2002), her music has become a bit more snappy and melodic, while not compromising. Power to female singer/songwriters!

Also, Katy Perry released her MTV Unplugged album. I don't know much of her stuff but I prefer her acoustic tracks (and I love that Matt Dallas was in her 'Thinking Of You' music video, <3). I think the way she slides from breathy to her strong chest-voice is pretty masterful; her crescendos and decrescendos, when she gets more powerful and pulls back, are soulfully maneuvered like a Nascar driver playing Grand Theft Auto. Also, Fall Out Boy released a Greatest Hits album with bonus tracks. All Time Low popped out a Live Session EP exclusively for iTunes, and evidently The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club also hit Rock Band today.

So if you spent the last of your cash on today's releases, go ahead. Start at the top of your "Recently Added" playlist, feel free to slip into a Turkey induced hibernation and, by the time the sun of summer comes out, you'll have some pretty gnarly songs running through your head.

Turkey-induced hibernation:

Young Blood- Norah Jones

Perfectly Lonely- John Mayer

Vegas Skies- The Cab

Brick by Brick (Live)- Katy Perry

Waiting (Live)- Norah Jones

Sucker Punch- OneRepublic

Lifetime- Kris Allen
11-12-09
I love the Roxy. There's a sort of magic that's intimate, but charged for any concentration of music. The day after the release of their 7th album, entitled Hello Hurricane, Switchfoot played that venue with a sparkle in their eyes. They played through their album, in a storm of a show, including the moments of calm. "Hello Hurricane is an attempt to sing into the storm." says writer/ lead singer/ guitarist Jon Foreman. It's a significant album for them; they broke boundaries, built a studio in San Diego, and founded lowercase people records, distributed through Atlantic. Lyrically, this CD portrays that struggle. Artistically, it shows freedom. Without making it overwhelming, the band brings emotional trials and victories to swells of electric acoustic rock and the live show only authenticates it further.
A perfect contradiction is the best way for me to describe the Hello Hurricane show. Dense layers of guitar and percussion make a sturdy foundation for the ethereal harmonies behind the passionate lead. It effortlessly slides from strobes, a vocal wail and building electric guitar to an intro that sounds like raindrops on glass, with Jerome's mellow synthetics floating around the mellow blue-lit room. "This is the when the hurricane has just blown over.." says lead singer Jon, as he slides his fingers over the strings of his mandolin.
I walked away feeling like I had just hung out with them. Not only is the music personal and soulfully performed, but the crowd interaction is unforgettable. Pulling an eager fan on stage before Twenty-Four during their first encore, quipping early on "I write songs about things I don't understand. So mostly, God and women..", obtaining the camera of a front-row-fan and taking audience pictures, all while singing every word, every note. Frontman Jon Foreman parted his Red Sea of a crowd [ages 13- 45, majority guys] and you'd think the mic stand was his staff. Holding it like a flag with a victorious spirit, he made his way to the back of the room and finished up most of the song back there.
It's a story of struggle, change, freedom, redemption and "singing through the storm." It has substance and depth. Whether you're singing along or letting Switchfoot perform it for you, it takes you on a journey, confronts your storm, and brings you to a place of resolution.
With a few prominently different sounds, it seems the CD's full effect comes when it's played in it's ordered entirety.
But if I could only pick a few, 
my top choices would be:
"The Sound (John M. Perkins' Blues)", "Your Love is a Song",
"Yet", "Bullet Soul", 
"Hello Hurricane", "Mess of Me",
and "Sing It Out"

11-09-09
Deja vu echoed through me as I double-clicked my Recently Added playlist. How did this happen? I mean, I entered the iTunes store 30 minutes ago with the intention of buying a song, ONE song, by the Format, and the next thing I knew, I opened my eyes to a daunting playlist full of songs that all sound similarly drippy.
In that half-hour, I managed to snake my way through "alternative", past "indie love songs", hung a U-y at "experimental rock" and ended up, as I so often do, in singer/ songwriter", clicking the 'buy song' button all along the way.
You go into an ice cream shop; it's been a hot day and you're eagerly looking forward to your cold, sweet enfranchisement. Pile it on; you ask for their big scoop, (no, two!) and load it with toppings. Spoon poised like a crossbow, ready to fire at will, you begin. You're halfway through it by the time you pay and sit down. Mmm, that's better. Now your craving has been put at ease, but your brain didn't get that memo until you started feeling kind of sugar-sick. It looked so good at the time, you were sure you'd finish it.
That's how I am when it comes to music. I gorge on music sprees and wake up to a playlist of songs that I horribly misjudged halfway through a 30second demo. "It looked so good at the time; I could swear I was gonna love every bit of it." So I put the ones I like on a playlist called "Gray Skies/ Wool Sweaters" because that's what they feel like to me, and the frivolous ones stay in the expanse of library awaiting for the 'shuffle' function to thrust them into an opportunity for me to learn to love them.
gray skies/ wool sweaters:
"Lovesong" -The Cure
"When She's Near" -Fiction Family
"At The Wake" -The Format
"Further North" -Jets to Brazil
"Be My Home" -The Apprentice

11-08-09
Heyy there beautiful peoples. Thanks for stopping by my brand spankin' new music blog [name currently pending]! I love discovering new music, writing, making videos, sharing(: and, most recently discovered, interviewing.
The realization of these hobbies conceived an exciting potential project for me. [Did I mention I also LOVE projects?] After months of growing and developing, POP!, a precious blog-baby was born. If the metaphor continues as my middle school science teacher would have it, now comes the part where I'm kept up in the middle of the night feeding it, finding it's lost sock and coming dangerously close to shirking these responsibilities to a stranger.
I'm physically doing everything, from contacting the bands and directing to the editing, fonts, and embedding [with a phone call or two to tech service along the way], without professional help. Now, don't get me wrong, my Texas mentality doesn't let me do anything small; this is going to be a big, official project. It's just going to be all done through my resources, making it %100 personal.
conventionally eclectic:
Let's Just Fall In Love Again- Jason Castro
Black Wedding- Meg & Dia
The Seeker- The Who
Enchantment- Corinne Bailey Rae
Tick, Tick, Boom- The Hives
Love, Save the Empty- Erin McCarley

Debby Ryan's Underground Musicblog


Disclaimer:
This blog is not for closed minds, judgmental hearts, or the metaphorically impaired.
Copyright . Impact Management. All rights reserved.