Pop Talk

Time is a funny thing.  When you want it to pass quickly, it moves at a snail's pace.  When you want it to slow down, it zips by, and before you know it tomorrow is today and today is yesterday.  Now, depending on how you look at it, both scenarios can be positive.  Nate Ruess of The Format would have you believe that "snails see the benefits, beauty in every inch," while Ben Rispin of The Saint Alvia Cartel would insist that he "don't wanna wait forever." 

On April 20th, 2008, PopZap!Music officially celebrated its first birthday.  This past year has come and gone rather quickly; yet oddly it feels as though we've been doing this for much, much longer. To celebrate our anniversary, we've been secretly (aren't we sneaky?) developing this brand new layout, with tons of great new functionality.  The launch date for the layout was originally meant to coincide directly with our April 20th celebrations.  Unfortunately, sometimes things don't always work out as planned, and thanks to a slew of roadblocks, the launch was pushed back a week.  Here we are, a week later and (somewhat) ready to go.  But it hasn't just been a week, this has been a work in progress over the last year.  So with that in mind, let's take a trip down memory lane...

As kids, we all aspire to some sort of career. Some of us want to be firefighters, presidents, doctors, or rock stars. And some of us want to be record executives. Ok, well, maybe just one of us...

Can we be the generation who acts upon the solutions we have for the environmental crisis we are facing?

I began this article during Earth Hour surrounded by only tea light candles and – get this – using a pen and paper to compose my ideas. It felt like I was returning to the roots of my writing which began with the journals of my early teenage years.

Let’s talk about music.

Rather - let’s talk about how I’m a twenty five year old male who wakes up every day and doesn’t understand the world I live in. About a year ago I finished University, attaining a BA in Filmmaking (if there were a more useless BA, I’d like to see it). Turns out the only thing a BA gets you when you are looking for a day job is sideways glances. You see, to do the things I want to do (write, take photos, play music) I have to have a day job. What kind of day job can a guy get when said guy only knows about three things (music, film and women)?

Three Easy-To-Understand-And-Implement (Fresh!) Ideas

For loyal MCR fans, this album and tour has evoked a mass sigh of relief. As a fan myself, I was especially nervous when I first caught wind that they were recording a concept album as the follow up to 2004’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge!. As with many blockbuster follow up albums, sometimes the pressure to recreate the success ends up contriving the writing process and stifling the overall value of the new one. So why put the burden of a concept album on your plate under said circumstances? In general, concept albums are a tricky endeavor; if it is unappreciated or misunderstood, the minority fan-base will claim that it is “avant-garde” or “ahead of its time” (which really just means “it’s wack”). This is not the case for the boys and their Parade. The album has floored expectations of critics and fans alike with spine-tingling anthems like “Teenagers” and the ballad-esque crooning of “Cancer”. I am, however, a firm a believer in the “you’re only as good as you are live” mantra.

Fall Out Boy, Death Cab for Cutie, Motion City Soundtrack, and Say Anything are all bands that I once considered “mine”. Now Fall Out Boy has sold millions, Death Cab is getting radio play scrunched between John Mayer and Jack Johnson, Motion City Soundtrack is every 14 year old’s favorite, and Say Anything is on TRL (I thought they were the one band I was safe with!). We have all experienced the heartbreak that occurs when one of our favorite bands gets big, but the question is, is it selfish of us to want them to remain ours?

Last Sunday I was able to participate in two of music's most honored rituals, the outdoor concert and the (mini) road trip.

I had been sitting on MySpace and for once I decided to read a band's bulletin, and thank God I did. Local Minneapolis band The Drive Back, whose shows have been few and far between lately, were announcing two upcoming gigs, the second of which was an opening slot for OK Go and The Hush Sound. Another key element to the announcement was the word "free." The concert was a college show and therefore had no promotion outside of the campus of Minnesota State University - Mankato. It was by pure chance that I had actually decided to read the one item announcing the concert, and on the day before no less.

"Let’s tune out by turning on the radio." - The Format

Wednesday night I had the privilege of finally seeing one of the musicians I respect the most, Conor Oberst, under his pseudonym Bright Eyes.

Opening for him was….Mc-somethingmumble T-somethingmumble. Yeah, I can’t remember and never quite heard it right, but they were your average folk band. The second opener, Oakley Hall, rocked out country-style at first, but the second half of their set was a let down as they fell into a 60’s country/Dolly Parton vibe. The theater was about half full for the first two bands, which isn’t surprising for a show with a popular main act and two virtual unknowns opening for them.