Making Contact: What It’s Like Living With ADHD
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Author Archives: Josh Olund
Making Contact – What It’s Like To Fulfil Your Dream
Water Cooler – Teaching During The Pandemic
Water Cooler – What It’s Like Being A Streamer
Making Contact: Life As A Musician w/ Chief State
Making Contact: Working On A Netflix Series
Two New Singles from System of a Down
It’s been 15 years since System of a Down has created any new music. But on November 5th, System of a Down released two new singles called “Protect The Land” and “Genocidal Humanoidz”. These tracks are a response to the war that is going on in Armenia and Artsakh against Azerbaijan.
The first of the two “Protect The Land” is a slower track in comparison to some of the earlier songs in System of a Down’s catalogue, but the main focus of the song is the lyrics. This is a song that is very direct in its message of how terrible war is. With having lyrics like:
The enemy of man is his own decay
If they’re evil now, then evil they will stay
If they will try to push you far away
Would you stay and take a stand?
Would you stay with gun in hand?
It’s a powerful message that they’re getting across. Done in classic System of a Down fashion.
The second single, “Genocidal Humanoidz”, is a complete 180 in terms of pace in comparison to “Protect The Land”. It’s cranked up dramatically with everything sounded as if they’re trying to move as fast as they can. Especially the drums, which were very good in this song. And the lyrics as well are just as well written as “Protect The Land”. This section is from the first verse:
Can you see us?
Beating the devil
We never run from the devil
We never summoned the devil
We never hide from the devil
It’s referring to the fact that Armenia and Artsakh aren’t getting enough attention and that they’re still holding off the forces from Azerbaijan. And “The Devil” in this sense seems to be in regard to war itself. Because Armenia and Artsakh didn’t want to go to war.
Overall, these were two solid songs. I did enjoy both of them, even if they weren’t quite the same in terms of style and tone. But it’s still nice to hear something new from System of a Down. As it’s felt like an eternity since they released “Hypnotize”.
Have you heard these two new songs? If so, what did you think of them? Leave it in the comments below.
Nomeansno “Wrong” Review
Nomeansno was a hardcore band from Victoria, BC and was around from 1979 until the band’s official retirement in 2016. And out of the band’s full discography, I’ve decided to do a quick review of their most critically acclaimed album “Wrong”.
The album as a whole is an adrenaline rush from start to finish. With gut-wrenching singing and fantastic bass playing from Rob Wright. Along with fast and furious drum work from John Wright. As well as some great riffs from guitarist Andy Kerr. All three members feed off each other well and make a very impressive hardcore album.
Right off the bat, the opening track “It’s Catching Up”. It starts out with hard-hitting bass, followed by fast-paced drums and guitar, to then the lyrics of “Have you heard the news? The dead walk”. Then the intensity picks up and becomes an intense song about a man’s trauma that has been eating at him. It then is described as if the dead are coming back to life.
The song “Brainless Wonder” is yet another heavy song. It’s short, with a length of 1:34, but it’s one that sticks out. Simply because of it being so in your face with its intensity from the band. There are also only just four lines of lyrics. Which are:
I need lunch
Feed me now
I need lunch
When’s my break?
And even with the very few words, they only appear at the end of the song. Feels like a song that would be played when you’re having a bad day at work.
The last highlight from this album is the song “Big Dick”. Which features some of the best bass playing on the album. It’s very prominent throughout the whole song. The song itself is about the idea that having more masculinity is better for men than their intelligence. This is mentioned with lyrics like:
Well you’re running up a tree
You’re trying not to scream
But you are pounding on your chest
Like you wipped the best
Which feels like the song is describing the idea of wanting to hide your emotions towards something by acting more manly than you should.
As a whole “Wrong” is a very good album. One that I believe is a must-listen if you’re a fan of this type of music. Every song is enjoyable from start to finish and I would most certainly grade this as an A for me.
Have you heard of this album? If so, what did you think of it? Let me know in the comments below.
Summer Live at Stanley Park Recap
Back in the summer of 2011, Vancouver hosted “Summer Live” as part of Vancouver’s 125th anniversary. It was a free 3-day festival that took place in Stanley Park. It started on July 8th and ended on July 10th. And I was lucky enough to be able to attend the second day with my brother and one of his friends. So here’s the experience I had at the event.
Leading up to the event, I didn’t know a lot of the acts that were going to be playing at the event itself. The only band I had been somewhat familiar with was “The New Pornographers”. That’s mainly because they had their song “Electric Version” in the video game “Rock Band” as well as the song “Moves”, which was played a lot on the radio from what I can recall. Though it later popped up in a Hyundai commercial after the festival. Regardless, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
When we arrive, I was surprised to see as many people as I did. The main stage was filled with people. Either sitting on the grass or standing by the stage. It was also a gorgeous day. Wasn’t too hot and the sun was nice and bright. The first act we ended up seeing was Hannah Georgas.
I remember being very impressed with her performance. Especially considering I hadn’t heard any of her music up until that point. I enjoyed listening to her voice. It wasn’t anything over the top and it was very easy to listen to. When she performed “The Deep End” that’s when I remember being the most impressed with her. I also remember her appearance standing out. It was probably because of the sunglasses she wore, which I thought looked cool at the time.
After roughly an hour or Hannah Georgas, Neko Case took the stage. And just like Hannah Georgas, I did enjoy listening to Neko Case’s voice. It’s just as easy to listen to. Especially when she performed “Things That Scare Me”. I also remember there randomly being a moment where someone from the crowd yelled, “Marry me Neko!” Good times were definitely had at that show.
As the day started to wind down. The New Pornographers were the final band to play. I remember this one the most just because it was a longer set, as well as it is the band I was most familiar with. They played their hit songs; such as “Moves”, “Challengers” and “All the Showstoppers”. What was also really cool about that particular performance was during the show these big beach balls, that were being hit around. And they would also change colours at random. It made for a very nice atmosphere for the whole show.
And that was it. Three very enjoyable acts that I saw. It would be great to have this happen again in the future, but only time will tell when everything will go back to normal. Fingers crossed it’s sooner rather than later.
Though I’m curious to know, were you at the same show too? If so, leave a comment below and let me know what you thought of it.
The Most Underwhelming Concert I Went To
The year is 2007. I was 11 years old. I thought I was the coolest kid because I wasn’t listening to the Top 100 songs at the time. No, I was the kid who liked listening to bands like Metallica, Pearl Jam, Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses and of course, Alice in Chains. So when I heard that my brother and my dad were taking me to go see Alice in Chains and Velvet Revolver, I was pretty excited. Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly as enjoyable as I thought it was going to be.
I’ll admit, at the time I didn’t know much about Velvet Revolver. I only knew that Slash from Guns N’ Roses was in the band and I figured that was good enough. I listened to Alice in Chains and I did enjoy some of their songs. Though I was aware there would be a different signer at the show because the original singer; Layne Stanley, had passed away back in 2002. So at the time I just assumed the new signer would be just as good.
Another thing that made this more exciting for me was that this was my very first concert. At the time, when I had seen concerts portrayed in movies, I just assumed they were like one song and that was it. Why? Because I wasn’t exactly the brightest bulb as a child. So when I heard it was going to be potentially a three-hour-long show, I got taken back by it.
When we arrived at the Pacific Coliseum. I assumed it would simply be an hour and a half of Alice and Chains, an hour and a half for Velvet Revolver. What I didn’t know about was how long it took to get everything sorted out on the stage. I remember it feeling as if it was an eternity. Though it was probably 30 minutes tops. Once the crews were done, I thought “Okay, now Alice in Chains is starting.” Nope. I was uninformed about there being an opening act.
The opening act that night was a band called “Sparta”. Who I had no idea they were a thing and I honestly have no recollection of what they sounded like back then. So for the purpose of this piece, I did go back and listen to some of their songs from back then. And they were okay. Not one I’ll go back to anytime soon, but they were okay.
So after about 45 minutes of Sparta, we had to wait another 30 minutes to have the stage set and ready for Alice in Chains. Which, felt like forever for me as an 11-year-old. Though after waiting and waiting, I finally got to see Alice in Chains perform. And well… it wasn’t spectacular.
Mainly because I remember them playing a lot of their more popular songs later into the setlist, and I also remember the lead guitarist having problems with his guitar because, after one or two songs, one of his strings would break and then he would have to get and get a different guitar. So it just added to the time being there. So once Alice in Chains was finally finished. I just asked my dad if we could leave.
I didn’t want to bother seeing Velvet Revolver if I’m being honest. I mainly just wanted to Alice in Chains and after being so disappointed, I just wanted to get out of there. Probably also complained about either it being too loud or I was getting too tired to stay there. Though I do remember as we were leaving, an older guy said to my dad, brother and I, “Don’t worry about missing those Velvet Pussies.” 11-year-old me thought that was the funniest thing at the time.
So that was my most disappointing concert experience. And if you have your own disappointing concert experience, leave it in the comments below.