Invisible Chidren??? Invisible Public!!!!

I was thinking about my last entry on Fall Out Boy's video for "Me & You." And it struck me! The Magic Bullet principle can actually be seen through videos like these.
Take for example: yesterday, when showing this video to someone, they did not know anything about Invisible Children. Their opinion was therefore formed based soley on this video and the story it told. Thus, can a music video perpetuate The Magic Bullet?
When a subject is rarely covered in the news, the public may no little or nothing of this topic (such as the Invisible Children.) Thus, a video exposing a new idea can actually effect all its viewers and cause them all to have the same opinion!
Mind you, The Magic Bullet theory is not an accurate theory. But the idea behind it can be understood. Fall Out Boy is not causing everyone to believe the same thing - for not everyone is an blank page. Many people already know extensive amounts of information regarding Uganda. But for those who don't - it is interesting to note that even today we are easily impressionable and a mass audience can all have the same opinion based on A MUSIC VIDEO! That's an astonishing idea! It just goes to show the power of the music business - the industry, the video's, and the bands!
For more information on Invisible Children please follow these links:
http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Children_Inc.

Fall Out Boy's Social Change: One music video at a time

In the summer of 2005 Fall Out Boy became a house hold name. The band reached mainstream success after their major label debut of the album "From Under the Cork Tree" featuring the hit single "Sugar we're going down."

After this success, Fall Out Boy has been a steady name in the music industry. Their record sales (from both that record, and their most recent record, "Infinity on High") have continued to turn a large profit. As a result of this, even their label Fueled By Ramen has become a major contender in the music industry,

So what it the point of me telling you all this?
While it might not be the best, nor the strongest single off their new album - "I'm Like a Lawyer with the way I'm Always Trying to get you off (Me & You)" has a striking video. The video essentially follows the lives of "Invisible Children" and tells a story to illustrate the terrible situation now occuring in Uganda.
Don't know what "Invisible Children" is? Good thing Fall Out Boy is here to educate you!
In the past the band has had a range of videos that vary from mediocre ("Saturday" & "Sugar We're Going Down") to very entertaining ("Dance, Dance" & "Thnks fr th Mmrs") to straight out histerically clever ("This Ain't a Scene"). "Me & You" on the other hand is the first truly serious video the band has recorded. The video deals with real life issues, and draws attention to a worthy cause!

It is important to note that the one similarity all these videos have (and all Fall Out Boy video's have) is their NOT SO subtle product placement. Notice the prominent role their cell phones play in EVERY video - a prime example being the video for "A Little Less Sixteen Candles a Little More Touch Me."

However, what I find so interesting about Fall Out Boy is that they have succesfully used their celebrity status to infiltrate the mainstream media with a call for social reform. So whether you love or hate the emo pop-punk Chicago band - whos name stems from The Simpsons - props is deserved regardless.

Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBDnkJ5h1ho

Other fun vid's by FOB: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FcBnaLjxY4

Suggested listening*: "I've got a dark alley..." & "Sophmore Slump or Comeback of the Year," "I slept with someone in Fall Out Boy..." & "Of All the Gin Joints in the World"

* (I chose only songs from the album From Under The Cork Tree - as that is the main focus of this post)

Did ya'll say you wanted a single??!!

Here my lovies is the transcription of the Korn Video :)

Also, In accordance to what was said in the last post regarding the music industry, Blink 182 seems to also think the industry wastes its money on nothing, as oposed to the music... Check it out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxhl-xV0UOs



Korn Ya’ll Want a Single

Music monopoly

One corporation owns the five major video channels in the US

Is that OK?

Last year the big 5 record labels together sold about 25 billion dollars of music

90% of all realeses on major labels do not make a profit

Britney spears last video cost 1,000,000

This korn video costs 150,000

(after 50 seconds of video) you have now seen 48,000 worth of video

will any music channel play this video?

The music “industry” releases 100 songs per week.

Only four songs are added to the average radio “playlist” each week

Hit songs on top 40 are repeated over 100 times a week.

Is that all you want to hear?

Why is a song worth 99 cents

Do you download songs?

Steal this video

This is a single.

Two radio congolerates control 42% of listeners

The record company wanted to change this video. We didn’t.

Ya’ll want a single?

90% of all singles get to the hook within 20 seconds

98% of all singles are less than 3:30 seconds long

does that seem like a formula to you?

With all that said…

We love making music

Is this the music buisiness?

Is that okay?

Thank you for your 3 minutes of time

Music monopoly?

Love, Korn

Korn exposing the music industry?!

Now I am the FIRST person to admit when a song is "bad," and well, Korn's "Ya'll Want a Single" is a TERRIBLE song. The music is lacking, and the lyrics... don't even get me started!
But a single dosen't necesarily correlate to the music video. So while you might want to mute this song, there is no denying that the video is GREAT, and informative to say the least!

After the popularity of their album "Follow the Leader" (1998) Korn chose to use their status in an attempt to expose the medi industry. In 2003, they released "Take a Look in the Mirror." The album reached number nine on the billboard charts, and sold over 179,000 copies in its first week. The main single off this album was "Ya'll Want a Single."

While the facts displayed in this video are from 2003, many of them still apply. The video is eye opening, ifnormative, and one of my personal fav's! :) Not to mention that it CLEARLY applies to the music industries conforming to formats, conglomerations and so on...

I suggest watching the video with the music muted, for as pathetic as it seems, the music actually takes away from the video. (If you don't please excuse the vulgarity) Plus, you want to be able to give your attention to focusing on the video itself, and what is written in the text.... In another post I will include a fact sheet from the video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoNPqtznoXk

Comedy video's? Comedy rockin!

Heres this weeks video picks! No, they're not porn! (Just suggestive titles)

Genre: Comedy

- David Blaine 2: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/1050

- Blowjob Girl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hm7pp_JFOs

- Bro Rape: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zvTRQr7ns8

- Emo Bitches: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMNGtQBaim4

- Kermit the Frog Reaction: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_fdzDVn7Xo
This requires the viewer ro have seen 2girls1cup. Watch at your own peril!

RIP -

I know I promised more posts... I suck! I'll work on it... REALLY! I mean it!

RIP - Casey from Hawthorne Heights.

It's all the news in the music world.

RIP - Evil Kneivel

Lived a daredevil - died one!

RIP - Kevin from Quiet Riot

It's been a bad week....

The Academy is...

I'm sorry it's been a while lovers!! I will start posting often and will pimp out this blog ;)

Anyway, for those who know me. my total GUILTY pleasure is The Academy Is...
Yes, I'm a lover of the band and of course of out emo hero, William Beckett.

Being that I am a devout fan, and they are coming to my hometown on NY ;) I thought I would post a review of their not so new album Santi. Mind you, I loved this album, but my good friend at NYU disagreed. So here's her review... Thanks to Liat for sending me this review - even if she is a pretentious bitch for not LOVING the album the way I did!!
Be sure to notice her clever usage of song titles in the review! :)


<3 <3
- Ash
------

Santi:
By Liat




When it comes to The Academy Is…, one ‘Phrase that Pays’ lingers in my mind… ‘William Beckett is the sex,’ and The Academy Is… is his sex act of choice. A man who looks as androgynous as he sounds, William has female fans in a frenzy of love and male fans in a daze of envy. The band is well-known for its stage presence, its catchy hooks and the lyrics of a 22-year-old music prodigy.

We all have been anxiously awaiting the release of the new TAI album, Santi. The band promised a new sound, and a record that would please its old fans while enticing new ones. Yet, on this new disc, TAI has changed its sound so drastically that had it not been for Beckett’s distinct voice, one would not recognize the album as the band’s work at all. While this plays in the band’s favor by allowing it to enter a harder rock genre, it is also the primary problem with the new album. The band’s previous work has been inviting singles one could not stop listening to. Every song begged to be played a million times, every lyric felt as if the teenage world had been etched on one simple CD. With its new release, the band seems to lack the spark they once had. Fans used to force their way to front rows in order to see the band play songs like “Classifieds,” “Down and Out,” and “Attention, Attention,” on Santi it’s hard to imagine fan’s forcing their way anywhere.

This is not to say that there are no satisfying songs on the new record. Songs like “Same Blood” and “Seed” are both fun and catchy. “You Might Have Noticed” seems to be the most intimate song of disc, guiding us line by line through Beckett’s emotional journey leading up to this album. But the rest of the album leaves us isolated wanting to get closer to him.

A recent article in AP magazine paints an intimate picture of Beckett’s innermost turmoil and pain, reminding us of the emo god we all fell in love with on Almost Here. Beckett himself told AP that he felt a lot of pressure writing Santi, and that at times, this pressure led him to contemplate suicide much like Pete Wentz of FOB. (The song “I’ve got a Dark Alley and …” is about Wentz’s attempted suicide after “Take This to Your Grave” and before “From Under the Cork Tree.”) With “You Might Have Noticed,” Beckett lets us enter his personal thoughts saying, “Feel the pleasure,Feel the pain… The beast within the burden is all mine…” However, one cannot understand why most of the other tracks, have become less relatable, and sadly less ‘Beckett-like.’ If this review could make noise, you could hear my heart breaking.

The change in sound, from an alternative mix of pop punk, to a harder rock style, especially noticeable in the guitar solos, can be attributed to the change in lineup before Santi was recorded. Michael Guy Chislett replaced previous guitarist Tom Conrad. TAI has stated that Santi is an example of the new sound they intend to be using in future albums..

In the song Black Mamba from Almost Here, TAI declares, “When they review the debut, what if the critics hate you… Well, they can love it, or leave it, or rip it apart.We're living while we're singing… So I guess that's a step in the right direction.” Well, I do love TAI, but let’s hope this review will inspire them to write more Black Mamba’s. Instead of “Everything We Had” let’s hope TAI give everything they had on previous recordings. So while, with the album Almost Here, The Academy Is… really was almost there, now with Santi, William Beckett may be the sex, but The Academy Is… not.