Travelers and Places

Travelers and places.

Moments with traces

fleeting and distant

with much welcome faces.

Heartache and Lovers.
Starry-eyed flutters.
Two bleeding hearts sleep under the covers.

Whispering sweet thoughts

of moments they'd past lost.

Under the sheets two lovers hearts they had crossed.

When life brings new meaning

and summer turns to spring,

you felt love that one day he'd left you with nothing.

Shattered moments upon us.

Break forces beyond us.

A bright new future born from endless decisions.

A future that's yours, a future you've been given.

Bright morning glories. Never ending stories,

painting pictures of what came before.

The lies we tell or truths we hide,
will never bear truth to witness

to the stories we adore

to the guise we provide.

Hold fast to the goal.

for every breathe of your soul

is a gift born from Love,
a gift beyond your control.

Love you didn't expect, love you didn't deserve,

love that was given without a damn thing you've served. 

Do with it what you will,

for strength or for ill.

Worthiness is a veil

The sun shines for you still.

When life has no meaning,

seek meaning in others.

Together you'll find it, together you'll discover.

None of it matters,

no one cares.

Except you and that person and the moments you've shared.

The time is fleeing,

the moment is now

to stand bare before a bare naked crowd.

When the veil drops and everything's exposed

the traveller's tale is all but opposed.

Beyond death shall we meet again,

faces in star light, faces in twilight, faces you've yet met, together, at the end.

Music Genre: Orchestral Dubstep

Music Genre: Orchestral Dubstep

     In case you haven't picked-up on my overly obsessive taste for mixing and mashing music together, one of my favorite genres as of late is, well, I'll label it as Orchestral Dubstep. Dubstep used to just be a heavy-drop and beat-heavy techno and electronic music, but it has since morphed into all genres and styles of music. From "brutal-dubstep" to "melodic-dubstep" to "chill-step" to "metal-step" and integrating R&B and Hip-Hop, dub is becoming popular in all fecets of the music community. Below I'll link a few videos and songs that mix some of these elements into what I believe to be masterfully (digitally) orchestrated pieces of work.

audiomachine - Ashes of Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvp3Qih9n2c&list=PLl8LRL1PmIqNO1YjchXkBQosN54ETps1E&index=11   

          Although I could break-out a playlist, I only wanted to sprinkle a fewer less-known artists that have very extended genre styles, like Kari Sigurdsson merging electric gutiar and electronica sounds in order to orchestrate an epic score.

Kari Sigurdsson - Beyond The Horizon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRAGITF39s0

     As mentioned previously, there exists Metalcore Dubstep and Trap Music (which is more rap, with electronica beats, brought back by famous artists Young Jeezy and Three 6 Mafia), but this blog is directed more towards the instrumental and independant side, like Manstub's mix, "War," below.

Manstubs - War

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efypj2x6j-M

        Although I refuse to link entire playlists, you can find similar "epic" music by searching "Orchestal Music Mix" playlist on any major social media network. But before I let you go... why this music? I think this type of music is under-played and too easily written-off. It's integrated in most music scores you see in modern movies, in modern pop music and hop-hop music, the heavy beats and drops find their way into the music industry, and I think they're here at least for the upcoming generation.

     Disagree? Voice your opinion! Be nice. Give reasons, and share what YOU think is better! In the mean time, check out the artists and please share YOUR favorite dubstep, techno, or electronica type music below.

Christopher J. Rosario, Writer, Entertainer, Freethinker, San Antonio, TX

Music Genre: Vocal Jazz

Music Genre: Vocal Jazz

     Said to be an inspiration and idol to Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby helped revolutionize the music industry in the early and mid 1900s with his "big band" orchestra and phenominal baratone voice.

Bing Crosby - Sweet Georgia Brown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvnsxpghZeY   

     Italian-American, New Jersey born singer, actor, and producer Frank Sinatra's idolized Bing Crosby, and eventually surpassedhim both in popularity and stardom.

Frank Sinatra - The Way You Look Tonight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9ZGKALMMuc

    Beyond the dreamy, airy jazz orchestra of the 1940's and 50's resides a more modern depiction of vocal jazz with Michael Buble and Harry Connick Jr. Michael Buble sings a fantastic rendition of Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly With Me" bringing a little piece of vintage music history into the modern music age.

Michael Buble - Come Fly With Me

https://youtu.be/MYgqZYQYzwA?t=39s

     Lastly, aside from the cameo and judging of American Idol, Harry Connick Jr. was a child prodigy starting at the age of three-years-old when he started learning the keyboard. He has been performing publicly since the age of five and officially started recording at the age of ten years old. Also remniscent of vocal jazz and orchestric ensembles, Harry Connick Jr. has proven that not just innate talent is required in the industry, but also hard work, time, and dedication.

Harry Connick Jr. - Jingle Bells

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbhDQ8UMt0g&index=2&list=PLqh5oNfAVicfs-Tz5LqZV_be3zVU04E8M

     Well, it being December 4, 2016, here's a link to Harry Connick Jr. performing "Jingle Bells" Take a gander at a few of these links, artists, and please share YOUR favorite vocal jazz performers.

Christopher J. Rosario, Writer, Entertainer, Freethinker, San Antonio, TX

Video Game Music, Vol: 1

Video Game Music, Vol: 1

     I've always been more of a Legend of Zelda, Dragon Age, Skyrim kind of nerd-gamer, but have always played all genres. I'll take a good game of Battle Field or Call of Duty any day (notice which one I mentioned first?). Although most big releases are going to have a top-notch ensemble of directors, artists, sound technicians, voice actors, animators, programmers, producers, and all other elements, one of the most important areas to me is the composition of the game's musical score.

     To start with... well, pretty much anything by Zelda Theme composer, Koji Kondo. Take a look at the following trailer for an upcoming release,

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild

https://youtu.be/1rPxiXXxftE?t=58s

    Originally one of the staples of RPGs on modern consoles, Final Fantasy has always been known for it's next-generation graphics and beautifully composed symphonies by Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu.  Although the classic 1980s franchise Final Fantasy went in a different direction with their marketing campaign, I found it to be refreshing, using composer Yoko Shimomura, check it out one of the trailers for the recent release date of 11/29/2016.

Final Fantasy XV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiI7SMQA59Q&t

     Of course I'm not the who's who of video game music, and in a short blog there's hardly enough room to include the fantastic music from Uncharted or Battlefield or Skyrim's memorable theme, but we'd be here all day, and we don't have all day. Well, you might but I don't. In the mean time, stay tuned, share your thoughts and YOUR favorite video game music pieces, and check back!

Christopher J. Rosario, Writer, Entertainer, Freethinker, San Antonio, TX

Music Review: Christian Rock Origins

Christian Rock: Origins

     Heavy rifts, epic voices, electric guitar hammering that will rock your socks off, Christian rock has been popular since the days of "hair bands" in the 70s and 80s. Although there may have been other monumental Christian bands, Petra is one that stood out from the rest and paved the way for other faith-inspired music to gain in popularity. Around this time, there were many other groups with similar music styles that began forming. When people finally globally accepted the terms "hard rock" and "Christian Music", it opened the flood gates for various music genres like hip-hop through DC Talk (more on them to-come on another blog).

Petra, "All Fired Up" (1982)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYeXBA7x-MY

     Of course there are other great bands during this decade as well, White Heart, Styper, Audio Adreneline, and News Boys all began forming in the 1980s. You can't mention Petra without recognizing Styper. At the time, they were comparable to Metallica, Def Leapard, Whitesnake, Scorpions but with a Christian spin on it. They could be heard on the Trinity Broadcast Network, which was a huge outlet for Christians to compete with air time especially when certain radio stations and networks wouldn't air "religious" music.

Stryper, "Soldiers Under Command" (1985)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iPZ0cNtqIQ&index=24&list=PL3554CAE591775485

     Over half of the bands I mentioned have been around over 30 years and are still making music to this day. Styper released the album, "Fallen" in 2015 and Petra a few years back. Once again they helped pave the way for other genres because they compared to similar mainstream, secular artists which wasn't a far-stretch for consumers to recognize talent. Even today, Christian music has branched out to metal, ska, hip-hop, heavy rap, folk, any just about every other genre you can think of. I'll be featuring various bands in future blogs, so stay tuned, share your thoughts and YOUR favorite bands, and check back!

Christopher J. Rosario, Writer, Entertainer, Freethinker, San Antonio, TX

Music: Singer/Songwriter's Sucess on Youtube

Singer/Songwriter's Success on Youtube

     The music industry has changed from it's original platform of distributing pressed vinyl recordings to a whole new world of digital multimedia. Music sales have exploded from digital downloads and distribution through Recording Companies and online media sales like iTunes, Amazon, Google Play Store, and other similar sources. Gone are the ways of submitting demo tracks and recordings to big-name music industries, and now everyone has an opportunity to share their music and talents with social media. Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube have made it easy to get the word out there, any many famous artists started making a name for themselves on Youtube.

Charlie Puth, "Chandalier" - Sia cover song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWInNGhwidQ

     Charlie Puth started off much like Justin Bieber in that his music career began with international online success through Youtube writing cover songs and personal music on their Youtube channel. Charlie Puth has been around since 2009, but gained in success in 2011 during Perez Hilton's music video compilation competition where he gained early attention and by 2015 Charlie Puth gained success with the release of "See You Again" a song by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth for the movie Furious 7. Many of the scenes from the music video feature Paul Walker, an actor who died while filming Furious 7, a continuation of his Fast and the Furious movie series, along side Vin Diesel.

Wiz Khalifa - "See You Again" ft. Charlie Puth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgKAFK5djSk

     Although internet music sensations like Charlie Puth, Justin Bieber, Christina Grimmie, Meghan Trainor, Hailey Knox found ways to show off their talent to the world in order the music industry is free game to anyone talented enough and willing to put in the hard work to get recognized. In 2015 Meghan Trainor came out of the woodwork. She was originally told she wouldn't make it in the industry because she wasn't "skinny enough". Her sensation "All About That Bass" proved that body shop had nothing over showmanship and talent. Meghan proved her doubters wrong by going from 10,000 views to 1 million within a few months and after 2 years the music video has over 1.5 billion views making it one of the fastest selling singles of all time.

Meghan Trainor - Dear Future Husband

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShlW5plD_40

     The list of successful independently started artists grows and it's hard to keep up with. One of my favorite group of artists who gained in popularity performing acoustic session cover songs is Boyce Avenue. One of my favorite and one of their biggest hits is an acoustic rendition of Miley Cyrus's, "We Can't Stop". Performed with Bea Miller (another up and coming artist, who happens to be friends with Demi Lovato) and the Manzano brothers out of Sarasota, Florida, the song completely turns around from a teenie-pop artist's song about partying, to a beautiful masterpiece of melding vocals and soft folk-like instrumentals.

Christopher J. Rosario, Writer, Entertainer, Freethinker, San Antonio, TX

Music Review: Bring Me The Horizon (Modern Metal)

Bring Me The Horizon (Modern Metal)

     Everyone has their own tastes in music, and I refuse to be bias against a particular music genre simply because I prefer one over the other (I still have a soft spot for emo or screamo, hard rock like Escape the Fate, Jacks Mannequin, Something Corporate, or Senses Fail) but I'm open to all music like Adele, Justin Bieber (yes, I know), Ariana Grande or Bruno Mars and a whole slew of pop culture and old music, and I think music has a way of bringing us together.

Bring Me The Horizon, "Down" - Live at Wimbley (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkV5709EG5M

     This blog is for the rockers out there. The metal rockers. The ones that head bang in their car or rock-out at the gym or walking through the grocery store. One band who has caught my attention a few years ago, but never really focused on is a band called Bring Me The Horizon. They're a British rock band from Sheffield, UK. I first started listening to them on their 2013 Album Release, Sempiternal which blew my mind and I've been a fan ever since. Admittedly, I didn't catch their days of "There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret" (2010).

     You can see from 2006 to 2016 that the band has matured musically. The above song, "Down" off their latest album, "That's The Spirit", the music is much more toned-down on the metal-core side that they used to be. Even their prior release, Sempiternal (2013), which had the song that introduced me to this awesome band, "Sleepwalking". Sleepwalking was their second biggest hit, so below I'm going to cut to the chase and introduce you to the Album wit the biggest hit off of that album, .

Bring Me The Horizon, "Can You Feel My Heart" - Sempiternal (2013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AVRCQBc59w

     Just in case the last song, "Can You Feel My Heart" scared you off with the screaming (and I'd consider that a very soft song), compared to the entire album of sensational metal and grinding guitars and screaming into a musical masterpiece. Their newest album, "That's The Spirit" (2015) is a testament to their ability to merge metal with electronica and in order to bring-in the pop-rock music genre, but also enjoy hard rock. The screaming is toned down into only when necessary, rather than throughout the entire songs. Their newer releases, "Throne" is an excellent example of merging genres into more of an alternative rock feel.

Bring Me The Horizon, "Throne" - That's The Spirit (2015)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_qI_F2ZJI

     If you'd like to see some of their music off of their older albums that birthed the beginnings of Bring Me The Horizon, you might want to check out their website here. I mentioned before that the band musically matured. Some would call them a sellout, but I think they developed themselves artistically to appeased their target audience of metal and screaming, with a subtle mix of electronica to open the gates to other musical interests (namely, reducing the amount of cussing a bit).

     If you like what you're read, or have comments, for against or otherwise, share them or email me.

Christopher J. Rosario, Writer, Entertainer, Freethinker, San Antonio, TX


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I've been protecting you. Their old stuff is very loud and very hardcore metal. In case you were curious on what BMTH started out as, before they got radio-air-time. Check out their song, Prayer for Plagues (parental discretion advised).