Finally! The Review!

I want to start off by saying, sorry that this took me so long Aaron! Also, I want you to know that I had fun doing this! It didn't stress me out, I was just crazy busy for awhile there and never got on the computer long enough to write a thorough review. I'm really glad that you asked me to review your CD! Thank you! 

Alright folks, two days later than I said it would be. Here it goes:

CD: Aaron Wrixon ~ Live

I should remind you all that this is my first official review so it may be a little rough.

I'm gonna go track by track and then do an overall statement.

TRACK 1: Introduction

I actually really like this song. Well it's not really a song. It's what the title says, an introduction. He sings a cappella  for about 30 seconds and then it leads into the next song. I really like the few lines he sings though! It gets stuck in my head all the time!

TRACK 2: Hey Beautiful

This is an interesting song. I really like the tune of it. With the words I think I'm being a bit picky and forgiving as well because I generally don't like it when songwriter's rhyme really obvious words in cheesy ways, but I don't know, something about the way he does it just totally fits the song and adds to it's style. This is honestly one of the only songs I've heard that can pull it off without making me dislike the song! 

TRACK 3: Smart Like You

This one is kind of sad. It seems to me like it's about a man in prison who is about to released back into the real world. I think he's talking to his wife or girlfriend on the outside. I really love the instrumentals in this song!    It has a somber feel to it, but it's also relaxing. 

TRACK 4: Coming Home

  Another one where I love the instrumentals! It's got a bluesy (sp?) feel to it. He manages to once again make obvious rhyming work! I don't know how he does that! I can't ever make it work in my music! It's also a really random and short. Not my favorite, but it's an alright song.

TRACK 5: Oak Tree, Oak Tree

Alright, it's decided it, I love the instrumentals on this entire CD! There, last time I'm saying it. Now you know. This is sad as well. It's about a farmer who lost his farm because he went bankrupt and it had been in his family for over 95 years. You can really feel the sadness in the song, you feel like it's your own, and I love when a song does that. This is a really good song! 

TRACK 6: The Damnedest Thing 

FAVORITE SONG! I love, love, love this song! It's my favorite song on the entire CD! It's so simple and creative. The tune gets stuck in your head immediately and will be there for the rest of the day! Alright, this is the last time I'll say this, but I LOVE the instrumentals! It's sad and humorous at the same time. Very classic folk style and I absolutely love it!

TRACK 7: The Birds

He sings this with one of his friends named Jamie Baisley. Really pretty harmonies! I love the sound of a guy and a girl singing together! I've always wanted to do a duet with a guy, I hope to one day. Anyways, back on track. This song is just pretty in general. It's relaxing and calming. I guess I just like songs with birds in it. Such as this one and A Bird's Song by Ingrid Michaelson. This is another one of my favorites from this CD.

TRACK 8: Stockbroken

This song is about "a man who has a lot of money, but not much else." This one is also featuring Jamie. I'm not really a big fan of this song. I mean the message is good, but I'm not a big fan of the tune. For me, tune is even more important than the words. I have heard a lot of good lyrics with bad tunes. I don't know, a good tune is just important to me and this one didn't cut it for me. The song itself though is pretty short. 

TRACK 9: Men and Brethren

Once again featuring Jamie. I'm not complaining though, she's got a really pretty voice :) This is another one where I'm not a big fan of the tune but the lyrics are still good. It's got a different tempo than the rest of the songs so far. It's a nice rhythm, I like it. The songs seem to be getting shorter and shorter! This is an alright song. Not my favorite. Not my least favorite. Just in the middle I suppose.

TRACK 10: Mistake

I like this song quite a bit. I really like the chorus. The verses are pretty good, but my favorite part is the chorus. Really good harmonies! I don't know why, but I really love the title of this song. I can't explain it, but something about the title says "this is gonna be a good song" and it's true!    

TRACK 11: For You

This is a sweet song! It's a love song. It's really soft and pretty. It's lyrics aren't the typical cheesy love song lyrics. They seem to have actual meaning instead of just looking for words to rhyme, like a lot of love songs do. He wrote it for his fiancé :)  

TRACK 12: Stay With Me

I love this song! I just love the feel of it! It's really sweet and simple. I listen to it and imagine a guy singing this to the one he loves, and I don't know it's just really pretty! The lyrics are amazing! 

TRACK 13: Interlude

This isn't a song, it's him talking and pulling his fiancé up on stage and then it goes into the next song. Very exciting, I know he he :) 

TRACK 14: It'll work out

I really love this song! It flows really well and the chorus is awesome! Another one that gets stuck in your head! I love the audience participation in this! There are amazing harmonies! For some reason this is the first song I ever listened to from this CD. Definitely my second favorite song from the whole album! A VERY CLOSE second to The Damnedest Thing! I love when it goes a cappella at the end!

OVERALL REVIEW

I liked this CD.  I want to point out that I wish that I had the skills that this guy has to interact with his audience! I can never think of anything to say and he makes it sound so easy! Kudos to you Aaron for having good charisma! With it's folk/country style I was surprised by how much I really do like it since I'm not a very big fan of country. This album has a really good feel to it, and I would recommend it to anyone! If you're looking for some good music you should definitely listen to this! 

::Sigh:: Procrastination.

Yes I know I'm doing a great job with keeping up with my blog! Don't worry, I'm getting back on track with it now. The Aaron Wrixxon review will be up by Monday. I was going to write it today, but since I just got done with a 4 hour drive I'm not in the best of moods to review a CD. Although, I have listened to it like 3 times all the way through and I listen to it whenever one of the songs start playing when I put my iPod on shuffle. Next time (if there is a next time. Which I hope there is!) someone asks me to review their CD I will have the review up within a week. It just seems that I have had an EXTREMELY busy couple of months! Things are starting to settle down though so I'll be updating this regularly again starting Monday, and the first thing going up is the review for this CD.

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I really want to update this thing as often as I promised in the beginning, but I have been SO BUSY lately! However, I still haven't given up on it yet, and I don't plan to!

I WILL review that CD on my next post! Swear! I have listened to half of it.

Things are finally starting to look up for me! I hope I didn't just jinx it by saying that... Oh well, I don't think I did. I've got a good babysitting job now and that has helped me out tremendously!

I'm still reading the same two books I mentioned in my last post ha ha. I'll have at least one of them done fairly soon though!

Did you know that the fear of palindromes is the called aibohphobia and is cured with Xanax?

I promise I'll update more often and have more interesting things to say!

I'll leave with these wise words said by yours truly: "All the wrong pumpkins in all the wrong patches! Oh no! What will they do?!"

"That's perfectly disgusting!"

So it's been awhile since my last blog. A little over a week I think. Maybe more though. I'm not sure.

Anyways, I got asked to review someone's CD about two weeks ago and he even sent me a free download of it! I haven't had time to listen to  it all the way through yet. As soon as I do though I'll be posting it one here!

Still awaiting news from Ball State music school to know if I got in. Gah! I wish I could just know right then and there if I made it or not! Oh well, I guess whatever happens, happens.

Good news! I have been in a MAJOR reading mood lately!

I'm currently reading Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews for the third time. I just love it so much! I wanted to read it again, and hopefully read the rest of the series again this year. I have only read the other four books in the series one time each.

I'm also reading The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie. I'm not very far into that one so I can't tell you if it's any good or not yet. I bet it will be seeing as the last book I read by her was amazing! If you're looking for a good, fun  and interesting mystery I would certainly suggest reading her book, And Then There Were None (also published as Ten Little Indians). Favorite quote from one of the movies made from it: ::After watching a man choke to death right in front of her:: "That's perfectly disgusting!" haha! My friend and I were cracking up when she said that! ::Sigh:: Gotta love old movies :) 

I have this sort of interview thing today. It's not really an interview, it's just meeting this family that I might babysit for. If they like me that is. Which I mean come on! Who wouldn't like me? He he :-p  I'm kind of nervous that the kids won't, but hey I'm gonna go in there with a positive attitude! So hopefully that goes well!

I also got this three day job working at a food booth at this festival for farmers. Try saying that five times fast ("Food booth at this festival for farmers, food booth at this festival for farmers, etc...)! The lady told my mom that if it goes well I might be able to do other festivals with them so I hope that works out too!


So who all is excited for Spring??

I know I am! I was so sick of winter! Oh my! I don't care if I ever see snow again!

Now I'm curious...

What is YOUR favorite season? ...and also... Do any of you know any other good mystery authors? If so, what books by them would you suggest reading?

And that's all she wrote... 'Til next my friends,

~Caitlin~  

Literacy

Write, read, write, read.

Two things I need to do more often.

I have been picking up my reading pace so that's a plus! Although I've been reading Paper Towns since January so that's a bad thing... It's not that I don't like this book, in fact, I think it's really cool and awesome and interesting! It's also my favorite book by John Green and I haven't even finished it yet! So that is saying something. What is it saying? You might ask. It's saying that I really like this book! Unfortunately I have just not been in reading moods lately, but that is changing thank God! I hate not reading... I know that puts me on yet another minority list in society but you know what? I don't care. I love to read and I hate not to read. It's just who I am. So there.

Is there anyone else out there who feels the same as I do? Go ahead you can be honest. If you're not that into reading, that's OK! I won't hate you or anything, though I will question your intellect because you can gain SO MUCH from reading, but most people don't take the time to really appreciate a good book. The people who don't like to read generally have only read books that they were required to read. Don't go off on me now I know that's not the case for EVERYONE, but from my experience with people who don't like to read, they say they it's because they hate the stuff they read for school. It's like they have never taken the time to read a book of their choosing. Trust me, you get so much more enjoyment out of reading something you actually want to read than something you're forced to read.  Not to say that all assigned reading is bad! I have been assigned reading that I am really glad to have read, and would not have read otherwise. I just wish people these days were more literate. I think the world would be a little better if this were so. Young people today, including myself, are so into their own lives and technology that they can't seem to find time to jump into someone else's life for a little while. Reading expands the mind. Seeing the world through someone else's eyes broaden's  your horizons, takes you out of your own little comfortable box for awhile.

So, all I am asking is that if you're not a fan of reading, give it a try! Just make sure it's a book that you choose.

Sorry I know this got a little preachy but hey, I wanna be a college professor so I have to start convincing people to start reading now so I can have somewhat literate students when I get there!

Me and My Wonderful Genre Naming Skills

Wow, I've been extremely tired for the last few days and I don't know why!

Anyways, I liked all of your suggestions for blog post topics! I liked one the most though, and that was Gemma's!

I actually do not have a list of music genres that I like and which order that I like them in, I mostly just said that to make myself sound more interesting.  However, I am going to attempt to make a list. Right here. Right now. The trouble is that I can never remember any bands or artist that I like until I here there name mentioned or a song by them, and my iPod only has about 1/8 of the artists I like on it. So if there are a lack of band and artist names, that is why. Well, here goes nothing.

For all you people out there who are way better at categorizing music than I am, please don't critique, honestly this is how I separate music in my head so, there is no point in saying "well that's the wrong definition" or "that band isn't that genre but it's THIS one." Yeah, just don't.

1. Acoustic or Folky or Soft?  - I'm not really sure what to call it. Alternative maybe? Whenever I here that word though I think of alternative rock, which isn't what I'm talking about. I'd say some examples of this genre would be: Ingrid Michaelson (of course), Jon Foreman, My band: Kelly & Caitlin, Missy Higgins, Sufjan Stevens, This Providence, etc... It's just stuff that can be upbeat but isn't all over the place or loud, just soft chill music I guess is how I would describe it.

2. Alternative Rock - When I think of alternative rock, I think of bands like Switchfoot and Maroon5. There are a ton of other bands that I like that fall into this category, but I like I said earlier, I can't remember any right now. It's rock that isn't hard, or punk, or metal, it's just kind of smooth and awesome.

3. Normal Rock? - Wow I'm terrible at naming things hehe. I guess I would say normal rock is not punk or hard rock, or metal, or alternative, it's just I don't know, normal? I'd say bands like Nickelback and Hinder  and Panic! at the Disco (not normal, but ya know, normal),   etc... I know I'm terrible at this naming genre and bands thing. Sorry about that.

4. Ska - An old friend of mine turned me onto this wonderful genre of music. It's basically rock music with a brass line to it. Rock isn't the word I'm looking for though, agh! I can't remember the word! REGGAE! That's it! A lot of ska music has a reggae beat only it's super awesome and fun! Basically ska is just awesome, It may even rank as number 3 instead of 4. My favorite ska bands are: Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, Streetlight Manifesto, Goldfinger, etc...

5.  Punk -ish - Kind of punk but not classic, old school punk, but today's sort of punk.  For example: Fall Out Boy, All American Rejects, Blink 182, Avril Lavigne, etc...

6. Hard Rock - This mostly consists of bands that have singing and SOMETIMES some screaming thrown in. Not to be  confused with post-hardcore (we'll get there). The instrumentals are just awesome and make you want to head bang and rock out. I would say some good hard rock bands are: Flyleaf, Coheed & Cambria, Slipknot (Sometimes), Skillet, Future leaders of the world, All that Remains,  etc... I'm losing my mind! There are so many band and I can't think of them! There are plenty more that I like, I swear! Those aren't even my favorites!

7. Pop - Pop is like the biggest genre of music out there really. Lady Gaga, Hannah Montanna/Miley Cyrus, Rhianna (Sometimes), Britney Spears, Michael Jackson (not a fan of him, so you know), Aaron Carter, and the list goes on and on and on and on...... Those are just the names I could think of.

8. R&B - We all know what R & B is. Although, I never know who is an R & B artist and who is a hip hop artist. Either way, I basically put anyone who sings instead of raps into the R & B section haha :-) I would say: Usher, Beyonce, Mario, Ashanti, etc... I'm not really that into it, but I really like Usher and Beyonce.

9. Hip-hop - Alright, I like REAL hip-hop ya know, where people aren't obsessed with calling everyone bitches and hoes. Where "let's get high" isn't a key phrase, and sex, boobs, and asses aren't the theme of the song. Yeah I like artists who can rap without needing to be.. alright I'll just say it, stupid and perverted. I honestly don't know a lot of rappers who don't do that. Eminem has SOME good songs, but he falls into all that crap too. Will Smith's stuff is alright I guess. I'm honestly not that into it, but I like dancing to it, and every now and then I find a song that I really like in the Hip-hop field.

10. Country - I honestly do not like country very much at all. I think that the lyrics are lame and dumb, and just absolutely ridiculous sometimes. I can't even EXPLAIN to  you how much I don't like country. However, there are some artists that don't completely suck like: Faith Hill, Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Trisha Yearwood. That's basically it. I'm sure I missed someone else I like too though, but oh well.

11. Post - Hardcore - I will admit there are some songs that I like that fall into this genre, but I mostly just find it whiny and irritating. It's basically guys who sound like girls and they scream sometimes. Like girls. Almost every song sounds the same. Literally. I'm not even kidding. I once looked up a bunch of post-hardcore stuff, four words. Different bands, one tune. I'm telling you. It's pretty bad.

12. Heavy Metal, screamo, hardcore crap - I honestly just don't like listening to a song that does nothing but scream. I don't have any band names, because I don't know any, because I don't like any. Sorry.


That's basically it. There are so many genres of music out there, but that's the list of stuff I know for the most part. The last three are the stuff I generally don't like, but every now and then I come across a good song from one of them. Not the last one though. I don't know one song that I like that is all screaming.

Something I didn't mention though was how much I love musicals and there soundtracks. I love them. Especially Hairspray and Legally Blonde: The Musical.

SO I think YOU all should leave a comment with your list. It doesn't have to be quite as detailed and long as mine, but even just the names in order that you like them.


Also, what do you think of my list?

La Da Da Da La Da Da Da

What to write about, what to write about.... Hmmmm... 

So you should leave me topic ideas in the comments. In fact, I'm not writing a new post until I get at least two suggestions. What do you want to read about?? 

I just got inspired! I put my iPod on shuffle and let it play and wrote down my thoughts during the first 6 songs it played. I'm going to leave this COMPLETELY UNEDITED so it may make no sense! I think that in order to really get the feel of what I wrote that you should listen to the songs as  you read what I wrote about them. So you can get yourself prepared, Here are the 6 songs I listened to: Dream On by Aerosmith, Sweet Caroline by Mark Salling of the Glee Cast, Caught Up by Usher, Fall to Pieces by Avril Lavigne, My Wish by Rascal Flatts, and Maybe by Ingrid Michaelson.

PLEASE COMMENT AND RATE! 

                                                                                       

The song I'm listening to right now is "Dream On" by Aerosmith which incidently was played by a 14 year old at Come 2 Go this month.  He did pretty well I think. Come 2 Go is an open mic thing I go to once a month with my band mate Kelly. Song is over now. New Topic. 

Now "Sweet Caroline" performed by Mark Salling from Glee. I was told that this song was written by like a 40 year old to a 13 year old girl. Creeeeeeeeeeepppyyyyyyy. I like the song either way, and the guy who is singing this version is a total hottie :-) 

OooooooooOooooO "Caught Up" by Usher. I LOVE THIS SONG! It's my favorite song by him! I don't really know why but it always puts me in a really good mood! Makes me wanna dance! However, I'm not dancing right now. I'm sitting around writing this. I'm writing until each song is over, but I don't really have much to say about it.  Once my friend Laura was humming it for this game we were playing  and it sounded more like she was about throw up than it did the song haha!  Wow this song is kinda long, he keeps saying he's caught up over and over and over again... I still love it though!

"Fall to Pieces" by Avril Lavigne. I love this CD. It's off of her second one Under my Skin. I really surprises me how big of a change it was form her second to her third CD was. This one is totally dark and then her newest CD is like Poppy and super happy and preppy. Weird. I still can't even believe it's the same person singing on those two CD's, such polar opposites. This song is one of the happier ones on this CD though. 

"My Wish" by Rascal Flatts. Before you go thinking I'm some kind of country music fan, you need to realize that country is like my third least favorite genre of music out there.  It was like my fifth least favorite, but then I started working at Taco Bell and that was all they ever played and I realized how terrible most of it is and it jumped down two places. I do like some songs though, including this one :-) It's kinda cheesy but I like it either way. I remember seeing the lead singer in the Hannah Montana Movie and being like "is that the dude from Rascal Flatts?" and my friend was like "Uh, no." and then he started sing "Bless the Broken Road" and I was like "HA!" 

Ok last song! "Maybe" by Ingrid Michaelson.  For those of you who don't know, this is my FAVORITE singer! I love all of her music, I don't know one song of her's that I don't  like. Not one. This particular song is really good! It's a little different from her old stuff but it has a really good story! The thing I love about her music is I can relate to every one her songs, they always seem to represent some aspect of my life. If you're looking for some good music, I would recommend anything by her!