Year 8, Day 191

Hey guys. Today's song is Waltz - Masquerade Suite performed by La Scala Philharmonic Orchestra and Daniel Harding.

Masquerade was written in 1941 as incidental music for a play of the same name by Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov, however the music is better known in the form of a five-movement suite, which Khachaturian extracted in 1944. Fun Fact: Incidental music is basically what we think of as a musical score today, but referred to more in the aspect of plays, television and radio. So Masquerade (the play) was written in 1835 with four acts set in Russia in the 1830's, and follows the lead Abernin, a high society man of wealth and a strong will. To sum it up, it's basically a story of betrayal and murder, and is often compared to Othello from Shakespeare. Originally it had only three acts, but after being presented to the Office of Literary Censor a fourth act was added, and that remains the only version that still exists today. It was declined three times before the censor allowed it to be staged in 1852, then censorship was lifted by 1862, but it is somewhat a story based in truth with a hint from one character's name and many assume that is why it faced such heavy censorship at the time. Fast forward to 1941 when director Ruben Simonov was putting on a production of Masquerade, and asked Khachaturian to write music for the production. He had a difficult tome with the Waltz in particular, because of how the character of Nina describes it in the lines "How beautiful the new waltz is! ... something between sorrow and joy gripped my heart." Because of this he struggled to find a theme that fit the new and beautiful parameters. His former teacher Nikolai Myaskovsky (very big deal) tried to help him and while not immediately providing what he needed, without all the research he never would have found the right style. And once he had that everything just fit into place. The play opened on June 21 1941, and this song was dedicated to the actress playing Nina named Alla Kazanskaya, but the next day Germany invaded the Soviet Union and by the day after that the theatre had been destroyed in the bombings and many actors and other personnel were killed. The play did continue on once they had evacuated to Siberia. Then in 1944, Khachaturian extracted five movements from the play to make a symphonic suite. A suite refers to an ordered number of different pieces, so for this it was five pieces (or movements), put together in a specific order to make a suite, with Waltz being the first movement. Now a lot of people say they don't like classical music, but it really does still have its place so hopefully you can appreciate this song and the mini history lesson its origin gives.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 190

Hey guys. Today's song is Snow Waltz by Lindsey Stirling.

Lindsey Stirling is an American violinist, active since 2007 and got her start through YouTube. When she was a kid, her parents could only afford to get her half violin lessons, amounting to 15 minutes a week, but she excelled regardless. She was in a couple of bands while in school, where she started to write music and one of her compositions actually cinched her win of a Junior Miss title. In 2010 Lindsey auditioned for and made it into the quarter finals for America's Got Talent and even though the audience loved her, the judges were harsh. Piers Morgan being the asshole he always is said she had no talent and wasn't good enough, and even Sharon Osbourne said she didn't have what it takes to fill a theatre. Thankfully Lindsey didn't listen to them and kept at her craft. She started focusing more on her YouTube channel, releasing music regularly, growing her subscriber base exponentially in 2011 before releasing her first album in 2012. In 2013 she signed a deal with Troy Carter, who also manages Lady Gaga, and went on a World Tour before competing on Dance Showdown, a YouTuber dance competition to which she didn't win, but really should have based on talent alone. Her album was re-released in 2013 with some new songs, and she won a YouTube Music Award for her collaboration with Pentatonix. In 2014 she was nominated for an Echo Music Award, announced the release of her second album, and went on another World Tour. Her album earned her a Billboard Music Awards nomination and a Teen Choice Award. After four years she went back to America's Got Talent to perform one of her singles, and they love to herald her as their find and Lindsey is too nice not to give them some credit, but she is successful in spite of that show. In 2015 she was on Forbes 30 Under 30, won another YouTube Music Award, won an Echo Award and was nominated twice in the Billboard Music Awards. In 2016 she published an autobiography which became a New York Time bestseller, and released her third album and she started having writing credits for music in pop culture. She started having some big names collaborations, and even had her song sampled by another artist before it was announced in 2017 that she would be a contestant on Dancing With the Stars, in which she came in second place. She released her fourth album and did some more touring and appearances on other albums, including on an album by Evanescence before joining Dancing With the Stars for one trio dance and being offered a spot in the America's Got Talent: The Champions lineup and declined. She released another album in 2019 and started to tour but the pandemic postponed it. Her songs were used in some more pop culture stuff like The Umbrella Academy and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. She done an EP, some more collaborations and more touring now that she can again and released her next album in 2022, which this is the title song for. I've featured her a lot and it's obvious I admire her perseverance to make music... and really her stuff is great always so hopefully you enjoy this one.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 189

Hey guys. Today's song is While Your Lips Are Still Red by Nightwish.

Nightwish is new to me, but I have heard the name before so clearly they are very well known. So Nightwish is a Finnish band (give it up for Finland!) active since 1996, with current members including Tuomas Holopainen, Emppu Vuorinen, Troy Donockley, Floor Jansen, Kai Hahto and Jukka Koskinen and past members being Tarja Turunen, Jukka Nevalainen, Sami Vänskä, Marko Hietala and Anette Olzon. The group was the brainchild of Holopainen, and he along with Vuorinen and Turunen started the group off the their demo in 1996, with the name spawning from their first song together.  Their sound developed into what they are now with the addition of Nevalainen in 1997 and the introduction of electric guitars instead of acoustic. The released their debut album, and started performing with some live members to fill in the needed instruments before asking Vänskä to join. They released their second album in 1998 in Finland only, but after much success it was released internationally in 1999. They released another album in 2000, followed by an EP in 2001. Tensions were rising with the members, leading to the group almost breaking up, but in the end they got a new manager, Vänskä was asked to leave and was replaced with Hietala who played bass and sang. They released a fourth album in 2002, followed by another in 2004 which led them to a World Tour. In 2005 the group penned an open letter firing Turunen based on commercial interests and her husband changing her attitude about the band. Personally considering that reading through their history they had to do guest vocals for a bunch of stuff because she didn't want to sing...I see why they would fire her as the singer of the band, regardless of the other reasons. The band found a replacement and went into the studio in 2006, but didn't reveal until 2007 that Olzon was the new addition so that they would have music to showcase with her on it. Their next album was also released in 2007, then spent the next couple years touring for it. They started teasing a new album in 2009, releasing it in 2011, then in 2012 during their tour Olzon couldn't perform and due to that and other issues was dismissed from the group, replaced by Jansen for the rest of the tour, becoming a permanent member in 2013, along with Donockley who had recorded with the band previously. In 2014 Nevalainen stepped down from recording and touring, being replaced with Hahto for their next album released in 2015. They took a break in 2017 while Jansen was focusing on her first child, but came back with a compilation album and tour in 2018. In 2019 Hahto became a permanent replacement, and the group released an album in 2020. In 2021 Hietala left the group, citing depression and disillusionment form the music industry (which is pretty common actually) with Koshinen taking over for their tour performances, which should last into this year with an upcoming album planned for next year. This song was released in 2007, written by Holopainen and Hietala, and performed by Holopainen, Hietala, and Nevalainen for a Finnish film called the Matriarch. It was also released on their 2007 album, but is not officially a Nightwish track. Vuorinen and Olzen would wait backstage when this song was performed, but in more recent iteration Jansen and Donockley would join the others with performing this song onstage. I chose this one because I like it and it's a good way to transition into the more classical stuff that I'm going to showcasing, so hope you enjoy it.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 188

Hey guys. Today's song is To Tell You The Truth by Written By Wolves.

So I know that I have featured these guys before, but like last time there is still no official bio on them, and all I can tell you definitely is that they are a rock band from New Zealand. They've been around since at least 2015 and have at least one album and, according to their website, the latest from them is the collaboration EP from 2021 which they say is a "mental health initiative aimed at giving their fans, friends and followers a platform to talk about their mental health and a reminder that no matter what they are going through they do not have to do it alone." I think I mentioned it before, but pandemic music (that written/released around that time) falls into two... or I guess three categories: super upbeat, ridiculously morose, or introspective (though those last two walk a fine line dipping into each other depending on the song). This is an older song of theirs, posted in 2017 so it doesn't fall into my above theory, but hopefully this song encourages you to go check out their newer stuff and see what you think.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 187

Hey guys. Today's song is Go To Hell by Letdown.

So Letdown. is a musical project created in 2020 by American musician Blake Coddington and in his words is a project that's "just me crying about my problems." His songs stem from a way to deal with mental health struggles, and is a form of therapy not just for himself, but also for the people who listen to it, which explains why it wasn't long at all before his stuff went viral on TikTok. While he hadn't actually been working in music at the time, and his stuff was just supposed to be a creative outlet for him (kind of like how I view this blog in general) the popularity meant that he was able to focus more on music. And now he's got just short of a dozen singles, and some music videos, and is looking to hopefully get on the road soon to tour. He's a new find for me (obviously) but I instantly fell in love with this song and I think you guys will too. I foresee great things from him in the future so keep an eye out for him and check out his other stuff and his website if you're interested.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 186

Hey guys. Today's song is Hypnotized by Set It Off.

So these guys are a rock band active since 2008 with current members including Cody Carson, Maxx Danziger, and Zach DeWall. Previous members consist of Blake Howell, Benji Panico, Dan Clermont, Austin Kerr, and James Arran. While the early members all knew of each other from the local band scene while in high school, the band was started by Carson after quitting college to pursue music. He had a YouTube channel, and had been exchanging video's with All Time Low's frontman and ended up performing an All Time Low song for one of the band's shows. After that, he decided to start the band. A lot of their early popularity came thanks to Carson's channel where their fanbase grew. They released an EP in 2008 and another in 2009, followed by three singles and another EP in 2010 before getting signed. They re-released their most recent EP in 2011, which debuted in iTunes Top 100 Alternative Albums. They released their debut album in 2012, participating in the VH1 Save the Music Foundation by giving them a percentage of the album sales, as well as personally donating $5,000 to the organization. Their next album was released in 2014, followed by the band touring with a number of other groups and playing festivals before releasing another album in 2015. They released another album in 2016 before switching record labels. They co-opted a song with their fans in 2018 on YouTube, then released an album in 2019 before going on tour. Part of the tour had to be cancelled when Carson had a vocal hemorrhage requiring surgery, but they have since released an EP so I hope and assume he's doing well. I guess we'll see what's in store for them later on.

Peace.

Year 8, Day 185

Hey guys. Today's song is Sorry About Your Parents by Icon For Hire.

Icon For Hire is an American band active since 2007 and currently made up of Ariel Bloomer and Shawn Jump, with past members including Joshua Davis and Adam Kronshagen. The band name is satire based on the music industry, which still rings true today. They released two EP's by 2009, before Davis left the group. They were signed in 2010, releasing their debut album in 2011. They released their second album in 2013, then by 2015 decided to go independent and split from their label. Kronshagen also left the group at this time, wanting to focus more on his family. In 2016 they ran a kickstarter to fund their next album, which was released later that year. Since then they've been doing a lot of touring. They were forced to break from it for the pandemic and although they were supposed to do more touring in 2022, the cancelled only ten days in because of the economic issues in Europe and the airline misplacing their gear. I prefer the other song of theirs that I featured, but this one fits in to the other ones I've got for these couple days so it works out for me. Enjoy.

Peace.