Fall Semester 2011

As I sit down to write this post, I am home for Christmas break!  It is so nice to be home, surrounded by family and friends.  Los Angeles really is great, but there is always something special about coming home.

So many things have happened this semester and I am really excited about what the future might bring.  To kick off the semester, I started a new job working for Mobius Music Group.  MMG is a publishing company with a fully functioning professional studio and our primary task is working with music supervisors to place music in TV/film.  It is a small, up-and-coming company and I am really enjoying the work.  I have learned so much about copyrights, Performing Rights Organizations, and other aspects of the music industry.  We maintain a large catalogue of artists, and we promote them through the use of various e-mail campaign services.  It has been nice to get some training outside of school and it has opened my eyes to all of the possible career paths in music.  I hope to continue working there and learn more about the business side of making music.

In addition to studio work, I have three teaching jobs that keep me very busy.  I work for Takelessons, USC, and I still maintain a private studio of students that I have found on my own.  I still enjoy teaching, but I hope to find a balance between teaching and studio work.  I have also written some new songs which I hope to record soon.  I have definitely missed rehearsing, recording, and gigging, but I will try to bring these back into the picture soon.  Right now, I am focused on finishing my degree and figuring out how I can make a living in the music industry.

There are many options, but I know that God is in control.  It is amazing to think that I am nearly finished with my Master's Degree.  One more semester and then I will have two degrees!

In addition to work and school, I managed to get some down-time as well this semester.  At the end of September, Julie came out to visit for a week and we had a great time.  You can read about her visit here on her wonderful blog:

Julie's Blog!

We managed to go to the beach a couple of times and we even went hiking in Malibu.  We went to the Irvine Cars and Coffee meeting and then went to San Diego for Julie's childhood friend's wedding.  It was a great week!

In November, I got some time off of work and was able to fly back to Dallas the week after my birthday.  I was able to see my family, spend time with Julie, and we even drove down to Waco to see William!  I was also invited to one of Julie's work events and I got to see how hard she works.  I really enjoyed the time away from everything and it re-energized me as I prepared to finish the semester.

 
All in all, Fall 2011 has been a great semester.  I have learned a lot about myself and I am looking forward to graduation in May.  I hope that all of you are well as we begin this Holiday season.  I am very thankful for each of you and I wish you all of the best as we wrap up 2011 and welcome 2012.

May God bless you!

An Album Review: "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay

The objective for this assignment was to write a positive review on something that I love.  Predictably, I chose a Coldplay album. 

An Album Review: “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay

What a decade it has been for that small rock band from the south of England.  From “Yellow” to “Clocks” and “The Scientist,” Coldplay has been ruling the airwaves and our headphones.  The quartet’s fourth studio effort, “Viva La Vida,” demonstrates that this band has only gotten better with age.  The sounds, music, and overall concept of this latest release shows that a rock album can still have a single, unifying theme.  “Long live life” is the Spanish translation of “Viva La Vida” and each track contains this passion.  It proves that humans are still capable of generating something truly beautiful.

With a run time of 45 minutes, this album is intended to be listened to in one sitting and I believe that this is fairly reasonable to ask of the general public.  However, in the age of iTunes and file-sharing, the average listener rarely finds the need to buy entire albums.  With the variety of music on “Viva La Vida,” I do not feel that Coldplay is asking too much.

Opening the album is the achingly beautiful “Life in Technicolor.”  With a soft melody that rises like the sun over a mist-covered mountain, the song crescendos out of silence to a triumphant climax marked by the sound of crashing drums and a choir of voices.  The main melody is carried by zithers and keyboards, accompanied by acoustic guitar.  These instruments meld with the lush, ambient warbles created by none other than the legendary Brian Eno.  The only thing more remarkable than the array of instruments on display is the fact that this is an instrumental piece.  Quite a statement for the opening track of a rock album.

Having worked with U2, David Bowie, Talking Heads, and Ultravox (just to name a few), Brian Eno has become one of the best producers in the industry and this is worth mentioning because the production on “Viva La Vida” is top notch.  Each song has a unique sound, but a great cohesive quality is maintained.  Every single instrument present on the record sounds like it should.  The balance is superb and this is especially important when you consider the variety of sounds on this album.   

The tasteful use of exotic instruments pervades many of the tracks and each song carries its own character and personality.  The sound of tribal drums and hand-claps provides the rhythmic foundation for “Lost!,” an incredibly catchy song with references to the music of African tribes.  “Just because I’m losing, doesn’t mean I’m lost,” sings Chris Martin.  A true statement about what it means to be content in any situation.

With heavy references to the stadium rock of U2, “Lovers in Japan” features a driving beat and Chris Martin’s trademark falsetto vocals.  The piano, with a “honky-tonk” tone, is completely absorbed in Jonny Buckland’s reverb-soaked guitar tones.  The resulting texture, combined with Brian Eno’s signature ambient sound, is so rich and full. 

The two singles on this album, “Viva La Vida” and “Violet Hill,” showcase the maturity of Coldplay and their willingness to break down musical barriers.  The sounds of a full string orchestra punctuate the title track and the standard rock and roll drum set is replaced with two timpani drums and a massive bell.  But this doesn’t mean that Coldplay has forgotten their fans.  The chorus to “Viva La Vida” triumphs with “ohhs” that channel the energy of a football match (that’s soccer to American readers).  “Violet Hill,” with lyrics expressing discontent with the state of politics, contains elements of the blues and serves as Coldplay’s first anti-war protest song.  Buckland’s typical soft guitar tones are replaced with a gritty distorted sound that provides a fitting soundtrack to the anger expressed in Martin’s lyrics. 

This album has so much more to offer as well.  A piano postlude following “Cemeteries of London,” is reminiscent of Chopin or Ravel.  Hidden tracks bejewel the album and bring to mind the days when people would listen to entire albums with track-listing in hand, surprised when an unknown track would appear at the end of another.  The album comes full circle when “Life in Technicolor” is reprised as “The Escapist” (a hidden track) at the album’s closing minutes.   Coldplay, a self-proclaimed “heavy soft-rock band,” is changing the very definition of what is considered rock and roll.

What a decade it has been; what a decade indeed.  Long live Coldplay.

An Album Review: "Pink Friday" by Nicki Minaj

The objective of this assignment was to write a critical devastation of a work that "annoys or irritates me."

An Album Review: "Pink Friday" by Nicki Minaj

From incredibly dull, to annoyingly vulgar, Nicki Minaj’s Hip-Hop/Rap/Pop debut album “Pink Friday” takes listeners on a journey that is nearly too awful for words.  At times, the assault on my ears left me utterly speechless and at other times pondering “can anyone create respectable music of this style?”  Each cut on “Pink Friday” is dripping with over-produced, auto-tuned vocals that often make it very hard to distinguish the lyrics from the electronic conglomeration of drum loops and bass-heavy synthesizer.  However, what does come across is a fair amount of senseless chanting and bad poetry.

Onika Tanya Maraj, known to her fans as Nicki Minaj, was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and then moved to Queens in New York City.  Prior to her debut album, Minaj released a series of mix tapes until she was eventually discovered by Lil Wayne.  “Pink Friday” contains collaborations with arguably some of the biggest stars in Hip-Hop, Rap, and Pop, but this only serves to showcase her shortcomings.  As co-writer on all of the tracks, Minaj cannot hide her pointless, yet somehow self-righteous, lyrics behind writing partners including Marshall Mathers, will.i.am, and Natasha Bedingfield.

Mathers lends a hand on the explicit “Roman’s Revenge” and manages to outshine Minaj in every way.  His flow of lyrics seems natural and even though the content is rude and nonsensical, I can at least appreciate his natural ability for wordplay.  Minaj’s song with will.i.am, “Check It Out,” is slightly less offensive, offering a pop-coated song that once again suffers from over-production.  Will.i.am brings his typical “coolness” and “swagger” to this radio-friendly tune, but there is nothing new or interesting to be found here.  In fact, “Check It Out” uses source material from The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star” and “Think (About It)” written by James Brown.  Perhaps the use of these samples is the only tasteful selection on the album. 

The onslaught continues as the record progresses through the track listing, and I find it very difficult to tell each song apart.  “Super Bass” (the music video has 124 million views on Youtube!) is currently receiving extensive airplay, but I find nothing stellar about this song over the others.  It features a simple, repetitive pop chorus with verses performed in a rap-style.  The other top-billed single, “Moment 4 Life” featuring Drake, follows the same formula.  Except this time the chorus is sung with no regard for pitch or tone.  Minaj chants “for life” over a series of electronic pulses and beats.  The production quality is quite good and the balance between computer-generated sounds and voice is okay at times, but these demands are expected to be met by the modern-day pop album.  Synthesizers drone and bottom-heavy drums propel each song to the next, and the perpetual groove leads me to believe that this music is destined never to leave the club.  And that is fine, I suppose, because people do not go to a club in order to experience enlightening or uplifting music.

Nearing the end of “Pink Friday’s” one hour run time, I found myself trying to grasp onto anything remotely resembling a musical offering and this is where I found “Last Chance.”  A fitting title for the closing track on the album and one last chance for redemption.  Once again, the co-writer overshadows the lead lady as Bedingfield lends her powerful voice to the pop-infused chorus of this average, albeit radio-friendly, rap song.   

In all, I fear that “Pink Friday” offers nothing original or exciting to the world of popular music.  If anything, Minaj’s debut feeds into the growing catalogue of formulaic, unnecessarily explicit drivel that seems to dominate popular culture.  After glancing at the Billboard charts, my fears are confirmed and I appear to be in the minority.  “I’m the best now, anybody with some money should invest now,” chants Minaj, but I have a hard time recommending that anyone invest their time, let alone money, on this record.

The Art of Listening to Music

Hello everyone!

I am taking a course this semester called "Criticism of Music" and it is taught by Pulitzer Prize winner, Tim Page.  He is a truly brilliant teacher and writer and I am really enjoying his class.

I would like to use my blog in order to share my writing with others.  Please feel free to make comments as this will only serve to improve my writing.  Technology makes everything so accessible and I would love the input of people from all over the world.

Our class assignments focus on the art of "critical listening," so these articles are written as if I am a music critic.

Please enjoy and thank you, in advance, for reading.

Alex

"Climbing the Biggest Mountains in the World with the Person who Made Them"

The idea of faith and what that term implies has been on mind for the past few years.  Going to college, Bible studies, moving to California, and reading Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom has all served to influence my faith and what it means to me.

Yesterday, my Mum shared an article from Relevant Magazine.  It is an article about Bear Grylls and his personal testimony.  You can read the full article here:

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/digital-issue/45?page=51

To sum up, Bear talks about having the "wild and simple faith" of a child.  He talks about yearning to return to the simplicity of a "child-like faith."  Here is a quote of his that I really love:

“Christianity is not about religion... It’s about faith, about being held, about being forgiven. It’s about finding joy and finding home. We all want that, but nobody wants religion. Why do people turn away from faith? They’re not, they’re turning away from religion most of the time. I’ve yet to meet anyone who doesn’t want to be forgiven or held or find peace or joy in their life. We try loads of other stuff—we think booze or foxy women or whatever will fill it—but it doesn’t fill the hole.”

In my faith journey, I have been all over the place.  I have gone from feeling passionate to feeling confused.  I have gone from feeling lost to being found.  At times, I have been a Pharisee, treating the Bible as law.  Like Bear Grylls, I long to return to the simple faith of my childhood.  Far too often I have forgotten what God, first and foremost, calls us to do: love Him.  In the end, that is all that we can do.

I think that Bear is spot on with his desire to keep things simple.  I will continue to read the Bible and try to understand all that It teaches, but I must remember that I will never be able to wrap my mind around everything in the Bible.  This is where faith comes into play.  "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."- Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

When all is said and done, our minds often get in the way of God and receiving His love.  When we remove our minds from the equation, we can experience a true and simple love that comes from a simple faith in the almighty, infinite Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth.

It is always encouraging to hear the testimony of others and I find it remarkable that a celebrity, like himself, feels the way that he does.  When talking about his faith, Bear describes it has "being home."  "It’s about being able to climb the biggest mountains in the world with the Person who made them."

That is what I want.  A simple faith that finds peace and rest in the God of the universe, knowing that whatever comes to pass is meant to be.

 

 

Summer 2011:

Well, it's been a few months since my last blog post, but this post marks the return of the "Music Man."

I spent my entire summer in Dallas and it was one of the best summer breaks I have ever had.  It was a time of great emotional trial juxtaposed with times of true joy.  It was a time of trying new things whilst enjoying the everyday things that we often take for granted.  It was a time for family.  While living at home, I did have the urge to write several blog posts, but it didn't feel quite right.  I was spending time with the people that normally read my blog anyway!

My summer started with a nice, long drive from Los Angeles to Dallas.  My dad flew out on the day of my last exam and we spent two days cleaning and packing.  We left early in the morning on Sunday, May 8th, and we arrived late-afternoon the next day.  It was a fun drive, but I was glad to be home.

May turned out to be a very eventful month for the McKee family.  During my first weeks back, my brother went to Kenya on a two week mission trip and my dad went to Belfast, Northern Ireland for my grandfather's 80th birthday.  Upon his return from Belfast, my father found out that he lost his job.  This was a huge blow to our family, but we banded together and prepared for what the future may hold.  I truly feel that we became closer and more dependent on God during this time (since June, my dad has applied for jobs all over the country and still seeks full-time employment).

June was all about cutting back and enjoying the simple things in life.  I spent a lot of time with my family, my church family, Julie, and my closest friends.  My brother and I decided to play summer softball with the college guys at our church.  It was great to get outside, learn a new sport, and fellowship with some of my oldest friends.  Before this summer, I never gave baseball (or softball) a chance, but I grew to appreciate "America's past-time" and I can now say that I enjoy to play this sport.

During this time, Julie and I started working on our Summer bucket list.  You can read more about it on her blog: justjuliec.blogspot.com.  We had a lot of fun buying lottery tickets, watching fireworks, going to Cars and Coffee (twice!), eating Thai food, making new desserts, and going to NRH2O.  There were so many other wonderful things on the list, but the thing that I enjoyed most was sharing my love of running with Julie.  She was hesitant going into it, but after a few sessions she is now running on her own!  I am so proud of her for trying something that she didn't really want to do and for giving it her best.

On June 24th, my brother turned 20 years old!  To celebrate, I made him work for over two hours in the hot sun.  Let me explain...

Julie works for the Center for Brain Health in Dallas and they planned a company picnic to take place on June 24th.  For this picnic they wanted live music, so I decided to get a small band together.  I asked the closest people to me for help... my family!  I played guitar and sang lead vocals, my dad played bass and sang both lead and backing vocals, and my brother played drums and sang backing vocals as well.  It was really fun to rehearse and prepare the two hour set-list which included selections from: The Beach Boys, The Eagles, Jack Johnson, Oasis, Kings of Leon, Fastball, The Fray, Weezer, Keith Urban, Don McLean, Mumford and Sons, and Lynyrd Skynrd.  The only thing missing was my Mum playing keyboards.  Next time!



July brought forth celebrations of independence and more musical endeavors.  Julie and I went with two other couples to see Le Freak at the Glass Cactus.  For those of you who don't know, Le Freak is a disco band that play the greatest hits of the disco era.  It was a crazy concert experience and we had a really great time watching both the band and the audience in attendance.  On the eve of my Mum's birthday, July 6th, the family band played a second gig at my brother's "Thank You" Concert.  This concert was our way of thanking the everyone for supporting William on his trip to Kenya.  He took the time to share many of the wonderful things that happened on the trip.  You can read more about the trip here:

http://www.baylorkenyamusic.org/ 

July also brought forth the opportunity for me to enter the recording studio with an old friend and band mate.  While getting ready for the "Thank You" Concert, I received a call from one of my oldest friends, Adam.  He wanted me to go into the studio with him and help him record his debut album.  I said that I would love to help without even thinking.  Then he told me that the studio was in Denver.  This didn't change my answer.  Two weeks after the call, we flew to Denver with the hope of completing the album.  After two and a half long days in the studio, we finished the recording process for the album.  I played electric guitar and some acoustic guitar parts, saxophone, and sang some backing vocals.  It was a great experience that is worthy of its own blog post (I will get to work on that soon).  You can hear AJ's music and learn more about him here:

http://www.ajadamsmusic.com/AJ_Adams/Home.html


After getting back from four days on the road, the rest of the summer was really a blur.  I spent the remaining weeks with loved ones and friends, enjoying the fleeting moments of the season.  There were several poker nights (which I hope continue when I come home for winter break).  I played a few shows with NOVA during my last weeks (ahh yes, I failed to mention that I had been rehearsing with NOVA once a week since May) and it was awesome to reunite with my Dallas band again.


Celebrating our anniversary two weeks early, Julie and I decided to exchange gifts and spend a really nice evening together on Saturday August 14th, knowing that we would have to be apart for our actual anniversary.  I bought her a pair of running shorts and a gift card to get a massage at Massage Envy.  She bought me a watch from Fossil.  It is beautiful.  She is too good to me!  On Sunday, I played my last gig with NOVA and then ended the evening at BJ's Brewery for a get-together with some close friends.  It was awesome and a reminder of how blessed I am to know such wonderful people and to be able to call them my friends.  I also really like that this evening saw my friends from college mingle with my friends from high school.  Again, this summer was about the simple things.

And that is all.  I am sure that I have missed some things, but I always strive to keep my posts brief.  However, I feel that I fail miserably at this, fancying myself somewhat of a writer.

I hope that your summer was as blessed and as peaceful as mine was and I really hope that you will take some time today, or this week, to be thankful for all that you have.  That is what I feel this summer was for me; a time to be thankful for all that I have been given.

Goodnight.

Home Stretch

First, let me apologize once again for taking so long to write in my blog.  School has been all-consuming these past weeks and things are finally starting to wind down.  A lot has happened recently, so here is a brief update:

I have managed to stay on top of school this semester by spending a fair amount of time practicing and researching in the library.  I just finished the first draft to a huge term paper which is due in two weeks.  It required a lot of reading and research, but I am thrilled that it is almost finished.  I have two final exams on May 6th and then I will have completed my first year of graduate school.  It has been a great learning experience for me, but I am glad that I am almost halfway done with my Master's degree!  Time really is flying by very quickly.  I have been practicing saxophone as much as possible and I have been fortunate enough to play for church services on several occasions.  I was also asked to participate in the premiering of a new work for saxophone quartet, which was very exciting.

I have four part-time jobs that serve to keep me very busy when I am not doing school-related work.  I teach private music lessons for Takelessons.  Through this company, I teach two trumpet students, one trombone/guitar student, one flute student, and one guitar student.  I am really putting my Music Education degree to good use!  I am still working for the USC School of Music Outreach Program by teaching music lessons to local music students and accompanying a children's choir once a week.  In addition to all of this, I have been teaching saxophone/guitar lessons as a private teacher out of my own studio.

I have continued to work with Grayson Palmer on several projects and I am really excited about what the future has in store.  We worked on the theme music for ASST, which is a great web-series that can be viewed on-line.  We are also working on some other film scores.  He has been helping me work on my own material, which has taken longer than I would have liked, but we have been getting some great tracks laid down lately and I am excited to finally share them with you.  The plan is to have an acoustic EP available sometime in May.

Here is a link to ASST:

http://www.asstseries.com/ 

I will be moving back to Texas at the beginning of May (which is really soon) and I cannot wait to be home.  I miss my family, church family, Julie, and my friends very much.  I have a lot of things already planned for the summer.  I will be working with some summer band programs.  I am going to be playing some small acoustic shows in order to get some exposure for my solo stuff.  I am also going to be playing some gigs with my band, NOVA.  We just released our debut album on iTunes and I am really excited for everyone to hear the songs.  I believe that we will be recording another batch of freshly-written songs at the end of May.

My summer plans also include checking items off of the "Summer 2011 Bucket-List."  You should read Julie's blog to see what I am on about (http://justjuliec.blogspot.com).  I will also be spending a lot of time with friends and family.

Here are some links to check out NOVA's album, Love Revolution:

https://www.facebook.com/novatheband 
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/love-revolution/id427653476
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004T6V5EQ/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1302824599&sr=8-1

Thank you for reading my short update.  I am really going to try hard to keep this blog up to date, but we will see how successful I am!

Take care and may God bless you.