Artist of the Month: Liam Gallagher

by: Carlos Figueroa

William John Paul "Liam" Gallagher (born 21 September 1972 in Burnage, Manchester) is an English musician and songwriter best known as the lead singer, and occasional instrumentalist, of English rock band Oasis. One of the figureheads of the 1990s Britpop movement, Gallagher's erratic behavior, distinctive singing style, and abrasive attitude have been the subject of commentary in the press. He remains one of the most recognisable figures in modern British music. Although his elder brother Noel Gallagher wrote the majority of Oasis's songs, Liam has penned the singles "Songbird" and "I'm Outta Time", along with a number of album tracks and B-sides.

Since Noel Gallagher's departure from Oasis in August 2009, Liam has said he will continue making music with ex-Oasis members Gem Archer, Andy Bell, drummer Chris Sharrock and keyboard player Jay Darlington.

Gallagher was born in Burnage, Manchester, and is the third and final child of Irish parents Thomas and Peggy Gallagher. Thomas was often violently abusive to his family. Although his older brothers Noel and Paul took the most abuse, Liam has said that the abuse affected him deeply and inspired him to become an artist - his true inspiration in life coming from his love of Manchester City Football Club. When Liam was 10, Peggy took the boys and moved away from Tommy. Although Liam maintained sporadic contact with his father throughout his teens, he says that today their issues remain unresolved.

Paul and Noel often contend that even from a young age, Liam went out of his way to antagonise people, especially Noel, with whom he shared a room. The Gallagher brothers were troubled children, especially in their teens. Liam was expelled from school at age 15 for fighting, and would often steal bicycles from local shops.

Noel Gallagher has said that Liam showed little interest in music until his late teens. Liam became confident in his abilities to sing and began listening to bands like The Stone Roses, The Who, The Kinks, The Jam, T.Rex and The Beatles. In the process he forged a life-long obsession with John Lennon; Liam would later claim to be Lennon re-incarnated. When school friend Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan, invited Gallagher to join his band, The Rain, as a vocalist, he agreed.

Liam was the band's co-song writer, along with guitarist Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs. Noel Gallagher has since openly mocked this writing partnership, describing them as being "just awful"; even Liam admits that "We were shit". The band only rehearsed one day a week and didn't get many gigs. It was after one of their rare shows in 1992, that Noel, having recently returned from touring America as a roadie with Inspiral Carpets, saw them perform. Although Noel disliked the band, Liam asked him to join and Noel agreed on the condition that he be the sole songwriter, ending Liam and Bonehead's songwriting partnership. Noel later went on to say "If you think some of my early stuff is bad, you should have heard the stuff that those two were coming out with." It was around this time that Liam pushed for the band name to change to Oasis.

Liam's voice has been compared to a blend of John Lennon and John Lydon while Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine dubbed him "the best singer in rock". In 2006, Q magazine voted Gallagher the 11th best singer of all time, citing songs such as "Live Forever", "Lyla", "Don't Go Away" and "Champagne Supernova" as examples of his best work.

Since the early days of Oasis, Liam Gallagher's stage presence has become iconic in its own right. His "singing pose" is instantly recognisable, and entails him standing with a bent knee, body bent towards one side, hands either clasped behind his back, down by his side or in rarer occasions in his front pockets, with his neck craning up towards a mic that is set high and angled downwards. Gallagher also ensures that the microphone comes in the closest contact with him between his upper lip and nose, rather than directly in front of the mouth as is the case with most singers. On the Definitely Maybe DVD, Gallagher revealed that the reason he sings with his arms behind his back is because it allows him to project more power through his voice. In very early Oasis shows until about 1994, Gallagher can be seen touching the microphone with one hand, but still employing his usual singing posture with the rest of his body.

*On a side note, I decided to simply change the name of the post this time simply because of time reasons. It WILL NOT become a trend! For future Artists of the Month, they will get a small little post honoring them as the Artist of the Month and a slideshow for them too.

Top 10: Soda Stereo

By David Urtecho
After making the Top 10 of the greatest band ever, The Beatles it was very hard to choose a band that could be epic as well. So for this week’s Top 10 we have the Argentinean Rock N’ Roll Trio Soda Stereo, Gustavo Cerati (vocals and guitar), Zeta Bosio (bassist) and Charly Alberti (drums) that surely is one of the greatest bands in the world. So making this list was very difficult, so The FGI had to ask help from its friend’s Dani Carias from Madrid Total and Eric Hoffmaister.
Starting with:
1) Entre Caníbales
2) La Ciudad de La Furia
3) De Música Ligera
4) Ella Uso mi Cabeza como un Revolver
5) Disco Eterno
6) Prófugos
7) Nada Personal
8) Signos
9) Ángel Eléctrico
10) Te para Tres

So be sure to comment if you like it or not this week’s Top 10, and give us your Soda Stereo’s Top Ten.

Recommendations: Feb. 27

By David Urtecho
For this week’s recommendations The FGI brings you highly selected songs that don’t have the recognition they deserve. Including songs from Counting Crows (they being the most known), Empire of the Sun, The Arcade Fire, and Orson.

Counting Crows is an American band that in their debut album (August and Everything After)

 in 1994 released “Mr. Jones” as their first single and most famous song to date.  

Empire of the Sun is an Australian duo formed in 2006. Their first album Walking on a Dream, who was release on October 2008, which include as a second single “We are the People”.

The Canadian indie rock band The Arcade Fire gives us one their masterpiece album, Funeral, that released 5 singles out of which “Rebellion (Lies)” became their most successful song.

And finally the band Orson with their song “No Tomorrow”, from their 2006 album Bright Idea.

Bonus:

Here in the FGI we know that you deserve more so we decided that we’ll leave this awesome song by our 4 animated musicians, Gorillaz, with their brand new single from their new album Plastic Beach. This is “Stylo”, Electric is the Love.

And remember not to be afraid to get in, The Feel Inc.

Please feel free to add a comment.

On a side note...

For those who like rock music, the Feel Good Inc. is the right place to be. But let's be real, most people are not limited to liking just one good thing; if you are awesome enough to like rock music as we do, it is very likely that you like other awesome things in the world too.

A great example of an awesome thing to like is soccer, but, most people have a favorite soccer team, don't they? And, keeping with the trend of liking awesome things, what team can be more awesome than Real Madrid? Luckily, our friends Dani C. and EJ Melgar have chosen to write about Real Madrid, much for the acclaim of us Madridistas. So, what are you waiting for! Visit Madrid Total now!

Keep on rocking!
--Carlos

Artist of the Week: Hayley Williams

by: Carlos Figueroa

Well, you'll ask why do we have 2 artists of the week in one week. Well, simple: because there was no artist of the week last week! Hayley Nichole Williams (born December 27, 1988) is an American rock singer and songwriter. She is the lead vocalist and keyboardist of the rock band Paramore.

In 2002, at the age of 13, Williams moved from her hometown Meridian, Mississippi, to Franklin, Tennessee, where she met fellow band members Josh Farro and Zac Farro in school. Shortly after arriving, she began taking vocal lessons with Brett Manning. While still in school, she tried out for a local funk cover band called The Factory where she met Jeremy Davis. In 2005, John Janick, founder of record label Fueled by Ramen, signed a contract with them.

Williams is a guest singer on "Fallen" by Death In the Park (which she has occasionally performed live with the band), "Then Came to Kill" by The Chariot, "Keep Dreaming Upside Down" by October Fall, "Tangled Up" by New Found Glory, and "The Church Channel" and "Plea" by Say Anything, and "The Few That Remain" by Set Your Goals, and appeared in the music video for "Kiss Me" by New Found Glory.

In the 2007, Kerrang! Readers' Poll she finished second to Evanescence's Amy Lee in the "Sexiest Female" category, going on to win the first place spot for "Sexiest Female" a year later in the 2008 poll, and again in the 2009 poll. She also appears as a playable character in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour. On October 2, brand new eyes tour, it was announced that a few tour dates were postponed due to Hayley Williams becoming infected with laryngitis.

Williams also stated that her favorite bands include Saves the Day, mewithoutYou, Slick Shoes, The Chariot, Now Now Every Children, No Doubt, Fireworks, Set Your Goals, Tegan and Sara, New Found Glory, H2O, Lemuria, The Swellers.

Paramore was created in Franklin, Tennessee in 2004, with Hayley Williams (lead vocals/keyboards) alongside Josh Farro (lead guitar/backing vocals), Jeremy Davis (bass guitar) and Zac Farro (drums). Prior to forming Paramore, the other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Williams as singer, but as they were good friends she began writing with them and eventually became a member. The band has released three studio albums, All We Know Is Falling, Riot!, and Brand New Eyes as well as two live albums and one EP. In June 2009, the band welcomed Taylor York (rhythm guitar) as an official member, although he had already been playing as a touring member with the band since 2007.

By the way, for your information, the next artist of the week will be Liam Gallagher, lead singer of the British rock band Oasis (also Oasis will be featured as one of the next 'Essentials'). Also, as a general rule in the FGI Nation, we'll try to post the artists of the week on SATURDAYS. Nevertheless, the poll for February's Artist of the Month will be put up starting today (to give y'all time to vote), so start voting!

Artist of the Week: Jared Leto

by: Carlos Figueroa

Jared Leto (born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. He has appeared in films such as Fight Club, Girl, Interrupted, Panic Room, American Psycho, Requiem for a Dream, Lord of War, and Chapter 27, but really, that's not the reason he's the artist of the week! He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and main-songwriter for the American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars.

Well, before I start talking about Jared, I guess I'll explain why I decided making this Artist of the Week Section. First of All, 30 Seconds to Mars's latest album, This is War, has been my most listened album in the week, especially because of the song "Kings and Queens". The second reason is because I (and David) would like to have a little bit of feedback from the readers (and of course our followers). Our proposal is nominating an artist of the week every week (that sounds a little redundant) and then, at the end of the month, have our readers vote for the artist of the month.

Now, back on Jared, I will start with a little bit of his biography. Leto was born in Bossier City, Louisiana. During his childhood, Leto and his family—his mother, Constance, and his older brother Shannon Leto—moved frequently, living in Louisiana, Wyoming, Colorado, Virginia, and even Haiti.

After dropping out briefly in the 10th grade, Jared decided to return and focus on his education at Flint Hill School in Oakton, Virginia. He graduated from the prep school Emerson Preparatory School, in Washington, DC in 1989. When he finished school, Leto enrolled at Philadelphia's University of the Arts to pursue his interests in painting. However, he then transferred to the private-held, School of Visual Arts in New York City after developing an interest in acting.

Now, I will not get into Jared's acting career (which I consider magnificent by the way) because in the FGI Nation we want to focus on music, so, I will skip directly into his career as a member of 30 Seconds to Mars.

Jared Leto is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and sole songwriter of the band 30 Seconds to Mars. He started the band in 1998 with his brother, Shannon Leto, who is the band's drummer. The band has released three full-length albums: the eponymous debut 30 Seconds to Mars, 2005's A Beautiful Lie and 2009's This Is War. They began opening for other bands and started their first headlining tour, Forever Night Never Day, in March 2006. In May 2007, the band started touring Europe.

In August 2008, Virgin Records filed a $30 million lawsuit against Jared and 30 Seconds to Mars, claiming the band refused to deliver three albums as required by its contract. According to the lawsuit, the band "repudiated" a 1999 contract in July. In late April 2009 the lawsuit with EMI was annulled and 30 Seconds To Mars decided to re-sign with Virgin Records. Their third album This Is War was released on December 8, 2009, while the first single, "Kings and Queens" premiered Tuesday, October 6, 2009. "This is War" is the second single of the album.

Leto directed the videos for the songs "The Kill", "From Yesterday" and "Kings and Queens" under the alias of Bartholomew Cubbins, and "A Beautiful Lie" under the alias of Angakok Panipaq.

For most shows, Leto uses either one of two custom-made Steve McSwain guitars, a white one called "Pythagoras" or a black one called "Artemis". The guitars: one a baritone and the other with a 25 1/2" scale length, have the image of a gryphon which he drew for McSwain. Occasionally he plays a white Gibson SG 61' Reissue as seen in the video for "A Beautiful Lie". Jared also plays a Gibson Maestro acoustic guitar for acoustic performances. Jared uses Mesa/Boogie amps, more specifically the Triple Rectifier model and matches them with Mesa/Boogie speaker cabinets as well.

Indiespensables: Death Cab for Cutie

by: Carlos Figueroa

Death Cab for Cutie is an indie rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Benjamin Gibbard (vocals, guitar), Chris Walla (guitar, production), Nick Harmer (bass) and Jason McGerr (drums). The band has released 7 studio albums, but for this indiespensable I will focus on the band's last 3 albums only (although you should still have the band's first albums as indiespensables): Transatlanticism (2003), Plans (2005), and Narrow Stairs (2008).

From Transatlanticism I would point out songs such as "The New Year", "Title and Registration", and "A Lack of Color". Now, from the Plans, I would like to put some songs in the spotlight. First of all, the song "Soul Meets Body" is a song I really enjoy, as I find it very relaxing with its chilly vocals and guitar strumming. There are other songs I also find very relaxing, for example, "Summer Skin", with all its drumbeats and "I Will Follow You into the Dark", which I simply praise for its simple, smooth vocals. Now, "Crooked Teeth" is one of my favorites from this album-- its simple guitar riffs and drumbeats make it one of the most enjoyable songs in the album.

Narrow Stairs, is in my opinion the best of Death Cab's albums. With songs like "I Will Posses your Heart", characterized by its instrumental part (its basically the whole song), yet it is a very good beat and melody. "Cath...", one of my favorites in the album, can be best described as a piano tune song, going very slowly and pacing up just a tad near the middle and end of the song. "Long Division" and "Grapevine Fires" are probably the best in the album, and are a total indiespensable in anyones music library.

Now, a song that really deserves to be spotlighted in my opinion is "Meet Me on the Equinox", even though it is not from one of the band's albums. Just like the song "Decode" from Paramore, this song is in the Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack. The song has a melody that portrays a very eerie mood and has a sort of hypnotizing feel, with lyrics that definitively go along with this feel.

Death Cab for Cutie is a really enjoyable band and is a real basic for anyone who knows the least about indie rock. In the realm of indie, Death Cab for Cutie ranks up as one of the most indiespensable of indie.

The Essentials: Paramore

By: Carlos Figueroa

I must start by saying that this is one of my favorite essentials up to now, as Paramore is one of my favorite bands. As we all know, Paramore is an alternative rock band formed in 2004 in Franklin, Tennessee with its members being lead vocalist and keyboardist Hayley Williams, lead guitarist Josh Farro, bassist Jeremy Davis, drummer Zac Farro, and rhythm guitarist Taylor York. The band currently has released 3 albums: All We Know is Falling(2005), Riot! (2007), and their latest album Brand New Eyes(2009).

A big part of the band’s characteristic sound is Hayley Williams’s voice (which in my opinion is one of the best female voices at the moment) but also her songwriting and especially her image, whether it is as the spunky red-head or the innocent-looking blonde, Hayley makes the band unmistakable. Also, the other band members keep up to Hayley exceptionally, providing some of the most amazing with amazing riffs, solos, and beats.

As a result of the mixture of glorious vocals and amazing lyrics with perfect sound, Paramore delivers excellent songs in each of their albums. From their debut album, All We Know is Falling we have songs such as “Never Let This Go” and “My Heart”, which are one of the album’s slower tunes, with marked beats and a wide range of vocals. Songs such as “Emergency” are the epitome of Hayley’s vocal capacity, as throughout the song she progressively passes from low, deep vocals to high, emotion-filled vocals, while songs like “Pressure” are characterized by amazing guitar riffs and a solid beat.

In the band’s second studio album, Riot!, the band simply gives us an avalanche of amazing songs, with songs like “Misery Business”, “Crushcrushcrush”, “That’s What You Get”, “Hallelujah”, “For a Pessimist I’m Pretty Optimistic”, and “When It Rains” being in the spotlight for their amazing lyrics (especially “Misery Business” and “When It Rains”), music and rhythm (as in “That’s What You Get”) , and vocals.

A song that deserves to be spotlighted is “Decode”, song that was released as part of the Twilight movie soundtrack. The song has an amazing riff, powerful drumbeats, and amazing vocals by Hayley, ranging from mellow vocals to high power vocals. Also, on a side note, the song’s lyrics and overall feel adapt very well to the movie’s plot, as it can be seen clearly in the song’s chorus.

Last but definitively not least, Brand New Eyes, the band's latest album, has some of the band's most solid songs and my favorite Paramore song: "Brick by Boring Brick". Now, this song is simply my favorite because it integrates melody, voice, and lyrics perfectly; it has awesome guitar riffs and solos, Hayley's power singing through most of the song, and lyrics I would kill for, especially because of simple hook (you know, "Ba da ba ba da da ba da") and chorus ("Well, go get your shovel and we'll dig a deep hole, to bury the castle, bury the castle"). This doesn't mean this is the only good song from the album, songs like "Ignorance", "Stuck on You", "Misguided Ghosts", "Playing God", and "The Only Exception" are also excellent.

Paramore is a band that performs solidly in all the aspects that make up a good band, while being very original and unmistakable, characteristics that make it deserve the place as an Essential.

Recommendations: Feb. 18

For this week the Feel Good Inc. has noticed we have not given Spanish speaking bands the love they deserve, so from now on will try to cover more rock music. But this week recommendations are all of great Spanish speaking bands as La Ley, Soda Stereo, Heroes del Silencio, Enanitos Verdes and we can’t forget in our list a Honduran Band La Tropa de Baco.

First we have La Ley with his full skilled front man, Beto Cuevas that gives wonderful lyrics and emotions to every single song of La Ley’s catalog. So many songs to recommend but I will have to choose “Aqui” for this time. This is the unplugged version.

Then we get Soda Stereo that counts with a guitar virtuoso and magnificent singer as Gustavo Cerati. By petition of Eric Hoffmaister and Dani Carias I leave you hear “Entre Canibales.”

What can I say about Heroes del Silencio? Carlos Urtecho can tell more things that I. One of their best songs, my personal favorite is “Iberia Sumergida.”

Enanitos Verdes I another great band that offers us “Lamento Boliviano.”

An at last but not least, one the greatest rock bands Honduras has seen raise. With an astonishing vocalist Fernando Varela and massive guitar player as Ramses Barrientos. I would say that Tropa de Baco is one of the bands that make Honduran music the best of Central America. Recently I found this acoustic version of “Constante” that they perform on La Caramba on 2009.

I hope you like my recommendations for this week. Feel Good to leave a comment about the blog. Thanks to Eric and Dani for helping me. And remember to visit Madrid Total.
By David Urtecho

My Top 10: The Beatles

By David Urtecho

Once a week I will give my Top 10 favorite song about a particular Band or Artist.
I couldn't imagine a better band to start My Top 10, than The Beatles. I really had a hard time picking just 10 songs about the greatest band ever. Please feel free to post comments about my list and tell me, your top 10 Beatles songs.

1. With a Little Help from My Friends

2. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

3. Let It Be

4. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

5. Helter Skelter

6. Something

7. I am the Walrus

8. Hey Jude

9. And I Love Her

10. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

“The love you take is equal to the love you make.” Paul McCartney