Hipsy's View: Joy n' The Rhythm System

If you are into the sounds of Alanis Morissette, KT Tunstall, Lee Safar, and Brandi Carlile, then I would recommend this band. Joy n' Rhythm System is an Indonesian Pop/ Indie Rock band that sounds amazing. Being a person that grew up listening to Morissette and Tunstall, along with bands like Creed, Matchbox 20, and Three Doors Down, I could certainly say this band is certainly within it's age group. In my opinion, music like this would be better to listen to than to heavy metal and Screamo*.
The band's single "Where Do I Go?" is very good, plus it carries an important message that is pointed out many times through songs, movies, and books: when we have lost someone dear to us (either through death or choosing a different lifestyle), we feel lost. Where do we go when we've ended a relationship with someone who we thought was the one? Where do we go when our closest friends move away to start a new life when we have stayed in the place we began? Where do we go when our loved ones have past away, leaving us feeling empty inside and unable to cope with life after they are gone? The message I get from the song though, is that things like this happen in life, and we will question ourselves and wonder which road to take after something like this has happen. But it is our decision, and whether we choose the right or wrong thing, it's something we will have to carry with us for the rest of our life.

But either than my personal view on the message behind the band's song, I find it be very good. It's certainly a song someone would be able to sing along to when they've listened to it over and over again. If you like any of the singers or bands I've stated within this blog, I would advice you to give Joy n' Rhythm System a listen.



*I am sorry if I have offended anyone with this comment, but this is blog, thus my opinion. And in my opinion, I'd rather hear instruments played the way they were meant to be played and I'd like to hear what the vocalist is singing instead of being yelled at throughout a whole song. There are only a few exceptions, but don't expect me to get into a debate about that with you.

Hipsy's View: Paul Butler

Of those who had read my blog on the band Ten Toes*, you know that I am a listener to new artists and music on reverbnation.com. The most recent musician I have been listening to is a man named Paul Butler, and I have to say, he has a style and sound of his own.
Paul is an unsigned musician at the moment and lives in Weston-Super-Mare, United Kingdom. His genre of music ranges in Folk, Country Rock, and Acoustic. He is definitely a musician you can call a "one-man show", mostly because he does most of the singing and instrument playing himself. If you would like to know more about him, go to the link posted down below, and give his music a listen.**
While listening to Paul's music, I feel a deep connection to the music. And I believe this is Paul's purpose; he wants the listeners to be connected to the lyrics. The tempo and rhythm of the guitar hooks the listener and takes hold of him/her. The lyrics are like the drug that someone takes in and lets it set within their bones. As you listen to the lyrics being whispered to you, you can't help but sing along with the musician and just watch the images the lyrics plant in your brain flash before your eyes.
This is another artist I can say is in my music library along with many other reverbnation artists. The song I recommend my viewers to listen to by Paul Butler is  Georgia Girl***.
Until next time, when I have chosen another topic for you all, enjoy reading my views and please feel free to leave comments (and not rude ones!) and become one of my followers. Thank you for reading my blog.
Hispy.


*http://hipsysview.blogspot.com/2010/09/hipsys-view-ten-toes.html
**http://www.reverbnation.com/paulbutler
***http://www.reverbnation.com/paulbutler#/artist/song_details/4251360

Hipsy's View: Another Reason for Helen leaving with Paris?

Ok, I don't mean to seem obsessed with this Illiad topic, but I couldn't resist this one. My mother and I were talking about it just the other day, and I just can't get it out of my head. So maybe writing it down may help.

Now I know of two versions of how Paris brought Helen to Troy: 1) He brought her by force and so the Greeks were fighting to save her. And 2) Helen went on her own accord with Paris because she loved him. But after reading Book IV of the Odyssey, I saw Helen seemed quite faithful to Menelaus. This brings me to a possible third way of Helen's reason of leaving Sparta for Troy:

We know that Aphrodite promised Paris the most fairest and beautiful woman on earth if he chose her as the most beautiful goddess and not Hera or Athena. We also know Paris took Aphrodite's offer. Here's how I see: Helen may have loved Menelaus, and was happy. Aphrodite saw Helen was the most beautiful and fairest woman considered on earth, but also noticed that she was happily married. Aphrodite may have not liked Troy like Hera and Athena didn't, or it was just fate for Troy to fall, but Aphrodite was also a part of the construction of destroying Troy. Seeing how Helen was married, and wanting to keep a promise to Paris (or create chaos), Aphrodite sent her son Eros (Cupid) down to Earth to strike Helen with a love-struck arrow. After this was done, and Helen went with Paris to Troy, the battle began.

Now there have been in some Greek stories that the love sick feelings sometimes fade away, and I believed this happened to Helen. In Book IV of the Odyssey, she states in lines 288-296 how she was happy to see Odysseus and other Greeks in the city of Troy:

      "The rest of the Trojan women shrilled their grief. Not I: / my heart leapt up--my heart had changed by now--I yearned / to sail back home again! I grieved too late for the madness / Aphrodite sent me, luring me there, far from my dear land, / forsaking my own child, my bridal bed, my husband too, / a man who lacked for neither brains not beauty." ll 291-296

Now either she is a good liar, or Helen was telling the truth. That is how I view a possible third version of how Helen came to be with Paris.

Hipsy's View: The Illiad

Note: This blog contains spoilers to the movie Troy and the epic poems The Illiad and the Aeneid. If you have not seen the movie or read the poems, and do not want to know the endings or any specific details, I advise you not to read this. But if you don't mind, then carry on and read my blog.


Most of us have seen the movie Troy, which is based on Homer's epic poem The Illiad, and know how it ends: The Greeks invade Troy by hiding in a wooden horse, which was a false offering of peace to the Trojans and was brought into to the city; Briseis killed Agamemnon; Paris, Helen, Hector's wife and child, Priam, and many other Trojans escaped the attack by a hidden door in the palace; and Achilles is killed by an arrow shot through his tendon (the one named after him). But when reading The Illiad, we see none of this; instead, we see the burial of Hector. The ending of Troy is more based on what is read in the Aeneid by the Roman poet Virgil.  But instead of seeing the ending of the movie, think of the ending of this tale like this: Helen and Menelaus go back to Sparta as though nothing happened; Andromache, Hector's wife is enslaved and his son Astyanax is thrown off the highest tower of Troy by Greek soldiers because they were afraid of what he would grow up to be as a man; and Agamemnon was murdered by wife. This just a taste of how Hollywood "enhances" an epic tale in order to gain others' attention to the the story.

Like many others, I watched the movie before reading the Illiad, and as usual, the written part of the story was far more better than the movie based on it. In the movie, the battle of Troy is fought and won within almost a year, whereas in the poem, the war has been going on for almost ten years. The movie shows Hector as a strong and good man, which he is, but they neglect to show his arrogance and how his prideful ego brought him to his death. The movie did well showing a little bit of Achilles' vulnerable side, but in my opinion, they could have gone deeper; in it, you see how Achilles is considered almost godlike and is known for his passion to fight and be in war. The poem shows this, but it also shows how he is human, and he does have feelings that can be broken, just like other human beings. The portrayal of Agamemnon was dead on; Agamemnon was power hungry, and greedy. Briseis was barely mentioned in the poem, same with Paris and Helen. If you read the true story and not watched the movie, you would certainly have a different point of view of how it was told.

There were so many differences between the movie and the poems. But either than that, they all gave a story to the audience that will entertain us for generations to come. If the story has been around since before Christ, it is more than likely going to be told after our time has come to an end.

Hipsy's View: Ten Toes

Over the weekend I received a message in my Reverbnation inbox from a blogger named the Dirty Rooster (http://thedirtyrooster.blogspot.com/), advising me to check out a band named Ten Toes,  due to my profile showing I was a Norah Jones a fan.

Well, I certainly have to say this is a great, upcoming band. Their genre is Folk and 2-step. In my opinion they have a mixture of Florence + the Machine and Norah Jones. Their music draws you in with a catchy melody; you can't help but sway and sing along with the music.
If you or anyone you know is a fan of folk music and artists such as Ray LaMontagne, Norah Jones, and Sara Bareilles, then I certainly advise to check out this band.
The following link is to Ten Toes band's Reverbnation page, featuring their music:
http://www.reverbnation.com/tentoes

What do you want me to view?

Ok, here's the deal. I will try my best to keep these blogs updated. I'll give you my views on music, books, videos, movies, art, and who knows, I'll probably throw in a website or two. But what would you like me to view for you? Leave me a comment to let me know.
Hipsy.