Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Beat.
In a Summers Garden
I am a self-taught Composer/Musician, who has written many pieces of music over the years. Some can be described as New Age, a lot are very spiritual in nature, and I have also written some ballads. I cannot read or write music in notation form, which may seem unorthodox to some, but seems to work very well for me, as I feel I can concentrate all my efforts on just letting the music flow naturally through me into whatever instrument I am playing at the time. I generally hear music fully orchestrated in my head, and replicate what I hear 'track by track' using a now rather old (16 years) Yamaha PSR2000 keyboard, and then sometimes incorporate myself playing an acoustic instrument over the top.
By Kerri Powles8 years ago in Beat
8EEZ Playlist: The Pointer Sisters
Hello one and all. This third entry in my duelling playlist with my good buddy, Calvin Cherry (who earned the nickname Oates on account I have blond hair like Daryl Hall), is devoted to an artist or group from the Reagan/Bush era that saw the rise of Jazzercise, the Cabbage Patch Kids, Freddy Krueger and the Iran Contra affair.
By Carlos Gonzalez8 years ago in Beat
10 Alt-Rock Girl Anthems to Get You Through Your Day
Let's face it: There will always be days you wake up with little confidence, burn the toast, spill your coffee, and bang your knee getting out of the shower. We could all use a musical pick-me-up in these times, so here's a list of songs guaranteed to turn your bad hair day into a fearsome rocker coif so you can kick adversity's ass.
By Eden Roquelaire8 years ago in Beat
Dry The River - Shallow Bed
In 2009, Dry the River made their name through numerous festival performances and charity gigs. Although they were members of post-punk hard-core bands, their folky gospel sound is refreshing to the ear. Shallow Bed, their debut album released in 2012 is far from disappointing with a distinct depth across the album acquired by the effective layering of instruments.
By Maddie Christy8 years ago in Beat
Tom Petersson Explains Why Cheap Trick Has Staying Power
Cheap Trick is one of the few bands who never really stopped performing and recording over the past 40 years. Their songs are all written as a collaboration of the four band members: Tom Petersson, Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen, and Daxx Nielson, Rick’s son, who replaces Bun E. Carlos.
By Marcia Frost8 years ago in Beat
The UK's Best Music Festivals
Some festivals you go to for the music, some you go for one specific act, but most of the time, a festival is an experience. A weekend long, drug- and alcohol-fuelled, welly boots and glitter eye makeup, disgusting toilets and no phone signal, experience.
By Samantha Bentley8 years ago in Beat
One-Hitters Who Deserve a Second Listen
Hello, and welcome to another installment of Silver Linings , where I look at maligned stuff and find the positives. I watch a lot of web shows. One of my favorites is a pop music critic named Todd Nathanson, the guy you can (or rather can't) see in the pic above, who goes by the moniker of "Todd in the Shadows." Along with his pop song reviews and countdowns, he produces a side-series called One-Hit Wonderland where he looks at one-hit wonders, listens to the rest of their output, and determines if they deserved to be bigger than just one-hit wonders. To date, he's featured 61 artists. Some deserved more playtime, and some didn't even deserve their one hit.
By Adam Wallace8 years ago in Beat
Podcast Grooves
There is a difference between radio and podcasting. In radio, you have a license to play music by music artists. However, in podcasting, you are not allowed to play copyrighted music without permission. By permission, I was able to upload a few songs by artists with permission. You have to be sure that the artists own their own music and not their record company.
By Gail Nobles8 years ago in Beat
Album Review- ACCEPT -Rise of Chaos (Nuclear Blast Records)
Legendary German metal stalwarts Accept have just released their new album Rise of Chaos, the follow-up to their 2014 release Blind Rage and their first since yet another lineup change. On the final track "Race To Extinction," vocalist Mark Tornillo sings, "We can change this story, adapt and compromise, balance is mandatory, open your eyes. Is this the race to extinction... a race to the end." He's singing about deeper world issues of course, but in the opinion of some longtime fans, he might as well be singing about his band and their place in the 2017 metal landscape.
By John Parks8 years ago in Beat
