Rockin' Christmas Songs

Here is a playlist of rockin' Christmas songs.  Starting with some original compositions and roll to the holiday classics.  Get ready to rock your stockings off.

Original Festivity

1. Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You 
The song was released in 1994 and became one of the best modern Christmas songs.  Mariah Carey proved again she's more than a pretty songstress but a talented songwriter.

Who Gives A Damn

Hey sweet things, the video was freshly loaded.  Give it a spin!

Who Gives a Damn
Music by Plato Factory
Percussion by Tim Kirk

Have you ever wondered what life is
You just let your life drift away
Have you ever felt so consumed
Please don't give up
Let me hold your hands

Endorphin - Plato Factory Android App

Endorphin Android app is here featuring a demo clip of Plato Factory's new song, Endorphin.  Download it now!  Hit Muisc button to play the song and the cassette will animate.  Click on Music button again to pause it.  Endorphin track is an upbeat popish alternative rock song.  Stay tuned and meanwhile have a dose of Endorphin!

Les Misérables

New song, Les Misérables, is a tribute to Victor Hugo, who crafted the most brilliant literature of the nineteenth century.

Dragging to engage in heavy duty volume literature.  Not only the reading process engrosses quite some time but also the amount of energy and emotions it would consume to digest the contents.  Especially so for a story of a man seeking redemption. Yeah sound really exciting.  As the emotion surged while reading Les Misérables, my mind started spinning and the images of nineteenth century France floating in my head.  Something was eager to be released.  Carelessly hummed some notes and unintended to compose a complete song.  However, went as far to scramble the keys and some backdrops later.  Oooh la la fifteen minutes later a dance track was born.

Victor Hugo's Les Misérables is available as a free eBook.  So turn off the cell phone and log off social networks.  Get your wrinkly meaty grandma behind to read a good book!

No One Here Gets Out Alive - Deaths of Brian Jones and Jim Morrison

July 3rd is a somber and mysterious day in rock n' roll history.  Two talented rock musicians, Brian Jones and Jim Morrison, died on this day two years apart.  Both were 27.  Both died in water.  Both deaths were surrounded by suspicious circumstances.  Brian Jones was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool in 1969 in Sussex.  Jim Morrison was found dead in a bathtub in 1971 in Paris.  

The Rolling Stone, Brian Jones

There were many conflicted and evasive accounts of what really happened that warm summer night of July 3, 1969.  Jones was discovered faced down at the bottom of the swimming pool in his home.  Jones' then girlfriend, Anna Wohlin, along with a house guest pulled him out of the pool and administered CPR on him.  She claimed that he briefly grabbed her hand and still showed signs of life.  However, the medics found him dead by the time they arrived.  Brian Jones' death was later reported by the coroner as "death by misadventure".  Though alcohol and drugs were never directly contributed to the causes of his death, it's been speculated that he had a few drinks on that unfortunate evening.

Apocalypse Theme Songs

1. It's The End of The World as We Know It by REM

This song is from REM's 1987 album Document. Guitarist Peter Buck indicated that one of the primary inspirations of the song was Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues.

Drama Queen (Instrumental) by Plato Factory

Drama Queen, a musical experience by Plato Factory.
Music by Plato Factory.  Percussion by Tim.

The song, Drama Queen, is inspired by real life drama queens and messed up kings. No need of introductions.  You know who they are.  The absurdity.  The wrecks.  It was written at Aliso Creek beach with my sand soiled Squier electric guitar.  Many early days songs were written with that guitar which is basically a piece of bend up wood with five, haha, five strings.  That's all it needs to make great melody.  Have a listen.

Copyright © 2011 Plato Factory.

Righteous Lie by Plato Factory

Writing songs probably is the most gratifying process for me.  Really enjoy quite a lot of transforming a sentiment into a piece of melody.  It's a creative way to tell a story.  Once someone commented that you couldn't sing and play but wrote great songs.  Like Bob Dylan.  Okay take it as a compliment.  By the way, Dylan is one of the most treasure musicians in rock history.

The song came about when Marvin sent me a basic rhythm guitar track and asked me what can come up with.  Didn't get a chance to work on it until decided have to get this out of my desk by Thanksgiving.  So sat down jamming and ran a few takes. Everything was a quick blur.  The melody was born.  The vocal track in the recording was done during that quick process.  It was surprisingly good and emotionally explosive so left it untouched.  And Marvin complemented the song with a pretty good bass line.

Crushed by Pluto Factory

Recently saw an interview of The Doors Ray Manzarek & Robby Krieger. When asked by the host about what their thoughts of music today, Ray Manzarek responded "Every generation has the music it deserves". If that's so, what does the music today say about our generation and our time?

The fast food consumerism we live in today, everything has less than 15 minutes of shelf life. That includes music. Mindless pop tunes about love lost and love found are all done in 3 minutes of time frame. And you wonder why half of the marriages don't past the 5 years mark.

I believe many people like me still searching for something more meaningful and spiritual in our lives. That's what music, art and literature are for. A form of soulful and creative expression. Not just a commodity fighting for its 15 minutes on the menu or a fame whore screaming for her face time on cable television.

NAMM 2010 Photos

Putting some photographs up on Flickr.  This set is from NAMM 2010.  Cheers!

Blues Legends @ Galaxy

The Perfect Age of Rock and Roll band featuring Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Robby Krieger, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, Bob Stroger, Sugar Blue, Bob Margolin and Mickey Thomas at Galaxy Theater on April 2, 2010.

This was the second time I saw Hubert Sumlin. He is definitely the legendary blues master. His smooth fingers worked the magic on the strat. And who doesn't love Bob Stroger. He is just a really happy guy with smiles on his face. Hey kids watch how these legends play guitar and bass. They tapped the strings so lightly and caressed the instruments. They made the instruments sing not scream in pain. Even the drummer, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, hit the drums sparingly.

Starry Night – Happy Birthday Vincent

Just put up a tune, Starry Night, made some time ago up on Youtube.  Interestingly it linked to Don McLean's Vincent.  Heard of the song before but never really paid attention to it. It wasn't the music that I usually would listen to. Just sat down and gave it a listen.  Wow have so much appreciations of what a wonderful songwriter Don McLean is.

The interesting coincidence is that today March 30 is Vincent Van Gogh's birthday.  Van Gogh is one of the most brilliant artists in the history.  His fiery brush strokes and intense colors painted a genius' emotional turmoils.  He is the artist that broke though the conventional school of art and devised an authentic and honest art form which inspired many fellow artists and people today.

Happy birthday, Vincent!

Drama Queen (Bloody Version III)

Drama Queen (Bloody Version III)
Music by Pluto Factory.
Drums by Steve Riley.

Billy Boy (Punk Version III)

Billy Boy
Music by Plato Factory.  Percussion by Tim.

A cute little punk song.  Really amazed by the kick drums whenever listening to it.  This is my favorite song and also the effortless one to write.  From start to finish less than 5 minutes.  Vibrant rhythm.  Can dance to it all night.


Copyright © 2007-2012 Plato Factory.

Thumb

Been hunted by Thumb for a week. Couldn't get it out of the head.

First vivid impression of the song was in Dinosaur Jr's show last May. The version they play now is a lot different from the album, Green Mind, released in 1991. Gotta say love the new and heavier version. If recalled correctly J Masics actually started the song with the mad guitar effect then. When that electric delay hit then paused, you felt the note echoed from the amplifiers and then dead silence. Held the breath. Then here came the heavy electric strumming again. It really surprised me the first time heard it.

Dinosaur Jr @ Troubadour 2/23/10

Dinosaur Jr free secret show at Troubadour
2/23/2010

As a die hard fan, this is n times that I saw Dinosaur Jr shows. I was right in front of the stage as always bearing the risk of hearing loss. The crowd was lovely full of hardcore music lovers, musicians, and geeks like me. The performance was excellent. You can't get a better guitarist than J Masics and better musicianship than this band. The only band that still can play these days. Go friend the band, buy the albums, and see some shows.

Have you ever felt so good n' hopeful even when the world's closing in on you?

Gloria

The time was somewhere around 1966 when the the world was swept by rock n' roll. Gloria became many legendary rockers' subject of the affection.

Gloria by The Doors

My Picks from NAMM 2010

NAMM 2010 was definitely the biggest and coolest music industry event of the year. Found myself more interested in technical stuffs. Guitars or amps didn't even intrigue me at all. I was looking for something unique, innovative and yet organic. However there weren't much new and excitements that haven't been done before. Here are my favorite picks from the show.

The most unique - Dulcimer from Folkcraft. Here's a video uploaded on Youtube.

NAMM 2010 Reviews

NAMM 2010 unveiled in Anaheim on Jan 14. Music enthusiasts and industry insiders hope the show can give the lagged industry a boost. The major trend of the music industry is very obvious going towards digital. You can tell by the the crowd gathering around the WAVE, Ableton booths. Here are some of the cool toys that for the digital musicians in 2010.

Fender G-DEC 3 Amp - Fender introduces new digital entertainment center amp series. Armed with plenty of digital amp and modeling effects and 100 presets and loops, these little baby amps would be the solo guitarist's best friend. USB connection to the computer for recording. And Fender even bundles this model with Ableton Live software. This little baby will be all you need to record great guitar tracks.

Rocking Holiday with 60s Garage Rock!

Music has always been the most important element in my life. Grew up listening to 60s garage rock and blues which strongly influence me with the organic rock melodic approach.

There was a AM radio station in San Francisco broadcasting an one hour program of 60s garage rock every morning at 2 o'clock while I was a teen. I would get up in the middle of the night and glued my ears to the little radio box. The AM frequency was very lo-fi and distorted from time to time, but that didn't stop the strong melody flowing out of the radio. Good music is good music.