January 21, 2010
صينية تغني أغنية "زهرة المدائن" للفنانة فيروز بالعربي في دار أوبرا في الصين و تعلمت الغنى باللغة العربية من كثر ما تحب فيروز
Chinese Woman Sings Fairuz
A Woman in China is singing a song in Arabic for the famous singer Fairuz, it is one of Fairuz's older songs called "Zahrat Al Mada2en" or "Flower of the Cities…
A Woman in China is singing a song in Arabic for the famous singer Fairuz, it is one of Fairuz's older songs called "Zahrat Al Mada2en" or "Flower of the Cities" (Jerusalem). She Sang the song in a Chinese opera house in Arabic from how much she likes Fairuz.صينية تغني أغنية "زهرة المدائن" للفنانة فيروز بالعربي في دار أوبرا في الصين و تعلمت الغنى باللغة العربية من كثر ما تحب فيروز
Arabic
China
Fairuz
December 25, 2009
One of the newer bands on the music scene is Thriving Ivory. This American alternative/piano-rock band originates from Santa Barbara, California and relocated to San Francisco. Thriving Ivory reached instant fame with their first self-titled album, which was re-released on June 24, 2008. This album was originally released in 2003, but was not well publicized. The sound of the second release was inspired by bands such as U2 and Coldplay. The debut album hit #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart on the strength of the charting single "Angels on the Moon." After half a year, Angels on the Moon appeared on the US Pop 100 Chart, reaching at number 28.
This five-piece band challenges one of the 10 Commandments of Rock: "Thou shall not prefer pianos to guitars." But on Thriving Ivory, the group latches onto one soaring mid-tempo rocker after another, as their lead singer Clayton Stroope serenades his eternally broken heart over keyboards, bolstered by guitars and strings. While they share some similarities with the Coldplay modern-rock crowd, the band pulls off the tricky proposition of being sensitive without slipping into utter wimpiness.
Not surprisingly, much of the material on Thriving Ivory has to do with love – often, Stroope is either pining for a girl who dumped him or dealing with an unhappy relationship, about ready to go south. The album’s opener, "Runaway", sets the tone. Borrowing the searching tone of U2’s grand "Where the Streets Have No Name," Runaway finds Stroope counting stars and journaling his thoughts, hoping to find contentment after a series of disappointments. Scott Jason’s hopeful keyboards and Drew Cribley’s forceful guitars underscore the singer’s determination to find a fresh start and the song is just one of many on the album which tries to counteract sadness with swelling choruses.
"Twilight" is a quicker paced, less repetitive, and quite catchy tune. The best part of the song would be the simple, yet elegant piano that fits quite well with the tone of the song. This song can be seen being featured prominently in movies and television, if ever released as a single.
"Alien" is the most personal song in the album, according to Keyboard player Scott Jason. "That song is about my brother. And my brother, he's a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant kid, a full scholarship to Berkeley, and he's gone through some pretty heavy stuff. So that song is really personal," he said.
Other great songs in this album include: "Hey Lady," "Long Hallway with a Broken Light," "For Heaven's Sake," and "Day of Rain." All of the songs on this album are amazing, and once you start listening to one of them, you cannot stop, and it will get you hooked on piano rock. Perhaps, however, the most ingenious of their songs is their 2009 single "Flowers for a Ghost," which captures tremendous emotion with Thriving Ivory's usual piano rock style.
All in all, this band has a great future heading their way, especially since piano-rock is not very common these days and there's a high chance of huge success for their upcoming album.
Band Review: Thriving Ivory
So I have been obsessing over this band lately. THRIVING IVORY. I even wrote about it in the AUB student newspaper (Outlook) a couple of weeks before. You can download their debut…
So I have been obsessing over this band lately. THRIVING IVORY. I even wrote about it in the AUB student newspaper (Outlook) a couple of weeks before.
You can download their debut self-titled album here. The album is mainly Piano Rock and Alternative. Below is the article I wrote.
One of the newer bands on the music scene is Thriving Ivory. This American alternative/piano-rock band originates from Santa Barbara, California and relocated to San Francisco. Thriving Ivory reached instant fame with their first self-titled album, which was re-released on June 24, 2008. This album was originally released in 2003, but was not well publicized. The sound of the second release was inspired by bands such as U2 and Coldplay. The debut album hit #1 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart on the strength of the charting single "Angels on the Moon." After half a year, Angels on the Moon appeared on the US Pop 100 Chart, reaching at number 28.This five-piece band challenges one of the 10 Commandments of Rock: "Thou shall not prefer pianos to guitars." But on Thriving Ivory, the group latches onto one soaring mid-tempo rocker after another, as their lead singer Clayton Stroope serenades his eternally broken heart over keyboards, bolstered by guitars and strings. While they share some similarities with the Coldplay modern-rock crowd, the band pulls off the tricky proposition of being sensitive without slipping into utter wimpiness.
Not surprisingly, much of the material on Thriving Ivory has to do with love – often, Stroope is either pining for a girl who dumped him or dealing with an unhappy relationship, about ready to go south. The album’s opener, "Runaway", sets the tone. Borrowing the searching tone of U2’s grand "Where the Streets Have No Name," Runaway finds Stroope counting stars and journaling his thoughts, hoping to find contentment after a series of disappointments. Scott Jason’s hopeful keyboards and Drew Cribley’s forceful guitars underscore the singer’s determination to find a fresh start and the song is just one of many on the album which tries to counteract sadness with swelling choruses.
"Twilight" is a quicker paced, less repetitive, and quite catchy tune. The best part of the song would be the simple, yet elegant piano that fits quite well with the tone of the song. This song can be seen being featured prominently in movies and television, if ever released as a single.
"Alien" is the most personal song in the album, according to Keyboard player Scott Jason. "That song is about my brother. And my brother, he's a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant kid, a full scholarship to Berkeley, and he's gone through some pretty heavy stuff. So that song is really personal," he said.
Other great songs in this album include: "Hey Lady," "Long Hallway with a Broken Light," "For Heaven's Sake," and "Day of Rain." All of the songs on this album are amazing, and once you start listening to one of them, you cannot stop, and it will get you hooked on piano rock. Perhaps, however, the most ingenious of their songs is their 2009 single "Flowers for a Ghost," which captures tremendous emotion with Thriving Ivory's usual piano rock style.All in all, this band has a great future heading their way, especially since piano-rock is not very common these days and there's a high chance of huge success for their upcoming album.
album
AUB
coldplay
June 29, 2009
"Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams."
... And to capture beauty, great photography skills and amazing photographers are needed. Perhaps I wouldn't have noticed the great detail and the stunning beauty of nature if it wasn't to one of my friends, Mohamad Sakakini, who happens to be the best photographer I have ever met. It is very intriguing how he captures his photos with great patience, detail, vivid color and astonishing focus. Below are my favorite photos of his, and you can view his complete album here. Believe me, you will regret not pressing on that link.
Enjoy!
Amazing Photographer
To my readers, "Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the full…
To my readers,"Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams."
-- Ashley Smith
... And to capture beauty, great photography skills and amazing photographers are needed. Perhaps I wouldn't have noticed the great detail and the stunning beauty of nature if it wasn't to one of my friends, Mohamad Sakakini, who happens to be the best photographer I have ever met. It is very intriguing how he captures his photos with great patience, detail, vivid color and astonishing focus. Below are my favorite photos of his, and you can view his complete album here. Believe me, you will regret not pressing on that link.
Enjoy!
awesome
bird
bugs
June 12, 2009
Flowers for a Ghost - Thriving Ivory
This is the song that inspired the article that I wrote on my birthday, I hope you enjoy it. I've been obsessing over it for the last week :S
This is the song that inspired the article that I wrote on my birthday, I hope you enjoy it. I've been obsessing over it for the last week :S
birthday
flower
ghost
June 10, 2009
So... in two hours, I say good bye to the last of my teen years. I never thought it will be so emotional to grow up. It has never occurred to me that these two hours will be as hard as they actually are. I know I shouldn't be writing this, and study instead for my huge final tomorrow, but I don't really want to spend these last to hours studying. I just wish I was with my family right now.
Tomorrow marks half of my youth. You do not realize this until you hit the mid-point, and sometimes you don't even realize this until its too late.
Today marks the last day of my past, the last days for me as a ghost. Today marks the last day of me observing this world, and start taking action.
These twenty years, I've been running from something, down a road that's leading nowhere. I am a ghost haunting a house, haunting your dreams, haunting my life.
Its feels like a ship I'm sinking with my bare hands, and when the night falls around me, the ship is in the dock again.
The only thing that I've learned so far is that life gives you crap with lemons on a silver plate, and that my goal in life is to deal with the crap and find its brighter side. I know its a rather depressing way to start a new decade, but I took a plane to somewhere out in space to start a life and maybe change the world. I don't want have to crawl anymore, I don't want to have to go alone anymore... See, my head aches from all this thinking, fels like a ship God, God knows, I'm sinking. I wonder what to do? and where to stay? These questions like a whirlwind, they carry me away.
So who will bring me flowers for my ghost's grave? and who will give me comfort when it’s cold? who will I belong to when the day just won't give in? and who will tell me how it ends and how it all begins?
I thank God everyday that I have friends like you, that I have family like you, for the road that brought me here was very rocky, and I am tempted to send this to the lost souls of the friends I have lost along the way, but I will have to think about that again in the morning when I am fully conscious about my actions. I am only human.
With your presence in my life, I know I won't disappear with my good intentions, and I am rest assured that by tonight there will be twenty flowers.. twenty flowers on the grave of the ghost of my lost soul.
Twenty flowers for a Ghost
This post is dedicated to my family and my friends who I also consider them my second family. So... in two hours, I say good bye to the last of my teen years. I never thought it wi…
This post is dedicated to my family and my friends who I also consider them my second family.So... in two hours, I say good bye to the last of my teen years. I never thought it will be so emotional to grow up. It has never occurred to me that these two hours will be as hard as they actually are. I know I shouldn't be writing this, and study instead for my huge final tomorrow, but I don't really want to spend these last to hours studying. I just wish I was with my family right now.
Tomorrow marks half of my youth. You do not realize this until you hit the mid-point, and sometimes you don't even realize this until its too late.
Today marks the last day of my past, the last days for me as a ghost. Today marks the last day of me observing this world, and start taking action.
These twenty years, I've been running from something, down a road that's leading nowhere. I am a ghost haunting a house, haunting your dreams, haunting my life.
Its feels like a ship I'm sinking with my bare hands, and when the night falls around me, the ship is in the dock again.
The only thing that I've learned so far is that life gives you crap with lemons on a silver plate, and that my goal in life is to deal with the crap and find its brighter side. I know its a rather depressing way to start a new decade, but I took a plane to somewhere out in space to start a life and maybe change the world. I don't want have to crawl anymore, I don't want to have to go alone anymore... See, my head aches from all this thinking, fels like a ship God, God knows, I'm sinking. I wonder what to do? and where to stay? These questions like a whirlwind, they carry me away.
So who will bring me flowers for my ghost's grave? and who will give me comfort when it’s cold? who will I belong to when the day just won't give in? and who will tell me how it ends and how it all begins?
I thank God everyday that I have friends like you, that I have family like you, for the road that brought me here was very rocky, and I am tempted to send this to the lost souls of the friends I have lost along the way, but I will have to think about that again in the morning when I am fully conscious about my actions. I am only human.
With your presence in my life, I know I won't disappear with my good intentions, and I am rest assured that by tonight there will be twenty flowers.. twenty flowers on the grave of the ghost of my lost soul.
20
birthday
famly