Marianas Trench – Beside You – Acoustic Cover by Bobby Bisciglia

March 29th, 2012 No Comments

Hi gang,

It’s been a little while since my last music download sites blog update. I love bringing you guys some great music to discover and general music goodness but  have been very busy in the last little while so consider this blog update a little insight on why it’s been a little while since my last post and at the same time, a new updated visual of who the guy writing this blog looks and sounds like so when I comment about other singers and music, the video below will at least give you a better idea of what it is I do and sound like.

As I was saying, I have been very busy in the last little while with a lot of music stuff in my life from producing radio jingles, to singers, to bands, and over and above all that, focusing on writing more music for myself and my current original projects along with putting together and uploading my very first YouTube acoustic cover video. Check it out!

 

I decided to go with a Marianas Trench Besde You Cover since the song is my favorite off of their album, Masterpiece Theater (which is an absolute must!) and as you know from my music blog posts, I’m a big fan of vocals and general vocal work on albums and these guys have done everything right! The choice of harmonies, the voice placement, you name it.

The acoustic cover video is my first of hopefully many. The performance, recording, mixing and everything music about it was done by me and out of my home studio while the video itself was done by my good friend Mike who I owe quite a few beers for giving me a hand with and making it look a hundred times better than I could have done on my own. How do I know the cover video is exactly a hundred times better you may ask? Well I tried doing one before and let’s just say my eyes will be the only ones ever to see it, hehe.

If you like the acoustic cover of the Marianas Trench song Beside You and are interested in following along with what I’m hoping to make regular cover videos and maybe throw in a few originals down the line, please head to my official Bobby Bisciglia YouTube Channel and subscribe for the latest covers and videos as they become available!

Next on the list, I may be trying a little Adele cover. Not sure which song yet but as this is still very new for me, I’m also open to suggestions so feel free to send options my way in any of the various ways you can contact me through the site.

Thanks for taking a watch, more music goodness, and not necessarily my own stuff, coming up soon!

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Songs to Discover – Mumford and Sons – After the Storm

November 16th, 2011 No Comments

Hey gang,

It’s been a little while, I know. Have been busy building my production business and have been doing some fun work with a few singers (will keep you updated in a while when a portfolio page is up) while of course continuing to write and perform with my current project: Play the Angel. In any case, back here to share another great “Song to Discover” with you guys!

Before even talking about it, rather you just go ahead and take a listen with an open mind. Enjoy!

Ever since I saw the Mumford and Sons Grammy Performance, I researched, bought the album and can’t just get enough of these guys. Finally, something that is not the same regurgitated crap.

I headed to their show here in Montreal just a few weeks back and have to say, if you are open to this type of music, this is a must see concert. If you followed this music blog a little, you know I go to quite a few shows but this one has to be in my top 5 concerts ever in my life. There was not a single song or moment where my thoughts wandered off somewhere else, or waiting for that next song. I enjoyed every single note that played and hoped each song never ended. Ya, it’s that good.

The reason I chose this song as a ‘Songs to Discover’ bit was because firstly, at least here in Montreal, it is no where near a hit and feels outside of the commercial radio friendly box we’re fed music from though you get the occasional Adele surprise thankfully that all the radios jump on even if they are surrounded by some phat beats and a lot of hip hop / RnB music which some lyricists I find are getting lazier, example rhyming ‘me’ with ‘me’ in a bunch of spots. Uhh… It’s a pet peeve as a writer, I know it’s done all over the place, I just find it lazy though maybe my foot is going in my mouth right here and I’ll incorporate it into some songs later on, who knows, though at that point, by all means, refer back to this and remind me that on this day, I may have written a negative blog about such a song.

So reason 2, I take the ‘Song to Discover’ part of the blog to heart and only share music that really made me, personally feel something. Whatever it was, it had to be more than pleasing. In this one for instance, I find incredible tension going into the choruses. The vocal feel is just amazing with the imperfections that stick and that you look forward to hearing. Every time I hear it, I feel like I’m on some emotional journey and truly connected with the song while following along and listening to every word.

All to say, Mumford and Sons, if you are not too familiar with them, perhaps you should start off with their hits like ‘Little Lion Man’ or ‘The Cave’, however if you are open enough and the songs to discover selection made you feel even a fraction of what I got out of it and still do from every listen, you should definitely stay up to date with the blog as I’ll keep shipping some more songs to discover and various other music goodness your way!

Of course, if you are looking for the best places to get your hands on some music, this original website was based around reviewing only the best music download sites and still does so head on over there and check it out!

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Adele – Someone Like You – Recorded VS Live

June 24th, 2011 No Comments

Hey gang,

So back from touring and a whole lot of music with my band Play The Angel and want to get right into it.

I bought a few albums in the past weeks to listen to on the road, one of which, the new one from Adele called ’21′ thanks to ‘Rolling In The Deep’ that we had heard on radio around here quite a bit lately.

When I popped the music in, for me, songs 1-3-5-11 stood out. One of those songs turned out to be the new song out right now where I live called “Someone Like You”. For starters, here it is, the album version:

Mmm mmm mmm. Dam that’s good music!

What caught me the most, aside from the lyrics of the song which are just great, was the falsetto (that high pitched vocal part) throughout the chorus. At first, I wasn’t sure about it cause it caught me off guard. You have a singing talent like Adele who has a beautiful and bassy, supported female voice that when she flips to falsetto it was very different than what I was expecting to hear. It was almost like hearing the most fragile and vulnerable voice for only moments from someone who can belt it and probably cause you some minor hearing loss if you’re too close to her for too long. All to say, those parts, I loved them! They made me hit repeat. I couldn’t get enough!

Now the reason the post is called ‘VS Live’ is because I went on the hunt to find live versions of the song to see if, for one thing, this girl can sing off the album (excuse my ignorance, I know her music is big in loads of countries but here in Montreal, I only started hearing about her lately but very glad to have discovered here as well), and for another thing, if the vulnerable falsetto tone would be as captivating as the album live. So here’s a live clip:

I looked and listened to loads of music clips of the song and I couldn’t find any with that album, falsetto part. I’ve been ticked off ever since and hence, this music blog.

Don’t get me wrong, live, she is on pitch and has that album, bassy, supported voice that just gets to me but I’m very dissapointed that I can’t hear the version of the song that got me hooked in the first place. On that note, if anyone has a link to one, by all means share it. I want to hear it live! If not, just a note to all your artists, if you won’t (or worse, can’t) do it live, don’t do it on the CD. I’m all for live versions and getting all artsy with them but show off more live at least, not less? Very dissapointed. Still, I would totally go see her live though any day and support such a great artist.

In any case, the album holds, in my opinion, 4-5 really solid songs. The rest to me feel more like filler but that’s just me. I would recommend it however cause dam, those few songs make it completely worth it.

As always, if you are looking to get your hands on this music, don’t go taking it or burning a copy of it. Support Adele and download music from a legal site. If you don’t know yet, our main site compares the top legal music download sites on the net so you know that the artists are compensated for their work, as it should always be so head on over if you are looking for a way to get this music on your computer or portable music player!

Stay tuned for more music goodness!

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I’m Currently on Tour with Play The Angel, sorry for lack of posts …

April 4th, 2011 No Comments

Hey guys,

I know I haven’t been posting as frequently as I used to so I think it’s only fair to throw a post up here with the reason why …

For those following the blog, you already know I’m the singer of a Montreal rock band called Play The Angel so this is more for the new comers. In any case, we are currently on tour across Quebec but should be done in another 2 weeks or so after which, I will be back and once again regular on these posts bringing you the best music to discover (in my humble opinion anyways) and lots of music goodness :)

For the new comers, I might as well take the opportunity to introduce myself. My name is Bobby Bisciglia. I’m the owner of this website and main writer for this music blog. I guess you now have a better idea why I started up a website dedicated to comparing the best legal music download sites on the net huh ;) It’s hard enough to make a living with music, having people find ways to cheat songwriters / artists into the few pennies a song they more than deserve is as low as you can get in my eyes so this website is my way of at least attempting to inform people about legal music downloads. The blog is used more for sharing my personal opinion on music and shedding more attention on artists that I feel don’t get enough credit or simply haven’t had the right ‘break’ just yet.

Anyways, if you look at some of the previous posts, you’ll notice a lot of critique when I write about songs and especially singers / vocalists as I am first and foremost a songwriter and currently frontman for my band, Play The Angel. Here are two very different clips to give you an idea of the range of our style and my music background so when reading the blogs, you can already have an idea of where the opinions are coming from:

Our first music video:

A clip from our current acoustic tour … This is one of the more upbeat songs cause we do have our fair share of ballads. Excuse the quality, I shoved my little camera at the end of the theater:

If you like anything you see here, be sure to follow us through our Play The Angel Facebook Page or by all means, help support us and download some of the songs off our Play The Angel Debut EP on iTunes.

I have some really good music to discover to share with you guys when the tour is done so stay tuned and I thank you for your patience and understanding.

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Mumford & Sons – The Cave – Live at the Grammys 2011

February 21st, 2011 No Comments

The 2011 Grammy’s had some really strong performance (as opposed to a lot of previous years in my opinion). Among amazing performances from Lady Gaga and Eminem which I may mention in later posts, one performance stood out for me in particular that I think deserves a mention and a bucket load of credit …

Mumford & Sons got on stage to perform their song, The Cave. Now I had a friend of mine going off about this band for months now. I told myself I’d have to look into it cause I truly respect her taste in music but then the Grammy’s were on and I got to see this next performance:

Heads up, Mumford and Sons are the first performer in the music clip.

Doing a little research made me start liking this band even more. Considered as English folk rock, these guys self financed their first album, working with Markus Dravs (Arcade Fire) which went on to win a Brit Award for Best Album of the Year!

As soon as they finished their performance at the Grammy’s, I was freaking. A few minutes longer into the show and I couldn’t stop thinking about it, waiting for the entire show to be over just so I can take another look at that performance.

What grabbed me from the start is that it was a performance you could feel. The band looked like they were having a blast which was contagious when watching, and even though they were having a good time, towards the end where the song was at its climax, so much emotion was coming vocally from lead singer Marcus Mumford, all of the back vocals and instruments backing the part that it brought the song up even higher than I had imagined it ever could.

Amazing …

I’m only upset at myself for not looking into these guys earlier. I have yet to catch a bad YouTube live video of them and they have quite a few other gems on that album that you really should take the time to check out.

Stay tuned for maybe another Grammy performance mention in the next while but I may also start getting back into the whole American Idol coverage like other years also. There are a few singers that definitely caught my eye that I’d like to share in case some of you missed a few performances.

In any case, as always, I have to mention that if you like the music and band I’m talking about in here, if you are looking for a way to download music from their album, make sure you do it legally so they receive compensation for their great talent and songs. You can check out my homepage where I review only the best music download sites online which are all legal and compensate the hard working artists that bring us this great music so they can keep doing what they love and we can keep enjoying it.

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Songs to Discover – Ryan Star – You’re Losing You’re Memory Now

February 4th, 2011 No Comments

I sat down with my fiance for a few minutes tonight while she was finishing to watch one of her favorite shows; Vampire Diaries. Now I don’t care much for the show but I do find they have some incredible music selection at times, and not always from only the top 40 acts which is refreshing.

All to say, this music blog is dedicated to a fantastic song to discover by Ryan Star called Losing You’re Memory that I just heard at the end of tonight’s episode of the Vampire Diaries. As soon as the song was done on the show, I got out of my seat and scrambled to the nearest computer to find it and hear it again properly. There was something so pure about it even with the talking they were doing over it in the show. I wanted to find a YouTube version to share and though there is one of the album version, I landed on this live music performance of Ryan Star singing You’re Losing You’re Memory Now and in a little more than 4 minutes, you’ll know why I decided to share the live version:

Damn man. Aside from the song having something so natural and pure about it, the performance is just too good. It’s one thing to be able to write a song and record in a studio, but to out-do it live is hard as hell and Ryan Star completely did that with this performance. Even if he fell out towards the end a little pitch wise, it doesn’t matter at that point cause he is so spot on and packed with emotion till that point and after that you are still with him till the end. The last scream was just the cherry on top for me with the crackle and everything. The type of vocal take I’m sure he wished was captured for the recorded version.

The voice sounded familiar to me so I looked into it a little and then it all clicked together. He was the guy from the reality TV show Rockstar that did that amazing piano rendition of Losing My Religion. Maybe I’ll keep that one for another music blog post though :)

Anyways, a great song to discover, even better live. If you enjoyed this post, you’re gonna love the music goodness in store in the next while and as always, if you are looking to download music legally, head to our homepage where we compare the best music download sites on the net!

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Rihanna – Russian Roulette – Great Piano Acoustic Cover

February 1st, 2011 No Comments

If you have been following this music blog for a little, you know I’m a big fan of great cover versions featuring some talented artists we only get to discover because of video channels like YouTube where quality and talent can get across and noticed without all the music politics. So here’s another one to add to the gang :)

This cover is of Russian Roulette made popular by Rihanna, written by Ne-Yo. Firstly, as always, here’s the original version and music to get all of us in the right mood:

Dam good song wouldn’t you say. Now I’m a rocker at heart but from a songwriter perspective (the band I currently sing and write for: Play The Angel), for me, what makes a great song is that stripped from its production / studio magic, at its core, it still can rock and sticks. Some will blaim it on multiple simply hooks, some that the song takes a pop angle, I just say a great song is a great song and this, among loads of other songs and music off Rihanna’s albums are great songs. Here’s a stripped down version with a different flavor by one talented singer / artist; Tiffyiffyiffy:

Mmm. Now this chick can sing. More than only a great singer who can evoke loads of emotion with her voice, she puts her touch on every cover song I have seen so far. Whether you like it or not, she does a great job of highlighting the beauty in this piece of music and many others while keeping them stripped down to some bare minimums like a single piano track in this case or a single guitar track in others.

I think she’s great and has loads of other music covered that is worth checking out. I chose this one for now as it showcases some great vocal runs and a certain softness and purity to it but, I may make another mention of her in a later music blog entry cause I really think she deserves more exposure.

If you know of some great cover versions, talent or simply awesome music that needs to be discovered, don’t be shy, head to our contact page and send me a message. We get a fair amount of emails but I do scan through each to find those little music gems to share with you guys.

As I always mention, if you are looking for legal music download sites to get music the right way and have artists and songwriters compensated for their work, head over to our homepage where we compare only the best music download sites and service.

Stay tuned for some more music goodness!

Stay tuned for another artist I can’t wait to share with you guys in an upcoming music blog entry. You’re gonna love him!

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Adam Lambert Covers Johnny Cash Ring of Fire

January 25th, 2011 No Comments

I had to use the search on this music blog cause I found it hard to believe I haven’t shared this with you guys earlier …

Throughout the American Idol season, Adam Lambert covered some music and songs you would never expect a rock singer to even attempt. Not only was he able to pull them off but he blew a lot of people away with the unique angle and interpretion he went with for some.

Without ruining it too much, first, here’s the original Johnny Cash song, Ring of Fire to get you in the mood and following will be Adam Lambert’s take:

Man, I haven’t heard that original piece of music in a long time. Ok, here’s Adam Lambert performing it live on American Idol with a different flavor to it. Sorry about all the intro American Idol stuff. It’s the best quality music clip I found so feel free to forward to the performance:

Wow, wow and wow! To me, this is the best rendition I have heard of the song ever performed (aside from the original). It goes to show that a great song will remain a great song with good production and a convincing voice to sell it. As far as the judges (since I couldn’t help but finish watching the entire music clip), I am not surprised Simon put it down cause he was the same one who spoke negatively about Chris Daughtry at the audition stage and missed on his talent that the US gobbled up from music downloads to concert tickets. I’m dissapointed that Kara didn’t see the beauty in this version as the strongest song writer on the panel. I can’t believe Paula was the first of the judges that I agreed with and I’m happy Randy was right on (this is my personal view of course, feel free to disagree).

What puts this version above so many others in my opinion is the pure range Adam Lambert has and was able to incorporate. Yes, it was a show off song for him but I don’t care. That’s some what the point of the competition and for the song, I think he made it fit extremely well, showing off or not. There is no need to use the whistling register in any pop song but that doesn’t stop Mariah Carey now does it. My point is he is able to swing and throw in super high notes other singers just can’t and because he does it so well, it feels impressive and gives it a certain edge. Now I’m a big fan of Adam Lambert. Vocally, he has a range completely out of this world, or in more of a technical view, he mastered using his mix voice which would make most singers jeleous (such as me, hehe). Basically, you know that high voice you hear bands like Coldplay use, or even Bono at the end of U2 songs like One. That type of singing is called falsetto. It sounds very airy with no bottom end, or lacking support. Waht most of us would call normal singing is considered chest voice. Now there’s a technique to mix both chest and falsetto (or head voice) which makes a good portion of those high notes sound a lot more full and like ‘normal’ singing. Think of Led Zeppelin or Journey (or Christina Aguilera for you woman singers out there). That’s using mix voice. A singer who can master this just has so much range to work with. Done right, they almost seem like they are hitting impossible notes when really, they have just practiced using their mix to blend it so well that it is almost transparent. I wasn’t planning on this post to being a vocal lesson but I already wrote so I’m leaving it in here. Now back to the blog.

In conclusion, check out Adam Lambert’s version. For all you artists out there, use it as a musical inspiration. Know that if you start off with a great song as a base, whther you wrote it or its a cover, you should be able to perform it in any style if you have a convincing vocal performance and half decent production on it. If you make a good song sound bad, you definately took the wrong angle on it or are trying to bite off more than you can chew so leave it alone until you are ready for it, or try something else. For you music fans out there, I’m pointing out Adam Lambert cause it’s a name most of you will know, but don’t think he’s the only one who can take a song and twist it as much as he did. There is a lot of music and artists to discover out there so if you are not yet, subscribe to this blog if you share a smiliar opinion, or just want more general music goodness to agree or disagree with. Whatever floats your boat.

More great music to discover in the next while so stay tuned! As always, the main point of this site is to promote legal music download sites that pay artists for the songs and music they create so head to our homepage if you are looking for the best music download sites on the net and do things right will ya. Don’t steal music. You’re messing it up for the rest of us!

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John Lennon – War is Over if you Want it – Merry Christmas

December 24th, 2010 No Comments

I’m going to lean towards more of a personal note on this blog for the holiday season if you don’t mind but will be back with more great music to discover and general music goodness after the holidays, promise!

We are smack in the holidays and just looking around, I think a lot of us tend to forget what the holidays are all about. The gifts and time off are all a nice touch but the great company and love shared should always be at the top of the list which is far from the case looking at things in a broader sense.

Keeping things music oriented, I thought I would share with you a music clip from the embassador of peace himself, John Lennon, who we see in the clip in various interviews with Yoko Ono talking about their peace campaign. I warn you, when the Beatles song kicks in towards the end of the clip, things visually aren’t so pleasing so if you would like to avoid seeing other things that are going on in the world for now, maybe you should wait till after the holidays to view the clip, but either way, I do recommend taking a look and listening to everything in the clip before then:

On a music note, the song is easily one of John Lennon’s best. It stayed relevant over all of these years and has to be one of the most used and played songs over the holidays to this day. He was either a marketing genius or an out of this world song writer who was able to reach out to people in the purest sense through his music and make a personal connection with the listener. I’m voting the second one. A true music classic. Ok, back to the post.

A lot of music lovers are especially grateful for having the pleasure of listening to a genius songwriter, fine, but the world was lucky to have him, and people like him who dedicate a fair chunk of their lives to trying and make the world a better place. John Lennon said in one of the early interviews in the clip that the people have the power. We all know that it’s true but for some reason, we figure what can one person do, or why should I do a little extra if no one else does …

Well this Christmas, as small an action as it may be, try and give back a little or put a smile on a stranger’s face. Spread some very needed love. It doesn’t cost anything, or it might cost a McDonalds breakfast to a homeless man that you would have bought your 12th beer with on another weekend, but whatever it is, give it a shot. If half of the readers of this music blog do a little something, it may not make a global impact but it will make a difference in a positive way for someone. Plus, you’ll get that warm fuzzy feeling.

From all of us here at www.comparemusicdownloadsites.com, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season! And no drinking and driving! You can afford a taxi or I’m sure you can make room on someone’s floor to pass out on for the night.

We’ll be back after the holidays with more great music download news and general music goodness as always.

Cheers,
Bobby Bisciglia

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Bruno Mars – Grenade – Live – Best version

December 7th, 2010 No Comments

Hey everyone,

I was out for a little bit. My band (www.playtheangel.com) was in studio and we had a show up in Burlington opening for the Sick Puppies (the Free Hugs video guys) so got a little caught up but wanted to put up a new blog entry at the least while we’re still writing and recording.

This blog goes out to Bruno Mars. A genious songwriter and incredible vocalist. His new single, Grenade, played on the radio where I live and I heard it for the first time last week. I think I’ve been listening to it non stop since then. Here’s the original version of Grenade with the official music video:

After hearing his previous hit, Just The Way You Are, I was really into his style, especially the production of it with the driving drum changes both in that single and the new Grenade song when choruses kick in. While singing Grenade in the car along to the radio though, I was thinking, man, what a voice! Wondering how he sounds live and if it’s another dissapointing act that can’t reproduce the quality live and is dependant on the production value of the album or if he’s really packed with raw talent.

Here’s the best live version I found of Grenade by Bruno Mars. You watch it first before I open my big mouth:

Dam, dam, and more dam! I am absolutely blown away. I love that live its stripped down showcasing the raw talent of Bruno Mars vocally (guitar work isn’t to brag about but who cares with that voice).

All this to say, I have not been this impressed with a live vocal performance in quite a while and I easily put him up there in my top list of male vocalists which includes off the top of my head (and man I’m sure I’m missing quite a few) in no particular order Michael Jackson, Chris Cornell, Jeff Martin and Chad Kroegar. Ya ya, I’m more of a rock guy but I appreciate voices and no one on the planet can tell me Bruno Mars is anything but amazing vocally.

Hope you enjoy the live music clip and as always, please feel free to head to our homepage to download music legally from Bruno Mars or any of your favorite artists as we specialize in comparing the best music download sites on the net. Only legal music sites of course. These artists need to get paid for their hard work. Its hard enough to make a living. Don’t get me started on what I think of people stealing music and song downloads that took an artist months to write, record, produce, package and all the rest.

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