Travis- Another Band You Should Know and Love...

Since I covered 'Kent' the other day, I figured I'd pay homage to an equally awesome and overlooked band (though not as overlooked as 'Kent'), and that would be the phenomenal Scottish band 'Travis'.

Chris Martin (of 'Coldplay', not one of my favorites), calls himself a poor man's Fran Healy, the lead singer and songwriter of 'Travis'. Not only is that the truth, but Fran Healy is highly praised as a songwriter and musician (as is his band) and the band deserves way more recognition than they get. It would be nice if just for once I say, "I love Travis" and get more than a blank stare and, "Who?" But I digress. Here are a bunch of great 'Travis' songs starting with the hidden track off of 'The Man Who' entitled "Blue Flashing Lights".

This song, clearly, is about an abusive father and husband. Something that Fran Healy openly states was behavior his father doled out to his mother and to him and to which keeps him from having a relationship with his father to this day. I've never experienced this type of behavior in my own home, but it's still very powerful.



*This video isn't an "Official" video, it's a student project, but it is very good.

Another song dealing with domestic violence...but tell me what other songwriter and band could make a depressing song so likable while still remaining relevant? Besides 'Travis', I would have to say 'Kent'.



I love this video. The other band mates bet Fran that he can't do push-ups until midnight and he takes the bet. He stays all day and just before midnight a man comes around the corner and starts to get chased by some other men. Fran is too weak to help him and it ends with him trying desperately to stand up and come to the man's rescue.



This is probably the cutest 'Travis' video and of course it's 'disabled by request'ed all over the place. So here is the link: Independiente Records
And here is a YouTube "video" of the song:


This is just a feel good song and video...absolutely fun! Of course it's 'disabled by request'. Here is the YouTube link
This video isn't that great, but at least you can listen to the song.


This is a weird one, but the song is awesome!






Okay...I'm stopping there. I could spend ALL day finding and listening to all the awesome videos and songs 'Travis' has produced. And I just don't have that kind of time right now! Please take it upon yourselves to head over to YouTube and soak in their glory.

Kent

I know this is a movie/TV/game blog, but I recently ran across this incredibly awesome band from Sweden that is pretty much unknown in the U.S., and this is a sad thing because they are awesome.

A band that has been around for quite awhile, and despite two attempts to make their name known in the U.S., they are completely unique to anything I've heard before yet can be grouped together with some well-known American, Scottish and English groups like Depeche Mode, Travis, and The Killers.

I came across them the other day while writing up the feature on 'The Invisible' and 'Den Osynlige'. Someone made a little music video using their song 'Längtan Skala 3:1' and clips from the movie (which show how similar the American version is to the original). I immediately went to YouTube and listened to a ton of their songs and ran around the Internets trying to find where to buy the songs. Most are out of print or not available on Amazon except through Marketplace sellers (which is where I bought 'Vapen & Ammunition', 'Isola' (English and Swedish version) and their most recent album 'Tillbaka Till Samtiden'. I'm sure you can find them through other means, but I don't do that.

Here are some of their videos for you to enjoy and to fall in love with them like I have:









This isn't a video...but I love the song!




What makes 'Kent' so unique and amazing is, like Travis and Depeche Mode, nothing sounds the same. Every song is great.

*puss och kram!*

When music is used well in a show, it highlights and amplifies the message being conveyed, so I'm starting a new feature that I will periodically post about that covers music used in TV shows. That is, music used well in a TV show. The first entry will be about music used in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

T:SCC's is about the plight of Sarah Connor to protect her son John from the machines that are trying to kill him. It carries on from the end of the amazing second entry into the series, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and completely skips over any and all events that took place in the third Terminator movie.

There are three stellar entries in the usage of music that I want to share and so they are going to be pasted below:

1. 'Adam Raised a Cain' from Season 2, episode 21. This was just from Friday's episode so *SPOILERS*
It features Weavers daughter, Savannah, singing 'Donald Where's Your Trousers' with John Henry.



2.'Samson and Delilah' Season 2, episode 1.
Song 'Samson and Delilah' as covered by the fantastic Shirley Manson. Used in the opening montage of season 2's premiere episode as Cameron wakes up and finds her chip damaged. She heads off into the house where we assume she is going to help John and Sarah, but instead she is following her original orders from before she was reprogrammed: Terminate John Connor. I'm adding a bonus scene, non-music related because it's awesome.



When Cameron begins to plead with John that she is all fixed now and that she can be trusted and that she loves him and he loves her, the look on John's face is priceless.



3. 'What He Beheld' Season One, Episode 9
Song "The Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash. It's at the end of the episode when Ellison and the rest of the FBI arrive to take the man they think is an actor who decided to go on a killing spree, (who is really Cromartie) into custody and things go wrong with deadly consequences.