The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
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Page 5 May 8, 2015 Arts and Entertainment Hailie Willey Staff Writer Tessa Jones Staff Writer Illeana Hilsee Staff Writer Brittany Lawley Staff Writer 'Confessions' is 6-piece post- hardcore band, Alesana's, 5th studio album. The band includes Dennis Lee for screaming vocals, Shawn Mike as Clean Vocals, Rhythm guitar, and Piano, Patrick Thomas lead guitar, Jake Campbell and Shane Crump for backing vocals and Bass guitar, and lastly Jeremy Bryan as Drums. The complexity of the drumming patterns give each song a perfect backbone. The other instruments fall in perfectly. Its absolutely amazing how after 11 years a band can still give you butterflies while listening. This album is not only great for long time fans, but for new fans as well. Long time fans will love how the Annabel trilogy ends and the fact Alesana is still making music. New fans will enjoy the It was released April 21, 2015 by through Tragic Hero records and recorded in Adelaide studios in North Carolina. Its the concluding album of the 'Annabel' trilogy following 'The Emptiness' and 'A Place Where The Sun Is Silent'. Due to the album being the end to the Annabel trilogy there was a lot of high hopes and anticipation for the albums release. Let's just say at first it didn't really meet these standards. After listening to the album along with their others multiple times it all starts to unwind and the different sounds begin to stand out. The first song of the album, 'It Was A Dark And Stormy Night', starts out with faint voices muttering then, an eerie sounding women whispers 'Have you ever actually seen yourself without a mirror?' The song officially starts with Lee screaming "To slip through the cracks of the universe, my love so true, is my gift to you." This song also has one of the catchiest choruses I have heard. It's a pretty great way to begin the album. As the story continues to unfold, listeners are thrown through a loop with the differences of sounds through the album. Though staying true to their post-hard core name they give us a little something else to picture when this genre comes to mind. rapid pace of each song and the idea that they're are five other albums to listen to. Overall, it's definitely on my top 10 of albums that have come out this year. The 'Pacemaker Personal Mix' is a music app that specializes in combining your music into one continuous song. The app will play most of one song, and then finds another that will provide a smooth and easy shift so the music never stops. Pacemaker is also able to create a playlist from your music. Just turn the Autopilot on! If you want to create and mix your own playlist, the Pacemaker DJ can provide you with song recommendations so your personal p l a y l i s t w i l l transition well. A n d , u n l i k e s o m e m u s i c apps, the m u s i c will keep playing while you open and use other apps on your phone. The Pacemaker app is free to get, however there are certain features inside the app that are available to purchase. While a song is playing, you are able to tweak the song by bringing out the different frequencies. You can choose to focus on the treble, middle, or bass sounds of the song. If you want to take it a step further, you may purchase a Hi- Lo filter, to apply to your mixes. The Hi-Lo filter lets you decide if only high or low frequencies make it into your mixes. You can also adjust how much of each frequency you want to leave in or cut out. My only criticism is the app does not give you the option to fast forward or rewind while a song is playing. You are only given to option to skip entire songs. Other than that, this app is very easy to pick up. The controls to mix songs are simple and straightforward. The app's interface is very uncomplicated, and you should not have any problems using it after you create your first few mixes. Moreover, when you first install the app in your phone, there are plenty of instructions to get you familiar with Pacemaker. Overall, this app is great for use! It is a free app with high q u a l i t y , and even w i t h o u t purchasing the extra Hi-Lo filter available, you will still be pleased with everything else the app has to offer. It's fun blending and mixing all your different songs, seeing which ones will f low together the best! The app is highly recommended to any high school student who loves music. 'Wordbrain' is an app that tests the minds' ability to create words from scrabbled letters. It was ranked number one among word games in fifty-eight counties. The game features over fifteen languages and there are over six hundred levels. It starts off super easy. You are given a two by two square grid with four letters and the objective is to create a four letter word from the given letters. If you solve the puzzle in the correct way, you will be able to clear the grid. After about forty levels, it gets much harder. Now there is an eight by eight square grid, and you have to form three five letter words from the given letters. You are only given three hints per level, which makes it even more challenging. On harder levels, I think the game should allow people to get more hints, because you will definitely be needing them. It gets to the point where you believe that the puzzles are no longer solvable. According to the app's creator, Gaming On The Tail AB, every level has a solution. The real challenge is finding the words and putting the letters in the correct order. If the letters are not in the correct order, then the puzzle cannot be solved. This game definitely tests your brain skills. It is extremely challenging and it is a great time waster. You could sit for hours trying to reach the next level. Wordbrain is a very intriguing word game, and it is not like any other game I have played before. It can be incredibly frustrating and make me feel completely stupid at times, but it is fun and enjoyable. It is a great game to play with friends or on a long road trip. I recommend this game for those who like a challenge. I think one of the biggest problems with this game is knowing how to spell the words they want you to find. Wordbrain is similar to Soduko, but much more challenging. If you like word games and challenges, this is definitely the one for you! Be aware that once you start playing, you might not be able to stop. In the book 'Snow Like Ashes' by Sara Raasch darkness has fallen in the light of Spring. Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was destroyed by Spring leaving it without their queen and magic. For sixteen years the citizens of Winter have been hiding, hunted down and enslaved. Eight Winter survivors are left, and they hold the future of Winter in their hands. Meira was orphaned on the night that Spring raided and was only saved by the Winter general who escaped. Training to be a warrior Meira wants to help one of the other survivors, Mather, who is the future king of Winter, and her best friend whom she is in love with. When the opportunity arises to recover Winter's locket, the one chance to return magic to the Kingdom and people of Winter, Meira decides to go herself to get the locket. The mission seems to go well, but takes a drastic turn for the worse when Spring soldiers find the Winter's camp and they are forced to f lee. After running to the only safe place Meira finds herself a thing of politics and not the warrior she so wanted to be. The only way to escape is to understand the dreams that keep haunting her. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch was a wonderful book that had some great twists. While I saw the biggest twist in the book coming all the smaller ones left me stunned and made me want to read even more. Despite the fantastic plot the book did have a love triangle which I am not a fan of and therefore disappointed me. To my surprise I enjoyed the way the love triangle went and thought it was much better than the average love triangle. The book was a bit shaky in places, but the history and character development was absolutely amazing. The book went into years of history and made it work in the book. The history was actually tied into the book and was interesting, it made sense and it was required. This book is much more complex than just a lost girl trying to decide between two boys and find a home. This book is about the recovery of a kingdom and the fight to get there. Every nitty, gritty, little detail shows just how much effort was put into this book. Sara Raasch did an amazing job writing 'Snow Like Ashes' and I think anyone looking for something different with magic and strong female character would love it. http://pulpmagazinelive.com http://www.punkvinyl.com http://img-cache.cdn.gaiaonline.com http://ecx.images-amazon.com "It is a free app with high quality..." Expires June 30, 2015 RBHSD May 8, 2015 Not valid with any other discounts, coupons, or promotions. 1 FREE game of Mini Golf with 1 paid game of Bowling Stays true to their genre and to their fans! Great character developement and interesting history! Highly recommended for music lovers! Good for those who love a nice challenge! 'Alesana' polishes off their album trilogy with their newest release of 'Confessions' 'Wordbrain' teaches gamers to think 'Snow Like Ashes' found different yet amazing New app allows users to personalize music