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Xinlo

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Blog Entries posted by Xinlo

  1. Xinlo

    Can't believe my luck

    By Xinlo,

    Found these lil dudes on facebook marketplace, all sealed! Had to drive an hour to pick them up but I couldn't pass on them. I have probably quadruples of each by now I think? But having some sealed ones is pretty amazing

  2. Xinlo

    Yearly Blog Post

    By Xinlo,

    It seems I missed last year's post so this'll have to do. I keep forgetting BZP still exists and then every time I come back I recognize fewer names! Apparently I've been a member here for 15 years according to my new spinny, it really is amazing that I recognize anyone at all and that this place is still around. 
    No real point to this post, just wanted to say hi to anyone I know who's still around. Until next year, probably!
  4. Xinlo
    hey?
     
    I don't really know what to write, just figured I should write something... I guess I moved out to the city a year ago on my own and work in a recording studio now so that's some life updates. and my band's working on a new EP and a second album. oh also I missed my 13th anniversary of being a member of this site... 2004 feels like a lifetime ago
     
    and that's all I got! bye for who knows how long until I remember to post another one haha
  5. Xinlo
    Hola BZPower, long time no see. I've been keeping pretty busy with work and stuff, but more importantly I've been slowly chipping away at the creation process for my band's debut album over the past 9 months! It's been a long time coming, some days I didn't think it'd ever be ready, but I finished it and here it is.
     
    I wrote every song on the album with the exception of one, which I co-wrote with a good friend who is not in the band. All the musicians volunteered their time and energy to learn my songs and record them for this, and I engineered/produced/mixed/mastered the thing with newfound skills from my time at music school. The cover artwork was done as a favour by a friend of our drummer from Turkey, and the artwork inside the booklet was done by BZP's own Serein/Scythey/Ryuujin! The whole project was volunteer work, and with the resources at school this cost me nothing to make, which is an opportunity I'll likely never have again.
     
    So without further ado, you can give it a listen and download it for free on our bandcamp page or you can give a little bit of money if it suits you. Thanks a ton if you take the time to listen, and if you enjoy it let me know!
  6. Xinlo

    Some music for you

    By Xinlo,

    Hey there BZP! It's me, Xinlo, the guy who stopped being active on here for quite a few months and finally decided to show up again!
     
     

     
     
    But yeah only reason for that was I just finished up my third and final year in music college, so this is the first opportunity I've really had to do much else besides study and write music. Anyway, the purpose of this entry is to inform anyone who might be interested that I've compiled an EP that includes all the full* songs I wrote and recorded during my tenure there. It has 10 tracks, of genres ranging from new age to pop to prog to doom (it's not the most cohesive listening experience but they all do have my "sound", I guess) and It'd be great if you could give it a listen and let me know if you liked anything.
     
    This is also a lead-up to my first proper studio album, which I hope to release digitally by the end of June and physically shortly afterwards, so keep an eye out for further info on that!
     
    Anyway if you care to give it a listen, here's a link to the soundcloud playlist.
     
     
    *full as in they have a beginning, middle and end and sound decent. not necessarily that they're all finished or how I intended them to be, they are demos after all.
  7. Xinlo

    Top 6 Albums Of 2015

    By Xinlo,

    well 2015 is officially over (thanks) and as I do every year, I'll list out my favourite musical offerings from the year. This year was a strange one, as many of my favourite bands released really solid records that I liked but never really got hooked on for some reason. I attribute it to my mental state through most of the year and not to the albums themselves though so with that in mind, here be the list:
     
    1. Hand. Cannot. Erase. - Steven Wilson
     

     
    I've been a fan of Porcupine Tree for a couple years now, but I only recently dug into their frontman's solo career (just in time for the release of this new album). One of the first albums I picked up this year, back in february, its ridiculously melancholic storyline and atmosphere really grabbed me (the one exception to my previous paragraph) so it's the clear winner here. There was also a music video made for my favourite song from it which brings me to tears every time I watch it.
     
    2. The Colour Before The Sun - Coheed & Cambria
     

     
    This album's a bit of a weird one for me. I hated the single the preceded its release, but the actual album as a whole is excellent. Taking a poppier, more stripped-down indie rock approach as opposed to their usual progressive rock style, this album is definitely the odd man out in their catalogue. It didn't quite hook me like their last album did, though my itunes tells me it's my third-most-played album behind two of my all-time favourites, so I must have loved it on some level.
     
    3. Meliora - Ghost
     

     
    Another band I began listening to just in time for their new album, Ghost gave me exactly what I wanted (and some of what I thought was missing from their last two albums) on this one. It's crazy catchy, groovy and evil with some wicked solos and riffs that I just never get sick of. That said it is a much simpler and shorter album, and didn't quite top the other two for me.
     
    4. Psychic Warfare - Clutch
     

     
    I've had a mild passing interest in Clutch for a long time, but for some reason I still have only heard their two newest albums fully. I love both of them too, so you'd think I'd seek out more haha. Anyway this is just a straight-up great hard/stoner rock album with hilariously brilliant lyrics that's just packed with good times. If you don't like this album you probably don't like fun.
     
    5. The Book Of Souls - Iron Maiden
     

     
    This album is Iron Maiden's 16th album, and another where the single released was lacklustre but was not indicative of the album. Just as Maiden were starting to stagnate in their "comeback" style with the past 4 albums, they decided they should do a double album with three 10+ minute songs, one of which is a classic prog epic with piano (in Iron Maiden???). It could have been a dangerous move, and for some people it didn't work, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Enough to possibly call it the best of their newer 5 albums.
     
    6. No Place In Heaven - Mika
     

     
    What's this? A mainstream pop album? What the heck, me. But I got into Mika's stuff when his first album came out way back in like... 2006, I think? Every song on that album was pop perfection and half of it was international radio hits everywhere except the US. I kinda forgot him for a while, and then saw this at walmart one day and impulse-bought it. I then listened to nothing else for a month. This album is possibly his best, with styles ranging from standard pop to indie rock to disco to french crooning. It all somehow works though, and the lyrics are very personal and well-thought-out, which is refreshing for a mainstream album like this.
     
    Honourable mentions: The Congregation - Leprous, Feel The Misery - My Dying Bride, Songs From The North - Swallow The Sun, Love, Fear, And The Time Machine - Riverside
     
    so there you go, here's hoping 2016's extensive list of upcoming albums is as good as it promises to be!
  8. Xinlo

    that time of year again

    By Xinlo,

    Well hello again bzpower. been a little while since i had much of anything to say in this here blog of mine, but seeing as it was my 11th anniversary on this site two days ago, and my birthday three days before that, it seems I have some stuff to blog about finally!
     
    So yeah firstly 11 years on this site, and seeing as I'm now 21 that's officially over half my life. crazy.
     
    As for my birthday, well... it was probably the best birthday I've had possibly ever. I've made a lot of friends this year at music school (glad I decided on a third year haha) and we sort of had an entire party weekend around my birthday. Saturday was a christmas party thing, secret santa and food and a movie and stuff, plus they decorated their house really nicely and put the real wood fireplace on and we just hung out for like 9 hours. Then on sunday for my actual birthday we went to a hot springs resort not too far from here, and about 15 people came which is the largest birthday I think I've had lol. we ate dinner there too and good times were had all around. My parents also got me an iPhone 5 which was unexpected and awesome seeing as my terrible samsung phone was at the point where it would freeze anytime anything happened.
     
    also today I just finished my last project for this semester, which means I am free for christmas break except for some minimal work.
     
    On that note, I finished another new song, this time a proper progressive metal instrumental jam, with solos played by some of my talented classmates which you can check out if you feel so inclined:
     
    https://soundcloud.com/l-chlantocher/call-me-karen
     
    anyway I think that's everything that's new with me. doesn't look like a lot but school takes up like 80% of my time so I usually sleep for the other 20%
     
    ciao for now
  11. Xinlo

    Xinlo Music

    By Xinlo,

    hey so I realized I've talked about my times in music college a little here, but I've never actually posted anything that I've done there. I don't know if anyone will be interested in it, but I've got A WEBSITE that has 5 songs up on it (mostly finished, minus some tweaks I want to make), all of which I wrote and played and produced. The styles range from doom metal to pop rock to new age/trance to prog rock, so hopefully one of them might be to your liking. I'd appreciate any feedback you may have!
     
    I've also decided to attend school for an optional third year, to work on my songwriting and compositional skills, and I'm in the process of writing and recording demos for my first album which I plan to release about this time next year if all goes well. At the moment it's looking to be a progressive doom metal album, but only 2 songs are written so far so that could change.
     
    Anyway thanks for taking the time to check out my stuff, if you do!
  12. Xinlo

    The Toa's Hideout

    By Xinlo,

    There's a site out there called The Toa's Hideout (or tTH for short) that maybe some of you remember? It was started by a few BZP members way back in the day. It did pretty well and I somehow managed to become staff. Eventually, after many incarnations, tTH3 happened and it was pretty successful. we got that site running right as BZP had its famous 6-month downtime, and a whole bunch of wandering BZPers found us and it was great.
     
    After a few years and bionicle's demise, we closed it down and packed it in. But now that bionicle's back, we thought maybe there'd be a chance to restart it! I'm still running the new site (which is, funnily enough, tTH4) along with BZP's very own Scythey (Ryuujin) and Mask Of Destiny's Takal (aka Takal). The premise of the new site is to be a bionicle discussion site as it always was, but to be geared more toward general discussion and older users (so like all of us who were original bonkles fans). Basically we just want it be a cool place to hang and be a little more off-topic than BZP is suited for. That's not to say, of course, that younger users aren't also welcome! Also just a few little perks, we have custom member titles by-request and personal subforums to act as member blogs when you reach 100 posts!
     
    I know some of you were there for varying amounts of time, and others (probably vastly more) have never heard of us, but either way we invite you to come check it out if you are so inclined!
  13. Xinlo
    Hey there bzp. long time no see. figured I'd just pop in and throw a little update for fun since it's going around.
     
    A lot has happened in the last few months since I last posted in this blog, so I'll split it into two categories:
     
    The Good Stuff:
     
    -Saw Avengers. Loved it (aside from bad opening CGI)
    -managed to collect all the 2015 BIONICE so far
    -made a lot of awesome friends at college this year, hung out with a lot of people and generally improved my social anxiety situation
    -graduated music college as an audio production/bass major, mostly A grades, highest GPA I've achieved
    -decided to attend an extra 3rd year as a composition major to work on songwriting skills and put an album together
    -performed in 4 of my friends' graduation showcases to great success
    -kinda feel like a legit musician
    -reconnected with one of my high-school friends who I haven't really spoken to in almost two years
    -managed to get myself out of my near-five-year depression finally thanks to the help of some really wonderful people, felt legitimately happy for the first time in a long time
     
    The Bad Stuff:
     
    -Most of the great friends I made I will either never see again or might run into at some point in the far future due to college being done (will see a few of them back for 3rd year)
    -My mom moved out and got her own place, wants a divorce from my dad, haven't really spoke to her in over a month now
    -very broke right now, cannot currently afford gas. will have a job at the end of the month but tough going until then,luckily dad's letting me stay rent-free but
    -dad was injured in summer of last year and won't been able to work until october-ish this year, so family funds are also tight
     
     
    so as you can see the good far outweighs the bad, but the bad is some heavy-hitting stuff. I'm keeping going though, determined to keep everything in perspective and not let another long depression sink in. Life is mostly good right now and I'm just trying to appreciate that.
     
    hope everyone else has been doing good here, sorry I don't blog that much I guess haha.
  14. Xinlo

    My Christmas Loot

    By Xinlo,

    Well merry christmas to eeryne! Hope you all had a great day yesterday. As I do every year, here is a list of the tings I received from my family:
     
    -1600 pc. Tower Of Creation lego parts box
    -Anakin's green jedi starfighter lego set
    -Death Star trooper expansion lego set
    -Simpsons minifigure (scratchy)
    -Series 12 minifigure (space miner guy)
    -Pink Floyd shirt
    -Other cool blue shirt
    -Lots of socks
    -$30 7/11 gift card
    -$50 gift card for local record store
    -ipod emergency charger thing
    -Lots of chocolate
    -$140
     
    yeah. so hopefully I'll get to go down to the US soon and hunt target for new bionicles, as well as more TV show dvds and records and stuff. presents aside I also had a nice day, playing monopoly and having a great family dinner and being super tired because I was up for 32.75 hours lol. again, hope everyone had fun as well and that the rest of the holidays treat you well.
  15. Xinlo

    korra take 2

    By Xinlo,

    I'm -still- having a hard time believing that it actually happened. that finale is all I've been able to think about the last few days between the ending and the fact that it's actually over. I was actually starting to stress out about what the creators would have to say, which route they'd take - but yet again I was relieved with the messages they posted. Good series, good world, good people.
     
    Farewell to the coolest animated show since its predecessor.
  16. Xinlo

    Well Jeez

    By Xinlo,

    Just had my 20th birthday last week and 3 days later my 10th BZP anniversary, and I totally forgot. I've officially been on this site for half of my life. Wow.
     
    Also I get a nice new tohu spinny, pretty thrilled about that.
  18. Xinlo

    untitled

    By Xinlo,

    my family is destroying itself right now due to the insensitive and unexplainable actions of one member and this is going to be the worst christmas vacation ever if it continues the way things are going right now
     
    I don't even want to be at home. i want to just leave town for a few months and get away and live my life without worrying about some huge fight happening every night
  19. Xinlo

    Me

    By Xinlo,

    since the only pic of me on here is like three and a half years old I thought I'd post an updated one (also because I thought my hair looked awesome today)
     

  20. Xinlo

    A good day for mail

    By Xinlo,

    early birthday gift from my parents. cost about $45, amazingly, for all the roboriders save Boss, two Tahus, Onua, Pohatu, Tahu Nuva, Onua Nuva and Lewa Nuva. Of course I already have multiples of the bionicle sets, this was mostly for the roboriders, but I never had onua or tahu's canisters and all the sets came with their promo material (posters, ad books) which I had long ago misplaced. So yay for that!
  21. Xinlo

    Star Wars

    By Xinlo,

    Would anyone be able to steer me in the direction of a cool Star Wars DVD box set? I like my DVD collection to look nice and coherent with box sets rather than individual DVDs but all I can ever find for Star Wars is blu-ray. Anyone have one they'd recommend or know of a good one to get?
  22. Xinlo

    on the Doctor Who finale

    By Xinlo,

    so I got fed up with the show (after being a loyal viewer since series 2) after The Caretaker and haven't seen any episodes since. Ryuujin says the finale's looking to be great, so I thought I'd get everyone's opinion: is it worth catching up on the show to see the finale? Or should I just watch the finale and forget the 4 episodes I missed? or should I just not care at all?
     
    you decide!
  24. Xinlo

    I made an art

    By Xinlo,

    this is like the first time I've drawn in over a year so I could use some feedback. here or in the topic, doesn't really matter, but many thanks either way!
     
    click for picture of Gali
     
    TOPIC
     
    so yeah she's supposed to be swimming but the scanner cut off her feet so it looks like she's just walking with her hand out in the air for no reason.
  25. Xinlo
    so yeah my room's really small now and I have nowhere to put all my bionicles, so I packed them up when we moved here and they've been in storage for almost 2 years...
     
    with the return of bionicle I was feeling all nostalgic and had to bring them out, even if they have to go back in a few days.
     
    anyway here's some pictures of my collection as it looks at the moment (this is still only slightly more than half, there's all the larger sets in the long box I didn't take out and all the disassembled duders in a very large bucket. also all those ones' empty cases in a bag in storage still).
     

     

     

     

     

     
    and here's a bonus thing, all the original '01 sets that I still have with their original poackaging. Not too many, but it's still nice to look at it especially since I was too young and not quite into bionicle yet to remember what these looked like on the shelves.
     

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