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On the 25th of August in the year 2001, Aaliyah and a few of her associates were killed in a plane leaving the Bahamas on its way back to the states. At the time this news brought me sadness; i had come to adore Aaliyah’s music and looks. she was about 2 years older than me, and thirteen years of age i was infatuated with her and had many a fantasy involving her likeness and myself. She was on MTV all the time with the “back and forth” video, which in my young opinion was probably one of my top3 songs that year/summer.
Her early work with R. Kelly would pale in comparison to her collaborations with Missy Elliot and Timbaland. “If Your Girl Only Knew” was a good single, but it just a primer of sorts for the genre pushing sound of “one in a million.” having been a fan of sum drum and bass music, i quickly took to Aaliyah’s new sound, and so did everyone else. Soon many clones would arise but none came close to Aaliyah’s Minnie Ripperton-like honey dipped cool. I would never dare say it was all about Aaliyah, bu once she passed it was clear Timbaland lost his muse. It would take him to work with Nelly Furtado to regain some of himself back.
“are you that somebody” gave her a bigger audience. her movie with Jet Li did the same, allowing her to do more of the same for the soundtrack (her “standards” were so far ahead of her so-called peers). she released great music in her last days, “we need a resolution” is one of the underrated songs of the decade.
with all that said my favorite song of hers is still from her first album. “At Your Best” is the the perfect teenage song. A young girl cooing adult lyrics (no doubt written for her). It is dramatic enough without taking itself too serious. What a groove.
there used to be a time when i was up on all the “latest” music news, used to know all the release dates, yadda yadda. i’m not in college anymore, and that time has passed, and it’s a bit refreshing to be completely honest.
case in point: i had no idea The Futureheads have a new album coming out very soon, and they already released two videos for “Radio Heart” and “The Beginning of the Twist.” You might say, it’s only two songs and it’s not like they just dropped 5 albums in the span of the month like Nine Inch Nails, and I would say tru-dat. But 2 songs and 2 videos totally unexpected is like Xmas to me these days. BTW i know there’s plenty of people out ther listening to all those NIN albums, but that level of Prolificness (probably not a word) is way too demanding for me; how does one take in that much music from ONE ARTIST in that very little time? Amazing. That’s like the rock version of the mixtape a-la when 50 Cent was flooding the market around 5-6 years ago.
definitely lookng forward to this. going through a bit of music overload today. I just boiught the Robyn album that came out like 3 years ago but is finally available here in the US of A (awesome album, i’m glad i didnt download it back then), the new Long Blondes album (very cool as well), and the Santogold album only to show my monetary support. i’ve been listening to the copy have so much already it probably wont leave the shrinkwrap anytime soon.
some were quick to judge and label Santogold aka Santi White an M.I.A. clone, and I suppose they were right - there is one song that absolutely has that M.I.A aesthetic (the song in calle “Creator”). but that is to say M.I.A.’s sound is all her own and she absolutely DOES NOT where her influences on her sleeve (I love both her albums but let’s get real). Santogold displays an unabashedly pop sound, complete with strumming guitars, chill basslines, and drums galore. upon many first listens Santogold continues to impress, and i find myself listening in many moods and situations; gym, walking, driving, what have you.
“Lights Out” is without a doubt my favorite track. it is a simple track that features synth lines on the breakdowns. most importantly, it has bass lines like the ones Kim Deal plays in “Gigantic” or “Cannonball”, or like “Nirvana’s “Lithium”. everything else in my world is secondary when such a bassline invades my eardrums. It’s been a while since a song has had multiple playback moments. can it be that it was all so simple. so far definitely best album out there.
Last week’s announcement of this year’s Lollapaloozaline-up was met with a remarkably positive reception from the internet masses, a surprise to someone like me. You see, when Perry Farrell resurrected the traveling show, most people who care for public opinion generally opposed the somewhat sugary lineup, complaining it was too commercial and lacked the raw energy from its original early-to-mid 90s talent.
Due to lack of sales and likely poor public opinion (for the record I liked the return of Lolla since I am huge Incubus and Queens of the Stone Age fan), Farrell decided to keep the Lollapalooza brand name alive by instead turning it into a stationary festival like the ones made popular by Reading, Glastonbury, and Coachella here in the U.S. in 2005. Chicago was chosen as the city to host the event and has since remained the site for the festival. While the logistics of the concert have been an issue, every year it has grown in popularity, and just by looking at this year’s lineup one can see why (Kanye West, Radiohead, Broken Social Scene, Rage, many, many others). Simply put it stole all the thunder from Coachella and its organizers Goldenvoice, but only for a brief time.
Just two weeks before showtime, the folks at Coachella announced a major addition to their weekend, the purple one himself, Prince. Last minute additions don’t get any bigger. and while i for one second do no think that Prince was added to keep their brand name bigger than the resurrected Lollapalloza, it has to be said it was pretty perfect timing for Goldenvoice to show of their big swinging dicks and proclaim their status as king of the mountain.
The question is why is it so important to be number one in this field? it’s like sticking utilizing scientific and economic resources just to stick a flag on the moon.
In the midst of this new pathetic arms race, many (and i mean that in relative terms) are complaining in the All Points West message boardabout how Coachella and Lollapalooza and Bonaroo and whoever are putting this festval to shame. I suppose it’s a reasonable concern. The Goldenvoice organization has been quoted as saying there wont be any more additions. It seems right now paople are paying $100 a day just to see Radiohead, and they want to see a gazillion bands play simultaniously instead of just about 40 over 3 days (i happen to like the lineup; i’m going myself, but i woldnt mind Broken Social Scene!). and, of course, remains the question of Jack Johnson, but that remains a national controversy rather than just a NJ travesty.
I would say you should not to believe the “no more additions” rhetoric since about a 5-6 hour drive south, the Virgin Festival will take place on the same weekend, and they have already teased the buying public with their superstar headliners.
I typed all this nonsense to bring up my main brief point: Lollapalooza was criticized for being softcore compared to their past, but now these megasize festivals are packing tons of acts under the guise of “indie” or “legendary.” The majority of these acts are about as mainstream as it gets. Having Rage at Lollapalooza is not innovative; they toured their “rare” performances all last year. many of the big acts can tour by themselves; there isnt any room for small acts with large potential.
The appropriation of the word indie for capital gain is hurting these festivals a bit, but there is sure a lot of money to be made. I do want a few more acts to be added to All Points West only to avoid seeing fans of only Radiohead. It will be like last year’s poorly run Rock the Bell’s, by far the most pathetic turnout for a rap concert. Hopefully organizers can learn from this display as soon as possible
i knew it was gonna be a big deal the day this album would finally arrive to the marketplace, but i never really thought of this album as a cultural event. Lil’ Wayne evokes 2 other rap albums with babies in the front cover: The Notorious B.I.G. with Ready to Die and Nas with Illmatic. Wayne has many albums and mixtapes under his championship belt, but he obviously sees his new album as a rebirth of sorts.
According to Amazon, Tha Carter III drops May 13, 2008.
in usher’s vision of himself and his surroundings, clubs are a solitary confinement. Neatly designed lighting show off an otherworldlyness he may not see once steps out in the daylight; it looks light a celebrity packed spaceship inside this room, and the rest of the patrons are no worry to him since he’s concerned with only one person. and alas she’s a mystery. it seems like he’s about to get it on with her, but she disappears, and he starts doing what he does best: dance.
it’s a awkward dance at first, and he doesnt show off any of his moves until around the 4:50 mark. i call it his masturbation dance. there’s nothing R rated about it, surprising for an artist that’s not shy about humping air and/or a fellow dancer. the dance is over and her image is gone, leaving usher raymond mad again.
i think he’s full of shit, but i guess it’s one way to connect with your audience.
- the black keys’ new album. don’t know what it’s called, but we’ve been hearing about this ad-nauseum because, aside from them being a good band already (I’ve only heard random songs here and there) the new album was produced by
King Midas himselfDangerMouse. Sadly, I do want to hear this, as if I’m going to point out DM’s intricate touches on the record. the Black Key’s new album is being overshadowed by a person who’s not a member of the band, but i bet they’re happy sales for the record will increase five-fold. - the raconteur’s new album leaked earlier than expected on i-Tunes. C’mon Steve Jobs, get your shit together! you’re just trying to one-up the rest of the internet trash by getting the leak out before the rest of them. I’m curious on two fronts: just how many people purchased the album online while it was available, and how many people really want a new raconteurs album. that’s one side project i cant get with. you’d think Jack White with a bass player would kill, but it shows just how much White thrives on simplicity. On a side-note, i used to buy albums all the time before the release date through mom and pop shops, so this was a feel good nostalgic story for me.
- REM’s new album is their best in years, and Michael Stipe is gay. Apparently everyone already speculated Stipe was gay to begin with, making indie/alternative rock media just another US Weekly. I do want to hear the new album, Pitchfork says it’s their best since New Adventures in Hi-Fi. My research skills tell me “What’s the Frequency Kenneth” wasn’t on this album (the last REM song i liked), so i have no idea what it sounded like. and their new song sounds like Stipe is likely to die at any moment. hopefully the next single is better.
- Fluxblog likes one of the new Janet Jackson songs. doesn’t surprise me at all. i liked one of those Kanye produced songs from the last album that was unsuccessfully marketed for the 106 and Park crowd. So I do agree that Janet sounds better when she’s “sweet” as opposed to Janet if she tried to convince me she would be my personal blow-up doll. why is she pretending to be Mariah Carey? MC is insane-crazy but it works for her at least (even though she wont sell many copies of her new album). Janet just wont learn from the mistakes of Michael.
my future girlfriendMexican pop star Julieta Venegas will be performing in Central Park this summer as part of the Summerstage series, according to the New York Times. As of now, the Times says the show wont be part of the six paid/benefit concerts. If I were a betting man, I would say this will be the closing concert of the Latin Alternative Music Conference, and I’d have to assume the show lands on July 12.
Last year, Cafe Tacuba headlined the event. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to see the show, even though I volunteered for the conference. the line to Summerstage was huge! I settled for listening to the show from outside like the many, many rest of us stragglers and Johnny-come-latelies.
but now I’m older and wiser and know to show up hours in advance.
in other Julieta news, she recently taped a performance for that old MTV relic program Unplugged. According to MTV public relations, the show was “unforgettable. ” But the somewhat cool news here is one of her collaborators for the set: La Mala Rodriguez, who provided a “strong hip hop infusion.” Not my words. Why can’t i get a job for MTV Tres/Latin America publicity? I may not have ever taken any creative writing courses, but i can probably work a thesaurus better than the intern responsible for this copy.
But really, how cool would it be if my future girlfriend on the side La Mala were her opening act? Horny “Latin alternative” boys will all pause for that concert.
i’ll always love the roots. been a loyal consumer since Illadelph Halflife, and no doubt i will exercise my purchasing power on the new album.
this artwork is on some WOW shit! I’ve only heard “black’s reconstruction” (which you can find below this post) and “birthday girl”, two tracks that could not be any more different; i enjoy both immensely, the latter however I have to admit i was not ready for at all. It has the potential to be a summer banger and a frat/sorority house anthem for years to come. I like it better than their prior exploration of pop rock landscape, “the seed 2.0″ (which was never really their song to begin with). Here’s a homemade video, the song features Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy. Honestly, I would have never guessed it was him if it wasn’t for internet crybabies screaming out SELL OUT to a group that’s been grinding for more than a decade.
here are ?uestlove’s words regarding the artwork:
although im light years away from western civilization, i still keep up with what is going on and i have to say that its about time that SOMEBODY mentioned race that wasn’t black in this quest for pres-o-dent. (i like the sound of that) then i realized that “no experience” is the new “race card” in this primary (shhhhh dont tell them that)which then gave me a brilliant idea (c) (blair, facts of life) “let’s reveal the album cover!”why? its practically parallel with Geraldine Ferraro comment with “america being in love with a concept” (and im sorry….i dont believe the “concept” she speaks of is about his”hope will save the day” talk. i think the concept she is talking about is the unspoken issue that NOONE on fox news has yet to say.don’t make me say it.
matter of fact i won’t say it.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNPeG-WtXt4 on the word “it”)but i will lead you to the subject matter of the cover.The Reconstruction period in American History.this drawing is entitled NEGRO RULE. and it pretty much sums up the feeling of the Confederate Union towards the newly freed slaves and the idea that if given power they would reek havoc and chaos on the country.
somehow in watching this election one can’t help but wonder if those unspoken feelings—– (btw…”if obama was a white man” is also the new nig—ok…im sorry….black)– reflect the looming figure of the old figureheads of washington now?
We are enjoying our tenure down here in southeast asia. even more amused at all of this birthday girl madness going on. the OFFICIAL video (meaning the one we pay for with our own dollars) will be mired in more controversy once you get wind of who we got to star in this bit. i just hope that this won’t tarnish the O campaign im associated with (i mean after all in two weeks we done kilted whitey, gave the finga to the innnaNET, and now eyeing all the 18 year olders in the house? sheeesh political indeed!
but im always one to give CLues
(http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=25svq7p&s=3 on clues)i know….im an ass!-El ?uesto”
On a slightly related note, i think i really like this unofficial roots video because the birthday girl in question bears a resemblence to Zooey Deschanel. she’s so hot, i want to be on her (c) Ron Burgundy. Props to FallOutG1rl4ever for posting that video. LMAO.
usher - love in the club. incredible song. pure bubble gum satisfaction. usher sings yet again about the club, particularly about hooking up with a girl (yet again). played subject, but who cares when it sounds this good. Jeezy turning in an awkward verse, i almost wish he was talking about cocaine in this ballad of sorts. he’s not quite the sex symbol T.I. is. this is the biggest of hit of the year so far.
missy elliot - ching a ling/shake it like a pom-pom I’m a missy apologist. i wasnt feeling the song the first go-aroung, but after a few listens it’s stuck on me. her videos have become less interesting ove the years, a parallel to her music really. but i’ll listen to anything from elliot; i even halfway enjoeyd that song that pimped the Stick It movie (i liked that movie as well). the real treat here is Shake it Like A Pom-Pom. Even the portion of the video for this brings a sense of resuscitation to her career. she’s gonna need it to follow up her very disappointing last album.
ray j - sexy can i i cant believe i like this song. it might have something with the pretty ladies in the video. or maybe it might have to do with this song playing at work like twice a day. the only reason i even payed any attention is because he made quite possibly the worlds most boring sex tape ever with bonafide hot chick Kim Kardashian. The Drama Queen Kay Slay makes an appearance, representing real hip hop by releasing a mixtape with Brandy’s brother. He’s a true d-bag, that Kay Slay. Seems I like the song for any reason beside the song itself.
the roots - 75 bars (black’s reconstruction) the roots at their minimalist best: black though tearing up the track, Questlove killing the kit, an ominous bassline in the backdrop. Parallel to the song, the video also features some presumably killed. It would be a pleasant surprise if this album is better than the excellent Game Theory; they’re off to a good start.
gnarles barkley - run seems to be going toard a cee-lo green direction than a gnarles project, and i like the sound of that. i only liked a third of that overrated album anyway. the video hurt my eyes a bit, but that’s probably because i’m getting older and i was toiling at reading a book with small print to begin with. But MTV is catering to me by banning the video due to the possibilty of epileptic seizures. c’mon MTV lighten up, dude! kids are on drugs anyway! they’d like it, but i’m assuming your target audience would prefer the flashy imagery of The Hills, coming soon!
must say it’s an excellent lineup, but only disappointed that i imagined (hoped) the number of talent would somewhat equal that of Coachella. but that place is just so big, and you cant do the same with the limited space of of Liberty State Park.
Quality wise, it’s a strong line-up.
I might cop tickets the day they go on sale, only because I fear the “Radiohead as 2-night headliners” thing will force the creeps to buy out all the tickets and mark up the prices. Bastards.
Radiohead are coming to the Garden State in August, headlining the first 2 nights of the All Points West festival.
All hail Jersey City, for at least 2 nights this year.
The festival will take place August 8-10.
i wouldn’t say I’m hyper-negative or anything like that, but often I chime in and spoil everyone’s ideas with some snide remark and/or bring too much sense to an otherwise harmless conversation. Debbie Downer, one might say. but i swear I’m not miserable on purpose.
but i had a moment of clarity when “wannabe” by the Spice Girls came on the radio at work just a few minutes ago.
i hate my office’s choice of music during the workday. for the better part of 3 months, the choice was CD 101.9, a station that plays the absolute lightest jazz music ever created by Kenny G. As it happens, they switched formats the other day; a progressive rock format which promises an “innovative” playlist, which basically means every single popular rock song of the past 50 years sprinkled with “avante-guard” acts like The Velvet Underground and Arcade Fire. my supervisor was having none of this (i share an office room with 3 other people) and she switched to KTU. their front page tells you their recently played songs, and it’s a mostly bland bunch.
but then the Spice Girls came on, and all my high school optimism cam back to me. i remembered thinking how hot they were, and how girl power took over the world! if they could run for president, I’d vote all 5 of them in! with the exception of Victoria Beckham, you lost your looks! That song rules to this day, and for 3 minutes i forgot how crappy that station was (until TKA’s “louder than love” came on). I know they performed in the area this week, and from the looks of it, their concerts look totally flamboyant. good for them for making that scrilla,
it’s a celebration bitches! (c) Kanye channeling Dave Chappelle channeling Rick James.
i know its standard to say that arena concerts are just not the thing to attend, but i really love the whole spectacle of it. obviously only mainstream acts tend to this; my last arena concert was Mana last year, and they need the space for all their showmanship (or pyro or lightshow).
best arena tour ever IMO: Dr. Dre’s Smoke Out Tour Up in Smoke Tour (thanks for the correction). they really went all out for that one.
So you know Kanye’s inflated ego will be bringing the goods for his US tour. this has date-night written all over it, i mean I’m saying, Rihanna will be there! dont care too much for Lupe. his raps are good, but i’m not inclined to listen to his new LP. maybe i’ll get around to it. not.
but the real news is NERD!!!!! their new song is hot by the way (ripped off or not). always nice to see Chad Hugo, hopefully. i guess it’s never a guarantee if he’ll show up.
oh yeah LOL at that poster.
i, for one, look forward to not have to fly to Cali or Chicago or wherever to attend a festival akin to Coachella, but the weather is too muggy in the NY/NJ summer for any of this to be comfortable in the least.
but if indeed there will be a festival in Liberty State Park, that’s awesome. easy public transportation = less of a hassle, just a bit more patience i suppose.
but who knows how this will work out. a few years back, there was supposed to be a festival called Field Day that failed miserably and had to be moved to Giants Stadium at the last minute.
as for the Vineland festival in South Jersey, it would have to be a superior line-up for me to consider it. if it’s good enough, i would even make a week of it. it is close enough to Atalntic City and Wildwood, i haven’t been there in a long time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/nyregion/16mbrfs-festival.html?ref=nyregion
January 16, 2008
Metro Briefing | New JerseyMusic Festival Coming to Liberty State ParkBy JEFF LEEDS In the latest shift in the competition for music fans this summer, the concert promoters behind the popular Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California will stage a three-day event in Liberty State Park, according to people briefed on the plans. The new festival, tentatively scheduled for Aug. 8 through Aug. 10, is to be presented by the promoter AEG and its Goldenvoice subsidiary. A competing event, the Vineland Music Festival, held by C3 Presents and Festival Republic, a unit of the concert giant Live Nation, is scheduled from Aug. 8 to Aug. 10 in Vineland, N.J. The band Radiohead and the singer-songwriter Jack Johnson have been mentioned as headliners at the Liberty State Park event, though a lineup has not been announced. Representatives for AEG declined to comment.
if set up correctly, the festival in Liberty State Park could be wonderful! imagine the picturesque views! i don’t know just what parts will be available, or how many stages there will be, or even the land made available in Jersey City, but the backdrops could be excellent. here’s a Google Earth map of the areas and it’s surroundings:
yes, there were about 50 songs that i cared for this year. some i will get into detail, others i wont. it’s the weekend after all, and while i may not be a “cool guy” with “plans” to “go out”, i still have college bowl games as a back-up option.
i think these songs are all from 2007. nevertheless, i played the hell out of these songs in the old year.
happy new year everyone!!!!
50. peter bjorn and john - lets call it off
49. pitbull - lengua afuera
48. the virgins - rich girls NY disco rock you dont have to be a hipster to enjoy. they had a big year this year, and will likely see more laurels in 2008.
47. belanova - baila mi corazon I caught on to this one late, but thanks to my sister i’m back in the loop. i tend to enjoy belanova songs a lot, and this is pretty much more of the same
46. kid sister - pro nails this likely made its way into Kanye’s Cant Tell Me Nothing summer mixtape because of his connection to A-Trak. it’s a goody, your basic hipster retro geek raps that have been poppin all year long. the video is worth a watch.
45. black kids - i’ve underestimated my charm again this was my myspace jumpoff.
44. a band of bees - listening man
43. alice smith - dream first heard this song on a scene of Entourage, when Eric was about to bone some British jumpoff. great slow tempo song.
42. arctic monkeys - brianstorm
41. omarion - icebox filled in nicely just in time for the Justin Timberlake over-exposure. awesome beat by Timbo and a great hook
40. dizzee rascal - pussy’ole
39. notch - dale pa’tras much like rap, the best reggaeton is not overproduced. here a simple guitar strum give the drum variations purpose. not too much going on in the beat aside from that, and who needs it? the radio and clubs loved this song
38. interpol - no I in threesome
37. swizz beats w/ lil wayne - it’s me bitches one of many high energy cameos from lil wayne this year. swizz beats with another good year, even if his solo album flopped hard. and an unexplainable Jadakiss verse over the CREAM beat. what were they thinking at the time?
36. grinderman - no pussy blues Nick Cave waxing poetic about not getting any trim. part of it is coming to terms with getting older and abiding by the sex laws, the other is defeat in the face of cultural differences.
35. devin the dude w/ snoop and andre 3000 - what a job Three of the most prominent rappers of the last decade-plus rapping about rap-as-a-profession. they show the frustration that comes with choosing the biz as your bread-and-butter, and the reasons they do it.
34. lloyd - get it shawty
33. rihanna - let me get that
32. muse - starlight i feel like this should be a prom song.
31. spank rock - lindsey lohan dirty, sexy, white trashy, glamorous; this song embodies all the good qualities of one Lindsey Lohan.
30. calle 13 - me voy pal norte
29. fabolous w/ jay-z and uncle murda - brooklyn
28. the shins - sea legs talk about an exercise in genre! totally unexpected song from the shins. i did a doubletake the first time i heard it, plus he sounds really british in this one.
27. CRS - us placers it’s probably a good thing i never heard Thom Yorke’s solo album, from where the sample for this song was lifted. i may have not liked this song as much, possibly. Kanye, Lupe, and (especially) Pharell sound perfect over the minimalist blips. In typical hip-hop fashion the song is credited as “featuring Thom Yorke,” i wonder how he felt about this song?
26. feist - past in present
25. crime mob - rock yo hips the two girls in Crime Mob can rap their asses off.
24. arcade fire - intervention
23. the national - mistaken for strangers
22. mark ronson w/ amy winehouse - valerie
21. the blow -parentheses i love the drums in this song. can be mixed well with the retro hipster rap i mentioned above. synths, baby!
20. rilo kiley - breakin’ up
19. lcd soundsystem - all my friends
18. common w/kanye west - southside
17. janelle monae - violet stars happy hunting! she starts out the song by saying she’s an “alien from outer space” over a simple guitar riff, and then the beat drops. we hear the obvious Prince influence, but even more of Outkast’s southern funk. why she hasnt blown up is beyond me. she’s the kind of artist rock needs right now.
janelle monae - violet stars happy hunting-osc.mp3
16. MIA - paper planes
15. R. Kelly w/ T-pain and T.I. - i’m a flirt three of music’s favorite perverts in one track. i’m not quite sure if they’re calling themselves flirts, or they’re giving guys and girls fair warning of what their intentions are. probably both. and of course T-Pain blessing us with his moniker “Teddy Pin-her-ass-down”. Don’t hate on them.
14. jay-z - i know that good pimpish, slick raps Jigga has perfected over the years. he might think otherwise, but this is how adult alternative rap should sound like. grown and sexy indeed.
13. the long blondes - once and never again
12. kanye west - can’t tell me nothing
11. battles - atlas this song is too long for its own good, but it’s the best indie rock song from this year.
10. lil wayne - we taking over (remix) haters wanna hate. about a year ago, a photo showing Wayne kissing his label boss/rapping partner/father figure Baby AKA the Birdman leaked to internet trolls nationwide. Rap and its fans, still as homophobic as ever, decided to clown Lil Wayne as a way to express their discomfort with him being one of the biggest stars around. So how does he respond? by taking a beat he already destroyed in its first incarnation, bringing it back to life, and starting off with a sarcastic “no homo.” He follows with an ode to the rapper and the DJ, as real as it gets. he makes no qualms about it, he kissed a man, a man he considers his father. he accuses everyone of being jealous of his daddy and follows his trend of the last few years, to demolish the beat. Feed him rappers, but an even better idea, feed him all the beats, he’ll contain them.
lil wayne - we takin over-remix.mp3
9. T-Pain - buy you a drank
8. avril lavigne - girlfriend
7. stephen marley w/ damien marley and buju banton - traffic jam they all did their thing, most notably Buju on the extended version. the beat box is reminiscent of Doug E. Fresh in the classic “Freaks.”
6. rihanna w/jay-z - umbrella Rihanna had a landmark year. Truth be told, all her singles were very good this year, but this was her “Since you been gone.” Jay-Z shown up to piggyback on the undeniable groove, making sure he’s involved in another summer hit.
5. MIA - xr2 For a person so undeniably popular globally she sure has a lot of critics. her biggest critique is that she’s a culture vulture. it’s difficult to argue against those accusations, but she’s more Elvis Presley than Pat Boone. when Baltimore Club sounds this good, i could give a shit less what part of the world she’s from. between this song and her talk about using disposable phones on “paper planes,” the next logical question is: how big of a fan is she of The Wire?
4. amy winehouse - tears dry on their own
3. justice - d.a.n.c.e we can thank Daft Punk for this one. hopefully more of their high quality clones appear for years to come. you are such a PYT!
2. UGK w/ Outkast - international players anthem Three seasoned rap veteran entities (three 6 mafia did the beat) collaborate for the best rap song of the year, and a new highlight in their respective careers. Thank you Pimp C. RIP.
1. bonde do role - gasolina
1. M.I.A. - kala
2. amy winehouse - back to black
3. the national -boxer
4. arcade fire - neon bible
5. lil wayne - da drought 3
6. justice - †
7. jay-z - american gangster
8. arctic monkies - favourite worst nightmare
9. common - finding forever
10. lcd soundsystem -sound of silver
11. wu tang clan - 8 diagrams
12. rilo kiley - under the blacklight
13. death proof soundtrack
14. manu chao - la radiolina
15. feist - the reminder
some thoughts while making up this list:
it really wasnt hard to compile. i normally dont listen to albums all the way through like i used to. i’m much more of a singles/album track person for the last few years. so i tend to gravitate toward the obvious choices.
the wu-tang album is incredible. it is off-putting and intriguing at once. there is more revealed with each listen. i wouldnt be surprised if a year from now i would put it in the top 5 of this list.
i dont listen to many albums by new rap artists. aside from Clipse or T.I.’s King, they just dont do it for me. they make great singles, and that is good enough for me. So it’s funny that a mixtape by Lil Wayne had me so engaged. that dude can spit about anything, and often he does.
Amy Winehouse’s album is the only album on this list people will listen to 20-30 years from now. I promise you.
I dont get why the Rilo Kiley album gets so much hate, like they sold out or something. they’ve never been that deep in the first place. they make great pop.
Kala has it all. MIA toped Arular seemingly with no effort, and so much energy. She ruled my year. Period.
she’s no Mary Gamarra, but I find her very attractive. deep down inside i wish i could be a male groupie, or a “band-aid” a-la Penny Lane in Almost Famous.
I’ll hopefully be seeing her group The Fiery Furnaces on January 19, 2008 in Hoboken, NJ, in case anyone is interested.
here’s the story.
Without Marina, can Bonde do Role continue under the same moniker? she is way too charismatic to even dare replace, so I would have to believe this musical venture is over for Gorky and Pedro; on to another project.
If you want my take on it, they are very young and sometimes there’s a lot of pressure and too much partying if you have the opportunity to criss-cross the world. it’s impossible to be 20 years old and act like a seasoned professional, especially when you’re in a groupo known for their on-stage antics. I think they’ll get back together. or maybe thats wishful thinking.
I posted a new video for their song “Marina Gasolina.” i like the video, and i love the song. Like most people with a keyboard/monitor/plenty of time, i’ll likely compile a list of my favorite songs and albums of the year. Just to break the suspense, “Marina Gasolina” will be the number 1 song. i think i’ve listened to it almost every weekend of the year. it is that great.
WARNING: THIS IS VIDEO IS NOT WORK-SAFE. it’s not offensive by any means, but you know better than to watch stuff at work that will offend someone, or even embarrass you.
some sad news coming from the west coast. Pimp C found dead in his hotel room. never mind some of the foolish comments on the bottom of the page. he was truly one of the most entertaining rappers, complimenting Bun B’s style in their highly influential group UGK.
this year saw Pimp C in the limelight for a better part of the year. UGK released Underground Kings this year to the delight of many fans and critics. Many cited Pimp Chad for stepping up his skills and bringing real talk and emotion to the album. Around this time-frame he criticized Atlanta and its artists, the mecca of southern rap, for watering down rap music and trying to be like NYC, to the bewilderment of many.
Some other tidbits. First time I heard his raps was on the Menace II Society album, “pocket full of stones” remix. Me not being a big fan of southern rap at the time, i would hear him again about 6 years later (!!!!!!!) on Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin.” that very summer him and Bun B collaborated with Three 6 Mafia for “sippin on some syrup.” From then on it can be argued UGK were finally noticed on a national scale. This success was short-lived for Chad, as he would later serve a three year jail sentence in 2002. Support for UGK was palpable, with many in the rap world wearing “free pimp c” shirts. His release was celebrated, and the masses eagerly awaited his return to the studio. One of the single from Underground Kings, “international players anthem,” featured Outkast and will likely be on top of many critics’ year end lists. an excellent single indeed.
Maybe not-so-oddly enough, i was actually listening to a song featuring a verse from Pimp C. when i read this news. it is Bently featuring Pimp C and Lil Wayne - C.O.L.O.U.R.S., definitely one of my favorite songs of the year.
new music from Big Snoop Dogg. this is just brilliant.
i can’t tell if he’s acting all tongue in cheek, or if he’s being genuine with this one. this is right up his alley, and long gone are the days of his gansgsta posturing. he’s like the Will Ferrel of rap, as far as catering to the frat community. and this kind of R & B which has influenced a good part of his music.
Bravo, either way.
OH, and the original title of this song is “sexual eruption.” even better.
Sometime near the end of the show, one of the Pipettes (either the brunette one or the one that wears glasses) called out the dance-repressed crowd. She reminded everyone they in-fact were attending a Pipettes gig, so everyone should just take off their cool and just have campy fun with the entertainers. everyone had a bit of a laugh and slowly some of the crowd followed though with hand gestures and Carlton Banks-like two steps.
This being my first time ever seeing the Pipettes, I wondered almost the length of the show if this is something they work over at every stop in their itiniary, USA or Europe. I recall reading their “bio” more than a year ago and it harly went off like the usual “this is how we met” or “our first recording” diatribe. It was a mission statement; a source for how they came to initiate this experiment of sorts. The three lovely members of the Pipettes apparently preferred a pre-Beatles approach of pop music; no experimentation, no frills, all girly fun. My confusion stemmed from seeing their visuals and reading theie bio. Are they treating this like a regular band, or some project? Obviously both can mesh well, especially when they can make some bank in the open market. And indeed they are doing that. Their show at the Gramercy was well attended. Before this, the only times i saw what they looked like were a few press fotos and two videos: “Pull Shapes” and “Your Kisses are wasted on Me.”
Pull Shapes looks like your standard fare video, but YKAWOM was something else. was this just clever editing of raw footage, or a staged production? is this how people really reacted at their shows? Seeing this was incredible, and i was amped to see them the very first time they touched NYC. Unfortunately for me, that first time was a double billing with Amy Winehouse some last March (i think) when the Amy bandwagon was at an alltime high. It sold out in ridiculous time, and of course all the talk shifted towards Winehouse, she had a hit record and her tabloid fodder was the talk of internet.
I was underwhelmed, sadly. Not at the Pipettes, but at the crowd. Maybe the Monday factor set in (doubt it) but the majority of the crowd was lifeless. One could argue its just an NY thing, where even at a Girl Talk show, people jsut stared at him rather than dance at his gigs. While I think maybe some of them were just not trying to dance yet enjoy the show, a lot were just there to observe. Standing like statues and watching three polka-dot drenched girls do funny things with their hands. And of course there were the seats in the back of the theater, always giving people an excuse to sit during a show.
I was surprised by the # of songs in their setlist. They do a lot of songs not in their album. The top clip is two songs that segued right into each other, and i wish they had done more of this revue/medley type stuff during the night. It fits the whole vibe of their image to a tee.
In conclusion, the really hot blonde one is now a redhead, and it looks GREAT on her.
well, i’ll tell you
it’s only the best rap album to ever be released!
- it opens up with the Lady of Rage, probably the dopest female rapper ever; too bad she didnt have the career she deserved.
- audio of somebody taking a piss.
- Gin and Juice is sucha smooth song.
- DJ salty nuts, jack off hour!
- In a perfect world, we would all agree “the shiznit” is Snoop’s best song ever.
- the Dogg Pound had some great cameos on the album.
- Murder was the Case, it was made into it’s own short movie! Gully!!! And how awesome was that MTV performance of that song? Totally awesome! I’m innocent.
- he covered Lodi Dodi, and I will admit to hearing Snoop’s version before Slick Rick’s. I apologize.
- the bitch been around before my mommas born.
- if you aint up on thangs, Snoop Dogg’s the name Dogg Pounds the gang
- i liked that video where they morphed as dogs. Snoop really resembled an actual canine!
- Aint No Fun has got to be the most quotable song of all time. Mysoginistic rhymes galore!
- how long can i keep this going. i’m getting tired. Lastly, the song produced by Warren G is the best one on the album. too bad you cant get it in retail or itunes.
to much of the internet nerd world’s chagrin, OiNK is no more. for the unaware, OiNK was this invite-only BitTorrent site that can get you any music album imanigable. Want some non-released Prince album? go to OiNK. that sort of thing.
I never received an invite, nor did I ever ask for one. OiNK always intimidated me for some reason (says how much of a pussy I am, even behind a monitor). Sadly, I always believed your music catalogue had to meet a certain standard to be invited to Oink, and as much as I like the music I have, I couldnt stand behind it. I dont own much of anything obscure, and at best I could only fill up half of a 30 gig Ipod.
I learned of this news I think on Tuesday. And I new public opinion would be huge, but never to this level. There are arguments of how this will set precedent of how information will be distributed all over the internet (as if music should be treated as information. just because you can store it on a disc, it doesnt mean music can be likened to some spreadsheet you did at work). It’s all very sci-fi to me, which is the interesting part, what is intriguing of the story. The fact that Allen Ellis, the young creator of the program, was arrested over this hints at images of a police state (a clown version of at the very least). I obviously dont agree with this. But when he says he is totally guilt-free of the amounts of money up and coming bands lose by having their music pirated all over the world is just ridiculous. I understand Oink (and any other filesharing site) contributes in a word-of-mouth sort of way, but we’re talking about the livelihood of many people. If they were born to play music, let them have a chance to make this their profession! Let them make some money off this!
The idea of music-solely-as-art is a tired one. If I want to lend someone a book, thats fine, at least someone contributed to their economy. but when you arent even given a chance to compete in the marketplace, that’s akin to a monopoly. and they end up more broke than how they started out.
We’re all guilty, I suppose. I freely download music and pretend I’ll support them when they go on tour. There’s only a handful of artists that have my unwarrented consumer loyalty, and even that number is shrinking! I had a conversation with a girl one time and she snickered at people who purchase music off ITunes. I couldnt believe it. She made it seem the act of buying a song for 99 cents was ludicrous. We buy shirts, dont we? If we want to watch a movie in a dark theater, do we not fork over those 10 bucks? I suppose if we could download a pair of jeans, we would do so. But just like internet porn, it will never be the same as copping some ridiculous colored tape with 5 hours worth of humping.
Besides, some Oink copycat must be around already. I wish I could go to some sort of demo site just to see what OiNK looked like. So stop crying, everybody! We’ll survive this, just like we survived all other internet deaths (napster, audiogalaxy, whatever).
i dont know if that’s even the correct phrasing for what im trying to covey. maybe it’s a good thing the internet is around to make me realize how much of a dufus i am.
Sasha Frere Jones is a writer for the New Yorker who recentlly posted an article entitled “A Paler Shade of White,” where he argues (or comes to terms with, maybe?) indie rock’s lack of Jamaican and/or Black American influence, considering rock and roll’s roots in Black history. Pretty good article. In his blog, he also links Lester Bangs’ seminal confessional “The White Noise Supremacists,” an article that left such an impression on me during my more formative years; it’s still such a treat for me to read after all these years. Essentially, S/FJ harks back to the Bangs article and includes his unique, eloquent understanding of our scene.
Reading the comments of said article on okayplayer, and i come to find out S/FJ is a white guy. i wasnt convinced, thinking to myself this was just message board chatter. So i took my ass to google images to find out what the real is (i did the same with Julianne Shepherd about two years ago, since just by reading her stuff i had a crush on her and i had to know what she looked like). this is what i found:
this is a picture of him a couple of years back. he’s the one standing next to the RZA.
What!!!!! A White Guy!!!!! I read his writings every now and then, and never in my mind did I believe this guy was anything but a black man (his name, maybe? the nature of his writing?). initially, i thought he was a girl (Sasha, duh), but i kinda found out right away he was a dude.
sorry, S/FJ. I know your race should not be a big deal at all. your writing rocks, man!
it’s hard not to be overjoyed by the new Radiohead album In Rainbows, although one of my first reactions was “i’ve been here before.” I’ve been surrounded by hype, some created by me, some by others, for every Radiohead release since Kid A. Every single time they’ve deserved their laurels, though every once in a while you have to come to a realization that every move taken by a band considered the greatest of our generation will be overrated and over-analyzed.
I came to this realization when Hail to the Thief was released. I championed that album mostly because it wasnt Amnesiac. I wanted them to sound like a band again, and not like some guitar riffs over sleek drum patterns and blips. The truth is Amnesiac is superior, and while HTTF was very good in parts, it just didnt gel together, matter of fact it had a couple plain boring songs.
I even ignored Thom Yorke’s The Eraser, figuring it would just be too mellow. To this day i’ve only heard a couple of songs, maybe soon I’ll introduce myself to it.
Well, yesterday I finally got around to listening ot Rainbows, and I was blown away. as a complete package, it comes together very well. not a single weak song. some memorable songs, others play their part very well. at times it sounds like Radiohead pretended to be an old R&B group with their approach to melodies. and oh whats that? they decided to rock out!!!
Simply put, their realized their sonic goals for HTTF and brought it home with this one. The album sounds like the perfect blend of the band’s two best albums, OK Computer and Kid A.
Yes, I sound like an overhyped fanboy. But I did listen to the album 3x in a row last night, and I wasnt sick of it in the least bit.
02-radiohead-bodysnatchers.MP3
bodysnatchers left the first real impression on me. sure, the drums on 15 step were awesome, but this song was balls out excitement. youll see why, if you havent heard the album yet.
which brings up th issue of In Rainbows as a social phenomenom. Not often do we do many things together on a global scale. We might take a piss or go out drinking around the same time, but thats hardly a shared experience; taking a piss at the same time as other people in the world is purely coincidental, while going to a bar is common, but normally is done with a group of your own with sometimes no intention of interaction with fellow club/bar hoppers. People “preordered” the Radiohead album in the 10 days since the initial announcement, and hundreds, thousands of them listened to the album at the same time. Surely people were keeping track of their last.fm and noticing that all your listening peers were doing the same. Others visited their mp3 blog of choice to comment on the album while giving it their first respective spins.
I’m not sure what Radiohead’s goals (fiancial or otherwise) were when planning this marketing strategy, but i’m convinced the shared experience is something they were indeed going for. They “sold” 1.2 million album on the first day. that’s so sick.
sorry, just testing the music player.
sharon jones and the dapkings - answer me
i stole it from soulsides, dont be mad at me! i just need to see this works, and then i will host my own music.
Radiohead’s new album In Rainbows is coming on October 10, and you can choose the price of the album. Or you can choose to pay absolutely nothing for the album. Whatever you want. This is not a lie (or at least not yet).
It is will be available as a 10-track DRM-free download for two months through their official website. A proper release is scheduled for god-knows-when next year, but i dont give a crap; I’m getting new Radiohead music next week.
So far the whole talk is that they’re avoiding the traditional promo route (no advances, reviews, etc.). But this is a promotional strategy, as it is commonly practiced these days, except it has never been so totally legal up until now. Only a band like Radiohead can pull off something like this.
I’m debating how much I want to pay. One dollar sounds about right for my cheap ass, or should I wait until it “leaks?” For those that want to play a penny, there is a catch (as there always is): there is a $1 credit card fee. So there, you can pay $1.01 for what could be a really awesome album.
I wonder how much money they will make of this?
according to my stats, most of the hits on this “blog” are for lil mama searches. i’ was halfway proud of the post, i even added audio.
but i have a gut feeling its just people trying to get picture of her; hopefully in or around her age range. n=but to make this post quasi informative, here we go:
I may have not been too receptive of her schoolbus song, but New York Magazine is in love with it, maybe a little too much.
On the tabloid tip, Medatakeout is spreading the rumor that she dissed Rev Run’s daughters. As an good internet troll like myself should know, its hard to take that site seriously. They’re trashy even by internet standards. nevertheless, if the shoes are garbage, they’re garbage.
The man also known as Greg Gillis and Dan Deacon “performed” Saturday night at the Bowery Ballroom, their 2nd show of the night following their also sold-out show in Webster Hall. Throughout his set, he must have repeated a couple of things numerous times, I guess as a way to emphasize how serious he was.
number 1 - the Bowery show felt more comfortable than the one in Webster Hall. He was citing the promoters over in WH, saying that it just felt to commercially driven and not enough attention was payed to the overall operation.
number 2 - He said the crowd there appeared more violent, as opposed to the more friendly crowd at Bowery. I think he was just pandering to the audience. We would pretty much cheer at anything he said. I cant imagine how much rowdier the patrons at Webster Hall could have been. After all, it is a Girl Talk show.
number 3 - he wanted tequila. Thirty shots, to be exact. There must have been like 80+ people on stage with him, which wouldnt have made any sense. He wouldnt like to disappoint some fans and not give them tequila, would he? But he kept insisting on the shots, pleading for someone who knows him to put it on his tab. Even if he was serious about hooking up people with free booze, it would have bee a bad idea. What if the tequila spilled on his laptop by accident? no laptop = no Girl Talk! We/he would have been fucked! Also, it appeared many of the people partying it up onstage were under the age of 21. If there was anything I learned last night, it is that the Bowery Ballroom is somewhat serious about their alcohol policies. I was having a drink, and I didnt have a wristband like you were supposed to. All of the sudden, this guy grabs my beer and makes sure I had a wristband. I had to show some guy my ID in order to get my brew back. They were very nice though, and I was slightly happy with their attention to detail.
The show was a lot of fun, overall. I pretty much got there at the right time, sometime in the middle of Deacon’s set, also thoroughly enjoyable. My favorite part was whatever mashup he did with the song ” A Bay bay.” My least favorite part was his Nirvana cover of “scentless apprentice.” Too bad he closes with said cover.
i used to have a job where we had to endure the local lite station 106.7 lite FM in NY, where they play some Barry White songs, a couple of Rod Stewart joints, and a hodgepodge of crappy singers like Celine Dion, Whitney Houston (SHE’S NOT SO BAD REALLY, AFTER A WHILE YOU JUST FAIL TO SEE WHATS SO SPECIAL ABOUT HER), and The Eagles.
I did acquire a liking for Michael Buble, but i have to face my own demons when it’s all said and done with that mini-obsession.
I work in a new place and all we listen to here is 103.5 KTU, which for the unaware is a mixture of what might as well be dance-lite music. They shuffle among 80s freestyle (TKA, george lamond), plenty of madonna, destiny’s child (i dont mind this at all), almost every song from Timberlake’s Futuresex/lovesounds album, and some classics.
They play Xtina Aguilera’s “genie in a bottle” like its brand new.
They play Toni Braxton’s “Not man enough for me” (or whatever the song is called) once a day. It’s true. I’ve kept count.
I once interned at a record label. Aside from hearing new songs from label talent before anyone else, you usually heard a leaked album from some rappers upcoming effort. And they wondered why sales were down.
I volunteered for the CMJ Music Marathon last year. I figured I would hear some pretty cool music in the production room, but i mostly heard the crappy new Public Enemy album, and the most recent Beck (the ones I quit caring about).
Office or work music sucks.
some thoughts on Com’s new album finding forever:
He has definitely ran out of things to say. His last interesting thoughts were laid out all throughout his highly-hated Electric Circus, but now it seems he doesnt want to take his writing to different levels. I hope he’s not confusing production with writing; I for one do enjoy parts of EC, although I cringe at times. His last 2 albums have been handled by Kanye West, who has done a superb job, particularly this time around. He even outshines Common on “Southside,” another ode to the Windy City.
His redundancy is comical at best. He likes to find new derivatives for comments like “I love my sisters” or “I stopped eating meat/i’m a vegan,” or “get ready for the revolution,” or “my daughter yada yada,” or [insert spoken word rambling here].
His voice remains compelling, however. It seems that he has grown comfortably in being an old-man rapper, even showing more commercial success as time passes (he got his first number 1 debut a couple of weeks back - deservidly so). He can still carry a full length, partly because he’s keeping it as brief as possible.
Good move by including Lily Allen on the album. The song is hot , and has potential for more crossover laurels.
“Black Maybe” is an awesome song.
Dont know how many of these he has left in him. He should consider taking another blod move, seeing as how now he has a movie career to fall back on, hopefully for him.
I’ll refrain from speaking on the album art. NOT!!! that cover is awful, mainly because Common looks like a boho Jedi.
i had a seriously fun time at MIA’s show in Brooklyn. There’s no reason to post a setlist, because whats the point. The only way a show like hers can falter is if the DJ can’t switch records effectively. You pretty much expect to see all the songs you’ve heard before and all the new ones that’ve been made public.
Some of the songs previously unheard by me sounded great. It’s gonna be a great dance record for sure. And she looked awesome; I was reminded why I had a crush on her over 2 years ago. She looked good in her cop hat (i’m sure there’s a specific term for the type of hat, but like hell I know it.)
The club was so crowded. Some people got in as early as 9:30 i think and she didnt hit stage until maybe after midnight. But the DJ held it down with pretty much all the songs you would expect to hear at a venue like this (some bonde do role, strokes and interpol, some old school hip hop and electro)
One complaint. Maybe she shouldnt be performing “Bird Flu” to close out a set. I’m afraid as bad as people dance, that beat shows no mercy on them and they don’t even bother to try for the most part. I’d suggest opening with it (hopefull she reads me and considers my humble suggestion). She did come back to do “boyz” and “galang”, which was just awesome.
Couldn’t take any pictures, but i probably wouldnt have bothered anyhow. The show was too much fun to even think a bout anything else than the music and the people around you. The photo above was taken from the pitchfork site. More pictures from last night can be found at their news section.
For those of you who have absolutely no lives (like myself) you may have seen The Devil Wears Prada more than many times in the last few weeks. My general understanding of other guys’ reaction towards the movie has been positive; although i’m making a blanket statement here, i would say without hesitation that a lot of dudes liked the movie. Personally, i thought it was great. I liked the story well enough, (even though it had its flaws. for example, are we suppose to sympathize with Vinny Chase because his girlfriend is trying to get ahead in her career? I hated his character) and the ensemble Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and especially Merryl Streep gave pretty awesome performances.
But the movie is not at all the focus of my rambling here. The film opens with the pre-work day rituals of numerous NYC women, one of them the messy, casual Hathaway. We are taken through the motions of doing one’s hair, picking the right outfit, and sorting nutritional choices to get the day started. They walk out of their homes, their geography used a device to signify cultural and economic stature. One is to believe everyone who works in the big bad city is either a model-chic type or totally unprepared for the challenge that is New York Living. The scene is backed by KT Tunstall’s “Suddenly I See.”
The song in question is perfect for the opening. It has an upbeat feel that many listeners of lite radio stations (something of a standard in offices throughout New Jersey, sadly) would normally wake up to. The song is in fact a hit in such stations; not often is a (relatively) new song allowed to enter their already narrow playlists that span the last few decades. The lyrics also foretell the premise of the movie, if vaguely. We see the Anne Hathaway character, Andy, preparing herself for a job interview, and we hear Tustall wail with optimistic tenacity, “suddently I see, this is where I want to be!” That we don’t know exactly where this place is, specifically, is appropriate; many of us who are familiar with the job hunting landscape are well aware it is not a conquered science, no matter what some writers of interview and resume books tell you, (they write books about jobsearching for a reason; otherwise thay would just be working like the rest of us) but the benefits are exotic in the fact that you might be moving up in the world, so to speak. It is indeed all of this that Andy finds; she is excited and nervous, knowing its either working for a fashion mag or an auto rag if nothing else falls in place.
The song’s effect on American popular culture did not end there. According to all-knowing-and never-deceitful wikipedia:
It was also the farewell music for female contestants eliminated from the television show So You Think You Can Dance, featured on the season finale of the MTV show The Hills, at the end of a Ghost Whisperer season two episode, for promotional clips of The Amazing Race: All Stars, and the series premiere of Ugly Betty. KT also performed the song live on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The song was one of the candidates for Hillary Clinton’s campaign song.
That’s quite the list of appearances. That such a ubiquitous song has escaped me until a few weeks back is astounding. I think the only song of Tunstall’s i’ve heard is one where she coos “whoo hoo” at the end of almost every stanza (more than that crappy Gwen Stefani song). A song not impressive at all, which i also found interesting considering every time i went to a major retailer like Best Buy I would tons of her CDs. Little did I know it was the other song that was the main attraction.
What i’m trying to say if you couldn’t figure it out is that I like the song. Worst of all, i would consider it as that often-abused classification of a guilty pleasure. I HATE THAT TERM!!! Normally I feel when someone calls a song “a guilty pleasure,” they are not totally honest to themselves. When people say that a Britney song is their guilty pleasure, I normally feel a slight disgust towards them. I would think to myself, “but Britney is GOOD; her songs are supposed to be hits; how can you NOT like Toxic?” But to me “Suddenly I see” brings up feelings of embarrassment whenever I enjoy it. All of those programs the song was included in are things I tend to ignore for snobby reasons. They are not part of my pass-times.
I want to sing the song whenever I hear it. I don’t know the lyrics, but if I hear it enough times, I’ll probably pick it up.
I’m too emabarrassed to even download it. I have Rod Stewart, Baby AKA Birdman, some early Madonna, and a lot of Incubus on my I-Tunes. THE BRAVERY ARE ON MY TOP 25 MOST PLAYED FOR FUCKS SAKE! But i’m afraid that one day in front of a lot of people “Suddenly I see” might pop up on Shuffle.
It’s not often I feel that way about a song. I feel like a loser frankly. The kind of loser who’ll catch Devil Wears Prada anytime it’s time.
Ecuador - they really blew it. I mean they sucked major bolsa. It’s so amazing to see a team falter so bad in a tournament. my brother insists that copa america is not really important - he’s probably right considering brasil didnt have their big guns in the pitch - but you still have to show up ready to play. nevertheless i am eager to see what they bring for the eliminatorias, which should sooner than we may expect, or ready for. the 2010 world cup is just under 2 years away! can’t wait.
Argentina - wow were they dominant, almost. all the stars made their presence felt, including inspiring performances by Messi and Riquelme, who caried on their respective great seasons into the tournament. unfortunately they fell short. which lead me to…
Brasil - Dunga was heavily criticized for the team he took to Venezuela, and for a couple opf their early pefomances, but it seems this team was destined to beat the Argentines. It wasnt the brand of pretty football we’re all accustomed to watching, but their midfield defence was on point, not allowing any effective balls for the Argentine front. Congratulations.
___________________
I attended the Latin Alternative Music Conference last week and I must admit to being a bit underwhelmed. I understand that the budget cant possibly compare to that of a CMJ or Austin City Limits, but the number of shows is something that has to be worked out better. I tried to show up to 3 shows with some success: the SOBs acoustic showcase, the MTV3 sponsored show in the Bowery Ballroom, and Cafe Tacuba in Central Park.
The SOBs show was a total mess. Some bands are just not equipped to strip down their sound and come off more “intimate.” Worst of all, each of the many, many acts were restricted to two songs, bringing other problems to the forefriont: 1) you can’t soundcheck all bands; this wouldnt be a problem knowing this is an acoustic show, but every act thinks they can bring their own flare with different instruments they cant possibly tune in the short time, and 2) even if you build momentum after 2 songs, you are cut off. They have to increase the set list to 4 songs and decrease the number of bands to showcase. Pinker Tones were the marquee band but after 2+ hours of being there, i had to leave.
The Bowery show was alright. The space is better, beer cost about the same, but the atmosphere wasnt as stuffy. Rock band Panda started it off and they had a young fanbase starting a mosh-pit, which was startling, considering how poppy their sound is. they were good though, specially compared to The Dey, the following group. They come accross like the latin version of the Fugees, except everyone sucked. Totally forgettable stuff. I saw a bit of the very attractive (IMO) Mala Rodriguez, but it was getting late and I had to leave. She’s cool.
As for Cafe Tacuba, through a series of unfortunate events I arrived at Central Park as soon as they were announced, but the line to enter was so long and Summerstage reached heir max capacity. So we just sat outside the venue like everyone else. They played great from the parts we heard. Me and my cuz left for a bit to get beer in between.
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I got tickets to see M.I.A. !!! She’s playing this Saturday for free at the Siren Festival in Brooklyn but i’m not really down to go. And I dont mind forking over $20 to see her in Studio B. Whoo hooo it will (hopefully) rock. This will be my first time seing Maya in concert so I’m all sorts of excited. Just on week away. Party on!
Just days after that will be