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That’s My Jam

Posted by John on March 10, 2009
Posted in: singles, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , . 6 Comments

I could talk about the new Kelly Clarkson CD (pretty good), the FINALLY released Chris Cornell CD (maybe later this week), or another new Chris Richardson track from MySpace (not too shabby), but none of that is really inspiring me this morning. So as a warm-up (it’s 28 and snowing here today), here are a few tracks that I’m jamming to at the moment:

Pet Shop Boys “Did You See Me Coming?”

It’s as if the heavens opened up and sent a chorus of Neil Tennant angels down to Earth to serenade us. The song was released on Sunday as part of a PSB hits collection in England (thanks to Paul for the heads up), and I just can’t get enough. For those of you who haven’t checked it out yet, the new CD is available to hear at 7Digital.

Jesse McCartney “How Do You Sleep”

I missed this one on my first trip through the CD, but the reissue of Departure includes a new version with Ludacris that’s blasting up the pop radio charts. I don’t mind the Ludacris rap, but at the heart of the song is a killer hook that I hear at random times during the day.

Neko Case “This Tornado Loves You”

Neko first came into my view when her music was used on “Big Love”, but I didn’t really get it at the time. Trust me, I get it now. “Middle Cyclone” is a brilliant CD, and “Tornado” is a big highlight of the record. (Yes, there’s a bit of a weather theme here) I’ve also found myself listening to the half hour of tree frogs at the end of the CD several times in the last week. Apparently, tree frogs encourage concentration when studying. Go figure!

Video Notables – Gary Go

Posted by John on February 24, 2009
Posted in: videos, youtube. Tagged: , . 6 Comments

Didn’t we just get a video post a few days ago? Yeah…the rollercoaster that is my life continues to roll on, whether or not I’m strapped in and ready to go. I may be off the radar for another day or so, but in the meantime, courtesy of Bill Lamb of About.com, here’s one of my favorite videos of the year so far. Granted, it’s the song that grabs your attention, but I really like the look and feel of the video as well. [Apologies in advance: the only video available for embedding is not that great quality. For better quality, check it out here.]

I’ve got to say that it doesn’t surprise me at all that Gary Barlow and his mates decided on this Gary as an opening act for their upcoming “The Circus” tour. Besides probably getting him dirt cheap, Gary B’s probably kicking himself that he didn’t write “Wonderful” himself, because this is a classic Barlow composition. I can’t find any mention of a U.S. release, but you can find his song “Honest” on the 2007 soundtrack for the movie “Song of Songs”.

Video Notables – Pet Shop Boys

Posted by John on February 21, 2009
Posted in: upcoming, videos, youtube. Tagged: . 9 Comments

“Don’t have to be!” I have been loving “Love Etc”, and now the Boys have unleashed their animated accompaniment to the track. Part Super Mario Brothers, part kaleidoscope, all fabulous. Some of you who checked out their performance from the Brits will probably recognize some of the graphics from the on-stage backdrop, but the video just takes the song to the next level. March 24th is when “Yes” comes out in the US, and it can’t get here soon enough. What’s the verdict, folks?

Random Notes – 02/20/09

Posted by John on February 20, 2009
Posted in: awards, personal, travel, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , . 6 Comments

– Despite loving the Pet Shop Boys performance/tribute at the Brit Awards this week, my choice for favorite performance hands down goes to the Ting Tings and Estelle for their mash-up of “Shut Up and Let Me Go”, “American Boy”, and “That’s Not My Name”.

As a consolation, though, check out this grainy but still watchable version of PSB’s “Go West” from 15 years ago.

– In the “there might be justice yet” department, it looks like Apple might be helping PMN favorites Franz Ferdinand here in the US with a new iPhone commercial that utilizes “No You Girls”. Here’s a cool performance video of the track. If Feist, Yael Naim and the Ting Tings are the models, Franz Ferdinand should have a Top 40 hit in a couple of weeks.

– Inquiring minds apparently wanted to know more about the super secret (squirrel) mission last weekend. Well, I ended up back in San Francisco for another fun-filled weekend, including a midnight sing-along of Grease, complete with a drag re-enactment of “Summer Nights”. While both of our attempts to get cheap seats for Wicked failed miserably, I had a great time, and am looking forward to my next trip. Wonder when that’ll be…

At the Turn of the 80s

Posted by John on February 2, 2009
Posted in: charts, personal, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

I know I’ve touched on it in the past, but as I was growing up, I was exposed to a surprisingly diverse amount of music. The 70’s really came across to me as a melting pot of all types of music, churning around and creating new genres that hold up to this day. Where would hip-hop be without disco and soul? Where would modern rock be without prog rock? And where would pop music be without, well, everything else?

739581_170x170My mom’s vinyl collection probably seemed pretty pedestrian at the time, but to me, it was awe-inspiring. The Beatles, James Taylor, Electric Light Orchestra, Melanie (look THAT one up, kids), Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, and Barry White all populated my early musical education. Between those records and the AM transistor radio that used to hide under my pillow late at night, I became a sponge for pop music.

51dby2humwl_sl500_aa240_As the 70’s ended, and I was able to assert myself a little more on what music I would listen to, I stuck pretty close to the pop charts. First 45: it’s a tie between “The Rainbow Connection” and “The Devil Went Down To Georgia”. First LP: “Hi Infidelity”. Yeah…all over the place. I would listen to the American Top 40 every Sunday, and I would track the pop hits on index cards religiously. The lady at the Central Library in Syracuse must have known my voice when I would have to call and get chart positions I had missed that previous Sunday from the new issue of Billboard magazine. For the longest time, my most cherished possession was a vinyl copy of American Top 40 that I had won for sending in a postcard. I need to check to see if my mom still has that.

The radio wasn’t the only thing fueling my musical appetite, though. A show appeared on TV that changed my musical landscape forever: “Solid Gold”. [I know a few of you just groaned. Admit it.] To see the (supposedly) hottest hits of the week accompanied by interpretive dance blew my young mind. One that stood out in my mind was “Love on the Rocks” by Neil Diamond. I’m not sure why, other than is there any more appropriate way to hear that song than with half-naked women writhing on short pillars of varying heights? If there is, I can’t think of it.

One of the most successful artists of that period was Olivia Newton-John, and I was pretty intrigued by her music. There’s no doubt in my mind that, while I liked her 70’s music, she cemented it with “Physical”. That song went on to be one of the biggest songs of all time, but the song that sticks with me to this day is “Make A Move On Me” from the same CD. Here’s a video of Olivia performing the song on a Solid Gold-like show called “Superstar”. Don’t you just LOVE the pirate wear?

Video Do-Over

Posted by John on January 30, 2009
Posted in: music industry, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , . 7 Comments

A little over a year ago, I remember the mini-explosion of excitement as then reigning X-Factor winner Leona Lewis released her soon-to-be #1 single “Bleeding Love”. The video experienced some of the same troubles that Kelly Clarkson’s “My Life Would Suck Without You” has seen this week (video leaks, quickly yanked by YouTube), but people were eating it up. For those of you who never saw the British version, here ya go:

I made the mistake of commenting on a post about how it would only be a matter of time before the U.S. record company would decide to re-shoot the video, and you would have sworn that I had shot Leona’s dog and hung it out in the town square. You probably know where this is going, though. Four months later:

There’s actually a long line of “alternate” versions of videos, dating back to the early days of the video revolution. For example, can anyone say “relax, don’t do it?” Video #1 for Frankie Goes To Hollywood featured what can best be described as a leather bar/sex club setting. Fun for the whole family, eh?

A second Godley and Creme version popped up that was strictly performance, but played off the whole “laser beams” line in the song:

Version 3 was filmed by Brian DePalma in conjunction with the movie “Body Double”. Watch out for the up-and-coming starlet toward the end of the clip [corrected from original post]:

Finally, for those of us in America who came to the party late (no pun intended), there was this chaotic live performance that utilized just a brief amount of the original video at the very beginning:

So what inspired this post? Well, last year, the Ting Tings released the brilliant “We Started Nothing”, and a highlight for me was “That’s Not My Name”. Here’s the original video:

Fun video, but not much to it. Now that the Tings are making a full-court press at breaking the U.S. market, they’ve booked a club tour (Denver in April, yay!), and now they’ve completed one of the final components of success: a new video.

There are many of these alternate version videos along the highway of pop music history. What’s your favorite?

Idol Thoughts

Posted by John on January 28, 2009
Posted in: american idol, concerts, videos, youtube. Tagged: , , , , . 7 Comments

Multiple news items popped up on past Idols over the last few days, so here’s a quick round-up:

– Kelly Clarkson’s new video is supposed to premiere on tonight’s “Idol”, but it apparently has leaked ahead of it’s debut. No idea how long it’ll be up, so watch it while you can:

I know some folks have said that I’m hating on Kelly, and it’s not true. The song’s alright, and the video actually helps a bit. Kelly seems like she’s having fun…this is the Kelly that I fell for way back in Season 1. Let’s just hope the CD shows a little depth, and isn’t all Max Martin-ized.

chris_richardson_pout– If you can’t get enough of former Idols, Entertainment Weekly has an update gallery with contestants from the previous seven seasons. As you might expect, I was glad to read about Chris Richardson’s current status, even if it was to find out that he STILL doesn’t have a record deal for his long-time-coming debut CD.

”As much as you thought that there was going to be so many opportunities [after Idol], it almost seemed like doors were slowly closing.’

BTW, if you’re into the retro-R&B style, check out Melinda Doolittle’s CD, which drops next week. First single “It’s Your Love” is definitely a keeper, although I doubt it will ever see the light of day on pop radio.

david-cook-david-archuleta-today-show– Finally, the top 2 from last year’s Idol have both announced tour plans. Archie has 20 dates planned for mainly smaller theaters, while Cookie has an extensive college tour planned from February through April. Alas, no Colorado dates are planned. Yet. I’m sure this is just a minor oversight on the part of the promoter, and those dates are forthcoming.

Like It’s the End of the World

Posted by John on January 26, 2009
Posted in: reviews, videos, youtube. 6 Comments

I swear I had the best of intentions of posting the review of the Adele show, but then I came across the video clip below, and my heart melted and swelled, all in the span of 3 minutes and 30 seconds (thanks to Joe.My.God).

Matt Alber is a wonder. As in, “I wonder why he’s not a household name already?” Oh, wait…quality singers don’t become household names in the real world. I could sit here and type up a witty little bio, but how ’bout I just point you toward teh Interwebz for information, and talk more about why music like this matters. It must be touching people, because as I followed his Facebook links, I found two friends had already beaten me there.

mattalberstand72One of the things I hate more than anything else when reading critiques of new artists are the comparisons to other artists. Not necessarily because they are comparisons, but more because I didn’t come up with the comparison myself. [Competitive, anyone?] I read Rufus Wainright meets Duncan Sheik, and damn, if “Monarch” doesn’t fit that to a “T”, I don’t know what does. For me, Matt is a male version of kd lang, and I mean that as the highest compliment I can think of. There are more than a couple of parallels between Matt’s “Hide Nothing” and kd’s “Watershed”.

In a world where everyone is looking for a gimmick to make them stand out, isn’t it cool when the “gimmick” is the pureness of the message and the voice? For once, the gimmick isn’t that the artist is gay. Matt’s the real deal, and while he’s not singing mainstream pop songs, the melodies and lyrics found on “Hide Nothing” can appeal to a wide swath of the general public, if given the opportunity. The songs here touch on feelings of new love, dying love, and a range of emotions found somewhere in the details of a life lived as cautiously as it is recklessly. I’m torn on a favorite track, because the formula of “Monarch” is custom-built for my love of slow-building songs of optimism (with a banjo, to boot), but the unique arrangement of “End of the World” draws me back in over and over. So since I’ve already shared “End”, let’s close it out with “Monarch”.