You would think that with the collective damage that the Black Eyed Peas have done via their chart domination over the past six months, I would take a step back and avoid any BEP-related posts. Apparently, I am a glutton for punishment. Here is their new video for “Meet Me Halfway”, which finds our foursome on some kind of quest to find…eternity? Each other? L.A.? The solution to Rubik’s Cube? No clue, but the song is still one of my favorites for the year so far.
Two country-pop videos for you today. Video number one is a bonafide hit with a bizarre video to accompany it, courtesy of Carrie Underwood. She’s heading for the top of the country chart in no time at all, but honestly, what does this video have to do with a “Cowboy Casanova”?
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On a much more classy note, here is the newest video from Sugarland’s Life on the Inside entitled “Keep You”. The song follows in the footsteps of their massive hit “Stay” with a slow burn, but the video has a strong impact for a such a simple premise. One more example of how the right song combined with the right video can be magic.
When I decided to write up a review of the new Blake Lewis CD Heartbreak on Vinyl, I did so with a bit of hesitation. Not only do I know several people in the blogosphere will be looking at this release quite closely, but also because I really loved his debut CD, and no one likes to be disappointed, right? It’s not like I haven’t had a good idea of what is on the CD from the preview tracks “Binary Love”, “Heartbreak on Vinyl”, and current single “Sad Song”. The good news is that this record ups the dance quotient exponentially from Audio Day Dream, while holding onto the clever wordplay that helped ADD become a standout 2007 release.
I could rave about the title track for several paragraphs, but the first real standout track for me is “Freak”, which finds Blake flirting some authentic dancefloor beats that mix with a trance-like feel. “Rhythm of My Heart” goes straight for the 80s era synths with some beatbox scratching in the mix, and then “Afraid” comes back to 2009 with potentially the most radio-friendly track on the CD. While they are all dance tracks, each track has a distinct style. Having said that, the common denominator is the way that Blake takes the lyrics of each track and uses them to build the vibe of that particular songs. These are not songs where a melody is written first, and then the lyrics are written to fit that melody after the fact. The music, the beats, and the lyrics all come together to establish a mood that is greater than each individual part could do on its own.
Heartbreak, for all of the strengths, still has one glaring issue that slows down the middle of the disc. For me, the production on some tracks that sounds a bit amateurish. “Left My Baby For You” is a good example, where some of Blake’s repeated lyrics just sound flat and don’t really go anywhere. It’s like you are waiting for this great rollercoaster, and then your car goes down the first hill just as slow as it went up, even though you are waiting for top speed.
It wouldn’t be a Blake Lewis CD without a beatbox track, but on this disc, he keeps it to a one-minute track called “SuperScratchaVocalisticTurnatableLicious”, and it works because it’s just a quick vignette, and then we are back into the lyrical content. “Our Rapture of Love” is the first mellow song, reminding me of slower tracks on classic dance CDs like Kosheen’s first album, and then “The Point” steps a little bit away from the dance tracks, providing a vocal highlight for Blake. With all of the vocal acrobatics and beatboxing that Blake is capable of, it’s great to hear a track where he just sings, and sings well.
Overall, the CD is terrific. In a world where dance albums are often just a lot of filler to milk buyers looking for one killer jam, Heartbreak makes sure it doesn’t break your heart with inferior material. Blake kept his promise about the material being more love-related, but it’s not a sappy collection at all. In fact, the appropriate response to this kind of love is to hit the dancefloor and dance. Mission accomplished.
– If you haven’t done so already, check out the contest to win one of three Noisettes CDs. The winners will be announced this weekend.
– Current songs that sound really good on the radio: Alphabeat’s “The Spell”, which is up on Radio 1 in advance of its release on October 18th, and REALLY needs to see a US release; Britney’s “3”, which I heard coming out of David Guetta’s “Sexy Bitch”, making for a pretty impressive (and surprising) one-two punch; and Carrie Underwood’s “Cowboy Casanova”, which needs to see a pop radio push at some point in the near future. Even in its original form, it is incredibly catchy.
– Who decided that Crazy Frog needed a new album, let alone one that’s an exclusive to Wal-Mart? And how disturbing is it that “Cha Cha Slide” is among the tracks covered? Or “Last Christmas”? Thankfully, there aren’t samples on the website, or I might be typing wounded right now.
– Idolator has some detail on FTC regulations going into effect in December which will require bloggers to disclose anything that they have received from a third party that was utilized for writing a post. Many of you may recognize the unfairness of this, as TV, radio and newspapers have received promotional materials for years and don’t have to disclose this information. Between this, and a current law rolling through Congress that defines a protected journalistic source as someone that works and receives a paycheck for what they do (hence, no indy bloggers), the old establishment is doing everything it can to tie new media’s hands behind their backs.
So for the record, how many bloggers even collect a paycheck for what they do, let alone get freebies from a record label? Personally, I can count on one hand the number of times I have received promotional material from a label, and even then, I let them know point blank that I will not promote anything that I do not believe in. I can see the potential for a class-action lawsuit against the FTC on this, but when was the last time you paid money into the music blog lobbying fund? Yeah…me either.
– The new Usher? Good, but not great, although it’s a definite return to Confessions-style slowjams.
Sometimes the musical blogosphere seems a bit detached from the rest of the world, because we seem to operate with our own agenda and timetable, and that doesn’t always match up with reality. A few months ago, you would have sworn that the new Pet Shop Boys was released worldwide, but the reality of that was America saw a release several weeks after most other countries. So it seems a bit odd to me that we are looking at record companies pushing artists with buzz here in the U.S. that have been out elsewhere for a while now. Here are a few of the more interesting arrivals on American soil over the past few weeks. Make sure that you read through to the end for a cool little giveaway…
– Gary Go – So I RAVED about “Wonderful” when it came out. Amazing song, cool video, quirky artist, but where do you go from that? Well, in the case of Gary Go, you only get to #25 with the single and #22 with the full-length before you turn your attention to…America? Yeah, that’s not the typical model, but I have a feeling that it might work with Gary. This could actually help him out at home as well, because if the powers that be back at Decca see that he is become successful in the U.S., there will inevitably be a second push for Gary back in the U.K.
My initial reaction to tracks from the CD was not that great, but after having heard the full domestic release, I am hooked. Americans won’t necessarily recognize the Gary Barlow-like songwriting, but they will recognize the Coldplay-like song structure with a bit more of a personal touch. Besides, who couldn’t use a little uplifting these days, courtesy of “Wonderful”? Personally, I see the similarly-upbeat “Open Arms” making some bigger waves, but I really like the more mellow “Heart and Soul” and the elegant “Brooklyn”.
– La Roux – Oh, Elly Jackson. I am sure you mean well, with your punkish attitude and your mile-high hair. The public loves a polarizing figure sometimes if there is some redeeming quality. Unfortunately, at this moment, there really isn’t one for La Roux in the U.S. (released digitally this month), because while she may have an interesting persona, the music just isn’t where the American public is currently. It’s a really good CD…former #1 dance track “Bulletproof” will lodge itself into your head for hours at a time, and “In For the Kill”, despite certain frequencies of Elly’s voice, is a pretty classy electronic pop romp. The rough part for Elly and Co is that in order to crack the pop charts here in the States, you either need a sound that draws off of something that’s already been a hit, or something that is completely new, different, and impactful. I just don’t see this happening with anything on the current release, but hopefully they develop enough of an underground following that will sustain them through to their sophomore effort.
– Noisettes – I admit it…”Don’t Upset the Rhythm” was not an immediate hit with me. Despite all of the raving that was going on for the track, it just did not fully click with me. Fortunately, there was more to this trio from London than just an all-out funky jam (which is currently in the Top 5 of the Billboard Dance/Club Play chart). “Never Forget You” seeped into my brain, and has made regular appearances for the past month, making it a strong candidate for “Earworm of the Year”. If there is a track that can crack America, it is “Forget”, which has a bit of an Amy Winehouse vibe to it, but with a lot more 60s-era class. This is custom-made for the VH1 set, and it would only take one breakthrough performance on a show like Saturday Night Live (think Adele last year) to bring this album to the masses. Here’s hoping…
So speaking of bringing this record to the people, I have three copies of the Noisettes’ Wild Young Hearts to give away. All you have to do is leave a note in the comments section with a good reason I should send you a copy. Creativity and knowledge of the band don’t hurt the cause, and living in the US or Canada would be good as well, because that’s as far as we can ship at the moment. Good luck!
No, this isn’t a Hilary Duff flashback. This is a flashback to the mid-90s, when Toni Braxton ruled the Pop, Dance and R&B charts with hit after hit. She’s back after a few years away from the charts with “Yesterday”, her first single on Atlantic Records. At first listen, this song sounds like a lot of other songs that have been released over the past two years, and those comparisons are completely legit. But the song is a Toni Braxton song, and the vocals are 100% Toni. She’s not trying to sound like anyone else, because there isn’t anyone in the music game right now that can sound like Toni. The track is already Top 40 at Adult UC, and is rapidly climbing the R&B chart, so a pop crossover may not be that far-fetched. If ever there was a time where I would put money on a comeback, this is the one. What do you think?
You can pick up the single at her website. Rumor has it that the full-length is coming out sometime in early 2010.
I’ve linked to them a couple of times, but one of the best pop sites out on the Web at the moment is Idolator, which did a pretty brilliant breakdown of country pop from the 90s and today, leading up to Taylor Swift’s recent #1 pop airplay hit “You Belong To Me”. Granted, she got enough of an airplay bump off of Kanyegate to nudge the track up from what looked to be a #2 peak, but it still counts.
With all of the country artists that are crossing over these days (Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, and the Dixie Chicks, to name a few), it seems like you either take your country pop-ified, or you take it fully traditional (George Strait, Reba, Alan Jackson). That’s why a tour like Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley appeals to me. Here you have two guys that recognize where the music comes from and where it’s going, and they are able to honor both positions without seeming like a sellout or a fossil.
While Brad Paisley was the headliner, Dierks definitely has some pull with the country crowd, so they ended up with an opener for the opener by the name of Jimmy Wayne. I know Jimmy because of a song he recorded back in 2003 called “Stay Gone”, and around that time, I saw him in the parking lot of a Circuit City. Random, I know. Either way, I was glad to see that he’s getting a second chance at a career, because he had a long lull between hits, and that’s usually a kiss of death in the music business. Highlights of his set were “I Will” and his cover of “Sara Smile”, which he revealed he had finally gotten permission to record, and it will be the title of his next CD coming in November. It’s tough to do a lot with a half-hour set, but he definitely did his thing.
Up next was Dierks Bentley, who a lot of the ladies in the audience made a LOT of noise over. If you like your country artists tall, lanky and scruffy, he might fit the bill. His set was a good run-through of his big hits, and the crowd was with him from start to finish. The way he ran the stage reminded me of a Garth Brooks show from back in his heyday, but this set was about the music, and he definitely delivered. The one song I wanted to hear was “Settle for a Slowdown”, and I got it, but his acoustic take on “My Last Name” was pretty incredible. I think it’s only a matter of time until he’s headlining shows on his own based on the way he maximized 55 minutes of stage time.
Brad Paisley has had 24 singles off of 7 CDs, and only two have missed the Billboard Country Top 10 (reaching #12 and #18). Every one of those tracks has also charted on the Hot 100 as well, which is a pretty amazing feat, considering that Brad isn’t the most high-profile performer out there, and none of those songs got any pop airplay. So it’s a testament to him that he pulls in such a diverse fan base to his concerts. I credit a good chunk of it to songs that talk about real lives, not just the cliched topics of traditional country music. Online chatting, reality TV, fishing, love, heartbreak…okay, maybe the last three are more traditional, but you get the gist.
The pacing of the show was terrific, and he really did a great job of mixing up the vibe throughout, playing to the varied demographics in the audience. I was cracking up as Brad sang “Celebrity” while country artists like Dierks, Bill Anderson, and Taylor Swift (see, it all comes around) played Guitar Hero on the big screen behind him. For every all-out party anthem, there was a more restrained moment, like his recent #1 “Then”, and “Waitin’ on a Woman”, which got a couple of people around me a bit choked up with the Andy Griffith video playing out the lyrics. That’s where Brad’s strength is…he’s the guy at the barbeque who can move from group to group, instantly picking up on the conversation and contributing to it without being overbearing. It is a bit cliched, but he is the guy that guys want to be, and women want to be with. That’s an equation that just doesn’t get old.
Speaking of cliched, if I had one complaint about the show, it was the video montage that accompanied “When I Get Where I’m Going”. It’s great to pay tribute to those people that have passed on, and maybe it is more about my weariness with all of these celebrity deaths, but I really feel that “Going” is such a powerful song on its own, and means so much to so many, that it almost seems disrespectful to impose your own priorities of people who are missed on top of that moment. But having said that, the show as a whole was extremely enjoyable, and I wouldn’t hesitate to go back for another Brad Paisley show.
I was fortunate to catch two terrific concerts last weekend that helped reassure me that sometimes the music actually gets to do the talking in these days of slick publicity stunts and product placements on every commercial you can imagine. My review of the Brad Paisley concert will show up tomorrow, but I really want to talk about Mr. A-Z and his incredible show at Red Rocks Saturday night (check out the prelude here).
You never know how a venue and an artist will mesh until you really get into it, but I was pretty sure that Jason at Red Rocks would be a magical night, and I wasn’t disappointed at all. Just sitting there in the middle of those rocks, taking in the end-of-summer night with 9,000 other people, is an experience in itself. Don’t get me going on how some people have no courtesy for the people around them, but that’s the minority at a show like this. People are actually more likely to play along at a show like this when the person on the stage commands everyone to give the person next to them a high-five, which happened a couple of times.
My one condition in going to a show with someone is that I must be there to see the opening act, and this concert was a good reason why. I’ve heard about K’Naan on several occasions from Mel, and I have liked what I have heard of him, but his live show made me a convert to his Somalian-rooted music. You would never know that he played with only three musicians, because the sound they kicked out made them sound like a 10-piece unit. He won the audience over pretty quickly, even though the majority of people there didn’t even know one song by the guy. To his credit, K’Naan taught the crowd the chorus to “Wavin’ Flag” in record time, and for that alone, he has my respect.
Quick side note: Bushwalla. Annoying dude. I know he and Jason go way back, but still. He said he wanted this to be “the show you want it to be”, but then commanded people to play along with group participation activities. Just annoyed me a bit.
Jason’s set was brilliant. Do I need to say anymore? Okay…he opened up with “Make It Mine”, which is probably the most natural show-opening song I can think of, but also smart because the Gratitude Cafe tour name comes from that track as well. The pacing of the show was outstanding, with perky upbeat tracks leading into long, luxurious jams that floated on the early-evening breeze blowing through the amphitheater. In fact, his cover of Seals and Crofts’ “Summer Breeze” was as inspired a cover he could have played, even exceeding the somewhat predictable Bob Marley cover “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright”.
Highlight for me was “Details in the Fabric”, which is among my all-time favorite Mraz tracks, and not necessarily an audience pleaser, although a certain percentage of the audience sang along with me as if it was their anthem, too. “The Remedy” found a new life as a reggae jam, taking on a whole new meaning. It was great to have Jason playing the reggaed-up melody while the audience sang along with the original tune because they blended well. “I’m Yours” received the loudest reception, and the sing-along was potentially the loudest I’ve ever heard at Red Rocks.
Was the show worth seeing again, less than a year after my last JMraz show? Absolutely. Bigger venue, but there was an intimacy at Red Rocks that I can’t explain, even being 35 rows back. It’s all about the connection between the artist and the audience, although some magic in the Rocks sure doesn’t hurt, either.
The perkiest song of the year finally gets a video treatment, as Alphabeat’s website now has “The Spell” on infinite repeat. This isn’t high concept, and it doesn’t need to be, as the song does the work, and the band just fills in the fun. And while you’re at it, check out the rest of their revamped website.
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The single is out on October 19th, and the full-length arrives November 2nd. No word on when (or if) they will take a shot at making it big in the States, but here’s to giving it the old college try.
This is bad, real bad, Michael Jackson
Now I’m mad, real mad, Joe Jackson
So the fallout from Kanye’s award-crashing incident continues on, and it is not pretty. I intentionally stayed away from commenting on it because everyone else was doing that work for me, but I am noticing a few things about the criticism now that we are a few days away from the incident:
– Those who already disliked Kanye are REALLY piling on
– A lot of folks saying “I’m not a Taylor Swift fan, BUT…”
– A small percentage of the criticism has both racist and homophobic tones to it
However, a friend of mine in academia brought to my attention that there is a segment of the population that is not taking Taylor’s side, and is actually praising Kanye for what he said and did. Former students of his that are African-American males are taking up Kanye’s cause, saying that they are proud of him for speaking the truth. That was a bit of a shock to me, because nowhere in my sphere of contact with pop culture over the past 24 hours had I seen one voice outright defend Kanye.
This got me thinking about what other implications might be floating out there as a result of Kanye’s actions. First and foremost, the visual of Kanye pulling the mic away from Taylor will only fuel any racial hatred that some backwards white supremacists might feel, although I have no doubt that Kanye was not motivated by race. As a matter of fact, there almost seemed to be a moment up on the stage where the realization of what his actions must look like to America came across Kanye’s face. There is a good portion of the public opinion that keep echoing that Kanye is clearly not right in the head, and may still be suffering after the death of his mother. Most of all, Kanye’s ego comes up once again, as if he feels his opinion should override any award being given.
Part of why this whole situation pains me so much is that Kanye, for all of his faults, means well. Even in this outburst, I am sure he felt like he was righting a wrong inflicted upon Beyonce for not winning the award. He will always have some support from me because he is one of only a few rappers to speak out against homophobia in hip-hop, and he has suffered a good amount of character assassination as a result. Granted, some of that comes from his actions in other arenas, but being outspoken on social issues, combined with a good dose of metrosexual modeling, is a bad combination in the machismo-infused hip-hop community.
Having said this, it’s interesting to me that young black males are circling the wagons in support of Kanye, and I instantly go back to other flashpoint moments in the past 10 years or so where a prominent African-American was in the news. In the case of OJ Simpson, the division between black and white never seemed deeper. With Michael Jackson’s molestation case, he might as well have had extended family all over the country. This is a foreign concept to a lot of people, where “family” drama is kept as private as possible, and an icy divide is maintained between the offender and the rest of the clan to avoid any tainting. Within the African-American community, the appearance from the outside is “we have someone who messed up, but they are still family, and we will still support them.” Refreshing in some ways, perplexing in others.
Do we have a different standard for people of different ethnicities in how they are perceived in the media, and even in our own minds? Possibly. Until we as a society can step out of our neatly maintained boxes of cultural decorum and understand that other cultures handle situations in very different ways, we will never get over these cultural divides that keep us divided as a people. Sadly, this is not going to happen any time soon, especially if you look at how a minority of the American public view the President of our nation, simply because he has African ancestry.
Which brings up one more question in my mind: how much trouble will Obama have with the African-American community because he trashed Kanye (supposedly off the record)? There is a big risk that he may be perceived as an Uncle Tom by some because he is talking poorly of “one of his own.” The guy is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn’t.
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