1) Flo Rida - Whistle
2) Katy Perry - Wide Awake
3) Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe
4) Jason Aldean - Take A Little Ride
5) Fun. - Some Nights
6) P!nk - Blow Me
7) David Guetta and Sia - Titanium
8) Ellie Goulding - Lights
9) Cher Lloyd - Want U Back
10) Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time
Anther week down and I've managed to avoid listening to that Pink song. I know I should just for "journalistic" purposes, but I feel pretty good about it so far. I listen to a fair amount of top 40 radio thanks to my job, Elvis Duran and the Morning Show is sort of the standard morning show that people listen to where I work. I don't mind it, they're fun enough. The problem is that I don't listen to it on Z100 (WHTZ), their home station out of New York City, I live just out of their broadcast range, a more local station broadcasts at about the same frequency and pushes them out. So instead I listen on Max 106.3 (WHCY) out of Sussex NJ, which seems to be the most poorly run radio station of all time. They'll run their own promos directly over the Z100 promos read by the hosts, so you can't understand either of them. They'll play a song, but that won't line up with the Z100 feed, so they switch back halfway through another song. There's dead air, but more annoying is what they use when they know there will be dead air. They run announcements saying "The show will return in 2 minutes" or whatever over the soulful strains of "Mah-na Mah-na." That is way too much of that song. Enough about shoddy radio though.
As much as I try to ignore Flo Rida or just write him off as a hack, he keeps finding ways to make me have to pay attention to him. Radio is often significantly behind the charts, especially the iTunes charts so this song isn't really in full rotation yet. This song's about girls. You knew that ahead of time, it's a Flo Rida song, not some John Berryman Dream Song. The lyrics are kinda gross and delivered in the exact same way as every other Flo Rida song. The tempo's a little slower though, so I guess that counts as artistic growth.
The weird thing about the iTunes charts is how people like Jason Aldean can hang with the likes of David Guetta and Katy Perry. He's been wildly popular on the country scene for years now but you'd never hear him on top 40 radio. Country has long been the highest selling genre of music, Aldean has had multiple platinum albums, but still it's really the one type of music completely segregated from mainstream radio. For those wondering, it takes 27 seconds for the song to mention trucks.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
I Know I'm late to the Rayman Origins Party.
Well, it's that time of year again. The Steam Summer Sale is here for a limited time only. Steam is the most prominent platform for buying digital copies of PC games. They run big sales around most major holidays, but their most famous sale comes in the summer doldrums. There aren't many new games coming out, so they give you amazing deals slightly older games. I've spent about $40 and gotten a whole slew of games, so I'm super happy. One of those games was last year's Rayman Origins.
I had known that I wanted to play Rayman Origins for some time, but I thought the standard $60 price point seemed a little steep. I'm pretty sure that was the wrong call after playing it for about 3 hours. For those that don't know, it's the same type of game as the Super Mario Bros. games. You jump around from platform to platform, making hard jumps, avoiding or killing enemies along the way. The difference is instead of being weird and Japanese, it's weird and French. It's a great game, the controls are tight, it's fun and looks incredible. But I don't write video game reviews. The music, folks, is incredible.
Right off the bat, the opening cinematic lets you know what kind of music you're in for. It has Rayman, his oafish buddy Globox and a few little creatures called Teensies sleeping rhythmically in a tree known as "The Snoring Tree." The racket they create with their snoozing annoys something evil, so it tries to wake them up. This however, just makes them snooze in double time. It's rhythmic and awesome, much like the rest of the game.
But that only plays the first time you boot the game up. The every subsequent time you're treated to a barrage of mouth harp, didgeridoo (spell check helped a bunch with that one) and assorted bongos. It all adds up a to a quirky symphony that you just don't hear in video games or really anywhere else. I just turned up the volume on my computer and let that play while I made coffee this morning. It was the most rhythmic coffee I've ever had.
Most of the game is all ukuleles, strange percussion and gibberish singing. But, there's a level in the second world called "Best Original Score." They're not wrong. I'll admit, I'm a sucker for when something reminds me even a little bit of modern composer, Steve Reich. The backing track is all wooden xylophone and Drumming inspired drumming. Where you can really tell the composer listened to a lot of Reich is when the violin comes in for just a brief cameo that sounds like it's a sample lifted directly from Music For 18 Musicicians.
There's no denying that Rayman Origins is a great, great game. The music though might be the best music in a game this generation.
I had known that I wanted to play Rayman Origins for some time, but I thought the standard $60 price point seemed a little steep. I'm pretty sure that was the wrong call after playing it for about 3 hours. For those that don't know, it's the same type of game as the Super Mario Bros. games. You jump around from platform to platform, making hard jumps, avoiding or killing enemies along the way. The difference is instead of being weird and Japanese, it's weird and French. It's a great game, the controls are tight, it's fun and looks incredible. But I don't write video game reviews. The music, folks, is incredible.
Right off the bat, the opening cinematic lets you know what kind of music you're in for. It has Rayman, his oafish buddy Globox and a few little creatures called Teensies sleeping rhythmically in a tree known as "The Snoring Tree." The racket they create with their snoozing annoys something evil, so it tries to wake them up. This however, just makes them snooze in double time. It's rhythmic and awesome, much like the rest of the game.
But that only plays the first time you boot the game up. The every subsequent time you're treated to a barrage of mouth harp, didgeridoo (spell check helped a bunch with that one) and assorted bongos. It all adds up a to a quirky symphony that you just don't hear in video games or really anywhere else. I just turned up the volume on my computer and let that play while I made coffee this morning. It was the most rhythmic coffee I've ever had.
Most of the game is all ukuleles, strange percussion and gibberish singing. But, there's a level in the second world called "Best Original Score." They're not wrong. I'll admit, I'm a sucker for when something reminds me even a little bit of modern composer, Steve Reich. The backing track is all wooden xylophone and Drumming inspired drumming. Where you can really tell the composer listened to a lot of Reich is when the violin comes in for just a brief cameo that sounds like it's a sample lifted directly from Music For 18 Musicicians.
There's no denying that Rayman Origins is a great, great game. The music though might be the best music in a game this generation.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Top Of The iCharts 07/16
1) Katy Perry - Wide Awake
2) Flo Rida - Whistle
3) Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe
4) P!nk - Blow Me
5) David Guetta and Sia - Titanium
6) Wllie Goulding - Lights
7) Cher Lloyd - Want U Back
8) Fun. - Some Nights
9) Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time
10) Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know
I really don't want to listen to that P!nk song. I also don't want to type "Pink" that way anymore because it's annoying so I'm sticking with standard spelling. She's done nothing to deserve nonstandard characters in her name. I've never liked a Pink song. I think her attempts at party songs are annoying and her attempts at ballads are hokey and/or maudlin. What I hate more than anything is the way she throws around how edgy she is. She's a pop star, nothing more. She's not some badass because she has tattoos and dyes her hair or swears sometimes. Most people hear her songs on the radio anyway. No one hears that. In her most recent hit, she even said how normal people "don't get [her] hair." In 2010. If Max Martin helped write your song, there is no edge anywhere to be found, so just stop trying. Long story short, no I have not heard "Blow Me" so I have nothing to say about it. I'm going to try to avoid hearing "Blow Me" for as long as possible because... jeez. You named your song "Blow Me"? I guess I can't expect that much from the artist behind "U + Ur Hand".
I give up for today. There are other songs. New Fun. song. I like that one.
2) Flo Rida - Whistle
3) Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe
4) P!nk - Blow Me
5) David Guetta and Sia - Titanium
6) Wllie Goulding - Lights
7) Cher Lloyd - Want U Back
8) Fun. - Some Nights
9) Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time
10) Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know
I really don't want to listen to that P!nk song. I also don't want to type "Pink" that way anymore because it's annoying so I'm sticking with standard spelling. She's done nothing to deserve nonstandard characters in her name. I've never liked a Pink song. I think her attempts at party songs are annoying and her attempts at ballads are hokey and/or maudlin. What I hate more than anything is the way she throws around how edgy she is. She's a pop star, nothing more. She's not some badass because she has tattoos and dyes her hair or swears sometimes. Most people hear her songs on the radio anyway. No one hears that. In her most recent hit, she even said how normal people "don't get [her] hair." In 2010. If Max Martin helped write your song, there is no edge anywhere to be found, so just stop trying. Long story short, no I have not heard "Blow Me" so I have nothing to say about it. I'm going to try to avoid hearing "Blow Me" for as long as possible because... jeez. You named your song "Blow Me"? I guess I can't expect that much from the artist behind "U + Ur Hand".
I give up for today. There are other songs. New Fun. song. I like that one.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Albums Of The Week 7/13
Choice Of The Week
Dirty Projectors - Swing Lo Magellan
I guess you could call Dirty Projectors a pop band. But it sounds like pop from the mind of a maniac. None of the melodies are easy to sing along to, they meander seemingly aimlessly. They soar and nose dive at random. The guitars sometimes sound like they're being played back on an unreliable record player. All the chaos that is typical of The Dirty Projectors is here and more. My first experience with the band was 2009's Bitte Orca and I'm getting the feeling I should check out more of their stuff.
Doug Benson - Smug Life
Doug Benson is a great comic who loves marijuana. There are times, like on his podcast where he really leans into the fact that he's a great comic. On this album however, he really leans into the fact that he loves marijuana. He recorded the album on 4/20, as is his tradition and the premise is that he does his first show completely sober then the second show high as hell. It has its moments, but it's not the best Doug Benson you can get though.
Classic Pick:
David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
I haven't used my record player in a while but I recently bought a few things on vinyl so I cracked the lid for the first time in ages. Bowie's best album of the 70's is widely debatable, but this is my choice. It has some of my favorite Bowie songs ever. "Soul Love," "Starman" "Ziggy Stardust" they're all classics. And I own it on vinyl so that's where the first part of the story comes in.
I guess you could call Dirty Projectors a pop band. But it sounds like pop from the mind of a maniac. None of the melodies are easy to sing along to, they meander seemingly aimlessly. They soar and nose dive at random. The guitars sometimes sound like they're being played back on an unreliable record player. All the chaos that is typical of The Dirty Projectors is here and more. My first experience with the band was 2009's Bitte Orca and I'm getting the feeling I should check out more of their stuff.
Doug Benson is a great comic who loves marijuana. There are times, like on his podcast where he really leans into the fact that he's a great comic. On this album however, he really leans into the fact that he loves marijuana. He recorded the album on 4/20, as is his tradition and the premise is that he does his first show completely sober then the second show high as hell. It has its moments, but it's not the best Doug Benson you can get though.
Classic Pick:
I haven't used my record player in a while but I recently bought a few things on vinyl so I cracked the lid for the first time in ages. Bowie's best album of the 70's is widely debatable, but this is my choice. It has some of my favorite Bowie songs ever. "Soul Love," "Starman" "Ziggy Stardust" they're all classics. And I own it on vinyl so that's where the first part of the story comes in.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Look Back: Rick Springfield - Working Class Dog
Originally Released: February 24, 1981
Recently, I've become oddly infatuated with Jonathan Coulton's "Je Suis Rick Springfield." I don't exactly know why, but I heard it in passing one day and it sounded incredibly familiar. I honestly thought it was a cover, but in French. After doing a little research, I found out that it's just Jonathan Coulton being smarter, funnier and a better songwriter than anything I could ever dream of being. He just wrote a song that sounded so much like Rick Springfield that it had me completely fooled. And then did the song in French.
This song led me to think about Rick Springfield more than I thought I ever would, or should. Sure, I know and love "Jessie's Girl" and know him as one of those seminal 80's pop icons, but that's about it. I wanted to find out more, and decided to start with the album that has "Jessie's Girl" on it. I could have gone the easy route and picked a Greatest Hits album or The Essential Rick Springfield or something like that, but that's no fun. You can only really judge an artist by the strength of their album cuts, not just the singles. And I've had good luck going back to super popular albums from the '80s, like with She's So Unusual from Cyndi Lauper.
This album is not She's So Unusual in any sense, really. Whereas that album indulged in the very sense of the new wave in the '80s (tons of synths, wild fashion sense) none of that had really started in early 1981. Because of that, the album sounds more like a product of the '70s in some ways. Make no mistake though, this album, like Lauper's, is a pop album through and through. The hooks are big and catchy, the songs are breezy and fun. Only the last track, "Inside Silvia" goes significantly over the 3 minute mark. There are attempts to rock, but those are kept in check, any guitar solos are workmanlike at best.
What's amazing about this album is that the structure of the songs never changes until the very end of the album. The vocals are all Rick telling a little story in the verses, then in the choruses, the melody soars a bit and he's accompanied by a whole crew of backing vocals. Same with the guitars, usually staccato and palm muted in the verses then they open up in the chorus. Sometimes there's a solo, but like I said, those are unexciting at best. Even songs that do diverge a bit in the verses, like second wave of ska inspired verses of "Everybody's Girl" has a big wide open chorus with backing vocals and guitars getting a full strum every downbeat. It's sorta a neat trick that it's used to blatantly, but to pretty good effect. It might sound tedious, but when he breaks from the formula with "Red Hot & Blue Love," a bluesy track, that's when the album really starts to drag.
It's hard not to at least have a little love for this album. It's by no means perfect, but it has a lot of what I like from a pop album. The lyrics are occasionally pretty dark like I like. Take "Jessie's Girl" for example how Springfield has a little freakout in the pre-chorus when he sings "She's loving him with that body, I just know it." It's the kind of genuine insecurity that you don't see a lot in music these days. Especially from someone considered to be as handsome as Rick Springfield back in the day. "I've Done Everything For You" (a cover of a Sammy Hagar song) is Springfield complaining about how one sided his relationship is. It's another pretty great song.
For a pop album, there's a surprising amount of cohesion. Perhaps to a fault in the lack of structural variety, but it's a method that works. Maybe it's asking to much for an album like this to be completely interesting and surprising throughout. The ambitions may not be as high as with other albums, but what little it really strives for, it hits.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Top Of The iCharts 07/09
1) Katy Perry - Wide Awake
2) Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe
3) Flo Rida - Whistle
4) David Guetta & Sia - Titanium
5) Ellie Goulding - Lights
6) Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time
7) Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know
8) Maroon 5 - Payphone
9) Usher - Scream
10) Rihanna - Where Have You Been?
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe "Wide Awake" is actually a really good song. It's been climbing the iTunes charts for some time now and it's in the top slot currently. Maybe it's not boring, maybe the lyrics aren't as bad as I thought. It's possible that even though most Flo Rida songs sound exactly the same, the people keep clamoring for more. These songs are all over the radio, if you really want to hear "Somebody That I Used To Know" you can get it for free at least two or three times over the course of a normal day. Sure, the video to "Call Me Maybe" is really stupid, but it has millions upon millions of views on YouTube. Maybe I'm the one that's wrong about all of that.
But this isn't about me complaining about how people ingest their pop, it's about me writing about the pop itself. Owl City became super famous for "Fireflies," a catchy song with some of the worst lyrics on the radio. "Good Time" abandons the way too clever lyrics of "Fireflies" in favor of taking a controversial stance that partying is fun. "Hands up if you're down to get down tonight" sings that Owl City dude. "I woke up at twilight" sings the Call Me Maybe lady. This might as well be a Black Eyed Peas song. It's fine, I guess.
2) Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe
3) Flo Rida - Whistle
4) David Guetta & Sia - Titanium
5) Ellie Goulding - Lights
6) Owl City & Carly Rae Jepsen - Good Time
7) Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know
8) Maroon 5 - Payphone
9) Usher - Scream
10) Rihanna - Where Have You Been?
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe "Wide Awake" is actually a really good song. It's been climbing the iTunes charts for some time now and it's in the top slot currently. Maybe it's not boring, maybe the lyrics aren't as bad as I thought. It's possible that even though most Flo Rida songs sound exactly the same, the people keep clamoring for more. These songs are all over the radio, if you really want to hear "Somebody That I Used To Know" you can get it for free at least two or three times over the course of a normal day. Sure, the video to "Call Me Maybe" is really stupid, but it has millions upon millions of views on YouTube. Maybe I'm the one that's wrong about all of that.
But this isn't about me complaining about how people ingest their pop, it's about me writing about the pop itself. Owl City became super famous for "Fireflies," a catchy song with some of the worst lyrics on the radio. "Good Time" abandons the way too clever lyrics of "Fireflies" in favor of taking a controversial stance that partying is fun. "Hands up if you're down to get down tonight" sings that Owl City dude. "I woke up at twilight" sings the Call Me Maybe lady. This might as well be a Black Eyed Peas song. It's fine, I guess.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Songs For America!
It's the 4th of July here in America. I suppose it's that date in every country, now that I think about it. Or is it? I have no idea how the International Dateline works. Anyway, here in the USA, we like to celebrate out independence England by mimicking the explosions that set off the revolutionary war. And getting drunk and having those explosions cause the same kinds of injuries as in that war. So here are some songs to set off some illegal fireworks to while drinking watery domestic beer, grilling, and sweating.
Bruce Springsteen - 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
There are few acts more American than Bruce Springsteen. His songs tell stories of high aspirations that are destroyed by crippling depression and the weight of the real world. Just like the American dream. His America has always been a dour place full of broken homes and economic woes. Through it all, he always finds a way to have a good time though. Here, he sings about putting aside all his troubles and just watching the fireworks with his number one girl.
X - Fourth Of July
X is an odd band. They're from the first wave of punk back when people weren't really sure what to make of it yet. Mostly their songs are loud and obnoxious the way punk should be. This song however, is a country twinged pop song. It's a quick fun song until you listen to the lyrics which are about a relationship falling apart, but who cares? Fireworks are pretty.
The Rentals - Overlee
The Rentals to many people are just the side project of Matt Sharp, original bassist for the band Weezer. There was a time when I loved Weezer and would try to experience everything remotely related to them, sometimes it worked out great, like listening to The Rentals. The song is mostly about the singer crashing with an old girlfriend, but there's a line that goes "Let's step outside and make out on the 4th of July" and that's a great line, so I included it.
Watch the movie Canadian Bacon
I know, not a song, it's my blog I'll write what I want. Michael Moore is famed for his documentaries that take a hard look at the state of America with a humorous tone. They're usually sorta unreliable because they tend to be completely biased, but entertaining none the less. However, one day he decided to write a satirical farce about what would happen if America got into a war with Canada. It's a story of patriotism gone amok with a really weak 3rd act, but it's still damned entertaining. It stars the late, great John Candy, Rhea Perlman, Alan Alda and Kevin Pollack, so how could you go wrong? Also, it features a smattering of some great, patriotic music while we're at it. "God Bless America Again," "Ballad Of The Green Berets" and a rendition of "O Canada" that breaks out into a huge fight. Truly American.
Bruce Springsteen - 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
There are few acts more American than Bruce Springsteen. His songs tell stories of high aspirations that are destroyed by crippling depression and the weight of the real world. Just like the American dream. His America has always been a dour place full of broken homes and economic woes. Through it all, he always finds a way to have a good time though. Here, he sings about putting aside all his troubles and just watching the fireworks with his number one girl.
X - Fourth Of July
X is an odd band. They're from the first wave of punk back when people weren't really sure what to make of it yet. Mostly their songs are loud and obnoxious the way punk should be. This song however, is a country twinged pop song. It's a quick fun song until you listen to the lyrics which are about a relationship falling apart, but who cares? Fireworks are pretty.
The Rentals - Overlee
The Rentals to many people are just the side project of Matt Sharp, original bassist for the band Weezer. There was a time when I loved Weezer and would try to experience everything remotely related to them, sometimes it worked out great, like listening to The Rentals. The song is mostly about the singer crashing with an old girlfriend, but there's a line that goes "Let's step outside and make out on the 4th of July" and that's a great line, so I included it.
Watch the movie Canadian Bacon
I know, not a song, it's my blog I'll write what I want. Michael Moore is famed for his documentaries that take a hard look at the state of America with a humorous tone. They're usually sorta unreliable because they tend to be completely biased, but entertaining none the less. However, one day he decided to write a satirical farce about what would happen if America got into a war with Canada. It's a story of patriotism gone amok with a really weak 3rd act, but it's still damned entertaining. It stars the late, great John Candy, Rhea Perlman, Alan Alda and Kevin Pollack, so how could you go wrong? Also, it features a smattering of some great, patriotic music while we're at it. "God Bless America Again," "Ballad Of The Green Berets" and a rendition of "O Canada" that breaks out into a huge fight. Truly American.
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