Monday Musings

It is Monday morning and the mental fog is in full effect but with every sip of my coffee I can feel the fog lifting away and that my friends is a good thing. I watched the Grammys last night. Or to be clear I watched part of the Grammys and then I looked for clips online of the performances because, lets be honest, CBS really does suck and they do not know how to put on a decent live show to save their lives. The Grammys are a perfect example of that. They took a music show and rather then just show it live and let people enjoy all of the crazy and the power and emotion that live music can bring they put it on a two hour recorded tape delay on the west coast. Pretty lame CBS, pretty lame. That and boy does LL Cool J suck now. He has become the harmless friendly black man that CBS and old people just love. It makes me weep and long for the days of Chuck D and the anger of Public Enemy. It was a pretty pathetic effort from all concerned except for the bands that were actually performing and  CBS did all they could to mess that up as well.

We Float - PJ Harvey

I love what PJ Harvey does with music. I do not listen to her all of the time but when I do I always am happy that I did.

It isn't that I am surprised that CBS screwed the pooch on this one. They always seem to do it. But I am surprised that they even bother. Maybe they were afraid of competing with Downton Abby or something.

Make You Feel My Love - Adele

This is a beautiful song. Just lovely.

I know that I have been staying away from the typical these things suck all of the time posts but I felt like I had to at least mention the Grammys. I would have been doing a disservice to music in general if I tried to act like what happened last night was okay. Because it was not. It was just bad. But I am over it. What else is going on?

Summer Boy - Lady Gaga

Why was this song not a bigger hit? Odd. It seems to fit right in her style window. Though I could argue that this was written for Gwen Stefani. It sure sounds like it.

I went to the Wizard World Comic Con with my brother in Portland this weekend and it was fun. But it was interesting and far more about popular nerd and geek culture and being an obsessed fan then it was about comic books. I love television and movies but I am not going to pay upwards of $25 to say hello to a celebrity who is not going to remember who I am among the 500 other fans that they met that day. There were lots of people who seemed to love doing it and that is great for them but I just can't get excited about doing that. It is nice to see what those people look like in person as opposed to on the television or the movie screen. But other than that I do not care if they are there. I would much rather just get a book signed by the author or artist who drew it. I think my position is in the minority though.

My Weakness - Moby

Awesome song.

I did enjoy seeing the various cosplayers though. It is always fun to see the different costumes that people wear at such an event. Some people put some real effort into their costumes and others put in less. But that is the nature of things and sometimes ones passion overrides ones ability to actually create the item that they are trying to replicate. That being said. It was still very cool to see and made me wish that I was that passionate about some things in my life. I do not know what that would be though but I suppose how I feel about the Portland Timbers comes pretty close. I do dress up for the matches after all.

I Saw A Man - Johnny Cash

Believer or not, this is a good song..

That is it for today. Time to apply for some more jobs. Maybe I will be able to catch at least an interview, at this point getting an interview at least feels like success. Have a good Monday folks. Give your friends and family a hug and keep on dancing.

Musical Monday

I am not sure why, but I decided to bring you guys some music today from all of the singers of female persuasuion in my collection. I should say rather that I am going to try to if the internet gets better. So we shall see.

Americano - Lady Gaga

I have a fondness in my heart for pop music and dance pop is one of the things that I really do enjoy. I used to be a little ashamed of my taste in that kind of music but for me there are times when I really do just plain enjoy it. I like tapping my toes to the beat and basically dancing along. As far as Lady Gaga goes, I do think that she is kind of a freak but I also like her music. There is just something about it.

Damn - Katy Perry

I like Katy Perry and I honestly do not care who knows it. There is something to her music that I enjoy and it honestly has nothing to do with how she looks. Though I do think she is attractive. I like the sound of her voice and I like the way her songs are produced. I am not really a big fan of the marketed persona that she puts on. I think most of the modern pop singers anymore are almost as much actors as they are singers. They put on a face and a persona for the fans and the gossip websites and that is how they attract their fanbases. I suppose it is the same for the make singers as well, though I do not think that their sexuality is as tied up in it as it is for the women.

Some Kind of Woman - Stevie Nicks

Classic, classic music and Stevie Nicks put out some great solo work. I really do love her voice and can listen to her music pretty much anytime.

All The Boys Want - Emily Osment

The youngers sister of Haley Joel Osment from the Sixth Sense film. She was in Hannah Montana with Miley Cyrus and has since pursued an acting and singing career though her sound changed from the dance pop sound of this album to a more blue grass country sound with a new group called Ramshackle. I actually like her sound better like this then the new stuff.

That is it for me today folks. I hope you had a decent Veterans Day.

Monday Random Music Madness

Welcome back folks, I hope you all had a great weekend. Lets get the random started.

1: Lady Stardust - David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust - This song always brings a smile and good feelings. There is no song on Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars that I do not like. It is easily one of my favorite albums. Top 5 probably in my all time collection and number 2 in my list of favorite concept or rock operas. 

2: You & I - Lady Gaga - This is an artist that I was not on board with initially at all. I just felt like she was ripping off Madonna and not at all in a clever way. Well I am man enough to say, that after I actually sat down and listened to her whole albums and didn't read the press about her, but just let the music speak to me. I was wrong. I enjoy her music. I like the variety of it and I like the craftsmanship of her music. It works for me and I can understand why she has such a big following. I like this song as well. I like the chorus a lot. 

3: Peace Beneath The City - Iron & Wine - So good, I love to just close my eyes and let this music and the words wash over me. Not much else I can say. 

4: 3rd Planet - Modest Mouse - I suppose this is another band that I should be more familiar with. But I am not. I don't dislike them though this is not a song of theirs that I like all that much. It just doesn't connect with me. The music that I like the best hits me at a gut level an emotional center that can just fill me up.

5: Bubble Pop Electric - Gwen Stefani - I love this song. I like this whole album. I love her work with No Doubt but I really do enjoy her solo work and I hope that she does more of it. I am not a huge fan of techno dance music but there is something about what she is doing here that totally works for me.

There you go folks. I hope you enjoyed the little window into my music tastes and I will see you later. 

Ke$ha 'Warrior"

Well here goes nothing, I am giving the latest Ke$ha album a listen and I am not sure what to say. I need to be upfront and tell you that this is not my typical style of music at all. That isn't to say that I am against pop music, because I am not but I generally speaking do not choose to listen to this style of music if I am left to my own choices. That being said I sat down to listen to her latest album with an open mind. I honestly wanted to give it a fair listen and I believe I did just that.

The bottom line for me as far as this album goes is that I didn't hate it. I don't think it was great or amazing or earth shattering and I didn't think it was the worst album I had ever listened to either. But it just didn't do anything special for me. Their were two songs that actually made me really sit up and listen. One was 'Dirty Love' and it featured Iggy Pop. I will pretty much listen too anything with Iggy Pop in it at least once and I think that Iggy and The Stooges "Raw Power" is an amazing early punk album. So that being said I was a little surprised that he showed up on her album. Now both of these songs are NSFW unless you have some headphones on or work in a place that doesn't care like I used too.

Now if you got through it and are still with me. What did you think of that drum line? Or the guitar riff after that? Does it remind you of anything? It does me but I am unable to pin it down. It isn't that everything has to be totally original but it is nice if there is some originality. I give her points for getting Iggy to join her. But honestly is he even being used in a good way? I don't think so. It wouldn't surprise me if he just called that in using skype and then cashed his paycheck. Not that I would blame him. She probably paid good money.

The other song that got my attention was 'Gold Trans Am' all I can say is that it is the dirtiest Steve Miller song I have ever heard. Just nasty.

I will give some time to recover from that audio onslaught. I have some friends who I know like and listen to Steve Miller so I just hope that they listened and will take the time to let me know what they thought about this little gem. I can't say that I disliked it. It was kind of fun but it isn't something that I would listen to other then for the novelty of it.

So bottom as far as this album goes...if you like this kind of music and you like Ke$ha then this is just more of the same and you are going enjoy it. But as far as anything new or different it isn't and it is very much derivative of Lady Gaga or Katy Perry or any of the hot new lady singers that are heavily auto tuned. Though to be fair. Ke$ha is not as good as Lady Gaga or Katy Perry. I am not putting her down. I think that is just the reality of her as a performer.

Also on a side note, Rolling Stone gave her 3 and 1/2 stars and I can't tell from the review if that is being satirical or what? So for whatever it is worth. I believe that I liked this album less then the Rolling Stone reviewer whose name is Rob Sheffield. 

More Music (Lady Gaga)

I know that some of my readers can't stand her. But I actually enjoy her music. Not always and not everyday but there are times when I like to listen to dance music and she works for me. I also think that minus all of the sonic affects and visual craziness she has a really good voice and plays the piano very well. I am still not sure how much is stage craft and how much is her but that really doesn't matter. That being said. You are only getting a couple of videos and they will be live ones because her videos are already all over YouTube.

"Born This Way" (Live on SNL)



"Judas (Live on SNL)"



This is a parody of "Bad Romance" and I found it actually pretty amusing. It is by a group called The Key of Awesome! there is a little bit of profanity so put those ear buds in kids.

April 11th 2011 Music Monday

It is Music Monday lets get this party started. So lets get it going with a few tasty historical tidbits and then we will take a look at the charts as well.

1970-Paul McCartney announced a "temporary break with the Beatles". Peter Green announces that he will be leaving Fleetwood Mac.
1981-Eddie VanHalen marries Valerie Bertinelli. Also known as the day that VanHalen died as a band.
1983-R.E.M. releases their first album 'Murmur'.
1988-Cher wins Best Actress Oscar for 'Moonstruck'.
1990-Elton John plays at Ryan Whites funeral.
1994-Seattle,WA, coroner rules Kurt Cobain's death a suicide.
2000-No Doubt releases 'Return to Saturn'
2002-Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson get engaged.

And now off to the charts which in some ways is my favorite part of the blog. It is a little trip down memory lane and sometimes lets me find and remember some good artists that I had either forgotten about or had not even heard of. Lets look at number 1 singles.

1969- No. 1 Single Tommy Roe-'Dizzy' I thought this was interesting a song that I recognized once it began to play but I did not remember the title. It is pretty derivative of this era of music I think.



1979-No.1 Single Gloria Gaynor-'I Will Survive' I am not a big disco fan at all. But, this is a classic of the disco era and I can appreciate it for the power of Gloria's vocals.



1989-No. 1 Single Roxette-'The Look' This is a song that I think I may have heard just a little to often because I could not bring myself to really listen to the whole thing. It just does not work for me at all. But it is pretty typical of the late 80's.



1999-No. 1 Single TLC -'No Scrubs' Again this is not my favorite type of music but I kind of enjoy this song. I am not sure what I find enjoyable about it but I think the beat is catchy and it does touch on a real problem in society. That of gangs of young men driving around and yelling at ladies on the street. No Scrubs!! Lets keep it clean fellas.



2009-No. 1 Single Lady GaGa-'Poker Face' I had not realized that it has been two years since Lady GaGa burst onto the scene. While I enjoy this song, I really think that Lady GaGa is patently overrated. The majority of what she does is a pretty direct rip off of things that Madonna has done before. Now that isn't necessarily a bad thing because Madonna, early Madonna, was an amazingly talented artist. But lets be honest about it. Why act like she is some groundbreaking artist? She isn't. She is talented but come on. It isn't like she is doing anything new.



2010- No. 1 Single Rihanna-'Rude Boy' I really like this songs delicate and nuanced examination of love between a lady and a gentleman. The subtle nature of the discussion makes it possible to almost miss what Miss Rihanna is singing about but if you listen real close then I am sure that you can see the hidden meaning behind the music.



2011-No. 1 Single Katy Perry-'E.T.' ft. Kanye West. This song just works for me. The chorus and the bridge I always find myself just kind of toe tapping along. The video I do not think is anything special and I do not that Katy Perry is doing anything groundbreaking in her music. But I enjoy her music.



Well that is the countdown for this week. But after all of the dance tracks I really feel like I should let you guys do some pallet cleansing. So without further adieu I am going to leave you with this little gem.