When I’m alive, I gotta divide four songs

That and other statements clarified below.

KKCK:

David Guetta w/Kelly Rowland “When Love Takes Over”
What was the last dance track, non hip hop/rap division, that we had on?  Cascada?  Ian Van Dahl?  Darude?  Real McCoy?  Rednex?  Okay, maybe I went back a bit to far there.  Hopefully this track gives Kelly Rowland the shot in the arm her post-Destiny’s Child career needs.  To me, she’s always been the most under-rated member of that group. 

Metric “Help, I’m Alive”
This band is selling CDs like crazy in their native Canada, but not so much in the states yet.  Most Canadian artists do quite well on KKCK, so why not give them a shot?  Emily Haines has one of those voices I’d follow off a cliff, much like Fiona Apple or Becca from Rebels Victorious.  This could be a sleeper hit for us, or a non-event.  Our listeners are hard to predict when it comes to bands like this.

Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling”
Imagine the most average sounding Black Eyed Peas song possible.  Or, listen to this one.  Why play it then?  These days B.E.P. can toss radio whatever and it will go top ten.  Yet some of their pre-Fergie tracks, like “Weekends”, remain in obscurity.

Linkin Park “New Divide”
I could say the same thing about this track, but it’s a bit above average for a Linkin Park song of the slower variety.  Plus, it’s tied into the new Transformers film, which means it should shoot up the charts fast, and disappear the weekend after the movie opens.

Pick to click: David Guetta w/Kelly Rowland

We’ve had a bit of a switcharoo at work on some shifts.  The biggest change for me was the sudden addition of 10 to 2 PM on our rock station, KARZ.  KARZ and I have had a long and complicated history, going back to her days as KBJJ.  Sitting in here for my prod time, hearing the liners and music, is really putting me in a bad mood.  In the past, every time I’ve been entrusted with something meaningful on KARZ, it has been taken away from me.  In the weeks leading up to the change, I’ve been trying to brainstorm and think of things I can do, but in the end I threw up my hands and said “what’s the point?”.  Granted, this new shift has also taken away my usual time working on commercials while listening to my iPod, and that might be part of the adjustment process as well.  It might be that the music reminds me of my younger days, and not always in good ways.  Whatever the  myriad of reasons, I’ll keep doing the shift.  I’m a team player, and right now I’m the best person available at those times to do the show.  Meanwhile on KKCK, the two shows before mine are now two-headed shows.  Yesterday I debuted my new “co-host”, Mr. Head Phone Bag.  He was a bit negative, but he might be able to get away with saying things ordinarily I couldn’t.  It would seem my show is pretty set where it is no matter what, so I’ve decided to ratchet up the silly/ridiculous factor.  We’ll see how that treats me.

Last weekend was spent in Rochester rollin’ dice and reminiscing.  I finally had the opportunity to play Settlers of Catan, and I’m sold.  I would play that every day if I could, and I might have to get the computer version pretty soon.  I didn’t think a board game could mix cooperation and competition that well, but it worked great.  Even my friend Biff, who is no board game fan, loved it (and almost won the second one).  The weekend in RPGing went a bit non-traditional.  After running it on and off for years, I was finally a player in our ongoing (but dormant for years) G.I. Joe scenario.  We use the Palladium system, but if there’s a better system for running a modern army setting I’d switch.  Palladium is great, but new characters take so long to make.  Saturday night we couldn’t decide what to do, so I took charge and ran the Decipher Star Trek game.  Normally I’d run Marvel or Boot Hill, but my mental well for super heroes and the old west is pretty dry.  However, I’m overflowing with Star Trek ideas.  I think it went pretty well, and I might go with it again next time, if my DMing skills are requested.  Overall the weekend was super great, but I was seriously missing the family while I was there, especially before sleeping and on the long drive home.

Speaking of the family, things are going good.  We’ll find out tomorrow if Braeden can stop using his apnea monitor.  Since we’ve had one alarm since March, I think we’re going to be good.  He’s gotten so good at standing up, especially in his crib.  When he lets us know he wants to get up, we can always expect to find him standing and watching the door for when we come in.  Lately, he’s even started to sleep in that corner of the crib.  He’s currently sporting a scratch on his face from Logan, but a cat can only take so much before he gets annoyed, even Logan.  Kate has been doing pretty well.  Her knee is still bothering her, but we’re getting a second opinion on it tomorrow. 

Right now, I’m in the middle of the new Phoenix album.  So far, I’m thinking it’s a keeper.

A solo singer, a duo, and a four piece. What’s missing?

The number three!  Oddly enough, we have three new songs this week.

KKCK:

Jordin Sparks “Battlefield”
This song is in no way a remake of Pat Benetar’s “Love is a Battlefield”.  I wonder why no one remakes Pat Benetar songs?  I can’t remember any recent hit song that was a cover of Pat Benetar, although numerous other 80s artists have been covered, and some very successfully.  I think Jordin could easily have done that song, or maybe “Shadows of the Night”.  Anyway, this new “Battlefield” song is pretty average as far as pop ballads go.  Jordin kind of goes for it on the chorus, but I think she held back, probably at the suggestion of the producer.  That’s not how I would have gone, but I’m not a record producer.

The Fray “Never Say Never”
Remember the first Fray album’s first two singles?  We all thought “Over My Head” was mellow piano rock until the next single made it sound like a bawlz out rocker.  While their new album took everything The Fray was and amped it up, they relapse into a similar single pattern.  “Never Say Never” takes the tempo down a notch in hopes of scoring with the same crowd that shrugged at “Over My Head” but lapped up “How to Save a Life”.  Will the same thing happen on album number three?  If it does, I think we’ve found the Hot AC version of AC/DC, which isn’t a bad thing.

MGMT “Kids”
While I’m happy to see another single from these guys, I was hoping it would have been “Electric Feel”.  Now THAT is one funky jam.  “Kids” is weird but only as weird as “Time to Pretend”.  “Electric Feel” might have been a bit too out there. 

Pick to click: The Fray

Last night I went to Terminator Salvation.  It was better than T3, but not by much.  McG should stick to Charlie’s Angels movies.  If there’s a movie franchise I can list as a “guilty pleasure”, it’s the Charlie’s Angels one.  Hopefully Drew isn’t stringing me along with those rumors that she wants to do a 3rd one.

The new Tori Amos CD was decent.  It wasn’t as adventurous as her last, but it does what it does well, which is sound like a Tori CD.  I’m still hoping to pick up the new Carbon Leaf soon.  I never thought a Rooney song would get stuck in my head, but their theme song for “Iron Man: Armored Adventures” is way catchy.

Speaking of “Iron Man: Armored Adventures”, has there ever been a better point in time for comics-inspired cartoons?  “Iron Man: Armored Adventures” is really winning me over.  “Wolverine and the X-Men” might be the best X-related series ever.  “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” has somehow made a fun Batman show without making Batman himself a campy character.  New episodes of “Spectacular Spider-Man” start up in a month or so, and that show is arguably the best Spider-Man show ever made.  I can’t think of the last time that many good comic-inspired shows were on at once.  The early 90s came close, but I don’t think the old Fox versions of “Spider-Man” and “X-Men” hold up as well, and the first season of “Iron Man/Fantastic Four” was awful.  Luckily “The Tick” made up for that.

Braeden is close to walking!  It’s crazy to see him starting to stand on his own.  Even though it is way earlier than I’d like, it’s always a treat to find him standing up in his crib, waiting for somebody to free him for the day.  He’s been such a happier baby since he started being able to get around and do some things himself.  I’ve never understood why parents said “they grow up so fast” until now.  Just thinking about the last eight months makes my head swim.  Even after saying that, I wish he’d grow a bit faster.  I have so many games to teach him, cartoons to share with him, and action figures that need more action.  I was going to sell all my old Toy Biz figures on eBay, but now I think I’ll save them to see if he takes an interest in super-heroes.  I have a mostly complete collection of the Transformers “Robot Heroes” and G.I. Joe “Combat Heroes” still in their packaging, but I’ve told Braeden on several occasions that when he’s three he can open them all up if he wants to.

This past weekend we spent a chunk of the weekend with Kate’s family in Iowa.  I had a good time like I always do, but I always feel out of place.  They’re very outdoorsy, and I’m not.  The odd thing is, I could have been that way if my dad hadn’t passed away.  He was a big-time hunter and fisherman, while my mom and step dad were only into fishing (something I have no skill at whatsoever).  I know Kate’s family wants him to get involved with all of that, and I don’t have a problem with it.  It’s just I don’t know how into it I’ll be, and I hope that doesn’t color how he feels about it. 

I think this is a good place to stop.  Have a great rest o’ the May.

Six songs strike again!

Will the horror ever end?

KKCK:

Pop Evil “100 in a 55″
The name of this band might sound odd on a pop station, but this rock ballad is right out of “Rock Ballad 101″ final exams, and it’s an A+.  If more CHRs jump on this, it’s a career changer for them.

Keri Hilson w/Ne-Yo & Kanye West “Knock You Down”
I’m still not blown away by Keri Hilson’s voice, but adding Ne-Yo AND Kanye West?  That makes the song hard to ignore.  I will admit to liking this song.  Well, I admit to liking the Kanye parts.

Taking Back Sunday “Sink Into Me”
Way back when, KKCK gave TBS a shot with “Make Damn Sure”.  They’re back with their “new” sound, which is their old sound after a Red Bull or two.  I think the song is missing a loud “WOO” in one spot, but then it really wouldn’t be a TBS song.

Franz Ferdinand “No You Girls”
I thought “Lucid Dreams” would continue our tradition (so far) of playing the lead single from every Franz album.  Somewhere along the line, “Lucid Dreams” got a lot longer and weirder.  “Ulysses” was the next single, but it really didn’t grab me.  As luck would have it, “No You Girls” is now the “official” first single that’s really the third, so we’ll take it with an asterisk.  I don’t think this song is as good as the original mix of “Lucid Dreams” (the new version sounds really keen on headphones), but it is a better single than “Ulysses”. 

Jonas Brothers “Paranoid”
So, this is new, “more mature” sound of the Jo-Bros.  Less vocal harmony = mature?   

D.K. “Gettin’ to the Guap”
This rapper is currently residing in our fair city of Marshall, and he was kind enough to drop off some home recordings.  I read an article a few days ago about how home recording studios are putting big time studios out of business, and his stuff only strengthens that argument.  He’s won over our listeners, and hopefully we can help him win over a few more.  He has this song and others posted at his MySpace site.

Pick to click: Pop Evil

Marshall has been stupid hot and windy lately.  I’m not a fan.  Luckily, we’re back to room temperature outdoors as of tomorrow.

Knight Rider and Terminator: TSCC are dunzo.  The only show I’m tempted to pick up in the fall is the “V” revival, but barely. 

Things in my hood are 98 % good.  The other two per cent is just random crap in my head.  I’ve had some weird bouts of nostalgia lately.  I’d almost call them “trivial regrets”.  Once or twice a day I randomly remember something that happened in the past that I wish I’d handled/done differently, but it’s usually something that has had zero to .5 % impact on my life.  I’m a big believer in the “no regrets” philosophy of life, but my brain likes to rebel on that sometimes.  It just picks weird ways to do battle. 

Kate has been better, but she’s a real trooper.  She’s had a few migraines of late, and now her surgically repaired knee is looking more and more like a malpractice suit in the making.  Then yesterday she threw out her back something fierce.  It isn’t helping that Braeden is entering his “touch everything I’m not supposed to” phase.  Braeden met up with some of Darth Vader’s finest in Sioux Fallsrecently, which was a blast.  He’s also entering a phase a friend of mine’s son went through that he called “baby bonk”.  To Braeden’s credit, he’s inherited his mom’s hard head. 

What I’m hearing about the new Green Day album seems to be a lot of “meh”, and I’m inclined to agree to a certain extent.  Following up what most people consider a landmark album is always tough.  I think they shouldn’t have rushed it out for the summer.  Some of the album sounds like it has great potential, but overall it seems lacking something.  If this was the follow up to any of their other albums, maybe the conversation would be different.  A big disappointment for me was the new advance copy of the new Elvis Costello.  The album never got out of first gear, so if you like your Costello music on the slow side only, maybe give it a spin or two.  I haven’t listened to the new Tori Amos yet, but I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.

Terminator: Salvation opens this weekend.  I’m hoping to see it sometime soon, but it might get pushed back to next week.  Hopefully I’ll find time to watch T2 again sometime before then.  Why not T3?  I’m still hoping that if I keep ignoring that one it won’t exist.

I’d type more, but I’d like to hit my 5 PM self-imposed deadline for once.

Four songs just beat the midnight deadline

Hey, I had about a half hour to spare.

KKCK:

Sean Kingston “Fire Burning”
Every time Sean Kingston has a new song, I think it will be the one I can’t stand.  Once I spent some time with this song, I knew that this wasn’t that song.  In fact, this one is a bit more fun that anything we’ve played from him.

Incubus “Black Heart Inertia”
This new song hasn’t gotten much CHR love yet, but it will.  Even if it doesn’t, our track record with slower Incubus songs is pretty good.  Dare I say stellar?  Bad puns aside, I really think this one could be a big hit for them.  As their last hit (a two year old song that was never a single) can attest, radio will play Incubus if the song is slow and good.  I predict this will be a song I’m totally sick of in a few months.

Daughtry “No Surprise”
In this line of work, there’s an unwritten rule that CHR jocks should watch and/or care about American Idol.  This is a rule I often break, which leaves me out of the loop until there’s a winner, or until somebody who was on the show hits the right formula.  ChrisDaughtry found that formula pretty quickly.  The guy has pipes, but after hearing one power pop rock track after another come down the pipe from him, I’ve had my fill.  I’ll give this song some props for taking a few chances, but in the end the sum of the parts equals more of the same fromDaughtry.  If you like him, then you’re set.  If not, there’s always…

People in Planes “Last Man Standing”
If there’s one thing our old MD could do like no other, he could spot a song that could cross-over from quite a distance.  That is something I need to work on.  Until then, I’m forced to go with my gut and with the data I have.  That combination led me to give this Welsh alt-rock band a go.  It stands out without sounding too out of place.  Will it work for us?  Hard to say, but the data looks promising, and my gut and ears tell me it could be a real sleeper.

Pick to click: Sean Kingston

Once upon a time there was a radio message board where there were all kinds of slap fights and flame wars about KKCK and KKLS (Sioux Falls CHR, in case you don’t know).  That board died and went away, but another message board came along, and from time to time some of those old wars of words come back up.  Now, on the old message board, I actually got involved from time to time in theseonline arguments.  Since the new site started, I’ve stayed out of the once-a-year online blah-blah.  Now, the old wars of words are back on again, and I’m more tempted than I’ve been in a while to hop on and throw down, but I haven’t.  Judging by the anonymousposting , it’s the same person who used to start all this crap back on the old board.  Whoever he/she/it is, they have one hell of a grudge againstKKCK for doing our music the way we do.  Part of me wants to defend us, and the other part of me wants to correct some errors that are just annoying (they’re puttin’ songs in we’ve never played).  I’ll probably continue to stay out of it.  That’s the prudent thing to do, right?

The blog tonight is a bit late because work was really long today.  Normally I can find enough spare time to bang this out, but today it was wall to wall prod, clients, and other stuff.  Thursday should be a better day all around.

Kate and I are pretty booked for the next few weekends.  If all goes according to plan, I’ll be in Sioux Falls Saturday, Iowa next weekend, and Rochester the weekend after that.  I’m looking forward to each trip, but for totally different reasons.  I don’t think we’re travelling much in June, so in a way that will be nice.

Braeden is doing well.  He’s pulling himself up and you can see he’s only one or two leaps of logic and faith away from walking.  He’s gotten to be pretty smiley around the house, and like his dad he’s a bit shy around strangers.  Kate has been good, other than her knee bothering her.  Hopefully switching hospitals will help in that department.  I passed the “first mother’s day” test, even though she can tell me all she wants there is no such thing.

Everybody is asking what I thought of Star Trek, so here goes.  I liked it, but I wasn’t blown away by it.  After hearing about how it was “not your father’s Trek” and all that noise, I went in expecting something that was more akin to JasonStatham than James Kirk.  I found a few parts a bit slow, which shocked the person I went with. Acting wise, all of the new crew members were great.  I’d say there wasn’t a poor performance in the movie by anyone.The science angle of the movie was a bit shaky, but that can be called a nitpick, since this movie was made for mass consumption and not the same people who can rattle off the reason Kirk/Picard/Sisko/Janeway/Archer (there have to be a few Archer fans out there) is the best Captain.  I did enjoy the passing mention of “Admiral Archer” in the movie, and I had to chuckle that “Enterprise” is the one show totally unaffected by this reset of the Trek universe.  The one thing the movie missed was the old show’s true intent.  “Star Trek”, when it was on top of its game, was a mirror that reflected current society into a prism and presented it in a way that was entertaining, futuristic, and thoughtful.  There were a lot ofmorality plays and tough questions asked on the old show, but there were also episodes like “The Trouble with Tribbles “, “The Savage Curtain” (space Lincoln!), and “Spock’s Brain” (dear lord that episode is bad).  The new movie amps up the entertainment value, but Trek goes from being a prism to being a TV screen: just watch and don’tover think it.  I think there’s a place in Trek for that kind of a story, but I’m used to Trek being so much more than that.

If I want mindless, check your brain action, I’ll be good this year.  I’m psyched for Terminator: Salvation, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Have a good rest of the week.

Todays songs: Smashes, Thrashes, Hits, Double, Platinum

You can assign those words to these five songs at your leisure.

KKCK:

Lady Gaga “Lovegame”
What the heck is a disco stick?  Is that like a disco ball?  Lady Gaga talks a big game again.  From what I’ve seen in music news, she doen’t just talk about-she be’s about it.  Is that how I should type that?  “bees about it” is wrong but looks funnier.  Ms. Gaga can do no wrong of late, and this song should do almost as well as the first two, but since she didn’t go to a ballad I think it will only get to the top ten before fizzling.  It isn’t that edgy of a song, but compared to her other two it’s a bit risque.

Madcon “Beggin”
If ever there was a song that reminded me of a lot of other artists without sounding like any of them, this is the song.  This song has already been huge around the world, and I can tell why.  It’s very catchy, bouncy, and it walks the tightrope of sounding both original and at home with CHR and Urban formats.  If this song gets the chance, it could be one of this year’s big hits.

All-American Rejects “The Wind Blows”
Man, does this song sound like an 80s power ballad in the beginning.  I’m talkin’ Toto, REO, or “Drive” by the Cars power ballad.  It’s uncanny.  I’m not just saying that because when I run errands on the weekend with Braeden, I pop in some 80s mix CD I made to sing along to.  That has nothing to do with this.  My singing along just keeps him from crying, probably because he hopes that if he’s quiet no other kids will see him in the car with me.  Anyway, AAR get a bit more melodramatic on this one compared to “It Ends Tonight”, for better or worse.  If AAR was an 80s band, this song could have gotten them a sweet co-headlining gig with Night Ranger.

Tinted Windows “Kind of a Girl”
This Voltron of a band (Taylor Hanson-Hanson, James Iha-ex Smashing Pumpkins, Adam SchlonglastnameIcannotspell-Fountains of Wayne, Bun E. Carlos-Cheap Trick!) unite to take us back to the disposable power pop of the mid to late 90s.  Does that make this band the ultimate act of musical recycling?  It’s too happy to be a Pumpkins song, too fast for a Fountains of Wayne song, too tame for a Cheap Trick song, and too hip sounding to be a Hanson song.  In the end, the song probably won’t stand the test of time, but for a time it should be a fun song to have around.

The Ting Tings “That’s Not My Name”
I like the Ting Tings.  I like this song.  However, this song also makes me (and possibly other music selectors) frustrated.  See, on CHR we try to play the mythical “top 40″ songs in the land.  Sometimes, a song will slowly inch into the 31-40 range.  It hangs out there, barely moving, for a while.  This song has been hanging around in that range moving slowly upward at a snail’s pace.  Fast moving songs can move several hundred spins a week (maybe over a thousand) but this song is one of those that moves up anywhere between ten and fifty spins a week.  Other songs are passing it (up and down).  Sometimes a song like this can lose spins and move up, or gain spins and move down.  KKCK has never been married to the notion of just playing the “top 40″, because that’s how we’ve always rolled.  I didn’t hesitate on this song because of the artist (we played “Great DJ” and “Shut Up and Let Me Go” when they were singles).  I hesitated because I kept thinking “I’ll add it this week and then it will tank.”  After four weeks of inch-worming up the chart, I decided to throw it in our light category.  I hope you enjoyed that look int

Pick to click: AAR

Kate has been on my case to go to a doctor for some time now, and in the last few months she wore me down to the point of going.  I had a physical, which went fine.  The thing was that that hospital didn’t do any blood-work.  So, I decided to have it done here in Marshall.  The results came back on Tuesday, and I was braced for the cholesterol speech.  Instead, I found out I had a hand-me-down defect.  My thyroid isn’t working to full capacity, so I started hypothyroid medication today.  I felt a bit energetic and goofy like my mom did when she started it, but I’m pretty sure that was all in my head.  My head did feel weird today.  I could swear I almost felt synapses starting to fire again.  The last few months, I’ve had a really hard time focusing sometimes, which turns out to be a symptom of hypothyroid.  I looked over the list of possible symptoms, and about the only one I didn’t have to some degree was…more a female thing.  I’m excited to see how things are in a few weeks when they start to “kick in”, and a few months from now when things will be totally back to normal.

Things around my neck of the woods otherwise are pretty good.  I just wrote out my mother’s day card about two hours ago.  Writing a mother’s day card now that I’m a parent was really different.  I wound up apologizing for being difficult and gushing about how much my mother means to me.  Sometimes she gets depressed and wonders if she was a good mother at all.  I know that isn’t the case, so I really need to work harder on making sure she knows she was.

So, with BSG, Knight Rider, and Terminator gone, I’ll be writing a lot less about TV.  The only things on TV I really enjoy now are either cartoons, 30 Rock, faux news from Comedy Central, and Craig Ferguson’s show.  Since Craig is on five days a week, that’s more than enough to watch.  I’m hoping to find more time to read and write once Braeden finally gets into a routine.  He’s still refusing to sleep through the night, which is a trait I passed on to him.

Back in the days of yore, I was a big time Kiss fan.  I drove to Sioux Falls on icy roads to see them on the Revenge Tour.  I stuck up for them in various rock arguments.  I pre-ordered their action figures.  Sometime around the second or third farewell tour and the umpteenth greatest hits album, I was done.  I quit them cold turkey.  I still had a spot in my life for Revenge, but anything else by them was nothing I wanted to hear ever again.  I had imagined them in my mind to be a band that cared about music a certain way, but I was living in some kind of naive fantasy land about that.  Recently, for some reason or another, I was feeling nostalgic for Kiss.  I’d bought Double Platinum with birthday money in high school, and I’d almost worn them out.  I noticed the CD at work years ago, and last night I brought it home and ripped it into my computer.  Today at work I gave it a listen (along with the songs on Smashes, Thrashes and Hits that aren’t on Double Platinum) and it was like they’d never left my music library.  My inner Kiss fan and I are now at an understanding, which actually makes me happier than it should.  However, this doesn’t mean I’m picking up the new album that Gene and Paul are working on.  At least, not until I hear a song or two off it.

Question on my mind: are you for or against Monopoly with the debit card reader?  It speeds things up, but at the same time I like having my unorganized stack of bills in front of me.  How will our young board game players learn to make change if they don’t get stuck being the banker once in a while?

Six songs? Who do I complain to about all this?

Durrrrr…

KKCK:

Pitbull “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)”
Most of what I’d heard from Pitbull in the past was very…how shall I say this…yell-centric?  Yelly?  How about…if Pitbull was a blogger he’d TYPE IN ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME.  At least, that’s the stuff I’d heard.  When I clicked on this track, I was braced for that.  Instead, I hear an incredibly poppy, bouncy track.  I was literally dumbfounded.  Yesterday the song came on my wife’s car stereo, and I found myself really getting into it.  Perhaps I’ve misjudged Mr. Pitbull. 

Kristinia DeBarge “Goodbye”
Rather than actually do a mash up, this song is a new song written on top of an old one.  At least, that’s how I’d describe it.  The chorus brings back the familiar “na-na-na-na hey-hey-hey goodbye” line, while the verses feature Kristinia’s very confident vocals.  She has the genes to stick around, but only time will tell if she will.  Getting a hit with a gimmicky song often ends without too many other hits.

Jessie James “Wanted”
Based on the emails from her label, and the CD cover, and all the promotion, I’d think we were adding her due to her being extremely easy on the eyes.  Did it work?  The song is trending well, and the sound is akin to some kind of Katy Perry sass and energy with a hint of an almost Sheryl Crow roots rock sound.  Her voice sounds like somebody else I can’t think of.  I’d guess she’ll have a modest hit with this, but I’m not sold on long term potential without hearing more.  If it’s any consolation, I think her voice would work well on Country, so if the pop thing doesn’t work out she can always switch over.  It worked for Darius Rucker and Michelle Branch.

Silversun Pickups “Panic Switch”
The new CD by the Pickups is a lot like their first album, but it’s more of what the first album was.  It’s like getting a cheese pizza, and then the second time you get it it has more cheese.  Sure, the crust and sauce are still there and are still good, but there’s more of why you got the pizza in the first place.  I’m not trying to say the Silversun Pickups are cheesy, I’m just craving pizza and I’m metaphor challenged. 

Rob Thomas “Her Diamonds”
It’s Rob freakin’ Thomas.  If you don’t know what he sounds like by now you’re not paying attention.  If you forgot, Rob Thomas solo = MB20 with less rockin’ and more layered production.  This song reminds me of his music in general without reminding me of any one song, so he wins this round.

Katy Perry “Waking Up in Vegas”
I thought Katy’s well had run dry on this album, but then I see this song rocketing up the charts almost as fast as any of her other songs.  Demand for Katy is something I’ll never underestimate again.  After kissing girls and waking up in Vegas, one wonders what Katy will have to write about on her next album to stay edgy.  I for one can’t wait to see who/what she kisses and when/where/how she wakes up.  Oh, the song is just a bit slower than “Hot n’ Cold” and the lyrics feature the staple wacky hi-jinx one associates with waking up in Vegas unexpectedly.

Pick to click:  Pitbull

Today is a cloudy, rainy, cool day.  I’m listening to Leona Naess and feeling generally gloomy.  An old co-worker pal of mine was let go from his job yesterday, which was a downer.  Between that and Creed getting back together, the week hasn’t been ideal.  Earlier this year I posted somewhere (Facebook?  MySpace?  Twitter?) that I thought April was going to be a great month, or something great was going to happen, or some other such nonsense.  It was a genuine hunch I had that is proving to be rather not true.  April only has a few more days to go, so if it wants to live up to my hype it had better hurry.

I had some fun last night on my old computer.  I was playing with an old version of Kid Pix Studio.  It was included with my ‘97 Power Mac, and I spent several minutes doing all kinds of crazy things to the KKCK logo.  I’ve been trying to make a new Shagg logo, and I actually did one I liked on regular photoshop after I realized I had no way to get stuff off my old computer.  It has no USB ports, and my new computer doesn’t have a disk drive.  My old computer has a SCSI port, for all the good that does.

I’m not feeling like writing a lot else.  Hopefully your day gets a bit more sunshine than mine.

Four songs with no one but myself to blame

More on that in a second.

KKCK:

3Oh!3 “Don’t Trust Me”
I’d actually forgotten about this track.  I found it jarring the first time, but with a few more listens it seemed like a natural fit.  Rap-rock with a slight emo twist straight up on the rocks is how I’d order this song if it was a drink.  If it was a coffee drink, it would be a venti rap-rock with two squirts of emo, blended with soy milk please.  Does that even make sense?  All I ever get at Starbucks is a venti mocha frap.  Then I get coffee.  *rimshot*  Oy, I’ve been watching too much Craig Ferguson.

Green Day “Know Your Enemy”
The hype behind the new Green Day album is insane.  I don’t remember the hype being this big before they dropped the follow-up to Dookie.  I don’t hear so much of the Butch Vig influence on this song.  In fact, I dare say GD played it pretty safe on this first single.  I worry the entire album might wind up being a more mainstream American Idiot, which has both good and bad possibilities.

Eminem “We Made You”
So, I have my fun, bouncy, smart-alecky Eminem song now.  I’m also even more convinced that as far as Eminem songs like that go, he really peaked with “Without Me”.  Is he working in so much celebrity bashing because he’s been gone for a few years?  I’m sure it will grow on my like “Just Lose It” did, just in time for the phones to be nothing but calls for it.

Seether “Careless Whisper”
A rock band covering Wham?  Really?  Who thought that was a good idea?  I’m as shocked this works as much as anyone.  Seether does everything in their power to make it sound like their song, and they almost pull it off.  The lyrics aren’t quite Seether-enough to totally pull it off, but I can’t imagine a band in Seether’s sound category doing it any better. 

Pick to cliz-ick: Eminem, but Green Day is a close second

Now, about that subject line…

Due to some budget reshuffling, I am now KKCK’s music director.  These four songs are the first four to go in under my watch, and this week it was pretty obvious.  I’ve been asked before what I’d do differently that the previous music director, Johnny Holliday, and my answer was always “nothing…I’d do things pretty much the same way”.  See, back before Johnny took over, KKCK was coming off a horrible book.  The home office in Mankato was seriously pushing us to make KKCK a 100,000 watt country station.  Johnny took over the music, in an attempt to keep that from happening.  KKCK has enjoyed a renewed success with ratings, including some of our best books ever, since he took over the music.  Taking over for someone like that is a daunting task, but I’ve been serving as his assistant for most of those years, and I have filled in on one or two occasions.  Taking the job is also bittersweet, because without him I wouldn’t have been hired here in the first place.  We’re coming off an outstanding book, so no pressure, right?

I can’t write too much today.  We’re working on a cool new part of our website, and I’m doing a lot of the work on it.  I’ll post a link once it’s ready.  I see some real potential with it, and I’m very excited to see what it will look like when it’s done.

Have a swell Earth Day.

Four songs flow like something that flows

That’s how I flow.  Badly.

KKCK:

Jamie Foxx w/T-Pain “Blame It”
After so many songs about bartenders, and buying one more drink, and boat trips, T-Pain decides to help Jamie Foxx assign blame for, well, whatever needs blame assigned to it.  The song is smooth, auto-tuned, and it has T-pain.  That should get it a spot on the next Nowcompilation at the very least.  I think this makes Jamie Foxx the first actor first/singer second to have a song in KKCK rotation since Jennifer Love Hewitt’s “How Do I Deal”.  If that’s not select company, I don’t know what is.

Flo Rida w/Wynter “Sugar”
IT SAMPLES “BLUE (DA BA DEE)” BY EIFFEL 65.  That’s either awesome or horrible, depending on your feelings about Eiffel 65 and Flo Rida, and the combination thereof.  Again, all I have to say is IT SAMPLES “BLUE (DA BA DEE)” BY EIFFEL 65.

Manchester Orchestra “I’ve Got Friends”
This song reminds me of some of the forgotten modern rock of the mid to late 90s, right between Grunge and Creed-rock.  My boss hates it when anyone on air says “we’ve got” or “I’ve got” so this song should frustrate him just a bit more than usual.

Nickelback “If Today Was Your Last Day”
It’s Nickelback.  I really doesn’t matter what I say, but I will mention that for a slow Nickelback song, it has a strong and pronounced beat.  Of all the singles so far, this has the biggest “Mutt” Lange fingerprint.  One would think production tricks that worked so well in the 80s and early 90s wouldn’t work now, but since they do I must conclude “Mutt” is some kind of genius.

Pick to click: Nickelback and/or Eiffel 65.

Battlestar Galactica is now over.  What an ending.  I’m watching it again tonight with the other big BSG fan I know.  I’m curious to hear his take, which should be either “awesome” or “that sucked”.  Biffy is a man of few middle grounds.  In a few weeks Terminator: TSCC wraps up, possibly for good.  There are a few shows I might want to start, but on the other hand I might just keep what I have.  There was a time I watched so little TV I almost dropped cable.  I never did, because I do enjoy a baseball game from time to time.  DVR upped my viewing habits, but a combination of ratings and endings should help drive it down again. 

Braeden has had some…challenging nights the last few weeks.  Most babies are sleeping through the night at his age, but the emphasis on that sentence is “most”.  He’s been up at least three or four times a night over the past week.  I now understand why “teething time” elicits such a groan and look of misery on the faces of parents everywhere.  So far his best career track might be magician, with an emphasis on escape artist.  We have a swaddling blanket of some kind that wraps him up, and it fastens with Velcro.  By the next morning, he’s either one arm out, both arms out, or has it off completely.  This morning he had somehow gotten his arms and legs out without undoing the Velcro.  Last night he got out and turned himself over, which was bad because he’s also still hooked up to an apnea monitor with corded electrodes.  On a more positive note, he’s sitting on his own and he certainly enjoys baby-talking.  I think we’ve got a future chatterbox kid on our hands.

I’m still not writing as much as I was a few months ago, but I think some of that has to do with twitter.  The only thing I really wish Twitter would add is a way to separate the people I’m following.  They’d fall neatly into: friends, web-comic artists, and people I don’t know who don’t draw web-comics.  I don’t want to use something that has to be downloaded, because I split my tweets between up to four or five computers a day.

The other morning I used Braeden’s nap to finally watch the original Vanishing Point.  I know it’s a cult classic, but all it did to me was make me want to take a long, fast road trip through Colorado and Nevada.  That’s also what the movie Scorched and many other movies made in the American Southwest make me want to do.  As of right now, a long road trip through that area is only on my list of things to do after winning the lottery.

I’ve been watching a bit of spring baseball.  I’m ready for the season, or as ready as I’ll ever be.  My big fantasy draft is this Saturday, and I’m not preparing as much as usual.  The reasons are a combination of no time to prepare, and that past years when I’ve really prepared it hasn’t helped any.  This year I’m going with a more “seat of the pants” and “follow my gut” strategy.  We’ll see how that works.

Speaking of work, I should do some.

Wednesday? Has it been that long?

Hey there.  How the heck are you?

KKCK:

Soulja Boy w/Sammie “Kiss Me Through the Phone”
It is now official: Soulja Boy has been upgraded from “one hit wonder” to “two hit wonder”.  This song will be top ten by next week if trends continue.  After “Crank That” I didn’t want to like a Soulja Boy song, and I don’t really like this one.  That being said, I don’t dislike it.  In fact, as far as rap/R&B songs go, it might be slightly above average.  I’d say more, but the whole bit about kissing through the phone is a bit odd to my ears. 

The Killers “Spaceman”
After a single that tried to straddle Sam’s Town and Hot Fuss, we have a single that puts both feet on the Hot Fuss side.  It also has a bit of something new to it.  My enjoyment of the song is somewhat ruined by Chris Parnell and Tracy Morgan.  When I see this song I think of Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan on “30 Rock” yelling “CALL DOCTOR SPACEMAN!” who is occasionally played by Chris Parnell (and if you don’t watch “30 Rock”, all the characters besides Tracy pronounce Spaceman “spa-CHem-en”).

HiFi “She’s My Girl”
If young Everclear got in a time machine and jumped to 2009, got signed to a small label, spent some studio time with a slick pop producer, and tried to write a hit pop-rocker for CHR, this would probably be the result.  If the sound of that appeals to you, check it out.  I think it’s pretty keen.

Pick to Tell ‘em: Soulja Boy

Things are going well at the household.  Last week things were a bit on edge.  Before Braeden was born, we invested in what’s called an AngelCare monitor.  It’s both a monitor and a movement sensor that detects the slightest movement, including breathing.  Last week during one of Braeden’s naps, it went off (an alarm sounds after 20 seconds of no movement).  Kate rushed in and Braeden appeared not to be breathing, but once she picked him up he let out a gasp, and all was well again.  The next day during another nap, the warning (10 seconds w/o movement) chirp sounded.  I rushed in, but he appeared to be breathing normally.  We took him in, and their best guess was that it might be sleep apnea.  Some dear friends of ours lost their little girl to SIDS a few years ago, so for a few nights we didn’t sleep all that well.  It has been a week, and so far the alarm hasn’t gone off again.  If I never hear that alarm again I’ll be beyond happy.

Last Saturday I had the day off.  I was in a great mood.  Things were going all the right ways.  I put Braeden down for a nap, and fired up the cathode ray tube.  After browsing the selections on the DVR box, I watched the newest episode of Battlestar Galactica, “Someone to Watch Over Me”.  The rest of my day was pretty much ruined.  I’m not saying I hated the episode or the direction it took.  The episode was good and the directions (mostly) made sense.  What happened on the episode actually bummed me out.  I found myself worried about the characters on the show, and it made me think about things I’d rather not think about.  If turning your mood around for those reasons doesn’t indicate quality television, I don’t know what would.  In happier TV times, I’m still loving Terminator, and I’m glad to see viewership is going up (because of the hype about the new movie perhaps)?  I’m a few episodes behind on Dollhouse, but from reading my Twitter feed I’m not missing too much. 

It is probably too late, but I was thinking of doing a post called the “russ-cars” since I skipped the Oscars this year.  My awards would be easy to do because I only saw five movies at the theater last year.  There’s a movie challenge if I ever heard one, especially considering the five movies I saw:
Iron Man
The Dark Knight
Wall-E
Quantum of Solace
X-Files: I Want to Believe
Like it or not, the X-Files film probably has to win at least one of ‘em.  I remember doing year end movie top ten lists, back when there were ten movies a year I wanted to see.  The motion picture industry is losing me, but this year I might actually see at least six:
Star Trek
Terminator: Salvation
Transformers 2
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Up
Am I forgetting any?

I’ve really been into Twittering lately, which means that it probably isn’t cool anymore.  If you follow me at http://twitter.com/russ4life, I’ll probably follow you back.  I haven’t written much blog wise lately.  After a few days, not posting to Cliffhanger Theater isn’t as weird as it was the day after the story ended.  I’m hoping to get to some other blogs about music here, about South Dakota over at russ4life, and maybe do a few Facebook “iTunes on shuffle” survey-things I’ve been putting off.

For some reason I woke up extra tired today.  I’d better save some energy for my show.

Four artists but just two songs?

It isn’t even an even split.

KKCK:

Eminem w/Dr. Dre and 50 Cent “Crack a Bottle”
Let’s take a look back at initial hits from Eminem CDs for a moment.  The first album gave us “My Name Is…” which was a fun mid-tempo bouncer that had some naughty moments.  The next album stuck “The Real Slim Shady” in our heads for months.  It picked up the pace, had a decent beat, and was utterly quotable.  We’ll skip the 8 Milesoundtrack, but I’ll touch on it in a second or two.  Eminem reached his zenith of wacky but randy lyrics on “Without Me”.  “Just Lose It” wasn’t bad, but it sounded forced in a few spots.  Encore changed things up by dropping a different kind of song from Curtain Call.  “When I’m Gone” was the darker, moodier kind of song that was usually saved for a second single.  The new Eminem CD’s lead track tries to play it both ways in my head.  The chorus sounds like one of his faster songs, but slowed down to fit into one of his darker, slower, moodier songs.  The vibe of the bulk of the song strikes me as one of his slower songs, which I’ve never been a fan of.  That opinion has me in the minority.  Eminem’s darker songs, like “Superman”, “Cleanin’ Out My Closet”, “Lose Yourself” and the rest are the songs that are requested 99 % of the time here.  I often wonder why his less fun songs seem to stick longer and get more attention here, or is it that way everywhere?  The guest stars on the song don’t add much, especially when after being away so long Eminem turns over close to half of his song to people who aren’t Eminem.  I’d argue this is probably the weakest first hit single Eminem has ever had from an album, but it did (temporarily) set a record for most first week downloads, so what do I know?

Utada “Come Back to Me”
At long, long last, Utada is starting to break through.  I’ve been a fan since her first English CD, and I liked it enough to pick up a few of her Japanese CDs on eBay.  Her American releases lean towards a lower vocal delivery and punchier beats, and they don’t make her sound like she’s watering down her sound (take notes on that Shakira).  Her album is a few weeks away, but if you like this check out her last English CD Exodus.  I think you’ll agree there’s just something about her voice that’s…alluring.

Pick to click: Eminem

Sorry for the late posting.  I’ve been borderline-slacking on my 52 Cards blog, so I usually end up writing those the night before they go up.  I’ve also been wrapping up Cliffhanger Theater which is taking a break after a year of daily updates.  There were times I thought I was wasting my time, and other times I wondered if anyone was even reading it.  The views have been lower than I had hoped, but over the course of a year writing it has taught me a lot about writing, and a lot about myself.  I plan to take the story and hack-n-slash it half so it’s about regular novel length, plus I need to clean up a lot of the early entries.  Before then, I plan to start writing something else I can hopefully finish by the end of the year.  I won’t be posting that online, at least not right away.  I might let a few things slip here and there at my recently un-privated-blog 13 Shots (I explain the name in the first entry).  Right now I’m wondering how much I’ll write in March.  Part of me wants to take some time off, and part of me wants to write more.

BSG was BRG last week, as in boring.  Jane Espenson wrote the episode, and she’s the head writer of the upcoming spin-off “Caprica”.  She is way more space opera than science fiction.  I can feel the show building towards a resolution, but I’m not sure yet what that will be, so I’ll give RDM credit for that. 

There were other reasons for this blog being late, but I don’t want to talk about them.  Everything is fine now, and if I want to talk about it, I’ll write about it next week.

General question for any PC gamers out there.  Has anyone reading this used Valve’s Steam service?  How does it work?  How well does it work?  I’m looking at getting Xcom for five bucks, but I’d like to hear from someone who has used the service.

I’m a bit short on time today, so I need to wrap up.  I’ll be around online if you know where to look.