…and by “out this September”, I mean on the SciFi channel.
KKCK:
Rihanna “Disturbia”
Not only is this the third of three new songs on the re-release of Good Girl Gone Bad (now called Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, which sounds like a sequel for a made for Spike TV movie), it’s the third one to be a single, following “Take a Bow” and “If I Never See Your Face Again” (with Maroon 5). Three of the album’s seven singles are now from the re-release, which begs the question about how relevant the original release is. I’m not sure which is my favorite yet. “If I Never See Your Face Again” has a definite 80s vibe, and “Disturbia” reminds me a little of songs like “S.O.S.” and “Pon De Replay” in that it is not another “Take a Bow” type of ballad. Judging by the calls, the listeners don’t share my feelings about Rihanna. Ever. I only get calls for “Take a Bow” which is starting to border on how annoying the calls for “Unfaithful” were. The only fast Rihanna song that got the phones buzzing was “Shut Up and Drive” which is my least favorite fast Rihanna song. The moral here? Fast Rihanna songs do alright, but Rihanna singing a ballad is like Rihanna printing money. I’m just happy that on this occasion an artist I said would be around for a “long time” is so far living up to that.
Newton Faulkner “Dream, Catch Me”
The first time I heard this I focused more on where I’d heard his voice rather than the song. I was convinced he was the lead singer of some other band I couldn’t think of. After deciding it was Blue October, I checked his wiki entry, only to find out he’s not the former lead singer of any band, and is only the current lead singer of Newton Faulkner. The song gets the dreaded “pretty decent” mark from me, which is a nice way of saying I don’t have a lot to say about it (which I admit here for the first time!)
September “Cry for You”
Good news everyone! We added a Swedish pop star with a dancy beat. No, it isn’t a song from Robyn. Rather, it’s September! No, I know it’s June. Her stage name is September, and not even Green Day could sleep through this one. Sorry, I can’t resist a bad pun built around “Wake Me Up…” and you know the rest. In the fine tradition of Real McCoy, Ace of Base, Vengaboys, Eiffel 65, Cascada and Ian Van Dahl, we have a new dance-pop song with a fast beat that even I can dance to, albeit badly. This type of music will never be my favorite, but one popping up now and then is good for a CHR station. As a Midwest CHR, we do acknowledge and affirm that no electronic dance song, no matter the beat, no matter the lyric, no matter the sound, will ever touch the Rednex in popularity.
Mark Medlock “Summer Love”
American Idol? Been done. Canadian Idol? Uh…moving on. Pop Idol in the U.K.? We’ve gone there, but now we move on to…Deutschland sucht den Superstar, and their 2007 winner. Now, before I dismiss this as our music director feeling his German heritage again, I ask you give it a listen. It is a formulatic electro-pop song, but the summer vibe and vocals that flow very well with the music (English vocals, BTW) make it a song that I don’t mind hearing once or twice a day, probably for a few months at a time. Mr. Medlock’s life is an interesting read. I don’t know if he’ll totally cross the pond, but you can judge for yourself in a variety of places. Also, it is nice to hear a winner of one of these Idol type of shows releasing something with some thump in it. I must be in the mood to dance. I’ll let the wife know to close the curtains and move the cats with weak stomachs out of the room.
Pick to click: Rihanna
I had a lot to say about Battlestar Galactica’s mid-season finale, but Greg Dean at Real LIfe Comics said it all:
Truth and a frackin’ bag of space-chips.
I don’t often write about webcomics, but I’m always meaning to. I read about 80-100 of them every week. I had them in a folder that I could just open as a long stretch of tabs, but I had to break that up when went over seventy. As a kid, one of my favorite activities was reading the comics page every day. I used to save rolls and rolls of the Aberdeen American News, and I had a box or three full of Sunday comics pages. Some days I’d just get them out and read them all again, which is a practice I stopped once I started buying collections of comic strips. My interest in the comics page had waned during the 90s into the 2000s, but webcomics have revived my love of the medium to a point where some days I’m standing in the studio wondering how Shortpacked, Questionable Content, Starslip Crisis, Kevin and Kell, Sinfest, Marilith, PVP, Schlock Mercenary, Evil Inc, and others will wrap up their storylines for the week/month/ever. I’d like to start featuring some of my favorites, mainly because I don’t have the resources to buy stuff/donate/help them out any other way. It’s about the least I can do, but if my ship ever comes in, or if a ship lands on my house and I net the insurance, I’ll buy shirts/books/whatever until I can’t.
Kate is painting the kid’s room today, with some help from a friend who is in town visiting. She surprised me on Father’s Day with a picture frame (with a current ultrasound in it), a card, and a little Seattle Mariners onesie. Hopefully the team doesn’t suck so bad by the time he’s old enough to root for them, or against them. I had my time rebelling against my step-dad’s love of the Cubs, but he, Harry Carey and WGN wore me down within a few years. I want him to grow up liking whatever team he chooses, and I’ll try and be supportive even if he picks the *shudder* Yankees.
Mac is back from the vet, and she’s been meowing like crazy. The vet thinks her hormones are out of phase, which is causing her to think she’s pregnant. Her behaviour is a lot like when she was expecting kittens, so there might be a lot to that diagnosis. I just hope she stays as friendly and close to her daughter Eileen when they wear off. Listening to the two of them meow at each other is about the cutest cat sound I have ever heard.
In quick other blog news, I ranted about FNMTV, and wrote about one of my favorite Kate moments of my life at the old russ4life site.
The sound of new Local H isn’t cute. It’s angry, depressed, introspective, raw, and everything one would expect from Local H. Too bad Scott Lucas’ new muse was his last break-up.
