How come concession speeches don’t have concession stands?
November 5, 2008
How about a blog with almost nothing about the election?
KKCK:
Kanye West “Love Lockdown”
When I heard that Kanye’s next CD was going to be almost all vocoder singing, and no rapping, I was really worried that it would be like another Medullaby Bjork (an album that gets away from what the artist does well). Then, it dawned on me that while my initial reaction to that CD was bad, I’ve really grown to like it. Then I heard this song, and my worries were gone. That drum beat is crazy-intense-groovy-good, and the vocals work in a weird way. Now I just have to wait for 808s and Heartbreaks, and maybe wait long enough to get a free copy, unlike the last album (I bought it Tuesday, free copy arrived Wednesday).
Brandy “Right Here (Departed)”
Where have you been Brandy? Your TV star ballad cred got a work over with the herky-jerky “What About Us”, then you kinda vanished. I thought your comeback would be more along the lines of “Almost Doesn’t Count” or the forgettable “The Boy is Mine (with Monica)” (hey, what happened to Monica?). Instead, you try to woo us back with a song that has the radio appeal of your ballads but with an uptempo beat. Well played Brandy. I’ve never been a huge fan, but this song should be just what you need to pad your chart stats.
Anberlin “The Feel Good Drag”
This week’s songs break into three camps. The “duhs”, the “huhs” and the “hurrs?”. This would be the middle “hurr?” song. Anberlin is a band I thought would crack CHR eventually, but this wasn’t the song I thought would do it. Anberlin give this number a more timeless hard rock sound, and it’s a song that could have been a rock success pretty much every year since 1992. The only slants that show are a slightly “emo” rock vocal and an almost metal riff that proves to be a mental sticky note, or series of notes.
Slightly Stoopid “2 AM”
Reggae inspired folky rock that tries to channel mellower Sublime with vocals that almost remind me of Akon? Uh, okay. The lyric content of this one could be trouble, since the word “weed” didn’t get edited, and it pops up a fair amount. The band also didn’t provide a decent edit for time, and it clocks in at close to five minutes, with the last two minutes being music w/o lyrics. If the song keeps moving upward, I’m sure a shorter (and maybe more edited) version will float our way. I’ve never been into songs like this, but the curiosity calls that came in tell me some listeners are, and it was as clear as sending “smoke” signals.
Guns n’ Roses “Chinese Democracy”
The second “huh” add of the week isn’t that much of a huh, really. Regardless of how many CHRs are playing the song, KKCK has never shied away from playing G’n'R in the past, and the release of Chinese Democracymay be a once in a lifetime album release event, in that no other album has gestated this long with people still waiting. We can argue all day and night about whether this song sounds like G’n'R or not, but at worst the song is catchy, new, and the guitar riff at the beginning makes the song stand out on a CHR station. Axl, we stand with you.
Pick to click: Kanye West
No more election commercials! w00t! Now, I can get back to reading about things like Knight Rider (still getting better) and Battlestar Galactica (the end begins in January) and 30 Rock (ratings are up but they still aren’t as good as they should be) and Transformers Animated (seriously, when are we getting new episodes). Oh, and music, movies and other stuff that really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Plus, now I get to share all my nerd-dom with Braeden. Will he rebel and like NASCAR, NFL, and country music? Or, will he embrace the sci-fi, the D&D, the toy collecting, Spooncat, They Might Be Giants, and baseball?
Ask again in a few years.
This concludes the music blog for the week. I wanted to write about politics, but I know that tensions among some are still high after last night. I love talking (and to some extent arguing) about politics, but if you’re sick of ‘em, here’s the deal. I’ll write that blog later and post it separately (for the Verbiage Dump readers, it will be here and here). So, if you are sick of reading about it or don’t want to read about it, just skip the next one.
Disclaimer out.
Oh YouTube, what can’t you do (fixed)
June 18, 2008
[It is time for this week's MySpace blog simulcast]
I wouldn’t want to anyway. Seattle weather for the block!
KKCK:
Plies w/Ne-Yo “Bust It Baby (Part 2)”
This summer…get ready…for the ultimate hip-hop big budget team up. Plies…Ne-Yo…in a sequel so big..it…okay I’m done. I’m not watching any more summer movie trailers. I have a hard time believing that the busting was such that a sequel was really necessary. The good thing about this song is the copious amount of Ne-Yo in it. To me anyway, Plies sounds like he’s had too much syrup or booze or some mix of both. I expect to hear drunk-sounding vocals in concert, not in the studio. Heck, Dave Mustaine can’t remember recording a few of the early Megadeth albums and he at least sounds sober on them.
Safetysuit “Someone Like You”
I get the safety angle here. The song is equal parts mid-90s power rock and mid-00s power rock. I don’t like to bust a band’s balls for not being original, but these guys bring nothing new other than their name. Even their wikipedia page is boring. Now, the suit angle would be different, but not really that different thanks to the Hives. On the plus side, the song is doing well, and there isn’t anything about it that’s bad. It’s a vanilla cone of alt-rock, and some people like those. I prefer my vanilla cones to be the real kind, but that’s just me.
Adele “Chasing Pavements”
Some have called her the next Amy Winehouse. Amy, if you’re still alive and they’re looking for the next you, they don’t expect you to live very long. I hope Adele avoids flashing the camera, getting arrested, addiction, racist rants, more addiction, stumbling through concerts, and more addiction. She still lives with her mom, so unless her mom is Amy Winehouse she’ll be okay. I don’t disagree with the comparisons to Amy Winehouse, but she owes her music more to the style of Duffy with less of the slick production of Duffy’s slower songs.
Pick to click: Plies with Ne-Yo
If you pick one show to catch up on via DVD and/or torrenting, make it Battlestar Galactica. Sure, some episodes, like the first chunk of season four, are a bit slow and nothing seems to happen. Then you have episodes like last week that take all the slow plot threads and give them a yank that leaves you with a threadbare Colonial uniform. [minor spoiler alert...stop if you don't want it NOW]When Adama and Roslin saw each other again, after what they had each realized each other, it was one of the most real, heartfelt, emotional moments of any TV show I’ve ever seen. Of any movie I’ve seen. Of any anything I’ve ever seen. I’m not ashamed to say it almost made me tear up a little. Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell will probably not win Emmys because the show is science fiction, and that is damn, damn shame.
I wrote another blog about my feelings on AC/DC going the Wal-Mart route, but I posted that here. I revised and reread it a lot, but I’m still not sure I’m happy with it, nor am I sure it says everything I want to say. This is what happens when I get the idea to post something I whipped up with a font download and MS Paint before figuring out what I’m going to write about.
Things at the household are going well. Almost all the stuff I had in the nursery room is now elsewhere, and the few things that are left won’t take up much room. We’ve finally got Mac off to the vet to get fixed, so we’ll be dodging the loud heat-meowing from now on. Eileen hasn’t been fixed, but she’s easily distracted(aided by the fact she’s not as smart as her dad, who won’t win any “smartest cat” awards) when she’s in heat. Since both boy cats have already been clipped, there’s not a kitten concern.
Kate has been packing for her eventual hospital stay in a few months. I’ve been thinking about what to pack as well. I know that there will be some time for me at the hospital to hold and comfort the new arrival, and I know the mom suites at hospitals these days have a DVD player. So, I’ve been debating what to imprint on the young un’s psyche at an early age. G.I. Joe or Transformers (I’m leaning “Revenge of Cobra” unless I get some of the new show on DVD)? Batman or Superman (I’m leaning towards Supes here, since his show actually has an origin story, where the Bat-show didn’t)? Star Trek or Star Wars (probably Trek)? I’m pretty sure one of the first things he’ll get is “The Trouble with Tribbles”, since that is widely regarded as a Trek classic, and it doesn’t have any awkward moments where Kirk gets it on with anyone. Also, he’s due in September, so I won’t be watching the baseball playoffs alone this year. I wonder if he’ll be drawn to the World Series winner when he’s older. Oddly enough, one of the first baseball teams I liked, when I was old enough to buy one or two packs of cards, happened to be the Oakland A’s.
I sometimes think I’m going to talk to the little guy so much his first words will be “shut up”.
Speaking of shutting up, I’ll sign off for the week here. Write at’cha later.
