…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.
[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.
7 things about 4 songs
May 28, 2008
Can he do it?
KKCK:
Miley Cyrus “7 Things”
1. Her dad wrote one of the most annoying country songs ever
2. She has a show on the Disney Channel
3. A show nowhere near as good as “The Suite Life of Zach and Cody”
4. The mom on that show was on “Star Trek: Voyager” once
5. Okay, I’m off subject now
6. The song has a bratty vibe that hearkens back to a younger Avril
7. While getting the younger listeners pulled in, it hits me with a resounding “meh”
David Cook “Time of My Life”
1. He won American Idol, duh
2. He went against another David
3. He didn’t go against another Cook
4. Unless David Archuleta is a really good cook
5. This song is NOT a remake of the song from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack
6. Is it just me, or do all Idol winners have a similar sounding lead single?
7. If you liked all of those, you’ll like this schmaltzy ballad
Katy Perry “I Kissed a Girl”
1. She liked it
2. She hopes her boyfriend don’t mind it
3. She’s no Rachel Perry
4. Unless she kissed Rachel Perry
5. Yowza…uh, what was I talking about?
6. Oh, uh, novelty hit that while catchy, won’t be remembered in a few years.
7. Jill Sobule did it first, and dare I say better
Puddle of Mudd “We Don’t Have to Look Back Now”
1. Quick what do Paul Phillips, Greg Upchruch, Jimmy Allen, Kenny Burkett, and Sean Samon have in common?
2. They’re all former members of the band
3. Wes Scantlin is to alternative what David Coverdale was/is to 80s rock
4. Seriously, who is in Whitesnake these days?
5. This one is a new ballad
6. It’s not quite “Blurry” good, but it should do alright
7. Don’t be surprised if CHR picks up on “Psycho” later if this one is a big hit
Pick to click: Katy Perry
Pick likely to disrobe and wind up on the internet: Miley Cyrus (that girl is going to be trouble)
If I may get back to Katy Perry for a second, I’d like to vent a bit. Yesterday I took a call on the business line at the station. It was a listener calling to complain about “some new song by a girl about kissing a girl”. I really wish I’d recorded it, but I’ll try my best to sum up his complaints. He complained that it “was bad enough that the queers and homos were allowed in public now” and this song “would steer kids in a wrong direction” and “they wouldn’t know which way to turn”. He also complained about only hearing music like this and “black rap” music on our station as well. He seemed genuinely concerned about “the kids” and “leading them the wrong way”. He did concede we had the right to play “whatever we wanted” (hah, I wish). I calmly listened to him for a few minutes, and told him I’d forward his complaints to our music director (which I did) but he hung up on me after I said we appreciate any listener feedback, although my tone may not have been 100 % polite. I’m not even sure where to begin with this one. First off, he admitted that if he didn’t like it, he could turn the station. That’s pretty much what I’d have told him if he had called on the request line and had been yelling or using vulgar language (which I’ve done in the past). What stuck out for me was that he seemed almost fearful of music like this even existing. My mood was pretty much shot when he made the “bad enough they be seen in public” comment. I don’t think this is the sort of listener we should be caving to, and so far we aren’t. My interpretation of the song isn’t even that of a homosexual tone. The song strikes me as more of a “bi-curious mood aided by alcohol” type of song. Some days it is honestly frustrating to work here and deal with some of the issues that shouldn’t be issues, but that’s a blog for another day, or for when my job is eliminated (and I hope that doesn’t happen for a long time, since most days I really enjoy what I do).
I haven’t mentioned fantasy baseball on the ol’ blog for a while. That’s mainly because my pay league team is now 2-6, which is a small improvement from last year’s mark at this time of 1-7. I had much higher hopes for this team, which was in every game for the first six, but now is causing frustration with the lack of a bona fide ace on my pitching staff. San Franscisco isn’t the only one who put too much stock in Barry Zito. Captain Quirk is starting to pitch well again, but nowhere near the level I was hoping for when I traded Miguel Cabrera for him about three years ago.
Things at the homestead are going pretty well. Monday was project day, and we really kicked butt on most of our plans. Last night was our second to last parenting class, and it went smoothly. I now know the basics of infant CPR, but I really hope I never need to use that knowledge, like a lot of the knowledge in my brain that never gets used for some reason.
Last week I mentioned that we were going to Veblen, and I had plans to do a video blog for the first time. The video blog never happened, partly because of the wind and partly because of reasons I wrote about on my Sunday wordpress blog. If you want to read the rest (if you haven’t already), it’s still there.
I wish everyone a great rest of the May, and we’ll talk again in June.
Three songs. Three letters in May. Coincidence?
May 21, 2008
[time again for the MySpace mirror]
Actually, yes.
KKCK:
Maroon 5 featuring Rihanna “If I Never See Your Face Again”
I am getting a major 80s vibe from this song. I can’t think of an 80s song it reminds me of, but I think it could be shot back in time and be a hit. It will be a huge hit now, and it is nice to see a collaboration that isn’t purely on the hip-hop side.
Boys Like Girls “Thunder”
Stop! Ballad time! BLG usually sounds overproduced, but this song even sounds overproduced for them. Then again, I have three Boston albums on my iPod, so who am I to criticize for overproduction?
Rehab “Sittin’ at a Bar”
This song will do well for the simple fact most listeners either (A) know somebody like this or (B) are somebody like this. The rest just like hearing songs about it.
Pick to click: The rare 3-way tie. All of these songs have massive potential in our area.
I kept telling my fellow BSG watcher that something big was building. He doubted me up until the last episode. The two weeks between episodes (what, SciFi fans don’t watch TV Memorial Day weekend?) will seem a lot longer. At the same time the final season has been on SciFi, I’ve been watching the final season of Deep Space Nine on Spike. Watching two different Ron Moore series come to their ends has been interesting. I’d say no one wraps up a show like he does (I must confess I’ve seen the last episode of DS9, but none from the rest of season seven).
The hype is palpable around here for the return of ol’ Indy. The second time I ever set foot in a movie theater was for Raiders of the Lost Ark while visiting my brother in Lander, Wyoming. Granted, nowadays most kids wouldn’t bat an eyelash towards that film. I had spent most of my life with black and white TV and very little action/violence in my entertainment diet. I won’t say the movie scarred me or anything, but some of the scenes left me very uneasy, and I still feel a bit odd when I think about the film. I haven’t seen it since, and I’ve skipped the other two as well. If I make it to Crystal Skull and enjoy the ride, it might be time to borrow the other three.
I’ve been listening to more Flight of the Conchords lately. I thought I had been listening to the new Death Cab, but there’s a funny story about that. I was set to feature the CD on this past week’s Shag, but upon listening to the CD before the show to pick songs, I made a choice to look up the lyrics on line, just in case DC4C let a swear slip through. After checking all the songs and lyrics, it became obvious something didn’t match. A quick wiki and google search later it became obvious that the burn copy I had was in fact the April Fool’s hoax copy of the album, featuring one DC4C song and a bunch by a sound-similar band from Germany called Velveteen. One quick trip to the store later, I had the right album. I didn’t have time to listen, so I just went with the track numbers I’d picked from the fake version. As of this writing, I still haven’t had a chance to listen to the right album.
Kate and I went to our second parenting class last night. The first half hour was the “what can go wrong talk” which was…interesting. I knew a lot could go wrong, but I had no idea how wrong. After that it was a talk on C-sections and some practice with baby dolls for bathing and swaddling. Our instructor told us there was no wrong way to wrap a baby, to which I turned to Kate and said “Oh, I’ll find a way.”
This weekend the plan is to head to Veblen for a night. I’m hoping to try this video blog thing, and I’ll either post it here or one of my other blogs, which I’ve now linked to on my main page. Whatever you do this Memorial Day Weekend, do it safely.
Type at ya later.
