Favorites/decade - "Contest"ed music

It's been the decade of the reality/contest genre on TV. I will admit to only watching two reality/contest shows: Rock Star: Supernova (I didn't catch the only other season of "Rock Star" when a new lead singer for INXS was chosen. That season found a Michael Hutchence sound-a-like, a new record, a tour and the new singer winding up back where he started) and The Amazing Race.

I am now admitting to enjoying music from a select few "contestants" (it's the best word I know to describe the people who participate in these sorts of shows). There it is. I can no longer claim to be any sort of music snob, I suppose.

"Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson. The first American Idol winner has had, in my opinion, the most interesting career since winning. I can't help but loving that she has a look that defies the standard mindset of a pop diva and has let her sound change throughout this decade. This song found her a rock-n-roll following to match her AI following.

Plus, I can't help singing along, banging my head a bit and stomping my feet. Bet you can't help it, either!

"Razorblade". The original version by Blue October (the video has some brief disturbing images a curse word or two) is a great, let the blood boil angry rant with some pretty disturbing lyrics. Since this is the reality/contest favorites post, it was this performance of the song by Zayra Alvarez on Rock Star: Supernova that made my jaw drop and immediate search the original out. I continue to encourage rock's youngest fans that love new covers to seek out the original version of the cover and to check out the new artist's influences to start broadening their musical palette. Zayra's performance, in a way, foreshadows the last half of this decade's growing love of outrageous looking performances with talent to match. Feels like a return to early 70's glam-rock, at least style-wise, is well underway.

. . . and, from this past year:

It only took me until this past season of American Idol to find a 2nd singer from this show that I can't stop watching: Adam Lambert. This guy has an amazing set of pipes and has the chops to sing bubble-gum pop in one moment, then roar out glam/theatrical rock-n-roll the next. His debut CD takes a stab at capturing his range and, from the few listens I've given it, is kind of hit and miss. I'm not much of a fan of what tops the pop music charts in the last few years because a lot of it sounds mass-produced with interchangeable voices, so I cannot fault Adam for covering the ground into which a typical AI teen fan would hook. My favorite track on the album is one written by Justin Hawkins from The Darkness called "Music Again". It's great to hear him easily soar in and out of falsetto and rock the bejesus out of this one.

Finally, I now self-identify as a fan of Susan Boyle.

Like a few million others in the past 6 months or so, I watched the viral video of her first performance on Britain's Got Talent and was very moved. The months since that first performance have been worthy of conversation as to how she handled the knockout punch of fame she received. The album she released a few weeks ago has, hopefully, silenced those who may have thought her fame would overwhelm her.

I rolled my eyes a bit at on-line chatter about the huge number of albums sold versus the level of promotion over the release of a much-anticipated album from a much beloved artist. Selling over 700,000 albums in the first week these days is quite an accomplishment. If most of the folks who bought the album wind up giving the CDs to relatives, it doesn't decrease album sales nor is it any sort of bellwether of the type of fans she will have in the years to come.

The original versions of "Wild Horses" from the early 70's by both Gram Parsons and the Rolling Stones pretty much stand untouched. Ms. Boyle's version works for me because it's her choice of song and, compared to many of the other songs on the album, her voice is most expressive here.

Favorites/decade - Just because they're fun

Gay man cannot live by heavy metal alone. So, here are some of favorite pop tunes which I cannot imagine anyone finding offensive :-)

"Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon. Yes, I remember that song. Why haven't the oldies stations picked up on this one yet? Maybe in a few years.

"Extraordinary Machine" by Fiona Apple. She'll make the most of it - she's an . . well, Ms. Apple's talent for wordy, poetic lyrics and a lighthearted melody and arrangement make this a fun ditty. And, btw, the song doesn't start in the above link 'til about 1:25 in, but it's worth the wait.

"Speed of Sound" by Coldplay. Normally, I find the band itself pretentious and annoying. There's just something hypnotic and toe-tapping about the "wall of sound" style of this song. Do any other Coldplay fans like this song? Maybe that's why I do.

"Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad" by Matt Dusk. The song was written by Bono & The Edge of U2, but you'd be hard-pressed to tell this from this traditional pop arrangement and smoky Sinatra-style singing. While Michael Buble may enjoy better success, Matt Dusk's music is well worth seeking out and he's taken more chances in his albums that most traditional pop singers.

"Makes Me Wonder" by Maroon 5. Yes, Adam Levine is fine looking. The video has him dressed up really nice. In an "airport". Any chance I could fly out of that airport with Adam on the plane -- you know, to conquer my fear of flying one and for all -- strictly a psychological thing. Anyway, with a breezy, hook-laden guitar riff throughout the song. Really makes me wonder what Maroon 5 is up to now. Or, what Adam is up to now . .

"Fidelity" by Regina Spektor. This one of two of her tunes I really like. In this song, her nearly trademark soprano yodel (?) pops up with the chorus and makes the song hard to forget. Take those hiccups out, and it's still a nifty little pop song which leads nicely to a great album she put out this year (more on that in a future post)

"When Did Your Heart Go Missing" by Rooney. Of the non-top-of-the-charts songs I adored this decade, I cannot for the life of me figure out why this song wasn't a huge hit in the summer of '07. Maybe a fan figure it out?

4 police officers shot dead at Wash. coffeehouse

Anytime there is a story involving violence this extreme, it has to be viewed as an opportunity to ask ourselves what our society has done to lead someone to do what was done earlier today and could we have halted this before it even started.



Then again, perhaps the way these sorts of stories are being told is part of the problem. Do we tell these stories every time they happen no matter where they occur or are the media trying to paint a big picture of events in our world in the interest of charging higher ad rates? I'm no media expert; the media and advertisers will have to ask themselves that question.



Here's the challenge: what can I do to affect change in my world so this sort of thing doesn't happen where I live? It's really a question only I should ask myself. Time will tell if the right people ask themselves that question at the right time.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Favorites/decade - Boys (and girls) and their Toys

Technology is a pretty good thing. While I'm just as annoyed with "auto-tuned" vocals in recent years as most long-time music fans are, in the right hands, musicians with computers can make some amazing music.

Six songs from the past ten years come to mind as tops in the "playing in the studio with the PC" category:

"Til the day that I die" by Garbage. It's far too long in between albums for my taste, but I love the DJ cuts with guitar riff samples that roll all over this tune

"Only" by Nine Inch Nails. Very cool music video; however, it's Trent Reznor's restraint with technology that makes this one my pick for the best NIN tune of this decade.

"Dawn of the Dead" by Does It Offend You, Yeah?. This band's name cannot stay in my head, but the electronic siren beats that pulse throughout and the steel drum sampling make the song a delicious piece of ear candy

"Author" by Shimmerplanet. (once you click the link, scroll to the bottom of my post for a link to the song itself.

"Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani. Boom-chik-boom. Chik. Ba-boom-boom-chik-boom. For nearly four minutes. As many love this song as detest it. When it came out in March 2005, I was one of those who couldn't stop playing this song, stomping my feet, clapping my hands and thumping the dashboard. Music fans need the occasional sinful, fat-rich, high fructose corn syrup piece of pop and this was one of the best of the decade.

I heard this last song for this category for the first time in the opening few minutes of an episode of "NUMB3RS" from last season entitled "Disturbed". It was one of those cases of love at first sight. I'm not ashamed to admit that several of my picks in the coming posts were first brought to my attention by watching the song being performed on TV or featured somewhere in episodic TV. It was a great episode and, like many a music fan, I scoured the net looking for the name of this track and finally found it. The song was released five years earlier to little fanfare by a duo called "I Monster". Full of creepy music-box samples, echoes and "auto-tuned" vocals which actually worked for this song

My favorite songs of the Decade - Robbie Williams

I'm sure there'll be a ton of bloggers offering their "best of" lists in all sorts of topics as 2009 draws to a close (there's only 36 days left!). Some may go so far as to post a "best of the decade" list and have the good sense to keep their list to ten of something (newsmakers, bible verses, potato recipes, etc.).

From the guy who wrote 22 posts about Metallica, would you expect me to just post a list of ten songs then go on to something political, religious or otherwise daffy? C'mon!

I did narrow down my list to 63 songs over the span of the last 10 years. I've got each and everyone in my MP3 player, so my list is free of a professional critic's "who-the-heck-is-that" picks.

At least, in my own mind.

If you lived in Britain or most anywhere else in Europe, you'd be talking about Robbie Williams like folks here talk about American Idol winners. I've never figured out why he's not become a bigger star here in the U.S. Maybe a quick listen to my three favorite songs of his from this decade will change a few minds:

"Feel" - a nice, breezy, piano and slide guitar pop ditty. The first verse got me hooked.

"Difficult for Weirdos" - a Pet Shop Boys-inspired cut from his newest album. It really captures what his appeal to the gay community has been all of these years.

"Tripping" - the first song of his I ever heard. Pop music with steel drums and soaring falsetto. I've been hooked ever since.