I Want My Music Television vol. XXI

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Run - Gnarls Barkley



All the videos from the first Gnarls Barkley album were innovative and something to see, this is kind of underwhelming. The 80’s dance party theme has been down before. Foe a more jarring video, hunt down the leaked second single Who Will Save My Soul featuring ?uestlove. Speaking of ?uestlove…


75 Bars (Black’s Reconstruction - The Roots



…here is one from his group The Roots in a very Reservoir Dogs kind of video. If this song is any indication, Rising Down is going to be another classic.

Where I Stood - Missy Higgins



My favorite song off of Missy Higgins album (see: Breathe Them Deep into Your Lungs) and thanks to this video, I know have a new way to stalk an ex by sending photo booth pictures to her. I will certainly have to try that out the next time I’m jilted.


Angel Eyes - The Jeff Healey Band



Everyone has those songs that take you back to a certain place and nothing says Grade School dance more to me than this song from the Jeff Healey Band. And a melancholy happy trails to the namesake who passed away earlier this week. I never actually knew the guy was blind until I read about his passing. To read more about the life of Jeff Healey, check out this AP report.

You’re the Great One, I’m Marty McSorley

You don’t need to watch South Park for reasons to blame Canada, just look at their exports over the last couple years: Céline Dion, Pamela Anderson, Nickelback. These are reasons enough to revoke NAFTA. If American Karaoke and Paris Hilton have taught us anything is there are plenty of talentless Americans that we really don’t need to fleece any from our neighbors from the north. Okay so it hasn’t been all bad, there is Norm McDonald, but for every Neil Young, there seems to be ten Shania Twain’s.

Much like Twain, Kathleen Edwards is a Canadian who has co-opted the music of the American heartland on three studio album, Asking for Flowers being the latest. But unlike Twain, she hasn’t endeared herself to country radio by making heartfelt music as apposed to songs about tractors or ticks. Oh, Canada could be the Cunuck version of Born in the U.S.A. where the title would have you believe the title is more patriotic than the lyrics would have you believe which at its heart tackles racism, with a scorching guitar solo out the end that would make Neil Young proud.

Mr. Young would also be proud of Oil Man’s War about a pair that head north to keep from fighting under a commander and chief who seems to care more about lining the pockets of his friends than doing what is right. But where Edwards really excels is at quirky lyrics and things don’t get much quirkier than I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory where she compares herself to everyone from Elvis to Marty McSorley. A hockey reference: how Canadian, eh.

Song to Download - I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory

Asking for Flowers gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

It Is Pretty Pathetic

Ever since the start of this political cycle I feared of a Rudy Giuliani vs. Hilary Clinton match up. Yeah I have had to vote for the president I though would screw up the country the least before but choosing between Giuliani and Clinton would make having to choose between George Bush and John Kerry or Al Gore seem like choosing my favorite Victoria Secret model in comparison.

Much to my surprise, the media didn’t get their Subway Series they were pushing for when Giuliani was the first out of the Republican race and it looked as if I would even get a chance to put the last nail into the coffin of Clinton’s presidential campaign, a though that made me extremely giddy. Of course I am a moron who forgot where I lived. I had bought into the Barack Obama momentum completely forgetting I live fifteen minutes from what is considered the Klu Klux Klan kapitol of the north. I really should have known better.

So the question shouldn’t be why did she won but how did she win. If you were to see the Ohio map, Obama won easily in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus, democratic strong holds, yet Hilarity dominated in the gun toting, God-fearing part of the state, winning my home county 61-38 which I was surprised to see it on CNN’s top three Republican counties in the state. Of course there is that KKK kontingent. But we still do border Cleveland and Akron.

So it looks as if that 3:00 in the morning ad worked (of course, keep in mind she only gained somewhere between four to eight delegates last night), which I always found odd because if she does somehow eke out the nomination, John McCain would easily win that argument as well as her previous lead on day one stump speech. Speaking of McCain, his speech (I won’t talk about Hilary’s or Barack’s because theirs came after my bedtime) came with an interesting inclusion saying, “the next president must explain how he or she intents to bring that war to its swiftest possible conclusion with out exacerbating a sectarian conflict.” Now I was never one of those morons who took McCain’s 100 years war out of context (who followed up that comment by saying as song as the soldiers were not in harm’s way) but I was surprised at how quick he is to get to the middle on the subject.

Breathe Them Deep into Your Lungs

It is hard to go platinum nine times with your debut record and be virtually unknown to most Americans. For Missy Higgins, the platinum status of her melodic, piano based The Sound of White was just in her home of Australia but barely made a dent her stateside. Her follow up On a Clear Night has been available to her Aussie countrymen for almost a year but is just getting its American release today.

The album cause a stir down under as the new album was more of an acoustic guitar driven sound than its predecessor. The transition from album to album was smooth as On a Clear Night starts off with the piano enhanced Where I Stood before Higgins stands up from the bench and straps on the guitar for most of the rest of the record.

The best of these acoustic guitar songs is Steer an upbeat, toe tapping sing-a-long that wouldn’t have been out of place a decade ago on the Lilith Fair current but still feels current for today. And it is isn’t just Missy playing the guitar on the album, Neil Finn, who may know better as the dude from Crowded House, shows up on Peachy a bouncy kiss off from a former boyfriend.

Elsewhere on the album, Higgins expands her repertoire. Secret is a slow burning, album bluesy song where she provides some sultry lyrics to. Then the album caps with the folksy Forgive Me, a low-fi track that sounds like it may have been recorded in a bathroom, but that only adds to the mystique of the song. Undoubtedly you will be hearing more of Higgins on television shows that features lazy writers who have to insert musical montages because they run out of anything interesting to write as the most of the songs are television ready. In fact you may remember Where I Stood from an episode of Smallville from earlier this season.

Song to Download - Where I Stood

On a Clear Night gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

First Impressions: Squeegees

If you watched ABC last Thursday then you probably saw an ad hyping new show Squeegees and thought to yourself, “huh?” That shouldn’t have been a surprising response considering the new online show was just announced Thursday, the day the first two episodes hit the ABC.com website. Luckily the show is co-exclusive to YouTube because ABC.com is my least favorite of all the network websites. And since it is on YouTube, there is no reason for me to ramble on about it when I can just embed the episodes and you can judge the show for yourself (it will take you under fifteen minutes to watch all three).









Mildly entertaining and certainly better than the unwatchable Quarterlife with a nice cameo from the chick from American Dreams not named Brittany Snow. You can expect new episodes of the show every Monday and Friday and features the comedy team Handsome Donkey members Adam Countee, Brendan Countee, Marc Gilbar and Aaron Greenberg.

Squeegees is produced by Stage 9 which is headed by Academy Award-winning short-form producer Barry Josson. The studio has an active slate of more than 20 programs in comedy, drama, animation and reality ranging from traditional linear episodic storytelling to fully immersive interactive content. You can also look out for the original science fiction action thriller Trenches, sometime this spring from Shane Felux, the critically-acclaimed filmmaker and creator of Pitching George Lucas and Star Wars Revelations. Set in another time, on another planet, Trenches begins in the waning days of a grueling war. A botched rescue attempt forces a young soldier and his unit to team up with their enemy to survive a brutal threat and escape the planet.

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. XXII

Quote of the Week: Town’s about a block long Veronica Mars. (Eli Stone, Eli Stone)

Song of the Week: One More Try - George Michael (as sung by Ms. Hendricks, Eli Stone)

Big News of the Week: Comings and Goings on TBS: This Tuesday is the season finale of 10 Items or Less at 11:00 which features an employee picnic conveniently inside the store. Then on Wednesday at 10:00 there are two new episodes of House of Payne featuring guests Michael Jai White and Robin Givens. Right after the new episodes, you can participate in a live chat with the cast over at tbs.com starting at 11:00 (keep in mind this is EST so for those on the west coast you can chat before the episodes air). For those that that prefer dramas, TNT for three straight days starting tomorrow (Monday), they will be airing the best of Saving Grace starring Holly Hunter at 10:00 and 11:00.

Coalition Links of the Week:

Buzz picked out some favorite TV catchphrases. If you disagree, we'll have to hug it out. (BuzzSugar)

Eric wondered who your Constant is after watching this week's episode of Lost. (Daemon's TV)

Mikey suggests some great, middle-aged TV alums for Psych to consider casting now that Shawn needs a mom for the upcoming third season. (Mikey Likes TV)

Plattie praised the BBC's Being Human, which features a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost and yet somehow lacks a full series order. (Pop Vultures)

Rae wants you to help her create the perfect “Memorable TV Moments” mix-tape. (RTVW)

Because Vance is so shallow, he analyzes the boys chances for winning/surviving American Idol(/beating David Archuleta) based on their hairdo's in a week where he shamelessly celebrates the hotties to watch for. (Tapeworthy)

While his attention were pulled towards new episodes of Last Restaurant Standing, Top Model, and Project Runway, this week Jace's constant was his love for Lost. (Televisionary)

Welcome to the Captain is the best little show you're probably not watching -- so says Dan. (TiFaux)

This week, the TV Addict proposed to NBC President Ben Silverman that he actually re-make a show people care about. Meaning, it's time for The West Wing: The Next Generation. (the TV Addict)

Raoul interviewed Yau-Man from Survivor. (TV Filter)


The Oscars: I didn’t watch because 1) The only movie I saw that was nominated for anything was Norbit, 2) I am under forty, 3) I’m not pretentious enough to care what old people think are good movies, 4) I’m not shallow enough to care what clothes celebrities wear. If they ever bring back Chris Rock, maybe I’ll tune in. But I bring up the show because I was happy to see that Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova wrangled the award for Best Song from the Disney for Falling Slowly. It is a shame that a song like that can’t get played on the radio yet it seems like Fergie is always on. I would post their performance but the tools over at the Academy have stripped all the YouTube videos. But if you are interested in downloading the song, you can get it for free at the Once website.


Welcome to the Captain: Yawn. When is The Big Bang Theory coming back? Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download or Welcome to the Captain on iTunes.


Survivor: Yet another brilliant episode. How the old people convinced the Incredible Hulk to keep Chet instead of Mikey B is beyond me but it madr for yet another great tribal council. And one more thing on Mikey B, I just realized this past episode that he is the only Mike on the cast, so why the “B”? Is this a Grandmaster B situation where that is what he wanted everyone to call him? But anyways. It looks like the show will only get better next week when they switch up the tribes and you know someone is going to turn on their former tribemates because there is a lot of hate going around this season. Please let Cirie and Jonathan end up on the same tribe. Check out the latest episode over at Innertube.




Lost: What a worthless hour of television. Just what I thought Desmond’s visions were as lame as it could get, now we have this is he or isn’t he time traveling mind fart of an episode. And it made no sense. The whole business of The Constant should have been resolved early because Daniel could have been it. He talked to him both in the present and the past. And how was Desmond able to travel across England so quickly without going back to 2004? Just when I was beginning to like this season they go all metaphysical. Check out the latest episode over at ABC.com.




Eli Stone: There is nothing I dislike more than episodes that start in the third act then flash back to the beginning. And there seemed to be no reason for this to do so except when you found out that someone was missing, you already new it would be in Hawaii and it made his beach visions less ambiguous. Of course they totally made up for it with the Veronica Mars reference made about Mac’s roommate. Then the most shock moment of the night didn’t belong to Lost but instead was the revelation that Dr. Abbott had came down with a case of the Jungle Fever a couple years ago. Never saw that coming. Check out the latest episode over at ABC.com. You can also download Eli Stone on iTunes.


Saturday Night Live: Thanks to a glitch I didn’t tape last night’s episode so I check out Hulu only to find out they don’t bother to stream full episodes just a couple clips. Really why bother. I guess I’ll have to wait for a repeat to check the whole thing out.


Also check out my preview of the second season of Dirt.


Promo of the Week: Wednesday also sees the season premiere of Ghost Hunters and here is a promo for the new season:




Next Week’s Pick: My Name Is Earl, Monday at 10:00 on TBS: It is a slow week next week (although you can always check out Eli Stone in hopes for more Veronica Mars references) so if you haven’t caught the funniest show currently on television when it first ran, here is your chance to catch up with back to back episodes every Monday starting with the funniest half hour of television ever in the history of the world.