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.
If there is one good thing about American Karaoke, it gave us Carrie Underwood who is moderately attractive. But if there were a second good thing to come out from the show it would be that it spawned this video and parody from “Weird Al” Yankovic. Yeah, I can't say I have heard the orginal version, but that doesn't make it any less brilliant. I may actually like this more than the White and Nerdy video. And for those that were wondering, the video is from Jib Jab, the guys behind those brilliantly funny political parodies from two years ago. Oh and what really makes the song great is that Taylor Hicks dude totally creeps me out so it's nice to know Al thinks the same thing.
Then there’s Al’s buddy Ben Folds who has a hilarious video of his own. I can’t help think of Dodgeball with Folds walking around the city in a pirate’s outfit.
It should go without saying that Shakira is uber-hot, but I always thought her perm was somewhat of a turn off so the look in this video is easily her best yet. Throw in some boxing and I’m thoroughly entertained. Oh and for those who didn’t realize, that’s Carlos Santana on the guitar.
I really can’t describe this video, just watch it, you should definitely like it. If you don’t, well I feel sorry for you. Oh and don’t forget to check out the new Johnny Cash video if you haven’t already.
I’ve decided to go with a set title when I do these video round ups as I’m just to lazy to come up a new title every time and I’ve realized that sometimes I waste a good title on a video post that would have made a good title for an album review, so Don’t Download these Videos with become the official title (unless someone can send me a better idea). 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.
Another week, another "Weird Al" Yankovic video. This time it’s a live action one for Ridin'’s Ridin’, a parody so good, Chamillionaire (does this guy have a nickname because this takes too long to type) even put it up on his MySpace page. Plus look out for cameos from Seth Green and Donny Osmond playing the role of Krayzie Bone. Sadly there are a couple things that Al mentions that I, myself, take part in but I fall short of anything Star Trek because Trekkies are the uber-nerds; nerds that all other nerds fear (and by fear I mean mock).
I could have rested on my laurels and just brought you one “Weird Al” video, but no, here is one for Polkarama albeit, not quite legal I’m assuming considering the station logo changes from video to video. But God bless those who have way too much time on there hands who made this. And leave it to Al to make the The Pussycat Dolls listenable. But as for my favorite segment, I have to go with 50 Cent’s Candy Shop which sounds a lot better polka style.
I’m sure longtime readers know if there are two things I hate in music are dudes who sing karaoke and country music. Yet much like when you combine sodium and chloride, two things that could kill you separated when eaten, but together and you gets something that is very tasty (and will only kill you slowly). The same when you combine karaoke and country with the output being Carrie Underwood who surprisingly doesn’t suck massively. As for the video, I could have done a much better job coming up with a concept as the CGI at the end is extremely cheesy, but much like evil-Lana on Smallville, evil-Carrie is much hotter than the nicer version. For more on Underwood, check out my review of her album from November, Oh, There’s Nothing Like Oklahoma.
When I first heard the song I thought it sounded familiar then realized that it’s a Céline Dion song. Granted the song was written by Jim Steinman, Meat Loaf’s longtime contributor, so it really fits with Loaf’s repertoire and works a lot better as a duet with some chick named Marion Raven. C’mon, you know you like it.
Okay, one more “Weird Al” video. Again, not necessarily on the up and up as someone just synced up the Green Day video with Canadian Idiot. Many apologies to my neighbors to the north, but everything Al talks aboot is right. And don’t forget Straight Outta Lynwood comes out this Tuesday.
With the release of Straight Outta Lynwood just days away, I figured that a “Weird Al” Yankovic theme would be appropriate for this month’s lyrics quiz. But since I can’t have all “Weird Al” songs because it would be too easy to guest the artist, instead the next twenty-five songs were all parodied by the accordion master at sometime. As always, put both the song title and artist in the comment section and if you are right, I will un-bold the song and give you credit. As an added bonus, you can get an extra point if you can name the title of the “Weird Al” song parody. If someone guesses the original lyrics but doesn’t guess the bonus, you can steal that point. Now onto the quiz:
Hints: 7. Speaking of the dude who changes his name every month; The Weird Al song had to do with technology and featured Drew Carey in the video.
1. Watchin' X-Files with no lights on, we're dans la maison, I hope the Smoking Man's in this one. (One Week - Barenaked Ladies; guessed by Lisa; Bonus not guessed) 2. I said, “Can I take you home where we can be alone?” Next we were movin' on and he was with me. (I Love Rock n Roll - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts; Bonus - I Love Rocky Road; both guessed by Angie) 3. We change the world tomorrow; this could be a better place. If you don’t like what I’m saying then won’t you slap my face? (Bad - Michael Jackson; Bonus - Fat; both guessed by TheWatchList) 4. How come everybody wanna keep it like a Kaiser? (Give it Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers; guessed by Dara; Bonus not guessed) 5. Dance to this and you're gonna get thinner, move, slide your rump, just for a minute let's all do the bump. (U Can't Touch This - M.C. Hammer; guessed by Lisa; Bonus not guessed) 6. He needs some cool tunes not any will suffice but they didn’t have Ice Cube so he bought Vanilla Ice. (Pretty Fly for a White Guy - The Offspring; Bonus - Pretty Fly for a Rabbi; both guessed by Lilfunky1) 7. Tryin’ to get my hands on some Grants like Horace. Yeah livin’ the raw deal three course meals. 8. The one she got was sorta rotten and insane, smcould land. all things so sad that birds (Lump - The Presidents of the United States of America; Bonus - Gump; both guessed by Dara) 9. You’re making me laugh out when you strike a pose; take off all your preppy cloths. (Complicated - Avril Lavigne; Bonus - A Complicated Song; both guessed by Lilfunky1) 10. If they can’t understand it how can they reach me? I guess they can’t. I guess they won’t. I guess they front that’s why I know my life is out of luck fool. (Gangsta's Paradise - Coolio; Bonus - Amish Paradise; both guessed by Lilfunky1) 11. Frustrated Incorporated. Well I know just what you need, I might just have the thing, I know what you'd pay to see. (Misery - Soul Asylum; guessed by Dara; Bonus Not Guessed) 12. They want you to be Jesus, they’ll go down on one knee, but they’ll want their money back if you’re alive at thirty-three. (Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me - U2; guessed by Lisa; Bonus not guessed) 13. Out of the doorway the bullets rip to the sound of the beat. (Another One Bites the Dust - Queen; guessed by MC; Bonus - Another One Rides the Bus; guessed by Angie) 14. I’m not dumb but I can’t understand why she walk like a woman but talk like a man. (Lola - The Kinks; guessed by Lisa; Bonus not guessed) 15. New Orleans, Detroit City, Dallas, Pittsburg PA, New York City, Kansas City, Atlanta, Chicago, and LA. (Living in America - James Brown; guessed by Lisa; Bonus not guessed) 16. The phone rings in the middle of the night, my father yells, “What you gonna do with your life?” (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cindi Lauper; guessed by Lisa; Bonus not guessed) 17. Think about direction, wonder why you haven’t before. (Stand - R.E.M.; Bonus - Spam; guessed by TheWatchList) 18. There’s an old man sitting next to me making love to his tonic and gin. (Piano Man - Billy Joel; guessed by Lisa; Bonus - Ode to a Superhero; guessed by Anonymous) 19. Helter skelter in the summer swelter. (American Pie - Don McLean; guessed by Lisa; Bonus - The Saga Begins; guessed by Anonymous) 20. Now everybody do the propaganda and sing along to the age of paranoia. (American Idiot - Green Day; guessed by MC; Bonus not guessed) 21. This world is mine for the taking. Make me king, as we move toward a, new world order. (Lose Yourself - Eminem; Bonus - Couch Potato; both guessed by Lilfunky1) 22. Have the guts, got the glory, went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop. (Eye of the Tiger - Survivor; guessed by MC; Bonus not guessed) 23. You can act real rude and totally removed and I can act like an imbecile. (Safety Dance - Men Without Hats; guessed by Angie; Bonus not guessed) 24. Load up on guns and bring your friends. It's fun to lose and to pretend. (Smells Like Teen Spirit; Bonus - Smells like Nirvana; both guessed by Lisa) 25. There’s a little black spot on the sun today, it’s the same ol’ thing as yesterday. (King of Pain - The Police; guessed by Lisa; Bonus Not Guessed)
Some cool news I just learned that I'd like to pass along. Some already know that U2 and Green Day planned to team up on a cover for the Skids The Saints Are Coming to benifit The Edge's Music Rising fund. Well it was just announced that the bands will premiere the song live on Monday Night Football on ESPN September 25th which happens to be at the Superdome. The performance will then be available fordownload on Rhapsody. Hopefully the studio versions will be available everywhrere soon. (A small hint, both bands are in this lyrics quiz.)
In other U2 news, they have already begun work on their next album with Rick Rubin as producer. How great will that be with those two? Expect the album out next year sometime.
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 in 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 you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
Ladies and gentleman, it’s the return of “Weird Al” Yankovic. Now, unfortunately the video for the song isn’t a direct parody, but I’m sure everyone out there should get a We Are the World vibe. I finally got a look at the track list and you can expect parodies of Chamillionaire’s Ridin’ (who apparently liked White and Nerdy so much he put it on his MySpace page), Green Day’s American Idiot (Canadian Idiot), Usher’s Confessions part II (Confessions part III), Taylor Hick’s Do I Make You Proad (Do I Creep You Out, in a word, yes, that’s Hicks not Weird Al), and R. Kelly’s Trapped in the Closet (Trapped in the Drive-Thru at ten plus minutes this should be great, hopefully Al will come out with more Chapters and a DVD like Kelly did). And of course there is the prerequisite polka featuring songs by Kanye West, Coldplay and many more. Oh, and even though the song says not to, check out Dontdownloadthissong.com to do just that.
Whoever decided to released Maneater as a single should be fired as it was easily the worst song off of Nelly Furtado’s latest album. But on the bright side the song did produced this extremely cheesy video with its pseudo-vampire theme. The best part is the inexplicable beginning with the dog as if they needed to set up the absurdity that followed because whenever I lose my dog I end up doing a dance off with the undead before I end up finding her.
We all know for as great Lionel Richie is as a singer, he’s as equally as bad a parent. And here those too aspects of his life collide with Nicole showing up in papa’s video. Feel free to insert your own “Nicole’s too skinny” joke here. Speaking of which, Nicole Richie’s first foray into music, Dandelion leaked to the net this week and, well, it’s better than anything by former BFF Paris Hilton. But that’s not saying much, click on her name to give it a listen (warning bad 7th grade poetry ahead). As for daddy dearest, check out for a review of his new album next week.
Speaking of chicks with no redeemable talent to go with their dramatic weight loss, Hilary Duff has a new video out. It’s nice to see she is as bad at dancing as she is at acting, singing, and choosing boyfriends. But to be honest, the song is actually kind of catchy. For those keeping track at home, that’s two songs the Duffster has conned me into liking (the Theme to Laguna Beach being the other). It may be time for an intervention.
I really don’t want to talk too much about the song itself as I will cover that in my album review of Beyonce’s B-Day coming up in the next couple days. But I wonder if the video, especially when she’s being interrogated in the white dress is homage to Basic Instinct, but without the best part. Then there is the hallway scene which is a blatant rip-off of No Doubt’s It’s My Life.
There are a couple of cool contests on the web that I’d like to point out. First I slipped this into my Fall Preview post a couple hours after I originally posted it, so I thought I give it another plug. The newest addition to my Blogs I Read list, Culture Bully, is giving away a free CD for every day in September. So head over to his site to see what three albums you have to choose from today and the complete rules.
Then there is A Yoga Coffee Outlook who is giving away a free iPod Nano. Yes a free iPod, and no you don’t have to buy something else to get it like all the other “get a free iPod” advertisings on their site. There is a bunch of different and easy ways to enter so check out her site to see how.
This post you are reading marks the 500th post here at the 9th Green. Yippie. I really don’t have anything to celebrate the occasion even though I realized I was coming up on the milestone over a month ago. And in lieu of cards, presents, or money, really all I ask of you the reader is to take three minutes out of your day and watch the video below courtesy of YouTube. If you venture the blogs I do, no doubt you have seen it already, but this promo is more for people who haven’t seen the show the video promote. So everyone please give it a watch. And for those keeping track at home, the song in the second half is The KillersAll These Things That I've Done.
Okay, I do have a small, but very cool announcement; “Weird Al” Yankovic has a new album coming out next month. Pre-order your copy of Straight Outta Lynwood from Amazon below. I’m a little worried about the quality considering he had to reference an almost two decade old record. But as long there is a polka or two on it, I’ll be happy. There is no track list yet but expect parodies of Chamillionaire, Green Day, Usher, R. Kelly (I’m not sure he can top Dave Chappelle’s parody, link definitely not safe for work) as well as some karaoke winner and the duel disk also contains six new music videos. One parody you won’t here is one of James Blunt, but you can still download it from Weird Al’s website. Oh, and if you really, really want to congratulate me by sending gifts or money, I guess there is really no way foe me to stop you.
Scooter Update: It just came to my attention after watching the latest episode of Flavor of Love that season one of the show will be available on August uncensored so you at home can watch the spit seen round the world in crystal DVD imaging rather than watch the grainy YouTube version (again link not safe for work or for people with class). “Weird Al” and Flavor Flav: what more can a man ask for? (And yes both are on my wishlist over at Amazon.)
Every once in a while I like to compile a list of songs that I’m currently listening to onto a CD to listen to in the car. So here’s some suggestions of songs that you should be listening to. The CD comes in at 76:58.
1. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall (see my album review - Her Face Is the Map of the World)
2. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield
3. Hips Don’t Lie - Shakira & Wyclef Jean
4. Touch the Sky - Kanye West & Lupe Fiasco (see my album review - You Gotta Love Though, Somebody Still Speaks from His Soul)
5. Number One - Pharrell & Kanye West
6. Crazy Times (Team9) - Gnarls Barkley vs. Prince (For those keeping track at home, this is a mash-up of Crazy and Sign 'o' the Times)
7. Drive Slow - Kanye West, Paul Wall, & GLC
8. Cash Machine - Hard-FI (Another great Single of the Week)
9. Walk Away and I’ll Wait (Aggro1) - Kelly Clarkson vs. Van Halen (What mix tape would be complete without a Kelly Clarkson remix, this time with Van Halen getting the mash-up treatment)
10. Dani California’s Last Dance (Laptop Punk) - Red Hot Chili Peppers vs. Tom Petty (Apparently someone pointed out that Dani California sound similar to Mary Jane's Last Dance, even though I really don't hear it, but that didn't stop an unknown mash-up artist from putting the two songs together)
11. World Wide Suicide - Pearl Jam (I hope you got this back when Pearl Jam had it up for free on their website, if not, it is worth the .99)
12. Suddenly I See - KT Tunstall
13. Steady, As She Goes (Acoustic) - The Raconteurs (This and the next song were both Free Singles of the week on iTunes, but instead of getting the album versions, we get acoustic versions of their latest songs. Hopefully this tread continues)
14. Put Your Records On (Acoustic) - Corrine Bailey Rae
15. Not About Love - Fiona Apple (see my album review - I Promise You Everything Will be Just Fine)
16. Boston - Augustana
17. Brand New Way - Rhett Miller (see my album review - Sex in Wartime Is Sweeter than Peace)
18. Over My Head (Cable Car) - The Fray (I always find it interesting whenever a former Free Single of the Week makes it into the top 25 downloaded list on iTunes, luckily, I got this song back when it was free)
19. Sway - The Perisher (This was featured during the Sadie Hawkins dance episode on Veronica Mars and it sounded familiar and lo and behold, I downloaded it back when it was a Free Single of the Week)
20. You’re Pitiful - “Weird Al” Yankovic (For those that made it to the end of my lengthy MTV Movie Awards recap saw this gem where Al is letting you download his latest parody on his website. Get it before he takes it down before you have to pay .99 for it by clicking on the song name)
