I Want My Music Television vol. XCVI

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. 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.


It's OK - Cee-Lo Green



The new Cee-Lo Green song seems like nice version of (Expletive Deleted) You with its Motown style delivery and even the cartoony video. Of course it is not as fun to sing “It’s Okay” at the top of your lungs like his previous hit.


Rolling in the Deep – Adele



It is weird in a time whenever a movie features someone smoking we first have to watch an anti-smoking PSA to see Adele start out her video smoking a cigarette for no apparent reason. I do like that she has continued to name her album after her age. I wonder if she will keep that up when she goes on the wrong side of forty.


Christmas Lights - Coldplay



All these Christmas tunes that radio pulls out every year are decent enough, but do you know what they are all lacking: violin playing Elvi. Now I can fully get into the Christmas spirit this year thanks to Coldplay.


Shake Up Christmas – Train



Train is also getting into the holiday mood (coming to a Coke ad near you soon) and my favorite part of the video is the crowd bum rushing the door after the barricade gets knocked down. As if a four foot barricade was stopping them before. As a former amphitheater usher, whenever a large group tried to get past me, I totally pulled the if you can’t stop them, join them routine. Unfortunately I still was never able to get a hand on a member of Duran Duran.

We on Award Tour: 2011 Grammy Nominations

The 00’s is when the music industry went in the tank, yet as sales go lower and lower, it seems like every year there is yet another new music awards show (there is another new one airing in a couple months), but there still remains only one award show that matters: The Grammy’s. Okay, the awards themselves are not that credible (Hilary Clinton has more Grammy’s than Bob Marley, The Who, Led Zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix combined) but you know they will put on a great show. No acts announced yet (hopefully they will be better than Katy Perry and Justin Beiber), but they did announce some nominees last night (head over to Grammy.com for the full rundown):

Song of the Year
Beg Steal or Borrow – Ray LaMontange and the Pariah Dogs
(Expletive Delete) You – Cee Lo Green
The House That Built Me – Miranda Lambert
Love the Way You Lie – Eminem featuring Rihanna
Need You Now – Lady Antebellum

Who Will Win: Ray LaMontange and the Pariah Dogs
Who Should Win: Cee-Lo Green

Wait, they actually nominated for a songwriting award a song they cannot even say on network television? Also nominated a song that includes the lyrics, “It’ three AM and I’m drunk again.” You cannot call the Grammy’s stuffy anymore. It is such a weird group it is hard to pick a favorite, but Ray LaMontange is the most “traditional” song, but Mirada Lambert may get the sentimental vote.

Best New Artist
Justin Bieber
Drake
Florence + The Machine
Mumford & Sons
Esperanza Spalding

Who Will Win: Drake
Who Should Win: Mumford and Sons

Best New Artist is always a tossup, but I have been playing out Mumford and Sons for most of the year. But I can see them or Drake or Florence and the Machine also taking it. Since there is no one in the academy under sixteen to stuff the ballot like the AMA’s, Beiber doesn’t have a chance. And for those wondering, Esperanza Spalding is a jazz artist, and as Herbie Hancock’s win recently, do not count her out.

Album of the Year
The Suburbs – Arcade Fire
Recovery – Eninem
Need You Now – Lady Antibellum
The Fame Monster – Lady Gaga
Teenage Dream – Katy Perry

Who Will Win: Eminem
Who Should Win: I do not care

Wasn’t Lady Gaga nominated for the same album last year? How does this happen? Even more puzzling, Kate Perry gets nominated? Ugg, I could care less for this category.

Record of the Year
Nothin' On You – B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars
Love the Way You Live – Eminem featuring Rihanna
(Expletive Delete) You - Cee-Lo Green
Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z and Alicia Keys
Need You Now - Lady Antebellum

Who Will Win: Jay-Z
Who Should Win: Cee Lo

A strong category (though I would have exchanged Airplanes for B.o.B.’s song here) but there was no song more infectious this year than the one that Cee-Lo gave us. Here is hoping that they let Cee-Lo perform the real version on the telecast.

I Want My Music Television vol. XCV

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. 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.


Pow Pow - LCD Soundsystem



MTV is actually putting the Music back into their name. No, they will not be showing more music videos, but for some really they are going to back roll higher produced music video dubbed Supervideo. The first partnership is that with LCD Soundsystem who recruited Scott Pilgrim vs. the World actress Anna Kendrick playing, um, I have no idea what is going on here. Money well spent MTV.


Playing God - Paramore



Speaking of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, is the lead singer of Paramore the real life version of Ramona Flowers?


Bright Lights Bigger City - Cee Lo Green



When I saw Cee- Lo Green released a video for Bright Lights, Bigger City I was hoping for a Michael J. Fox cameo. Alas it was not meant to be.


Last Leaf - OK Go



OK Go has another interesting video backed by a mediocre song out, this time with 100% more bread.

Best of the Week vol. LII

Quote of the Week: She also designed the iconic red and black jacket in Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, which I’ve never viewed in its entirety as I find zombies dancing in choreographed synchronicity implausible. And also it’s very scary. (Sheldon, The Big Bang Theory)

Song of the Week: (Expletive Deleted) You – Cee Lo Green (No Ordinary Family)



Big News of the Week: Get Ready for the Ryan Bowl: This season I just hoped the Browns would get blown out in every game. We managed to put a string of wins together at the end of last season because the Mangenius realized that Josh Cribbs was the best player on the team so maybe they should give him more touches. Coming in this season I was hoping for the team to at least be competitive in games with maybe six or seven because the Jake Delhomme / Seneca Wallace was a slight upgrade from Derek Anderson / Brady Quinn tandem. Then they both got hurt with just one win to show for in five games.

Then the Colt McCoy era started. You really could not pick a worse situation to start your career, on the road in Pittsburg against the returning Ben Roethlisberger (who got his suspension reduced because he managed to go without raping anyone for four weeks straight), and yet put up a valiant fight giving us Browns fan the most hope since Bernie Kosar wore the jersey. And if that wasn’t bad enough start, his next two games he had to go toe to toe against two Super Bowl MVP quarterbacks. And he outplayed them both, granted the defense beat the Saints and Peyton Hillis (thanks Denver for thinking he was a good trade for Quinn; finally some cosmic retribution for The Drive) beat the Patriots.

Which leads us to this week, going into this four game stretch, it was clearly the hardest four game string any team had to play this season and we could possibly go 3-1. And if knocking out three Super Bowl contenders in as many games wasn’t enough, there are plenty of storylines that NBC may have wished the flex schedule was in effect this week (well maybe if they didn’t already have Steelers vs. Patriots). Twins Rex (Jets head coach) and Rob (Browns defensive coordinator) going at each other (hunt down Rex’s recent press confress where he dresses up like his brother if you have not already), the Mangenius going against the team that fired him, Braylon “Brick Hands” Edwards going against the team and fans that could not wait to drop him like he does footballs, and rookie quarterback McCoy vs. sophomore Mark Sanchez. I do not think I have been more excited for a football game since the Browns returned.

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Video of the Week:



Free Download of the Week: Blue Suede Shoes (Viva Elvis) - Elvis Presley (iTunes): Elvis recently got his own Circ de Soil show and this is a version that is featured in the show.

Deal of the Week: 202 Blu-Ray's Under $10 (Office Space, 3:10 to Yuma, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-Long Blog)

New CD Release of the Week: ...Featuring Norah Jones

New DVD Release of the Week: Avatar (Three-Disc Extended Collector's Edition + BD-Live) [Blu-ray]

Video of the Week: Ever few years two movie studio decide to release the exact some movie within months of each other whether it be about volcano, asteroids or animated bug. There were even dueling reality spring break movies. 2011 will be the year of casual sex with two trailers hitting the interwebs this week. Friends with Benefits stars Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis which is described “The story centers around two professionals who meet but are too busy to find a mate. They agree to have an intimate relationship with no strings attached. Things get complicated when the guy falls for the girl, who’s dating someone else.” It is scheduled to be released July 22. No Strings Attached stars Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman (I guess she needed something more embarrassing on her resume than the Wal-Mart baby one) which is described as “This film is about two people a woman named Emma Franklin and Adam Kurtzman who try to have a emotionally free sexual relationship, but they have a revelation of wanting more in a relationship.” It has the jump on the other movie as it is currently set to hit theaters January 21. And don’t forget NBC has a sitcom set for midseason also titled Friends with Benefits. Below are the trailers so you can decide which one you want to avoid more.

Friends with Benefits – Red Band Trailer


No Strings Attached Trailer


Next Week Pick of the Week: Glory Daze, Tuesday at 10:00 on TBS: For those that saw my list of The Best New Shows of Fall 2010 you may have noticed I snuck on a show that had not even debuted yet, Glory Daze which I called the funniest original show ever on TBS (sorry Outback Jack) and better than the similarly theme ABC Family show Greek (though not as good as similarly period piece Everybody Hates Chris). Be on the lookout for my full review of the show later this week and be sure to come back Monday for my eighties-tastic Lyrics Quiz in honor of the show’s debut.

I Guess He’s an X-Box and I’m More Atari

I always viewed Cee Lo Green as a novelty. He was the weird troll looking dude in the eccentric rap group Goodie Mob, who managed to make OutKast seem normal in comparison. He went on to make weird RnB music on his solo work. And lest us not forget his cameo of daddy dearest on an episode of My Super Sweet Sixteen (um, not that I watched the show, I just heard he was on it). I never took notice of him as a credible artist until he hooked up with Danger Mouse for two ambitiously great albums under the moniker Gnarls Barkley. Even after that success, when I heard he was recording a new solo album, I thought, yawn, wake me up when he’s back to recording with Danger Mouse.

Then I caught wind of the name of his first single off The Lady Killer, the unapologeticly titled (Expletive Deleted) You. Despite the title, the song turned out to be no novelty song which was debuted with a viral video the featured the song lyrics scrolled across a fluorescently colored background. Not only was the song no novelty, it was the most infectious song released since his own Crazy, and also featured the greatest sing-a-long chorus that you wouldn’t dare sing in front of your mother since Closer wanted to (expletive deleted) you like an animal.

Much like his work with Gnarls Barkley, it is hard to classify The Lady Killer; is it Retro-Soul? Psychedelic RnB? Experimental Pop? Whatever you try to label it, it is highly entertaining. The biggest risk on the album may be his cover of the psychedelic pop rock of Band of Horses where Green turns up the beat on No One’s Gonna Love You and turns it into a solid gold gem.

Other stand out tracks included the disco themed Bright Lights, Bigger City which I will blindly believe was inspired by the awesome Michael J. Fox movie of the similar name. Love Gun may be the best James Bond theme song never written (the bookends to the album has Cee-Lo throwing his hat in the ring to be Agent 008). Satisfied is a Stax horn infused that will leave you like the title suggests thanks to a sixties girl group style chorus. Then Old Fashioned is just that and could have fit in nicely when Teddy Pendergrass and Curtis Mayfield were belting out RnB classics. With that all said, how about another Gnarls Barkley album by next year?

Song to Download – (Expletive Deleted) You

The Lady Killer gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

The Ten Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2010

We are coming upon the fourth quarter which means record companies will actually start releasing albums in hopes that you will buy some to giveaway at Christmas. Please note that release dates are subject to change. Click the album name (or album artwork) to pre-order it on Amazon. Click the artist’s name for their iTunes page.

1. Dark Twisted Fantasy (working title) – Kanye West (11/16): He really shouldn’t be this high considering his last album was one of the worst of last decade. But this will be a return to rap, and it is hard not to get excited when the album will be headlined by two stellar tracks, Power and Runaway. I suspect there will be plenty of toasting to this douchebag this fall.

2. Speak Now - Taylor Swift (10/25): And how can you mention Kanye West without Taylor Swift? She gave us a definitive answer at the Video Music Awards to the question of if she would be addressing the Kanye incident from last year on the new album. Between Innocent and Mine, it sounds like Taylor is growing up quickly and moving further away from her country roots.

3. Wake Up! – John Legend & The Roots (Today): Fall 2010 looks like the season of collaborations with Ben Folds teaming with writer Nick Hornsby, Elthon John recording with his idol Leon Russell, and Mark Ronson hooking up with, well, everyone. But the union I am most interested in is this one from The Roots and John Legend covering mostly obscure soul records.

4. Record Collection – Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. (9/28): After bringing retro back in style with Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, and his second album, Ronson has been working with Duran Duran and that comes though in a big way on this album which sounds very synth heavy. Look for appearances by Q-Tip, Ghostface Killer, Boy George, D’Angelo, and Simon LeBon himself.

5. Come Around Sundown – Kings of Leon (10/19): After their breakout with Only by the Night it is interesting how the Followell boys will follow up the success. From the sound of first single Radioactive, it will be more of the same.

6. Hands all Over – Maroon 5 (Today): After a pretty good debut album, every successive Maroon 5 album has gotten blander than the previous one. First single Misery doesn’t give me too much hope that Hands all Over will turn that around, but the album was produced by hair-band uber-producer Mutt Lange, so maybe it will be worth a listen.

7. Second Chance - El DeBarge (9/28): C’mon, who isn’t down with an El Debarge comeback? One can only be disappointed in that he didn’t bring the whole family with him.

8. Lonely Avenue – Ben Folds and Nick Hornby (9/28): Here was an album I had to do a double take when I first saw it announced. Quirky pop master Ben Folds and novelist Nick Hornby. For illiterates like me that are unaware of Hornby, his books that have been turned into movies include High Fidelity (which was number 10 on my list of The 100 Greatest Movies of the 00’s), About a Boy, and Fever Pitch (but do not blame him about the horrible adaptation because his book was actually about soccer). Hornby contributed the lyrics with Folds coming up with the music including a song about Alaska’s least favorite son Levi Johnston.

9. The Lady Killer - Cee Lo Green (12/7): I really was not interested in a Cee-Lo album that didn’t involve Danger Mouse, but after hearing the ultra-catchy (Explative Deleted) You, color me intrigued. But seriously, after this, lets get another Gnarls Barkley album out please.

10. Hot Sauce Committee part 1 - Beastie Boys (TBA): Putting this on the list may be a bit of wishful thinking because there is no release date announced yet, but with Adam Yauch doing better these days, he’s hoping he is well enough to do the rigors that surround promoting a new album.




Other albums of note:

Today
The Sound of Sunshine – Michael Franti and Spearhead
Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time – Santana
You Get What You Give – Zac Brown Band
A Year Without Rain – Selena Gomez and the Scene

September 28
Clapton – Eric Clapton
Invented – Jimmy Eat World
Pete Yorn – Pete Yorn
Le Noise – Neil Young
6: Commitment - Seal
The Dissent of Man – Bad Religion
Going Back – Phil Collins

October 5
Tiger Suit – KT Tunstall
Glow – Donavon Frankenreiter

October 12
Charleston, SC 1966 – Darius Rucker
The Rock and the Tide – Joshua Radin
The Age of Adz – Sufjan Stevens

October 19
Sale el Sol - Shakira
The Union – Elton John and Leon Russell
Libra Scale – Ne-Yo
Fly Me to the Moon... The Great American Songbook Volume V - Rod Stewart

October 26
Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager - Kid Cudi

November 2
...Featuring Norah Jones – Norah Jones
National Ransom – Elvis Costello
Dreams – Neil Diamond
Sidewalks – Matt and Kim

November 16
Born Free – Kid Rock
Loud – Rihanna

November 23
Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes – Social Distortion

Unknown Dates
Songs of Ascent – U2
The Believer – Common
Walk with Me Now and Fly with Me Later – DMX
Give Till it’s Gone – Ben Harper and Relentless7
Nothing – N.E.R.D.

And what would a music preview be without an obligatory this may actually be the season that Dr. Dre releases Detox mention.

I Want My Music Television vol. XCI

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. 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.


Mine - Taylor Swift



What a striking difference between the last two lead videos from Taylor Swift. Love Story was all about princesses and fairytales, while Mine is strikingly real, warts and all. Though after Valentine’s Day, someone should have told Taylor that it is not a good idea for her to run on camera.


(Expletive Deleted) You – Cee-Lo



Apparently if there was one thing Cee-Lo learned from Kick-(Expletive Deleted) it is that ten year old’s swearing is thoroughly entertaining. There is word on the street that Green is releasing a version to the radio called Forget You. Song unheard, this is a bad idea, you never want to cram two syllables into where only one should be. Too bad he isn’t a Battlestar Gallactica fan because Frak You would have been better. But if I were making the decision I would have went the ironic root and change it to Thank You.


The Bike Song – Mark Ronson and Business Intl



Well Mark Ronson is continuing his theme of futuristic-retro Japanese talk show videos for better or worse.


The Catalyst – Linkin Park



I have no idea what is going on during this Linkin Park video and song, but I just watched it about ten times straight.