I Want My Music Television - 3/7/11

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.


Uncharted - Sara Bareilles



I thought this was going to be another one of those fan made video until I went, “wait, isn't that Pharrell? And Josh Groban singing into a banana? Turns out Sara Bareilles got all her singer-songwriters friends to film videos of them lip-syncing her new song. Apparently no one in Maroon 5 has been on YouTube because their camera is too high quality and do not ham it up enough.


From the Clouds – Jack Johnson



Leave it to naturist Jack Johnson to shoot a beautiful video featuring the ocean. This screams view me in HD. And for anyone who would like to download this song for free (and more important legally) head over to Jack Johnson Music to do just that. The catch though is you have to post the link on your Facebook page or Twitter it to get the download. But for me free is free.


Uberlin – R.E.M.



At least the new R.E.M. video is less seizure inducing than their last one.


Freaks and Geeks – Childish Gambino



Yes that is the dude from Community (Childish Gambino is what a Wu-Tang Clan name generator gave him back in college; for those wondering, mine is Illmaster Assasin). I keep on going back and forth on if I actually like the song. Dude’s got wordplay skill, but the nasally delivery puts me off. But bonus points for including a shotout to time slot rival and fellow LaVar Burton fan, The Big Bang Theory.

Breaking Down the 1000 Greatest Songs of the 00’s

Back in 2006 someone asked me what I thought was the best song of the year was and I responded that Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy wasn’t just the best song of the year, but it was the greatest song of the decade. It was at that moment I thought about doing a Greatest Songs of the 00’s list and started a playlist that ended up with around 1400 songs four that I then widdled down to my favorite even thousand. If you have not done so yet, head over to The 1000 Greatest Songs of the 00’s for the complete list. Here is how the list broke down by the numbers. Now if excuss me, I need to get started on my list of the 1000 Greatest Songs of the 10's.


Artist with Double Digit Songs:
Kanye West - 22
Jay-Z – 17
U2 - 17
Coldplay – 16
John Mayer (Trio) - 15
Alicia Keys - 14
Dixie Chicks – 13
Dave Matthews (Band) – 12
Snow Patrol - 12
Jack Johnson – 11
Michelle Branch (The Wreckers) – 11
Nelly Furtado – 11
Beyoncé (Destiny's Child) - 10
The Roots – 10
Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs) – 10


Songs by Genre
Pop - 204
Rock- 191
Rap – 159
Alternative - 155
Adult Contemporary – 142
RnB - 97
Country – 40
Electronic – 12

Songs by Year
2000 - 91
2001 – 94
2002 – 96
2003 – 77
2004 – 96
2005 – 91
2006 – 90
2007 – 116
2008 – 124
2009 - 125


Top 100 by Year
2000 – 12
2001 – 12
2002 – 11
2003 – 10
2004 – 11
2005 – 9
2006 – 9
2007 – 8
2008 – 11
2009 – 7

Top 100 by Genre
Adult Contemporary – 28
Alternative – 19
Rap – 19
Rock - 12
Pop – 8
RnB - 8
Country – 5
Electronic - 1


Most Songs in top 100 – The Killers (5)
100’s – John Mayer (5)
200’s – U2 (3)
300’s – Jack Johnson, Jay-Z (3)
400’s – Alicia Keys (5)
500’s – The Roots (4)
600’s – Coldplay (3)
700’s – Dixie Chicks (4)
800’s – Kanye West (4)
900’s – LeAnn Rimes (3)

Artist with 1 Song: 201

Number of Cover Songs: 34
Number of 00’s Cover Songs: 6
Television Theme Songs: 4

Shortest Song: Fell in Love with a Girl (1:50)

Longest Song: I Will Possess Your Heart - Death Cab for Cutie (8:36)

Time it would take you to listen to the 1000 Greatest Songs of the 00's: 2 days, 17 hours, 14 minutes, and 46 seconds.

The 50 Best Music Videos of 2010

The links will lead you to YouTube and if you are interested in buying the video or song, click the corresponding iTunes badge.

1. Tighten Up - The Black Keys





2. This Too Shall Pass - OK Go



3. Next Girl - The Black Keys



4. At or with Me - Jack Johnson



5. Giving up the Gun - Vampire Weekend



6. Head Full of Doubt/Road Full Of Promise - The Avett Brothers

7. Runaway - Kanye West

8. Valentino - Diane Birch

9. White Knuckles - OK Go

10. Let it Be - Gylne Tider

11. (Expletive Deleted) You - Cee Lo Green

12. Opposite of Adult - Chiddy Bang

13. Stylo - Gorillaz featuring Mos Def and Bobby Womack

14. Madder Red - Yeasayer

15. In the Sun - She and Him

16. Cold War - Janelle Monáe

17. Erase Me - Kid Cudi and Kanye West

18. Young Blood - Norah Jones

19. Thinking ‘bout Somethin’ - Hanson

20. Skeletons - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

21. The Ghost Inside - Broken Bells

22. He's Not a Boy - The Like

23. Do-Wah-Doo - Kate Nash

24. The Cave - Mumford and Sons

25. King of Anything - Sara Bareilles

26. I Wish it Would Rain - Mayer Hawthorne

27. The Catylist - Linkin Park

28. Pow Pow - LCD Soundsystem

29. Kandi - One EskimO

30. Misery - Maroon 5

31. Kush - Dr Dre featuring Snoop Dogg and Akon

32. Playing God - Paramore

33. Dear God 2.0 - The Roots and Jim James of Monsters of Folk

34. Power - Kanye West

35. On to the Next One - Jay-Z

36. One Track Mind - Mayer Hawthorne

37. Cousins - Vampire Weekend

38. The Fire - The Roots featuring John Legend

39. The Only Exception - Paramore

40. Barbra Streisand - Duck Sauce

41. It's Okay - Cee Lo Green

42. Song Away - Hockey

43. Waiting for the End - Linkin Park

44. Dilly - Band of Horses

45. Christmas Lights - Coldplay

46. Wake Up Everybody - John Legend & The Roots, Common & Melanie Fiona

47. Love the Way You Lie - Eminem featuring Rihanna

48. If its Love - Train

49. Holiday - Vampire Weekend

50. Drunk Girls - LCD Soundsystem

Breaking Down the 100 Greatest Albums of the 00’s

Some say we will look back at the 00’s as the decade when the full length album died, and for the most part they will be right. Sure albums will never go away as long as there are people stupid enough to plop down ten dollars for an album with only a good song or two. But the album as an event has long passed. In this instant gratification day and age, we just want to get to the three minutes of musical joy instead of having to spend a whole album digesting an album. I cannot remember one album I sat around with a bunch of friends last decade dissecting it with friends like I did back in the ninties (granted this may be an age thing).

So my list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 00’s is less about a cohesive album (which there were very few of in the 00’s) than just a collection of twelve good to great songs. I’m sure there can be griping of albums I left out, but when compiling a list of albums for consideration, I only included albums I actual spent money on (or had someone else buy for me, with the obvious exception of two albums on the list), and when it comes down to it, if I didn’t even bother to drop ten dollars (or even less at discount prices), it is not something worthy of my list anyway. Here is how my list broke down by the numbers.

Artists with Multiple Albums
Dave Matthews (Band) – 5
Jack Johnson – 4
John Mayer (Trio) – 4
Ryan Adams (and the Cardinals) - 4
Alicia Keys – 3
Coldplay – 3
Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley) – 3
Kanye West – 3
Michelle Branch (The Wreckers) – 3
The Roots – 3
U2 - 3

Albums by Year
2000 – 6
2001 – 12
2002 – 11
2003 – 8
2004 – 9
2005 – 12
2006 – 8
2007 – 10
2008 – 14
2009 – 10

Albums by Genre
Rock - 19
Rap - 15
Alternative – 14
Pop - 13
Adult Contemporary – 11
RnB - 9
Folk - 8
Country - 5
Blues - 3
Hard Rock - 3

Best of the Week vol. XLV

Quote of the Week: You watch Mad Men but you don’t watch The Hills? They are the two smartest shows on television. (Bill Simmons, Pardon the Interuption)

Song of the Week: Africa - Toto IV – Toto (as sung by Abed, Troy and Betty White; Community)




Big News of the Week: Premiere Week Redux: CBS took the biggest gable of the fall shuffling two of its biggest shows around and managed to increase viewers at both timeslots. The other big story of the fall is how ambivalent everyone is to the new shows, none of which made much of a splash. But I find it humorous that the most hated new show among critics, $#*! My Dad Says had one of the bigger audiences while no one seemed to watch the most buzzed about pilot, Lonestar. (Sorry Tyra, you should have stayed blonde.) If you missed them, some of the premieres are currently free to rent or download on iTunes.

Pilot - My Generation, Season 1
Pilot - Outsourced, Season 1
All Mixed Up - Cougar Town, Season 2
Pilot - Detroit 1-8-7, Season 1
Pilot - Raising Hope, Season 1
A Deadly Affair - Castle, Season 3
I Haven't Told You Everything - The Event, Season 1
Pilot - Lone Star, Season 1
Pilot - Outlaw, Season 1

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:



Free Download of the Week: At or With Me - Jack Johnson (iTunes) Not only is the video featuring Andy Samberg available for free, you can also pick up a remix of the song for the same price.

Deal of the Week: Spotlight Deals: Television (Band of Brothers, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Bored to Death)

Video of the Week: The plot of The Dilemma seems like it is better suited for a sitcom episode rather than a full length movie, but if there is anyone who can stretch turkey meat it is Vince Vaughn.



Next Week Pick of the Week: No Ordinary Family, Tuesday at 8:00 on ABC: Look out for my full review of the show coming Tuesday.

I Thought We Were Doing Beat It

At or With Me - Jack Johnson

I Want My Music Television vol. LXXX

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.


Thinking ‘bout Somethin’ - Hanson



I wonder if Hanson, the original pre-pubescent trio of brothers, can make a comeback since that is back in vogue with the Jonas Brothers. Granted the Jonas Brothers have never written anything as catchy as MMMBop. And they certainly haven’t made a video as entertaining this one featuring one Hanson brother as Ray Charles, another as a Blues Brother, and the third as, um, is that supposed to be Zac Efron circa 17 Again? John Travolta in Grease? Oh yeah, and a hair straightened “Weird Al” Yankovic on tambourine.


You and Your Heart – Jack Johnson



Naturally the new Jack Johnson video would feature him surfing, but I wonder what was harder, lip syncing while riding the waves or doing it backward for Sitting, Waiting, Wishing.


Drunk Girls – LCD Soundsystem



You would think a video for a song called Drunk Girls would features less creepy dudes in panda suits and more, well, inebriated females, but not when Spike Jonze is directing a video.


Wheels – Jamie Cullum



When I saw the wheel at the beginning of the video I thought, “Sweet, Jamie Cullum is going to play in the middle of a Murderball match.” Unfortunately there was one solitary wheel for a reason, but the unicycle routine was kinda cool, but not as cool if it had been a Murderball game.