Scooter McGavin's 9th Green: Jack Johnson

Showing posts with label Jack Johnson. Show all posts

Monday, July 08, 2013

I Want My Music Television: 7/8/13

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.

I Got You - Jack Johnson

The opening shot looks like a recreation of the In Between Dreams album cover. I wonder if that is a hint at what the upcoming album will sound like because that (along with On and On) were his best albums while the last two Jack Johnson albums have been, though good, a bit of a bore. But the sound of the new song, musically sounds like the last two.

It’s You – Duck Sauce

I do not care if the new Duck Sauce music video is possibly (slightly, probably) racist, it is highly entertaining. And before you go and call me racist for enjoying the video, let me defend myself by saying I have never ever dreamed of participating in a plantation wedding or claimed to use the N-work in a positive manner (unless rapping along to N.W.A. counts).

Her Favorite Song - Mayer Hawthorne

If you ever wondered what a rap video would look like if it were populated by dogs, wonder no more. I just wonder how Mayer Hawthorne came up with this idea before Snoop Dogg.

Tennis Courts – Lorde

Last week I heaped a ton of superlatives on Lorde and I like the follow up single almost as much as Royals, and I have one more possibly hyperbolic superlative for this music video: it is one of the worst music video ever made. Ever. It reminds me of the Andy Kaufman / Mighty Mouse bit but at least he was trying to be funny intentionally. This is just creepy. It was as if someone thought, her just sitting there was the best part of the Royals, how about we make that the whole video or just have her lip-sync the “Yeah”. Um no, horrible idea.

Monday, June 17, 2013

The Five Most Anticipated Albums of Summer 2013

It has not been a very good year for music. If you think about this time last year we had Fun. and Gotye blowing up while The Lumineers were still bubbling up. This year: nothing. There is not even anything this year as annoyingly catchy as Call Me Maybe (sorry Macklemore). It is probably not a good sign that were are almost halfway through the year and my personal favorite album so far was a traditional country album (Kacey Musgraves debut). Hopefully that will change soon, possibly as early as tomorrow as there are a few worth wild albums coming our way in the second half of 2013. Unfortunately most of them are currently listed under the dreaded TBD which usually means we will not get them until around Christmas. Here are five or six albums that we should hear before the leaves start turning.

1. The Civil Wars – The Civil Wars (August 6): The duo put out one of the best debut albums this decade but a couple months ago they canceled their tour due to “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.” They were not breaking but it was ominous nonetheless. But as Fleetwood Mac showed “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition” can lead to great music. You could not claim anything on their debut to be cheerful, but first single The One That Got Away (as in I wish you were the one that got away) actually sound darker than their first batch of songs. Who knows if we will ever get a third album (The Mac did manage to release six after Rumours), but the second one is shaping up nicely.

2. From Here to Now to You – Jack Johnson (September 17): Jack got some early promotion for the new album when he filled in as the headliner for a last minute cancellation by Mumford and Sons. First single I Got You is another laid back acoustic, sitting on the deck at the end of the day song that Johnson excels at. It is too bad we will have to wait until the end of the summer to hear most of the rest of the album.

3. The Blessed Unrest – The Blessed Unrest - Sara Bareilles (July 16): I am not totally sold on the first single Brave which was co-written with one of the dudes from Fun, but Sara’s first two album s were solid, so hopefully there are better things to come on her third.

4. Yeezus – Kanye West (Tomorrow): This would have been number one on my list, and then I heard Kanye perform two songs on Saturday Night Live and got a horrible 808's and Heartbreaks flashbacks. But instead of the crappy emo and auto-tune drenched songs inspired by the mope rock of last decade, New Slave and Black Skinhead sounded like Kanye was listening to way too much Joy Division and other moody new wave acts of the early eighties. Not a very good first impressions. Hopefully the rest of the album is much better.

5. Haim / Churchill (TBD): Neither new band has had the bust out moment that Gotye or Fun had last year, but both released solid four song EPs over the past year and are both are aiming at a full length debut later this year that hopefully live up to the early hype building around both bands.

And here are the rest of the albums worth at least one stream on Spotify coming your way this summer. Click on the album name to pre-order the album on Amazon or the artist’s name to go to their iTunes page.

Tomorrow
Anthem – Hanson
More Light – Primal Scream

June 25
Love Is the Future – John Legend
Vh1 Storytellers – Alicia Keys
One True Vine – Mavis Staples
Moonlander - Stone Gossard
Sound The Alarm – Booker T.
Gifted – Wale

July 4
Magna Carta Holy Grail - Jay-Z

July 9
Dont Look Down – Skylar Grey
My Name Is – Pusha T

July 16
Last of the Great Pretenders – Matt Nathanson
Where Does This Door Go – Mayer Hawthorne
Amelita – Court Yard Hounds
Electric – Pet Shop Boys
Lickety Split – Robert Randolph & The Family Band
Walk Through Exits Only – Philip H. Anselmo and The Illegals
White Teeth, Black Thoughts – Cherry Poppin' Daddies
One – Sarah Miles

July 23
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Stars Dance – Selena Gomez
A New Era Begins – Mariah Carey

July 30
In a World Like This – Michael Franti & Spearhead

August 6
Give The People What They Want – Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

August 13
Paradise Valley - John Mayer

August 27
Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action – Franz Ferdinand
Electric Slave – Black Joe Lewis
Age Against the Machine – Goodie Mob

September
Mechanical Bull – Kings of Leon
Wise Up Ghost – Elvis Costello and The Roots
The Last Ship – Sting
New Constellations – Toad the Wet Sprocket
Hesitation Marks – Nine Inch Nails
Spreading Rumours – Grouplove
The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You – Neko Case

October
Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song – Amos Lee

TBD
& Then You Shoot Your Cousin – The Roots
The Last Zulu – Q-Tip
Speak a Little Louder – Diane Birch
The Electric Lady – Janelle Monáe
A Better Tomorrow – Wu-Tang Clan
The Diving Board – Elton John
James River - D'Angelo
Girl Power – Cee Lo Green
Fly International Luxurious – Raekwon
Fading West – Switchfoot
Crystal Meth – Method Man
Blackout 3 – Method Man & Redman
Matangi – M.I.A.
Broken – Nelly Furtado
Street King Immortal – 50 Cent
All Over the Place - Avril Lavigne
AC/DC
Arcade Fire
Beck
Beyoncé
The Black Keys
Broken Bells
Eminem
Foster the People
Lauryn Hill
Pearl Jam

And of course, let me end with the obligatory this may be the season we finally get to hear Detox by Dr. Dre.

Monday, March 07, 2011

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.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

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.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

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