I Want My Music Television: 6/11/2018

Back To You - Selena Gomez


I used to wish Selena Gomez would spend more time acting than singing. Then she made Bad Liar, one of the greatest songs in recent memory and know I get excited whenever she releases something new. Unfortunately the two songs she has released since are vaguely EDM pop songs, including this one. But hey, at least the music video is fun.


Babe - Sugarland featuring Taylor Swift


Oh hey, boring Superman. And redhead Taylor Swift. Wasn’t redhead Taylor Swift the antagonist of the You Belong with Me video? I guess this is more Mad Men. Although Betty Draper left Don because she was cheating and do not believe she ever caught him.


New Light (Premium Content) - John Mayer


No I.D. produced Jay-Z’s entire last album and what better way to follow that up by producing what is probably John Mayer’s cheesiest song ever. It is either that or the duet with Katy Perry, but the this video maybe put it ahead.


Girls Like You - Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B


I have been jibbing Maroon 5 for a decade and a half that they only make music videos so Adam Lavine can make out a new hot chick. So it is weird that they are now making some women empowerment music video with women of every stripe and Adam does not make out with any of them.

I Want My Music Television: 4/18/2017

Still Feel Like Your Man - John Mayer


John Mayer have done some soul infused songs before, but this is the first time he has done what sounds like a straight up RnB song. But I could have done without the really bad dancing.


Only Songs - The Wild Reeds


This song by OThe Wild Reeds may be my favorite song of the early year.


Lights Out – Royal Blood


I have a short leash these days when watching new music videos, you better do something quickly or I may move on. About fifteen seconds into this video for Royal Blood, I was typing the name of the next video I was going to watch and right before I hit enter, something creeped out of the ceiling. Okay, I am glad I finished it, because this video is freaky.


Good With God – Old 97’s featuring Brandi Carlile



An Hour and 60 Minutes, ha, good one Old 97's, though why get Jenna Fisher to replace Matt Pinfield?

I Want My Music Television: 1/21/14

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.


Bound 2 - Kanye West


Since there really are not any new music videos to talk about this year, I am going to mention some that I never got around to featuring last year. There really is nothing I can say about Bound 2 that was not already said in Bound 3 but I do have say something about one of the complaints of the video. I do not understand why people were disappointed that Charlie Wilson was not featured in the video. Charlie was smart to sit this one out. What did the critics want, Charlie riding in a sidecar? Would you want to be in that sidecar?


Who You Love - John Mayer featuring Katy Perry


"Yo John and Katy, I'm really happy for you, I'mma let you finish, but me and Kim had the most uncomfortable video of all time. OF ALL TIME!!!"


Skinny Love – Birdy


Speaking of old songs, this dates back to 2011 when fourteen year old Birdy covered Skinny Love and became a hit throughout Europe and gained a cult following here in the states. Birdy just released her second album across the Atlantic a couple months ago but it looks like her first single is finally getting a push in America as she just released a new music video for the song. I have a feeling it may be due to another alternative mononymous foreign suburban teenager hitting it big last year (Birdy is six months older than Lorde).


Talking Dreams - Echosmith


Since there probably be not that much new music of not for the next couple weeks, January is a good time to go back and look for some music from the past year. I recently discover Echosmith, a family band much like the buzz of 2013 Haim. Their debut album was decent but seems to go a little too hard for the Warped Tour power-pop where the most interesting tracks are the songs that do not fit that sub-genre very much. It seems like they are pushing Cool Kids as the single probably because outcast lyrics have been big on radio lately. My favorite song off the album is the title track Talking Dreams. The video gets bonus points for the croquet and if there were an MTV today to put this video in heavy rotation, those close up shots at the end of the lead singer could have made her this millennium’s Suzanna Hoffs. Echosmith seems like one of those bands that could be a lot more interesting on their second or third album when they out grown the power pop sound. That is if they can get to a third album in today’s musical climate where you can get dropped after one underperforming album. Granted if that happens, the singer could always go on The Voice because the show loves female Warped Tour veterans.

A Little Bit of Summer Is What the Whole Year’s All About

Each previous John Mayer album had a definite musical theme. Room for Squares was his pop album. Heavier Things was his soul album. Continuum was his blues album. Battle Studies was his crappy concept album about dating Jennifer Aniston. While last effort Born and Raised was his folk album. From the first listen of Paper Doll, the first single off of Paradise Valley, it sounded like John may be going back to his Heavier Things days with its more experimental guitar sounds against a lazy track. But as it turns out Paradise Valley is essentially a sequel to Born and Raised released just fifteen months prior, complete with the same producer, Don Was, with a few exceptions.

The most fun part of a new Taylor Swift album is trying to figure out which song is about whom. The biggest gimmie on any album was Dear John, a not at all thinly veiled reference to Mayer and John was not at all happy, essentially calling it bad songwriting to be so obvious. Maybe John has changed his tune or thinks he is more clever because it is hard to hear Paper Doll and not think of Swift especially the lie about being “22 girls and once” considering her last album featured a song entitled 22. Even more directed is Dear Marie which sounds like John trying to reconnect with a high school crush. But then again, who really cares about some chick that he went to high school with.

Musically Paradise Valley is akin to Born and Raised, but thematically, the two are much different. The last album saw Mayer wallow in his own sorrow of bad press (from the Swift break up to his racist genitalia) where he found himself trying to convince himself that he is “a good man with a good heart.” Apparently Mayer is done with the whiskey to dull the pain because Paradise Valley is a much more cheery affair. Album opener Wildfire is a rumbling jaunt. After an album hiatus, Mayer brought back a token cover song. This time around he reworks Call Me the Breeze by J.J. Cale, a song even more poignant after his death last month. But the song is still a great driving down a country road kind of song.

Mayer has long collaborated with other musicians only his albums but Paradise Valley is the first time he lets other singers take over the vocals. First up is girlfriend Katy Perry for the duet Who You Love where the two mixed matched pair try to explain their relationship to little avail. It is clear why Perry just sings cheesy pop music because her voice is just not suited for more serious material and just makes Mayer come off as cheesy. Frank Ocean shows up on Wildfire. No, not the opening track, there is another song of the same name as track number eight. In true Frank Ocean fashion, his Wildfire, the song only features his voice, is weirdly beautiful and has no connection vocally or musically to the Mayer version aside from having the word “wildfire” in it. After Mayer appeared on Ocean’s debut and Ocean appears on Paradise Valley, one has to wonder if their singer-songwriter version of Watch the Throne is next for both of them.

Song to Download – Paper Doll

Paradise Valley gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Feed Your iPod vol. LXXIII: Clarity

John Mayer releases a new album later this month which may be for the best because the last one released just fifteen months ago was a bit of a bore, and the one before that was his worst of his career. But his first three stand up as one of the best trio of first three albums by most artists so hopefully Paradise Valley rekindles some of that magic (first single Paper Doll is already better than anything on Born and Raised). It is a little disconcerting that Mayer’s second album Heavier Thing turns ten years old next month. My favorite track off that album was the second single Clarity which undeservedly floundered on the charts. It is an uncharacteristic John Mayer song, the guitar is pushed to the back in favor of piano and horns section (the song also features Questlove on the drums). As Heavier Things hits the decade mark, it is time to go back and give it another listen, especially Clarity.

Clarity – John Mayer

I Want My Music Television: 6/24/13

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.

Royals - Lorde


Just last week during my Summer Music Preview I was lamenting the lack of great music this and, boom, the next day Lorde pops up while listening to my library. Supposedly I downloaded this in March and played it once already, but I guess it took a second listen to really get it. The song along with the video reminds me of something that would have been a big Buzzworthy hit during the alternative craze of the mid nineties. Over the weekend I made some slightly hyperbolic statements: that not only is it the best song of the year so far, but it is the best anti-materialistic song since Ante Up, the best song by a teenager since Christina Aguilera, and the greatest song ever to come out of New Zealand. I should probably walk back on a couple of those, Get Lucky is still probably the best song of the year, Royals is probably only the best song by a teenage since Taylor Swift’s Our Song, and the Naked and the Famous could make a claim for greatest song ever to come out of New Zealand with Young Blood. But I fully stand by Royals being the best anti- materialistic song since Ante Up. Nonetheless, this is a great song, the kind of song Lana Del Rey only wishes she could make. And the outro of the video is getting ready for her next single Tennis Courts which is almost as good.


Paper Doll – John Mayer


Just a year ago John Mayer released his folk epic Born and Raised but will already have a new album out fifteen months later. I guess he spent a lot of downtime during his voice issues writing. Everyone has already declared this song about a naïve former flame to be pointed at Taylor Swift who eviscerated Mayer in her song Dear John. If correct, Mayer wins this round mostly because Dear John ranks as one of Swift’s worst song ever (do not worry Taylor, your Joe Jonas song was way better than his about you) and Paper Doll is already better than anything on his last album. But enough about the song for now, the chick in this video really creeps me out.


A Tattered Line of String - The Postal Service


The Postal Service recently their ten year anniversary of their only album and this is one of only two new songs. I still prefer when Ben Gibbard’s lyrics set to a more organic background. But the music video is a great idea.


U Should Know Better - Robyn featuring Snoop Dogg


I am already on record saying that kids as the artists in music videos is always entertaining, but Robyn flipped that concept on its head by casting a kid of an opposite gender to play her which is pretty awesome. I do not know about the female Snoop Dogg though.

I Want My Music Television: 3/11/13

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.


February Seven - The Avett Brothers


Who would of guessed that an intro of The Avett Brothers fighting with each other would be so entertaining. I wonder if there is a tape out there like the one that the Gallagher brothers released at the height of Oasis which somehow managed to crack the singles charts in England.


Something Like Olivia – John Mayer


I do not know why it crossed my mind while watching this video, but I wonder if John Mayer wrote this song about Olivia Munn. I know something like Olivia Munn is what I need to find.


Why Am I the One - Fun.


Who would have guessed a music video about a suitcase would be so depressing? Thanks for not living up to your name Fun..


Downtown - Lady Antebellum


So were Lady Antebellum unable to get Kat Dennings? I cannot imagine they were sitting around wondering if they could get the other chick from 2 Broke Girls to be in their video.

I Want My Music Television - 9/24/12

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.

Pyramids – Frank Ocean (Warning NS4W)


You would think after such a weird Saturday Night Live performance Frank Ocean would let his John Mayer and video games assisted visuals sit for awhile. Instead he promptly released a Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas style video for his eight-minute epic RnB synth ballad. I am starting to think that Frank Ocean is on some Prince level ish right now.


Cherokee – Cat Power


I recently read that Cat Power dipped into her retirement to fund her latest album and music video. Cat: there is this thing now called Kickstarter where fans will pay for that stuff. Seriously think about using it so we do not have to wait another six years for another heartbreakingly beautiful album, or weirdly awesome music video. I may even chip in a dollar or two.


Parking Lot – Nelly Furtado


Remember when Nelly Furtado first came out like the pixie folkster with I’m Like a Bird? What the frack happened? This song is just not good. But still better than that horrendous Big Hoops song. At least the visuals are cool.


Flowers - Ducky & The Vintage


When Daniel Rosa showed up again on the season of The Voice I thought to myself, it is cool they are letting rejects re-audition, but what the heck happened to Ducky? Apparently Ducky got himself a band, a record contract and music video. But it is weird that he got rid of his mustache and gave it to the magician.

I Want My Music Television - 8/6/12

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.

Miriam - Norah Jones


Norah Jones continues her path of destruction with what looks to be a sequel (prequel possibly) to her Happy Pill video. Hopefully the trilogy ends better than Spider-Man 3.


Queen of California - John Mayer



I am always a fan of one take music videos (okay, there are a couple obvious cuts here) and it looks like John Mayer is continuing his mountain recluse look at least on screen because after disappearing to the plains of Montana the last couple years after being humiliated because of his high profile relationships, he was quick to be seen with the recently single Katy Perry just a month after his album was released. I wonder what Vegas has for the Over/Under of a Playboy style interview.


Blown Away - Carrie Underwood


You may think to yourself that you may not need a artsy black and white dramatic turn from Carrie Underwood, and after watching this video, you will probably be right. C’mon, if you are going to go back between black and white and color featuring a twister, just go full The Wizard of Oz.


My Oh My - Tristan Prettyman>


I liked the folksy vibe of her first two album making Tristan Prettyman a female Jack Johnson. With that background it is a little weird to see her dancing around in the first video from her upcoming album.

I’m a Good Man with a Good Heart, Had a Tough Time, Got a Rough Start

It dawned on me while listening to the new John Mayer new album that all his previous albums had a musical theme. Room for Squares was his pop album. Heavier Things was his blues album. Continuum was his soul album. And Battle Studies was his crappy concept album about dating and breaking up with Jennifer Aniston. It is clear listening to Born and Raised that he has entered his folk phase. The album even features about as much harmonica as electric guitars. Most of the album is just him as part of a four piece band with an occasional guest like trumpeter Chris Botti, violinist Sara Watkins formerly of Nickel Creek, and David Crosby and Graham Nash (sans Stills or Young) doing backing vocals.

Of course one of the main reasons Mayer may have retreated to the frozen country of Montana was that his stupid mouth got him in trouble time and time again in the promotion of his last album when talking about his racist genitalia and sexual napalm. When first single Shadow Days hit, it sounding like the singer was apologizing for saying too much again when he opens the song with the lines, “Did you know that you could be wrong and swear you’re right” and adds in the chorus, “I’m a good man with a good heart. Had a tough time, got a rough start.”

It turns out repentance is a big theme of Born and Raised. On If I Ever Get Around to Living It is hard not to think he is talking to himself when he asks somebody, “When you gonna wise up boy?” And I may not be a shrink, but Whiskey, Whiskey, Whiskey (which is followed by water, water, water, sleep) kind of sounds like a lyrical excuse for his spoken words. Then in the verses, there are lines like “The only deal I ever signed, the old devil drew a dotted line. The stage was set, the words were mine, I’m not complaining” which is followed by “it’s just a phase, it’s not forever (but I still might have a ways to go).”

Mayer saves his biggest regrets for the title track, a heartbreaking tale of his parents dissolving marriage which is worthy of the country sound where he laments it is “such a waste to grow up lonely.” But it is not all doom and gloom because the album actually ends with the Born and Raised (Reprise) is a bit more optimistic in a sitting around the firepit and singing a song with your friends at the end of the day kind of way. Born and Raised was a nice diversion into folk, hopefully John Mayer’s rock opus is coming next.

Song to Download – Queen of California

Born and Raised gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

The Five Most Anticipated Albums of Spring 2012

A pretty slow week for music releases (unless you’re a fan of the 90’s: Wilson Philips! Candlebox!!) and where spring has become a wasteland for new music ever since the major labels pushed 90% of major releases to the weeks before Christmas, there is a surprising glut of great music coming in the next couple weeks, here are the top five album I am must looking forward to in the next couple months.

1. …Little Broken Hearts – Norah Jones (May 1): Sure the spaghetti western soundtrack album Danger Mouse released last year was a bit of a letdown, but the three standout tracks all utilized the vocal talents of Norah Jones (sorry Jack White). The duo is back together for a new album, but unlike Danger’s previous duets with Cee-Lo and the dude from The Shins, no new band name instead the album is being released under Jones’s name. Despite the darkness of Rome’s tracks, the first single from …Little Broken Hearts is the bouncy break up song Happy Pills. And looking at other track names (Say Goodbye, Travlin’ On) we will be getting a full on break up album.

2. Born and Raised – John Mayer (May 22): Let’s get out of the way first: Mayer’s last album sucked massively because nobody wants to hear a concept album about dating and breaking up with Rachel Green. In the three year since the album his stupid mouth has gotten him much more publicity than his music but has been relatively quiet since starting recording the album, which may just be because of a lingering throat problem, but the first single Shadow Days suggest that he is truly sorry for saying things like how his genitalia is racist. I just hope the album is more on par with his first three.

3. What We Saw from the Cheap Seats – Regina Spektor (May 29): The first song off the new album from Spektor, All the Rowboats, sound darker than anything she has done before. This could be thanks to producer Mike Elizondo who is most famous for working with Dr. Dre but also produced that last album from fellow pianist Fiona Apple. But the second single, Don’t Leave Me does fit much better into her back catalogue, most because it is actually a new version of a song she released a decade ago.

4. Blunderbuss – Jack White (April 24): Now that he has stated no more new bands, Jack White is now on his own, but I get the sense we will still get the blues-pop-rock through a weird filter that we have come to love from the guitarist.

5. The Idler is wiser than the Driver of the Screw, and Whipping Cords will serve you more than Ropes will ever do – Fiona Apple (June): Much like her last album, Fiona’s new album has been sitting on the shelf for a while but will supposedly get a June release, though no specific date gives me pause that we will actually get to hear the album before then. Unless, of course, you caught her nine date tour last month where she unveiled some new song (I avoided listening to them because I do not like to judge songs based on a crappy YouTube recording). (Scooter Update: It seems like whenever I create one of these music preview lists, inevitably that day a major release gets announced and today was no difference as just an hour after I published this post, Fiona Apple wrote on her Facebook page that her album got an official release date: June 26 along with the cover art. No presale on Amazon as I write this update.)

And here are some other notable releases. Click on the album title to preorder on Amazon or the artist name to be taken to their iTunes page.

Today
Dedicated – Wilson Phillips
My Head Is an Animal – Of Monsters and Men
Bottoms Up – Obie Trice
Love Stories & Other Musings - Candlebox

April 10
Underwater Sunshine (or what we did on our summer vacation) – Counting Crows
Boys & Girls – Alabama Shakes
Slipstream – Bonnie Raitt
MTV Unplugged – Florence + The Machine
A Wasteland Companion – M. Ward
New Life – Monica
Scars On 45 – Scars On 45

April 17
Love Is a Four Letter Word – Jason Mraz
Picture Show – Neon Trees
California 37 – Train
I Missed Us - SWV
Moving Up Living Down – Eric Hutchinson

April 24
Speak in Code – Eve 6
This Machine – The Dandy Warhols
Landline – Greg Laswell

May 1
Blown Away – Carrie Underwood
Master of My Make-Believe – Santigold
Strange Clouds – B.o.B

May 8
Strangeland – Keane
After Hours – Glenn Frey
After Hours – Silversun Pickups

May 15
Not Your Kind Of People – Garbage
Heroes – Willie Nelson
Rize Of The Fenix – Tenacious D
The Only Place – Best Coast
Bloom – Beach House
Welcome To: Our House - Slaughterhouse

May 22
Apocalyptic Love - Slash

May 29
Here – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

June 5
Americana – Neil Young & Crazy Horse

June 12
The Bravest Man in the World – Bobby Womack
Sythetica – Metric

June 19
Cherry Thing – Neneh Cherry

June 26
Overexposed – Maroon 5

TBD
Handwritten – The Gaslight Anthem
The Diving Board – Elton John
Life Is Good – Nas
The Lion the Beast the Best – Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Lollipops and Politics – V.V. Brown
Write Me Back – R. Kelly
Undisputed – DMX
Songs of Accent - U2
Mumford & Sons
The Avett Brothers
The Beach Boys
Bob Seger
D'Angelo
Diane Birch
Pearl Jam
Green Day
Linkin Park
Taylor Swift
M.I.A.
Wu-Tang Clan
The Offspring

And of course let’s not forget the obligatory this may be the quarter we finally get to hear Dr. Dre’s Detox.

Today I Finally Overcame Trying to Fit the World Inside a Picture Frame

A wise man once said music is the soundtrack to your life. Not only is it your soundtrack, but it is your yearbook; hearing certain songs will take you back to a high school dance, your first kiss or the time you drunkenly tried to steal a speed bump from a parking lot in college (No Diggity! No Doubt!). Listening to Room for Squares by John Mayer can take you back to the time to your early twenties when the world was at your fingertips when anything was possible. Back before you were stuck in a dead end job (and that is if you are lucky these days), had a mortgage that is not worth the paper it is printed on and long before John Mayer was writing crappy concept albums about having sex with Jennifer Aniston. But one thing Mayer got right on that crappy concept album is that it is a long time since twenty-three and listening to Room for Squares, this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, will take you right back to that age.

John Mayer broke on the scene with No Such Thing, a one man acoustic version of the Dave Matthews Band delivering folksy pop with hope for the future. Even if the song starts off with the sarcasm of “Welcome to the real world she said condescendingly” he was still looking forward to running through the halls of his high school even if his ten year reunion was still a couple years away. The bright eyed optimist could be found all over Room for Squares like on the 3x5, a must for any road trip where Mayer himself takes to the road lamenting nothing but not having a camera to document his trip.

The name Room for Squares started up Mayer longstanding love of self deprecation and seeped into the songs on the album like on My Stupid Mouth (which he still has not cured a decade later) where his mouth resigns him to play a game of chess with the salt and pepper shaker by himself. And of course there is also the biggest song of his career: Your Body Is a Wonderland. Is it cheesy? Yes. Was it overplayed? Definitely. Did every guy who put it on when alone with a lady get some sweet lovin’ because it? Quite possibly. Wonderland was not the only chance on the album to make your move as there were a few other love songs on the album most notably St. Patrick’s Day. It is a shame the song did not become a winter standard, maybe because it spanned too many holidays, but it remains a great track on in the colder months when you want to be warmed up by that special someone.

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.

I Want My Music Television vol. XCIV

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.


Runaway - Kanye West and Pusha T



It should have been Taylor Swift’s week with the release of her highly anticipated junior album, but Kanye West just had to steal her thunder once again by releasing his thirty-five minute film just days before. Runaway is kind of boring and would have worked much better as individual music videos with a common theme. Like the song Runaway is much more digestible as a nine minute video (well the five minute version is more digestible as it cut off the fuzzed out ending).


Dear John - Jessie James



Speaking of Swift, on her new album she has a song titled Dear John that may or may not be about John Mayer (okay, it probably is). The only problem that Jessie James also recently released a song titled Dear John that may or may not be about John Mayer (okay, it totally is considering seventy-five of the lyrics are composed of titles of Mayer songs). Which begs the question, do we really need two songs written about Jon Mayer released in the span of a month?


1983 - Neon Trees



You really cannot go wrong starting a video with a Big reference (even if the movie came out in 1988 and the lead character wanted to be, well, big). Then throw in a lead singer with a Thriller jacket and imitating Billy Idol (at least I think that is what he was going for). Thank you Neon Trees. But what was with the random Corey Feldman sighting?


L.A. Girl - Yeti Beats featuring Fatlip



Even more eighties references, this time from Fatlip (you may better know his group The Pharcyde) reuniting him with Spike Jones who directed the groups seminal Drop video.