Fall 2019 Music Preview

Whenever I do my quarterly music previews, I like to add links to iTunes (the artist name) and Amazon (the album names) just in case anyone wanted to pre-order them and while making links this weekend, I could not find any pre-order links for the new Kanye West album that is supposed to come out on Friday. Sometimes when I make these list,albums that are scheduled months later do not have pre-orders yet, but I do not remember this ever being the case for something coming out in less than a week. so maybe we will get a new Kanye album on Friday, or maybe not. Really the only promotion so far for the album is a handwritten note from his wife's Twitter page. Not that I can get too excited about a Kanye gospel album in 2019. Sure, Jesus Walks is one of his best songs, but his last coupe albums have been too weird or just meh.

But meh kind of describes how I feel for this slate of fall albums. Sure The Avett Brothers always put out a solid album and I have really enjoy the singles King Princess has put out but is about it. I was excited for the return of Hootie and the Blowfish until iTunes listed under the country genre. The band was at its best when it mixed southern rock with RnB, but the lead singer's country albums have been mostly forgettable (though I am still intrigued by the song they wrote with Ed Sheeran). Then I find it weird that three pretty huge rock bands (or as huge as rock bands can be in 2019) are waiting until early 2020 to release their albums when fall is usually the time when the big releases are dropped (though that means less in the streaming age when people are no longer buying albums even as Christmas presents). But really the albums I am most interested in this fall are reissues: R.E.M., Prince, and The Roots. Oh well, here are the albums that will be at least a spin on Spotify.


September 27
Jesus Is King - Kanye West
Sound and Fury – Sturgill Simpson
Hey, I'm Just like You - Tegan and Sara
In the Morse Code of Brake Lights - The New Pornographers
For the Girls - Kristin Chenoweth
Things Fall Apart (Deluxe Edition) - The Roots

October 4
Closer Than Together - The Avett Brothers
Ode to Joy - Ode to Joy - Wilco
A Pill for Loneliness - City and Colour
All Mirrors - Angel Olsen

October 18
The Help Machine - Fastball

October 25
Cheap Queen - King Princess
Daylight - Grace Potter
KIWANUKA - Michael Kiwanuka
Colorado - Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Dream Girl - Anna of the North

November 1
Imperfect Circle - Hootie & The Blowfish
Wildcard - Miranda Lambert
New Age Norms 1 - Cold War Kids
Monster (25th Anniversary Edition) - R.E.M.

November 8
Building Balance - Allen Stone

November 15
Our Pathetic Age - DJ Shadow
Juliana Hatfield Sings The Police - Juliana Hatfield

November 22
You're In My Heart: Rod Stewart (with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) - Rod Stewart
WHO - The Who

November 29
1999 (Super Deluxe Edition) - Prince
The Later Years 1987-2019 - Pink Floyd

January 17
Father of All... - Green Day

February 21
Notes On a Conditional Form - The 1975

March 20
The Light - Delta Rae

May 15
Van Weezer - Weezer


TBA
Entergalatic - Kid Cudi
Dixie Chicks
Mandy Moore
Rihanna
Selena Gomez

Of course this could be the quarter that we get Dr. Dre's Detox.

I Want My Music Television: January 21, 2019

7 rings - Ariana Grande


Weird that the first huge pop song of 2019 references The Sound of Music and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (I assume Ariana Grande means the Audrey Hepburn movie and not the nineties one hit wonder sadly). But it is weird at the height #MeToo movement that the biggest pop star of the time is making an exploitative nineties hip-hop music video.


Cop Shot the Kid – Nas featuring Kanye West


Nice of Nas to bring in Slick Rick for a cameo, but I forget how weak the Kanye verse was on this song since I have not bothered to listen to any of the G.O.O.D. month of albums since they were released.


Screwed - Janelle Monáe featuring Zoë Kravitz


Always nice when people are recognized but it is weird when someone gets a featured credit on a song but after the song is over you are note entirely sure what they contributed. Did Zoe Kravitz sing back up on this Janelle Monáe song? Does she play guitar like her father?


Land Of The Free - The Killers


Who would have guessed The Killers would make a protest song? Unfortunately is is not very good. Brandon Flowers singing about how nice it is to drive when white is pretty cringe worthy. Really, all the anti-Trump songs kind of sucks. Makes me wonder when was the last great and popular protest song was? Do we have to go all the way back to American Idiot?

2018 Fall Music Preview

Good riddance summer. It hit ninety way too many times this year and was still hitting the upper eighties as late as last week. I saw this was the second hottest summer here in recorded history. I am ready for it to be cold so I can put on a blanket and watch television in real time again. Hopefully there will be some good tunes this fall after a pretty good first three quarters of a year. Though looking at the list I compiled it may be slim pickings for great unless everything in TBA gets released. That include three possible albums by Kanye West who started the summer producing five mostly uninspiring albums. After that he announced his intention to do that for an entire year. Here is hoping he just stays in the studio until he have seven great tracks. But anyway. Here are the albums that should be coming out before Christmas. Click on the album title to pre-order on Amazon. Click on the artist name to be taken to iTunes.


Last Week
Piano & A Microphone: 1983 - Prince
Coordinates - The Band Perry
Drogas Wave - Lupe Fiasco

This Week
Elephants On Acid - Cypress Hill
Blood Red Roses - Rod Stewart
American Treasure - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Joe Strummer 001 - Joe Strummer

October 5
Wax - KT Tunstall
Wanderer - Cat Power
C'est La Vie - Phosphorescent
New Compassion - Haerts
Sings His Sad Heart - Matt Nathanson
My American Dream - Will Hoge
Guide Me Back Home - City and Colour
Traces - Steve Perry

October 12
The Atlas Underground - Tom Morello
Up and Hang Around - Blues Traveler
Mirror Master - Young the Giant
Look Now - Elvis Costello & The Imposters
The Eclipse Sessions - John Hiatt
Give Out But Don't Give Up: The Original Memphis Sessions - Primal Scream
Happy X-Mas - Eric Clapton

October 19
Shake the Spirit - Elle King
Anthem of a Peaceful Army - Greta Van Fleet
Broken Politics - Neneh Cherry
Darker Days - Peter Bjorn and John
Natural Rebel - Richard Ashcroft
R.E.M. at the BBC - R.E.M.
Christmas Party - The Monkees
Live from the Ryman - Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

October 26
Honey - Robyn
Young and Dangerous - The Struts
LIFE - Culture Club
Here If You Listen - David Crosby
Reason for the Season - Mike Love
Ingrid Michaelson's Songs for the Season - Ingrid Michaelson

November 2
Post-Apocalypto - Tenacious D


November 9
String Theory - Hanson
The Messenger - Rhett Miller
Black Velvet - Charles Bradley
Electric Ladyland Deluxe Edition - The Jimi Hendrix Experience


November 16
Delta - Mumford & Sons
Other People's Stuff - John Mellencamp
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun - Smashing Pumpkins
Chris Cornell - Chris Cornell
Acoustic Live, Vol. 1 - Needtobreathe
Love the Holidays - Old 97's

November 30
A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships - The 1975


TBA
Watch the Thrones 2 - Kanye West and Jay-Z
Front Portch - Joy Williams
Good Ass Job - Kanye West and Chance the Rapper
Yessus 2 - Kanye West
Avril Lavigne
Broken Bells
Carly Rae Jepsen
Mandy Moore
Nas
Oh Land
Prophets of Rage
Rihanna
Selena Gomez
Sheryl Crow
Taylor Swift
Vampire Weekend

And of course this could be the season that Dr. Dre drops Detox.

I Want My Music Television: 10/9/2017

Little of Your Love - HAIM


When HAIM released their last video I said they should never not dance in their music videos, though country line dancing was not really what I had in mind.


The Last of the Real Ones - Fall Out Boy


Killer llamas may have been more entertaining if it was not in super slow motion. And it was not until the end before I realize, didn’t Kanye West do this already but with a hot model and not farm animals? Is Fall Out Boy really parodying a decade old Kanye West video I barely remember?


Heart Break - Lady Antebellum


There was no pre-ad roll before I watched this Lady Antebellum video on YouTube. I bring this up because about ten seconds in I was looking for the Skip This button because that opening was mostly boring. And really, the video’s plot did not make much sense. Unless it continues but I hate music videos that are to be continued.

Generous - Olivia Holt

Sure the new Olivia Holt (who distractedly looks like nineties Mandy Moore) song sounds like a rip off of Bad Liar, but still, it is mostly catchy.

I Want My Music Television: 7/5/16

Sledgehammer – Rihanna


In a post monoculture world you need a big hook to get your music in front of a lot of eyes and ears. So Rihanna released her new music video as the very first one ever shot in IMAX, apropos for s song from the new Star Trek movie. It does look cool enough for something that could fill an IMAX screen though I have no desire to actually go to one. This was not even the only big music video event Rihanna stared recently as an atomically correct lifelike doll of her popped in Kanye West’s Famous video which I will not be sharing, not because I am offended by the graphic nature but I was offended by how boring it was. Seriously, ten minutes of fake people not moving? Yawn. My big complaint of the Rihanna song though, is you cannot have a song entitled Sledgehammer without making people think of Peter Gabriel much like when Fifth Harmony released a song of the same title a couple years ago. Ironically the both came out with songs named Work this year though Fifth Harmony ended up changing theirs to Work From Home to avoid confusion even though both songs still chanted Work obnoxiously.


Heathens – twenty one pilots


Patrick Carney of The Black Keys once philosophized that the reason rock music was dying was because we let Nickelback become the biggest band in the world. So what does that mean twenty one pilots is now the biggest band in the world? I at least got Nickelback, it was frat rock. Who exactly is listening to twenty one pilots? But I can ask that about half of the top forty (seriously people, Panda?!?). But hey, we get a couple new images from Suicide Squad. I have said it before, but DC should scrap their five year Justice League plan and just start doing Suicide Squad standalone movies, which they may actually do as word on the internets is there are mulling over a Harley Quinn female antihero team up movie. Then after the standaloine, bring the Suicide Squad back together to fight the Injustice League headed by Black Manta.


Fake My Own Death – Sum 41


I will admit it, I have a couple Sum 41 songs in my library, like a lot of songs from the punk-pop era; those early songs were dumb fun. But like many other acts from that era, that act got old fast. The band always had a heavy metal side and it is probably wise to embrace that side but I am just not that into it. And Weezer already did a way past their prime music video where they took on internet memes and did it much better than this.


Bored to Death – Blink-182


Speaking of punk-pop band still at it, blink-182 was the one of the few of those bands that made it a decade of being relevant. The may be down a core member (apparently guitarist Tom DeLong is too buy rating about UFO’s) but this sound sounds like it could have been in a time capsule for the past decade, for better or worse.

The Ten Most Anticipated Events of 2016

10. Swish - Kanye West: In previous installments I would open up with Detox saying maybe this is the year Dr. Dre finally releases his album. Dre did release an album last year though not Detox which seems will officially never see the light of day (then again Bob Dylan released The Basement Tapes forty years later so maybe someday). Kanye West may be the closest thing to a long anticipated album. Yeezus came out three years ago making it his longest wait between albums. He actually released what was assumed to be the first single New Years Eve 2014, another single came out a couple months later as well as a Rihanna collaboration (who's Anti is also oft delayed), he premiered a third song at the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary, and once again dropped another song this New Years Eve. Will we actually get to hear Swish this year? Will it go under another name change before being released (it was originally supposed to be called So Help Me God)? Or will it turn into the next Detox?

9. The Presidential Election (November 8): Of course Kanye may just very well forgo music and throw his hat into the race for president this year instead of waiting until 2020 like he announced last year. He might as well because this election cycle has turned into a clown show. And the Republicans said they had learned from four years ago with what was commonly referred as a clown car of horrible candidates that tainted the one guy who could actually beat Barack Obama and ended up losing in a landslide. So the Republicans conduct an autopsy, decide they need to be more welcoming to women and minorities... and ended up with a crazier group candidate with anyone who could actually win a general election languishing in single digits. I have long said I would not worry about Donald Trump until they started to vote but now that we are about a week out I am starting to get worried because Ted Cruz, who is just Trump with tact, is right behind him. Then you have the Democrats who should look at the Republicans and think they can win in a slam dunk except they rigged their nomination so someone who may be indited before the election will win with no opposition except for some guy who can be described as your crazy Jewish uncle. Seriously, people want a second Clinton as much as they want a third Bush, not at all. Yet both parties seem intent on nominating someone no one else in the country wants as president. Hopefully Canada is more open to immigrants than Trump because there may be an influx no matter who wins in November

8. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (February 5): I have not been this excited for a film based solely on its title since Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Hopefully this one is better.


7. More Live Musicals on Television!: After three tries, NBC finally got their live musical right with the Wiz. No official word if there will be another but I sure they will announce another on during May sweeps in not earlier. And now Fox is getting into the live musical business with Grease Live (starring Julianne Hough, Vanessa Hudgens, Keke Palmer, and Carly Rae Jepsen) coming January 31 and they are righting one of my major gripes with the NBC version and including a live audience. Clueless ABC is also doing a musical this year but their musical version of Dirty Dancing staring Abigail Breslin will not be live. Also not live is another Fox event who is remaking Rocky Horror Picture Show set to air this fall. I have never been much of a fan of the movie and the recent casting of Victoria Justice, who acts about as well as she sings (not very) and a bunch of people I have not heard of does not get me any more excited.

6. Billions (January 17): Paul Giamatti comes to the small screen to shout at people on a weekly basis! Sure I have no idea what is going on as he tries to catch a hedge fund billionaire with ill gotten gain (Brody returns to Showtime!). I have a lengthier write up on the show coming around the time the show premieres.

5. La La Land (July 15): When NBC announced after the success of The Sound of Music Live! that a live musical would be a yearly event, one of my first fantasy castings was Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in Guys and Dolls. Unfortunately that is not happening (yet) but the duo is starring in a musical (albeit not live) coming out this summer.

4. Angie Tribeca (25 Hour Marathon starring January 17 at 9:00): I have a full write up coming closer to the premiere date but let me say now that this is the funniest show on television.

3. X-Files (January, 24): Reboots can be tricky, but I am cautiously optimist for the new X-Files even though the two stars jumped ship long before the series originally ended and the mediocre at best movie from a couple years back. First off they are just dipping their toe back in the water with just six hours, including four stand alone episode and plenty of fan service with the return of the Smoking Man and the Lone Gunman (despite their demise). And even if it does end up sucking, hey, it is only six episodes.


2. The Suicide Squad (August 5): Have we finally reached superhero fatigue? The Fantastic Four reboot bombed, Ant- Man was the worst performing Marvel film. Yet by my count there are seven more comic book adaptations coming this year. Marvel has two more, DC is starting their cinematic universe with two films itself, while Fox, despite the recent disaster of the Fantastic Four, is going all in with their other Marvel owned property X-Men with three movies. To be honest there is only one that has really gotten me excited; I never cared much about the X-Men, I am two films behind on Marvel, and every passing Superman v Bat Man trailer makes me less excited; and that is The Suicide Squad. Okay I want to cut off the trailer when Jared Leto's Joker shows up because he looks horrible, but sign me up for everything else about it. Just give Margo Robbie her Oscar for Harley Quinn now. Or at the very least an MTV Movie Award.


1. The Olympics (starting August 5): Always one of my favorite events every other year and plenty of story lines for this year's game which will includes Rugby Sevens for the first time: can Micheal Phelps add it his gold medals record? Can Usain Bolt go back to back to back in the Mens 100 Yard Dash? Can the US Women Soccer team be the first team to win Gold the year after winning the World Cup? Will anyone die swimming in Rio's polluted river? Okay the modern Olympics would not be complete with controversies in the lead up and this year's big one is the rivers where they plan to host the outdoor swimming events were unsafe to swim in. A previous scandal was adverted when they announced that the organizers were going to charge for air conditioning but later reversed that decision.

The 100 Best Songs of 2015

1. First - Cold War Kids

2. Here - Alessia Cara

3. Leave a Trace - Chvrches

4. S.O.B. - Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats

5. Magnets - Disclosure featuring Lorde

6. Lonely Town - Brandon Flowers

7. Big Decisions - My Morning Jacket

8. Girl Crush - Little Big Town

9. Cocoon - Catfish and the Bottlemen

10. Coffee - Miguel

11. She Used to Be Mine - Sara Bareilles

12. Fool for Love - Lord Huron

13. Close Your Eyes (And Count to (Expletive Deleted)) - Run the Jewels featuring Zach De La Rocha

14. Work Song - Hozier

15. Lampshades On Fire - Modest Mouse

16. Photograph - Ed Sheeran

17. Feel Right - Mark Ronson featuring Mystikal

18. Hold Back the River - James Bay

19. Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins) - Father John Misty

20. Your Type - Carly Rae Jepsen

21. Empty Heart - Grace Potter

22. Fight Song - Rachel Platten

23. Bright - Echosmith

24. Doing It - Charli XCX

25. Style - Taylor Swift

26. FourFiveSeconds - Rihanna and Kanye West and Paul McCartney

27. Let It Go - James Bay

28. Roll Up Your Sleeves - Meg Mac

29. Renegades - X Ambassadors

30. Nobody Love - Tori Kelly

31. Untouchable - Pusha T

32. One Time - Marian Hill

33. Electric Indigo - The Paper Kites

34. Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart - Chris Cornell

35. Hello - Adele

36. Sagres - The Tallest Man on Earth

37. Weight of Love - The Black Keys

38. Same Old Love - Selena Gomez

39. Brother - Needtobreathe featuring Gavin DeGraw

40. OctaHate - Ryn Weaver

41. Walk the Wire - Boy and Bear

42. Coming Home - Leon Bridges

43. Freedom - Pharrell Williams

44. The Wolf - Mumford and Sons

45. Outta My Mind - The Arcs

46. Love 3X - ZZ Ward

47. Bad Blood - Ryan Adams

48. Forever Mine - Andra Day

49. Dreams - Beck

50. Bad Blood - Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar

51. Smoke Break - Carrie Underwood

52. First Kiss - Kid Rock

53. Stand By You - Rachel Platten

54. Heavy Is the Head - Zac Brown Band featuring Chris Cornell

55. What Kind of Man - Florence + the Machine

56. John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16 - Keith Urban

57. Empty Threat - Chvrches

58. The Next Storm - Frank Turner

59. 1,2 1,2 - Raekwon featuring Snoop Dogg

60. Can't Feel My Face - The Weeknd

61. Hold On Tight - Greg Holden

62. The Healing - Gary Clark Jr.

63. All Day - Kanye West featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom and Paul McCartney

64. Still Want You - Brandon Flowers

65. One Last Time - Ariande Grande

66. Easy Rider - Action Bronson

67. Bloodstream (Arty Remix) - Ed Sheeran and Rudimental

68. Famous - Charlie XCX

69. The Wrong Year - The Decmberists

70. Take My Love - The Lone Bellow

71. Future People - Alabama Shakes

72. Strangers - Langhorne Slim and the Law

73. Things Happen - Dawes

74. Loving You Easy - Zac Brown Band

75. NWA - Miguel featuring Kurupt

76. Sound and Color - Alabama Shakes

77. How Could You Babe - Tobias Jesso Jr.

78. On To Something Good - Ashley Monroe

79. My Type - Saint Motel

80. Our Own House - MisterWives

81. Fell in the Sun - Big Grams

82. California Roll - Snoop Dogg featuring Stevie Wonder

83. Could Have Been Me - The Struts

84. Don't Wanna Fight - Alabama Shakes

85. Eyes Wide Open - Sabrina Carpenter

86. St Jude - Florence + the Machine

87. Mine - Phoebe Ryan

88. Delilah - Florence + the Machine

89. Focus - Ariana Grande

90. Good For You - Selena Gomez featuring A$AP Rocky

91. Adventure of a Lifetime - Coldplay

92. Put a Flower in Your Pocket - The Arcs

93. The Eye - Brandi Carlile

94. Biscuits - Kacey Musgraves

95. Numbers - Daughter

96. Inside Out - Spoon

97. Black Sun - Death Cab for Cutie

98. Sugar - Sister Sparrow and the Dirty Birds

99. If You Ever Want To Be In Love - James Bay

100. Fatal Flaw - Titus Andronicus

I Want My Music Television: 2/11/15

Only One - Kanye West featuring Paul McCartney



FourFiveSeconds - Rihanna and Kanye West and Paul McCartney


Kanye West christened the new year with a surprised song that featuring instrumentation from Beatle Paul McCartney. The duo then pulled in Rihanna for their next collaboration on a song presumably for her album. I cannot say I was that impressed by either. Only One sounds like a more uplifting version of a song off of 808's an Heartbreaks (my least favorite Kanye record) while FourFiveSeconds sounds just like Stay but with a singular acoustic guitar instead of a piano. Meh to both.


Doing It - Charli XCX featuring Rita Ora


Charli XCX is this bizarrely fun mix of early nineties grunge mixed with late nineties bubblegum pop. Her first album was a bit of a mess in a British version of Ke$ha kind of way. She ironed thing out for her sophomore effort which is a vast improvement. One of the catchier songs on the bubblegum end of the spectrum was Doing It. I jut d not understand why she added Rita Ora to the track who ended up being an even more unnecessary part of the music video that the fat dude in a Speedo.


Lay Me Down - Sam Smith


When someone took Hozier's Take Me to Church and inserted images of homosexual Russians being hunted down and killed in stark black and white and uploaded it to YouTube; Hozier saw it and just made it the official music video. Watching the new Sam Smith video makes me think this pitch could had been perfect for the Hozier song had he had done a more proper music video for Take Me to Church. As for the actual Sam Smith song that does accompany the video, much like the rest of his songs, it is kind of a bore.


Straight Outta Compton Red Band Trailer


That intro is a little silly, but I guess for anyone under twenty-five, they may not even know that that dude from the Are We There Yet movies and the guy who sells Beats Headphones were actually rappers at one point. Usually I stay away from bio-flick (I would rather listen to the music or watch a documentary; surprisingly there was never a N.W.A. episode of Behind the Music though Dr. Dre and Ice Cube got individual ones), but I have to admit this trailer got me a little excited for the movie.

We’re All Self Conscious, I’m Just the First to Admit It

It took me a minute to get into Kanye West. His first single was a mublecore track Through the Wire that he quite literally recorded with his mouth wired shut (hence the title of the song). He second single was a song called Slow Jamz and I am against rap slow jams (Bonita Applebum being the lone exception). Then I heard All Falls Down. That was a sit up and take notice moment. Base around an obscure Lauryn Hill hook (he could not clear the sample so that is Syleena Johnson singing) that loops throughout the whole song a self conscious Kanye debates himself on what he thinks other people want him to do and what he knows he should do.

By the time Jesus Walks dropped I was all in. The song is the rare rap song that sounds epic and timeless, something that could fill U2 type stadiums. Again, Kanye was rapping about an internal battle, but this time it was a war for his soul with faith on one side and the almighty dollar, through any means necessary on the other shoulder. Ten years later and it is still a tossup of which side won, but it was at that time I had to check out the whole album.

The College Dropout, March’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, almost plays out like a concept album on the doldrums of working your way through college. Starting off with We Don’t Care about the mid-twenties with not much to look forward to because “we weren’t supposed to make it past twenty-five.” That concept then end with School Spirit which stand tall amongst the other great tracks on the album. On the track Kanye says goodbye to school without the paper saying he is finished to a piano bounce (which is only enhanced by the like, “I got a Jones like Norah.”) It is a shame the song never got a video treatment or was released by a single.

Even on the first album, you could see Kanye push the boundaries; who else could get Jay-Z to appear on the same track as a spoken word artist (Never Let Me Down). Or get two of the deeper thinking rappers, Talib Kweli and Common, get down and a pick up chicks song (Get Em High). The guy even closed out the album recounting the road to the first album by having everyone involve give an oral history to a beat (Last Call). And right before that, it may be one of the sweetest rap song that managed to not come across as extremely corny (Family Business).

The College Dropout was a game changer that topped my list of The 100 Greatest Albums of the 00’s. It set up a long career. In a genre that has one of the smallest shelf lives, Kanye is still very relevant a decade later and even a bigger lightning rod for better or worse. I would argue that Yeezus would be for worst, but this still does not keep me from hoping a new Kanye West album drops this year, be it solo, another Watch the Throne, an uneven G.O.O.D. compilation, or something completely different that we will never see coming.

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.

The 9th Green's Reader's Favorite Songs of 2013

Before I get to my favorite songs of the year, I am turning the site over to you that submitted your favorites of the past twelve months and after throwing them into my patent pending algorithm, this is the list that was outputted.

1. Get Lucky - Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams

2. Royals - Lorde

3. Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke featuring T.I. & Pharrell

4. Mirrors - Justin Timberlake

5. Roar - Katy Perry

6. Can't Hold Us - Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton

7. Black Skinhead - Kanye West

8. Thrift Shop - Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz

9. New Slaves - Kanye West

10. Song For Zula - Phosphorescent

11. Radioactive - Imagine Dragons

12. Pompeii - Bad Blood - Bastille

13. Just Give Me a Reason - P!nk featuring Nate Ruess

14. The Wire - Haim

15. Follow Your Arrow - Kacey Musgraves

16. Wake Me Up - Avicii

17. Falling - Haim

18. When I Was Your Man - Bruno Mars

19. Man - Neko Case

20. Q.U.E.E.N. - Janelle Monae featuring Erykah Badu

21. Reflektor - Arcade Fire

22. Play by Play - Autre Ne Veut

23. Wakin On a Pretty Day - Kurt Vile

24. Love Me Again - John Newman

25. Hannah Hunt – Vampire Weekend

The 25 Best Mash-Ups of 2013

Click on the mash-up name to be taken to YouTube or SoundCload where you can listen to them (and in some cases download). Click on the names of the orginal songs to download them via iTunes.

1. Personal Yeezus – Chambaland
Kanye West (Black Skinhead) vs. Depeche Mode (Personal Jesus)

2. A Man’s Game of Thrones World – Djrozroz
James Brown (It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World) vs. Ramin Djawadi (Main Title to Game of Thrones)

3. Mit Freaudlichen Gruben, Rosana – Lup
Wax (Rosana) vs. B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams (Airplanes) vs. Die Fantastischen Vier (some weird German song) vs. Eminem (My Name Is) vs. Missy Elliott (Get Ur Freak On)

4. Polly G – Phil RetroSpector
Nirvana (Polly) vs. Bon Iver (Blood Bank) vs. Wings (Band On the Run)

5. Adornocene – The Hood Internet
Holocene (Holocene) vs. Adorn (Adorn)

6. Hey Jude, We Major / More Popular than Jesus – Tutanhamun Brothers
The Beatles (Hey Jude) vs. Kanye West featuring Nas and Really Doe (We Major)

7. Tommy’s Royal Christmas – DJ Schmolli
The Who (Christmas) vs. Lorde (Royals)

8. Blurred Mercy – DJ Y alias JY
Duffy (Mercy) vs. Robin Thicke (Blurred Lines)

9. Warriors of the World Care About Us – DJ Schmolli
Michael Jackson (They Don't Care About Us) vs. Manowar (Warriors of the World United)

10. The United States of Pop (Livin’ the Dream) – DJ Earworm

11. City Down Under – Mighty Mike
Men at Work (Down Under) vs. M83 (Midnight City)

12. The Royals From Liverpool – MashMike
Lorde (Royals) vs. The Beatles (Come Together)

13. Wake Up, Mary! – MashMike
Creedence Clearwater Revivial (Proud Mary) vs. Avicii (Wake Me Up)

14. Don’t Worry Be Perfect – DJ BC
CL Smooth and Skyzoo (Perfect Timing (Main)) vs. Bobby McFerrin (Don't Worry, Be Happy)

15. Lonely Boy in the Wild – Mighty Mike
The Black Keys (Lonely Boy) vs. Jay-Z and Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean (No Church in the Wild)

16. Run.Walk.Cruise – GaraGara
Kool G. Rap and DJ Polo (On The Run) vs. Smokey Robinson (Cruisin') vs. Dire Straits (Walk of Life)

17. Call Me a Hole – pomDeter
Nine Inch Nails (Head Like a Hole) vs. Carly Rae Jepsen (Call Me Maybe)

18. Under Treasure – The White Panda
Queen and David Bowie (Under Pressure) vs. Bruno Mars (Treasure)

19. Love Diamonds Theme – DeeM
Rihanna (Diamonds) vs. Barry White (Love's Theme)

20. Lose Yourself to Dance (I Can’t) – DJ Y alias JY
Genesis (I Can't Dance) vs. Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams (Lose Yourself to Dance)

21. Wake up Down Under – Kill mR DJ
Men at Work (Down Under) vs. Avicii featuring Aloe Blacc (Wake Me Up)

22. Heaven on Fire – DJ BootOX
Kings of Leon (Sex On Fire) vs. Bruno Mars (Locked Out of Heaven)

23. Roar of Faith – Mighty Mike
Katy Perry (Roar) vs. George Michael (Faith)

24. Red Hot Wonder – Addictive TV
Red Hot Chili Peppers (Give It Away) vs. Stevie Wonder (Superstition)

25. Roar (The Brave Radio Edit) – MixmstrStel
Katy Perry (Roar) vs. Sara Bareilles (Brave)