Musings from the Back 9: Music Edition XIV

I have never been much of a fan of traditional country music, but I do have a soft spot for the angry white chick sub-genre that popped up in the middle of the last decade. One of the best songs of the genre was Pistol Annies Hell on Heels (lead Annie Miranda Lambert may be the angriest of the angry white chicks), I do not even care if it was an ode to maneating. Their follow up album Annie Up starts off promising; you know just by the title alone you know I Feel a Sin Comin’ On is going to be good. And though it is not in the angry white girl vein, the laid back, front porch sing-a-long does not disappoint. The rest of Annie Up does disappoint, filled with songs that would not be good enough to appear on their first album. I was hoping the alleged marital strife between Lambert and husbandBlake Shelton, even if was unfounded, would produce better music.

Annie Up gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.


The Dixie Chicks pretty much swept the 2007 Grammy Awards taking three of the top four awards (naturally they were ineligible for Best New Artist) and promptly took an extended brake. The two sisters in the group released an album under the moniker Court Yard Hounds in 2010 as they waited for lead singer Natalie Maines got the writing itch again. Seven years after releasing Taking the Long Way, Maines may not be ready to write with the Chicks just yet (though supposable something is “in the works”), but she is ready to record some music, as she just released a cover album Mother with songs from Eddie Vedder, Jeff Buckley, and Semisonic. There is one Dixie Chick song, Come Cryin’ to Me which was from the Taking the Long Way sessions which sounds about as good as a song that did not make that album would be. But the best of the set is the haunting title track version of the Pink Floyd classic and the new Ben Harper penned Trained where Natalie duets with the songwriter on a barn burner of a song. Though it is hard not to listen to the album and hope a proper Dixie Chicks album will not be far behind.

Mother gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.


It is really apropos that She & Him named their third album Volume 3 (the first two naturally were entitled Volume One and Volume Two; do not ask me why they spelled out the numbers on the earlier albums but opted for the numerical styling now) because their most recent outing sounds exactly like its predecessor to the point I was suspicious that it was just the same songs with different titles just to throw people off. Except it could not have been a complete rehash because there is nothing as catchy as In the Sun on the new album. It does not help that I went to look how much longer the album was the first time I listened to it and was shocked that I was not even half way through the forty minute album yet. Really the only song that stands out in this set is Together which features Zooey Deschanel singing in French (I think, I did not do very well in the subject back in high school).

Volume 3 gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Want My Music Television: 5/8/13

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.


Come and Get It - Selena Gomez


If her role in Spring Breakers was not evidence enough, Selena Gomez has moved into her mature part of her career. This song and video is reminiscant of Mandy Moore, who a decade ago was also a second tier pop starlet who was better at acting than singing, and released an grown up Indian influenced In My Pocket to set hr apart from her peers. But In My Pocket is a bit catchier and like Moore, I hope Selena starts focusing on acting for the next couple years. And if the Mandy comparison continues (they both dated humongous douchebags during their teen starlet days), I will look forward to Gomez releasing a folk influenced album in five years as she transitioned into a classier era in her life.


Mosquito - Yeah Yeah Yeahs


When the Yeah Yeah Yeahs released the album art for Mosquito, it was met with a resounding, “Huh?” They have just released a music video for the title track and I have a feeling it will get the same reception.


New Day – Alicia Keys


Apparently Alicia Keys is going with the spaghetti approach to a new single as she really has not had one catch fire (no pun intended) from her new album because she has released two new music videos in as many weeks. I definitely prefer the one with Maxwell to this one. And if you are going to stretch one word out ten syllables, avoid lip-syncing because you are just going to look silly.


Q.U.E.E.N. – Janelle Monae featuring Erykah Badu


Considering the song involves both Janelle Monae and Erykah Badu and I wanted to like the song more than I do. But maybe it will grow on my like many of their past songs have done. But the music video is instantly awesome.

WWII from Space: A Review

No, WWII from Space is not some new sci-fi movie, it is the latest special from History being released on Blu-Ray and DVD (they retail at the same price so you definitely want to pick the former if you have a player for it) today. Sure there have been hundreds, if not more, documentaries on the Second World War, what sets latest special apart from the rest is, well, it is seen at the very macro level from space. You can look down from miles above the Earth as battalions go through Europe and the Pacific theaters in the deadliest war the world has ever witnessed.

WWII from Space features the most impressive CGI I have ever seen for a documentary on the subject, and I have seen my fair share because I spent a lot of time watching the History Channel back when it went by that name. We do not only get to see the war from a satellite’s vantage point but they also go beneath the ocean to show us where ships were sunk and submarines traveled. Of course we get insight from military minds, professors, and a few eye witness accounts.

There really is not any new information, so anyone who had gotten past high school will not learn much new, though I did learn a couple new facts in the hour and a half like the trade of information the British gave to us in hopes that we would help them out (they basically gave us every war time information they had). The special is also very American centric, it starts off with the bombing of Pearl Harbor and does not even get into the strategy of the other countries until about forty minutes in when they focus on Germany invading Russia. I was also a bit disappointed that the glossed over the rest of the European theater after the invasion of Normandy which gets wrapped up in about a minute. But WWII from Space is definitely worth checking out if you are a history buff, or if you have one in your family and want to stock up for a birthday or Christmas.


Full Disclosure Notice: This blu-ray was given to me by Lionsgate for review.

The Voice Season Four Knockout Round Power Rankings

Last season, there were a few questionable song choices in the newly added Knockout Round (grandpa Rudy Parrish covering the girl beating Chris Brown sticks out the most) and even though there were fewer contestants this season, there seemed to be three times the bad song ideas. It seemed like Midas Whale, Mary Miranda, Monique Abbadie, Savannah Berry (all of whom I thought had a very good chance of advancing prior to the round), Warren Stone, Luke Edgemon, Audrey Karrasch, and C. Perkins lost before they even sang a note based on the song they picked alone. That is over half the losers and that does not even include Justin Rivers who benefitted from being pitted against someone who picked a worse song than him.

Surprisingly I agreed that every contestant each coach picked gave the best performance in the Knockout Round (I guess that happens when you get rid of the bad decision machines Cee-Lo and Christina). Not that it was not surprising in who the coaches picked. In previous seasons, especially Blake, would not necessary pick the best singer in the moment, but who they thought was better over all their performances. Even though they did not give their best performances, it is surprising that who I thought were former favorites on their teams, Savannah, Mary, Jess, and Ryan were all cut loose because of one below par performance. This definitely hurt Usher the most because he lost his two best singers in one fell swoop. I thought Ryan had the best chance to break up a final three sweep by Adam (Sarah, Caroline, and Judith seem the biggest fan favorites at the moment) and now Usher ended up with the weakest team which may be as bad as Christina’s team in the first or third season.

And what was up with Usher’s coaching, he will do pushups with Michelle, stand an inch away from Audrey, but it did not don on Usher to tell Ryan to tone it down and just sing the melody? That was just an epic fail on his part. One simple note just lost him his best chance of winning this season. Oh well. Here is a power ranking of those that did not make horrible song choices.

1. Sasha Allen (Team Shakira): Her flaws were on full display when she had to sing a duet with a song picked out by someone else, but when she is by herself singing own song… wow. Just wow. With Ryan out of the competition, Sasha is now most likely break Adam’s triad sweeping the finals.

2. Sarah Simmons (Team Adam): After performing two songs I never really cared for I was excited that Sarah was actually performing a song I like. Wild Horses may even be my favorite Rolling Stones song (that or Beast of Burden or You Can’t Always Get What You Want depending on my mood that day) but what I like about the song is it subtly and Sarah just went too big with it.

3. Caroline Glaser (Team Adam): The weakest performance of her three so far, but even Caroline at her worse is more entertaining than most people in this competition at their best. And I have to image going second puts you at a slight disadvantage epically if the other in your pairing does not bomb (Caroline was visibly shaken while watch Amy perform compared to Amy who provided the hey’s to Caroline’s song). She definitely needs to get her nerves in check during the Live Playoffs because Adam will not hesitate to pick Amber over her if comes down to the two. Since last week I suggested that Caroline start wearing and she did this week (and it worked, she was not picked without them and was chosen with them), I am going to pretend I am in some fantasy world where Caroline actually reads this and this week suggest Caroline start playing an instrument. Caroline has what I call the Eddie Vedder Syndrome where they are not sure what they should be doing on stage and end up looking very awkward. Standing in one place with a guitar or sitting down at the piano should elevate her nervous tensions; it did do wonders for Dia Frampton in the first season.

4. Danielle Bradbery (Team Blake): After hearing sing her first ballad, it became clear she will be better off sticking to more fun songs in the pop-country songbook.

5. Kris Thomas (Team Shakira): Consistent as ever, but the song selection was a bit of a bore. I hope he dips into nineties RnB for the next round because there are plenty of forgotten gems there that would be much more interesting than yet another interpolation of an over performed song.

6. Amber Carrington (Team Adam): She has become the dragon slayer this season, easily dispatched early favorite Sasha in the Battle Round and made quick work of another fan favorite Midas Whale in the Knockouts. So do not count her out against the resounding three favorites left on her team (Sarah, Judith and Caroline had the three best selling Knockout Round songs on iTunes this week). I do not think she will get through by the fan votes (assuming they do it the same way they did last season) but could get a reprieve by Adam saving her. If so, she could go far, maybe even top six. I have never minded team quotas, but it is a shame that all four of Adam's team probably could beat everyone on Usher's team and maybe even be at least the second vote getter on either Blake or Shakira's teams.

7. Holly Tucker (Team Blake): Much like how Danielle should stick to the fun songs, Holly would be better served by picking bigger ballads and it would also benefit them both because it would differentiate themselves from each other. But Holly needs to stick away from the country songs that do not appeal to a broader audience or she will end up like Liz Davis who was quickly rejected by America by picking a song that no one outside of the country world recognized. Maybe something by Shania Twain, Faith Hill or try countrfing a power ballad.

8. VEDO (Team Usher): It was hard to hear him sing this song without thinking of Bryan Keith last season who famously held that final note in the commercials. Vedo did not quite hit those heights, but he is the only one left in the competition who has improved on each performance. Like Kris, Vedo needs to dip into the nineties.

9. Judith Hill (Team Adam): My favorite of her three performances, but I still missing the wow factor that it seem like everyone else have when they listen to her.

10. Cáthia (Team Usher): Probably the luckiest person left in the competition. She loses to Mary (who then loses her Knockout match up) but gets Stolen by Usher who then puts her up against his strongest singer who then ended up giving his worst performance on the show. But it does not matter how you get there, it only matters that you get there. And it may get her more votes with America, but I actually like her more when she was singing in Spanish. With Usher as her coach I expect to stick to English language songs. Yawn.

11. Garrett Gardner (Team Shakira): Another consistent performer but he is still missing that breakout moment that could make him a contender, or even interesting.

12. Michelle Chamuel (Team Usher): She is like the white version of De'Borah but with a worse voice, less interesting and a much worse taste in music. Which probably means she will go further.

13. The Swon Brothers (Team Blake): It really baffles me that Blake would take Jamie Lannister to the Live Round. Who would want to vote for that evil douchebag?

14. Josiah Hawley (Team Usher): A much stronger performance than his Battle Round but I would still have liked Ryan or Jess to have taken this spot on Usher’s team. And now that it is up to America, I fear he may stick around for a few weeks. Dez Duron made it about two rounds further than his talent dictated and Josiah is a better singer and better looking (um… or so I have been told by chicks) and Dez made it to the top eight with stiffer competition, hopefully teen girls to not get Josiah that far.

15. Karina Iglesias (Team Shakira): Her performance just came across as bland karaoke. Are You Gonna Go My Way is about 60% passion, 30% guitars and she lacked them both. Shakira taking Karina to the Live Shows over Mary or Monique may have been the most surprising decision this round

16. Justin Rivers (Team Blake): Like Josiah, he could skate by with his looks, but after not even being good enough to have his first two performances show and gave a lackluster performance the first time we got to see him, I do not think it will happen.


So going into the Live Playoff, it is time to see who has the strongest team, as usual I assigned each a number for each contestant, one for the worst, sixteen for the best and here are the teams with the highest scores:

Team Adam – 48
Team Shakira – 36
Team Blake – 28
Team Usher – 24

Not surprisingly Adam has a commanding lead; the guy could end up with the final three contestants. More surprising, in one round Shakira jumped from last to second place. It does help that she has two of the top five wile Blake has two of the bottom four. Then there is Usher amassed one of the worst Live Round teams in the first four seasons.

Carson said that they will go from 16 to 12, I assume like last season that the next round will involve each team having two members advance to the to 12 by fan vote and another get through by a Coach’s Save, if that is the case, here is how I predict the next round will shape up:

Team Adam: Sarah and Judith are saved by America, Adam saves Caroline; goodbye Amber
Team Black: Danielle and the Swon Brothers are saved by America, Blake saves Holly; goodbye Justin
Team Shakira: Sasha and Garrett are saved by America, Shakira saves Kris; goodbye Karina
Team Usher: Josiah and Michelle are saved by America, Usher saves Vedo; goodbye Cáthia

But take my predictions with a grain of salt because I only correctly predicted nine of the sixteen finalist (though in my defense, I could not have foreseen so many contestants picking such horrible songs).

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 5/5/13

Once Upon a Time: Wait, I thought Maleficent was dead. Didn’t Emma slay her in dragon form? Ugg, This show is getting annoying.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Once Upon a Time on iTunes.

Mad Men: Last week I was convinced Matthew Weiner was just messing with us with the glimpse and you missed it cameo from Jefferson D’Arcy. So of course this week featured Harry Hamlin with just one line. Of course it did. Screw you Matthew Weiner. But all the toying with the audience was worth it just for the Ethan Rom pitch for insurance. I am pretty sure Bobby is aging backwards.
You can download Mad Men on iTunes.

Vikings: Who knew there tribes of Amazonian women in Scandinavia? And those I feel bad for the son having to see his father make babies with someone other than his mother, but I hate break it to the kid, but the jump off is a lot more attractive than the Mrs.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Vikings on iTunes

The Voice: I will be releasing my latest Power Ranking tomorrow just in time for the start of the Live Playoffs (here is a preview: there is a new number one), but one thing I want to mention that did not quite fit in the post is how I missed the backstage shots of the other contestants waiting to be chosen. My favorite moment of the Knockout Round last season was when Caitlin Michele was signing along with Nicholas David.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

How I Met Your Mother: Near the end of the episode I was thinking that this was one of the better episodes in recent memory, Ralph Macchio (who has not aged a day) a stripper, a creepy clown, and a completely evil plan; it was severely disappointing that they were not able to bring in Billy Zabka. Not thirty seconds after I said that, Barney says the same thing and Billy starts wiping off his clown makeup. Well done How I Met Your Mother.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

Castle: Well that was a silly excuse for a clips show. But I wonder why that was not the 100th episode, seems more like a place for a clip show, not the 102nd.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes.

Survivor: Caramoan: Oh Andrea, I love you, I thought you should have won this season because you were playing the best game up until this week, but girl, you made three extremely bad mistakes this week. First and foremost, how stupid was it to bring up Dawn to Cochran, that was his number one ally, at least wait until final four or five to broach that subject. And where taking Dawn to the finals who could rack up some sympathy votes, it would be worse to take Douchebag #2; the guy already has three automatic jury votes: Malcolm, Douchebag #2, and the gay homosexual, that could be enough for a win. All he would need is one more vote for at least a tie (assuming there will be a final three). And lastly, how do you go home with an Immunity Idol in your pocket? You have been paranoid this whole time, how do you not play the Idol. It is not a good sign when Erik gives away another Idol and he was not the dumbest person of the episode.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

Nashville: Has Juliette never seen Behind the Music? Rule number one: do not let strangers handle your money. Or as Billy Joel learned, do not even let family members handle your money. You hire a professional accountant, then hire a second one to keep the first on in check. A lot more shocking was the neighbor going in for the kiss on Gunner. Certainly did not see that coming.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Nashville on iTunes.

Community: Nerdy Annie was surprisingly extremely attractive (okay, maybe it is not that surprising, it would be hard to ugly up Allison Brie). Even bettet it looks like we may get Evil Annie next week. I may not be that sad to see Zombie-Community to go, but I will definitely miss Allison on my television every week.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.

Hannibal: Oh Bryan Fuller, I am sure you did not just happen to name My Girl’s character Miriam Regina Lass, so I am just going to go ahead and assume she is George Lass’s little sister. My sources tell me George herself will be showing up later this season as a character named Georgia so I wonder if she will be playing Miriam’s older sister, even if the original George Lass is dead (like Miriam).
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 5/4/13

Quote of the Week: Nobody’s been probed… yet. (Sergeant Wu, Grimm)

Song of the Week: The Stroke – Billy Squire (Castle)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: Jason Collins Is a Gay Homosexual: Monday, Jason Collins announced Monday that he was gay and after everyone got done asking, “Who is Jason Collins” it turned out he was the first current professional male athlete to publically announced his homosexuality (although he currently is not on a team and as an old journeyman, it may actually stay that way, though I am sure David Stern will make sure he is employed by someone next season). But the most interesting part of his story was that the guy who backed him up at center in high school was Jason Segal. Yes, that Jason Segal.

Preview Picture of the Week:

2 Broke Girls "And the Tip Slip" Monday at 9:00 on CBS

Free Download of the Week: 21 Years of Music – Hanson (Noisetrade)

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5 This month’s five dollar deal over on Amazon include Norah Jones, Counting Crows, Bruce Springsteen, and Weezer.


New Album Release of the Week: Annie Up – Pistol Annies

New DVD Release of the Week: Superman: Unbound

Video of the Week: The Walking Dead bad lip reading video is about as well written as the actual show. The best part is when it turns into a musical.


Next Week Pick of the Week: Locked Up Abroad, Sunday (tomorrow) at 10:00 on the National Geographic Channel: Now that you have seen the movie, now it is time to hear the real story of Argo from the people who lived it. And unlike the movie which featured Ben Affleck saving diplomats in Iran, tomorrow’s special episode of Locked Up Abroad features mostly testimonials from those who needed the rescuing. The real Ben Affleck character does not even show up for the first twenty minutes, but when he does show up, he had the best line, “This was the best bad idea we had.”

Around the Tubes: 5/3/13

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Family Tree, XOXO Betsey Johnson, Resale Royalty, Dallas, Inside Out: The People’s Art Project, Gamer 3D, Mighty Fine, Felicity, Zac Brown Band, Mike Doughty, Life On The Road, Alan Alda, and The Callen Sisters.

- HBO’s latest comedy Family Tree comes from Christopher Guest and Jim Piddock and is about a down on his luck in love and life, having recently lost his job and girlfriend, 30-year-old Tom Chadwick has an unsure sense of his own identity. But when he inherits a mysterious box, Tom starts investigating his lineage and uncovers a world of unusual stories and characters, acquiring a growing sense of who he and his entire family are. Watch the trailer below and check it out when it premieres Sunday May 12 at 10:30.


- This May, get ready for the most fashionable Sunday nights you've had in ages. XOX Betsey Johnson, a docu-series starring Betsey Johnson and her daughter LuLu set to premiere May 12 at 8:00, looks into the crazy and exciting lifestyles of the mother-daughter duo. Then at 9:00, from executive producer Rachel Zoe, Resale Royalty exposes one of the fashion industry's hidden gems – a resale store with designer and vintage clothes and accessories nestled in an unsuspecting location in a St. Louis strip mall. Check out a trailer for the former below:


- TNT announced this week that it is renewing Dallas for a fifteen episode third season that is set to early in early 2014.

- If you missed Inside Out: The People’s Art Project at the Tribeca Film Festival, do not fret because it will be airing exclusively on HBO May 20 at 9:00. The documentary travels the globe with French artist JR as he motivates communities to define their most important causes by pasting giant black & white portraits in the street, testing the limits of what they thought possible.


- Out on DVD and / or blu ray next week include the Gerard Butler’s Gamer 3D, Mighty Fine starring Chazz Palminteri and Andie MacDowell, season three and four of Felicity.


- AXS TV will air the second of Zac Brown Band's three consecutive sold-out concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheatre LIVE on May 9, 2013 at 10:30. On the road in support of their #1 album, 'Uncaged,' the three-time GRAMMY Award winners have noted the iconic setting's "special mystique,” calling the experience of performing in this special venue “like playing in God’s hands.”

- Singer-songwriter Mike Doughty, formerly of Soul Coughing, has launched a PledgeMusic campaign to support a record of reinterpretations of the band's body of work. Click the link to donate.

- In his new webisode Life On The Road, Reggie Watts gives you a behind the scenes look at life on the road and shows you what it's like to perform alongside some of the most talented musicians in the world. Directed, shot and edited by Vikram Gandhi (KUMARE), "Life On The Road" Episode 1 paints a fascinating portrait of comedian/musician Reggie Watts.

- Thanks to M*A*S*H, The West Wing and a slew of successful movies, Alan Alda now has his pick of writing and directing projects. But what he really wants to talk about is science. In the May/June issue of The Saturday Evening Post, on newsstands now, Alda shares tales of both acting and his new scientific endeavors to Post contributor Claudia Gryvatz Copquin.

- The Callen Sisters have released their third single, Little Dreamer off their soon to be released album, The Lightbringer Project, fans of Sara Bareilles should take a take a listen below:

It's a Trap!

Even before it aired I was ready to love The Americans. It was the first show Graham Yost created after Justified, the best show on television. Then you add in Keri Russell as a Russian spy which sounded like it would be Homeland: The Reagan Years but seem from the opposition. Sure we know how the story turns out (SPOILER ALERT: the Russians lose) but Yost is a master storyteller and with the premiere set against Reagan’s election, they are still eight years away from the fall of the Berlin Wall and a full decade away from the dissolution of USSR. Not that I would mind if The Americans lasted long enough to see The Jennings adjust to the end of The Cold War.

As great as the premise, the season relied on too many television tropes. Of course the guy who just moved across the street is the newest counter-intelligence agent in the CIA who routinely is investigation The Jennings activities but never actually crosses paths with them except in the finale but did not get a good look at them in their disguises. The biggest disappointment of the first season was how uninteresting Margo Martindale. Yost brought her in after she deservedly won an Emmy for her role of Mags Bennett on Justified but her character just did not add anything as the Jennings’ handler except the time she bruised Elizabeth’s fists with her face.

But these complaints really are due to unfair comparisons to Justified and Homeland, two of my favorite shows. On its own, The Americans was still an edge of your seat cat and mouse game between the Jennings and Stan as they join each other for cookouts on their time off from spying. And where I thought from the beginning that The Jennings would eventually get turned and become double agents for the CIA at some point in the series (I always go back to the offer the turncoat KGB agent they captured offered them), the most fascinating part of the finale was when Nina’s boss made it a top priority that she try and turn Stan. Now going forward it may be a question of who turns both. Of course if this were Homeland, they probably would both turn on their country and be shocked when they run into each other at a CIA or KGB meeting.


Still, it was hard not to be disappointed by the finale. In the end nothing changed. The Jennings did not get caught and Stan and the rest of the CIA are no closer to catching than they were at the beginning of the season. I thought for sure Nina would not make it out of the season alive, or at the very least be resigned to a life in Siberia, but she is still around as a double agent, her alliances just switch back. Maybe I was just conditioned by Homeland to expect one mind blowing game changer per week (for better or worse) I was expecting The Americans would have at least one in a season. With the last scene, I thought,, okay, at least the daughter will learn of her parents double lives, but even that just ended on a cliffhanger. Did she find her parent's stash? Does it even matter? Is the son more worthless and Bobby Draper and Chris Brody combined? I guess we have to wait until next season for the answers.

The Americans 1.x gets a on my Terror Alert Scale. You can download The Americans on iTunes.

Teacher Thinks that I Sound Funny but She Likes the Way You Sing

At the turn of the century, music got really sedate, the only videos getting played on MTV (when they played music videos) were bland teen pop or crappy rap-rock songs. It took something truly innovative to get noticed. Enter Fell in Love with a Girl and its Lego inspired music video which busted through the monotony of everything else in heavy rotation. Even better was that accompanying song by The White Stripes was great even without the awesome visuals. And though the strict adherence to only two instruments per song (so they would be able to play them as is live in concert) and a red, white, and black color palate, could have pegged the duo as a one hit wonder, but none listen to the album White Blood Cells, this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, showed they were much more than a gimmick.

The White Stripes were blues rock at its finest. Though most of their songs clocked in at less than three minutes, Jack White was able to pump at least one great guitar riff into each of them. The songs range from the down and gritty Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, to the delta blues of The Union Forever, to the quick and simple Meg stomping Little Room, to the poppy acoustic Hotel Yorba which just begs to be sun along with.

As great as Fell in Love with a Girl is, the best track on the album just may be We’re Going to Be Friends. With just Jack and his acoustic guitar, he sings of a simpler time when worrying about the first day of school was your biggest problem. But it is also a day were you meet new friends that can last a lifetime. The song should be included in every graduation mix from now until the end of time. As The White Stripes showed, the simplest can also sometimes be the best.

I Want My Music Television: 4/30/13

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.


How Many Drinks? - Miguel featuring Kendrick Lamar


Is it wrong to like a song that is kinda promoting date rape? If Miguel needs to liquor up chicks to get them home, what hope is there for the rest of us? And what the frack is Kendrick Lamar wearing? It looks like he took that outfit out of my crazy uncle’s closet.


Feel it All – KT Tunstall


I really enjoyed KT Tunstall’s debut album but her subsqueant album veered too far into computerize dancy music, I hope this song is a sign she is going back to a more organic way of making music. But I do hope she did utilize computers when it came to making this music video because it really freaked me out if she was really walking the plank.


Out of My League - Fitz & The Tantrums


Fitz and the Tantrums first album was filled with retro soul and it sounds like they have updated to a New Wave sound for their sophomore outing. Even the music video is very eighties, I was ready for Max Headroom to pop out randomly.


OMYGOD! – Kate Nash


Yeah the stylization of the title is silly, but the new Kate Nash song is ultra catchy.

Musings from the Back 9: Music Edition XIII

If it were not for Limp Bizkit’s fifth attempt at being relevant again, Fall Out Boy may have been the most unwanted comeback of the past year. Even worse is they called their album Save Rock and Roll (so when you look at the album, you will see Fall Our Boy Save Rock n Roll) even though they along with their whiney contemporaries destroyed the genre (good riddance My Chemical Romance, the world will not be anticipating your inevitable reunion at Coachella 2020). Apparently the band did not watch the Grammy’s this year which featured Mumford & Sons, The Black Keys, Jack White, and Fun., four critically and commercially successful rock albums, all fight for Best Album.

But I am not a Fall Out Boy hater, a couple of their songs made my Best of the Year lists. Despite the first single My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light em Up) and its pretentious long title the band is known for, Save Rock n Roll is the band’s grown up album. Besides Light em Up, the rest of the album has “normal” titles and less tongue in cheek lyrics (Courtney Love spoken word diatribe on Rat a Tat notwithstanding). This album reminds me a lot of Blink-182’s “grown up” albums, they may have been musically better, but their songs where they would make prank phone calls about sodomy were more entertaining. Same for Save Rock n Roll where the album may sound better, but the most entertaining song is the one that sound most like their older work.

Save Rock n Roll gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.


Taylor Swift set up the template for country cross-over success. Hook in that country crowd then slowly creep closer and closer to pop music with every subsequent album until you are making crappy dubstep songs with Max Martin. It look like The Band Perry is copying that blueprint to a T. Much like Taylor did with Teardrops on My Guitar, Kimberly and her brother released a “Pop Remix” of If I Die Young to pop and adult contemporary stations. And that turn to the mass center continues on their sophomore album Pioneer which dips one toe into the country pool and the other in the pop world. The album starts off with their best song to date, the banjo infused Better Dig Two which is as much pop-rock as it is country. They continue to go back and forth and combine the two for the rest of the album, but none of it is very memorable. Maybe the true key to Taylor Swift's successes is dating and writing about douchebags when they inevitably break her heart.

Pioneer gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.


Last year I became obsessed with who the record companies would try to pass off as the “Next Adele.” First out the box was internet lightning rod Lana del Ray who was maybe the most prepackaged “indie” act ever with her devil may care attitude, thin voice, pretentious lyrics that wanted you to think they were much more important than they are, and music that borrows as much from retro sounds as it does modern day hip-hop. Though we never did get a Next Adele (at least until Emili Sandi manages to break out here stateside) you could call Jessie Ware the Next Lana Del Rey but Jessie comes off much less pretentious, less annoying and has a slightly better singing voice. The music is still draped in as many rap references while it borrows from music from the sixties (Wildest Moments is the best here which will grow on you with every new listen) but most songs come off as a little too sleepy and boring. But that is what makes her debut Devotion a great bedtime album, whether that is a good or bad thing may depend on how much Ambient you take on a monthly basis.

Devotion gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

57 Channels and Only This Is On: 4/28/13

Mad Men: Okay, the show is officially messing with the viewers now. C’mon, Jefferson D’Arcy? Add him to the list of sometimes blink and you missed it cameos from Alex Mack, Mr. Belding, Rory Gilmore, the dude from The Nanny, and the recently Don conquest of Lindsey Weir. And Jefferson totally distracted from the appearance of the chick from Sugar and Spice as Joan’s sister (? I am not entire sure what that relationship was). Is it some deeply meta ploy to cast retro actors in a retro show? At any rate it gets distracting. I had to go straight to my computer after the show just to make sure my mind was not playing tricks on me and I really saw a fat Jefferson D’Arcy proposition Don Draper in a wife swap (something I am sure he tried while married to Marcy multiple times).

Until he popped up on screen, I was going to spend most of this space wondering who was interested in following Dawn home a season later. And speaking of the show messing with me, why was Allison Brie listed as a Special Guest Star and completely missing from the episode? Has it been in the credits all season and I just missed it or was she left on the cutting room floor, but kept in the credits for union reasons? I am also interested in how Harry learned of how Joan got het partnership. I do not remember him being in the room when it was suggested she help land Jaguar (but then again I have a hard time remembering what happened last week). Did someone tell him or did he not know and just correctly guessed that is how a woman like Joan could become partner?
You can download Mad Men on iTunes.

Vikings: I had a feeling the priest would be the one that would be offered to the Gods but somehow would manage to get out of it, he is too interesting of a character to let go of this early. Though he apparently has not renounced Jesus Christ in his heart yet, I wonder if it will happen eventually. I have noticed he no longer shaves the circle in his head.
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Vikings on iTunes

The Voice: I covered all the singing during my most recent Power Rankings, but I did not get to talk about “the new coach who shocks his fellow judges and producers.” Now I have watched every episode of Survivor and their promo so I am used to a Mark Burnett production to talk in absurd hyperbole, but this ended not even being a letdown or disappointing. It just did not happen. What exactly did Usher do that was so shocking? Not pushing his button until Cathia started walking down the steps? He did that with his other Steal but let the guy walk past him before pressing his button. Was it him calling Shakira narcissistic? I guess that was a little shocking.


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.

Survivor: Caramoan: It is befuddling to me that there has been about a decade’s worth of Food Auctions and there are still people who waste their money on food. Seriously, you hold your money until Jeff offers up a clue. That is Survivor 101. And you certainly do not let someone who is not in your alliance get that clue. How the remnants of Stealth-R-Us let Malcolm get the clue when they still had enough money to outbid him is beyond me. At least that led to one of my most favorite scenes ever on the show with Malcolm and Andrea sitting on a log for an entire day. The whole episode could have been those two sitting there and I would not have mind. But if I am Malcolm, I keep searching even if Andrea is there. She already knows what you are doing. Worst case scenario is she is the one that finds it, and since she has the numbers, she does not even need it. I wonder now if Andrea or Cochran go back there and looks for it now that Malcolm is out. Did Malcolm tell the rest of the Douchebag Alliance where it was?
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download Survivor: Philippines on iTunes.

The Americans: I knew someone would eventually become a double agent, the question was when. Although I guess Nina is technically a triple agent now (assuming her boss taker her up on her offer and not sent her to Siberia). And with the FBI now closing in on the Jennings, they know have multiple sketches of them and know they are bugging their office, I wonder if they will be forced to become double agents at some point, which is something I thought was going to happen back in the premiere when the other turncoat made the offer. Although it would be really interesting is one becomes a double agent unbeknownst to the other. What really surprised me was Clarke getting married to Martha. Never saw that coming. Now I wonder if Martha will survive the season.
You can download The Americans on iTunes.

The Big Bang Theory: It really is annoying whenever the show taps into my own experiences and uses them on the show to show how crazy Sheldon is (though I disagree about the quality of Heroes drecressing until the point it was satisfyingly canceled, Heroes was never good to begin with), so I knew pretty early on as soon as Amy left, Sheldon would go back and complete everything because that would totally be something I would do.
You can stream recent episodes over at CBS.com. You can also download The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.

Hannibal: With her taking the week off, it became clear to me Abigail Hobbs is the most interesting character on the show. Even though I never read the books or saw the movies, we know where Hannibal and Will land, but what is fascination about the show is figuring out where Abigail will end up. Will she end up being Dr. Lecter’s apprentice, or will she go to FBI school to be more like Will. If you missed Abigail like me, make sure you check out the Hannibal Webisobes (six in all) which features Ms. Hobbs taking up Dr. Lecter’s offer to have dinner with him. Alana Bloom also started to get interesting during the webisobes.


You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Hannibal on iTunes.

Happy Endings: It looks increasingly likely that this show is going to be canceled (unless it gets a reprieve from TBS or the increasing numbers of channels and steaming sites) and after the besmirched the good name of Better Than Ezra, I am glad they will probably be off the air forever after next week. How dare they call BTE a one hit wonder?
You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Happy Endings on iTunes.

Best of the Week: 4/27/13

Quote of the Week: Everybody is scared there, women crying in the ladies room, men crying in the elevator. It sounds like New Year's Eve when they empty the garbage, there's so many bottles. – (Dawn Chambers, Mad Men)

Song of the Week: The Day That Never Comes - Metallica (Once Upon a Time)

Scene of the Week:


Big News of the Week: NFL Draft: Surprisingly the Browns did not waste a first round pick on a thirty year old quarterback that is worse than ones already on the team. But there are still a couple more rounds left to screw things up.

Preview Picture of the Week:

"The Colonel" The Americans, Wednesday at 10:00 on FX

Free Download of the Week: Cercas Blancas EP – Needtobreathe (Noise Trade)

Deal of the Week: $3.99 Albums: Get deeply discounted albums from Van Halen, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Blake Shelton and Maroon 5:


New Album Release of the Week: If The River Was Whiskey - Spin Doctors

New DVD Release of the Week: History of the Eagles

Video of the Week: After the success of the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter campaign, the question was what would come next. That answer came this week when Zach Braff started to take donations for Wish I Was Here, the first movie he would write and direct after Garden State. Even though I enjoy his previous movie, I am not as inclined to donate as I did for Veronica Mars (not that it matters because by the time you read this, the Kickstarter will probably have already reached its $2 million goal) but I do fully endorse watching the video Zach made to promote the campaign featuring a cameo from one of his Garden State co-stars that you may not have even known was in the movie but now an award winning actor.


Next Week Pick of the Week: The Americans, Wednesday at 10:00 on FX: The Americans started off easily the best new show of the season, and though Hannibal bumped it down to number two, the show remains one of the more engrossing shows on television. My fear of rooting for a bunch of communist did not come to fruition because, despite a bit sympathetic, the Jennings really never become all that likeable. But neither did the good guys with Stan sleeping with the enemy while blowing the head off another one when he probably should not have. With as many twists and turns this season, who knows what they have in store for us in the finale.

Around the Tubes: 4/26/13

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Vikings, The Newsroom, Manhunt, King of the Nerds, The Hero, Trust Me, I’m a Game Show Host, Living Dead: Resurrection, Strictly Ballroom, and the heardontv app.

- This Sunday is the season finale of Vikings, but do not worry, the show will return for a second season. You can watch the promo below to get exited:


- If you have ever wanted to meet Aaron Sorkin, now is your chance because omaze.com is running a contest where you can fly to Los Angeles and meet the writer and hang out on the set of The Newsroom. You have until the end of today to enter.

- The latest HBO documentary airs Wednesday, and Manhunt is about the inside story of the hunt for Osama bin Laden features testimonials from CIA Analysts, Targeters, and Operatives who tracked him for nearly two decades. Tune in at 8:00 and check out the trailer below:


- Did you watch the first season of King of the Nerds and wonder, “Why am I not on this show?” Now you can be on the second season. TBS is crowd sourcing a contestant for the second season. Upload your video to the King of the Nerds Facebook page now. Then starting May 25 the public will vote for one nerd to compete for the illustrious title.

- We are still a little over a month before the debut of The Hero but TNT has released another promo, this time with actual footage from the competition series hosted by The Rock.



- TBS is bolstering its game show line up again by announcing Trust Me, I’m a Game Show Host starring D.L. Hughley and Michael Ian Black and executive produced by Mark Burnett. The two comedians will each present the single contestant with a bizarre and seemingly implausible fact, one of which is true, the other of which is not. The contestant must then choose the true fact to be rewarded in the game. The players who prove themselves to be super-human lie detectors will go home with a pocketful of cash.

- Out on DVD next week include Night of the Living Dead: Resurrection based on the classic original film and the blu-ray release of the 1994 Baz Luhrmann film Strictly Ballroom.



- For anyone who has heard a song on their favorite television show and wonder what song it is and who sings it, now there is an app for that. You can download heardontv for free on iTunes.