I Gave Up on Giving Up on Me

When scrolling through some of the blind auditions from The Voice that caught my eye, I immediately recognized Dia Frampton (or at least was able deduce who she was from her not so popular first name and her sister / bandmate Meg in the friends and family room) from the rock band Meg & Dia. Though just barely did because the band was an afterthought for me in the bland emo chick rock genre that eventually got popularized by Paramore (who I once labeled the most mediocre band).

Then Dia popped up on The Voice performing the antithesis of emo rock, the breezy Bubbly which Dia found a folksier version of the song, changing the phrasing ever so slightly to make it interesting (and wisely dropped the cheesy “Will you count me in” intro). Where most singing competition contestants pick songs where they can sing with their hands, Dia went the other way and paid off with Blake Shelton set the record for fastest button press on the show and became one of only three singers from the blind auditions I cared about. Granted she almost lost all the goodwill she built up from the blind auditions when she was part of the single worst performance during the first season of The Voice when she “Battled” Serabee during Can’t Hurry Love (which was not all her fault, but unlistenable nonetheless). The performance was so bad the judges, that never met a superlative that did not want to over use, could not find anything positive to say. But all that changed with one single performance.

When Dia performed Heartless, it was a jaw on the floor performance which I instantly called the gold standard for singing competition performances and any hyperbole couldn’t do the performance justice. Alright Cee Lo Green’s “greatest rendition of a song I ever heard” may have been a bit overboard (for more thoughts on Heartless see: You Got a New Friend, I Got Homies). It was at this point when I thought maybe I should give Meg and Dia another listen starting with the Meg and Dia YouTube page where Dia uploaded some amazing and interesting covers by the likes of some of my favorite artists like The Avett Brothers, Mumford and Sons, and Adele.

Also up on their YouTube page was a video for My Ugly Mouth from their It's Always Stormy In Tillamook EP. The infectious track will have you singing along by your second listen with its Beatle-esqe chorus, folksy verses and a high point when the sisters do their own little battle in the bridge. And as it turned out the EP, as well as the full length follow up Cocoon, which the band put out independently just prior to the premiere of The Voice, is one hundred percent bland-emo-chick-rock-free.

For those going through Dia withdrawals now two weeks after The Voice wrapped up, Cocoon is a great album to subside the shakes while waiting for her to make new music (seriously record executives, pick her and her band up already, she had the number one song on iTunes for goodness sake). And there are plenty of tracks that can transition you from her time on The Voice. If you liked her version of Bubbly, check out the bouncy I Need You in It. If you liked the vulnerability in her Heartless performance, go to Mary Ann where Dia pleads with another woman not to take her man against a bluesy barroom backdrop. And for anyone who found themselves clapping along with Losing My Religion on their couch, you will be clapping along with the more upbeat Unsinkable Ships.

But as the name Meg and Dia suggests, the band is not a one person band (or even a two member group). Dia’s sister Meg even takes over the vocal duties on Better Off. Sure Dia has the more distinctive voice which is why she is the lead singer (and tries out for vocal competitions), but Meg has the sweeter voice (check out the free download of Weeding Through the Rubble on Bandcamp), but elects to go sultry for Better Off that simmers in jazzy lounge background music. Then the sisters trade verses on the next track Said and Done and the contrast of their voices make you wish they would do this more often.

Dia’s voice aside, musically Cocoon is an eclectic mix of different styles of music but never sounds scattered. The album starts earnest enough with just Dia and an acoustic guitar on Love Is before bringing in a wall of sound around the three minute mark with piano (really, whenever the band breaks out the piano is a high point on the album), harmonies and, of course, handclaps. Breakdown (which is the song that Dia mention on The Voice where you can hear a dishwasher humming during the song) could fit right in at adult contemporary stations today next to Norah Jones and Sara Bareilles. Bandits (which you can hear sirens blaring at one point, but with the title, the sirens may be intentional unlike the previously mentioned dishwasher) sounds like a refuge from college radio in the early nineties. While Teddy Loves Her closes out the album with a guitar solo worthy of a seventies arena.

The two standout tracks on Cocoon could not sound any different. Summer Clothes sounds like the most fun Meg and Dia have ever had on a song before and it is a shame that Dia never brought out this side of her during The Voice (a bigger shame is that the show picked Inventing Shadows as her original song instead one of her own original song that she or her sister wrote like this one which is much better than Inventing Shadows). Summer Clothes is then follows up by the melancholy Separate which allows us to hear what the Fleet Foxes may have sounded like if the Fleet Foxes were fronted by females. And much like a Fleet Foxes song, Separate flips in the middle of the song musically into a fuzzed out interlude like something off the latest Coldplay album when they deviated from their signature sound. If you were one of the people who put Dia Frampton at number one on iTunes, or are just a fan of indie pop in general, you owe it to yourself to check out Cocoon (and It’s Always Stormy in Tillamook for that matter), you will not be disappointed.

Wow, I actually made it through an entire review of a Meg and Dia album without mentioning that Dia was totally robbed on The Voice finale. Oops. Nevermind.

Song to Download – Summer Clothes

Cocoon gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.



Article first published as Music Review: Meg and Dia - Cocoon on Blogcritics.

I Want My Music Television - 7/12/11

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.

Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall - Coldplay



Coldplay Wang Chungs tonight!!! But serious guys, how about a seizer warning before this video?


Best I Never Had – Beyoncé



No better way to divert the attention of mediocre reception to your latest album than to open up your video with you wearing very thin lingerie. Touché Beyoncé. (Though I still think 4 is her strongest album, see You a Bad Girl and Your Friends Bad Too)


Dance Without You - Skylar Grey



I think I am the only one who knew Skylar Grey as Holly Brook when she made dark folksy music. Then came a name change and high profile guest spots on rap hooks from the likes of Dr. Dre. And now it sounds like she is still making dark folksy music seen through the prism of Trent Reznor. I guess I will have to wait for a full album until I decide which I like better.


Up Up Up - Givers



If you are like me and spend nights wondering stuff like if Rusted Root and Vampire Weekend managed to have a kid and raise her My Two Dads style (which begs the question, when is Hollywood going to get around to making a My Two Dads reboot?), what would she sound like? I present to you Givers. You’re welcome.

Previewing The Closer 7.x and Rizzoli and Isles 2.x

Do not get suspicious that you tuned into the wrong channel or were mistaken as when it actually returns, yes, The Closer returns for its final season tonight even though it opens up with a lengthy shot of a rap video which is the basis of the case that Brenda Leigh Johnson and her team investigate. And naturally when a rapper shows up dead on a crime procedural, a Suge Knight type is not that far behind and The Closer brought in Terriers’ Rockmond Dumber to play the menacing record executive. When Brenda finally gets her (wo)man, the moment was so tense I fear for everyone in the room.

Elsewhere in the episode, Brenda gets her first look at the department’s new organizational chart right around the time something from her past comes back to haunt her. Also Mary McDonnell, who has been guest-starring the last two seasons as Captain Sharon Raydor, has been officially added to the cast before getting her own spin-off when the show comes to an end. And there is a twist ending so big, TNT has forbidden me from mentioning by penalty of death (or something to that extent). But I can say for those that need to be caught up on The Closer, there is a nine-hour marathon preceding the season premiere.

The Closer airs Mondays at 9:00 on TNT. You can stream episodes over at tnt.tv. You can also download The Closer on iTunes. And if you are on Twitter tonight while watching the episode, Kyra Sedgwick (@kyrasedgwick #thecloser) will be live chatting during the show, both 9 EST and 9 PST so those on the left coast do not get left out.




Also returning tonight is the second season of Rizzoli and Isles which picks up while Jane Rizzoli is still on the mend after the seize on the police station in the season finale (and if you missed it, do not worry because there are plenty of flashbacks throughout the episodes. But no injuries or friendly concerns will keep her from investigating a bomb that went off at a celebration of her valor. And the cases keep coming to her in the second episode when a stab victim stumbles into the spa where she is getting a mud bath with Maury.

But the best episode of the early return features Ernie Hudson (Holy Winston Zeddemore Sighting!) as Frost’s father / naval officer who butts head with his son when a sailor becomes a prim suspect during Fleet week and also features a humorous storyline where Maura tries to hook up with one of Jane’s childhood friends. Also this season, the due investigates a murder carried out during a Revolutionary War re-enactment, a killing in a professional baseball team’s locker room, a complicated case involving a surrogate mother, and a case involving the Salam witch trials. And naturally Jane’s archnemesis Charles Hoyt will make an appearance along with talking head Bill O’Reilly as a potential murder suspect.

Rizzoli and Isles airs Mondays at 9:00 on TNT. You can stream episodes over at tnt.tv. You can also download Rizzoli & Isles on iTunes.

Previewing The Indestructible and Deadly 60

If you watched the Bruce Willis movie Unbreakable and thought to yourself that would make for a great reality show, well you are in luck because tonight on the National Geographic Channel premieres its new show The Indestructible featuring people who should not be alive and explains how they managed to survive certain death. Tonight at 10:00 there are back to back episode featuring a helicopter crash followed by a guy crushed by a SUV.

Each episode features eyewitness accounts (and multiple replays of the accidents), but waits until half way through the episode until we hear from those directly involved (which is surprisingly heart pumping considering from the title of the show we know they survive). Then the last half of the episode features crash specialists who dissect the accident to give scientific reasons as to how anyone could possibly walk away sometimes with just minimal injuries. Later in the season will feaure episode like a skydiver instructor who survive a 15,000 free fall, a man who’s car flew over a median and broke into pecies, an electrocuted skydiver, and a baby who survived a horrifying car crash. Check out a clip from tonight’s episode:

Chopper Disaster


In other premiere news, tomorrow is the debut of Deadly 60 where British naturalist Steve Backshell travels the globe in search of the sixty deadliest species on Earth. The show debuts with back to back episodes at 10:00 on Nat Geo Wild where Steve goes on the prowl for a wild leopard in Namibia then heads off to Thailand in search of a king cobra whose bite could kill an elephant. Check out a clip below:

Warthog Kill

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 7/9/11

Quote of the Week: Let me tell you something, you’re gonna be the quarterback of the Dillon Panthers next season. And you’re gonna shine. (Coach Taylor, Friday Night Lights)

Song of the Week: Devil Town – Tony Lucca (Friday Night Lights)

Big News of the Week: Casey Anthony Trial: So I have no clue who Casey Anthony was before this week, and honestly still not entirely sure why she is national news, but for some reason white woman have not been this mad at a verdict since O.J. Simpson was deemed not guilty. I do not know why someone that no one knew before this trail could get everyone up in a frenzy (seriously, America how about caring more about our fallen soldiers dying for our freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan than some random chick in Florida) but now I am going to Vegas to see what the Over / Under on the number of seasons until Casey Anderson makes it onto Celebrity Rehab.


Leverage: It is a shame that the killer was clearly recognizable to me from the second flashback because other than that it was a fun silly little episode. You can stream recent episodes on TNT.tv. You can also download Leverage on iTunes.

Falling Skies: After last week’s creepy ending I kept waiting for a twist ending and it was a little weird ending the episode on a normal dinner scene. I guess sci-fi shows has engrained in me that something shocking would close out every episode. Andb I do not care if they are just kids, if someone is shooting at me, I am firing right back. I’m also killing the sleeping skidders. If the skidders control the mechs and the skidders are dead, the mechs are useless. You can stream recent episodes over at tnt.tv. You can also download Falling Skies on iTunes.

The Nine Lives of Chloe King: For those taking part in my Chloe King Drinking Game (take a shot whenever you thing of Buffy) probably got really tipsy this week when Chloe got super hearing just like Buffy in the episode when Jonathan was going to go on a killing spree. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download The Nine Lives of Chloe King on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I feel a little cheated that they have spent the last couple episodes playing up is Ian really dead or not storyline just to find out that he was a live, but wait he “shot” himself (though probably did not). Plot twists upon plot twists are a little tedious. And I wonder when everyone is going to realize the reason “A” is always one step ahead is because “A” is tapping their phones. It is the only logical answer assuming the show does not go supernatural (or “A” turns out to Aria which is my second guess as who is “A” after Allison is still alive). You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: Grandma Saracen and Tyra Collette. Sigh. It is good to see them one last time (and it is a shame we will not be seeing Tyra in a Wonder Woman costume every week next fall, I would have tuned in no matter how bad it was). But it is weird that they are playing Tim and Tyra up as some grand love when they did they same thing with Lyla last season. I would gladly go to jail if I had those two fighting over me when I got out. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.




Free Download of the Week: Dangerbird Summer Sampler 2011 (Amazon MP3): This sampler includes songs by Fritz and the Tantrums, Minus the Bear, and Beady Eye (which is just Oasis without Noel Gallagher).

Deal of the Week: $5 Indie MP3 Albums: Amazon currently has almost 500 indie albums for only $5 including ones from The Civil Wars, Broken Bells, Lissie, and Band of Horses.



New Album Release of the Week: Red River Blue - Blake Shelton

New DVD Release of the Week: The Lincoln Lawyer

Video of the Week: For the latest installment of HBO’s documentary series, Love Crimes of Kabul goes inside the Bagh Woman’s Prison where half of the prisoners are there for “moral crimes” like running away from home, adultery, and premarital sex. Check out a trailer below and tune into Love Crimes of Kabul Monday at 9:00.



Next Week Pick of the Week: Friday Night Lights, Friday at 8:00 on NBC: Earlier this week, Friday Night Lights racked up its fourth straight Scooter Television Award for Best Scripted Show (it was keep from a clean sweep from the final season of Veronica Mars) which sadly be the last time it wins that award as the series run comes to an end next week. And while you are waiting for the last episode to air (or want to relive the series for you lucky DirecTV viewers), head over to NBC.com to flip through the Friday Night Lights Yearbook.

Around the Tubes - 7/8/11

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 Around the World for Free, Alphas, Design Star, Eureka, Warehouse 13, Killer Shots, The Car Show, Falling Skies, The Office, Motley Crüe, Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon, Reggae Summerfest, and Rocco DiSpirito.

- After taking the million dollar prize on Survivor (as well as a hefty consolation prize as runner up on another occasion) you would think Survivor’s Parvati Shallow would not need to borrow money any time soon. But she will be embarking on a trip around the world for free on the aptly titled web show Around the World for Free. Starting today at 2:00 PST Parvati will take off on a hundred day adventure with nothing but a backpack and a smart phone and tablet (and of course a camera crew). Since she has the smart phone, you can follow her in real time over at Twitter or CBS.com. Who know, she may be stopping in your hometown and may need a place to stay.

- Alphas, the new Syfy series, finally premieres Monday at 10:00 and here is a sneak peak:



- Monday also sees the return of a bunch of shows including Design Star on HGTV at 9 while over on Syfy will air new seasons of Eureka at 8:00 followed by Warehouse 13.

- Ever thumb through National Geographic and wonder to yourself how they get such beautiful pictures, well you are in luck because on Nat Geo Wild Killer Shots will follow photographer Andy B. Casagrande as he captures amazing and rare moments from nature. Here is a look at what you can expect if you tue in tonight at 10:00.

Shark’s Eye View


- While Wednesday on Speed there will be the series premiere of The Car Show hosted by Adam Carolla. Speed says of the show, “Funnyman and automotive freak Adam Carolla brings you the ultimate car lover's show, featuring awesome cars, epic driving adventures, and the best of automotive culture. It's the perfect mix of comedy, shop talk, and eye candy brought to you by Adam and his co-hosts, Pulitzer Prize-winning automotive journalist Dan Neil; "TheSmokingTire.com" founder Matt Farah; and former NBA Champion John Salley.”

- It only took three weeks, but TNT finally renewed Falling Skies for a second season. Look for the ten episode season to air again next summer.

- The Office has finally found a replacement for Michael Scott, James Spader will be reprising his role of Robert California for its next season.

- If you think you are a Motley Crüe superfan, Nikki Sixx is looking for just that. Enter the On the Road with Nikki Sixx contest and you can win an all expence paid trip to Los Angeles to meet the bassist.

- Showtime recently secured the rights to Talihina Sky: The Story of Kings of Leon. Look for the documentary that follows that band from its Bible Belt beginnings to superstardom August 21 at 10:00.

- The Jamaican Tourist Board recently secured R. Kelly, Nicki Minaj and reggae legend Beres Hammond for Reggae Summerfest July 17-23. For more information, head over to ReggaeMusicfest.com.

- On newsstands next week is the latest Redbook when they talk with Rocco DiSpirito on what scared him into getting healthy, how his cooking changed, and even one of the first dishes he ever made (spoiler alert: lobster bisque). My first dishes I ever made: grilled cheese.

2011 Summer Music Preview

Scanning the list of albums coming out this summer it looks like yet again the music industry will be holding out their big guns until the fourth Christmas with albums by U2, Coldplay, Dr. Dre (?) and Pearl Jam likely to have new albums out by Christmas. But there are some new albums released before Memorial Day that may be worth checking out. Here is a list. You can preorder the album on Amazon by clicking on the title or through iTunes by clicking the artist's name.

July 12
Red River Blue – Blake Shelton
All of You – Colbie Caillat
Yours Truly – Sublime With Rome
Just Me – Brian McKnight
If Not Now, When? – Incubus


July 19
Time of My Life – 3 Doors Down
Universal Pulse – 311
In the Mountain in the Cloud – Portugal. The Man


July 26
Rabbits on the Run – Vanessa Carlton
LP1 – Joss Stone
Back Pages – America
Game Tested, Street Approved – Black Rob


August 2
Watch the Throne – Kanye West and Jay-Z
Sky Full of Holes – Fountains of Wayne
Young Love – Mat Kearney
King – O.A.R.


August 9
Sweeter – Gavin DeGraw


August 30

White and Black America – Lenny Kravitz
I’m with You – Red Hot Chili Peppers


September 6
Seeds We Sow – Lindsey Buckingham


September 13
American Goldwing - Blitzen Trapper


September 20
My Life Too, the Journey Continues – Mary J. Blige
Tony Bennett: Duets II – Tony Bennett


September 27
The Whole Love - Wilco


October 4
Evanescence - Evanescence


TBD
Blakroc 2 – BlakRoc
Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall - Coldplay
The Dreamer, The Believer – Common
All of Me - Estelle
Loso’s Way 2 - Fabolous
How You Do – Mayer Hawthorne
Anthem Inc. – Naughty By Nature
Lifestyle – Nelly Furtado
Songs of Ascent – U2
Laughing Down Crying – Daryl Hall


With two singles already released months ago, I thought we may have gotten Detox by now, but alas it is still relegated to the obligatory “maybe this is the year Dr. Dre releases Detox” status.

The Seventh Annual Scooter Television Awards

Welcome to the 7th Annual Scooter Television Awards honoring show that aired new episodes between June 2010 and June 2011. Without further ado, here are the winners of the 2011 STA's:

Best Scripted Show: Friday Night Lights

Best Sitcom: The Big Bang Theory

Best Cable Show: Justified

Best Reality Show: The Challenge: Cutthroat

Best Talk Show: Pardon the Interuption

Best Talent Competition - The Sing-Off

Best New Show: Terriers

Best Awards Show: 2011 Grammy Awards

Best Hour of TV: Bloody Harlan - Justified

Best Half Hour of TV: A Fistful of Paintballs (Part 1) - Community

Biggest Shocker: Mags Bennett serving herself Apple Pie (Justifed)

Worst Idea: Survivor: Redemption Island

Worst Moment: The Killing ending on a cliffhanger

Best New Title Sequence: Rubicon

Best Song Placement: Shout (Pts. 1 & 2) – The Isley Brothers (Greek)

Best Karaoke: Push It – Jeffster (Chuck)

Best Singing Competition Performance: Heartless – Dia Frampton (The Voice)



Hottest Token Hot Chick:







Best Character: Raylan Gibbons (Justified)

Best New Character: Hank Dolworth (Terriers)

Best Recurring Character: Mags Bennett (Justifed)

Best Guest Appearance: Betty White (Community)

Best Duo: Coach and Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights)

Most Entertaining Reality “Star”: Special Agent Philip Sheppard (Survivor: Redemption Island)

Most Annoying Reality “Star”: Boston Rob (Survivor: Redemption Island)

Best Quote: Listen to me: I said you need to strive to be better than everyone else. I didn’t say you need to be better than everyone else. But you gotta try. And that’s what character is: it’s in the trying. (Coach Taylor, Friday Night Lights)

Show That Should Be Brought Back: Friday Night Lights

Biggest Question for 2011-2012: No, seriously, who killed Rosie Larson Will anyone continue to watch The Killing?

The Best Television Shows of 2010-11

I usually like to post my best shows of the year list after the May finales but at that point The Killing was still in the middle of its season so I decided to delay it because how the season ended would play a role in how it would land on the list. But after actually seeing the finale it was all for naught because the show dropped itself out of the top ten (and the top twenty at that). But even without The Killing, AMC actually managed its first two series on my end of year list. So here are the ten that did not have a finale so bad I wanted to throw the remote at my television:

1. Friday Night Lights, Season 5 (DirecTV / NBC)

2. Justified, Season 2 (FX)

3. Parenthood, Season 2 (NBC)

4. The Big Bang Theory, Season 4 (CBS)

5. Community, Season 2 (NBC)

6. Terriers, Season 1 (FX)

7. Modern Family, Season 2 (ABC)

8. The Walking Dead, Season 1 (AMC)

9. Rubicon, Season 1 (AMC)

10. Leverage, Season 3 (TNT)



Below is a running tally of shows that landed a Quote or Song of the Week over the past year.

Quotes of the Week
The Big Bang Theory – 6
Friday Night Lights – 5
The Killing – 4
Community –3
Justified – 3
Rubicon – 3
Castle – 2
Chuck – 2
Modern Family – 2
Pardon the interruption – 2
Pretty Little Liars – 2
Rescue Me – 2
Glory Daze – 1
Greek – 1
How I Met Your Mother – 1
No Ordinary Family - 1
Survivor – 1
Terriers – 1
The Voice – 1
The Sing Off – 1
The Walking Dead – 1
Two and a Half Men – 1

Songs of the Week
Chuck – 4
Friday Night Light – 4
Community – 3
Parenthood – 3
Pretty Little Liars – 3
How I Met Your Mother – 2
Glory Daze – 2
Lights Out – 2
Modern Family – 2
Outsourced – 2
Rubicon – 2
Sons of Anarchy – 2
Terriers – 2
The Big Bang Theory – 2
Castle- 1
Covert Affairs – 1
Franklin and Bash – 1
Greek – 1
Memphis Beat – 1
No Ordinary Family – 1
Rescue Me – 1
Shameless – 1
Survivor - 1
The Voice – 1

57 Channels and Only This Is On - 7/3/11

Quote of the Week: Do you know what else is going to be distracting to them, is when they turn their phones here in about thirty minutes and they look at iTunes and see you sitting way above their records. That’s going to be so distracting. How are they going to focus with all that iTunes domination happening? (Blake Shelton, The Voice)



Song of the Week: Spirit In the Sky – Norman Greenbaum (Friday Night Lights)

Big News of the Week: Dia Frampton is the Only Player that got Robbed and Kept all Her Jewelry: To be honest I wrote that title right after The Voice finale and opened with a joke about Barry Bonds, George W. Bush and the 1972 Russian Basketball team needing to make room in the asterisk club for Javier Colon. But three days later I do not particularly care anymore because I realized like everything that allows internet voting, the show has no creditability for that simple fact. Sure Dia Frampton still was robbed but since she outsold everyone else on The Voice, having the hightest charting single after ever show and the only one to hit number one on iTunes she should easily find a new record contract and have more flexibility than Javier not being the winner to have more creative control and record with her band Meg & Dia. And keep in mind the person Dia sang a duet with on Wednesday, Miranda Lambert, made it to the finals of Nashville Star and lost to some dude named Buddy Jewel. Yeah, never heard of him either.

But what is frustrating about The Voice is the solution to fix its voting problems is really easy: give equal weight to the three voting methods, 33.3 % from internet, 33.3% from phone, and 33.3% from iTunes. That way people that actually spend their hard earned money on the music have the same say as losers who created a hundred different e-mail accounts because they believe their opinion is more important than everyone else. So if the producers of The Voice are reading this, feel free to use my idea, all I ask for in return is a private performance of Genie In a Bottle from Christina Aguilera (preferably Christina circa 1999). Since I started this with a Kanye West quote, I’ll give the last word to him and his thoughts on the finale:



Falling Skies: It may be hard not to be distracted by plot points that were already used in alien invasion movies. Seeing Noah Wiley dragging the unconscious alien around, it was hard not to think of Will Smith in Independence Day or even Aaron Eckhart in Battle: Los Angeles who also captured aliens for study. But the ending was extremely creepy with both the alien and kid waking up at the same time. You can stream recent episodes over at tnt.tv. You can also download Falling Skies on iTunes.

Pretty Little Liars: I have long been in the A is a not so dead Allison so I am predicting that is who the shadowy figure in the house that her brother is hiding. But what happened to the that one’s chick’s girlfriend’s family that lived in the house? Here they just renting from the family and moved out or are the writers making things up as they go? You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Pretty Little Liars on iTunes.

Friday Night Lights: Holy Smash Williams sighting! Of course that is just what Tim Riggins needed to see right out of prison, his archnemesis excelling at the college level. Hopefully he can get things together by the end of the season. Unfortunately that end of the season is coming way sooner that I was hoping. With every passing playoff game I cringed because the faster they get to state, the faster the season would end. And after avoiding looking up the number of episodes left all season, the promo monkeys finally clued me in that there are only two episodes left. Sigh. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Free Download of the Week: 23 This Year: The Sub Pop Amazon Sampler: This sampler includes songs by Fleet Foxes, The Head and the Heart, and J Mascus.

Deal of the Week: 100 Albums for $5: This month you can grab albums by Prince, Fleet Foxes, Huey Lewis and the News, and Blake Shelton.



New Album Release of the Week: Grand Theatre Vol. 2 - Old 97’s

New DVD Release of the Week: Gettysburg / Gods and Generals (Limited Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]

Video of the Week: What better day than the 4th of July to honor the newest citizens of the United States of America than with their own documentary Citizen USA which attends naturalization ceremonies in all 50 states. You can watch it Monday at 9:00 on HBO. Here is the trailer:



Next Week Pick of the Week: It’s 4th of July: Go outside, eat some hot dogs and watch the firework.

Around the Tubes - 7/2/11

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 True blood, Harry Potter, The Lying Game, Three 6 Mafia, Life After Film School, Feherty, Larry David, Garry Morris, and Candyman 187.

- Before you get you grilling on Monday, Sunday sees an all new episode of True Blood at 9:00 on HBO. Below is an advanced preview of what you will see. And if you are fan of the show’s music, a third volume of the True Blood Soundtrack which will include a song by Neko Case, will be out this fall.



- Next weekend will be a Harry Potter weekend on ABC Family starting on Thursday with a new movie from the series airing all weekend. Or if you just want to watch them in one sitting, the channel will be airing the first five movies starting at 7:00 AM on Sunday. And if you think you are the biggest Harry Potter, head over to ABCFamily.com to enter your name for a chance to win the “Harry Potter Ultimate Fan Sweepstakes” grand prize which includes Blu-Rays (or DVD’s) of the first six movies and other Harry Potter swag.

- I found Alexandra Chando highly likable during her short stint on Glory Daze and not only does she have her own show, The Lying Game, we will be getting to see double of her as she plays twins on The Lying Game coming to ABC Family this August. Although isn’t the twins switching lives then one disappears the same plot of the Sarah Michelle Gellar show that got demoted to The CW? But anyway. Check out a promo below:

- Academy Award winning Three 6 Mafia (still weird typing that) is back on the scene with a new show, a mixtape and an upcoming album release. Famous Food debuts July 10 and follows the rap duo as they try to start a new restraint with Heidi Montag (huh?), Ashley Dupre (what?), Danielle Staub (who?), Jake Pavelka (seriously, who?) and Vincent Pastore (Big [Expletive Deleted]!!!). You can currently grab DJ Paul’s mixtape Pray for Forgiveness on iTunes while Juicy J’s mixtape Rubba Band Buisness 2 is currently available on livemixtapes.com.

- We are still two weeks away from the premiere of the final season of Rescue Me but this Sunday executive producer Peter Tolan will be on Life After Film School of Fox Movie Channel at 7:30.

- While on this week’s episode of Feherty on Tuesday at 9:00 on the Golf Channel, David will welcome golf legend Tom Watson.

- The New Yorker recently sat down with Larry David where he talks about his less than stellar golf game.

- On this 4th of July weekend Garry Morris is dedicating his new song Faith and Freedom to the men and woman of our armed services and you can download the song for free (right-click the link). The album Faith and Freedom will be released on CD to the general public at a later date.

- More free music alert: get the new track from Candyman 187 Show ‘Em All produced by Candyman 187 & The Havenotz and Skip Saylor or just check out the video below:

Hey I Can't Find Nothing on the Radio, Turn to that Station

Peter Buck once not so affectionately referred to his band’s early nineties records as R.E.M.’s James Taylor period, and sure Out of Time featured the worst song ever by a great artist with Shiny Happy People and included Endgame which sounded like it was lifted from seventies AM radio, but he is not giving the album along with my favorite album by the band Automatic for the People) enough credit. Yes the songs were much mellower than their previous work but the band got out of its comfort zone utilizing different instruments and even included a strings section on multiple songs. So I will be giving Out of Time its due by making it this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.

The embracing of new instruments by R.E.M. was best exemplified by the album’s first single and band’s biggest hit Losing My Religion where Buck put down his guitar and picked up the mandolin which was a perfect backdrop for Michael Stipe’s haunting vocals. Half a World Away also featured the mandolin, but in a much more upbeat use than Losing My Religion and featured bassist Mike Mills on his new instrument for the album, the organ and remains one of the band’s most beautiful works of art.

Out of Time also so the introduction of guest vocalist, a first for the band. R.E.M. may have been the first alternative rock group (or college rock as it was called back then) to include a guest rapper on the song, and they even started the album off with KRS-One on Radio Song (which should have been a much bigger hit than it was). Their old Atlanta buddy Kate Pierson of the The B-52's adding vocals to Shiny Happy People, Country Feedback, and Me in Honey.

Though Out of Time was the start of the band’s “James Taylor” era, the album still featured a few songs that would not have been out of place on their eighties albums like Low where Stipe gets low on the vocals against a sparse backdrop of staccato guitars and organ. While Belong features the classic harmonies of Stipe and Mills that really sore in the chorus. But Out of Time was just a great primer for what was coming next with Automatic for the People where the band were at their peak musically.

You a Bad Girl and Your Friends Bad Too

Let’s just get this out of the way first: Run the World (Girls) is one of the worst songs ever in the history of the world (Full disclosure: I’m a guy). With that said, if you chop that song off of Beyoncé’s latest album, which is easy because it is the last track, 4 is her strongest work to date. Dangerously in Love was too top heavy on the hits. B’Day sounded like it was rushed. And I Am… Sasha Fierce was too schizophrenic (which may actually had been its intent). But 4 is her most cohesive album yet (assuming you hit the stop button before you get to Run the World (Girls), seriously that song is horrible).

The album starts off strong enough with the Prince style power ballad 1+1 although once the guitar solo comes in at the end of the song you wonder why it was not there throughout the whole song. That and why didn’t B get the actual Prince to play on the song instead some cheap Prince knockoff. I Care is such a weird RnB meets pop song that you will be reaching for the liner notes to see if Cee-Lo and/or Danger Mouse were involved (nope, it the dude who co-produced Kanye West’s Runaway).

While the Kenneth Edmonds (Babyface get back to making your own music stat! RnB needs you) co-written and produced Best Thing I Never Had is classic woman scorned Beyoncé (where she is at her best) in the tradition of Me Myself and I and Irreplaceable. I am still trying to decide if Rather Die Young is a lost gem from the RnB radio in the eighties or an AM radio hit from the seventies. Disappointingly the Ryan Tedder produced (and Diane Warren??? written) I was Here does not use the same backing track as Halo, the song Tedder famously recycled for five oor so other songs he produced.

The most notable songs on the album is where she dusts off two classic for sample. First there is the soon to be slow burning house party staple Party where producer Kanye West lifts lines from Doug E Fresh and Slick Rick’s old school classic La Di Da Di and sprinkles them throughout the song. While the middle school version of myself totally geeked when Beyoncé lifted the intro of Boyz II Men Uhh Ahh for Countdown. Yeah the song itself turned out to be a letdown, but you got to give her props for resurrected the greatest RnB group of the nineties. Come to think of it, Babyface, how about get back into the studio with Boyz II Men while you are at it.

Song to Download - Party

4 gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.