I Want My Music Television vol. LXXXIII

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.


The Ghost Inside – Broken Bells



The latest Broken Bells video just may be the greatest Outer Limits episode never to air and even stars Firefly vet Christina Hendricks who is no stranger to outerspace.


Half My Heart – John Mayer



I am really disappointed that with the absent of Taylor Swift we were deprived of some cheesetastic scenes that harken back to when Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks would share microphones during their duets. Instead we just get John Mayer sulking around as if he just got accused of being a racist.


Holiday – Vampire Weekend



Oh those wacky Ivy Leaguers of Vampire Weekend going all Victorian on us. Well done boys.


Rockstar 101 - Rihanna



If Rihanna is teaching Rock Star 101, who is the professor for 102, Pat Boone?

I Want My Music Television vol. LXXIX

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.

Heartbreak Warfare – John Mayer



Wasn’t there a conceptual video for this song that dropped around the time the album was release that was erased from the internets shortly there afterward? Instead John Mayer gives us a straight forward performance version instead. Yawn. If you are going to do a performance based video, at least give us the live music to go along with it instead of the studio version.


Our Dreams – Method Man, Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah



Ah, yo, The Wu is back and will make you go Boom, Boom like you are Supercat.


Oh My – Gin Wigmore



A couple of songs from Gin Wigmore have found their way on to my iPod and she is in the musical spectrum somewhere in-between Duffy and Amy Winhouse. She may be better at the slower songs, but this one is decent enough.


Tiny Light – Grace Potter and the Nocturnal



Whenever I hear the name Grace Potter I always think of Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby (which is actually about Monica Potter of Parenthood). But anyways. But if I didn’t know better, watching the band in their video you almost expect to find out the they were actually a long lost group from the seventies that used to open up for Fleetwood Mac or The Eagles. And I mean that as a compliment.

Breaking Down the Best Songs of the Year

At the end of every year since 1996, I have gathered up my favorite songs from that year for a countdown of my favorite. I was interested in seeing who were the artist that appeared most on those list over the past decade and here are the top 25 (well since there was a tie there are actually 31). I counted any song of which they were listed as a featured artist, not just when they were the lead artist. Also keep in mind this list has nothing to do with my upcoming Greatest Songs of the 00’s which I promise to release before the next decade ends. I also included a list of the number 1’s of the past twelve years as well as Mr. Irrelevant (the song that was last that year).  For the full list for the past five years, click the Best Songs label at the bottom of the post.

1. Kanye West - 25

2. Alicia Keys – 15

John Mayer – 15 (Solo, 14 and John Mayer Trio, 1)

4. U2 - 14

5. Jay-Z - 13

6. Carrie Underwood – 11

Coldplay – 11

8. Nelly Furtado – 10

9. Beyoncé – 9 (Solo, 6 and Destiny’s Child, 3)

Dave Matthews – 9 (solo, 1 and Dave Matthews Band, 8)

Eminem – 9

The Killers – 9

Michelle Branch – 9 (solo, 6 and The Wreckers, 3)

Nas – 9

Ryan Adams – 9

Snoop Dogg – 9

Snow Patrol – 9

3 Doors Down - 9

19. Christina Aguilera – 8

Jack Johnson – 8

Jack White - 8 (The Raconteurs, 2 and The White Stripes, 6)

Lily Allen – 8

Maroon 5 – 8

Santana - 8

25. Common – 7

Death Cab for Cutie – 7

Jimmy Eat World – 7

Rihanna – 7

The Roots – 7

Taylor Swift – 7

Weezer - 7


Most Top Ten Songs

7 - John Mayer

Kanye West

4 - Michelle Branch (solo, 2 and The Wreckers, 2)

Santana

3 - Coldplay

David Gray

Death Cab for Cutie

Jay-Z

The Killers

Ryan Adams

U2


Shortest Song: Fell in Love with a Girl – The White Stripes (1:50)

Longest Song: I Will Possess Your Heart – Death Cab for Cutie (8:36)

Longest Break Between Charting: 10 Years (Ben Harper, Steal My Kisses in 2000; Fly One Time in 2009)

Number One Songs by Year

2000: Maria, Maria – Santana featuring the Product G&B

2001: Everywhere – Michelle Branch

2002: Fell in Love with a Girl – The White Stripes

2003: The Seed (2.0) – The Roots featuring Cody ChestnuTT

2004: All Falls Down – Kanye West

2005: Landed – Ben Folds

2006: Crazy – Gnarls Barkley

2007: Drivin’ Me Wild – Common featuring Lily Allen

2008: I’m Yours – Jason Mraz

2009: Use Somebody – Kings of Leon


Mr. Irrelevant

2000: The Bad Touch – The Bloodhound Gang

2001: Standing Still – Jewel

2002: Friends and Family – Trik Turner

2003: Make Me a Song – Kiley Dean

2004: Some Girls – Rachel Stevens

2005: Give a Little Bit – Goo Goo Dolls

2006: Lithium – Evanescence

2007: This Ain’t a Scene, it’s an Arms Race – Fall Out Boy

2008: Stuck to You – Nikka Costa

2009: Let’s Take a Walk – Raphael Saadiq

Recasting We Are the World

When Michael Jackson passed away, like most people I went back and listened to the music of his on my iPod which included We Are the World. That got me to thinking it that there was still plenty of poverty in Africa and it may be time to remake the song for a newer generation (especially considering Do They Know it's Christmas? is already on it'd third version). While doing research, I realized the twenty-fifth anniversary was this year so I sat on the suggestions I made at the time so I could release it to coincide with the anniversary. Then new came out last week that the co-writers of the song Lionel Richie and Quincy Jones (along with Jackson) were planning on doing so after the Grammy’s next week to benefit Haitian relief (so I guess they will be renaming the group USA for Haiti). So here are my suggestions next to those that did the original part. And as a point of reference, here is the original song:




Lionel Richie – Ne-Yo

Stevie Wonder – Maxwell

Paul Simon – John Mayer

Kenny Rogers – Taylor Swift

James Ingram – John Legend

Tina Turner - Beyoncé

Billy Joel – Norah Jones

Michael Jackson – Michael Jackson

Diana Ross – Christina Aguilera

Dionne Warwick – Alicia Keys

Willie Nelson – Keith Urban

Al Jarreau – Justin Timberlake

Bruce Springsteen – dude from Green Day

Kenny Loggins – dude from Fall Out Boy

Steve Perry – dude from Maroon 5

Daryl Hall – Robin Thicke

Michael Jackson – Michael Jackson

Huey Lewis – dude from The Fray

Cyndi Lauper – Lady Gaga

Kim Carnes – Kelly Clarkson

Bob Dylan – Dave Matthews

Ray Charles – Jamie Foxx

Stevie Wonder – Stevie Wonder

Bruce Springsteen – Bruce Springsteen

Dan Akroyd – Adam Sandler

Jackson Family Chorus – Jonas Brothers and other Disney stars Chorus


Naturally the hardest singer to recast was Michael Jackson himself and came I up with three alternatives; Bono, who technically is not American; Prince, who was actually supposed to duet with Jackson in the original but didn’t show up the first time; or have a chorus do all his part. But maybe it would be best to just pipe in his original vocals. And even though I recast their earlier parts, I still have to bring back Bruce Springsteen and Stevie Wonder to recreate their duet which was the highlight the orginal. Not bringing them back would have been like not asking Bono to sing "Tonight thank God it's them instead of you" for the new Do They Know it's Christmas? versions.

Feed Your iPod the CD vol. II

Feed Your iPod was created to highlight songs that may not have been hits, or even released as singles, but deserve a much bigger audience. And now I have posted enough for a second CD. Of course Feed Your iPod is just a catchy title and any of these can be for any mp3 devise, just your computer and now you can make a CD out of them as the first set comes in at 78:57. You can even help create volume three by emailing me (or use the comment section) song suggestions and a short description on way everyone should have it on their iPod for me to post. Click the links below to be taken to iTunes or the Amazon MP3 widet at the bottom where you can sample the songs or use the label function to scroll through what I had to say about these songs when I originally posted about them and full song previews.

1. Slow Dancing in a Burning Room – John Mayer

2. Two Wrongs – Wyclef Jean featuring Claudette Ortiz

3. Breakdown – Handsome Boy Modeling School

4. Like a Feather – Nikka Costa

5. Fireflies – Rhett Miller Featuring Rachael Yamagata

6. I Got Mine – The Black Keys

7. Bold as Love – Jimi Hendrix Experience

8. ‘Til I Get Over You – Michelle Branch

9. If God Would Send His Angels – U2

10. Hitchhiker Joe – Rugburns

11. Summertime – D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince

12. On the Radio – Regina Spektor

13. Summer in the City – The Lovin’ Spoonful

14. Broken Hearted – Eric Clapton

15. Mass Appeal – Gang Starr

16. We’re Going to Be Friends – The White Stripes

17. Follow the Leader – Eric B. and Rakim

18. Regulate – Warren G featuring Nate Dogg

19. Spin the Bottle – The Juliana Hatfield 3

Breaking Down the Hottest Hot Chicks of the 00's

Before you read this by the number account of the list, be sure to check out The 100 Hottest Hot Chicks of the 00’s first.

It is safe to say I spent more time doing research for this list than I have, or will have, for any of my Greatest of the 00’s list (check the categories link for previous ones). In fact I may have spent more time on this than the others combined and even toyed around with the idea of doing a top 250. But this was also the trickiest of all lists because unlike something like the best song, this is a list where the subject is ever changing which is why I had to set the rules that the chicks would only be judged at the height of their hotness even if they have let themselves go (which I like to call the Lindsay Lohan tenet) otherwise it is just a list of the hottest chicks of 2009. Now it is time to look deeper inside the list like Hot Chicks by birth place (apparently The Beach Boys were right) and which dude surprisingly hooked up with more of the top 100 than anyone else (hint: not John Mayer).


Hot Chick by Profession
Movie Actress– 40
Television Actress - 30
Singer - 11
Athlete – 8
Model – 4
Television Host - 3
Reality Star – 2
Royalty – 1
Video Vixen – 1


Hot Chick by Home Country or State
California – 17
Texas - 9
Canada – 8
New York - 8
England – 6
Florida – 5
Ohio - 4
Australia – 3
Massachusetts – 3
New Jersey - 3
Brazil – 2
Maine – 2
North Carolina – 2
Oklahoma - 1
Soviet Union - 2
Spain – 2
Arizona - 1
Argentina – 1
Columbia – 1
Connecticut - 1
Germany – 1
Georgia – 1
India – 1
Iowa - 1
Israel – 1
Italy – 1
Louisiana – 1
Maryland – 1
Michigan – 1
Mississippi – 1
New Hampshire – 1
Pennsylvania – 1
South Dakota - 1
Sweden – 1
Tennessee – 1
Utah – 1
Virginia - 1
Yugoslavia – 1


Hottest Ensembles
Mean Girls: 4
Smallville: 3
Gossip Girl: 2
Friday Night Lights: 2
John Tucker Must Die: 2
Lost: 2
The O.C.: 2
The Phantom of the Opera: 2
Sin City: 2
Veronica Mars: 2
Wrong Turn: 2


Hottest Network
NBC - 14
FOX - 10
ABC – 9
The CW – 6
The WB - 6
ABC Family – 3
CBS – 2
UPN - 2
MTV - 1
AMC – 1
ESPN – 1
G4 – 1
HBO – 1
Sci-Fi Channel – 1
Showtime – 1


Hottest Names: An(n)a, Jennifer, Rachel (4)
Hot Chicks with Three Names: 4

Hot Chicks John Mayer (Allegedly) Hooked Up With: 4
Hot Chicks Jude Law (Allegedly) Hooked Up With: 4
Hot Chicks Orlando Bloom (Allegedly) Hooked Up With: 4
Hot Chicks Hayden Christiansen (Allegedly) Hooked Up With: 4
Hot Chicks Topher Grace (Allegedly) Hooked Up With: 5

It’s Been a Long Time Since Twenty-Two

Remember the Funny or Die video John Mayer did about a year ago (featuring celebrity music tester Kristen Bell) that took a day in the life of Mayer as he tries to write a song (if not click here to view it, or not if you want to avoid hearing Mayer and/or Bell curse like sailors at each other). The video got a “funny” because, despite his tabloid fodder for celebrity bed hopping, attempts at standup comedy, and incisive twittering, the music stands up with his three successive albums getting better than the one before.

But I bring up Mayer’s contribution to Funny or Die because it is hard not to think of the skit when listening to his latest album, Battle Studies. With lines like “I don’t remember you look any better but then again I don’t remember you” (Who Says) just sounds like something else that someone who would ask his writing partners to come up with a song about sleeping with a supermodel to make another supermodel jealous would say. And with all the song out relationship, it is hard not to wonder which songs are about Jennifer, Jessica, Minka, Jennifer #2, or any of the other random hot chicks Mayer has been linked to.

Your mind drifts to pondering which starlet is linked to which song because of how mediocre they are. Where Room for Squares was one of the greatest pop albums of the decade, Heavier Things was his blues album, and Continuum was his foray into blues, Battle Studies just sound what you think a clichéd John Mayer album would sound like. Heartbreak Warfare sounds like Mayer just thought of the title sounded cool and forced to write a song about it if it turned out to be good or not. Things just don’t fare much better with titles like All We Ever Do Is Say Goodbye, Perfectly Lonely, War of My Life, and Do You Know Me are depressingly sad as their title suggests.

The few times Mayer tries to break out of the mold of the album, he just falls flat. Who Says just sounds like a retreat of Stop This Train, but with a clumsily pot metaphor. Half of My Heart, featuring Taylor Swift, is his attempt at an eighties style duet, but it comes close to parody and barely constitutes a duet as Swift is just resigned to backing vocals to the point you wonder why even bother. Then Friends, Lovers or Nothing just sounds like an extension of In Repair.

His Robert Johnson cover of Crossroads is the lone non-relationship to the point it just sticks out like a sore thumb. And top of it, it just isn’t a very good version with it heavy organ thump and it would have been a better choice to have included his take on Bruce Springsteen’s I’m on Fire (which is an iTunes bonus track with Battle Studies) which is the better cover and would have fit in better with the album thematically.

Thanks not to say all of Battle Studies is a disappointment. Assassin sounds different than anything else on the album and is the one love is war metaphor that works on the album with a not so shocking lyrically twist at the end. And even though Edge of Love starts out slow, it kicks into gear when Mayer lets loose on his guitar. But the two songs just can’t keep Battle Studies from being the weakest of Mayer’s career. So John, the next time Kristen Bell tells you that your song sucks, please take her advice and go back to the drawing board and avoid songs about making supermodels jealous.

Song to Download – Assassin

Battle Studies gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

I Want My Music Television vol. LXVI

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.


Who Says – John Mayer



I wasn’t too fond when I first heard the new John Mayer song. It just sounded like a mash up of Stop This Train and In Your Atmosphere. And I still pretty much still feel that way but then I discovered the lyric “It’s been a long time since twenty-two” which has hit a little close to home lately. And if I do my math correctly, twenty-two is around the time he sang about wanting to ruin through the halls of his high school.


Fifteen – Taylor Swift



Speaking of songs that take you back to a certain age, so does the new Taylor Swift. But for me it isn’t back to time the title refers to but back to eighteen when I was a senior trying to pick up those freshmen girls. Fun times.


Meet Me on the Equinox – Death Cab for Cutie



I am thinking it may not be a coincidence that this is one of the worst songs Death Cab for Cutie considering what it was written for.


How bout Dat – Method Man and Redman



With songs like this it makes you wish Method Man and Redman would hook up more than once a decade for a joint album.

The Ten Most Anticipated Albums of Fall 2009

Usually at the beginning of each quarter I list what albums are coming out chronologically, instead, this time I am counting down the ten albums I am most looking forward to listen to this fall. Then the rest I sorted by release date. If you are interested in pre-ordering the record from Amazon, click the album name (or the album cover where available). Click the artist name to be taken to their iTunes page to grab their current work. And as always, all dates subject to change.

1. Battle Studies – John Mayer (November 17): When I get around to making the Greatest Albums of the 00’s list, you could make an argument for any of his first three albums to land near the top of the list. Hopefully he goes four for four with Battle Studies.

2. Kamaal the Abstract – Q-Tip (September 15): This should have been on the Most Anticipated Albums of Spring 2002, but the album got shelved by Arista. The record takes the jazz samples of A Tribe Called Quest to the extreme of live instrumentation and even sees Tip sing long before Andre 3000 or Kanye with production from the late J Dilla.

3. Draw the Line – David Gray (September 22): Even though he hasn’t gotten the mainstream following after striking it big with Babylon, Gray has put out consistently good music since. And from the signs of the first single Fugitive, it looks to continue.

4. Everything Comes and Goes – Michelle Branch (November 10): Branch started off her career by making what may end up being the greatest pop album of the decade. Like many other artists this decade, she went country with her duo The Wreckers. Now back with her first solo album in six years, it sounds like she will continue straddling the pop / rock / country fence.

5. Kiss and Tell – Selena Gomez and The Scene (September 29): Just kidding, making sure you are paying attention. But seriously, their first single is disturbingly catchy. Don’t tell Chris Hansen I said that though please.

6. The Seventh Seal – Rakim (September 22): Another rap album that has been taking too long to be released. I have been anxiously waiting for this album ever since Dr. Dre signed him to his Aftermath label back in 2000. He left three years later to sign with Dreamworks that folded shortly after. Hopefully there are no more snags between now and the 22nd.

7. I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers (September 29): I was first introduced to the band when Friday Night Lights used it as the soundtrack to the Landy/Tyra coupling. Now with a Rick Rubin produced, they are posed to be the breakout rock act of the year.

8. Play On – Carrie Underwood (November 3): Unlike #5, this is no joke. Her debut was the guiltiest of guilty pleasures and the follow was exactly what you expect, save the last track Wheel that pushed her boundaries outward. From the sound of the first single Cowboy Cassanova she might be pushing further with the song co-written by Mike Elizondo, one of Dr. Dre’s co-producers.

9. Man on the Moon: The End of Day – Kid Cudi (September 15): Consider me skeptic about a five act rap concept album, the recent three acts from Green Day was heavy-handed. But Make Her Say may go down as the best hip-hop track of year. And bonus points for being from Cleveland.

10. How I Got Over – The Roots (October 20): You would think after agreeing to be Jimmy Fallon’s house band, The Roots would rest on their laurels, but just a year after releasing their last album comes a new one.

Here are some other albums you can expect to drop sometime before Christmas. If I missed anything, let me know in the comments or tell me what fall release you are looking forward to:

September 15
The Resistance – Muse
So Far Gone - Drake

September 22
Backspacer – Pearl Jam
Attention Deficit – Wale
Monsters Of Folk – Monsters of Folk
Last Train To Paris – Sean “Diddy” Combs

September 29
Black Gives Way To Blue – Alice in Chains
Brand New Eyes – Paramore
Memoirs of an imperfect Angel – Mariah Carey
Can't Slow Down – Foreigner

October 6
Do What You Want, Be What You Are:The Music of Daryl Hall & John Oates (Box Set)
Hello Hurricane – Switchfoot
Escape Route – Joe Budden
Is and Always Was – Daniel Johnston
Have Guitar, Will Travel – Joe Perry
The Listening - Lights

October 13
Christmas In the Heart – Bob Dylan
She Wolf – Shakira
Evolution of a Man – Brian McKnight
Dead by Sunrise – Chester Bennington
Slice – Five for Fighting

October 20
Til the Casket Drops – Clipse
Colour Me Free - Joss Stone

October 27
Raditude – Weezer
Strict Joy – The Swell Session
Save Me San Francisco – Train
If On A Winter's Night... – Sting
Live At The O2 - Kings of Leon
Live At The Olympia – R.E.M.
The Essential Weird Al Yankovic
Halford III – Winter Songs – Rob Halford (this is a Christmas album. No, seriously.)

November 3
Before I Self Destruct – 50 Cent
In Love & War – Amerie

November 10
Untitled – Avril Lavigne

November 17
The Fall – Norah Jones

November 24
Stronger – Mary J. Blige

Date Not Yet Announced
Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 1 – Beastie Boys
TBA - Alicia Keys
Lasers – Lupe Fiasco (December)
TBA - Vampire Weekend
Malice in Wonderland – Snoop Dogg
Light and Darkness - Christina Aguilera (November)
Relapse 2 – Eminem
TBA - Barenaked Ladies
Rise Up – Cypress Hill

And now for the obligatory, this may be the season that Dr. Dre releases Detox. Hey, we got Chinese Democracy last year so maybe it is possible.