Showing posts with label Linkin Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Linkin Park. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 01, 2017

I Want My Music Television: 8/1/2017



Talking to Myself - Linkin Park


I still remember vividly the first time I ever heard Linkin Park. I had an office job back in college crammed into a small room with two other departments. One of my office mates asked if she could turn on internet radio, which was in its very early stages back ten. I said fine, and when she turned it on, the first thing blaring over the speakers was some dude screaming, “Shut up! Shut up when you’re talking to me!” My first response was, well that was not very nice. She was embarrassed to admit to liking the song but said she forgot about that part of the song. I overcame this horrible first impression and actually ended up owning two of their album and Bleed it Out is one of the greatest workout songs ever recorded.


Sorry Not Sorry - Demi Lovato


There was one song off of Demi Lovato’s first album I actually kind of liked (the title track) but since then she has been a mainstay on my Worst Songs of the Year lists, usually very high. So I was not expecting much when she released a new single. Except, I actually kind of liked it. I has a English pop retro vibe to it (the good kind as much English pop is as bad an American pop) instead of her usual trashy pop she has done recent. And she weirdly looks like Olivia Munn in the hot tube scene.


Fetish - Selena Gomez feat. Gucci Mane


At the end of the Bad Liar video, Selena Gomez teased a continuation. Except Fetish turned out to be a nonsensical weird video that had nothing to do with the previous one. And the song is not very good, maybe my least favorite of her singles. At least video will not be continued.


Loyalty. - Kendrick Lamar feat. Rihanna


I kind of wish Kendrick Lamar spent the whole video on the asphalt quicksand set, that was a cool trick.


Tuesday, May 16, 2017

I Want My Music Television: 5/16/2017




Galway Girl - Ed Sheeran


Ed Sheeran only had blink and miss it in his early videos, but ever since dancing in his Thinking Out Loud video he has been front and center in all ofg them. I guess he is back to not wanting to be in front of the camera instead letting the camera stay focused on Saorse Ronan while he remains POV. I just wonder if those are actually his arms or someone put on fake tattoos.


Good Goodbye - LINKIN PARK feat. Pusha T & Stormzy


So is the new LINKIN PARK video supposed to be a dark version of NBA Jam or am I just seeing things where there are none because I love that game?


No Coffee – Amber Coffman


This video from Amber Coffman started sweet and fun enough, but ended up getting really weird.


Bon Appétit - Katy Perry feat. Migos


Speaking of getting weird quick, Katy Perry is mostly disgusting in this video.

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

I Want My Music Television: 3/21/17



Lavender – BadBadNotGood featuring Kaytranada and Snoop Dogg


So I have been hearing about this Snoop Dogg video where he shoots Donald Trump for a week before finally looking at it. How extremely lame. All Snoop does and aims a toy gun at a clown and a “bang” flag comes out. Again lame. Any conservative complaining about this can no longer be allowed to condemn liberals for being snowflakes. I remember when Snoop carried a real gun around him and he was not aiming them at silly clowns.


Super Crip – Snoop Dogg


Now that is more like the Snoop Dogg I remember, even if it is in cartoon form. Well, the Snoop made better music.


Heavy – Linkin Park featuring Kiiara


Linkin Park’s last album seemed to be heavily influence by eighties metal so it is weird just how mellow their new some, even featuring Kiira who is part of a new crop of shoe gazing indie pop scene. Kind of got me interested in a Linkin Park album for the first time… maybe ever.


Believer – Imagine Dragon



C’mon Imagine Dragons, why would you want to get in a boxing match with Dolph Lundgren? Dude killed a guy once in the ring. He will break you. Although, when is there going to be a Creed sequil with Vince Howard taking on Dolph’s kid?

Monday, April 14, 2014

I Want My Music Television: 4/14/14



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

Magic - Coldplay


When “A Jonas Akerlund Film” popped up at the beginning of the new Coldplay video, I expected a Best Music Video of 2014 contender. Akerlund has directed such great and thought provoking videos such as Smack My (Expletive Deleted) Up by The Prodigy, Turn the Page by Metallica, and Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful. I was slightly disappointed that the video turned out to be The Prestige meets U2’s All I Want Is You video seen through an oldtimey filter.


Guilty All the Same – Linkin Park featuring Rakim


Linkin Park has made some creative, interactive music videos lately, and their latest is an actual video game (lean more here). Kind of looks like darker version of Sonic the Hedgehog. It is much cooler than the song which weirdly tries to mix early eighties heavy metal and late eighties hip-hop courtesy of the Microphone Fiend Rakim with mixed results.


I Love You (But I Hate Your Friends) - Neon Trees



The first music video off of the upcoming Neon Trees album had a definite eighties vibe. They went even further with their latest video which I am pretty sure Thompson Twins and / or Culture Club made the exact same music video back in the decade.


I Wanna Get Better - Bleachers



In the annuls of rock history, lead singers can go on to have successful solo careers, the band can go onto side projects no one cares about or joins a supergroup. So history is not on the side of Bleachers, headed by the Fun. guitarist. But the first single is catchy in an New Wave song I cannot quite place that it sound like kind of way. The whole therapist themed music video is entertaining.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

The 50 Best Music Videos of 2012


I have embedded the first couple, for the rest, you can click on the link to be taken to YouTube. If you would like to purchase the music video or the song, click the iTunes button next to the name to be taken to the store.


1. The Baddest Man Alive - The Black Keys featuring RZA The Baddest Man Alive - The Black Keys


2. Do it Anyway - Ben Folds Five


3. Mercy - Kanye West featuring Big Sean, Pusha T, and 2 Chainz Mercy (feat. Big Sean, Pusha T, 2 Chainz) - Kanye West


4. Somebody That I Used to Know - Goyte featuring Kimbra Somebody That I Used to Know (feat. Kimbra) - Gotye


5. Leave the Lights On - Meiko


6. Lost in the Echo - Linkin Park

7. Pyramids - Frank Ocean Pyramids - Frank Ocean

8. Bad Girls - M.I.A. Bad Girls - M.I.A.

9. Stray Heart - Green Day Stray Heart - Green Day

10. Bottom of the River - Delta Rae Bottom of the River - Delta Rae

11. Simple Song - The Shins Simple Song - The Shins

12. No Church in the Wild - Jay-Z and Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean No Church In the Wild (feat. Frank Ocean & The-Dream) - Jay-Z & Kanye West

13. Every Single Night - Fiona Apple Every Single Night - Fiona Apple

14. Happy Pills - Norah Jones Happy Pills - Norah Jones

15. Mustache Man (Wasted) - Cake Mustache Man (Wasted) - Cake

16. Sweet Talk - Jessie Ware

17. Easy Way Out - Gotye Easy Way Out - Gotye

18. Warrior - Kimbra, Mark Foster, and A-Trak

19. Man on Fire - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero

20. Sixteen Saltines - Jack White Sixteen Saltines - Jack White

21. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift

22. Brendan’s Death Song - Red Hot Chili Peppers

23. Curtain - Eve 6 Curtain - Eve 6

24. All the Rowboats - Regina Spektor All the Rowboats - Regina Spektor

25. Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men Little Talks - Of Monsters and Men

26. (Expletive Deleted) in Paris - Jay-Z and Kanye West Ni**as in Paris (Explicit) - Kanye West & JAY Z

27. Dance in the Graveyards - Delta Rae

28. All I Need Is Love - Cee-Lo Green featuring the Muppets

29. Diversity - Family of the Year Diversity - Family of the Year

30. Payphone - Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa Payphone - Maroon 5

31. Some Nights - Fun. Some Nights - Fun.

32. Princess of China - Coldplay and Rihanna Princess of China - Coldplay & Rihanna

33. Ships in the Night - Mat Kearney Ships in the Night - Mat Kearney

34. Queen of California - John Mayer Queen of California - John Mayer

35. Ho Hey - The Lumineers Ho Hey - The Lumineers

36. Knock Knock - Band of Horses Knock Knock - Band of Horses

37. Duquesne Whistle - Bob Dylan Duquesne Whistle - Bob Dylan

38. Let's Go - Matt and Kim

39. One Woman Army - Kate Earl One Woman Army - Kate Earl

40. I'm Shakin' - Jack White

41. Heartbeat - JJAMZ

42. Houdini - Foster the People Houdini - Foster the People

43. Hurts Like Heaven - Coldplay Hurts Like Heaven - Coldplay

44. Ray Charles - Chiddy Bang Ray Charles - Chiddy Bang

45. I Knew You Were Trouble - Taylor Swift I Knew You Were Trouble - Taylor Swift

46. Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas) - Regina Spektor Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas) - Regina Spektor

47. One More Night - Maroon 5 One More Night - Maroon 5

48. Cherokee - Cat Power Cherokee - Cat Power

49. Cheerleader - St. Vincent Cheerleader - St. Vincent

50. Tongue Tied - Grouplove Tongue Tied - Grouplove

Wednesday, September 05, 2012

I Want My Music Television - 9/5/12


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

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Taylor Swift


In a story I broke last week, Taylor Swift’s new single is painfully bad in a how was someone able to record a song more annoying than Call Me Maybe kind of way. Altthough after its too cheesy for its own good music video, the song is slowly moving into annoyingly cute territory. And for those playing the Who’s Is Taylor Singing About home edition, the video is shot in one take much like the recent music video from former beau John Mayer while the suitor kind of looks like former paramour Jake Gyllenhaal (well someone who looks like Jake and Adam Levine somehow had a grown kid together). Note to self: start cyber-stalking Taylor’s fiddler. Another note to self: make sure you delete the previous “note to self” before posting.


Little Black Submarine – The Black Keys


The Black Keys make some of the most entertaining music videos it is a bit disappointing whenever they do just a straight forward performance based video. Although I have a feeling it would have been epic to have been in the crowd here at a Nashville dive bar.


Lost in the Echo – Linkin Park


As you can see above, the new Linkin Park is very Linkin Park-y with its epic end the world feel to it like many of their previous efforts. If you want a more interesting version of this video (with you as the star) head to lostintheecho.com and link the site up with your Facebook page so you can see overtly happy pictures of your friends in this otherwise creepy video.


She Said OK - Big Boi featuring Theophilus London & Tre Luce


The first two lines of this song are so absurd I could not stop laughing. But seriously, Outkast split so Big Boi could record songs like this?

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

I Want My Music Television vol. XCIII


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.


Erase Me - Kid Cudi & Kanye West



Kid Cudi had a high bar to jump over from his last collaboration with Kanye West, but at least the video version awesomely great thanks to appearances by McLovin, Dale Kettlewell, a Jimi Hendrix wig, random hot groupies, and I swear I spotted the kid from The Middle a couple times too.


Waiting for the End – Linkin Park



Before I saw the new Waiting for the End video I heard someone compared it to Radiohead’s House of Cards which raised my expectations as that was one of The 100 Greatest Music Videos of the 00’s, but this is bit of a letdown, it looks to be weird for the sake of being weird. And what is with the reggae interlude at the end?


Well, Well, Well – Duffy



I think I’m off the Duffy bandwagon, Mercy was a breath of fresh air, Warwick Avenue and Stepping Stone were haunting and heartbreaking, but her voice is grating on me. Hopefully the rest of her sophomore offering is better than this.


Somebody to Love – Mark Ronson and the Business Intl. and Boy George



You want to feel old: try explaining the eighties to a teenager. No matter what you talk about, they will just look at you like you came from another planet, which exactly what the eighties was, like living on a different planet. As hard as Lady Gaga tries, she will never be able to outdo the weird crap that came out of the eighties. Case in point: Boy George. Seriously, if you are younger than twenty-five head over to YouTube and search for Culture Club to get a small sense of what the eighties were. This Mark Ronson video is no joke, the Boy George era actually happened and I lived through it. Man I feel old.

Thursday, September 02, 2010

I Want My Music Television vol. XCI


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.


Mine - Taylor Swift



What a striking difference between the last two lead videos from Taylor Swift. Love Story was all about princesses and fairytales, while Mine is strikingly real, warts and all. Though after Valentine’s Day, someone should have told Taylor that it is not a good idea for her to run on camera.


(Expletive Deleted) You – Cee-Lo



Apparently if there was one thing Cee-Lo learned from Kick-(Expletive Deleted) it is that ten year old’s swearing is thoroughly entertaining. There is word on the street that Green is releasing a version to the radio called Forget You. Song unheard, this is a bad idea, you never want to cram two syllables into where only one should be. Too bad he isn’t a Battlestar Gallactica fan because Frak You would have been better. But if I were making the decision I would have went the ironic root and change it to Thank You.


The Bike Song – Mark Ronson and Business Intl



Well Mark Ronson is continuing his theme of futuristic-retro Japanese talk show videos for better or worse.


The Catalyst – Linkin Park



I have no idea what is going on during this Linkin Park video and song, but I just watched it about ten times straight.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

I Want My Music Television vol. VIII


There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


I Want You - Common



For a video that features a title sequence and actual actors like Kerry Washington, I except a little more. And what exactly is Kanye West bringing to the whole mini movie thing? It just seems like there was supposed to be an extended cut to this. But you really can’t hate on Common too much if the video was just an excuse to make a fake sex tap with Alicia Keys. I can be down with that.


Big Casino - Jimmy Eat World



Jimmy Eat World for some reason has been lumped into the horrible emo scene of the last couple years but they released one of the great rock songs of the decade in Pain and their break out hit The Middle isn’t the wo is me depressing songs of the genre. Yeah the video is pretty boring but Big Casino is up there as one of the best rock songs of the year.


Shadow of the Day - Linkin Park



Not entirely sure what Linkin Park is trying to get across with this video, but the melodic tune of Shadow of the Day is a nice diversion from their hard rock and rap of their other songs. Unfortunately it was covered up by all the riot sounds.


Love Song - Sara Bareliies



Sara Bareilles released her album right around the time Colbie Caillat dropped hers and it is a good thing I am not a betting man because I would have put my money on Bareilles as being more likely to break out of the two. Oh well. At least the video for Love Song is quirky fun.

Monday, September 10, 2007

We on Award Tour: 2007 MTV Video Music Awards


Remember the catchphrase from what I think was the eighth installment of the Lethal Weapon franchise when Danny Glover (or was it Mel Gibson) said, “I’m getting too old for this (expletive deleted)!” Well that is how I have felt after ever Video Music Awards since, um, when was the last time Chris Rock hosted? But I thought this year was different when the show was announced thanks to scheduled performers Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse. Apparently MTV got word of this and since they have been trying very hard to keep anyone that is actually older than they are, both ended up not being able to make it to the show.

And so went the interest as most anyone who isn’t a fourteen year old white girl that still thinks Fall Out Boy are cool. But in the end I guess it is good that neither made it because they probably would have just been relegated to singing for thirty second with Mark Ronson before MTV cut to commercial. Seriously, if I wanted to hear less than a minute of a song I’d watch TRL. Eighteen different acts were featured but only five get to perform a full song. Why bother? Apparently you can watch all the suite performances at MTV.com but you might as well wait until someone rips the best to mp3. Here are some other thoughts on the show:

- We start off with the fairly worthless pre-show where they roll out John Norris again. Did this guy sign some sort of life-long contract? MTV has a stricter age limit than Menoudo yet he still gets rolled out every year with his boyband circa 1999 haircut. And there is something to say that even though T.I. was in the building, he didn’t bother to show up for the chick from the Pussycat Dolls performance, who relied heavily on guided vocals, even though he appeared on the song.

Britney Spears: Gimme Less- The big show started of with the much hyped Britney Spears performance and despite with expectations were so low she could walk over the bar, she still found a way to slither under it. Now I have never watched America’s Got Talent, but her performance is what I would imagine what a Britney impersonator’s that was let on the show just so the Hoff would have something to laugh at would look like. She didn’t bother to lip-sync half the time and was a half to full step behind her back up dancers half the time and looked lost half the time. But I guess it would be hard to remember the steps and to move your lips when you spent three minutes trying to hold in your gut. Note to Britney: fat people don’t walk around in their bra and panties. Yeah you could have pull that look off thirty pounds ago but you now either need to put some clothes on or work in a thousand sit ups a day.

- MTV seriously dropped the ball with the opening. They usher out a train wreck that hasn’t been musically relevant for half a decade for an embarrassing performance when they should have convinced Vanessa Hudgens open the show asking the crowd, “heard any good jokes lately?” (Thanks to everyone who pointed out why people she all the sudden became the most popular search to the 9th Green). Everyone would have talked around the watercooler today how great the opening was instead of how horrible it was. Well actually most of the watercooler talk today was, “wait, the VMA’s were last night?”

- Apparently MTV had a contingency plan in case the Brittney performance died like it did with Sarah Silverman coming out to make fun of her. Granted the best line was, “that’s not nice calling Madonna a python” as well as her backhanded comments to Paris Hilton who once again tried to look upset before breaking out laughing.

Rihanna: I'd stand underneath her Umbrella- Rihanna wins the Monster Single of the Year as well as the monster cleavage of the year award.

- Jennifer Hundson (as Alicia Keys calls her) comes out to give the most worthless award of the night, the quadruple threat award. Since when is having a clothing line a threat?

- Holy Pat Smear sighting!

Hopefully Kanye stands taller next week over 50 Cent- Kanye West and 50 Cent come out to hype their release date. I have said this before and I will say it again, for the love of hip-hop be sure to pick up Graduation this week so 50 retires for coming in second. Anyone find it interesting that no one even mentions Kenny Chesney who has a legitimate chance to outsell either of the rappers. Don’t underestimate the buying power of hillbillies. But any ways. Be sure to look out for my Kanye review tomorrow and 50 on Wednesday.

- Forty-five minutes into the award show and we get our first full performance by Chris Brown who did a much better job lip-syncing that Britney. But that really say much about it. But is does say something that Rihanna stole the show from him.

I'll take the one in the middle, do what you want with the other two- Justin Timberlake’s music sucks massively and acts like a complete tool ninety-five percent of the time but I like his blast at MTV and their reality programming while accepting an award from The Hills (but I’d like to state for the record that I would definitely stand underneath the brunette’s umbrella-ella-ella-eh-eh-eh). But then lost points when saying that The Simpsons were part of MTV’s reality programming.

- Seriously, Cee-Lo singing Prince while being backed by the Foo Fighters only gets thirty seconds of airtime?

- I must take this time to apologize to CBS for creating the most appalling reality show ever with Kids Nation. I didn’t realize MTV would counter with A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila (whoever that is), your token Bachelor rip-off but with sixteen lesbians and straight dudes. But there is something to say that both channels are owned by the same company (keep in mind this is also the same company that axed Veronica Mars).

- Are we really supposed to believe Shia LeBeouf didn’t really have express written consent to reveal the new Indiana Jones title (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). That is just insulting our intelligence.

- Who keeps inviting Pamela Anderson to these things? She and Carmen Electra should be well into their begging to get on the Surreal Life point in their life but somehow they still get on big name events. What’s worst is supposedly she is the reason for the most interesting thing that happened all night (Kid Rock sucker punching Tommy Lee) and MTV didn’t even bother to air it.

- Speaking of overrated chicks, Megan Fox may be one of the few people that rival Anderson in that category. She announces Timbaland who does some weird thing before tossing it to Linkin Park. What was that? Why even bother? Why not just have Fox toss to Linkin Park. Timbaland is just completely worthless.

- During the pre-show Rihanna mentioned she was going to rock out tonight and I thought maybe she would be backed by New Order (Shut Up and Drive samples Blue Monday), but now it is just Fall Out Boy who just took home Best Group. Yawn.

Alicia Keys: Great Performance, Bad Outfit- Alicia Keys adds some class to program even if she was wearing that looked like Olivia Newton-John combined her wardrobe from the final scene from Grease and the Physical video. The new song was decent, but I’m not sure where I come down on Freedom ’90. I was hoping that maybe she would bring out George Michaels but alas no.

- Jamie Foxx comes out to show everyone how much he has had to drink while in Vegas then shuts ups just long enough for Jennifer Garner announce the Best New Award as Gym Class Fallout. Yeah, that seems just about right.

- MTV then rolls out a week old joke that really wasn’t that funny a week ago in the Miss Teen South Carolina who flubs while pretending to flubs. Nice. At least she gave the Wu-Tang Clan a shout out.

- The big surprise guest of the night is Dr. Dre (who is disturbingly showing his age). No he didn’t perform or even receive a Lifetime Achievement Award or anything interesting, no he is just relegated to handing out Video of the Year to Rihanna.

- The show ends with Nelly Furtado, Timberlake and Timbaland each performing a verse from their latest song before getting together as the song they did together start only for the track to stop so abruptly that Timbaland had to inform everyone five seconds later that that’s the end of the show. How apropos of an end.

- I’m really getting too old for this (expletive deleted).

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

I Want My Music Television vol. II


There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form.. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Bleed it Out - Linkin Park



Here is a song to get your blood pumping. The latest single from Linkin Park certainly made a B-line to my workout playlist on my iPod. The video is memorizing in how simple it looks but for the life of me, no matter how many times I watch it, can I tell how they made it work and did what they did with the cameras. Plus what’s up with Chester’s plunging neckline? Did he raid Freddie Mercury’s closet?


Nolita Fairytale - Vanessa Carlton



I had to do a double take at the beginning of the video as the recreate the start of the most memorable video from Vanessa Carlton, A Thousand Miles. The destruction of the piano isn’t as iconic as when George Michaels blew up the Faith jukebox in Freedom! ’90, mostly because George was doing it to destroy the image he built up with Carlton seems to be doing so out of spite of her old record label that dropped her. And with the new label, The Ink, that may be thee switch in sounds as gone are the orchestration of her first album, replaced with a more percussion driven backing and the more come hither looks in the video. I wonder if she has been hanging out with Ashanti. It should be interesting to hear how the whole album turns out.


Hot Thing/In the Mood - Talib Kweli



Yeah Talib Kweli completely ripped of those HP commercials for the first half of the video, but all of those are visually stunning and are an idea worth stealing. Granted the song wasn’t really the best choose for the next single off the album. And it is off that they would edit out Kanye’s verse for In the Mood.


Do It - Nelly Furtado



If my calculations are correct, every song from Loose has been officially released as a single. Yet for the life of me I don’t remember this song being on the album at all. And the song is infectious in an if Madonna made listenable music back in the nineties kind of way.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Live Earth Redux


There were a bunch of great performances at Live Earth but there is one that I have been listening to on repeat the last couple days and that is the new song that Alicia Keys unveiled during her set, That’s the Thing about Love. Unfortunately it looks like we will have to wait until late October until we can hear a more polished studio version when her new album is scheduled to drop, until then here is the YouTube version of the performance at Live Earth:



It popped up over the weekend that there will be a best of the Live Earth album that will be put out in August which you can preorder on iTunes (if you do so you will get the John Mayer track now, also Metallica’s full set is available separately). Although there is currently no confirmed tracks (aside from Mayer’s) so here is my suggestion of the top twenty songs from the event (links go to YouTube):


1. Gimme Shelter - Keith Urban and Alicia Keys
2. Message in a Bottle - The Police, John Mayer and Kanye West
3. Sabotage - Beastie Boys
4. Big Bottom - Spinal Tap and an Army of Bassists
5. That’s the Thing about Love - Alicia Keys
6. Drummers - SOS All Stars
7. Babylon - David Gray and Damien Rice
8. All My Life - Foo Fighters
9. Waiting on the World to Change - John Mayer
10. The Horizon Has Been Defeated - Jack Johnson
11. Bleed it Out - Linkin Park
12. Mercy Mercy Me - Corrine Bailey Rae and John Legend
13. Intergalactic - Beastie Boys
14. By the Way - Red Hot Chili Peppers
15. For the Love of Money/Living for the City, Mercy Mercy Me - Alicia Keys
16. The Blower’s Daughter - Damien Rice and David Gray
17. Bullet with Butterfly Wings - Smashing Pumpkins
18. Hips Don’t Lie - Shakira
19. Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz
20. Jesus Walks - Kanye West


Agree, disagree, well vote or add your favorites to the Unspun widget below:




Okay, now on to what Live Earth was really about, doing your part to saving the environment. You might think to yourself living a green life is a daunting task, well I am certainly no tree hugging hippie, in fact I am extremely lazy, but I realized that I already do some of the things that they suggested thought Saturday’s festivities. Seriously, if this lazy bum can do these things to help out than certainly you can add these to your daily routine. Even if you don’t care about the environment, do these why I do them, almost all of these suggestion will save you money:

- Change to Energy Efficient Light bulbs - Yeah they cost a little more but I saw a noticeable drop in my electricity bill when I switched just three bulbs. Really you should buy any and all energy efficient products, TV’s, toilets, computers, radios, etc.

- Use Sunlight During the Day - Unless there is a storm brewing, all window drapes are open there isn’t a light on from sun up to dun down

- Change the Thermostat When You Leave - In the summer during turn the air conditioning down a couple degrees, turn heat up in the winter. In the winter, I even do this when I sleep so I can bundle up in a couple more blankets

- Boil Only the Water You Need - I was surprised when this was suggested during the telecast because I though it was a no brainier but apparently people boil more than they need. This is just laziest, and that says a lot considering I been called the laziest person some people have ever met

- Flip Off Your Power Strip - Here is one that I have started after seeing it on Live Earth as I have three big power drains with all its accessories plugged into a power strip (computer, two TV sets). I plugged a VCR into the wall because that is my clock in that room, but everything else is plugged into the strip which I flip off when the stuff isn’t in use. I’m not entirely sure how much energy/money I have saved by doing this, but long if it is something it will be worth the one second it takes to flip it on and off.

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Live Blogging: Live Earth


Today is the Live Earth Concerts and since it is supposed to top out at around 90 here today, I thought I would try live blogging for the very first time. You can stream the Live Earth concerts on MSN.

Scooter Update: It is the day after and I have a few more thought on things I didn't get to or didn't see yesterday.

- The Police get great closing out the show. Not that surprising when they brought out John Mayer, who has been known to do an version of Message in a Bottle in concert. But the big surprise was when Kanye West popped up. Yeah the rap was kind of lame with lines like "Sting is the only police cool in the hood" and it was obvious that it wasn't Sting's idea to have him as he mispronounced his name (Kane-ye). But it was a cool way to end the show.

- Roger Waters with the rest of Pink Floyd was a huge letdown even with the weird "Save Our Sausage" pig balloon (get it, because SOS was a running theme and sausage is made from pigs part of Pink's imagery? Oh never mind). It was cool when he brought out the children's choir for Another Brick in the Wall until the chorus hit and you realized that they weren't miked up and they were piping in the album version.

- Who had the Smashing Pumpkins being the only artist (that I saw) to shameless promote their album? Then to make it worse Billy Corgan went on to insinuate the band lackluster sales in the late nineties were because of illegal downloading. No Billy, it was because the product wasn't very good. And it looks like Billy recruited yet another female bassist, his third for the band) and this new one is definitely the most attractive one, you know, in a creepy goth kind of way.

- Shakira straighting her hair: upgrade.

- Unless I missed it, it was nice to see Rihanna skipped her new single Shut Up and Drive. It was silly enough to have a car company sponsor the event. But I'm not sure what was the worse fashion statement of the day, her Sandy at the end of Grease outfit or KT Tunstall's.

8:10 - Well I think I finally hit the wall. It is time to take the dogs out and actually turn of the computer (I'll even switch off the power strip, see I did learn something today). I'll catch up on the rest which includes Bon Jovi, the semi-reunited Smashing Pumpkins, Roger Waters sans Pink Floyd and The Police later and may add them to this later.

7:50 - I got to imagine that Kanye West's string section is getting tired with always being paraded out with weird makeup ever performance. At least Gnarls Barkley dresses up their backing band in cool outfits that they wear with them. He also breaks out Golddigger which he opened his Concert for Diana with. Yeah that was appropriate.

7:35 - Sadly Kelly didn't take my advise as she brings out back to back songs from her new album as the audience visibly thins. Okay Kelly, we get it, you are a bitter chick with daddy issue, it time to move on.

7:25 - It is Kelly Clarkson time and she wisely didn't up with anything from her unlistenable new album. Hopefully that trend continues.

7:10 - Wow, that was a blistering performance of Don't Drink the Water, which is very appropriate for the day's festivities.

6:50 - Okay, that was coo, they just had on the US feed what I assume was from earlier in the UK a massive drum ensemble featuring the drummers from Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Queen along with a bunch of what looked like high school age kids. But I can't complain that it got cut off because it is time for one of the best live acts ever, the Dave Matthews Band.

6:30 - I'm really digging this new Alicia Keys song, That's the Thing About Love(?). It's goosebumps good. And when did she get so hot? Maybe it's the sweat or that flattering pink dress she is sporting, but she is looking real good tonight.

6:20 - Looking at his waistline, Randy Jackson won't be running for president any time too. It hard to take energy conservation tips from people that aren't conserving their food intake. He is out to introduce Alicia Keys who starts of with a great medley of For the Love of Money, Living for the City and Mercy, Mercy Me. I can't wait until she finally puts out her next album that should be out by the end of the year.

6:00 - Al Gore is back out and he is now shouting. Bored now. People say you can tell if Gore is going to run in 08 based on his waistline. Well it looks like he won't be running at this point.

5:45 - Now it is time to catch up on some of the acts I missed earlier like Genesis in the UK, Linkin Park in Japan, and Snoop Dogg, who know more about living green than maybe even Al Gore, in Germany all while I wait until Alicia Keys comes back out in the US.

5:30 - Back from dinner and it looks like I missed the start of the John Mayer set. And it looks like John is know longer waiting as he has changed the lyrics to his hit song to "We're not waiting on the world to change." While I was eating I checked out the Bravo broadcast and Dave Holmes actually made me spit out my food when someone said Akon was coming up to which he responded, "Somebody's gonna get humped."

4:45 - Darn I missed all but the end of Fall Out Boy. Oh well. And with Madonna in the UK and Akon in the US, I think I'll take my dinner break now. Be back in an hour or so.

4:35 - Dave Grohl, with his new Jesus look, dedicated Best of You to "you know who". Actually I don't, can someone help me out?

4:20 - The Foo Fighter start off with my favorite song in their catalog All My Life. If that life can't get your blood rushing I'm not sure what could. Then they follow that up with my second favorite Hy Hero. Can Big Me be next?

3:55 - Ludacris really needs a new hype man. I know they can't all be Flavor Flav but c'mon. Now he is preforming Pimpin' All Over the World. I'm sure all that pimpin' has to have a pretty large carbon footprint. It is never a good sign when you set is so bad you make me switch over to the Pussycat Dolls. And no, I still don't wish my girlfriend was hot as any of them because that would be a downgrade.

3:40 - Gee had I known that Keith Urban was going to bring out Alicia Keys to sing Gimmie Shelter I may have watched it live. Well probably not because he was still against the Beastie who set the bar pretty high for best performance of the day on any continent. Of course that is because you, and maybe the Beasties, never know what record Mix Master Mike is going to put. Not it is time for a major lull as the Pussycat Doll are coming up in the UK while Ludacris takes the stage in the US. Seriously who invited the Pussycat Doll, together they probably killed a good chunk of the Ozone every performance with all the hairspray they go through. Well they do save some electricity considering only one of their microphones are ever turned on.

3:35 - It's the fracking Beastie Boys doing fracking Sabotage!!! Frack Yeah!!!

3:25 - It's the fracking Beastie Boys!!!

3:10 - Crap, I turned in early as not to miss the Beastie Boys and happened upon James Blunt butchering Wild World. That's enough to turn Yusuf Islam into an actual terrorist. Please get the Beasties out soon so I can erase this from my mind.

3:00 - I guess I spoke too soon about competing venues as I am having trouble figuring out who I care about less, James Blunt in the UK or Taking Back Sunday in the US and there is always Xzibit in Japan. I may sink to watching Crowded House in Australia because I continue to not dream it's over. Ooo, Beatie Boys are up next in England.

2:55 - Spinal Tap certainly brought out everyone to help them out with Big Bottom yet even though they have about twenty different bassists onstage, it doesn't sound like any of them are actually plugged in but not that it mattered because the visual was good enough.

2:35 - Now that the US event is up and running there are going to be some hard decisions as it goes head to head with Britain. Right now it is either the Spinal Tap (with the dude from The Office) or KT Tunstall (in gold tights, shorts and a tank top, no seriously). Luckily they will be streaming these after the fact. But Live 8 gets the reunited Pink Floyd, Live Earth reunites Spinal Tap. Mmm.

2:05 - Decisions, decisions, upcoming there is Jack Johnson in Australia, Metalica in Britain or the 12 Girls Band back in China. I think I'll go with Jack who wrote one of the best environment song in recent memory, The Horizon Has Been Defeated.

1:50 - Is it wrong that whenever I here Keane's Somewhere Only We Know I instantly think of that horrible Lakehouse movie just because they used the song in the trailer? Then coming up in Japan is AI, I wonder is (s)he is related to the Antwain Merriweather look-a-like TI.

1:45 - There is currently (I assume) a German rapper on the Germany named Jan Delay (who I assume isn't related to Tom, but one can hope) feed right now, this may be the most entertaining thing I have seen all day.

1:30 - Ugg, the Live Earth website really needs to work on the timing. I missed the beginning of Corrine Bailey Rae because it still says she won't be on another ten minutes will Jack Johnson has been going back between 50 and 45 minutes for a while now even though that concert is already over so there shouldn't be any guessing. Cool, John Legend has joined Rae onstage for a version of Mercy Mercy Me.

1:00 - Darn, while watching the Peppers in England, I missed Enrique Iglesias in Germany. Oh well. And what is with him being in Germany, is he big there? (Insert your own Hasslehoff joke here)

12:35 - Chris Rock making fun of Paris Hilton and introducing the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Classic. Oddly enough he called U2 the "Baddest Band in the Land" at the 1997 MTV VMA's. Wow, that was ten years ago, I feel old. And where is Bono in all of this? If you can't get U2 to a charity event, how important can it be?

12:20 - In between acts on the England feel they have "Put Your Computer to Sleep" which is the biggest irony of this whole event because think of the amount of energy is going into including to power all the concerts and the TV's and computers who are watching, and I'm sure all the waste at the events can't be good for the environment. I know if this wasn't on, my computer would be off right now and I'd be outside doing yard work.

12:00 - So while making my lunch, I turn on Bravo's coverage it it is fracking Fergie again. Can we please end the Black Eyed Peas era? And your host on the television is Dave Holmes, the original loser of MTV's Who Wants to Be a VJ contest and Duffy, the short lived VJ from the nineties. C'mon NBC, can't you get the people at Today to work an extra day of the week? Now Duran Duran is playing Notorious. It is weird to hear this song without Kelis from the great Notorious Trick mash-up.

11:50 - Gee, I take a shower because Fergie is on and I get back and John Legend is already done just to be followed by one of the Spice Girls. Did he just get one song. Now it's Duran Duran who I just saw at the Diana Concert so that's my cue to get some lunch. Hopefully I don't miss the Red Hot Chilli Peppers who are next.

11:25 - Insterersting, in Germany, Maria Mena also sang What a Wonderful World, a much better version if not shorter. I wonder if it was suggested to artist to do the song or if it is a coincidence. Only thirty minutes until John Legend hits the stage in England.

10:10 - I liked Paolo Nutini's New Shoes but this dude is not a very good live performer. He is currently butchering What a Wonderful World. I gotta hunt down the Loius Armstrong to remember how great the song is. But there is only ten minutes until 12 Girls Band hits the stage in China. While Eskimo Joe still plays Down Under. They must be huge there to get such a long set. Speaking of Australia, where is Midnight Oil, aren't they a requirement for every event in that country?

10:55 - Finally Al Gore and I'm already nodding off. Poor Al, he hit the interview circuit last week in one of the worst week with the Fourth of July in the middle of the week to take about Live Earth. Then everyone wanted to talk instead about his son getting caught with the sticky-icky and if he would throw his hat into the presidential ring because the current lackluster candidates.

10:45 - Now there are two American Indians. C'mon, there is only one person that I want to bore me today and that is Al Gore. I'm almost ready to switch over to the Australia feed to listen to Eskimo Joe.

10:30 - Random old dude not named Al Gore coming straight from the National Mall. I guess when you ask Congress to okay a concert featuring Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood was a better idea than getting to okay one featuring Akon and Kanye West.

10:20 - A commercial with Jessica Biel in a bathtowl, if that can't get people to recycle, I'm not sure what will. Well, maybe her actually doing my recycling in a bathtowl. And only ten minutes until a speech from Al Gore. Yeah.

10:00 - Okay, this may not be much for normal music fans, but I totally geeked out when David Gray and Damian Rice performed together. Yeah, I like the sappy troubadours.

9:45 - A nice way to wake up is to the sounds of Snow Patrol. Unfortunately they only got three songs. I guess that will be the norm until the big name old timers hit the stage later.