Filed under: Pop, Review, Rock | Tags: A Perfect Circle, Cheap Trick, Fountains of Wayne, Hanson, Ivy, Kind of A Girl, Smashing Pumpkins, Taylor Hanson, Tinted Windows
Tinted Windows is a superband featuring members of groups with 90s glory. The band includes Smashing Pumpkins/A Perfect Circle guitarist James Iha, Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, Ivy/Fountains of Wayne producer/bassist Adam Schlesinger, and… Taylor Hanson. Nothing against the Hanson kid, but – MMMWhat?!
What an incongruous group of musicians.
The result is a track called “Kind of a Girl”[Mp3]. It has the sound of a teen rock band with exceptional production and instrumentation. The track is a catchy bit of pop, but for some reason I was expecting more. I don’t know exactly what, but it was something else. “Kind of a Girl“ is more cutesy than anything.
Admittedly, they do the teen rock thing great justice. Hanson’s vocals are infinitely more bearable than the likes of the Jonas Brothers (who – I’ve always thought – sound like a glorified Hanson with bad vocals). I was expecting more MMMRock instead of MMMBop from Tinted Windows, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not good, calorie-packed pop.
What do you think of Tinted Windows? Please leave me a comment with your reactions!
Bonus video: MMMBop! – Hanson
(Wouldn’t the chorus – if pitch corrected – be a killer sample for a rap track?)
Filed under: Pop, Soundtrack | Tags: 2x18, Blair Waldorf's Day Off, Fortress Round my heart, Gossip Girl, Ida Maria, Oh My God, OMFGG, The Age of Dissonance
2008’s Scandinavian sensation, Ida Maria has been chosen by Gossip Girl’s brilliant music coordinators to be featured in the ads for their March 16th return, “The Age of Dissonance”. “Oh My God” is a great upbeat track with a simple melody and raw instrumentation – and when it’s done like this, it’s perfect.
Ida Maria’s album, Fortress Round My Heart, doesn’t seem to be available in the US – yet; I’m sure after the ads have run, iTunes’ crack team will have the single up before the end of the week. Get a jump on it and download this fun post pop-punk track here first!
Download: “Oh My God” – Ida Maria
Watch the aforementioned ad featuring the track below:
Like “Oh My God”? Are you not downloading this because it’s part of Gossip Girl? Please leave me a comment.
Filed under: Pop, video | Tags: Britney Spears, Circus, Circus (Villains Remix), Villains Remix
From Britney’s current ( and scandal-free) single, “Circus” comes – though a bit late – the “Villains Remix”; it is one of the official remixes of the track and I’m glad to report that this mix finds a way to include the original track’s brilliant pre-chorus (a feat none of the other remixes I have heard have been able to accomplish well).
I really enjoy the art for the single (above), it features my favorite moment in the brilliant “Circus” music video. Watch the video.
What do you think of “Circus (Villains Remix)”? Please leave me a comment!
Filed under: Pop | Tags: Fat Tuesday, Iko Iko, Mardi Gras, The Dixie Cups
The day before the 40 day season of Lent has been passed down through tradition as a day of a feast before the fast. Today it just gives heathens another reason to go out and get sloppy in front of masses of people! :-D (Not to mention naked.)
So for those who celebrate it for religious reasons and mostly for those who don’t, here’s a common Mardi Gras staple straight out of Louisiana:
The Dixie Cups
Download: “Iko Iko” – The Dixie Cups.
“Iko Iko” tells the story of the parade collision of two “tribes” of Mardi Gras Indians. (They’re actually just people dressed up in Native ritual garb that parade around New Orleans during the Carnival season.) The song is thought to be an older folk song, but it was actually created in 1953 by James “Sugar Boy” Crawford and called “Jock-a-mo”. Even The Dixie Cups didn’t know that it was not a folk song and they credited the writing to themselves for the release; this resulted in a major lawsuit filed by Crawford when the song reached the peak of its Top 40 popularity in the mid 60s.
The track is said to come out of an impromptu rendition of the song by the ladies during a studio session. I think that may be the reason it’s so appealing. The fun of the recording captures exactly what The Dixie Cups felt about it. (So fun that even a coke bottle was used as procussion.)
There’s a lot of stuff about this song that I find hilarious – the fact that it’s a staple of Mardi Gras at all is ironic. The writer of the song admits to not knowing the exact meaning of the phrases that are constantly chanted throughout it. It’s believed that “iko” means “listen” or “attention” (hence the “hey now’s” in the song) in one or a couple Gambian languages, but nobody seems really sure. This is funny because the song is a solid part of the secular Mardi Gras tradition that was once rooted in Catholic culture. The Carnival has become a true American holiday by becoming absurd – it lacks all the meaning that it once had. I’m not saying that it’s not fun. Cause it sure is.
Have fun tonight, people.
Did you enjoy “Iko Iko”? What do you think of the modern absurdity of Mardi Gras festivities? Please leave me a comment!
Filed under: Electro Wave, Indie, Pop | Tags: Heads Will Roll, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Zero
A couple of days ago a new Yeah Yeah Yeahs track called “Zero” leaked and blogs webwide buzzed about the band’s exciting shift to a more dance driven style. Although I did enjoy the instrumentals, the track didn’t impress me as much as it did other music critics. I think it was the chorus; a dance chorus should be catchier. The song has begun to grow on me and I’m going to post it at the end of this post, because I might just regret it if I don’t.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! (Album Art)
[Absurd anecdote about the album art: When I was in high school one of my friends said he'd heard that it was physically impossible to break an egg by squeezing it with only one hand. The rest of my friends and I didn't believe it. So - of course - we tested his theory. Five of us tried with no avail. Amazed, those who had tried decided to believe it as truth. However, the one who had yet to try began to squeeze the egg in disbelief. It was then that the egg splattered all over our host's suede coat. That's what the album cover makes me think of.]
This post is really about the second track that was leaked from Yeah Yeah Yeahs upcoming album, It’s Blitz!; a song called “Heads Will Roll“. I might be more into the track because it just seems a bit more morbid. And you know that I love the macabre. Who doesn’t love a dance track that has “dance ’till you’re dead” as part of its chorus? The song has a nice beat in keeping with the ever-evolving Electro Wave.
It’s Blitz! will be released April 13th, 2009.
Downloads:
“Heads Will Roll” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Which of the leaked tracks do you like better? Please leave me a comment with your preference!
Filed under: Electro Wave | Tags: Britney Spears, Hellogoodbye, Honest Mistake, Justin Timberlake, M.I.A., Paper Planes, Sexy Back, Shiny Toy Guns, Somebody Told Me, The Bravery, The Killers, Timbaland, Toxic
After much deliberation about creating a new term for categorizing music, I’ve decided to create a term that is vague enough to encompass a trend I’ve been seeing in all types of music lately. A form of Siulelbon’s Media Blog shorthand, if you will.
The term I am creating is:
“ELECTRO WAVE”
The Electro Wave is the late 00s answer to what was 80s New Wave. There has been a large shift in the way music has sounded and been created since 2003; The Electro Wave dominates both mainstream pop and indie/non indie rock.
Songs that fall into the Electro Wave are tracks that have all or one of the following criteria: a heavy processed beat (or 808s), varied use of synthesized instruments, and electronic manipulations to vocals. The Electro Wave excludes those tracks that use some of the criteria listed above in an attempt to sound real rather than processed – it must be an effect that the artist intended.
The Electro Wave is a music style that is aware of what has come before in the melding of rock, pop, and electronica and intends to build on it. In essence, the Electro Wave is a revival and renewal of the New Wave/Electropop style.
I am aware that the argument can be made that trends like New Wave and Electropop never ended; but I believe that because it is building on these musical trends, the revival should have a name of its own. I submit “Electro Wave” for consideration and I will use it from now on.
A Short History of the Electro Wave
(Keep in mind that A LOT is missing):
POP REVIVAL:
Toxic – Britney Spears (2003)
THE ROCK JUMP:
Somebody Told Me – The Killers (2004)
Honest Mistake – The Bravery (2005)
PROMINENCE:
Here (In Your Arms) – Hellogoodbye (2006) / Sexy Back – Justin Timberlake & Timbaland (2006)
Le Disko – Shiny Toy Guns (2007)/ Paper Planes – M.I.A. (2007)
2008/2009: Just look at the rest of this blog…
What do you think of the ELECTRO WAVE? Please leave me a comment!
