I’ve been absent recently and I feel bad. I’ve started a new job and I’ve been training for the marathon and those two things combined have left me with a major lack of time for sitting at my computer being a blog nerd. But that doesn’t mean i haven’t been listening to some sweet new tunes.
BUT, since i feel like i’ve been gone so long, i’m gonna start off at the beginning again. With Genesis, of course. I bought Genesis’s “Invisible Touch” album recently because it was on Amazon’s daily deal and holy bajeezus. This album is so fucking good. In fact, i’d go so far as to call it GREAT. Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel on one album. It was like a supergroup before they were individual super stars. They went backwards. Why doesn’t that happen anymore? You never see the Eric Clapton’s of the world break off from their role as guitarist and create music just as good if not better on their own. You never see the Paul Simon’s of the world leave their partner and make groovy tunes. All you see are people like Fergie leave the Black Eyed Peas and make average pop music. Bring back the pre-supergroups!!!
Seriously, listen to these songs and tell me you aren’t happy as all hell.
Elan is playing at The Roxy tonight and I may or may not go, but either way, he has such a rad voice.
Elan is a Jewish guy who somehow mastered the art of Reggae and became the lead singer of The Wailers in recent years. I’m no reggae dude, but he’s just awesome. I really recommend his album if you are looking for a great summertime album.
So I wrote this blog post for Valentine’s day and then forgot to hit the ‘publish’ button. But hey, its more romantic to be romantic when it isn’t expected, right? Right! So read on!
Hey guys, for those of you in need of a playlist for your Valentine’s evening, you’ve come to the right place. I’m gonna highlight two albums that came out this past year that are just perfect for that late night romp with your lady.
Now i’m gonna say you start it out with what was considered by many people one of the top 5 albums of 2009, Maxwell’s Blacksummer’s Night. It isn’t really the type of music I normally find myself rocking, but this album truly is smooth. Smooth like a rock under a waterfall. Smooth like a freshly shaven leg. Smooth like a criminal. I can get down to these tracks and instantly get transported to a better place and believe me, it will put you lady into a good mood for the entire night.
So you’ve finished up the Maxwell tunes and you are ready for the night to change courses. Dinner was good. Those chocolate covered strawberries hit the spot. But now its onto whatever it is that comes next. You know, the stuff you might want to do in the bedroom. And i’m not talking about writing poetry. I’m talking about the stuff that poetry is about. Ya. You get my drift I think. It’s time to pop in Robin Thicke’s latest album, “Sex Therapy” and get it groovin. Thicke is just as smooth as Maxwell, but while Maxwell is smooth like a freshly shaven leg, Thicke is the inner thigh. Thicke is the melted candle. Basically, Robin Thicke’s record sounds similar to what you hear when you tear open a Trojan Her Pleasure package.
just throwing it out there. my prediction for the winner of American Idol is Andrew Garcia. but obviously its super early in the competition and there are some great people who haven’t even made it onto the television yet. but that’s my prediction for now. take it for what it is.
I had heard of these guys from some other blog or something or other. Somehow, some way, they sounded familiar to me and when I noticed they were playing the closing spot at the Roxy last night, which was on my way home from a late night work meeting and where I am a member of Club Rox so I can go to any show I want for free… I figured, why not step in for a minute?
These guys BLEW ME AWAY. I think the clearest sign that a band is great is when you see them live without ever having heard their music before and you feel like you’ve been listening to them your whole life and this is a pinnacle moment for you, finally getting to see them on stage. Imagine Dragons played in front of an empty house. Maybe 30 people if you counted the shmoes in the VIP seats enjoying a cocktail. But they rocked the stage as if they were headlining Wembly Stadium, U2 having just opened for them.
The music is straight up Las Vegas, which has somehow become a sound recently. Think The Killers meet 30 Seconds To Mars or something like that. The band is fronted by a good looking, tall and outrageously energetic frontman with a killer voice. He OWNS the stage. He was everywhere and not one second of it felt fake. This guy was so into his music that I found myself fighting the urge to dance with the drunk indie rock kids. The guitarist (only 1 of them) was insane good and proved it with a 2 minute solo outro on the final song of the night. The keyboardist is a cute girl with her hair combed to the side in a manner you’d expect Zoey Deshanel to rock in one of her cutesy indie films and her backing vocals easily lead me to believe she’ll put out a solo album after Imagine Dragons completes their third top 10 album. The drummer was on point. Really on point. and the bass kept it all tied together.
These guys don’t even have a full length album. These guys have zero fans in Los Angeles besides the one guy i noticed singing along. These guys are DESTINED for greatness. So jump on the bandwagon now, before its a bandwagon.
i’ve got a more amusing valentines day post coming later this week, but i wanted to highlight this song before i forget.
Kina Grannis. I think she went to USC with me, but obviously i didn’t know her, or i’d be a bit more certain of that fact. i think she won some sort of Doritos superbowl contest a few years ago and her song was used in their commercial or something. whatever.
what i do know is that she definitely has potential. she could easily be the next Colbie Callait or Ingrid Michaelson or ‘insert girl with a guitar who isn’t named Taylor’ here. cute song. cute video. cute girl. winning combo. i wish her luck.
if you read enough of my blog, you’ll quickly come to the conclusion that I have a pretty varied taste in music. and when it comes to hip hop, i’m a pretty big believer in Lil Wayne. I don’t really know why i like the little tattooed guy with platinum teeth, but i guess like much of america, i find something about his flow to be irresistible.
however. as the title of this post states, not everyone can be a rock star. i appreciate artists trying to stretch their boundaries and push the musical envelope forward. but Lil Wayne is NOT A ROCK STAR. he is a rapper, and should stay a rapper, as his sales numbers are about to show on wednesday when his first week numbers come out.
Weezy just released an album called Rebirth. and I assume it gets its title from the fact that he is trying to rebirth himself as a rock & roller. Come on wayne! what are you thinking? Rap/Rock was cool in ‘95 when Limp Bizkit ruled the airwaves. when Hova joined hands with Linkin Park for a collaboration EP, the world was at their knees. but thats because Hov was rapping over Park’s riffs, leaving the rockers to rock.
Rebirth, for the most part is a horribly failed attempt at a new fusion album. One of the biggest issues that I have with it is that the typically awesome effects used on Wayne’s already raspy as a 2 pack a day whore voice just sound like he running his vocals through the same pre-amp as the electric guitar. It reminds me of I sounded like as a 14 year old kid playing my Gibson Special 2 guitar that wouldnt stay in tune AND my vocals through one of those little 15 watt Crate amps, with the overdrive button pushed in and the gain turned all the way to the right. for an artist who i’m sure worked with some hugely expensive producers on this album, there is close to no dynamics.
secondly, the music sucks. wayne is a rapper and clearly sees music like a rapper. in rap, all you need is the beat from your 808 and a sick lyric on top of it. look at his hit song “A Milli”. that could barely be considered a song, yet it got lots and lots of airplay. that’s because hiphop cares about a good flow. Wayne, Em, JayZ and a few others can rap over the sound of me hitting my desk with my flipflops and I’ll listen to the entire track. but rock music needs good music, not just cool vocals. in fact, rock music can sell by having great lyrics, great melody and awful vocals (see Bob Dylan). whoever wrote the garbage on Rebirth should quit their garage band and start playing Garage Band.
This album never ever never would have seen the front page of iTunes had it been a new artist, even a new artist backed by a huge label. the name “Lil Wayne” can sell records. His last one debuted with something like 1 million sales in the first week. This one is headed for under 150k. rightfully so.
Weezy! Go back to rapping! we love it. leave the rock n roll to nickelback or something…
already mentioned the grandeur of Matt Morris and his voice. Wanted to include a video from the show I saw him play last week at The Mint. Oh, and Justin Timberlake is singing with him. Enjoy.
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