Archive for September, 2008

Please Don’t Go!

September 17, 2008 at 2:14 pm · Filed under Reviews ·Tagged ,

Please don’t go!  I’m back!  Also, if you keep up with the latest in pop music, perhaps you recognize those words from Taylor Swift’s latest song “Love Story”.

This latest song from Taylor Swift isn’t what I was expecting.  For one, it isn’t about an ex-boyfriend.  It’s about meeting her boyfriend.  Maybe the next one will be about the breakup.  We shall see.

Despite the unexpected theme of the song, Taylor delivers another great song.  It’s no “Should’ve Said No”, my personal favorite Taylor Swift song, but it’s still really good.  Definitely worth the $0.99.

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I’m Late!

September 15, 2008 at 9:00 am · Filed under Uncategorized

Sorry about the lack of updates! I’m in the middle of moving!  Things should be back up and running on Wednesday, so expect more then!

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I Don’t Care

September 11, 2008 at 2:42 pm · Filed under Reviews ·Tagged

Fall Out Boy has a new single out.  Released on Tuesday, “I Don’t Care” is generic Fall Out Boy.  I know that sounds ambiguous, but that’s because my feelings toward this song are ambiguous.  In a way, the song is good.  But at the same time, it’s good because it sounds so much like what I am used to hearing from Fall Out Boy.  There’s not much to set it apart.

For Fall Out Boy’s big fans, this song is a must.  It’s not anywhere near the pop sounds Fall Out Boy gave us on their previous album Infinity on High.  Too bad, I enjoyed their punk pop album.  Still, “I Don’t Care” is a good song, very similar to the songs from their older albums, but nothing special.

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Rewind… To Britney?

September 11, 2008 at 1:27 am · Filed under Rewind ·Tagged

I know, who could forget Britney Spears?  “… Baby One More Time” is among the best of what music videos have to offer, and arguably the most influential music video of all time.  This is the video that brought back the sexy-school-girl look.  Everyone has heard this song or seen the video.  Well, almost everyone.  But I’m not writing this edition of rewind for them (although I’m pleased to be the one to introduce you to this pop classic if you haven’t seen the video before).

With all the cliché pop techniques, why does “… Baby One More Time” stand out of the pack?  Surely for some reason other than the sexy-school-girl?  In a way.  This video represents the trend in the 2000s of young women in music embracing their sex appeal and using it to gain attention from society in a whole new way.  Britney pioneered this technique, in a sense.  With the help of “Toxic”, “I’m a Slave 4 U”, and “Oops!… I Did It Again”, Britney managed to sell more records before the age of 20 than any other artist had ever sold before.  And not only because the music is great.  Britney became an icon.  She was what every girl wanted to be, and what every guy wanted to have.  Society was enamored with this young lady.

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Alyson Stoner: The Next Disney Star?

September 10, 2008 at 7:26 pm · Filed under Celebrity News, Disney, Rising Star ·Tagged ,

Alyson Stoner, most well-known for her role as Max in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Caitlyn in Camp Rock, and Sarah in Cheaper by the Dozen, seems to be set for a 2009 pop enterence.  In the video above, Alyson explains that she is working on her first music video.  This video, she explains, is a remake of a Disney song for a new movie.  Didn’t Demi Lovato start with a remake of a “That’s How You Know”, a Disney song?  Queue the stage for Alyson Stoner!

I’m rather excited about Alyson Stoner’s potential as a pop artist.  She has a wonderful personality, she can dance (check out her YouTube videos), and she’s already fairly well known.

The big question here is, assuming she is slated to be the next Disney pop star, will it be too much?  With Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana, Demi Lovato, and Selena Gomez already receiving loads of media attention, plus The Cheatah Girls and Jordan Pruitt still receiving attention from Disney and selling fairly well, can the world handle another Disney star?

I say yes.  There is such a thing as oversaturation.  But the major Disney stars all have shown an interest in being different than their fellow Disney friends.  Demi Lovato has stronger vocals and a faster beat than Miley Cyrus.  Selena Gomez has expressed an interest in having a more rock sound.  As long as Alyson Stoner follows the up-beat stylings of her fellow Disney artists and goes with a different sound—I’m hoping something more rock or club—then the Disney world will thrive.

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Rewind to 1997

September 10, 2008 at 5:00 pm · Filed under Rewind ·Tagged

Go back to 1997, when this classic pop song came out.  Green Day’s “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” is an awesome song—despite the boring music video.  Well, I think the music video is boring.  It did win Best Alternative Video at the 1998 VMAs.

This song is a classic.  There’s not much to say about it.  The mellow tone, acoustic sounds, and meaningful lyrics will keep this song around for quiet a long time.

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The Year of the Flooding Teens

September 8, 2008 at 7:02 pm · Filed under Celebrity News, Reviews ·Tagged , , , , , , ,

I feel like at least half of the performances at the VMAs involved opening the gates and unleashing a flood of teenagers.  I suppose it does make it feel more exciting.  As promised, here are some additional comments about the VMAs.

Paramore gave a good performance (link).  Paramore is legit.  I know ‘legit’ is seemingly a trendy teen word that does not actually mean anything, but in this case, I think it applies.  Paramore gives a good show without actually doing any dancing.  The girl just jumps around and acts excited while she sings.  While I wouldn’t expect this style to make for a great show, it does.  Maybe the music helps.  MTV calls Paramore ‘powerpop’, which seems a bit odd to me.  I call it Fall Out Boy goes female with a touch more pop and rock instead of alternative.  “Misery Business” is an excellent song.

Someone named Christina Aguilera did a bit of poorly adjusted “Genie in a Bottle”, meant to be ‘modern’ but really just seemed cliché, followed by a surprisingly good mainstream club-style song (link).  I was shocked.  For those of you who gave up on Christina Aguilera years ago (or, like me, decided to pretend she did not exist), she went on this whole thing where she changed her image constantly in an effort to appear mature.  She dabbled in a lot of different styles of music.  Finally, she has caved and hopped in the current flow of pop.

Finally, I would like to thank Jordin Sparks for defending abstinence.  Russell Brand, who co-hosted with Britney Spears, repeatedly brought up the Jonas Brothers and their purity rings and constantly made fun of them for it.  I found Brand to be generally obnoxious, though occasionally funny.

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Playlist 13 Week Four

September 8, 2008 at 4:13 pm · Filed under Playlist 13

  1. All I Want to Do – Sugarland
  2. C’est La Vie – B*Witched
  3. Chemicals React – Aly & AJ
  4. Disturbia – Rhianna
  5. Get Your Shine On – Jesse McCartney
  6. Like Whoa – Aly & AJ
  7. Love Song – Sara Bareilles
  8. Misery Business – Paramore
  9. On the Ride – Aly & AJ
  10. Pocketful of Sunshine – Natasha Bedingfield
  11. Should’ve Said No – Taylor Swift
  12. So What – P!nk
  13. Sorry – Jonas Brothers

Look forward to next week’s special, Playlist 13: YouTube Edition!  All 13 songs will be available as a playlist on YouTube.  I would have done that before, but most songs published legally on YouTube are music videos, and not every song has a music video.  I’ve been compiling a large list of music videos available for use over the last couple weeks.

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A Night to Remember

September 8, 2008 at 2:15 am · Filed under Celebrity News, Reviews ·Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

The 2008 Video Music Awards show was a night to remember.  The hottest names in music (except Aly & AJ, who are continuously left out at major award shows) performed: Rhianna, Jonas Brothers, P!nk, T.I. (eww, gross, rap, don’t get me started), and Katy Perry.

Katy Perry was, well, Katy Perry (her performance).  She wore an outfit similar to the outfits she usually wears when she sings “I Kissed a Girl”, and she didn’t really do anything special other than sing a song that has taken the world by storm.  At least, I don’t think she did anything special: something happened and there was only a small bit of Katy Perry’s performance aired from what I have heard.  I missed her perform anyway and had to watch it on MTV’s website, where only the final 30 seconds are available.

T.I. performed.  I vomited.

P!nk’s performance was amazing (link).  It was intense.  It was rebellious.  It was sexy.  The outfits were excellent, the choreography was exciting, the song is great, and P!nk is awesome.

The Jonas Brothers had an interesting performance (link).  Nothing spectacular, but the part where the teenage girls were let loose was hilarious.  If you haven’t watched the performance, when the song picks up, the scenery changes and a flood of teens comes charging to see the Jonas Brothers.  It’s interesting.

Rounding off tonight’s digest is Rhianna.  “Disturbia” was by far the best performance of the night (link).  P!nk was excellent.  Rhianna blew everyone else out of the water.  Plus, the performance managed to creep me out to a further extent than the actual music video did.  Surprising.

Don’t worry, I know there’s still more for me to cover, and I have my reasons for withholding my final review (for one, I want to get something out quickly before I go to bed, plus I have a song review to go along with one of the remaining performances).  Watch for it Monday morning!  And I appologize for not having any videos embedded, once again, MTV’s videos don’t want to cooperate.  Pity.

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Rewind to a “Pivotal Moment”

September 6, 2008 at 9:18 pm · Filed under Reviews ·Tagged , , ,

It’s the way you love me
It’s a feeling like this
It’s centrifugal motion
It’s perpetual bliss

Faith Hill’s “This Kiss”, a 1998 hit.  Not exactly a surprising choice I suppose, as this song still receives good playtime on the radio.  But for those of you who listen mostly to the songs currently on the Hot 100, you may have forgotten this one.  It’s a good one.  And here it is.

It’s a keeper!  Beautiful lyrics, excellent vocals.  Definitely worthy of a quick rewind to ten years ago.  Plus, she says “centrifugal motion”.  Everyone loves a smart blonde.  Just look at Colonel Carter.

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