You know you’ve got them: Songs and artists that you reach for in a pinch. Maybe you’re searching for something to belt in the shower, and you return to one of your stand-bys. Maybe you’re on a road trip, and the first CD you play is a mix you made seven years ago.
After I tell you what’s in my permanent rotation, I want to hear about yours!
Listen up ya’ll it’s Crank That Hit! · Music
Sometimes, it’s clear when a song is a disasterpiece. As in, “Angels on the Moon” by Thriving Ivory or “Angel” by Natasha Bedingfield. One listen, and the horror grabs you by ears.
But sometime a song is a tricksy spirit. As in, “Boom Boom Pow,” the new single from Black Eyed Peas. Is it so terrible that it’s a disasterpiece? Or is it actually a forward-thinking exploration of what pop music can become?
After the jump, I’ll debate myself on this pressing issue.
Listen up ya’ll it’s Music
I’ve been mum about it for several days because frankly, I’m still not sure how to talk about it. But I’ve got to try, dammit. I’ve got to try.
And really… what else but Rupaul’s Drag Race could confound me this way?
Reading that last sentence, I hear both a knowing joke and a sincere sentiment, and that captures what makes the show itself so fascinating, so entertaining, so improbably moving.
Fortunately, Roommate Joe binged on episodes the way Andrew and I did, and over at Low Resolution, he just posted a very smart analysis of the show’s many, many levels. To accompany his piece, I’m focusing on the specifics of my favorite episode, which encapsulates what I love about the series in general.
It’s time for me to criticize… for my life.
Note: If you haven’t seen the show, you can watch every episode here.
Listen up ya’ll it’s Television
It’s Friday, and that means it’s time for the Friday music quiz! You know, where a reader shuffles his/her iPod, then lists the first lines from the first 30 songs that come up. It’s up to us to provide the artist and title of each song. Kick ass!
Basic rules: Post your answers in the comments section, don’t use the internet to look up lyrics, and please don’t supply more than three answers per day.
For last week’s quiz, go here.
This week’s quiz comes from Mary M. Thanks, Mary!
Listen up ya’ll it’s Music
This week’s installment of “Oh Brawling Love!” comes from the brilliant and talented Kyle Barisch, who is a singer, performer, and co-host of AfterElton.com’s hilarious vlog Sounds Like a Hit! He’s also the co-star A Touch of Vegas, a crazy-awesome cabaret of the damned. (That’s him up there in the novelty bowtie.)
In keeping with the Oh Brawling Love! theme, Kyle will explain why he started out hating American Idol, then grew to love it.
Hit it, Kyle!
Listen up ya’ll it’s Music · Oh Brawling Love · Television
As someone who believes the spontaneous dance party is vital to human happiness, I must share this video right now.
Ely Kim, a current MFA student in the Yale Art School, did a different dance to a different song on 100 different days, then he edited it all together into one hypnotic sequence:
BOOMBOX from Ely Kim on Vimeo.
A few things:
(1) This guy is a great dancer! I’m impressed that he keeps finding new ways to use the same basic vocabulary of movements.
(2) I love that you can see the progression of the seasons, and that sometimes he repeats his shirts. (Because what art student has 100 different shirts?)
(3) I love it when the dog shows up. In the narrative I created for myself, that was shot when he went home for winter break.
(4) Yale Art School shares a building with the School of Drama, so I’ve been in a lot of the rooms in this video. Who knew it could get so funky in there?
Listen up ya’ll it’s Media
Whoa! Sorry about the technical difficulties the morning! The site was down for several hours, but now we’re back and cooking with gas.
And that’s good, because Lord knows there are some things to discuss about last night’s American Idol.
I’ll rock my reactions to each performer after the jump… and I want to know what you thought, too, since there were things going on last night that demanded a response.
Listen up ya’ll it’s Music · Television
It’s Wednesday morning, so before I even checked my e-mail, I surfed over to this website that lists the weekly sales chart for digital singles. The list is a good indicator of which songs will be riding high on Billboard’s Hot 100, which will be published online tomorrow.
In some form or another, this has been my weekly routine since 1991. I love music charts. I love statistics about music charts. I love knowing that Madonna has the most top ten singles of any pop artist in history, unless you use a slightly tweaked method that puts Elvis two songs in the lead. (It’s not worth getting into the details there. Trust me.)
Similarly, I really dig Oscar trivia. Most acting nominations? Meryl Streep, of course. Youngest acting winner? Tatum O’Neal, Paper Moon. I’ve got loads of this stuff in my head, where I suppose the information about changing my oil or baking my own bread might go.
But why? Why do I like this stuff? Why do so many people like it? I’m asking because this morning, my friend Nelson, who runs this theater company, sent me a link to this fascinating blog post from Bill Simmons at ESPN Magazine.
SImmons argues that we should rank actors just like we rank sports stars, with statistics and point values and all that stuff. That way, he says, we can “validate” our perception of an actor’s greatness with quantifiable proof, the way that knowing Ty Cobb’s career-high batting average can validate our understanding of his awesomeness.
Simmons upends his thesis in his conclusion, though, essentially arguing that actor stats would be just as silly as sports stats are. “The truth is,” he says, “you’re either great or you’re not,” and nobody needs a list of numbers to prove it.
A very good point, sir! I don’t need to know that “Respect” was a number one hit to know that it’s a great song, and the fact that “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” only peaked at #69 on the Hot 100 doesn’t mean it isn’t a classic. And even in the more objective world of sports, where you either hit a home run or you don’t, I don’t need to know Babe Ruth’s lifetime averages to understand that he was a great ball player.
In fact, all statistics and ranking systems are marked by some kind subjectivity. No matter the claim, there’s always an asterisk beside it. Case in point: No Dobut’s “Don’t Speak” never appeared on the Hot 100 at all, because it was technically ineligible to chart. So doesn’t that complicate the achievements of songs that were number one during “Don’t Speak’s” heyday?
Yet for all my deep-down knowledge that it doesn’t really prove anything, I am still addicted to this kind of information.
So I ask again: Why? Why do so many of us care about easily manipulated, often distorted statistics? Is it what Simmons said, that they “validate” what we believe to be true? But if that’s true, why do we need validation? Or is there something else going on here, something about the basic human need to create order?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. And even if you just thought, “Psssht. I don’t need some stupid chart to tell me I love a song or a tennis player. I’m a free-thinker!”, I’d encourage you to consider other places in your life that are affected by somewhat arbitrary rankings. Everybody’s got some kind of “chart” that affects them, and I’d love to hash out why.
Today in Manhattan, I was walking down Ninth Avenue in the fifties when I saw the Fresh Direct ad pictured above. I didn’t get it at first, so I actually said the following out loud:
Why did they write that? ‘Hail Seitan?’
[pause]
Ohhhhh! Like, ‘Hail Satan!’”
Dunce cap removed, I laughed. Then a few blocks later, I saw another ad from the same campaign. This one showed a bowl of soup and read “Stock Options.” I got that one right away. I was proud.
But even though it eluded me at first, the seitan (pronounced SAY-TAWN) gag is my favorite for three reasons. I’ll reveal them after the jump:
One of my favorite parts of being a reporter is getting to interview people I respect, and fortunately for me, that happens a lot. I’m usually level-headed about this, but every now and then, I get worked up about meeting someone. When I interviewed Elton John, for instance, I had to psych myself up, and I’m still giggly about the phone conversation I had with Paul Rudd a few years ago.
This afternoon, I’m meeting a pair of actors I really respect, but since we’re talking about a play they’re in—and I’m so familiar with the theater world—I’ve pretty much got it together. However, prepping for this story has gotten me thinking about my occasional pre-interview jiiters and what I do to overcome them.
Unsurprisingly, I turn to music, so ater the jump, I’ll share my personal soundtrack for slowing my roll. Once you’ve read mine, tell me yours!
Listen up ya’ll it’s Crank That Hit! · Music
