I like the idea of a spitfire-cockney lass Brit singer/songwriter, but I sure as hell don't feel like dealing with any of the illicit drug tapes/imprisoned husbands/clothing lines/erratic mudslinging/tabloid fodder/and career-in-crisis peroxide hair bleaching. Enter: Adele.
A few posts ago, I talked about Kate Nash and I think, in some ways, Adele trumps Nash. She still manages to sing with an accent - something that the anglophile in me LOVES about the new musical genre of these London tarts - and still gets in a curse word here or there - again, what's not to like?! - but she manages to do it with class and feeling. While many of these artists have a way of singing whimsically, I can actually take her songs seriously. And, apparently, Kanye loves her too...?
As much as I want to talk about her album as a whole, I honestly can't stop listening to "Hometown Glory" long enough to get in enough plays of the other songs (though I will say that there are several good remixes of "Chasing Pavements" out there). From the appropriately long piano intro, which only gets you revved for her voice... to the way she stretches out the word "hometown" in the chorus... to her 'fuck you' attitude during the bridge... the song has fairly earned its place on my "The Shit" playlist (no small feat).
Since it's not really prudent to go into the excess typing/gushing my 'love of Justin' proclamation requires (let's just say I'm too old to behave in the manner I do), I'll just dive right into the personal victory I felt when I first discovered that he was working with THE Madonna. I basically used that piece of knowledge as a big fat "boo-yah!" to everyone I knew who had spent the past *mutters embarrassingly large number* of years trying to dissuade me of his legitimacy. Also, after watching the video below - I can't help the warm, fuzzy feelings I get from seeing Madonna act like an annoyed babysitter to Justin's obnoxious three-year-old. It's endearing, I swear...
Now, I know there are several people who are not yet convinced that Madonna's latest album is worth the time/effort/hoopla befitting of anything she releases (there's probably a terrible joke embedded in there somewhere...). For a song featuring Justin, it even took ME a few listens to fully get behind "4 Minutes..." but I think that's largely attributable to the Timbaland/Beat Club charm (I vaguely remember feeling that way with "SexyBack"). I will admit that songs like "Candy Shop" had me on the fence about the new Madonna album, but after hearing some of the newly leaked tracks, I have to say... the melodies actually seems pretty reminiscent of her Immaculate Collection era stuff, especially songs like "She's Not Me" and "Give It 2 Me" - just with a Timbaland/Pharrell twist. "Miles Away" is a pretty fair indication of the direction of the album.
There's nothing like a (small) sea of overly-caffeinated ivy leaguers, strung out from too many hours of Facebooking at the library, doing awkward head bops to some good 'ol fashioned mellow indie rock. Last night was Columbia's spring concert, featuring Grizzly Bear and The National, and if I wasn't such a fan of the two bands, I would have been pretty damn amused by the fact that they were playing to a crowd of people who had no idea who they were.
To their credit, both bands played their material pretty well (though, I think there were times when Grizzly Bear got a little bored by their own songs) but The National definitely took the cake as the better band on stage. To be honest, once they got to "Squalor Victoria" on the set, I pretty much forgot to look at anyone besides Aaron and his guitar riffs.
What might have been even cooler was hanging out after the show and seeing just how completely normal they are. While on stage, the Dessner brothers addressed their sister, whose birthday it was, but to see them hanging out with her afterwards with their parents in tow was not only adorable, but oddly refreshing. It felt like the mingling hour after a school play, rather than the after-party of a legitimately established (touring with R.E.M. is an automatic catupult from obscurity) indie band. And if their incredibly endearing mixer with their parents hadn't won me over, the seductive combo. of crates of whiskey and pan-Asian takeout in their dressing room certainly did the trick.
So, spring is upon us, and as a lass on her way to getting her BS (pretty much in BS) in May, the spring holds one main value: get as much last-minute social interaction with this campus as humanly possible. That's why I became pleased as punch when I found out that, this year, our spring concert will be Grizzly Bear and the National (between this and the VW post, it shouldn't be hard to piece together my soon-to-be alma mater). Now, it's no Spring Weekend at Brown - but, as someone who is still listening to Boxer, you'll hear no complaints from me.
I like Grizzly Bear well enough, but it's really Daniel Rossen that gets me to listen to the group. The minute I heard his cover of Jojo's (yes, that Jojo) "Too Little Too Late," I was hooked. If I didn't have it plainly written before me that the song is, in fact, a Jojo cover, I'd never believe it. Too often a pop cover can turn into yet another acoustic "Umbrella" or "Toxic," but when it's done right - when it's done like this - you can actually separate the song from its genre and listen to the artist putting his new spin on it.
**note I refrained from the obvious "It's not 'Too Little Too Late'" pun...
I get... - about 39849048 covers of "Digital Love" (it goes without being mentioned that the original comes up, too) - the Girl Talk DP/Rick Ross mash-up ("Digital Hustlin") - "Digital Get Down" by *NSYNC ...I implore anyone to tell me that isn't a MUST for a proper music library - "Pogo" by Digitalism The last on the list is by far my recent favorite (of course I'm just waiting for the day that *NSYNC reclaims its lead). I remember during one late night tv session, I flipped to the nyctv channel. They were showing the video for "Pogo," and I remember (a) being dizzy... and, (b) thinking it was too good of a song to pass up. About 4 seconds after the song came on, the channel cut to an interview with Yeasayer, where they bashed the hell out of the spinning room video. If you can get a bunch of Williamsburg hipsters to talk shit about your video on the closest thing that New York City has to public access tv for a young demographic, then you've got to be worth a spin in my book.
Y'know, when I heard the first track that was by [Insert name of well-established rapper here] featuring Chris Martin, I got kind of annoyed. After all of the hullabaloo Martin made about NEVER veering from his band mates in order to do a collabo. with another artist, it seem kind of tired that someone who seemed to be such a genuine artist had proven himself to be a hypocrite. At least three such collaborations later, I'm finding that I don't care. Not if I get songs like Kanye West's "Homecoming."
Now, obviously the song is already pretty well-established, but I suppose it has an additional personal meaning to me: it's all about Chicago, where - in three months time - I'll be starting my new college-grad life. That being said, the recently released video for "Homecoming" is not only one of my more favorite videos from Kanye's arsenal (it helps that there are no over-the-top churches/Evil Knievel/bodies in car trunks/R&B superstars), but it's also a nice little tour for me to get acquainted to the city that I will soon be calling home. Apparently, I need to get a flatbed 18-wheeler.
A few posts ago, I talked about Kate Nash and I think, in some ways, Adele trumps Nash. She still manages to sing with an accent - something that the anglophile in me LOVES about the new musical genre of these London tarts - and still gets in a curse word here or there - again, what's not to like?! - but she manages to do it with class and feeling. While many of these artists have a way of singing whimsically, I can actually take her songs seriously. And, apparently, Kanye loves her too...?
