Sunday, June 20, 2010

I can't believe the weekend is already ending. Sad Face.

Not sure why this song popped into my head just now... but the lyrics always make me giggle. The video is amusing, but mainly because the girl in question looks nothing like a hipster.

"Hipster Girl" - MC Lars


I do approve wholeheartedly of his "True Player for Real" though, because: hand puppets! Yay! More people should use puppets in their videos.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

True Blood

Snoop Dogg loves Sookie (from True Blood, HBO), and he made a video to declare his feelings. Yes, it's as amusing as you would expect. And maybe more, because he's OG and loves a show about vampires.

Truly, this video is a gem. And so is Snoop.

"Oh Sookie" - Snoop Dogg:

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The weather is still gloomy here

And I may have to go in to work tomorrow even though it's my day off. June is just way too crazy. The sun better come out sometime soon =(

Until then, have some cheese:

Watch people's fan videos/edits for the delightful Richard Cheese. National treasure! Even if they don't seem to have made any actual videos. But I have to mention him first before I post the video below (which my sister (again) showed me quite some time ago). Because when I think cheesy lounge versions, I always think Richard Cheese first.

But across the pond they do the same, and I just had never experienced it, although apparently it was a big deal in like, 1996? I don't remember what I was doing in 1996, but it certainly wasn't spending time on the internet finding these things out.

Regardless of how old this video is, it's still amusing. To bring a smile to your face (albeit perhaps a creeped out one) on a grey, drizzly, no-fun Thursday in June, I give you The Mike Flowers Pops, covering the classic Oasis hit "Wonderwall":

Saturday, June 12, 2010

The sun came out today!

...And that's a big deal around here. It was even over 70F, lovely. About damn time. In honor of that, sunny catchy dancy videos/songs!

There's a lot of praise out there right now for Janelle Monáe, and well deservedly. A nod goes to my sister for pointing her out to me a while back. Such a great video - delightful song, fun dancing, the vintage vibe, everything just works.
"Tightrope" - Janelle Monáe


And what she calls "classy brass"? Love it. Horns can be extremely effective in making a song somber or joyous.


"Maybe" - Emma Bunton: Baby Spice on her own, and I have to admit - I love this song. Always have. It's cheery and the '60s theme really makes the video. This skirts "ridiculous" and it could have been a disaster, but I think they knew that and just went for it.



"Our Love is Heavenly" - Heavenly: the video is low-fi, but one can't deny the pervading poppy cheeriness. The whole twee indie '90s thing, where did that go? Definitely a lot less romantic/earnestness in the indie-pop world now. IDK. Now I am rambling...



If you can't bear straight cheer, (and really, who can for very long, it starts to grate) - then "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" - of Montreal is the song for you. An entertaining video, with some sparkle. "Come on, chemicals!" has never sounded so desperate and yet still strangely upbeat...



A fairly straightforward video - but the yellow filter (digression time: I love an occasional use of the yellow filter, it puts me in mind of summer afternoons/memories where everything is that hazy gold), the group dancing, the lighthearted brass, the goofy grin on the singer's face, the rollickin' piano solo, all of these combine to very happy effect. "Sly" - The Cat Empire:




And last, but not the least (by far) - The Polyphonic Spree cover of "Lithium" - which takes a (lovely gloomy) Nirvana song and turns it into an effervescent, buoyant, rapturous thing. Just. Awesome. (It's not a full on video, per se, but they are always wearing robes/uniforms/costumes of some sort and are big on spectacle/energy so it's close enough.) Overshare of the week: if I were a) magically getting married and b) magically well-connected/able - this is the band I would have play at my wedding reception. They are not even a band I listen to all that much, but they are so infectiously joyous that I think it would be amazing. Feel free to overshare in the comments with your own picks.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Earworm: Nightingale

I like it when the song repeating in my head is actually a good song. Sadly, as I have no control over the matter, it doesn't happen as often as one might hope. And it's a gorgeous, dark, broody song, which I guess is fitting since I had a textbook case of the Mondays today.

"Nightingale" - Rocco DeLuca & The Burden: I love this song. It is perfect.

The man can wail. Plus, he plays a dobro (and as we have learned from my beloved Magnetic Fields, a dobro sounds "like a mountain range in love"). He also has a lovely distinctive voice which I enjoy...Note: it has been called "shrill" LOL. (My love for whiney voiced men may well be the theme of a future post.)

I couldn't find a video for it, but this is a performance:

Or if you want - a slightly more intimate, stripped-down version from an interview.

Fact: this song is so great, that it even made me forgive him for the terrible video that got made for "Colorful" - not the one of him walking at the beach, but the hot naked model one that got played a lot on VH1 back in the day. Which just irritated me to no end, like, way to have a song about a 'colorful' person illustrated by the most generic, personality-lacking thing possible: a naked model upon whom one projects actual pictures of oneself. Not that I in any way believe that videos should be just literal interpretations. I just think it's a cheap way to make a video get played. This could actually be part of a whole separate post about how sometimes a not-so-great video really drags down a really good song, taints it, as it were. Now when I hear this song, I almost always still think of the video, and am mildly annoyed - and it's been YEARS since this came out.


You may also know him because they're on Kiefer Sutherland's record label and he promotes their stuff. In fact the video I found for "Save Yourself" has "24" clips in it, I guess it was used in their 24: Redemption movie.



And, bonus earworm - when I was looking at the above video, along the side with the other suggested videos, right under videos from Audioslave and The Fray and above Bloodhound Gang (seriously YouTube?) was the lovely and infectious "Silver Lining" - Rilo Kiley (one of my all-time favorite bands). This video is incredibly adorable, very cutesy and sweetly sad. Enjoy:

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Eurovision 2010

I adore Eurovision, as it tends to be so amazingly over-the-top (dancing, costumes). And the performers tend to be, how shall I say it, "more interesting" in looks than the average American pop star. I would like to go some day. However, we kind of have that Eurovision-costume-vibe every day here thanks to Lady Gaga, so I guess I can live with just seeing a few of the videos online.

The winner was Germany: "Satellite" - Lena. This song is kinda catchy, but I'm not a huge fan, really. It seems a little lackluster for first place.



This year it was held in Oslo, Norway; they were represented by "My Heart is Yours" - Didrik Solli-Tangen. Who has an excellent name. And in this clip, is performing the song on a pre-contest boat excursion. In a pretty rad Norwegian flag suit. Which he totally works. The song is nice, his voice is nice, in a very Josh Groban-y way. I just googled him and I am older than he is. So that makes me sad. Some cute pics though.


And Spain had a stage-crasher. But more importantly, they had the power of Daniel Diges' hair. "Algo Pequeñito" is the song, very cute and catchy. So basically his performance below had: his hair, those dimples, scary puppet/mannequin/whatever dancers, and a stagecrasher - yet only got 15th place! Pobrecito.


I am including the regular video for this as well, because it is even more entertaining.





And now a few more selections, from countries from whom I get some genes. Fun fact: if you crossed the singers of these countries all together, you would have a good idea of what I look like. JK! (Or am I?)

Romania: "Playing with Fire" - Paula Seling & Ovi. They got third place. And, they have fire. And a clear/conjoined piano. And pleathery outfits.



Israel: "Milim" ("Words") - Harel Skaat. This is the official video, cause I think it's more entertaining) not his performance at the contest (which was just singing, nothing crazy). The lyrics go something like "you've left me nothing but words." They ended up with just 14th, but they swept the Marcel Bezençon Awards (press vote, composer vote, artistry/commentator vote). So that's cool. I think he is cutesy in a teeny little-boy-faced way, but also maybe with a smidge of almost Pete Wentz resemblance.


Sweden: "This is my life" - Anna Bergendahl. This is pretty standard, nice enough song, but no fire or shenanigans. I like her headband.


And (since Scotland is part of it) the UK (25th place) - "That Sounds Good to Me" - Josh Dubovie. This song (and the dancing, the whole deal) is particularly tacky... it's just... wretched.



There you have it. The many wonders of Eurovision.

Still have time to kill?
Slovenia - has someone named Kalamari. And it's kinda rock-ish. Plus traditional(?) costumes? And accordion.

France, with much butt-shakin' ahoy

Cyprus - Jon Lilygreen & The Islanders "Life will be better in Spring" - which sounds downright US radio friendly and I would never have guessed Cyprus.

And now I am going to bed.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Friday Off

I work a "Crazy 9s" schedule at work so that I can get every other Friday off. I do complain about the length of a 9hr work day, but it's worth it. Today is one. On these days, I like to sleep in a little, if I can, and I try to be slightly productive (e.g. laundry, gym, groceries, etc)... but my favorite part is watching music videos for a while in the morning, while drinking my coffee.

Say what you will about Fuse, but they at least still play music videos quite a bit of the time. And they still have a countdown. So while I think they might be trying too hard to be cool, and thus occasionally come off as poseurs (depending on the selections and the hosts), I genuinely appreciate their existence.

The other channel I rely on for a music video fix is VH1 Classic (even though I feel kind of sad that "classic" apparently now includes the '90s). Last weekend, I believe, they had 80s A-Z and I pretty much left it on all day. It was a delight.

I also occasionally hit normal VH1, but most of the time it is a hideous wasteland of "reality" suck. They also still have a countdown, so I guess that's ok, but let's be real, chances are at any given moment they are NOT playing music.

To which I say: Thank God for the Internet. Used to be, one had to wait around all day/night and hope they would play that one video you loved... now? Just google that sucker, and you can watch it immediately, over and over and over.

Let me recap my thoughts from this morning, watching Fuse:

1) I swear, this is THE MOST OVERPLAYED video right now, especially since it is neither sexy nor entertaining. This kid is dorky (not in the good way), the dancing is tacky (don't believe me? Go to about 1:51 in the video), and I don't believe he's old enough to know anything. And it's on like every morning, I hear it in the grocery store, at the gym, etc. GAH. But props to him for not disabling embedding on YouTube, LOL. Also, my roommate (girl) covets the red sweater he wears towards the end. To be fair, he has a good voice, and I don't hate most of it. I do happen to like the 'you're singing to me, baby, in my head right now' line... but that fugly line-beard... and the "let's get down to business and skip foreplay" line? Just... whatever, dude.
"In My Head" - Jason Derulo:


And seriously, guys dancing in front of a gas station? That ONLY makes me think of that scene in Hot Rod, which I guess is maybe a point in this song's favor, as how can you help but smile thinking of this -


2) The video that was played this morning almost immediately after In My Head, was "Opposite of Adults" - Chiddy Bang. Which even without seeing the video, you can guess it is going to be better, because: their name is CHIDDY. BANG. So right off the bat you get an inkling of what could be in store. Now the video is not like, spectacular, but it is dorky in an endearing way, and it has a sense of humor. And it kind of makes me want to hang out with them.


And this song samples "Kids" - MGMT, which video I include because it is just random and features lots of monsters. Mildly creepy in tone, but quite good overall. Kinda genius.


That's it for today, I have to go figure out how to clean bright coral nail polish off my light yellow bathroom wall. (Bottle shattered when I tried to pick it up.) Lucky me! We are terribly disaster-prone tenants.