“Indie Rock” is kind of a stupid term. “Indie” technically is shorthand for “independent” (as in not distributed by a major label), but most people see the word “indie” and think “hipster”. This leads to a bit of confusion. I mean, The Mars Volta record for a major label, and technically, Taylor Hicks and Elliott Yamin are “indie”. It should also probably be noted that most indie companies are actually owned by major labels. So we should probably think of […]
Posts tagged "Taylor Swift"
Taylor Makes a Swift Return to Country/Pop Goodness with “Mine”
Taylor Swift is officially middle-America’s squinty-eyed sweetheart. She keeps her clothes on, has a bit of “musical credibility” (i.e. she plays guitar and writes her own lyrics) and has a blandly appealing vibe that’s obviously worked wonders at the sales counter. Hell, I dig her and at first glance you wouldn’t figure me for a fan. Her first two albums have sold 10 million copies combined and she took home a Grammy Award for Album of the Year back in […]
All of My Heart Thinks "Half of My Heart" is a Pretty Cool Video
Over the years, John Mayer’s gone from a guy who I think is a really good songwriter and I would totally hang out with to a guy who I still think is a really good songwriter but otherwise seems like a total douchebag. Now that the dust has settled on the diarrhea of the month that got him in trouble a couple months back, he’s returned with a new single and video from his fourth studio album, “Battle Studies” (which […]
The "Power"-ful Return of Kanye West
Y’all know I love Kanye, right? Sure, he’s brash. Of course he’s obnoxious. But he’s also a fucking genius and is much more daring and artistic than the average hip-hop artist. People made a lot of noise about the whole Taylor Swift MTV situation last year, but people who really love Kanye are 1) completely used to his antics by now and 2) don’t really give a damn about Taylor Swift anyway. I don’t anticipate that the audience for his […]
Monday Morning Musings: KG, The ACMs & The Gentlemen's Bet
Welcome to the working week, dear readers. Having officially recovered from Record Store Day (well, I personally have recovered. My debit card hasn’t), I am awake and ready to face another Monday. The NBA playoffs are already underway. While I, like most sane basketball fans, fully expects a Lakers/Cavs final, there’s always interesting stuff happening before the big dance. The big news so far is that Celtics forward/extraterrestrial Kevin Garnett has been suspended for Game 2 in their series against […]
Chartstalker 4/15/10: Filing Taxes Would Be More Exciting
After all the Justin Bieber and Usher-related excitement of the past two weeks, things on the Billboard album charts have slowed back down to a crawl. Thanks in part to his performance on “SNL” this past weekend, Mr. Bieber jumps back into the #1 slot with “My World 2.0”. It scans 102,000 copies this week, giving Justin a three-week total of 675,000. Not too shabby. Meanwhile, his mentor slides into the runner-up spot with “Raymond vs. Raymond”, which drops a […]
Chartstalker!: 2/11/2010
This week’s Billboard album charts reflect what people went out and bought (or went into their living rooms and downloaded) during the 7 days that followed the Grammy Awards, and the results are hardly surprising. Just about every artist that performed on the show experienced a jump: Taylor Swift and Zac Brown Band return to the Top Ten, while Beyonce, Pink and Carrie Underwood jump back into the Top 20. There were even gains experienced by artists who appeared on […]