It’s scary to believe that just a little more than half a decade ago, OutKast was the hottest group on the planet. Meanwhile, Big Boi’s excellent solo debut, Sir Lucious Leftfoot-The Son of Chico Dusty, came out (after numerous delays) last summer, to pretty much universal indifference. One of the best albums in hip-hop’s most artistically fruitful year in ages, it deserves a second chance for sure. If you want a taste, you might want to check out the video […]
Posts tagged "The Viewfinder"
The Viewfinder: “Someone to Love Me (Naked)” by Mary J. Blige
What the hell is Mary J. Blige doing? Sure, her record sales are in decline-so’s everyone’s! Just when you thought the Queen of Hip-Hop soul had learned her lesson after her first Diddy-related fiasco, 2003’s Love & Life, she’s re-teamed with Mr. Combs for “Someone to Love Me (Naked)”, a slight revision of a track that originally appeared on Diddy’s Last Train to Paris CD and is the first single from Mary’s upcoming My Life II set. You know there’s […]
The Viewfinder: Kelly Rowland’s “Motivation”
Poor Kelly Rowland. It can’t be fun being the second banana. Everything she does from here on to eternity will be prefaced or succeeded by a mention of Beyonce. Period. Never gonna change, unless something absolutely miraculous happens. It’s not fair-after all Kelly is a gifted vocalist in her own right and I’d argue that she’s more of a babe than Bee is (at least if you don’t subscribe to the typical American ideal of beauty), but as far as […]
The Viewfinder: TV on the Radio’s “Will Do”
It’s taken me a bit of time to really appreciate TV on the Radio musically. Aesthetically, as a largely black band playing music that’s not traditionally “black”, they’ve intrigued me from jump. Ultimately, though, I thought Return to Cookie Mountain (which the music press completely jizzed over) was OK. I actually didn’t buy the follow up, Dear Science, when it came out, although a friend hooked me up with a copy and it was (to my ears) a pretty vast […]
George Michael’s “True Faith”: A List of Pros & Cons
Hmm. This is the only way I see fit to discuss the way I feel about George Michael’s cover of New Order’s “True Faith” and it’s video. Pros: It’s George Michael (who’s usually awesome), the new arrangement is certainly adventurous, George is looking quite healthy these days, so hopefully he’s off of everything (with the possible exception of the chronic), the song is a charity release. It might also herald the release of a new album and quite possibly a […]
The Viewfinder: Foo Fighters “Rope”
There are some bands that make variations of the same album year after year, but they’ve perfected that signature sound so much that it’s practically a science. Foo Fighters are one of those bands. Although they’ll never be listed on that same iconic list as leader Dave Grohl’s former band, they’ve put together a notable streak of hit singles and albums (and have lasted three times as long). The Foos have been pretty busy setting up the release of their […]
The Viewfinder: “Hollywood Tonight” by Michael Jackson
So, Michael, the first posthumous release of unreleased material by The King of Pop, hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations. While certified Platinum in the U.S. for shipments of in excess of a million copies, the reality is that it’s sold about half of that. It’s hard to breathe life into a project when the artist isn’t here to promote it, but bless their hearts, Michael’s record company and management are trying. “Hollywood Tonight” is the second video release from […]
The Viewfinder: “Catcher in the Rye” by Datarock
So, Datarock’s been around for ten years? Blow me down. I’ve heard the name pass through hipster circles a few times, but never heard or saw anything worthy of my time. Perhaps I’ve been missing something? Because this “Catcher in the Rye” single is kinda dope. I mean, not only is the song titled after my favorite book ever (predictable, I know), but it’s completely dance-tastic- an excellent example of GOOD dance music (music that makes you want to move […]
The Viewfinder: GaGa Goes Gaga in “Born This Way” Video
I’ve said it here a few times before-I’d like Lady GaGa a lot more if not for her “image”. The woman is talented-powerful voice, she writes a mean song, and is quite musically talented. Of course, despite the fact that she possesses those talents, there’s no guarantee that she’d have gotten anywhere. Hell, I can make a list of 100 female singers who sing well, write good songs and are musically proficient, yet sell 10% of what Britney Spears (who […]
The Viewfinder: Dr. Dre’s “I Need a Doctor”
Two videos in, and although an official release date hasn’t been set, it looks like Dr. Dre’s Detox is coming for real this time, huh? The latest clip is for “I Need a Doctor”, which features Eminem and Skylar Grey. Actually, Eminem’s presence on this song is so strong I feel like it should be billed as “Eminem featuring Dr. Dre”, but nevertheless…the video is all about Dre. Cleverly referencing Dre’s past and accomplishments throughout the seven-minute clip, “I Need […]
The Viewfinder: Bleu’s “How Blue”
My discovery of Bleu’s music was a case of being in the right place with the right person at the right time. My friend Brian was visiting from Boston (at the time, I was living in New York…now, he’s no longer in Boston, but I am…confused yet?) and we decided to, as music nerds do, go record shopping. As we were hanging out in Sounds on St. Mark’s Place, Brian handed me a copy of Bleu’s debut album Redhead, which had […]