I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn’t too early for VMA Nominations to be announced. Lo and behold, we’re almost done with July, and now is the usual time that the nominees for the show-an MTV institution since 1984-to be announced. To (what should be) no one’s surprise, the leading nominees are Katy Perry, Adele and Kanye West. Whatever you think of the music made by any of these artists, you have to admit that Perry […]
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Chart Stalker 7/20/11: Blake’s “Red River” Floats to the Top
Last week’s chart was so boring we went back into the wayback machine and rolled into 1991. Now it’s back to the present, and a chart that finds six new albums in the Top Ten, led by a country star and reality show judge. The most tangible (and immediate) success story from “The Voice” has to be Blake Shelton’s. The country singer scores his first ever chart-topper with Red River Blue. Blake is the first of the show’s judges (or […]
The Strangeness of Cee-Lo Green’s Talking to Strangers
What do Chevy Chase, Pat Sajak, Alan Thicke and Cee-Lo Green have in common? Read on to find out. Fantastic singer. Amazing emcee. Man who has every conceivable area of his body tattooed. Certified eccentric. Man who vaguely resembles a dinosaur. One thing Cee-Lo Green is definitely NOT? A talk show host. Over the weekend, I had the vaguely horrifying experience of watching Cee-Lo’s Fuse-TV chat show “Talking with Strangers”, and I found myself reliving one of the saddest experiences […]
Spin Cycle: Incubus’ “If Not Now, When?” // Sublime With Rome’s “Yours Truly”
Here’s a pop music truism we’ve all, at some point, fallen prey to: When the band we love ceases to sound like what we’ve perceived as “themselves”, music fans tend to bail, to dismiss out of hand an artist’s efforts. It’s a basic, human reaction: among other things, we’re threatened by change, and emotionally react to shifts in the fundamentals of what we hold dear. Don’t worry, music fan: it’s a perfectly natural reaction. The tenacity of the hardcore fan […]
Pass the Popcorn: Dark Days – Tenth Anniversary Edition
Perhaps like me, you’ve never heard of Marc Singer’s documentary Dark Days (featuring music by DJ Shadow). Maybe that shouldn’t be so surprising. Spearheaded by an English immigrant with no prior filmmaking experience, shot on a less-than-shoestring budget and barely making a ripple in the American film mainstream, it was easy to miss. But it’s an intimate, emotionally powerful film that deserves wider recognition. Fortunately, the film’s significance is receiving the deluxe treatment to mark its tenth anniversary. When he […]
Spin Cycle: Blondie’s “Panic of Girls”
As a culture, we tend to dismiss the aging rocker, and often unfairly: it seems like we dismiss bands that have been around for twenty, even thirty years or more as passe. Somewhere along the line, a few musicians in the twilight of their career started seriously phoning it in, and as a result, once a band reaches its sell-by date, we tune out. Sometimes we’re right – you could argue that the Stones’ last acceptable album dropped in ’97, […]
Blerd Radio Episode 8: MTV in Middle Age
Blerd Radio / movies / music / New Releases / news / Podcasts / pop culture / Pop Music / R.I.P. / TV
Welcome to yet another episode of Blerd Radio! In this episode, your hosts Mike & Jesse pay tribute to a cultural phenomenon by acknowledging the thirtieth (!) anniversary of MTV. Whether you love it or hate it, you can’t deny that the advent of Music Television changed the industry as well as pop culture. Over the course of this episode, we discuss our favorite classic videos, shout out some iconic VJs, and bemoan the constant “16 & Pregnant” marathon the […]
This Is No Ordinary Love: Sade & John Legend Live in Boston
When you consider the fact that Sade tours about as often as Halley’s Comet appears, the fact that I waited until the 11th hour to pick up a ticket to their latest tour seems kind of…well, foolish. After all, the venerable British band has retained their popularity for over a quarter-century now. That has to be due to something, right? Add in support from John Legend, one of the most consistent artists of the past decade in any genre, and […]
New Release Report 7/5/11: Banging the Doldrums
music / New Release Report / New Releases / news / Pop Music / rock music / soul music / Uncategorized
Well, if you’re looking for a record-release bonanza to follow your gluttonous intake of grilled goods yesterday…you might want to look elsewhere. The release schedule for July 5th is incredibly light. I suppose everyone’s taking a break at the midway point of the year. Ain’t nothing wrong with that, right? If anyone has anything to say about the fact that I quoted Fall Out Boy in the title of today’s column, the comments area is below. At any rate, this […]