This guy has an awesome voice. He’s Irish and doing R&B/hip-hop/whatever this is. Check it out.
Archive for the 'Music' Category
30
Jun
11
Maverick Sabre – Let Me Go
01
Jun
11
world hold on…
To piggy-back off of Sarcascio, I present another great video/song that incorporates saving the world…and yes…dogs…
Dogs. Dogs are going to save the world. Awesome song, awesome video.
31
Mar
11
my kingdom for a “raza skoota”
I found this gem of a video while conducting my daily “trolling” of the Internet. Aside from being totally absurd, this video kindly reminded me of when I tried to create a mock euro-trash DJ alter-persona known as DJ Sprinkles several years back. Armed with my fabulously gay hype-man/keyboardist (Eric, I’m looking at you), DJ Sprinkles was able to produce one mind-blowing song/music video: “Das ist Meat”. Despite rave reviews by my hype-man, the career of Germakistani (Half Pakistani, Half German, duh) DJ Sprinkles was short lived. Perhaps one day when I will upload the awesomeness that is “Das ist Meat.”
Despite my nostalgia for DJ Sprinkles, it is evident the boys over at the Handsome Sportz Klub take the whole faux euro-trash responsibilities very seriously. Never has a chorus been so touching as when it states:
“I ride my raza skoota through ze night, to get to your heart, to get to heart.”
I enjoy this video on several levels, but foremost for embracing the whole tongue-in-cheek humor of it all. Key points to be made:
- Why does Dusseldorf look like Gotham City as the digital intro to the video implies?
- The fashion style of the Handsome Sportz Klub falls somewhere between Falco and the Beastie Boys.
- Are these Americans poking fun at 80’s German pop muzak (their German sounds pretty decent, but a final ruling is required by Sarcascio’s fiancé, who in fact is German) or Germans making fun of 80’s German pop muzak (even better)?
- The post-apocalyptic opening scene is only made all the more complete by the presence of “raza skootas”.
- The dancing ladies in black seem to allude to Robert Palmer’s notoriously bad 80’s music video “Addicted to Love”.
With those points made, enjoy:
It’s been a while since I’ve updated this little blog and I blame it on my sly mistress whom I call “chronic laziness”. To be honest, I’m kind of embarrassed to say that I haven’t really been following pop/crap culture in recent weeks. However, today I stumbled upon a pretty decent find while trolling the Internet. It seems British artist Adele is kind of the “it” girl right now, and has been the “it” girl in progressive circles for some time. Sorry, I guess I’m late to the party and a buck short (typical).
Anyway, the main point I bring up Adele is her single “Rolling in the Deep.” I’ll admit, at the beginning of the song I was thinking to myself, “Hmm…Kinda dark smoky voice, bluesy, I likey.” Then the first chorus rolled up around the 1:00 mark and I couldn’t help but think that this song reminded me A LOT of another song. This of course led me on a 25 minute Internet safari until I finally found the song I was looking for, the ever famous “Gimme Shelter” by the Rolling Stones.
Released in 1969, “Gimme Shelter” definitely has this ominous feel. According to a Rolling Stone interview with Mick Jagger in 1995, Jagger described the ever present violence of the era, highlighted by the war in Vietnam, and that it was kind of an “end-of-the-world” song. I know, I know, it’s very easy to sit back with decades of time on your side and proclaim that the 60’s and 70’s were filled with rock classics, each conveying important political and social commentary simply not found in today’s music. Trust me, I’m sure there was a lot of shit music back then to, but nobody remembers shit music 30-40 years later.
However, a question remains, “Why hasn’t there been any quality, symbolic period music for the 2000-2010 decade?” I mean, this past decade (especially as an American) was wrought with major political and social events. Think: 9/11, the Iraq War, the Afghanistan War, the entire “War on Terror” mentality, the election of the first African-American president, etc. I mean, you would think such major events would inspire some really great music; songs that would stand the test of time much like the classics from the 1960’s and 1970’s. I’m talking about that instant kind of mental connotation that Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along the Watchtower” conveys. I mean, for fuck’s sake, the first time I heard that song I instantly imagined rows of Huey helicopters flying through dense forests (and this is coming from someone whose parents were barely teenagers during the Vietnam War. Furthermore, the only time I’ve actually seen a Huey is at air shows).
Interestingly, it seems that Nirvana, especially their single “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, is being incorporated into the historical lexicon as the representative “period” music of the early 1990’s (I’m sure some people will disagree with this). But it remains to be seen what, if any, true period songs will arise from the recently passed 2000-2010 decade.
If any of you guys know of any, please let me know. Below, for your pleasure, are Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”, the Rolling Stones “Gimmie Shelter” and finally, a mash-up of both. I think the mash-up clears up any doubts you may be having over whether the two songs sound eerily similar.
11
Aug
10
unemployment = kesha = wtf?
You know that part in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the infamous scene where the earwigs are introduced. Yeah, well, I’m coming to the conclusion that unemployment is a little like that. Now you may be saying, “Oh, come on. It’s only been two months. Don’t be a Debby downer.” Well that’s easy for you to say, because tonight I had one of the most disturbing epiphanies I’ve had in a long time…
I was watching Kesha’s new music video for “Take It Off”, and all of a sudden I found myself thinking, “Damn, Kesha looks good! Sure, she looks a bit unwashed, but damn she’s hot! Wait did I just think that? FUCK! WHERE AM I? WHAT DAY IS IT?”
Now the topic of Kesha, her potential hotness, and her desperate need of a shower have all been discussed in-depth by me and my good friend Sarcascio (the other half of TheBookofPop) on numerous occasions. While it is true that Sarcascio himself is a self-described “pervert”, I must say he is a true lover of the ladies (I guess all perverts are 
) and he is one of the few people I know who proudly proclaimed his belief that Kesha is, in fact, hot, at the very beginning. But then again, Sarcascio has always been a man ahead of his time, a Renaissance man if you will, just like Adam Levine of Maroon 5.
With that foundation set, the following are several of my musings/thoughts/reflections on the one and only, Kesha:
1. Why am I attracted to someone who I have with 100% conviction deemed requires a shower? Those who know me well know what a clean and neat freak I am, and therefore this attraction to Kesha seems truly to conflict with my nature. Hmmm…Perhaps it has something to do with the concept of showering with Kesha? Seriously girl, HIT ME UP! I HAVE SOME DOVE BODYWASH AND A LOOFAH WITH YOUR NAME ON THEM!
2. Has music really come to this? REALLY? The best you could think of for your new single “Take It Off” was to set it to the tune of a childhood dirty rhyme from elementary school? C’mon! “There’s a place in France, where the naked ladies dance. There’s a hole in the wall, where the men can see it all.” ABSOLUTE BAFOONERY!
3. For someone with slightly edgier lyrics than the countless Disney-bots being pumped into the pop market, none of Kesha’s videos really capture her raw, unbridled, Whiskey-drinking, Trans-Am driving skank aura.
4. Is it just me, or does that dude from Kesha’s “Your Love Is My Drug” music video look like Jesus?
5. Lastly, has anyone else noticed that Kesha doesn’t really sing? She either speaks her lyrics, or when she does “sing”, it sounds as though the voice of 14-year-old boy going through puberty and a mule braying where somehow both put through Autotune at the same time. Perplexing, really…
***Click here to view Kesha’s “Take It Off Video” in all its glory.***
Like millions of Americans this past weekend, I went and saw the totally bad-ass film Inception. However, this post isn’t about Inception (trust me, it deserves one, but I probably wouldn’t do the movie any justice). This post is about one of the trailers they played before Inception, you know the one, the one that made the entire theatre go silent because everyone could automatically relate to it: The Social Network.
Being released in October, The Social Network plans to tell the story of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, his ego, how Facebook grew from a Harvard dorm room in 2003 into the largest social network site in the world, and so on and so forth. Now, I must admit, the movie does look interesting, but what really set the tone were those creative bastards who chose the Scala and Kolacny cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” to be played in the trailer. And it got me to thinking, “What the fuck has social networking done to us?”
Now, I’ll admit, I’m no sociologist, or extremely old sage who has the wisdom of centuries (more like unemployed kid with a master’s degree), but I do remember what the world was like before Facebook, text messaging, and the constant, want, no NEED, to feel connected to everyone and everything, no matter how weak that connection is.
The thing is, Facebook is not something revolutionary because of what it does. No, in fact Facebook would not be what it is today if it weren’t for human nature. Yes, the technology is new, but that desire to know everybody’s business as well as showing off is as old as time. The danger however lies in the younger generations who do not understand that things like Facebook help to build on the foundation of real relationships, instead of replacing real relationships. Technology has made it possible to make our interactions, relationships, and communication all quick commodities that can be discarded if they do not please or serve us….
And here is the irony of it all, social networking only works because we actively choose to participate in it. Nobody forces you to put up a million pictures of that party you went to last weekend. Nobody forces you to change your relationship status so the rest of the world can know. In fact, you probably wouldn’t be reading this post if it wasn’t for Facebook. It would seem then that Mark Zuckerberg simply capitalized on this simple human notion:
“I want you to notice,
When I’m not around,
You’re so fucking special
I wish I was special”
Ok, so imagine if one of your favorite songs was able to seduce your NES and through some form of “magic sexy time”, create an 8-bit cover of that song? In doing so, it would create a love child so powerful because at once it would place you in the present (since its one of your favorite songs), while at the same time transporting you into nostalgia as you remembered all those hours as a kid glued to your NES all the while rocking to many if its sweet 8-bit songs (Zelda theme song anyone?).
Well I’m proud to say that some genius created this kick-ass 8-bit cover of the Dillinger Escape Plan’s song “Unretrofied”. Since many of you are probably unfamiliar with the song, you should probably want to check it out first (below) in order to understand the kick-assery of its 8-bit version (further below). ENJOY!
I’m sure a lot of people have seen/heard this, but I enjoy the hell out of this cover. Check it out below.
Also, you may want to check this out too: Hell Yeah Paralyzer. Can’t tell if it’s performance art or serious, but it is pretty funny.
