She'll kill you once, you won't mind - you'll ask for twice.
The Magnificent Bastards, led by STP's Scott Weiland, leads us off with the incomprehensible video for Mockingbird Girl - the inspiration for tonight's YiEMB, followed by Joydrop's Sometimes Wanna Die. Shirely Manson and Garbage pick up the pace with Push It, and Bif Naked rams the point home with a tank in Tango Shoes, and Heather Nova finishes us off with Sugar. I had to end it with that song, because that guitar at the end is the perfect cap to any set.
Not going to lie, I have no use for Father's Day. However, my feelings about my father are no where near as bitter as the first two songs in this playlist.
Glasvegas - Daddy's Gone Everclear - Father of Mine Sting - Why Should I Cry For You Peter Gabriel - Come Talk To Me
I love Minecraft. It's like having an entire world made out of Lego blocks, and the only limitations are your imagination, and the paltry twenty-four hours in a day. Alas, my ardent love of this blocky sandbox doesn't actually translate into any sort of talent for actually designing and/or building anything. Sure, I've got a 64x64x3 dirt platform upon which I will build full size model of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, but I'm kind of stuck on the part where I need to center the building on platform, but I don't have any graph paper large enough to plan it out and...
Look, music videos about Minecraft! Now, I don't pretend that the music in these videos is any good, or that vocals aren't amatuerish at best. No, I just thought they were funny, and showed off some of the incredible things people have built in the game.
And hey, who doesn't love an "Eye of the Tiger" parody?
The genesis for this came one night after I watched the first two videos back-to-back. The third flowed naturally into it, and then I forgot about it for several months. As I am wont to do.
When I came back to it, I went searching for other sad songs that involved trains and was chagrined to discover that there were, if not "happy" train songs, at least those that strive for more than melancholy and woe. Boxcar Willie's Wabash Cannonball for one; and Arlo Guthrie's City of New Orleans for another. It also occurred to me that I should end the set with a song by the band Train because, ha-ha, Train is teh suxx0rs!, and how can you be happy listening to that tripe?
But that would just be petty and mean, and I am only one of those two.
Justin Townes Earle - The Ghost of Virginia James McMurtry - Rachel's Song Vienna Teng - Blue Caravan Boxcar Willie - The Wreck of Old 97 Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
Hey, remember when I used to post stuff regularly? Me neither. However, as I have once again resurrected my computer from death, I figured I would try bring other things back to life. Like my blog; and my enthusiasm for things not video game related; and ... other stuff. Sadly, it seems that I've always lacked Ambition, and there is no way to bring back what was never there.
So instead, I will fill the empty hole where my joie de virve should be with insidious time wasters such as Songfacts.com. Did you ever wonder what the story was behind Survivor's seminal work-out anthem Eye of the Tiger being chosen for Rocky III? Or were curious as to how New Order came up with that awesome rhythm section for Blue Monday? Well, it's all there on Songfacts! Granted, much of it is clueless people saying that songs are about heroin addiction with absolutely nothing to back up that claim, but there is still much wheat amongst all the chaff. Below are seven songs that I chose not only because their Songfacts entries are interesting, but because I really like those songs and I had forgotten about many of them before finding them on Songfacts.
Yeah, one post after complaining about how YiEMB is getting too focused on music, and I am right back there with another all-music extravaganza! That's okay though, nobody reads this blog anyway, and I have the stats to prove it!
The blog Ectoplasmosis! used to be a daily read for me, back when founders Brownlee and Gauger were posting new stuff all the time. These days, despite having copious co-editors and hired drooglings to do the dirty work, updates have become somewhat erratic. That is okay though, because one Ectomo feature has stayed consistently good, and that is the Noise du Jour. Sometimes awesome. Sometimes awful. But always music I would never have heard on my own. Like the subject of today's YiEMB, for instance.
Caro Emerald is a Dutch jazz singer and that is all I know about her despite my proclivity for slinking over to Wikipedia every time I run across something I don't know. This time, I just can't be arsed to look her up. Probably because I'm too busy hitting "replay" on her Youtube videos.
Now, most of friends would be had pressed to say whether or not I like jazz, and the truth is that I don't much care for it. But then, I've pigeon-holed jazz to all sound like that the smooth shite that Kenny G has been unloading like aural cleveland steamers for the last twenty years. Caro Emerald reminds me that this is really not true. Fun, upbeat, and with a toe-tapping swing sound, her songs make me want to get up and dance.
The first three songs in the playlist are the official videos for Caro Emerald's songs, and the final three are of her live in a radio station studio, with two of those songs being covers. I won't say what songs she covers, but trust me when I say that you will not likely want to listen to the originals again!
I feel that YIEMB has become too focused on music, so I am bringing it back around to its roots with this, a compilation of ski videos. I present them with no commentary as I feel it would only distract from the beauty and splendor that is the graceful sport of skiing!
On a personal note, my eyes got misty seeing Mayor Bill Levitt in that last video. He was an amazing man, and Alta will miss him.
Been awhile since I did one of these, but I had run out of ideas for themes. This one came to me after listening to my iPod and realizing that Maria was a popular choice in song titles.
And yes, this does mean that I have all four of these songs on my iPod.
In order they are:
Maria - Blondie Maria (Shut Up and Kiss Me) - Willie Nelson My Maria - Brooks & Dunn Bem, Bem, Bem, Maria - The Gypsy Kings
I started this post a couple weeks, but because it requires more discussion and depth than my usual entries it is taking longer. Much, much longer because I have five four (be glad I removed the fifth one - be VERY glad) videos in this play list and each one demands it's own analysis, and frankly I lose interest in things that require me to think. And thinking is required for this one as I am discussing how the Western hyper-sexualization of pop stars has spread around the world.
Now, I won't bore you with the details of how this idea came to me, if only because I don't actually remember myself. All I know is that I've spent entirely too much time watching these videos last night. And tonight. And on other nights that were not last night, or tonight.
We'll put it down as "research", and move on.
Calling it the Western hyper-sexualization of pop stars might be giving the West, and the U.S. specifically, entirely too much credit here, but after repeated viewings of these videos I don't think I am off-base at all. All five videos have very strong Western influences and ideas in them ranging from dress, stylistic cues, use of english in lyrics, and even musical samples.
As I wish to go a little in depth about each video I am going to structure this YiEMB a bit differently, and embed each video separately, with a link to the full playlist posted at the end.
So, shall we? Yes, yes we shall.
The first video is Chadti Jawani (Young, Wild 'N' Sexy Mix) by Indian remix group Instant Karma. At least, that's who i think it is by; the song info at the start of the video is slightly different. Watching the video you may be struck like I was by several different things: 1) Yes, that is Rapper's Delight the girls are singing as the refrain. I think it was that hook that actually got me thinking about how heavily the West influences the pop culture of other countries. The second thing I noticed only drove the point home like a sledgehammer. 2) the angel motif with the use of white and fluffy wings. Hinduism has deva, which can be roughly translated as "angels", but it is more accurate to call them divine beings. However, devas are rarely, if ever, portrayed as being clothed in white with fluffy wings. That is a Western conceit. A way in which I think this video retains it roots in Indian culture is in point 3) The fine line between Overt Sexuality and Innocence the girls tread. Despite being dressed like extras at a Victoria's Secret fashion shoot, the three angels retain a sense of naive playfulness throughout the video, but never let themselves fall fully to temptation. This playfulness has a mischievous edge to it that is seem when they allow the thief to flirt with them, only to tie him up and leave him for the apartment owner to find.
Speaking of naive playfulness, we move onto South Korea and possibly the creepiest video. SNSD, or Girls' Generation, is a Korean manufactured nonet in the vein of the Spice Girls or N'Sync. However, unlike those groups, the girls of SNSD were put through two years of training by their label, SM Entertainment, before their debut. So why did I call this video borderline creepy? Because of the juxtaposition of scenes of the girls dressed in their hello-sailor/soldier outfits with ones of the girls being playful at a slumber party, that's why. While this song and Chadti Jawani both have that duality of Sex and Innocence to them, the angels played on having child-like innocence while the girls of SNSD are portrayed as still teens. A fine line, to be sure, but an important one as I think the subtext of the SNSD video is that men want their sex partners to have the maturity of grown women, but the bodies of sixteen year-olds.
Like I said, creeeeepy.
But I still want that song for my iPod. Creepy the video may be, but damn, is it a great pop song!
From India to South Korea, and now to Israel for Eti Castro. While looking for videos for this set I did find some Israeli pop singers who were more overtly sexy than Eti (Shiri Mimom for one), but I chose Eti's song because it seemed the most self-aware as the title of her song translates as "Star from/of Plastic". Everything about the video, the sets, costumes, costume changes, show that Eti is well aware of how her imaged is shaped to be that of a shiny, perfect objet du'desir, and how she allows this to happen, but on her terms.
This video may actually be a bit of a cop-out on my part as it could be argued that Israel is as westernized as any western european country, but I am including it because it acts as a nice juxtaposition for the next video.
Haifa Wehbe started as a model in Lebanon when she was quite young, and made her singing debut in 2002. Voted one of 2006's most Beautiful People in the World by People Magazine, Haifa Wehbe is no stranger to being ogled, which is good because voyeurism seems to be the point of her video. While I am certain the the curtain peepshow is prevalent in all cultures, the style of dress and form of dance are very much Western concepts. Specifically, the video has a sultry Moulin Rouge vibe to it that I personally find jarring when it is paired with the very Middle Eastern vocals and music. Speaking of the music, Haifa could be reciting names form the phone book for all that I know, but her sensuous vocals coupled with the swing and sway of the music lead me to believe it is a very sexy song. There's the rub, and here come some gross generalizations. The world Haifa hails from is not really known for it's progressive views on women, and tends to turn a dim eye towards women who celebrate their beauty. Especially if they appear to revel in their sexiness, which Haifa certainly seems to do here.
Here is where I am going to end this post as it has taken me so long to even get to this point. Were I to continue I would likely starting wondering about how this western trend of hyper-sexualizing pop stars would ultimately work against women in those countries where they are considered to be second-class citizens. While in the short term it can certainly be used to empower women to be more confident in their sexuality; in the long term I can see it leading to a further entrenchment of the women-as-chattel mentality.
Weird Al Yankovic is not just a hack singer of parody pop songs. Hacks don't have nine Grammy Nominations with three wins; four gold, and six platinum, records; or have sold 12+ million albums. He is a consummate craftsman and a musical auteur. Below is a playlist of three of his songs - not his most famous, or maybe his best - but ones that exemplify his mastery of absurdity and satire.
The fourth video is a nine minute behind-the-scenes look at the recording of his last album, Straight Out Lynnwood, that I think really captures the professionalism and care that Weird Al has in his approach to his music. As some wise man once said, "Comedy is serious business".
Yes, I know I did one of these last Saturday night. Originally this was going to be a once-a-week thing, but... My blog. My rules. YiEMB's whenever they strike my fancy.
In this case, I was doing research for post about how my one of my nicknames is "Uncle", and the different usages that word has in culture. A post I fully intend to still do, but while looking on Youtube for a good version of Vienna Teng's (much seems to lead back to her, doesn't it) 'Say Uncle", I came across her covering Sting's "Fields of Gold". That reminded me of the Pearl Jam cover of "Baba O'Riley" that my friend Robin had shown me, which then inspired this YiEMB. And since simply doing a competent knock-off of a popular item is rarely ever enough to ensure success, I I tried to include ones where the artist took the song and made it their own.
Sadly, the audio on VT's cover of "Fields of Gold" was borderline awful, so it did not get included in this list. However, the late, and much lamented, Eva Cassidy did a brilliant cover and that is what starts us off today. Rather than turn this into an Eva Cassidy tribute YiEMB, I will merely suggest you go listen to her covers of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Time After Time"; truly haunting stuff.
Since her version of "Fields of Gold" didn't make the list I had to find something by VT that I could include, and much to my joy, I found a video of her cover of Damien Rice's "Cannonball". I think I've heard Rice's version once, and I have to say that much prefer VT's rendition as I find Rice's voice to be annoying to no end.
I saw Pearl jam perform "Baba O'Riley" in the late summer of '92 when the Lalapalooza Festival stopped in Orlando that year. To this day it stands out in my mind a perfect example of great cover! However, that isn't the song I decided to include here. It is, in fact, their cover of Pete Townsend's "Let My Love Open the Door" that I mentioned earlier.
So why didn't I include Pearl Jam's cover of Baba O'Riley on this list? Because I came across the Blue Man Group's version first, and just had to include it. I would love to see this live. Oh, and that is Tracy Bonham on vocals. You might remember her from this song, or this one. Ah, Angry Women of the 90's, where did you all go? Hm, maybe that should be my next YiEMB; a then-and-now look into Tracy Bonham, Alanis MoreUpset, Joan Osborne, and others.
Finally, there is this gem by Pain - a cover of a little known ELO (to any but us ELO fanatics) song called "Here is the News". Compare Pain's version to the original, and you can hear how faithful it is while also being it's own beast. Where Jeff Lynne's vocals are weary and suspicious of the future to come, Pain's are full of cynicism and bitterness of the future that has arrived.
I know I've used Vienna Teng in other YiEMB's (include the previous one), but fuck it, I saw her this evening in Park City and she is more than worth a YiEMB all to herself. Now, Youtube is ful of fan-made videos for her songs, but I wanted to feature Vienna Teng, and not some little wanker's Naruto AMV set to one of her songs. As such all but the first video are from VT's official Youtube Channel and are of her performing live. The first video? Well, that is a beautifully done professional video that features a lushly beautiful VT in a starkly beautiful locale. How could I not include it?
So please, enjoy...
"Gravity" is off of Vienna's first album Waking Hour, and is about two people who cannot seem to leave each other despite what is best for them.
Next up is "In Another Life" off of her newest album, Inland Territory. Really, the title says all.
Then we have a very early recording of her performing one my favorite tracks of hers, "My Medea", of off her second album, Warm Strangers. A dark song, but one that doesn't drag you down into the the shade along with it.
Batting fourth in the line-up is "Whatever You Want", from Vienna's third album. Inspired by Enron and AIG, it is a cautionary tale to those who would be kings of commerce.
Fifth and final is a song about fidelity, "Love Turns Forty", also from Dreaming Through the Noise.
Truly, if you ever have the opportunity to see Vienna Teng perform live, you should not hesitate and take it. She is a consummate artist and perform. Warm and funny, she puts her all into her art, and it shows.
The title of this installment of YiEMB came from the fact that I really wanted to feature Amy MacDonald's "Mr. Rock & Roll", and it was the first video I added to this playlist. It was with a flash of genius that the theme for the playlist came to me: call it Mr' Rock & Roll, but feature all female vocalists! It's like, ironic and shite! Damn, I am so smart.
*crickets*
Ye-ahhhh...ah, anyway, here it is.
I heard "Mr. Rock & Roll on a Slacker Radio station that one of the cooks at work had set up, and the rhythm of the music and the cadence of Amy MacDonald's voice really caught me and drew me in. A funny thing about this video; the "official" US version from the Universal Music Group (a corporation that I have excoriated in the past for their asinine decisions) has embedding disabled. However, the version I used is from Amy MacDonald's official Youtube Channel and (obviously) allows embedding. Go figure.
The second video is "No Heaven" by Champion, and gained nationwide notice due to its inclusion in the game Borderlands. As you might tell from the video, this is a great dance song for white people. Specifically, hipsters.
Batting third is Metric with a live performance of their single "Help, I'm Alive". It was a toss-up between including this song, or Sick Muse. I really like both for their synth-pop sensibilities, but the build-up-release-build-up-release of this song made me include it. Dammit, there's a term for what I just described, but I'll be damned if I can remember what it is.
Closing out the night is another live recording, this one by Vienna Teng, singing "Nothing Without You". The sorrowful piano and her wistfully yearning vocals combine to make this one of my favorite songs of all time. It speaks to that part of me that always feels alone and doesn't take comfort in the solitude.
So, that's it. That's all. No credits to roll. To epilogues to read. So, leave. Go. Go away. Go home. Leave me to my Jeffrey Foucault and tear-flavored beer. I don't need you! I - don't - ne-ed...a-any...any of you!!!
For Lu is a harsh mistress. To that end there are six (7! Siete! VII!) videos in today's playlist, each entertaining in it's own right. Taken together though, and watched in the specially optimized viewing order they are presented in, they. Will. Blown. Your. MIND!!!*
Leading off this charge of AWESOME is Britain's own Robbie Williams singing "Let Me Entertain You", followed by a cute video of a dog in a swing. I mean, that dog is really cute, and it looks so happy in the swing! Then things take a turn for the SERIOUS in next video - a machinima for the Breaking Benjamin song "So Cold" made using the Half-Life 2 engine. Fret not, however, as the pendulum swings back to the RIDICULOUS after a quick interlude with Goofy in "How to Dance"! That RAUCOUS number is the perfect intro in "Titanic in 5 Seconds", which is itself THEMATICALLY linked to our final video, the finale of "Bathing Beauty" starring the INDOMITABLE Esther Williams!
*If you are a low-functioning Idiot, otherwise you should just be mildly amused
I saw the lovely ladies of Abalone Dots perform at the Snowbird Mountain Music Festival the past weekend, and fell in love with them...and, uh, their music, too, I guess. Pictures can be found here, on my Flickr account, but below you will find four videos of some of the best folk/bluegrass to come out of Sweden, ever! Hell, it's really good folk/bluegrass anyway you slice it!
I was just going through the Youtube playlists I've put together for YiEMB, and it is heartbreaking to see how many videos have been pulled down because the copyright owners have such a dim view of free advertising. Well, I wonder how long it will be until the three videos featured today are made to vanish!
The first song is "Ghosts" by newcomer Laura Marling, a young musician whose vocals and lyrics jumped out at me while listening to the SXSW wrap-up show. Following her is Bat for Lashes performing her single "Sleep Alone" live on Later...with Jools Holland. Eerie and beautiful, Bat for Lashes (real name Natasha Khan) has a voice whose ethereal quality lends itself vocalizing the dark fantasies in everyone's souls. Lastly there is Somalia-born rapper K'naan with his ode to his homeland, "Soobax". I just downloaded his album "The Dusty Foot Philosopher" from eMusic, and man, is it good!
Not my best "work", but eh, we'll go with it. First up is a hover car powered by firehoses, then comes a balloon shaped like a car, followed by a seven minute video of the Rinspeed Splash - a sports car that transforms into a hydroplane. Included because it "flies" over the water. Yeh, like I said, this YiEMB is not my best. Oh, and skip to about the 3:10 mark on the video, that's when it starts to get interesting.
The final video is of a little known, and even lesser successful, secret weapon of Nazi German, The Volkswaffe! (dun-dun-duuuuuun!)
Culture, like everything Humans have developed, is in constant flux. While we may decry the effect that globalization is having on cultures world wide, we have to understand that the institutions of individual countries were never carved in stone. Has the U.S. has an undue influence on the development of other countries? Yes. Has the U.S. done much to try and mold other countries into being mini-me's? Undoubtedly.
However, to date no other country is the U.S.. In fact, no other country will ever be the U.S.; and while our culture has infiltrated and modified that of just about every country in the world, each of those places still has, and will continue to have, their own culture.
This is because one cannot simply supplant the established culture of another country wholesale. At best, one can simply hope to massively influence it. And at worst, and this is what most cultures do, they take what one gives them and modify to fit their culture.
To be sure, the effect of the U.S. on the cultures of the world is profound. However, I hold that it is not so much due to any sort of innate superiority of the U.S., but more because of the technologies that are a result of it.
Looking back at history, the same effect can be seen when the British were masters of the seas; the Dutch were trading up a storm; or even when the Romans were were trying to make all roads lead to Rome. Nearly every country and culture touched by those empires still stands today, and still has its own distinct cultural identity.
And believe it or not, the influence goes both ways. All the while the U.S. has been peddling it's fast food, fast cars, anorexic supermodels to the world, it has also been taking in things and making them its own.
Now, all that preamble was leading up to this week's YiEMB.
This week there are four videos that demonstrate this cross-pollination with some truly beautiful music. The first video is the one that germinated (heh) the idea for this YiEMB in my head; Mei Han's Red Chamber with The Jaybirds performing bluegrass standard Katy Hill. The traditional Chinese instruments provide a sound that really complements the banjo and mandolin.
Second video is Persistence of Memory from the Afro-Celt Soundsystem. As the name of the band implies, they are a fusion of traditional African rhythms with Celtic melodies. Beautiful stuff.
Third is a performance of the Carmen Fantasie featuring George Gao on the Chinese violin.
Finally, the piece du resistance: Polish group Masala Soundsystem performing Od Tarnobrzegu po Bangladesz. This song is in a style called ragga-bhandra; a mishmash of reggae, Sihk folk, tuvan throat singing, and Polish rap. It is 100% AWESOME!
Morcheeba is a brit-pop trip-hop band that formed in the mid-to-late 90's, and have released a total of seven albums with three different lead singers. Two of the for songs in the playlist feature original Morcheeba singer Skye Edwards, a woman of striking beauty and gorgeous vocals.
The first song, "World Looking In" from Fragments of Freedom, was my introduction to Morcheeba, and it was originally used in a tv commercial for the Ford Contour. Second is "Gained the World" (off of their latest album, Dive Deep), a cautionary tale about being happy with the hair you (don't) have, and to not be envious of others. The third video is "Be Yourself", also off of Fragments, and follows a dog's-eye view of people and the duality of their personal-vs-professional lives. Finally, there is "Enjoy the Ride" featuring the same mad genius behind the video for Jason Forrest's "War Photographer".
Ah, Imperial Stormtroopers. The faceless, soulless, supposedly elite troops of Emperor Palpatine. Maybe if they had spent as much time on their marksmanship as they did on their dance moves, the pesky Rebel Alliance would never have won the day. However, because they were devils on the dance floor, they can now find work, or at least handouts, on the streets of Tokyo.
NPR does a wonderful podcast called All Songs Considered, with host Bob Boilen. No musical genre is outside the purview of Bob Boilen and All Songs Considered, and through the agency of this podcast I have come to greatly expand my musical horizons. What is amazing about the show is that whether it is New Age Jazz; old-school rap; Afro-funk polyrhythmic Fela Kuti-esque World Music; or just plain rock'n'roll, Bob plays it all, and his genuine love and appreciation for the music is always on display. There is also a delightful blog for the podcast that is worth bookmarking and reading, as the All Songs Considered crew are a very intelligent and open bunch; constantly throwing topics out for discussion, and requesting feedback from their audience.
In appreciation of their hard work today's YiEMB consists solely of songs that I have come to through listening to this wonderful podcast.
First up is a new song from David Byrne and Brian Eno, Strange Overtones, off their new album Everything that Happens Will Happen Today. I heard this one on a podcast while driving out to Atlanta this Fall, and immediately fell in love with it. Upon my return to SLC, I went to Emusic.com and bought the entire album. I am not sure if this video is the official video for the song, but the culture of isolation evoked by the gun-wielding gas mask wearing inhabitants, and the dissonance of the imagery fits very weill with the lyrics and music.
Second out of the gate is Brooklyn-based Antibalas with the song Beaten Metal from their Security album. I heard this song over a year and a half ago, but only got the cd this past June. This video is actually just the song, but it is one of my favorite pieces of music from the last year. Well worth the listen.
Thirdly is the group Jesus H. Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse with Liz, the Hot Receptionist. Really, nothing more needs to be said, but I'm going to say more. I just pulled one of their albums off of Emusic, and am in the process of listening to it. As Bob Boilen opined, they are funny, rude, and occasionally profane, but the music is great.
Being over thirty, I don't pay much attention to the hipster bands that are multiplying like mice these days. However, that is my loss as I almost lost out on hearing two bands. The first, MGMT, doesn't allow embedding of their videos so they lose out on the promotion that simple thing would allow. However, the second band is Panic at the Disco, and their videos I can embed! Specifically, this video is for When the Day Met the Night, and is actually a fan-made mini-movie that captures the sweetness and innocence of the song perfectly.
Lastly is Regina Spektor's Fidelity, quite possibly the first song that I tracked down after hearing it on All Songs Considered. What is funny is that it was only after I had bought her cd did I remember that I had first heard the song on the podcast. While about half the songs on the album are not exactly to my liking, the other half of the songs make the cd well worth the purchase.
The idea for this one came to me today as I was doing eighty through Iowa, and listening to my backlog of NPR's All Songs Considered podcasts. Specifically, i was listening to host Bob Boilen & Co. take the Eighties to task for having the worst music in the last forty years. While it is true that there are many gems to be found in the dross, it is a sad fact that the dross is miles deep. Below are four videos that exemplify the wretched over-production of music in The Decade of Excess.
First up is Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder singing Ebony and Ivory, a song that was wonderfully lampooned by Joe Piscopo and Eddie Murphy on SNL; followed by Stevie Wonder by himself crooning I Just Called to Say I Love You, a song that made an eleven-year old me want to track him down and hurt him. Really, it is a terrible, terrible song. I can't stand it to this day. In fact, I didn't even watch the video I hate it so much, and I always watch the videos that I make you all watch.
That's right, I suffer so that others may as well. However, that song is suffering that I will not willingly endure ever again.
Third in line is the palette-cleanser before the shite-flavoured piece de resistance of the last song, in the form of Air Supply's Making Love Out of Nothing At All. Once that is done, Starship's We Built This City, Blender Magazine's #1 Worst Song of All Time, rends what little sanity you have left.
At first I was going to showcase the beautiful and talented Clara Belle once more, as she has added three new videos since I featured her this past June. Â However, for some reason her fifth video was not showing up on my playlist, so I moved to Plan B, which would have been to finally have a Morcheeba playlist!
Then I took a look at all my previous YiEMB's and realized that I have been a little heavy on the music video playlists. Â Thus, I decided to hold Morcheeba in abeyance for another time, and went with something a little more highbrow. Â Farts!
First up is a couple of farting monkeys, followed by a Jurassic farting contest, and a nasal assault in a bathtub. Â Capping it off is a clip about the dangers of farting on the battlefield.
Expose hit the Miami club scene in the mid-80's and quickly rose to the top of the charts on the strength of their freestyle power-pop club sound. I remember making my sister buy me their debut Exposure for my 12th birthday, and I played the tape until it died.
My, how my tastes have changed. While I still enjoy the totally 80's synth lines and screaming guitar solos, I find that I can only sit through one viewing of these videos before my sanity runs screaming in the other direction.
To be fair, it isn't simply the music. The combined assault on my senses by the 80's hair, the 80's dance moves, and the 80's fashions, is what causes me to seek oblivion.
Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!
Bonus video - Let Me Be the One (since SonyBMG also believes that limiting the uselfulness of their videos is te smart thing to do).
Today's theme is one I've been wanting to do for a while now. And by "a while now" I mean that I've occasionally had the thought that hey, I should totally do a YiEMB based on whatever songs my iPod offers forth!
Then I would promptly forget about it and go on with my life.
Part of the problem was that I rarely listened to my iPod outside of my car, and disliked listening to the iTNS library on my laptop as the speakers are rather lacking in bass, treble, and (most importantly) volume. This changed once I purchased a Logitech Pure-Fi iPod dock, allowing me to enjoy sweet, sweet compressed MP3 and AAC goodness at a volume above a background murmur.
But I digress.
Tonight features not one, but two YiEMB playlists. This is not in some misguided attempt to mollify the ire of my non-existent fan base, and make up for missed YiEMB's, but because the second set of songs came on while I was prepping the first set for posting, and I wanted to post them as well.
Why sets of four? Because feedback (yes, I get feedback!) indicates that 3-4 song playlists are easier to watch in one sitting than their bulkier 5-8 song cousins.
Yes, posting two 4 song lists does rather obviate that. I don't care.
Set One Powerless - Nelly Furtado banjo should be used in more pop music
Hit So Hard - Hole (not the original video I think) Keys to the City - The Go! Team (I would love to see this band perform live) Feels So Good - Van Halen (I really love this song)
Set Two Fight Test - The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is such a brilliant album Basia Bulat - In the Night Basia plays the harpsicord...The HARPSICORD!!! Pop music needs more harpsicord, too Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall I saw KT perform at Red Butte Gardens a week and a half ago. Very energetic and enjoyable show Fire. Water. Burn. - Bloodhound Gang It took me years before I really appreciated the genius of Jimmy Pop's lyrics
Yeah, I know it isn't Tuesday, but yesterday wasn't Thursday and you all got a pretty sweet OMoPB out of it anyway. Besides, it's my blog, mine! You hear me - MINE! {sniffle} A-And n-n-nobody can take that away from me! NOBODY!!!!
Yes, yes that was supposed to be funny. No, I can't really explain why...it just was really funny in my head. It's always funny in my head.
But onto Youtube videos! These five SIX videos are a sampling - a mere taste - of the succulent music morsels that I once purloined in purposeful piratical practice from the sadly deceased and defunct dire threat to the recording industry! I speak of course, my demeanor properly humbled and full of awe, of Napster.
Napster allowed me, and millions like me, to find and acquire music that we could otherwise ill-afford to purchase. Contrary to what the dinosaurs of the RIAA would have the public believe, this did not usher in the downfall of the music industry, but rather signaled a sea change the recording industry was ill-equipped to face.
In my own case, I would never have know of Moxy Fruvous or Great Big Sea without Napster, and not knowing I would not have been able to go out and eventually purchase every single cd these bands have ever released.
Now, the following videos are not necessarily my first picks for this playlist; some songs weren't included because of the bull-headed decision by various labels to disable embedding (Oleander's "I Walk Alone"), while others just could not be found on Youtube (Gail Davies' "Grandma's Song" and John Gorka & Dar Williams "While Roving on a Winter's Night"). But, as with all the songs I post here, they are ones I like and I feel little to no shame in admitting that I do.
The videos are: Fountains of Wayne - Radiation Vibe (great driving song) The Flys - Got You Where I want You (look closely and you can spot Katie Holmes under all that emo) Spacehog - In the Meantime (the lead singer is actually married to Liv Tyler - how the hell did that happen?) Bloodhound Gang - The Bad Touch (the Discovery Channel is full of animal porn!) Great Big Sea - The Night Pat Murphy Died (great drinking song) Moxy Fruvous - Fly (the best song about breaking up with someone)
Not everything can be found on Youtube. Despite the occasional scouring of Youtube, I was unable to find this particular video until I googled "Naked +Mann's Chinese". Lo and behold, Yahoo! Music had it of all places. Alas, the audio rather tinny and grating, but you can still get a feel for the rocking guitar and distinctive vocals that first drew me to this song.
I was going to do this a New Music Monday, but then I realized two things; that I had no idea how to review a CD, and that Youtube had changed their layout and I couldn't find the @*&%-ing embedding code for the playlist. This vexxed me no end and made me very cross, so I ate some Oreos, drank some milk, and went to bed.
So here it is after a month's abscence, the triumphant return of YiEMB with five video from Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip!
Stop-motion is one of the oldest forms of animation, dating back to the beginning of film itself. Long before Jurassic Park made CGI a must have for tent pole movies, stop-motion was providing breath-taking special effects for summer blockbusters: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The Star Wars movies (original trilogy, pre-Lucas screwing around with cgi). Q, the Winged Serpent. The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. King Kong.
Today's YiEMB is made up of none of these. Instead, I have a short collection of clips that starts with a music video, and ends with a masterpiece of time-lapse photography. As always, enjoy!
First up is Primus and their cover of Devil Went Down to Georgia, followed by a clever video of various classic video games being played using food, candles, bugs, shirts, and a variety of other household items. Video 3 goes back to music with a wild-haired maniac "playing" drums and piano. If I recall correctly, the man doesn't actually know how to play either instrument; he simply filmed himself doing each action separately and then edited the footage together into a cohesive whole.
The final video is a wall painting by an artist called Blu, that spans two cities and multiple walls. It starts with a a brick falling out of a wall, and ends with...well, I'm not really sure what it ends with. Some of the imagery can be a little unnerving and disturbing, but the overall effect is one of mystery, beauty, and awe.
Today's Tonight's YiEMB is short and sweet with only two videos, and both are by the same artist. I give you Clara Belle, a singer/songwriter from the UK. While I would love to post more of her material, these two videos are all she has on Youtube as of now. However, I will let you know when she does post more.
First up is Clara's first song, "Miss Want it All", followed by her second song, "Run". Enjoy!
Here are four of my favorite Bugs Bunny Cartoons. Some of these are lesser known to some people, buteach one made an indelible impression upon me when I was younger. They are (in order of appearance) Bunker Hill Bunny; The Heckling Hare; My Bunny Lies Over the Sea; 8Ball Bunny; and Roman Legion Hare. Enjoy!
I got to see these fine, fine gentlemen play a show in Atlanta a few years back, and it was a blast! Below are four videos of them covering various metal classics. Enjoy!
First up is "Ace of Spades". He Who Need Not Be Named, this one is for you.
The second video is actually the original footage for Judas Priest's "Breakin' the Law", but with Hayseed's version of the song dubbed over it.
Thirdly is HD stretching their musical muscles a little, and testing the waters of the rap genre with their cover of Outkast's "Roses".
Finally, HD pays tribute to Aerosmith with this cover of "Walk This Way".
Better late than never, right? Well, in this case you may have wished for "never". Today I give you four videos with one thing in common: watching them hurts!
And yet, I found that it was worth enduring the unique pain induced by each video, as they all had something to offer. To start us off is Aqua with their sardonic criticism of Western Culture's obsession with impossible beauty standards, "Barbie Girl".
Second up is Shelly G's "Touch Me", a song that will win no awards for poetry or lyricism, but does have that cute bubblegum-pop appeal about it. Moreover, it has Shelly G herself dancing around, and she is hot.
Third out of the gate is a group I've never heard of before, Vanilla Sky, with their cover of Rihanna's "Umbrella". Emo-core aesthetics aside, theirs is a really killer cover of the song, and the best out of the the five versions I watched on Youtube.
Rounding out the four for the night is a song (particularly that refrain) that has stuck with me since the Summer of '94. Why didn't I include it in that YiEMB? Honestly, I rather thought Princessa was a one-hit wonder with "Rojo y Llanto", and that I'd never find her music online. Now I wish I had been right. So what does this video offer other than nostalgia? Uhhh...Princessa is really cute, and that refrain is really catchy?
No unifying theme this week, just videos I really like. And since two of them have embedding disabled, it won't be in a nice, easy-to-navigate single window, either; instead, there will be hyperlinks!
Do you no, or are related to, a proto-goth? Don't know what to get her for her birthday? Then try Goth Barbie!
Some things are meant to go together: Peanut butter and bananas; Oreos and milk; cheese and pretty much anything.
Other things will never go together: Absolute power and sanity; white wine and red meat; MTV and decent programming.
Then there are those things that should never go together, but still manage to work despite breaking the natural order of the Universe. Like deep-fried pickles, or deep-fried Snickers, or say, The Beatles and Jay-Z.
'At's right, bitch! This YiEMB is all about the mash-ups!
First up we have The Grey Video from one of the grandmasters of the mashup, Dangermouse.
Now, while it can be argued that two genre-definers as Jay-Z and the Beatles would go well together based on their mastery of the musical form, the same could never be said of Enya and Prodigy. And yet, video number two works on multiple levels.
I was late to the Kanye West party. Hell, I'm still not quite there, but this mash-up of Goldigger and Beethoven's 5th goes a long way to making me a believer.
Ah, the Beastie Boys. What could make them better? How about a dash of Daft Punk? No enough to push the Boys over the edge from Awesome to "Bitch be trippin' balls"? Then how about adding a pinch of Capsule? Huh? Huh? Yeah, I don't know who Capsule is either, but the Starry Sky mash-up is all kinds of f***-yeah!
In the Summer of 1994 I went to Spain for a semester to expand my horizons, and all that crap.
Actually, I went because of a deal I made with my Spanish professor. She'd pass me in a class I was failing if I agreed to go on a Spanish-language program for a semester. Now, I wasn't exactly the most sociable of young men, and being in a foreign land, one with a language with which I was barely fluent, was not exactly my idea of a good time. So, as the turtle does when faced with the unfamiliar, I withdrew into my shell and comforted myself with music and writing my novel.
The writing I did has thankfully been lost to the purifying destruction of my old apartment, but the music stayed with me. Not literally as all my CD's went up too, but I remember the songs, and how they took me away from where I didn't want to be. The playlist below is made up of some of those songs, and I make no apologies for my '94 self's taste in music. Nor for the fact that I still like them. Most of them. Except for the OMD song.
The first song is Twenty 4 Seven's "Slave to the Music". No, I don't know what the deal is with the frog, or why the white chick can't seem to move her lower body.
"Loser" put Beck on the map, and my sanity back into my head. To say that my classmates and I adopted it as our anthem would not be far off the mark.
When I remarked to a classmate that I was in need of some new music, she lent me her copy of one of her favorite albums, Sarah Brightman's Dive. It quickly became one of my favorite as well, and "Once in a Lifetime" is still one of my favorite songs.
I'm sorry. I really wish I could have found a better video for this next song, but this one had the best audio for CJ Lewis' version of "Sweets for My Sweet". Just ignore the Pokemon fan art slide show, and you'll be fine.
I posted the video for "Romance de Rosabella y Domingo" in a different YiEMB - actually, before Youtube started eating my brain, I think I posted it - but this is a convenient excuse to once more give forth a kick-ass song to the masses.
"Enola Gay". Seven years before OMD had their moment in the sun with "If You Leave", they had this song about the plane that dropped the first atomic bomb. While I still enjoy the song, the lyrics now irritate me quite a bit. Did you know that prior to the U.S. dropping Little Boy and Fat Man, we were conducting fire-bombing raids on the Japanese islands? Every day, flights of B-29's would conduct raids which dropped hundreds of thousands of tiny incendiary devices, igniting fire storms that ravaged the cities. Fire. Storms. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Thousands of people burning to death every night, and there was nothing the Japanese people could do to stop it. Seriously, stop focusing on the fucking a-bombs, and remember what a fucking nightmare the war was to begin with!
Ugh, sorry about that. For the final video of my set I give you Erasure's "Always". I heard the song long before I ever saw the video for it, and I am glad I did. If I had seen the video first I think I probably would have dismissed the song as being the saccharine euro-pop piece of garbage that it is. Instead, it brings back some fond memories Spain.
Another edition of YiEMB so soon after the last one? Why, yes! After discussing it with He Who Need Not Be Named, I decided to make YiEMB a regular Monday feature, but then I remembered that should I ever resurrect New Music Monday it will need to be on Mondays. Thus, Youtube is Eating My Brain will become a regular Tuesday feature.
This week's offering gives forth the aural and visual genius of Peter Gabriel. I have loved his music since first hearing "In your Eyes" on the radio almost twenty years ago. Not only has Peter Gabriel made some of the best music of the 20th century, he had also created some of the most visually complex, stunning, and thought provoking videos to go along with it.
Join me now as I take you through some of my favorite songs and videos by a man I consider to be one of my idols.
As it was the first song I ever heard by Peter, it is only fitting that "In Your Eyes" be the first song of the playlist. "Blood Of Eden" follows second, and third is the video for, "Come Talk to Me" - a song that Peter wrote about the difficulties he had communicating with one of his teenaged daughters. Also coming from from a very personal place is "Secret World", which is about the breakdown of his marriage, and subsequent divorce from one of his wives. Song five is "red Rain", and I have no interesting factoid about it, but it is a beautiful song. Song six, "Downside Up", is from Peter's millennial project, "Ovo", and features one of his daughters, Melanie, on vocals. It also has a wicked cool visual that is the hallmark of Peter Gabriel's live shows.
Finally, there is "Biko" at song seven. When I first saw this video I was about twelve years old and didn't know what apartheid was, let alone care. Still, I was deeply moved by the song, and it stuck in my mind for years afterward. When I finally got to see Peter Gabriel perform live, he ended his show with this song. I don't think I will ever forget the thrill I felt as one by one all the musicians left the stage until only the drummer was left, keeping the beat. Even after he left, the amphitheater rang with the chanting of 7,000 people singing "Oh-oh-ohhhhhhhh!" until the lights went out. The memory still gives me chills.
Possibly look for a Pt.2 to this one coming in the future, as there are just too many songs to do in one post.
First we have the epynomously titled video. Why did this man modify a lawnmower with a turbo? For the same reason men do anything - because it seemed like a good idea at the time!
Next up is Mowzilla. Now, from subtle clues dropped within the video it seems that the mad modifier of this particular mower is actually a woman. This just goes to show that women also do stupid things "because it seemed like a good idea at the time".
Moving up the mower food chain brings us to the "Cub Ca-Debt", no doubt so titled because of the great debt that society owes the genius who decided to cram a V-8 into the tiny rider chassis.
Where as the V-8 powered mulcher teased us with speed and power, our next video delivers. In spades and smoking rubber.
From speed we go to raw power! Trembling at the throaty roar of this monster mower's engine, and weep in awe as it crushes puny cars beneath its mighty wheels!
Finally, we go back to speed, and in a big way. At eight minutes and six seconds, our final video is longer than all the others put together. But that is because it is chock full of awesome. And speed. Awesome and Speed. And a guy breaking the land speed record for lawn mowers. Awesome, Speed, and Lawn Mowers. What more could you ask for, really?
I like angry music. Listening to barely intelligible lyrics getting screamed to the accompaniment of raging guitars and defiant drums actually helps me keep my own anger under control. It's a form of catharsis if you will, an aural assault on my anger by agents of Tranquility and Peace.
The songs are not in any particular order (other than one I found to aesthetically pleasing), and are as follows:
Nine Inch Nails - Head Like a Hole Rammstein - Du Hast Rage Against the Machine - No Shelter Drowning Pool - Bodies Placebo - Infra-red Lordi - Hard Rock Hallelujah Disturbed - Voices
Sigh. And since SonyBMG and Universal Music continues to be a bunch of dipshits
that don't seem to grasp the genius of freely available videos as a
promotional tool to drive sales, and thus will not allow their videos
to be embedded, below are direct links to three more videos. First is
the masterpiece by Powerman 5000, followed by the 90's anthem by
Sponge, and lastly another by Rage Against the Machine.
PM5K - When Worlds Collide
Sponge - Plowed
Rage Against the Machine - Guerilla Radio
Enjoy and remember - Angry thoughts do not a criminal make, but angry actions will get you committed.
This playlist started off very differently. Originally I was looking for cartoons with exaggerated violence to compliment the UNICEF Smurf short. Instead, I found myself watching every Droopy Dog cartoon I could find. The following are my favorites, and all were directed by Tex Avery. Be not fooled! The Hanna Barbera Droopy cartoons are inferior and recycle many of the gags originally used in the MGM shorts. Also, the animation style is very different - all sharp edges and angles as opposed to the more rounded and slouchy Droopy of the MGM years.
**EDIT** Why the hell do people request that embedding be disabled? It makes no fucking sense to me. Anyway, here are links to the last two videos that are in my playlist: Wild and Wolfy and Homesteader Droopy.
My butt, it burns with sunshine and rainbows. Or maybe that's the hot sauce I had at lunch warring with my lactose intolerance. Damn you ice cream...why must you be so delicious?! WHY?!?!?!?
In this week'sthis month's today's installment of YiEMB, I preach to the glory that was women artists in the 1980's with six videos from Bonnie Tyler, Kim Karnes, Pat Benetar, Patty Smyth, and Lita Ford.
First up is Kim Karnes with her paen to the Golden Age Vamp Bette Davis. Bask in the wonder that is a ballroom full of women slapping their dance partners in rhythm to the music, while you try to keep yourself from snickering at Kim's spastic-flailing-as-dancing.
Following close behind is the first of two Bonnie Tyler videos, Total Eclipse of the Heart, a.k.a. Mary Kay Letourneau's theme song. According to my exhaustive research, Ms. Tyler would have been in her early thirties when this video was made, which puts her about 15 years shy of cougar-hood, but you can totally tell that Young Boys are her Weakness.
Bonnie's second song is Holding Out for a Hero, and is best known as being the theme song to a show so awful that that the male lead shot himself. Actually, my sister and I used to watch Cover Up, and I remember her being devastated when Jon-Erik Hexum died. Me, not so much. I was was just watching for the bikini models.
From Bonnie, we go to Pat. To an eight year old boy, Shadow of the Night was a really cool video. To a Thirty-three year old boy, it is a video that has surpassed mere cheese and been elevated to New York Extra Sharp, which is just about my favorite cheddar.
Patty Smyth looks so cute and hot in this next video. At least she does until she tries dancing. That little side step thing she does, while making a pistol of her fingers, is just so ridiculous that it makes me laugh every time I think of it. "Shooting at the walls of heart ache...Bang! Bang!" Wha-ahahahahahahaha!!!
Finally we have Lita Ford, included here more for her hair and the classic opening line, than because I actually like her, or the song.
First up is an ode to a misunderstood denizen of Azeroth called "I am Murloch" by Level70 Elite Tauren Chieftain. Enjoy their subtle musical stylings as you gaze in wonder at the stunning vistas on display!
Then there is the tragic tale of Potapych, the bear who liked vodka. There is a note at the end of the video that this is based on real events, but my Internet Matlocking has availed me for naught. Still, this is a very well crafted little movie, with a touching story and wonderful animation style.
Leaving the milk-drinkers of Mother Russia, we now head to an unnamed land that finds itself under siege by the forces of darkness! Taking a well-deserved break from being heroic, our hero relaxes at an inn, and takes in a bit of the local karaoke. If you have not played The Bard's Tale for Xbox/PS2, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy. It'll cost you two fins at a Gamestop, and worth it!
Our final stop is in beautiful India to meet with the brave and beautiful Sita! Having been held captive for years by the evil Demon King Ravana, Sita is overjoyed at the prospect that her lover Rama has come to rescue her. "Sita Sings the Blues" is an effort by Nina Paley to tell the story of the Bhagavad Gita from the perspective of Sita, the lover of Rama, and a woman not really given her due. I wanted to link to Nina's blog so that you could read up on this wonderful project, but none of the links I could find for her seem to be working. Boo. On a side note, you can find "Sita Sings the Blues" on Youtube, but the quality sucks. Hence my use of the Internet Archive version.
Guinea Pig Flood! I might actually give a damn about Halo 3 if the Flood actually was made up of ravenous guinea pigs. That would just rock.
Guinea Pig Mortal Kombat!!! Watch...As the Guinea Pigs Race for the Prize! Cringe...At Their Bloodthirsty Combat! Weep...At the Inhumane Slaughter of the Weak!
First up is Animal Collective's new song, Peacebone.
This video's WTF?! is obvious in both the lyrics to the song (which make almost no sense), Reading more into it than there probably is, I find this video to be a metaphor for inter-racial relationships. The monster starts off dressed as a human, only to "shed" this identity when in the presence of the girl, whom herself has a secret that she only reveals to the monster. These two, one desperate to fit into the world around him, and the other desperate to find someone who understands what it means to be different, find happiness with each other, only to have that happiness ripped away by the agents of the establishment (represented here by the police). His monster-ness is really only Society's view of him and his culture, where as the girl's alien mouth hints at her own mixed heritage.
Of course, since this is an Animal Collective song, it could just be about a monster-girl and a monster-boy falling in live.
I'm not going to say that this is the best video ever, but it has Olivia Munn and a mustard-covered hot dog. The sound you hear is millions of fanboys reaching for their Kleenex.
Guitar Hero is not a game of which I understand the appeal. Button-mashing =! Thrashing Guitar. Of course, I have not played the game, so I am willing to say that I might change my mind. Still, as awesome as this video is, it doesn't make me want to play the game anymore than I already do. Which is not at all.
