31 January 2013

31 January 2013 - Bon Jovi - Runaway

C'mon, I know you've all been missing it, so for one week only . . . IT'S THE RETURN OF HAIR METAL THURSDAY!!!

Here's some classic Bon Jovi for no good reason. I was going to post the Bad Medicine video if only because Sam Kinison is in it, but Runaway is a much cooler tune ("cooler" of course being a very relative term).

30 January 2013

30 January 2012 - When In Rome - The Promise

Sometimes, a song is a pleasure from first listen.  Sometimes, it takes a little longer for me.

I hated - HATED - this song when it was new.  It was 1988.  I was 16.  And this song didn't connect to me and it didn't interest me and it bored me.  But, at the time, I was just starting to understand music outside the mainstream, and this was probably too close to the border between mainstream and alternative for me to understand.

But now, I appreciate song structure and lyrical creativity a little more.  This song starts with a piano melody that reprises throughout, but has a very contemporary-sounding (for 1988) electronic beat as the base of the song.  Two men - Clive Farrington and Andrew Mann, specifically - harmonize throughout.  It's considered a classic song, because it is structured just like this, combining electronica with harmonized vocals.

And that chorus! Intensely catchy (and a little creepy)!

29 January 2013

29 January 2013 - Holly Throsby - A Heart Divided

As some of you may or may not know I'm a total tennis junkie (I even coach a high school team in my town). Needless to say I spent many a late night in the last two weeks watching the Australian Open. And if anyone else was watching they certainly heard today's song as it played during pretty much every commercial break in the form of a travel ad for the city of Melbourne. So while it's been a few days since Novak Djokovic took the Men's title, it's also been a few days since I've had my Holly Throsby fix. Luckily I found the video to feed my addiction.

28 January 2013

28 January 2013 - Big Boi Featuring Phantogram - CPU

It was fun to surprise you during our American Idol weeks with posts like this, but it's time to get back to the business of Wicked Guilty Pleasures.

I never would have thought that Big Boi would be the groundbreaking member of Outkast.  And this song and performance are seriously, seriously cool.  I'm waiting to see what a video for this song will look like.

But what I love most about this performance?  That Big Boi is not afraid to share the stage, and the spotlight, with a really, really good artist.  Sarah Barthel doesn't waste her national exposure - I know Phantogram gained a lot of fans that night on Jimmy Kimmel Live.   Phantogram did three songs with Big Boi on his new album, which is interesting and different than just about anything out there right now, so I urge you to check it out.

UPDATE: The old video broke, so here's a new one, same performance.


25 January 2013

25 January 2013 - Carrie Underwood - Two Black Cadillacs

And so the American Idol love comes to an end. I like how we bookended the two weeks with the two biggest Idols. Tony kicked things off with the original Idol Kelly Clarkson and I'm closing it with Season 4's winner Carrie Underwood.

When Carrie's most recent album Blown Away was released in May I posted a funny little tale about buying it at this here music blog. I enjoyed the record so much that she even found her way into my top Artists of 2012.

Yesterday, the third video off Blown Away was released. I thought the album's title track and video were pretty dark, but WOW, Two Black Cadillacs makes Blown Away seem like All-American Girl. See for yourself.



I know we've been posting Idol footage, but that All-American Girl "joke" makes absolutely no sense if you've never seen the super sweet cavity causing video. Also, it's a cheap excuse for me to watch the video for the bazillionth time.

24 January 2013

24 January 2013 - Granville Automatic - Never On A Sunday & Glorieta (& Vanessa Olivarez - You Keep Me Hangin' On)

When I was watching Season 2 of American Idol, and enjoying Vanessa Olivarez (12th place - she was the 1st finalist eliminated, and I was angry about that), I never in a million years would have imagined that I'd be rediscovering her music ten years later.  But, as I was researching music for these two weeks of American Idol tribute, I did just that.

As lead vocalist (and harpsichordist) of Granville Automatic, Vanessa (along with Elizabeth Elkins) makes classic country music, with a warm southern feeling and a respect for history, musical and otherwise.  This song is lighthearted, and seems like it could have been written 75 years ago, or 2 weeks ago, sounding both fresh and classic.

Update (29 July 2020) - the original video is gone.  Here's a Sun Studio session version of the song instead.



Oh, the name of the band?  It's a 19th century typewriter.  Vanessa is a collector.  Who knew?

Update (10 Dec 2013): The duo finally made an official video for this song.  And CMT featured it on their front page, right here.  Of course, they're 11 months behind us.  Here's the new video.  It's a lot of fun.


Currently, the duo is working on a project - a crusade, almost - to keep (American) Civil War stories fresh.  This song, their latest, was written about a battle known as the Gettysburg of the West, in a town south of Santa Fe, New Mexico - Glorieta Pass, if you want to look it up. This project is a partnership with the Civil War Trust, who are concerned with preserving these classic, forgotten sites and protecting them from urban development.  I encourage you to go here and read more about their quest as it develops.  It's a really interesting read.  The song itself is deep in history, with a quiet, classic country feel.



And, since this is an American Idol week post, here is Vanessa, singing "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by The Supremes.  Back then, her hair was red, and her voice was huge.  Her voice still is huge, but she was already showing the raw talent that she would use for a greater good later.

23 January 2013

23 January 2013 - Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery

Only three more days left in the Wicked Guilty Pleasures American Idol Celebration. Thanks for over-indulging us. We'll be back to our usual nonsense next week. But let's keep the Idol love going . . .

OK, I'm totally going to cheat here, but it's pretty easy to put Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery together. The teens were the top two finalists in Season 10 and their debut records were released within a week of each other. Both have achieved moderate success on the country charts (Scotty, probably a bit more) and in my opinion, both have bright futures ahead of them in country music.

Let's start the video goodness with the second single from Lauren's 2011 debut Wildflower.



And now here's the latest single from Scotty's 2011 debut Clear as Day.