2009 - A Year of Great Music Part II (#60-51)

This post will now show the second part of my ongoing Year-End Countdown. Again, songs ranked from #75-41 are NOT RANKED ACCORDINGLY. So if you saw One Time by Justin Bieber ranked higher than Party In The U.S.A. by Miley Cyrus, do not cry blasphemy. Also, comments would be very appreciated. The banner image was made by my friend Katrina. Thanks again Katrina!

#60 Celebration – Madonna

From: Celebration

Madonna begins the Part 2 of the countdown with Celebration, one of only two (or three if the bonus track is to be considered) new tracks of her third greatest hits album which is also named Celebration. Celebration lets one see Madonna return to her dance roots. The only downside of the song is that the verses are actually bland. However, this should not stop one from enjoying the single.

#59 The Fire – Imogen Heap

From: Ellipse

Imogen Heap’s instrumental, The Fire, makes it into the countdown. The Fire is simply great. Every element just falls into place for this song. The way the song was played by Imogen Heap is sheer genius. I rarely like instrumentals but this one left me amazed.

#58 Delusional – Simon Curtis

I only knew Simon Curtis thanks to Ken from The Beat Review. Delusional is one awesome pop record possessing a sick beat and what makes it good is that it is also relevant and fresh. I do not agree that Simon Curtis is the male Lady GaGa. He still has a long way to go from making that happen in my honest opinion. Still, Delusional is a must-have for any music lover out there.

#57 Crying Lightning – Arctic Monkeys

From: Humbug

The Arctic Monkeys never cease to impress. Their material is simply like no other. Crying Lightning really impressed me. The sound of this song is terrific. This song only proved that bands from Europe tend to produce a more awesome sound than their American counterparts.

#56 Never Say Never – The Fray

From: The Fray

Never Say Never is one of the best singles out of the band from Denver’s latest self-titled album. Isaac Slade’s vocals are really brilliant in this song. The distinct piano sound that only The Fray can give is also present. Never Say Never also got featured in the film Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’s soundtrack. Sheer genius.

#55 Get On Your Boots – U2

From: No Line On The Horizon

As an avid U2 fan, I was left a little bit disappointed after listening to the Irish band’s latest outing. I have got to admit though that Get On Your Boots got me hooked. The Edge’s chord work again does wonders. Of course, Bono would not be outdone as he show that he still can do it.

#54 Friday I’ll Be Over U – Allison Iraheta

From: Just Like You

Allison Iraheta’s first single after her Idol career is uh-may-zing. The girl can certainly rock it out and this song shows why. Ms. Iraheta’s got a bright future ahead of me. I just hope she sustains all the momentum  that she could get out of her first album.

#53 Before The Worst – The Script

From: The Script

Though not really as impressive as The Man Who Can’t Be Moved, Before The Worst manages to retain that quality which only the Irish band can give. Listening to Danny O’Donoghue’s rapping absolutely made the song a keeper in my opinion. The song is definitely worth listening.

#52 Forever Is Over – The Saturdays

From: Wordshaker

The Saturdays’ attempt at recording a rock song paid off. However, as I have said before, Forever Is Over is not the best track from The Saturdays’ latest offering. The song is simply good but not outstanding. There is a clear difference between the two.

#51 Gravity – Sara Bareilles

From: Little Voice

Sara Bareilles is definitely one of the best artists I have ever heard. Period. Alongside the Grammy-nominated Love Song and the equally awesome One Sweet Love, Gravity is one of my personal favorites in Bareilles’ Little Voice album. A song filled with intense emotion and class definitely deserves to be in my countdown, no doubt.

This wraps up the Part II of my countdown. Part III will also be posted this week. Comments will be appreciated.

[Via http://tehdgenerate.wordpress.com]

[December, 1989] The End of the 80's As We Know It

May the new decade bring better fashion and music choices.

12/31/89

Dear Journal,

New Years Eve!!

I can’t wait until later tonight! I am going to my cousins house for a party. (Anna’s)

Yesterday Mitchell didn’t call me so I went shopping and got these amazing “New Kids on the Block” jeans! They are so cool! I absolutely love them! Later!

This is quite possibly the only time the words “New Kids on the Block” and “so cool” were used in the same sentence together.

As a new decade was about to dawn on us, did I take those last moments to reflect on the last ten colorful years? Did I ponder what the dawn of the 1990’s might bring? No and no. Instead I enthused over a pair of acid washed pants with airbrushed graffiti on them spelling out “New Kids on the Block” in bubble letters down one of the legs and the band members down the other. (I have scoured the Internet looking for a comparable photo, but there isn’t one, which can only mean they were one of a kind. Thank heavens for that.)

I could try to defend myself by saying that not hearing from Mitchell caused some sort of fashion temporary insanity. Because there’s retail therapy and then there’s retail suicide. The truth is, I was briefly a fan of this boy band (Joey was my favorite, in case you’re wondering, which you probably aren’t). My taste in music and clothing would take another few years to improve, but at least I ended the decade on a sufficiently tacky and colorful note.

As for the end of the 80’s, I always thought I was born ten years too late. While I was blessed with some fantastic cartoons and sit-coms (Thundercats, Jem & The Holograms, The Facts of Life, Perfect Strangers, Diff’rent Strokes… my definition of “fantastic” is probably not the same as yours), I missed out on a lot of the pop culture being so young. Sure, I had the enormous hair and wore enough shoulderpads to stand in for a quarterback, but I never got to get tarted up like Lucky-Star-era Madonna back then. Wearing fingerless lace gloves a decade later just wasn’t the same. And sure, in recent years I ended up seeing a lot of the new wave and post-punk bands I was too young to appreciate back then (Pet Shop Boys, Sisters of Mercy, Duran Duran, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Human League, etc.) but it would have been really special to see them in their heyday.

I think a lot of people feel out of time in their era. I was a reluctant participant of the 90’s and will always feel like I was stuck with a bum decade to come of age in. And as a another new decade is about to roll in I can’t imagine what kids growing up today will contend with. All I can wonder is whether we’ll ever get those damn flying cars.

In the meantime, I hope somebody out there is tinkering with and putting the finishing touches on a time machine that will one day let me return to the 1980’s and experience it in person again, this time as an adult. I’m sure I’ve glamorized that time period far too much in my mind, and maybe it’s best left in those nostalgic corners. Still, a girl can hold out hope.

[Via http://metadiary.wordpress.com]

Michael Jackson's feeling about Madonna:Rabbi Shmuley Boteach Tapes

Michael Jackson in a 9 year-old filmed interview with his friend Rabbi Shmuley Boteach says-

“I think she (Madonna) likes shock value and she knows how to push buttons on people. I think she was sincerely in love with me and I was not in love with her. She did a lot of crazy things. I knew we had nothing in common.

“She is not sexy at all. I think sexy comes form the heart in the way you present yourself.”

“They admire you and know you are wonderful and great because they are jealous, because they wish they were in your shoes. Madonna is one of them. She is jealous. She is a girl, a woman and I think that’s what bothers her…

“I get the fainting and adulation and she doesn’t.”

Michael also claims Madonna was very cold to a young child who approached their table for an autograph.

the conversations were reportedly taped in 2000 and 2001

[Via http://patrishka.wordpress.com]

madonna for dolce & gabbana: summer 2010.

Although I wasn’t a fan Madonna’s ads for Louis Vuitton, I’m loving these images shot by Steven Klein from her Summer 2010 campaign with Dolce & Gabbana (up now on their online magazine Swide). She’s channeling her inner Italian — a noticeable attitude, voluptuous bosom, and even a bit of that gritty 1980s Madonna that made her who she is today.

Peeped first at Les Mads.

[Via http://thefunctionkey.com]

The Blog To Expose Kevin Kinane(K.K)

I never do this and its about one of my good friends brother,
He has been looking for this blog since September this freak needs to be given exactly what he does
If he can’t take what he gives then he should just shut up and eat his emotions just like his sister (E.K)
Now I have nothing against (E.K) I don’t know her but she is sometimes the main material for some of my jokes that I don’t mean or direct at her she is just a person that could fill the person gap otherwise I would be saying she opened up we would have a white christmas” whereas its funnier like this “If Eleanor Kinane opened up for christmas we would have a white christmas” because it doesn’t sound schizophrenic.

Now this so-called teenager is anything else but
He’s short
Insecure
Believes in santa
Fux teacher’s
Makes everyone feel bad about themselves
A schosiopath
A hypocrite
A masturbator
A devious slut
A pedophile(his ex-girlfriend was 4 years old and they broke up on her 3rd birthday cause he thinks she was too old)/(ok maybe that ones a lie)
But everything else written is as it is that’s his personality
I would like to be thought of as a creative freak and funny and a good person and not like anything he is I would hate to be like that and yes you are probably saying no good person would blog like this ir talk about a friends sister
1) I asked my friends permission to make fun of his sister and he said yes because she is evil towards him
2) What Kevin Kinane does is not nice and I want everyone to know what he is like because there is no way that I would want to be surrounded by people who believe that he is so diligent and amazing they would eat the shit off of his shoe(well do anything for him basically)

Comment or whatever
Thanks

Wanna follow me on twitter

From Colin

[Via http://colinofficial.wordpress.com]

Charmingly Blue

W magazine March 2009

by Hannah Molette

So who’s this muscular, curly-haired, blue-eyed guy that Madonna’s been gleaning the spotlight with lately?  And why has he been invited to all the A-list parties? And what has his life been like since he moved to the US a year ago?

Wondering what we’re talking about? Check out his sexy photos with Madonna in W magazines, March 2009 edition, what a hunk!  22-year old Brazilian born model Jesus Luz , is hotter than burning flame in a winter fireplace.  Proper pronunciation is “Zhay-ZOOSE  Loose” according to NY Times article “For Madonna’s Boyfriend, Fame by Association.”  It appears that the two have been together since the shoot. 

Sergio Matto’s, his former agent says the model is unreachable and has changed numbers. Jesus  recently signed with Ford Models in New York and has appeared walking the run-way in Dolce and Gabana’s Spring 2009 show.

Like two matching candles, Jesus and Madonna are both into Kabbalah.  In the NY Times article, in reference to his Kabbalah faith, he states, “I’m looking for something to make me comfortable and happy in my life.”  Jesus was introduced to Kabbalah by an ex-girl friend.

After establishing second career, Jesus was getting paid $15,000 for a DJ gig shortly after his enrollment in a Manhattan based DJ school.

No stranger to the term “Cougar”, Madonna turned 51 on her birthday this past August and celebrated, according to the NY Times article, with a party in Italy, at which Jesus was invited to attend.

Mr. Luz like his name, is currently reveling in the spot “light”

To read the NY Times Article click here.

[Via http://hannahavonblog.wordpress.com]

The Lady In My Life

[Via http://lacienegasmiled.wordpress.com]

All About Eve

Adam Lambert’s music video for his single “For Your Entertainment” has been released.

The video is exactly what I mean when I say Adam is boring.

The video centers around an underground world of dark sexuality.

Of course what imagery do they use to symbolize dangerous sexuality – Eve.

How do I say this? Using Eve is common, banal, cliche, humdrum, and insipid

Eve imagery is the most overused fallback in pop music.

Probably the most iconic Eve embodiment is Britney Spears at the MTV’s Video Music Awards.

Aalyiah also works the snake in “We Need a Resolution.”

Destiny’s Child wanders around the forest in skimpy outfits for “Survivor.”

Jennifer Lopez also evokes natural, animalistic sex appeal in “Waiting for Tonight” – which reminds me an awful lot like “For Your Entertainment.”

And if you want to talk about music videos about underground “Dirrty” sex, look no further than Christina Aguilera,

or Lady Gaga’s “Love Game.”

Britney Spears’s “If U Seek Amy” is a personal favorite since it plays on the idea that a good woman should be a hyper-sexual in the home but wholesome out in the public sphere. Because really the only thing better than Eve imagery is the use of the virgin/whore dichotomy – i.e. what made Britney a millionaire.

To a lesser degree there is also Janet Jackson’s “All Nite,”

Rihanna’s “Disturbia,”

Justin Timberlake’s Sexyback,”

Enrique Iglesias’s “Tired of Being Sorry,”

Lindsay Lohan in a club, locked in a cage in her “Rumors” video,

and the end of Madonna’s “Hung Up”

LASTLY – Adam’s song sounds an awful lot like Sam Sparro’s “Black and Gold.” And Sparro works a cane much better than Adam in his video. Watch Sam’s video here.

Come on Adam – give me something new, give me something interesting.

[Via http://modernengendering.wordpress.com]

Entertainment: Pushing the Envelope?

I feel like I need to rant.  I’m probably going to upset some people, but if I do, I will take the kicking.  If I can dish it out, I can take it in return.

What is it about entertainers who feel the need to “push the envelope”?  Especially when historically, pushing the envelope seems to be all about sex?

Is this about Adam Lambert?  Only in part.  Is it about Adam Lambert being gay?  Not at all.  What is it about?  I guess, in a nut shell, it’s about sexually charged “entertainment” on television.

Adam wasn’t the first entertainer to cause controversy.  Remember Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction?  How about Madonna sharing an open mouthed kiss with Christian Aguilera and Britney Spears?  Then there was Sinead O’Connor and her attack against the Catholic Church (ok, this one was sexual, but political).  How many people remember the controversy that Jim Morrison of the Doors caused when he not so mistakenly sang the original lyrics to “Light My Fire” after agreeing not to? (which ok, wasn’t sex related but drug related, but maybe still sex related because the line in the song referred to a girl).

Maybe you will see me as an old fogey or something, or simply to conservative, but over the top sex, drugs and political messages do not belong on National Television where the younger citizens can see it, and perhaps be influenced by it.

I have to agree with TV Critic Jack Gould, back in 1965 when he commented about Elvis Presley’s gyrating.  “It isn’t about censorship, which solves nothing.  It’s about common sense.”

Really, I couldn’t agree more.

I didn’t watch the AMA award show.  Why?  Frankly because, although I love music, I have become increasingly tired of watching senseless over-indulgence in the name of entertainment.

I’m not a big fan of Adam Lambert, I don’t like his style of music.  But if I were, and I went to one of his concerts, I might have been shocked by a similar act, but ok, I paid for a ticked so I get what I pay for.  But to know that so many younger children saw that performance on television frankly makes me ill.

The other people I mentioned?  I feel the same way, except for maybe the one about The Doors, but maybe back then I would have felt the same.

The problem is this.  I have enough trouble trying to teach my child that sexually based entertainment isn’t an accurate portrayal of sex as it is.  I don’t need some entertainer, citing free speech, showing their breast, gyrating like a loon, endorsing drugs, or depicting sexual material, especially when it’s so “alternative lifestyle” like bondage fueled performances.  Frankly, I would hate the dreaded question from my pre-teen (which I no longer have by the way, she is grown) of, daddy why is that woman kissing that woman, or that man kissing that man, or even why is that guy leading that guy around on a leash like a dog?

These types of things are inappropriate to the general public.  You want to do it in one of your concerts, fine.  Go right ahead.  At least then I have a choice of paying to see it.  When I’m watching a live performance on television, I don’t have a choice of seeing it and if you’re an entertainer, pay attention.  I don’t want to see crap like that.  Many people don’t.  Many people do, but it shouldn’t be forced on me, or my chosen lifestyle.  If I can’t force you to stop participating in drug fueled sexual parties, then I shouldn’t be forced to participate in them.  Get it?

Come on people.  Try waking up a little.  How far are we going to go with this?  Are we going to keep pushing the envelope so much that sex becomes nothing but a thoughtless act?  Or drugs to become acceptable?  Or political gestures of any kind common place?

That’s not entertainment, it’s destruction.  Destruction of common sense, morality, decency, and general entertainment.

Maybe it’s time there was a little censorship.  I don’t normally agree with censorship, but I think if people can’t have the decency to act appropriate in situations like this, something must be done.

And you know what really ticks me off?  If I was an entertainer, and I stood up after my performance on National Television, and started preaching about Christ, and Sin, I would have been run out of town.  But it’s ok to act like a deranged sexual deviant, or attack religion, or endorse things that are illegal.

Does that make sense?  Not to me.

So I guess I will close with this.  If you are an entertainer, keep your kinks to the appropriate venue and to the society in general, wake up and stop supporting those who refuse.

~ Kev

[Via http://kevriley.wordpress.com]

RocknRolla

Guy Ritchie en noviembre del año pasado se divorció de Madonna. Esta peli fue lanzada en diciembre del año pasado pero su lanzamiento estaba preparado para octubre. No sólo el lanzamiento fue el más afectado en la peli creo Ritchie como director tiene un producto iconoclasta que raya muy fuerte en esta ocación con aburrimiento y poca sorpresa.

Una peli sin ritmo, sin un protagonista claro, sin una consistencia bien establecida, una historia medianamente hilada pero con todos sus personajes súper desarticulados. La mayoría de la peli viene sin audio protagonista y es precisamente cuando hay un “flashback” o momento recordado en el pasado de la historia cuando se muestra el robo a los rusos donde se prende la banda sonora y volvemos a recordar que es una peli del director, con humor negro, excelentes tomas, valga la repetición, una muy buena banda sonora.

El reparto tampoco es el mismo equipo de siempre de Ritchie, se siente la falta de su actor fetiche Jason Statham que aunque encasillado en el mismo papel siempre es mejor narrador que Mark Strong o Gerard Butler quien está completamente perdido en la historia. El reparto lo encierran el magnífico Tom Wilkinson que es el que medianamente salva la peli y la bellísima Thandie Newton que definitivamente paga la boleta o, en mi caso el alquiler.

No es más lo que se pueda decir de esta peli más allá que los créditos son hermosamente manufacturados y que esperemos que esté completamente recuperado de su divorcio para que Sherlock su siguiente peli sea más interesante.

[Via http://miguelvaca.wordpress.com]