The Jeff Hostetler of Blogs


I only deal in awesome links:
| Buy me stuff | The definitive games list | ILX (come back!) | #1 site of all time | Know the canon | Amazing labor of love | Japanese pop chart resource | Comedic genius |

Blogs:
| Armchair Civ | Slightly below "Some Dude" status | Live Shit: Binge & Purge | BloggaPlease | 33 1/3 |

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

 
I'm not exactly a huge fan of Rachel Stevens, but being on the X Producer Watch 24/7 means I have to follow her output and support her whenever I can. Lately some people, including myself, have been bitching about her version of Alexis Strum's "Nothing Good About This Goodbye". Well guess what? They fixed it! Sort of. Despite what some of her fans are thinking, it certainly DOES sound different from the early promo leaks. For the album version, they've reinserted the original intro, added a pretty piano melody at the end, and constructed a clever little drop out from the first chorus. It seems the rhythm has a bit more punch to it now and the bass has some extra bite, giving it a slightly more sinister presence. There's still nothing good about her vocals (sorry, a little harsh, couldn't help myself), but hey, I'm happy I can go back to liking this song without the shameful denigrating.

As for the album, I'd say it's solid and purchase worthy, though not spectacular. As far as quality 21st century pop albums go, it's better than Justified and the first three Sugababes albums. We're probably somewhere in the same ballpark as the first Girls Aloud album or Kylie's Fever, perhaps just a grade below, for whatever that's worth.

- posted by Shane @ 12:21 AM
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Thursday, October 06, 2005

 
This post is going to be about music. That means, if recent trends are to believed, there's roughly a 50% chance this will be about Girls Aloud. Strange, seeing that I've listened to a wider variety of artists in the past year than at any other time in my life and all I can write about is one band.

Girls Aloud - "Biology"

So anyway, a radio rip of "Biology" just leaked today and it's pretty weird. It sounds like four songs in one, as if someone invented a time machine and decided to indulge in some era-jumping genre tourism. Things kick off with a spiffy late 50's/early 60's piano boogie complete with commanding show tune diva power singing. It then quietly transitions into something reminiscent of the buildup in one of those old Meatloaf rock epics. While not totally oversung like those, there's a similar excessive build in drama and earnestness that borders on the ridiculous. I actually don't mind this bit, as I see it more as humored role playing rather than dumb reckless songwriting. In a bit of a swerve, instead of bursting into a huge, massive chorus like we'd expect, the song now devolves into this expressionless "let's all sing like we've been lobotomized" Bananarama pastiche. We don't actually get to a real chorus until well over halfway in (!!!) and when we do, it's Nadine belting out lines about biology and magic numbers and stuff. It's not really apparent on first listen, but there's something inexplicably odd about this song. I can't think of anything else that seems so out of left field and yet still sounds so superficially derivative. Honestly, I wouldn't fault anyone for completely dismissing "Biology" as a ramshackle, haphazard mess, because it is. But it's also ambitious, creative, and different. When all is said and done, I'm either going to see this as blinding genius or the worst non-cover Girls Aloud single ever.

(disclaimer: evaluating radio rips is always sort of jumping the gun)

- posted by Shane @ 9:40 PM
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Tuesday, October 04, 2005

 
Bono's got pull

- posted by Shane @ 11:44 PM
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Saturday, October 01, 2005

 
Biggest band since Oasis? According to this, the Arctic Monkeys are going to be huge whether you like it or not. Better jump on the bandwagon before it fills up. From what I've heard, I don't think I'll be needing a seat.

- posted by Shane @ 10:15 PM
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