Author: David Medsker (Page 61 of 96)

DMed’s Video of the Week: Paula Abdul, “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow”

February 22, 2008 /

We see them outside our office, angry people carrying pitchforks, torches, and signs that say “Limey Go Home.” Someone from Votefortheworst.com is at the front. People are jumping on the “American Idol”-bashing bandwagon left and right. And frankly, we’re tempted to join them.

But not quite yet.

Yes, we’re still mad as hell that “the public” chose Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks over the clearly superior Melinda Doolittle. I, for one, have stopped watching the show after last season’s finale, and I’m pretty sure that if Mike Farley didn’t have to blog it for us, he would have stopped watching too after Mindy Doo’s ouster. Not good timing, then, for Randy Jackson’s Music Club Vol. I, where the onetime Journey bassist plays Clive Davis for a day and assembles a compilation album filled with the top of the pops. His leadoff single – whether he wanted it to be or not – is fellow “AI” judge Paula Abdul and her song “Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow.” It’s her first single in 12 years. Things have, um, changed a little since then. How will she adapt?

Much to my surprise, rather well.

Adbul only had a couple of really killer singles – “Knocked Out,” “The Way That You Love Me” and “Cold Hearted” were my personal favorites – so to compare this to the rest of her work is pointless; most of that stuff just wasn’t very good. This song isn’t great either, but it’s also not exactly terrible, which Paula should take as a major victory. Even more surprising is the video, which features some of the neatest choreography I’ve ever seen. The whole singer/backing dancer stuff has been done to death, but Paula does something different here. Most of the time, they move like a single organism. It’s pretty damn cool.

The other two set pieces, however, do not fare so well. The shots of her with the band look laughably inauthentic. They’re clearly here so Randy can pluck a little bass, but there is just no way those musicians are making the sound we’re hearing (especially that ridiculous drummer). The other set piece is a close-up of Paula in what appears to be a wind tunnel with red drapes. She’s always looking to the left and right of the camera, as if she’s forgotten the lyrics and she’s trying to find the teleprompter. Not her best money shot.

But still, we had every reason to expect something as god-awful as that Gwen Stefani yodeling song, and Paula delivered something that, if not genre-busting, is better than it has a right to be. So good for her. I’m still not watching “American Idol,” though.

American Idol, Artists, Pop, Radio, Rock Babes, Seen Your Video, Songs, Videos

DMed’s Video of the Week: Panic at the Disco, “Nine in the Afternoon”

February 15, 2008 /

Holy shit. I take back everything I ever said about this band.

And believe me, I said some bad, bad stuff. From the band’s name (who the hell puts an exclamation point in the middle of their band name, besides !!!, of course) to their laughable, overlong, pretentious song titles – “The Only Difference between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage,” “Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have without Taking Her Clothes Off,” “There’s a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered Honey, You Just Haven’t Thought of It Yet,” are you fucking kidding me? – the band was a giant punch line to me from the word ‘go.’ And then, when I mistakenly found myself at their stage instead of the Eels’ stage at Lollapalooza 2006, I hated them even more. That last part wasn’t their fault, of course, but I blamed them anyway.

At the same time, there were signs that the band was not quite the hackfest that I thought they were. The Dresden Dolls – love the Dolls or hate ‘em, they’re nobody’s bitches, which is a huge plus in their favor – shot a hilarious video featuring them trying to kill each member of Panic, something they couldn’t and wouldn’t have done without a) the band’s blessing, and b) thinking they were cool guys. So the Dresden Dolls like Panic at the Disco. What do they see that I don’t?

Apparently, it is not what they had seen but what they had heard, namely “Nine in the Afternoon.”

If the members of Panic at the Disco tell you they have not heard Twelve Stops and Home, the awesome 2007 album from the Feeling, they are filthy, filthy liars. “Nine in the Afternoon,” the lead single from Panic at the Disco’s forthcoming album Pretty. Odd (the band may have removed exclamation point from their name, but they are clearly still hung up on inappropriate punctuation), is that entire Feeling album rolled into one awesome song. It’s positively bursting at the seams with ideas, odd time signatures, and harmonies, harmonies, harmonies. It’s grandiose, magnificent stuff, but it begs the question: if they were capable of doing this from the very beginning, why the hell didn’t they?

Sadly, I think I know the answer to that question: survival.

Look at the extreme makeovers we’ve seen in the last couple years. My Chemical Romance makes their name writing snotty songs about how they’re not okay, but the second the label begins to believe in them, they make a Pink Floyd record (The Black Parade). Fall Out Boy, who’s been kicked around more than anyone, actually drew comparisons to Def Leppard with their last album (fuck you if you think that’s a bad thing). Panic, clearly liberated by these bands’ ability to survive on their own terms, decided that if My Chemical Romance can be Floyd, they can be the Beatles. Or Jellyfish, or the Feeling, or all of the above rolled into one.

But here’s the scary question: are new bands afraid to be themselves for fear they won’t get signed, so they pretend to be some trendy, here-today-gone-today band for the sake of a contract, only to show their true colors once they’ve roped in an adoring fan base? Would Panic and My Chemical Romance have been showing their love for the Beatles, Queen and Pink Floyd from the very beginning had they thought it was an option? God, I hope that’s not the case, but it would certainly explain a lot.

Still, better late than never, I suppose, so huzzah to Panic at the Disco for showing us what they’re really made of. I’m now dying to hear their new record. They even shortened the song titles this time around. Will miracles never cease?

Alternative, Pop, Rock, Seen Your Video, Songs, Videos

DMed’s Video of the Week: Rocko, “Umma Do Me”

February 8, 2008 /

Say hello to Atlanta rapper Rocko, who has apparently spent years writing, producing and developing major label talent (though curiously, the press release does not name a single one of these artists). He makes his solo debut with a song called, no joke, “Umma Do Me.” The press release goes on to talk about how Rocko is at “the forefront of the new Southern movement in hip-hop where business acumen and consumer awareness reign supreme.”


Scene from the “Umma Do Me” video

Uh huh. So that’s why he spends the entire video throwing Monopoly money at the camera? Or up into the air at the club? Because of his business acumen? Which is it, Rocko, are you a savvy businessman and phony playa, or splashy pimp with no fiscal common sense whatsoever? You can’t have it both ways, dawg. Guys who make it rain in da club are clowns, and eventually, they’re broke clowns. As for consumer awareness, doesn’t that just mean that Rocko knows what sells, and is pandering to the lowest common denominator for a buck? In other words, he doesn’t stand for anything more than making money. That’s not an example of business savvy. It just means he’s willing to whore himself.

Now, let’s talk about the lyrics. I’m no hip-hop scholar, but I’ve heard enough to know that this is lazy, lazy shit.

“I’m from the old school, you’re from the new school / My old school costs more than your new school”
“You really like her, you might wife her / I don’t like her, so I one-night her”
“You in my rear view, yeah, you history / First to second, two seconds, I love a six speed.”

I want to call up Chuck D and read these to him, just to see how angry it makes him. Here it is, bam! Chuck would say, “God damn! This is a wack jam.”

Now for my favorite part: the following line repeats during every chorus:

“Wanna see how’s it done? Watch me do me.”

Is this song an ode to self-love? If he’s doing himself, is that slang for masturbation? Naw, dude, I don’t want to watch you do you.

Ah, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the comments on the video’s YouTube page (embedding, sadly, is disabled). Check out these gold-star props Rocko has received from his fans:

“nigga killed sayin u might wife her i one night her killin it. do what it do”

“This song is da shit! I just do me all day everyday!!Baby just rep yaself and where you from dont worry bout all des otha haters. they jus bitches”

I, on the other hand, will side with the following comment:

“haha do yaself bra! junior varsity shit nigga”

Enough of this phony gangster bullshit, already. No one’s impressed. Enjoy the moment while it lasts, Rocko, because your moment in the sun will be fleeting and unpleasant. For everyone.

To watch the video, click here.

External Music, Lyrics, Rap, Seen Your Video, Songs, Videos

Deep Cuts: The Clash

February 6, 2008 /

(Written by Una Persson)

For a band that was together for only 10 years, The Clash looms large in rock music history. They were one of the most successful bands to come out of the original wave of British punk rock in the late ‘70s, stand as icons for the entire punk rock movement (along with the Sex Pistols, of course), and, unlike most of their punk peers, could actually play their instruments. They also eschewed the nihilism and anarchy of many of their contemporaries for a more politicized, highly charged left-wing lyrical and ideological stance. Their seminal London Calling makes rock critics and Top Whatever list makers swoon. They only struck gold in America toward the end, with “Should I Stay or Should I Go” and “Rock the Casbah,” but from the outset, The Clash infused their brand of punk with a variety of other musical styles, from ska, reggae and dub to rockabilly, jazz, dance and anything else they thought would fit their punky musical stew. In fact, this edition of Deep Cuts takes a deep dive into one of those musical styles: The Clash, reggae-stylee.

“Police & Thieves” – The Clash
Junior Murvin and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s mid-‘70s international club hit was recorded almost as an afterthought when The Clash were recording their first album (the band used to fool around with it in rehearsals), but it stands as one of the first instances of a rock band integrating reggae into their mix (the very first being Eric Clapton’s version of Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff” in 1974). Lots of first-wave British punks loved reggae and dub; The Clash were one of the few bands who actually incorporated it into their repertoire (one of the few bands of that era that had the musical chops to pull it off, most likely).

“(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais” – The Clash
First released as a single, and only included on the US version of The Clash’s debut album, Joe Strummer’s commentary on multi-culturalism, violence, race relations, class distinctions and other state-of-Britain affairs showed the band to be already head-and-shoulders above their punk brethren both musically and politically. The slow reggae burn throughout most of the song is decidedly different fodder than their early fans had already gotten used to from the band.

Give ‘Em Enough Rope
A decent album, not their worst (Cut the Crap holds that distinction) but far from their best, marred as it is with heavy-handed production and mixing. But, sorry, nothing even remotely reggae-sounding on any of the tracks.

“Wrong ‘Em Boyo” – London Calling
A revisiting of the Stagger Lee myth set to a rollicking ska beat.

“The Guns of Brixton” – London Calling
A sick dread skank, and the band’s first real experiment with dub (a reggae offshoot that overemphasizes the bass and drums, and blends in myriad other sounds and production and engineering techniques not part of a reggae song that evinces punk’s political violence.

To view the rest of the Clash deep cuts, click here.

Alternative, Artists, Deep Cuts, External Music, Pop, Rock, Songs

DMed’s Video of the Week: Kylie Minogue, “Wow”

February 1, 2008 /

Note to Gwen Stefani: This is what your solo records should sound like.
Note to the United States: What the fuck is wrong with you?

Kylie Minogue has gone to Number One in every major country in the world…except for the US. Here, she has two Top Ten singles (which are also her only two Top 20 singles). In England, she has seven Number One singles, 30 Top Tens, and 40 Top 20 singles. Forty. Here, two. Jesus.

We really want to think that she notches her third Top 20 hit with “Wow,” from her upcoming album X. This is catchy as all hell, and Idolator summed it up perfectly when they described the style as stormtrooper chic. Was Daft Punk involved with this song? That EQ fade-out at the end certainly sounds like something from their Alive 2007 set. Give it to me, baby. Uh huh, uh huh.

Artists, Electronica, External Music, Pop, Rock Babes, Seen Your Video, Songs, Videos

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