Category: Adult Contemporary (Page 2 of 16)

Bullz-Eye’s Top Ten Music Moments of 2010: Staff Writer Rob Smith’s Picks

December 6, 2010 /

In my mind, 2010 will be remembered more for moments of strangeness, oddity, and lessened expectation, than it will be for transcendent music. The throwaway nature of pop has never been more transient or incidental; technology enables us to hear as much as we want and, by the sheer volume of those possibilities, to actively listen as little as we ever have. How else to explain Ke$ha and the Glee cast recordings, much less the continuing nonsense of Black Eyed Peas? Raise your hand if you think Bruno Mars or Rihanna are still going to be churning out hits ten years from now, or that Katy Perry (more about her below) will still be squeezing into latex after she and her pasty Brit hubby have two or three little Russells to contend with, and things start saggin’.

I will remember 2010 for several key moments:

Top 10 Music Moments of 2010

1. The Roots, Being the Roots. Are they the best band on the planet? It’s hard to argue when their versatility is put on display every weeknight, and when they reiterate their overall excellence by turning out two of the best records of the year (How I Got Over and Wake Up, with John Legend).

2. Dio, Chilton Die. We lost metal’s gentle sorcerer (Ronnie James Dio) and Big Star’s genius-in-residence (Alex Chilton) within a few months of one another. May they both rock in peace.

3. “The Bed Intruder Song.” Some television producer obviously thought putting Antoine Dodson’s rant on the evening news would make for amusing viewing. Add Autotune, YouTube, and stir, and you have the most unlikely viral hit of the year.

4. Michael Jackson single: Real or Fake? It’s him. Not even Sony would be so dumb as to taint their posthumous cash cow by trying to pawn off a soundalike as the man himself. It’s too easy to get caught. Until MJ rises from the dead (which I firmly believe will happen), this is how he’ll stay in the headlines.

5. ICP’s “Miracles” Video. There is no WTF moment from 2010 nearly as WTF as this WTF moment.

6. Katy Perry’s Breasts Make Videos. Perry’s videos display the two things she does best: making catchy singles and showing off her breastuses. Not since chocolate and peanut butter were mixed by H.B. Reese has a combination worked so well.

7. Rush Become Movie Stars. Who’da thunk the kimono-wearin’, prog-playin’, not-very-pretty Canucks who made Hemispheres and 2112 would ever be so compelling on film? They’re funny, charming, and have more inside jokes than you and your seventh-grade buddies did.

8. Tyler to Idol. It is my fervent hope that Steven Tyler’s defection to television does what 20 years of shitty Aerosmith records was unable to do—namely, stick a fork in a band that has rattled on long past its expiration date.

9. Bret Michael Survives. Dude’s got nine lives. Twenty-five years of groupies, lite metal, drugs, booze, and more groupies has to be good for you.

10. Quasi release “Bye Bye Blackbird.” It’s been in their set for a while, but to hear it on American Gong was something of a revelation. Play it loud enough, and you will be moved. Maybe out of your shoes.

Adult Contemporary, Alternative, Documentaries, Funk, Hip Hop, Lists, Metal, Pop, Power Pop, Progressive, Punk, R&B, Rap, Rock, Soul

Bullz-Eye’s Best of 2010: Staff Writer Scott Malchus’ picks

December 6, 2010 /

Each year, when I sort through my favorite songs, I have trouble ranking them because each one has a different meaning to me. I always wind up creating a mixtape (or a playlist, for you younger readers) of those songs and arrange them so that the music flows like a great album or concert set. Without further ado, here’s my mix of the twenty songs I returned to for repeated listens throughout 2010.

“Fade Like a Shadow,” KT Tunstall
Tunstall continues to produce pop gems that are spirited, bright and full of life. This single from her latest, Tiger Suit, has everything you want in a single: a passionate delivery, a great melodic hook, and a unique rhythm that helps it stand out from other songs. A great way to kick off a mix tape.

“I Should Have Known It,” Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
The lead single from Mojo has that vintage Petty snarl and bite. The rest of the album may be a mixed bag, but this great rocker builds to kick-ass guitar jam and stands up with some of their best.

“Baby,” Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris
I make no excuses for liking this guilty pleasure. When a song reminds you of your kids, it becomes a favorite whether it’s cool or not. Plus, come on, Luda’s rap is pretty choice.

“The Weary Kind,” Ryan Bingham
“Crazy Heart” was a great movie and Jeff Bridges was definitely worthy of his Academy Award, but the film wouldn’t have succeeded if the song Bridges’ character, Bad Blake, wrote in the film, wasn’t perfect. Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett wrote that perfect song in the form of “The Weary Kind” and Bingham captures everything about Bad Blake and delivers it in his performance of the Oscar winning composition.

“Cuckoo,” Lissie
My big discovery this year was Lissie’s, Catching a Tiger, a collection of lovely melodies combined with the singer’s remarkable voice. “Cuckoo” is the song I played most from the album. It’s one of the finest expressions of being a teenager and feeling like an outcast that I’ve heard in years.

“Can I Change My Mind,” Stone River Boys
Guitarist Dave Gonzalez and singer Mike Barfield, aka the Stone River Boys, blend Memphis soul, Austin blues and old time country for music they like to call country funk. Their cover of Roy Buchanan’s  “Can I Change My Mind,” conjures images of warm summer evenings with my family and friends, the grill cookin’ steaks, the kids playing corn hole, and the cooler stocked with ice cold beer.

“Fuck You,” Cee Lo Green
Besides being one of the catchiest songs of the year, and also one of the slickest, there’s an emotional side to “Fuck You,” that taps into the wounded heart of every young guy who’s been jilted or turned down by the girl of his dreams. Show the dejected face of that kid, and I guarantee he’s thinking everything that Cee-Lo is singing on this damn fine song.

“Crash Years,” The New Pornographers
Neko Case and her band mates reconvene for another great jangly rock song. My favorite whistle solo of the year.

“The Power of the Heart,” Peter Gabriel
Gabriel does a cover of Lou Reed and creates magic.

“My Brand New Day,” Michael Stanley
Stanley is a musical icon in Cleveland whose height of popularity was  the ’70s and early ’80s. These days he’s a well-loved DJ for Cleveland’s classic rock station, but he continues to write and record music.  This unabashedly romantic up-tempo rocker somehow found its way to my favorite L.A. station and made my spring much brighter.

“Bring It On,” The Gaslight Anthem
These Jersey boys shed the Springsteen label with an intense album, American Slang. Although lead singer Brian Fallon received the lion’s share of the press, the album is truly a band effort, best exemplified on this phenomenal track. Drummer Benny Horowitz lays down a tight, solid foundation, bassist Alex Levine holds the song together like glue, and lead guitarist Alex Rosamilia uses his instrument like a second voice, as it sings a counter melody to Fallon’s vocals.

“January Wedding,” The Avett Brothers
The Avetts certainly know how to rock out with their acoustic guitars, bass and banjos, but they also have the ability to pull back, as they do on this lovely ballad from their album, I and Love and You.

“He’s Not a Boy,” The Like
Capturing the joy and harmonies of ’60s girls groups and blending it with the edginess and short precision of the British Invasion, the Like, had one of the most biting and danceable records of the year. Listening to “He’s Not a Boy” makes my head bounce, my foot tap, and makes me happy that I’m not the subject of lead singer Z Berg’s biting words.

“Wake Up Everybody,” John Legend & the Roots, featuring Common and Melanie Fiona
Teaming up with the Roots, the most important band in popular music right now, John Legend takes a brief respite from being the utmost authority on love to record Wake Up!, a collection of socially conscious songs. On this track from that superb album, Legend duets with Melanie Fiona, then steps aside for Common, who delivers a classic rap that carries this cover of a cover of a 1975 song by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes into the 21st Century.

“Anchor,” Alejandro Escovedo
This meaty rocker wears its heart on the rolled up sleeves of the sea-faring protagonist. With songs like this, it’s no wonder that cult figure Escovedo has fans like Springsteen.

“Women of the Ages,” Laura Cortese
I was riding the train to work one October morning, as I read the tragic account of Seth Walsh, a 13-year-old teen who chose to take his own life instead of enduring another day of abuse from his “peers.” This gorgeous song by Laura Cortese was playing while tears rolled down my cheeks.

“Silver Rider,” Robert Plant
On his new album, Band of Joy, Robert Plant found kindred spirits in Buddy Miller and Patty Griffin. The way Plant and Griffin complement each other on “Silver Rider” is uncanny, while Miller goes all Spyboy on us with a chilling guitar solo. Before the new album, Plant and Daniel Lanois did some sessions together.  This song may give us an idea of what they would have sounded like.

“Love the Way You Lie,” Eminem, featuring Rihanna
It’s impossible to listen to this explosive number and not think about the tumultuous histories of both Eminem and Rihanna. Em spits out his lyrics like a machine gun and Rihanna makes your heart hurt in one of the best rap collaborations of all time.

“Bloodbuzz Ohio,” The National
I hear this song and I can’t help but think of the gray winter skies of my home state of Ohio. Not sure if that was the intention of the National when they recorded this song, but the song makes me homesick as the end of the year approaches.

“Looking Out,” Brandi Carlile
Another strong, emotional song by the underrated Carlile. The singer-songwriter seems incapable of singing a false note, plus she kicks some serious ass when it comes to rocking out. “When you feel like giving in… like your heart could break in two / Someone loves you!” What better message to end the year on.

Adult Contemporary, Americana, Artists, CD Reviews, Country, Hip Hop, Pop, Rock, Songs, Soul

Crowded House: The Very Very Best of Crowded House

November 29, 2010 /


RIYL: The Beatles, The Everly Brothers, Squeeze

Picking songs for a Crowded House compilation is a fool’s errand. The British press was only slightly kidding when they said that Neil Finn pisses genius; the first three albums he made as Crowded House after dissolving his brother Tim’s band Split Enz in 1984 (Tim had left the band earlier that year) are about as perfect as pop records get, and the band’s fourth album, 1994’s Together Alone, is pretty damned good, too. This compilation, the second attempt to condense the band’s best work to a single disc, has an even harder task in that it includes tracks from the band’s fifth album, 2007’s Time on Earth. Five good to great albums, sliced and diced to one disc, and it’s supposed to be the very, very best of the band.

Nope.

Still, The Very Very Best of Crowded House is no misfire either, since it would have been filled with beautiful, haunting melodies and Finn’s trademark lyrical paranoia regardless of which songs had made the cut and which ones had been forsaken. But at this stage in the game, this is a two-disc affair no matter how you slice it, and as luck would have it, Capitol has released a two-disc version of this set as well. For newbies, that is the way to go, as the single-disc version of this set is simply missing too many great – and nearly all of the upbeat – moments. The band’s first two albums are reduced to a mere four songs, only one of which came from the criminally underrated Temple of Low Men (1988). Together Alone and 1991’s Woodface, meanwhile, account for over half of the songs here. Perhaps they chose to favor the later material of the Capitol years in order to keep the set more in step with the band’s recent work, but doing so makes for the most dour collection of the Capitol years that one could assemble.

The Very Very Best of Crowded House is a four-star collection of a five-star catalog. Go for the two-disc set instead; it costs more, but with the addition of “Hole in the River,” “World Where You Live,” “Now We’re Getting Somewhere,” “Into Temptation,” “Whispers and Moans” and “I Feel Possessed,” that set opens doors to the band’s work that the single-disc set doesn’t even acknowledge. This is good, but more – and more balance – would have been better. (Capitol 2010)

Crowded House MySpace page
Click to buy The Very Very Best of Crowded House from Amazon
Click to buy The Very Very Best of Crowded House (Two-Disc set) from Amazon

Adult Contemporary, Artists, CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Pop, Rock

Steal This Song: Destroyer, “Chinatown”

November 23, 2010 /

For the last five years, there has never been any question that when it came to the songwriting powers that be behind the New Pornographers, I am a Carl Newman guy. It’s not that I disliked Dan Bejar’s stuff – “Jackie, Dressed in Cobras” is still my fave – but his songs never scaled the dizzy heights of pure pop tunes like “Sing Me Spanish Techno,” “The Bleeding Heart Show,” “Stacked Crooked” and “These Are the Fables.”

You’ll notice that I only listed songs from the New Pornographers’ 2005 album Twin Cinema. That’s because I’ve been largely underwhelmed by the band’s work since then. And it appears that Bejar is ready to take advantage of my wavering loyalties.

Armed with yet another album under his day job Destroyer (his tenth in 15 years), the band’s new album Kaputt, set for release in January, might surprise some people. Bejar forsakes his usual disjointed pop for something more casual, like he’s been listening to a lot of ’80s-era Bryan Ferry (which he cops to in the press release), and perhaps even Al Stewart. It seems an odd match on paper, but his voice is actually well suited for the genre, and the tunes he came up with are gorgeous. We’ve been given permission to share the album’s opening track, “Chinatown,” and it’s a must for anyone who digs the Blue Nile, China Crisis, and their ilk. Dig in.

Destroyer – Chinatown

Adult Contemporary, Artists, CD Reviews, Downloads, Hipster, Pop, Steal This Song

Mt. Desolation: Mt. Desolation

November 11, 2010 /


RIYL: The Thrills, The Pogues, The Lilac Time

If you had asked us what we expected the next move to be from Keane after they released their fourth album Night Train in May of this year, our gut response would have been “lengthy hiatus, followed by announcement of signing with new, smaller label.” Don’t get us wrong, we love the boys from Battle, but the release of Night Train, coming so quickly on the heels of the band’s 2008 album Perfect Symmetry, looked for all intents and purposes like they were trying to fulfill their contractual obligations to Interscope and move on. Consider this: Night Train was designated EP status in their native England. Here, it’s a full-fledged long-player. Hmmm.

Mt_Desolation_01

Keane may very well be going on a lengthy hiatus, but two of its members have already cranked out their first side project, which makes it their third album in two years: Mt. Desolation, a collection of, wait for it, country songs, filtered through their English sensibilities. It’s country in the same way that the Thrills are West Coast pop, but Mt. Desolation is a charming album just the same. Rice-Oxley and Quin don’t have the booming voice of their bandmate Tom Chaplin, but their voices actually suit these songs better, though it would be nice to hear Chaplin take a whack at the Keane-ish “Bitter Pill” somewhere down the road. The album has its share of drinking songs (“My My My”) and shit-kickers (“Annie Ford,” “Platform 7”), and while it’s clear that country music is more of a hobby than a lifestyle for those involved, it’s also clear that these songs come from the heart, making this a more honest country record than most country records. Writing a song that could pass for a B-side to Beck’s Sea Change (“Another Night”) doesn’t hurt, either. This is one side project that we’d like to see grow some legs. (Cherry Tree/Interscope 2010)

Mt. Desolation MySpace page
Click to buy Mt. Desolation from Amazon

Adult Contemporary, Artists, CD Reviews, Country, Folk, Pop

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