Category: Alternative (Page 101 of 155)

DMed’s Video of the Week: Kate Nash, “Foundations”

January 25, 2008 / David Medsker

All kinds of Lily Allen-type buzz surrounds Made of Bricks, the debut album from the latest UK pop tart Kate Nash. “Foundations” certainly holds up to the lofty praise, though consumers should know that Nash and Allen, musically, have very little in common. In terms of their attitude, not to mention their tendency to curse like drunken sailors, they’re peas in a pod, but where Allen’s music is closer to Madness, Nash appears to be a bigger fan of the Dresden Dolls, if her song “Mariella” is any indication. But if any song is going to draw comparisons to Allen, “Foundations” is the one, particularly the line about her sucking lemons because she’s so bitter, and her responding that she’d rather do her boyfriend’s friends because they’re much fitter. Oh, snap.

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

American Idol: Southern Hospitality?

January 24, 2008 / Mike Farley

Last night, “American Idol” took their audition round for Season 7 to Charleston, South Carolina. It was humorous and disturbing at the same time to hear Simon Cowell ask Randy Jackson if they were on the “west coast.” And it was a pretty weak batch of auditions in all, with only 23 contestants earning golden tickets to Hollywood. For those of you doing the math, that’s 23 out of 10,000, or 0.23 %. Well, no one said it was easy to become the next American Idol.

With that, on to the freaks…..

Raysharde was the first audition, and with an afro that would make Tito Jackson jealous and a voice that he compared to Clay Aiken, you had the makings of a freak show. But then, dude wasn’t horrible, it’s just that he was TRYING too hard to be Clay Aiken. Think about that for a minute. Are you as frightned as I am? The judges were, too.

DeANNA, who corrected Simon more than once about how her name was pronounced, was a 27 year old waitress from the same small town in North Carolina as Kellie Pickler. But while Kellie was a charming, naive, country girl; DeANNA was a bitter, shouting lunatic. The best part was her talking about how her customers drove her crazy on Sundays for “all you can eat day.”

Crystal and Randy met online at the “American Idol” message boards Continue reading »

Alternative, American Idol, Country, Hip Hop, Pop, Rap, Rock

American Idol: California Dreamin’

January 23, 2008 / Mike Farley

Last night “American Idol” gave me a gift. They gave me an hour of my life, since the show was only one hour long instead of the agonizing two hours as it was both nights last week. What’s more, I get another one-hour episode tonight. I mean, that’s a whole hour to eat, sleep, watch something else, or practice being me.

And since the auditions were held in San Diego, the contestants heading to Hollywood would have to only drive a few hours north for the next round. Okay, on with those auditions, and we’ll start with the freaks again:

Some dude named Marat was wearing a puffy white shirt, ala Jerry Seinfeld in the “I don’t wanna be a pirate” episode. He was awful, and since the show was just one hour, they followed that up with a medley of freaks and crap.

Then there was Valerie, who admitted her own idol was Mariah Carey. Uh-oh. Anyway, Val was all breath and technique and had no real voice of her own. Simon said she sounded like Mariah Carey after the CD had been left out in the sun for a year. Randy said it was a terrible audition but that beneath all the technique, there was actually some tone. The best part? Valerie realized that she would be in the “rejects” portion of the show. You got that right!

This was followed by a duo of some dude wearing a sombrero, and a mime. The gimmicks Continue reading »

Alternative, American Idol, Country, Hip Hop, Pop, Rock

Less Talk, More Music: Webb Wilder on “The Pat Sajak Show”

January 22, 2008 / Will Harris

Truth be told, the clip I really wanted to show from Pat Sajak’s short-lived late-night talk show was from when Squeeze appeared to promote their Frank album, but, alas, it’s nowhere to be found on YouTube. (I’ve actually got it on a VHS tape; maybe one of these days I’ll upload it myself.) Still, when I stumbled upon this performance from the great Webb Wilder…his first-ever on network television, if Pat’s intro can be trusted…I couldn’t resist posting it instead. It’s not my favorite of Webb’s tracks – that honor belongs to “Tough It Out” – but the guy’s got a powerful heap of energy in just about everything he’s ever recorded, so I have no complaints about “Hittin’ Where It Hurts” serving as an alternate.

Alternative, Artists, Less Talk, More Music, Pop, Rock, Songs, Videos

Yael Naim: “New Soul”

January 22, 2008 / John Paulsen

If you’ve seen the commercial for the new Apple laptop, the MacBook Air, you’ve heard the new tune by Yael Naim, “New Soul.” Apple successfully used Feist’s “1234” in an ad, and it seems like they’ve tapped another infectious tune for the Air ad. Here’s the YouTube vid:

Looks like that tiny apartment has some unexpected square footage.

Alternative, Artists, External Music, Pop, Rock, Songs, Videos