I saw a few people sharing this on Facebook but it wasn’t the actual song.
“For me the video is about our increasing dependence on technology and about human interaction today, or a certain lack of it. It focuses on the way tech is changing us – how we have become desensitized.” – Rolling Stone
This song comes off of Moby, The Void Pacific Choir album titled “These Systems are Failing.” As you age you get more upset at what transpires around you because you understand more of the way you expect the world to be vs the way it actually is. This music video portrays the said truth. Problem is, there’s not much you can do about it because the people appear to desire this way of life.
Neil Young – My Pledge (another pissed off old man)
Here are 3 songs that are in the top 3 of Spotify’s Global Top 10 and you only have to listen to the first 10 seconds to hear intros that are nearly identical.
Chainsmokers – Don’t Let Me Down
Shawn Mendes – Treat You Better
Sia – Cheap Thrills
The Formula
Aside from a neat observation are there any concepts to take from this? Yes. If you aren’t Sia, Max Martin, or Dr. Luke, don’t bother writing songs. The formula is the formula and will stay the formula until people decide they don’t like the formula any more. Here is a funny song that I didn’t know existed about Pop music.
7 summers ago I decided that I needed to buy some new t-shirts and decided that since I loved my Led Zeppelin T-shirt so much, I’d go with 3 new band shirts. I went to a website and bought a Boston, Van Halen, and David Bowie t-shirt. If you had to ask me now why I decided to go with these 3 bands I’d say:
Boston: I had Boston’s self titled CD Boston and thoroughly enjoyed the tracks Rock & Roll Band, Smokin’, and Hitch a Ride. In my mind they were a cool classic rock band who had a cool logo. My allegiance was half-hearted though as I couldn’t even name the lead singer. I figured they would be a cool, not as popular band to support.
Van Halen: I was really into the song Dreams and I’ll Wait. I didn’t know much about the band except that they rocked hard on guitar and were big in the 80’s. The t-shirt signified that I also rocked hard and did a lot of drugs, which I certainly didn’t do much of either.
This exact shirt.
David Bowie: I knew nothing about David Bowie personally. No idea about his Ziggy Stardust phase and effeminate stage costumes. His bizarre Mick Jagger duet for Dancing in the Streets was another example of the Bowie I didn’t know. I knew the song Changes and Space Oddity and he seemed like your typical rock artist who was big in the 70’s and made quality music.
“Bowie is a Fag”
One day 7 summers ago I was attending a baseball game wearing my Boston shirt. A guy who was probably 45 and didn’t know me at all said he liked my shirt. I said my thanks and told him I also bought a Van Halen and David Bowie shirt. He said, “Van Halen’s alright but David Bowie is a fag.” Ever since that day I’ve never worn that David Bowie shirt again.
I really like Bowie’s music. I think Life on Mars? is top notch and Starman is incredible. The Thin White Duke made some ever-lasting music of which I haven’t even listened to more than 5%. So even wearing the Bowie shirt made me a poser but it never occurred to me that Bowie was viewed as such from the general public’s opinion.
The clothes you wear give indication to what you support and publicly supporting David Bowie made me uncomfortable. This was because I was insecure that people would think I was a fag because Bowie was one (by one man in a park in Pennsylvania). How could I let this one man completely alter my uneducated opinion of Bowie?
Would I wear a Bowie shirt today? That’s a pretty good question. Since he died it’s pretty much unconscionable to make fun of a dead person. Our culture has gotten so weird though that it seems better to just stay off of everyone’s radar. Don’t go too far left or right and blend in to limit interaction with the trolls of the world. Did anyone read about the runner who identifies as a female but who is really a male? The fuck is that? Get it together America and David Bowie is not a fag…unless you watched the music video and then we’d have to reevaluate.
As mention in a previous post, I’ll be using Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me by Steven Hyden as my resource. This post will share the videos of what I promise to be sheer entertainment if you weren’t aware these rivalries/bizarre antics existed.
Eddie Vedder & Kurt Cobain Dancing
“Just real normal”
James Brown invites Michael Jackson and Prince on Stage With One Light Casualty
Prince was coked up which explains the strangeness of how he was acting, he was also pissed off that Michael made James Brown bring him up on stage. Because Michael knew that Prince couldn’t say no to James & Prince didn’t want Michael to upstage him, but as the story goes, Prince was severely pissed off at Michael for this.
Nirvana’s Performance at the ’92 VMA’s
Bonus – Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic hits himself in the face with bass throw at 5:16
MTV forbid Nirvana to play “Rape Me” so you hear Kurt troll them in the beginning. You’ll also hear Dave Grohl screaming “hi Axl” (from GnR) at 5:49 which relates to this story: It started when Courtney Love shouted a snarky comment at Axl, asking him to be the godfater to her unborn child, Frances Bean. Axl (allegedly) told kurty, “you shut your bitch up or I’m taking you to the pavement.” Kurt then turned to Courtney and sarcastically barked, “Okay, bitch, shut up.” Then Stephanie Seymour, Sport Illustrated swimsuit issue star and Axl’s girlfriend, turned to Courtney and said, “are you a model?” To which Courtney replied “No – are you a brain surgeon?” – excerpt taking from Your Favorite Band…
Taylor Swift Gets Interrupted by Kanye West
Fairly recognizable scene but the odd part is that Beyonce won “Video of the Year”, but did not wing best Female video, which goes to show how stupid not only the awards are, but Kayne as well.
Sinead O’Connor Rips Up Picture of the Pope
Essentially committing career suicide, Sinead rips up a Pope picture. I read that this gesture was more about the Pope abusing children, and she was also abused while she was younger, than a “fuck religion message”.
Kid Rock vs Tommy Lee
“Through my relationship with Pam… I was raising his kids…we just got divorced…he called me a piece of shit…I told him next time I see him I’m going to punch him.” – Kid Rock
The best part of this feud was Tommy Lee calling him “Kid Pebble.”
14 Year Old Bieber’s “One Less Lonely N*****”
Title says it all.
King’s Of Leon Drunk on Stage
“I’m going to go backstage for a second, I’m going to vomit, I’m going to drink a beer, and come back out and play 3 more songs.”
New Music Friday on Spotify brought the heat this week. You can tell by how many listens these songs have on YouTube that I’m not the only person who agrees. Either way, these jams are fire and I’ve been listening to them on repeat so I’ll be getting sick of them before the public starts loving them.
Imagine Dragons – Not Today
Love the lyrics and the tempo. I’m really glad Imagine Dragons is rebounding from the disappointing second album. It wasn’t even that bad but they set the bar so high with Night Visions that it felt like a let down. The lyric, “it’s going to get easier, somehow…but not today” is very easy to relate to.
Zedd, Kesha – True Colors
Kesha has been in a legal battle with Dr. Luke over rape or sexual abuse so I’m sure this song sings to that considering she hasn’t put out music in a minute. Another slower paced song but it takes a more serious tone than her other singles like Tik Tok. Zedd produced the background music which also adds credibility.
Calvin Harris – This Is What You Came For
My least favorite of the 4 but lets not give credit to a sick beat with virtually no lyrics besides the word you. I promise you will hear this at every bar the entire summer. I can’t even tell it’s Rihanna but obviously with her name on it, people will love it. Catchy as hell.
Something to Believe In – Young the Giant
I don’t like this one as much as Amerika but I like Young the Giant a lot. I think they are under appreciated beyond belief. Think Anagram as a song that I bet no one has heard but is really awesome. I’m sure there are many more like I Got, 12 Fingers, and Crystallized. All in all, a very underrated band.
Hope by The Strumbellas can be listened through in its entirety because each song is worth it. The last album I can think of that comes to my mind like that is Night Visions by Imagine Dragons. The album has been out for 2 days so I’m going to be one of the first to praise it but if more songs don’t start hitting the radio, I would be shocked. I enjoy the music because 1) Each song has its own identity 2) The lyrics are thoughtful 3) the choruses are catchy and sounds are melodic.
You probably already know Spirits and Shovels and Dirt but I’m going to suggest a few more songs that I think are worthy of mention.
While Fred (Jason Sudeikis, left) and Rick (Owen Wilson, right) watch in astonishment, Coakley (Richard Jenkins) demonstrates how an 8 can “pass” as a 10 by surrounding herself with less attractive friends. (Feminists, it should be noted, are not apt to appreciate what constitutes “humor” in this film.)
I heard this song on AltNation the other day and thought to myself that I’ve never heard it playing there before and it feels like they just added it to the rotation. Then about 5 minutes ago I heard it on Radio 104.5 and it occurred to me that this song is making a revival. I’m sure there are many people out there who haven’t heard this song and thought it was new, I however stumbled upon it back when I watched the movie Hall Pass. I clearly remember Owen Wilson searching for his blonde biddy and this jam playing in the background and thinking that I wanted to know what that song was. Hall Pass came out in 2011. The song came out in 2009. That’s a long time before it hit mainstream radio…
Joywave is a band I like. Now is my favorite song by them and even though I got tired of Tongues, I liked it when it was new. They released an album today with the hit song destruction being the 1st track and I was surprised.
As I sat doing my work I noticed that Destruction had been playing for a while. I looked at the list and indeed each track was playing. I thought Spotify must be messed up. I went to the trouble of tweeting @joywave, “your songs are all playing the same on Spotify, pretty sure that’s not what you want.” Then I thought that like most tweets I send, I should see if I wanted to send it.
I looked through the tweets on their wall and I realized this is the way they wanted their album to be. Every track is destruction and the words of the title produce “destruction, why be credible when you can be (part 2) incredible.” Clever.
I heard an interview on AltNation with Joywave and they wrote how all bands today were utilizing big drum sounds and making chorus’s with people screaming in the background. I’m probably not describing it the way they would if I could listen to their reason again but I’ll summarize it by saying they thought today’s music was a joke. They then came out with this album which is another rebellious move.
This is a prank album with a bigger purpose (of which I’m not sure) behind it obviously. Naming it Swish is also a pretty nice title for anidea you consider a perfect attempt at what you’re accomplishing. However, I was more disappointed than impressed because I wanted to hear their new music. At least I’m writing about them and listening to their old stuff so I guess it worked..
You should trust me when I write these lists. I’m WAY ahead of the game. Previous example, the song Unsteady by X Ambassadors, was mentioned on 7/14/15 and it was spun the most times on AltNation this past week. Ideally I’d make a post within a week of the song being released but I’ll use these posts to share some of the songs I’ve been listening to in the past month. You’re Not There by Lukas Graham When I posted 7 Years by Lukas Graham it had 395k Youtube listens. Today it has over 30 million. Once the artist starts to become more famous predicting hits starts to become easier but I’ll throw it out there because it’s a good song. You’re Not There is sitting at 84k YouTube hits and even though I don’t think the song is as powerful as 7 years, it’s still quality. I personally like the line “You’re not there to celebrate the man that you made. You’re not there to share in my success and mistakes.” I have to imagine the song is about his parents.
Shovels and Dirt by The Strumbellas Spirits is currently getting airplay so looking for another jam by the same group is wise. The pace of Shovels and Dirt will slow down its ascent but the song has a cool twang and the line “it ain’t worth livin’, if you don’t get hurt” makes an impact.
The Sound by 1975 I added this to my playlist on 1/26/16 so we are past brand new at this point but I don’t hear it getting much airplay. 2.8 million listens on Youtube also has me scratching my head on where it’s being played but I suppose the answer could be globally or else I’m never around when it’s being played on the radio. I initially thought their sound was cheesy and childish with the songs The City and Chocolate but I enjoy The Sound. I wouldn’t put this up there in terms of a meaningful song but it’s easy to listen to in a pop atmosphere.
I Need Never Get Old by Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats Not a new song but far, far better than SOB. I assume it’s already getting radio playtime but you’ll want to listen to it if you have never heard it. What I find especially interesting is that the clip below is from 2013. I like the synth in the beginning on the recorded track more but that’s because I’m a synth guy. I also heard, I can’t remember where, but Rateliff has been releasing music since 2007 and for whatever reason it started to go mainstream.
