Monday, February 7, 2011

So, I'm breaking up with Google...

So, after 6 months of nothing but trouble with Google, I'm quitting cold turkey. This blog will remain up for archiving purposes, but the blog will be relocated back to http://thatgirlwithablog.wordpress.com/.

So long, Google!

Friday, January 21, 2011

My Red Umbrella - "Get Off Your Seat"

What is up with Ohio making awesome bands? Case in point: Devo. Also, now My Red Umbrella. Comprised of Matthew "Lig" Knabe (formerly of the MotorFlys and maybe still doing the Ligion thing?), Batman, Papa Smurf, and Fergie's Body Double...

Alright. I'm just gonna stop right here because that was probably the best thing ever typed in the history of the universe.

Well, long story short...they're a band. They're from Ohio (close to The Husband's hometown, actually) and employ awesome artists like David McDowell (aka: The Sprayfoam Genius), Ron Copeland, and Steve Ehret for their videos.

You can pick up the single for less than a cup of coffee on Amazon or iTunes.

Here! Check it out! Also, Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

"Get Off Your Seat"

Thursday, January 20, 2011

They're remaking Drop Dead Fred!?

So, Hollywood decided to make another remake. Who'da thunk it, huh?

The paparazzi-smacking, football-loving, Katy Perry-marrying lunatic, Russell Brand will be playing Fred with no mention of who’ll be playing Lizzie. On the other hand, I keep hearing whispered "Zooey Deschanel"s. If this is the case, I don't think I'll ever be able to watch another movie again. While I'm devastated that they would remake this movie in the first place, I'm kind of glad it will at least be Brand. Fred should be vile, disgusting, lewd, inappropriate, and lovably insane, which is how Brand brings home the bacon most days.

Drop Dead Fred is one of my childhood favorites and it will be incredibly sad to see someone else singing the "Dirty Dirty Poo Poo" song and sinking houseboats. Especially because it won't be Rik Mayall, my second favorite Young One.

To make matters more interesting (read: worse), not only will Universal Studios be ripping off Drop Dead Fred, they'll also be taking a crack and Beetlejuice while they're at it. "The first Fred was critically drubbed and commercially unsuccessful. But it did achieve a certain cult status and is considered a film that fell short of its full potential. The take for the new Fred is to make a film in the tone of Beetlejuice, building a universe around the concept of imaginary friends. Brand would play the trouble-making pal."

How dare they talk about Fred that way! I loved him for being "critically drubbed and commercially unsuccessful", dammit. All I can really do right now is bitch, moan, and sigh until this movie comes out. Until then, I'll be hoping, wishing, and praying that 1.) They don't butcher it and 2.) Hollywood comes up with an original story soon. Hopefully, at the least, it will introduce a new generation to the wonder that is Drop Dead Fred. Also, it's rumored that Phoebe Cates will be in the movie somehow. Could she be the next Polly? We'll just have to wait and see!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

The Decemberists - The King is Dead

Well, I hate this album less that I did originally. In fact, now I can say that I kind of even like it. It's just such a drastic change from their last album, The Hazards of Love, it took me a minute to get used to.

The King is Dead, The Decemberists' sixth studio album is a completely different world compared to their previous efforts. Long gone are the days of whimsy as found on Castaways and Cutouts, Her Majesty, and Picaresque, as well as the narratives heard on The Crane Wife and the Hazards of Love. This one's something completely new.

What's crazy is the fact that now that this album's been released, all of those critics who praised it last year are now tearing it apart. The King is Dead does not make Hazards of Love any less of a fantastic album, people. They're completely, utterly unrelated.

This album was a slap in the face, but the stinging's subsided. It's "country" in the way that the Old 97's are country (read: not terrible). It absolutely wasn't what I was expecting from the band. However, it really is just the same old Decemberists. You'll still find a plethora of unconventional instrumentation including 12-string guitars and accordions, but you'll also find a whole new set of sounds including heavy harmonica, fiddle, and saloon piano. While I miss Meloy's vivid storytelling, I must applaud them for trying something so incredibly different from their usual tastes. The roots rocks is more inspired by Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and Tom Petty than modern country.

I'm hearing a lot of REM and The Smith's references being thrown around in reference to that album, but that's nothing new. Meloy has always openly admitted to being heavily inspired by both. I guess part of that has to do with the fact that Peter Buck and his guitar actually make guest appearances on this album.

This album is no less musically or lyrically impressive, just in a different format. There's still lush instrumentation and Meloy's patented wordplay, but rather than antique subject matter, they've traded it in for a dose of Americana. Rustic and cozy, The King is Dead is slowly but surely growing on me. There's something about that twang of country that saddens me, but just when you're getting down, there's a track to lift you back up, like "Rox in the Box" ominous tone following the weepy acoustic, "Rise to Me". So, "Down By the Water" is supposed to be the first hit off of this album, which doesn't necessarily make it the best song. "Don't Carry It All", "Calamity Song", and "This is Why We Fight" are right up there with it, and have far less of that twang, which I approve of. There's only so much harmonica and banjo that one girl can handle.

I've been listening to this album for two days and I'm still pretty undecided. I know how much it's grown on me since that first listen and can only imagine where it will go from here. For now, it gets a B, but that is subject to change. It's really a great album, musically. Perhaps it's just my hesitance to enjoy anything even remotely related to country. Who knows? Check it out for yourself, streaming for free on their Myspace.

"Calamity Song" 


"Don't Carry It All"



"This is Why We Fight"

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Cake - Showroom of Compassion

Well, after nearly seven years, the boys of Cake have done it again. Their sixth studio album, Showroom of Compassion hit stores last week and man, I'm diggin' it. I didn't realize that it had been so long since Pressure Chief! Crazy!

This album is awesome. It's Cake, so I find it hard to believe that it could have been anything else. It's nice to see that they haven't lost their affinity for unconventional percussion, horns, esoteric lyrics, and funky ass guitar. In additional to all those Cake classics, you also have the introduction of piano on "The Winter" and "Teenage Pregnancy", which sounds incredibly like a funeral march. Appropriate. It's also the sole instrumental out of the 11 tracks a la "Arco Arena". 

While Cake has always been a little spacey, this album is by far the most psychedelic. There's also a drastic lack of "oh no"s and "all right"s, in favor of extended notes, which is pretty rare from singer John McCrea. While I enjoy his typical half sung/half spoken vocals, this is a nice departure from the norm. It something different, yet refreshingly familiar. It's also delightfully lo-fi without being pretentious. Recorded in their own, solar-powered studio, it appears this album was nurtured to it's full potential. This album could have come out in between any of their other albums and fit right it.

While Cake usually employs the same methods of making music, it never becomes boring. It's not six albums of the same song, just songs with a distant cousin. Songs that see each other once a year at the family reunion, but still get along. Hence that familiarity.

Yes, I'm a general Cake fan all around, but I always appreciate a good, upbeat track and there's plenty to go around on this album including the devastatingly catchy "Sick of You" and the incredibly funky "Mustache Man".

Long story short: I love Cake. I love this album. You should, too. They even get an A. Check it out, streaming for free on their Myspace now. You can also find the over on Facebook or over at their site. Also, happy Tuesday...have some videos.

"Sick of You"


"Mustache Man"


"Federal Funding"

Monday, January 17, 2011

Mark Ronson and the Business Int'l - Record Collection

There's something to be said about a man who has only released three full-length albums in the last seven years, but has managed four top ten hits. That man would be Mark Ronson and the fourth hit would be the delightfully French "Bang Bang Bang" from his new album with The Business Int'l, Record Collection.

2009's Most Stylish Man of the Year amassed a bunch of other incredibly talented people and had, what appears to be, a whole lot of fun while making this album. There's a whole lot of hands in this pot, including those of Q-Tip, Boy George, Alex Greenwald (of Phantom Planet, Jason Schwartzma's old band), Ghostface Killah, Andrew Wyatt (former bandmate of Greg Kurstin of The Bird and the Bee in a short lived project called Funkraphiliacs), D'Angelo, Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran fame, and my new favorite person, Rose Elinor Dougall of the Pipettes.

While Version was the "big" album for Ronson, this one is a more mature chapter in his history. You got the distinct, pretentious vibe of "everyone who is anyone is on this album" on Version, while Record Collection employs a more low-key, indie cast. And hell, this album just sounds fun, more so Ronson making an album for himself than the fans. I'm sure he's not upset by the two (and a half) hits on this album. "Somebody to Love Me" would be that half and that's only because it hasn't been out for that long.

The album title couldn't have been chosen more wisely. With all of these people, you end up with a decidedly eclectic sound, which keeps your ear entertained all the way through this album. It kind of amazes me how often this album is lumped into the "hip hop" category...it's so much more than that. A lot of it is very Basement Jaxx goes Motown, and it's pretty awesome. The amount of music on this album that could honestly be defined as solely hip-hop is virtually non-existent.

All in all, this album is soulful, funky, and entertaining. From novelty pop songs like "Bang Bang Bang" and "The Bike Song" to the depths of Boy George's vocals on "Somebody to Love Me", this album encapsulates exactly what it aims to be...a collection. This isn't surprising in the least, with such a prolific musician, but it's nice to see his name attached to something of his own. He's done so much work with various artists in the last few years (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Ghostface Killah, Macy Gray, Jimmy Fallon, Old Dirty Bastard, Christina Aguilera, Robbie Williams, Q-Tip, Duran Duran, and a whole host of others) it's cool to see him doing what he wants to do.

For all of those guest vocalists, Record Collection also includes three solely instrumental tracks including "The Color of Crumar", "Circuit Breaker" (a tribute to Zelda!), and the incredibly sultry "Selector". What's amazing is that, within this all-star cast, these songs still hold their own. Way to kick ass, Mark Ronson. You get a B.

Check it out for yourself, I'm sure you'll find something on here that you'll enjoy. You can listen to the whole album, streaming now on Ronson's Myspace. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and at his site.

"Bang Bang Bang"


"The Bike Song"

Friday, January 14, 2011

Top (and Bottom) Five Albums of 2010

Alright, I'm a little late this year. I guess that makes up for being early last year? Well here they are, the best and worst of 2010!

5. Los Campesinos - Romance is Boring
It was actually a really close race between fourth and fifth place this year. The reason why Romance is Boring comes in last is because, well, I stopped listening to it. After that review, I listened to it a handful of times and then it sort of lost it's appeal. I had gotten everything out of it I wanted to. Not that it's a bad album by any means, but it lost my attention after a while. After so many listens through, it never gained any momentum. All in all, it's still a great album...versatile and catchy. It was also a refreshing alternate route on the annual road of pop wonders like Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, and Flo Rida.

"A Heat Rash in the Shape of the of the Show Me State; or, Letters From Me to Charlotte"

4. Fourtet - There Is Love In You
There was really no pun intended on the ranking of this album, I swear. This album, surprisingly enough, gets the Best Trip Hop Album of the Year Award from me. That's some shocking stuff considering that Morcheeba reunited with Skye Edwards and released and album this year. It remained a really good starting point in a year of somewhat mediocre electronic music. I hope that Hebden really keeps on the track he's on now, which would be the Plastic People track. There's something about live music that changes, well, everything. You know what people like because you see them respond to it every day and that's priceless.

"Sing"


3. Jupiter One - Sunshower
This one gets the Best Purchase of the Year Award. Seriously, I got this album for $.01 plus $2.99 shipping and handling on Amazon and it was worth every penny (HAH!) plus quite a few more. This album has made it into pretty heavy rotation on my computer and I still thoroughly enjoy it. Actually, as I am typing this, I had to put this album on. Every time I listen to it, it gets a little bit better. Plus, they're super nice guys, which makes me like them even more. Shit, now I'm going to have "Volcano" stuck in my head for a week. That is the only drawback, if you can call it that, of this album. It's like crack for your ears.

"Lights Go Out"


2. OK Go - Of the Blue Colour of the Sky
Ok, so OK Go comes in at #2, but I would just like to let you know that this was another super close race. In fact, can't we just make both Jupiter One and OK Go numbers 2.5.? I think that would work for me, if that works for you. Actually, I don't care if it works for you. The only reason why OK Go came out higher is, well, they've had more practice. This album is polished to perfection and full of great music, to boot. This one's made it into a pretty heavy rotation as well.  This album was everywhere for a hot minute, too. There was some sort of commercial for a TV show or something that played "I Want You So Bad I Can't Breathe", which is pretty cool. Good job, OK Go!

"I Want You So Bad I Can't Breathe"


1. Girl Talk - All Day
And the #1 album of the year is!!!!....Girl Talk's All Day. This album is absolutely fucking phenomenal and it just gets better and better. Now that I've been able to spend some serious quality time with this album and a good pair of headphones, I appreciate it more and more. What's also pretty cool, is the fact that everyone loves the shit out of Girl Talk now. PA represent, man. And shit, there's a Gregg Gillis Day. I still think that we should all drink mojitos in his honor next December 7th. Well, I guess, technically, a couple hundred artists just won Album of the Year on That Girl With A Blog so...congratulations!...all of you?

"Oh No"


And now for the fun! Ladies and gentlemen, the worst albums of 2010!

5. 30 Seconds to Mars - This is War
So this album wasn't really bad, per se, but it wasn't really that great, either, and it CERTAINLY wasn't what I expected. That really isn't good or bad either way. That's the thing about this album: it's not great, it's not bad, it's lukewarm all the way around. Any album that gets a resounding "meh" can't be all that good. In fact, I think after the original review, I never listened to this album again. All I could stand were the 6 or 7 times I listened to it. Hey, at least they're at the top of the list of worst albums, right? This might also be partially because of my huge, girly crush on Jared Leto.

"Kings and Queens"


4. Ke$ha - Cannibal
This one's for you, JY. Okay, so let's face it, this album is terrible. I love this album because I love shitty pop music. Especially when I'm drunk. Me and Ke$ha are BFFF (just so you know, that means Best Friends For Fucking Ever) when I'm wasted. She really is the poor, dirty, drunk girl's Lady Gaga. Honestly, though, musically, this album is straight up garbage. It's terrible. She would have nothing if not for the invention of the vocorder/autotune. This isn't going to stop me from listening to it, but for anyone with reasonable taste in good music, well, it would probably make their ears bleed. It might also cause you to lose all faith in music, if you haven't already. Soul crushing bad-ness. That's what's happening here.

"Grow A Pear"


3. Sade - Soldier of Love
This album certainly gets the Most Boring Album of the Year Award. If you need music to play in your elevator, this would be it. Ten songs that sound just like "Smooth Operator", that's what this album is. I won't be mean to them, as people, like I will on the next two, but this album is simply bad. They aren't bad people. I'm sure they tried, but they failed miserably. You get an A for effort, Sade, but a great, big, fat F when it comes to making music. And seriously? I still can't get over the fact that there's a song called "Babyfather" on this album. In fact, here it is:

"Babyfather"


2.  She & Him - Volume 2
Oh, sweet little baby Jeebus, do I hate Zooey Deschanel. Just typing her name makes me furious. She should take 1,000,000,000 pictures of M. Ward so he snaps and kills her. How the hell is her older sister so awesome? How did they even come out of the same vagina? Who knows. Man, Emily should have beat up Zooey on a regular basis when they were kids. Maybe it would have made her better. I don't know, but what I do know is that this album sucks, and so do Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. Everything about this album is one giant suckfest. Seriously, I'm a little angry just talking about it. In fact, I'm making angry faces under my home-made Daft Punk mask, right now. Grr.

"In the Sun" God! I hate her face!


1. Vampire Weekend - Contra
Congratulations to you, Vampire Weekend, for being the worst band, musically and personally, to ever grace the pages of That Girl With A Blog. Seriously. How does it feel to come in LOWER THAN KE$HA on a random blogger's list from 2010? I hope you feel terrible about yourselves. This album is so, so terrible, and the fact that Vampire Weekend is comprised of essentially terrible people doesn't make their case any better. Still can't get over that "UR A Contra" situation. Or the shrieking. Or the trust funds. I seriously couldn't even listen to this album all the way through ONE TIME. Obviously, I like shitty music (see: Ke$ha) and I STILL think that this band sucks. I think I lost brain cells listening to this album.

"I Think UR A Contra"


Well, that's it folks! The best and worst of 2010! Enjoy! Or don't! Half of this list sucks anyway! Have a great weekend.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Faceoff (Soundtrack Edition): Tron Legacy vs. The Social Network



So, it's been a while since we've had a faceoff on That Girl With A Blog, but the time has come, my friends.This time, we'll be focusing on soundracks. While the similarities are there (the electronic inspiration, the prolific artists, the facet that they're both scores), the differences are abounding. Well, let's see where they stand. It seems like the winner always comes first. Let's start with the loser.

Now, I'm not trying to say that Trent Reznor is a loser, per se, I'm just saying that Daft Punk used their giant, stompy, space-aged boots to kick him in the face. Repeatedly. Also, I should probably mention that I am a little biased on this front. I am a huge fan of Reznor's...pre-1999 Reznor, that is. 1989 Trent Reznor was my favorite, though. I want Reznor at his finest. Young, dreaded, preferably covered in baby powder and screaming. This is the Reznor I have come to know and love. Now, man, where to begin. This whole "Henry Rollins Look-a-Like" contest thing has gotten out of hand and well, he got married? What's up with that? My inner 13-year-old just died a little bit. At least she's hot. Like, really hot. Good job, Trent. Anyway, onto the soundtrack.
While this is Reznor's first score, it's certainly not his first rodeo when it comes to working on soundtracks (See: Natural Born Killers or Lost Highway). That being said, The Social Network Soundtrack is soooooooo boring. So. Very. Boring. It's dark, it's brooding (who could have imagined!? Trent Reznor!? Dark and brooding? No effin' way!) and it's entirely predictable. It's everything that I imagined it would be, and that's not a good thing. Also, I don't even really understand why he would agree to do this (perhaps he should have kept his original answer?). While, yes, he's a pioneer of technology when it comes to releasing music, he's notoriously anti-social networking. This album does have a few stand out tracks including "In Motion" and "Carbon Prevails". Upon multiple listenings, these two are the only tracks to really demand my attention, even when I'm doing something else. But for every decent song, you end up with a song like "In the Hall of the Mountain King". Yup, it's the orchestral piece composed by Edvard Grieg for Peer Gynt, and it ends up sounding like a badly-recorded ring tone. In general, this album sounds just like everything that Reznor's released since 1999 and is almost a dead ringer for 2008's Ghosts. Do something else, already. As for it's relation to the movie, okay, I get it. It's darkly appropriate for the greed and betrayal, but as a stand alone album, it fails miserably.

As for Daft Punk, they take the Tron Legacy Soundtrack and make it their bitch. Seriously. And what's so amazing about this OST is the complete lack of a danceable beat. Who are you, you helmeted DJ duo, and what have you done with my Daft Punk!? Two of my favorite Frenchman were just absolutely perfect for this soundtrack. It's so understated for them and so incredibly beautiful. You get this layering of ambient, organic noise with the swelling of an 85 piece orchestra and it's enough to give me goosebumps EVERY listen through. Doing some general research for this review, I came across this on the G4 site:
"Anyone thinking that Daft Punk would record this as Discovery, Part 2 or Human After All: The Sequel will be greatly disappointed.  If this causes you to make angry faces under your homemade Daft Punk mask..." First of all, thank you, Rick Damigella, for making me laugh harder that I have in a long time, and second of all, he is 100% correct. There is no sampling. There is no disco. There is nothing to make your heart want to explode while rolling. It's so not the Daft Punk we all know and love, but it's just SO GOOD. Grand does not even begin to describe this album. Epic? Maybe. Legendary? Almost. While the Tron Legacy Soundtrack has the capabilites that all soundtracks need (IE: the ability to blend into the background when necessary), as a stand alone album, it's still absolutely fucking phenomenal. This time around, this album is everything I thought it would be, only better. I don't think that there's anyone out there who fit the bill as well as the Daft Punk boys. I mean, they've been playing robot for almost my entire lifetime, why the hell not!? At this point, I don't even care if the movie's good or not because the soundtrack is more than enough to make up for it. It's just a bonus that the soundtrack matches the movie perfectly.

Daft Punk, you are the clear winners here, and proof that some people really do have staying power in the music industry. Seriously, this album is amazing whether it's part of the movie or not. Whether you're a fan of Tron or not. It is simply an amazing, orchestral album with electronically inspired undertones and if it doesn't win some sort of award for being the best soundtrack of the year, I will be utterly shocked. Definitely check it out!