Gaga Maintains Her Very Provocative Vocal Persona with "Applause"

A round of applause indeed for the woman with a finger in every pot known as Lady Gaga. She's a multi chart hit with "Applause" where the main point is she spells out how much she lives for the applause of her as she once upon a time put it "Little monsters". There's the ever present flair for the dramatic working behind her, a potent wash of keyboards that her diehard supporters use to whip themselves into a dancefloor frenzy. The video is in Lady Gaga fashion something that's downright impossible to avert your gaze from with Gaga's trippy visual presentation plus the souped up special effects that drive her point home. I don't really consider myself to be part of Gaga's ardent supporters but I give the nod for putting out ear candy like this that is difficult to shake, very simple to remember, and is a highly nifty way to burn off calories from whatever craving has you lassoed to the turf. I'd be lying if I said I couldn't hear Dale Bozzio, the temptress front woman for '80s New-Wavers Missing Persons all over this song. Even Gaga's face paint in the video feels like a nod to Dale. One key difference bewteen the two women is Gaga wants to fight bullying whereas Dale got a bit of blotch on her reputation as being somewhat of a cat lady. Of course Dale is easier on the eyes than the elderly, incoherent woman from The Simpsons who seemed attracted to beings of the feline persuasion but, that observation is for someone else's media column. So to bring this conversation to a complete stop at the artistic gate, Lady Gaga has managed to get even me to cut her somewhat of a break thanks to this pulse-pounding number that plays up to her drama enabling strengths. As a side note I wish to stress that I hope to provide future blogs which focus on adult contemporary singles like this along with the other genres I consider myself to be the best able to carry on a meaningful discussion in, those being pop and rock. That'll be served up in the mission statement I'm working to put together. Should that plan be scuttled I will of course speak out about it. Round of applause to you all for bearing with me. Enjoy the leftovers portion of your no doubt busy evenings.

"Waiting For a Light That Never Comes" Shows Linkin Park Light On Its Creative Feet

I've been an admirer of Linkin Park since 2001's "Hybrid Theory". "In The End" burrowed itself into my spine. They had the foreboding doom palette painted all over their collective canvas. As for Chester Bennington the rawness of his voice was both lethal and completely unaffected, no mask to try and hide behind. "Crawling" was devilishly creepy as the title would have you think it could be. For the most part I've been used to Linkin Park as a nu metal outfit that with Chester leading the way grabs its listeners by the throat and dares them to say "We've had enough!!" "Waiting For a Light That Never Comes", with the help of electro house musician Steve Aoki presents a shade of Linkin Park I never really thought I'd say I'd heard before...a side that hasn't lost its trademark intensity but that you might actually be able to dance along to. On the lyric side Mike Shinoda wades into territory that isn't exactly reinventing the wheel but, at the same time, bears repeating for anyone lacking the will to reclaim their day to day mojo. Basically what's being said is that pressure has no feelings so we Earth people had better batten down the hatches no matter what level of pain the flame happens to be under our posteriors. Mike's rap prowess remains a constant 12 plus years on. He's a gifted rapper in that you're not being distracted by the background spectacles emanating from Aoki's electronica rhythms. You're drawn into the cerebrum of a serious man trying to get your attention lest you crater under whatever weight you're carrying. Meanwhile Chester's voice doesn't have the growl of an "In The End", but what he has maintained is a nice mid register sound that blends seamlessly with Aoki's world of outer limits thunder. The chorus lyrics are the epitome of a futile chase that doesn't happen to have the satisfying payoff a lot of us lust after. "The nights go on waiting for a light that never comes". just the kind of sentiment that'll have you reaching for an entire pint of high saturated fat ice cream. Hopelessness doesn't go away with indulgent dairy products but at least there's a chance it will taste better. The song was recorded for the band's online puzzle-action game LP (short for Linkin Park) Recharge). That's savvy marketing. It has the get caught up in the drama hyperactivity that best lends itself to an action game. As a link in Linkin Park's evolutionary ladder "Waiting For a Light That Never Comes" is an enticing change up that doesn't sacrifice the elements of a uniformly pleasurable Linkin Park effort. Mike's rapping and Chester's undiluted singing band together to form a one-two punch that is uniquely theirs. There have been many worthy rock duos over music history but Mike and Chester have their timing down on this song and the payoff is considerable.

All This Time These Songs Are Still Clinging To My Ears

10 POP SONGS THAT ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO SHAKE: 1. Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time: How I love to sip on the sweet nectar of nostalgia. In this case it was back before Britney had a meltdown, rose from the ashes, and as of right now has a totally lovely song I'll have to elbow into my listening schedule called "Work B**ch" (I'm insulted there Brit! I like to think of myself more as a practicing smartass! "...Baby" has this swagger that knocks you off your feet in no time. One of the '90s best pop nuggets for which there is no imitation. 2. Billy Joel - It's Still Rock 'n' Roll To Me: To this day the clanging guitar bounces my pleasure center down a steady life-affirming track. You really inhale the leather jacket bravado here. It's easy to sashay along to. The conversational style of this song makes it a New York state of mind winner with undeniable charisma. 3. Carly Rae Jespen - Call Me Maybe: Undeniably cute. It's a lot of fun. As for Miss Carly, her winsome personality busts out through the I-Pod. I also am sort of partial to Cookie Monster's delightfully warm parody, "Share It Maybe" but then again I too am a cookie monster so you'll have to forgive me. However, I digress. This is another example of how much fun it is to be geographically just south of Canada. They gave us Rush, Corey Hart, Robin Thicke and Carly Rae. Call that a pretty sweet deal. 4. Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca: I bet you a lot of singers male or female would be thrilled to have even one song in their catalogs that even comes close to being the champagne drinking all ages party this song is. It's one of those songs that begs you not to be in a good mood. I recommend this for anyone facing a terminal disease you needs a motivation boost of any kind. Ricky is mucho randy spouting out those lyrics. Jazzy, vibrant, full of body. 1999 was a better radio climate because of it. 5. Quad City DJ's - C'mon Ride It (The Train): Hello earwig territory. Pumping, thrashing, and of course the obligatory "woo woo" sounds. If you can get past the one million (yes, exaggeration) utterances of "C'mon ride the train...hey ride it, you can settle in for an uninhibited good time. 6. fun. - We Are Young: I can't stop bragging about it. Just screaming the chorus from the rafters makes the years just slide away. Brimming with elan. It's where we get introduced to Janelle Monae, who is blossoming into quite the show stopper in her own right. 7. ABC- Poison Arrow: Martin Fry, you handsome devil you. Yup cheesy lyrics "Who broke my heart, you did, you did...Shoot that poison arrow through to my heart". I loved the early '80s wave of Brit pop stars. "Poison Arrow" was, in a word, smashing. Everything about it was crisp. The percussion grabbed you by the balls, the pianos were classy in that dry martini manner. With each passing year I wave to the early '80s, hanky in hand, a gentle tear rolling down my cheek. 8. Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out: Off of "Night and Day" here's an example of a gorgeous pop song spit shined to within an inch of its life. You feel like a prettier person just listening to it. This is a few years after "Look Sharp" showed music listeners with the dapper Brit could do. All sparkly and new even 30 plus years later. The video is quaint, a real throwback that looks like it was ripped from a time at least a few decades earlier. 9. The Gap Band - You Dropped a Bomb On Me: If these boys don't qualify for sainthood on the basis of that once in a lifetime keyboard riff then the bar has been set way too high. It's that riff that sells the song. In most cases that kind of repetition would annoy the bejeebers out of me but in this case more is definitely better. Over and over and over until you find yourself air keyboarding. I can't argue with novel lyrics such as: "You were the first explosion, turned out to be corrosion". Who sticks the word "corrosion" into a song anymore. Has anybody done so for that matter. Good times. Incredible grove line. 10. Sonique - Feels So Good: The sound rises up from under like a quake entering the initial tremors stage. Sonique's voice is super sexy and the dance ready factor is at at least 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. Best of all, this song invites you in rather that beats you over the head. The throbbing beats are gone. The steady waves pushing back and forth from the shore have replaced them. Perfect for midnight, 1 AM, 2 AM, or any other time day or night where a party ethos needs to be copped.

Cool Song No. 2 An Earthy Slice of Bliss From MGMT

Boy, oh boy is it good to have MGMT back on the scene. I really L-O-V-E-D "Oracular Spectacular", which after taking a trip into the wonderfully twisted world of "Time To Feel", you'll start to understand what the easily believable buzz was and, luck and unfavorable record company meddling notwithstanding, still is. This year brings a self-titled third album from this psychedelic rock outfit and the first song "Cool Song No. 2" is a true gas. Very much an amalgam of synth, tribal noise, thunderous piano and a splash of oddball that makes you want to get inside the craniums of these guys to see what kind of strong drugs they were on when they cranked this out. The beautiful thing about this band, and trust me I'm not dipping into the bag of overwrought musical cliche to utter these words, is that it truly does not sound like anything else in any genre at this moment in time. I'm a fan of how they don't take themselves overly seriously. They'd probably have fit right in during the 1960s Jefferson Airplane drug haze days. Lyrics such as, "Whenever I drift by the unknown, feign like I notice a fundamental tone, the fine petals open and close, offended, poor explanation and nothing shown" hint at the idea that these guys spend many a day watching the clouds drift by, pondering the bigger questions and the wider world. Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser take us through their peculiar looking glass which has a primeval sensibility running all over it while still moored to the now with generous dollops of keyboards thrown into the mix. Their vocals drift through the breeze. You'd be best served finding a spoon and grabbing a spoonful of this cosmic musical soup. The pieces of this puzzle come together in some mighty ingenious ways. You never can tell what atmospheric direction Andrew, Ben, and their cohorts Will Berman (on drums), Matt Asti (manning the bass guitar), and James Richardson (lead guitar)are going to point the way to next. If you were a fan of "Time To Feel" or "Kids", the two chief singles from "Oracular Spectacular" you'll be pleased to note that "Cool Song No. 2" returns to the marijuana inhaling glory of those tunes. I'd be remiss if I didn't add that the production values here are top notch. Beefy all the way through even during the passages where the sound tends to lurch out into the middle of improvisational territory. It's a nice package to unwrap and bodes well for the potential success of the new project.

Boyz II Men Gives Listeners Plenty to Be Thankful For

Thank you blog and blog girls for joining me today where I will do my very best not to trample all over World Gratitude Day. In the spotlight I've placed Boyz II Men, four-part nineties smooth crooners who certainly made a mark on me with their delectable front stoop a capella jewel "Thank You". What's not to like? The flow is incredible, Nathan Morris, Shawn Stockman, Wanya Morris, and Michael McCary have this great military style discipline about their work, and the bridge teems with warmth on a par with sitting in front of the fireplace on a cold night sipping cocoa. This song could conceivably apply to anyone who's made your tough life inch over into the bearable category be it a parent, girlfriend, wife, sibling, etc...Boyz II Men prove they have highly elastic instruments that they choose the ideal range to operate out of. Baritone pipes? Check. Mid-range belting? Got it covered. Freestyle harmonizing? You know they pull that off without so much as a second's notice of hesitation. They do a fine job of proving that even when unplugged almost entirely, they can still command a grand vocal presence simply by using the gifts God gave them to the highest level possible. It's a shame it never placed any higher than #21 on Billboard Magazine's Singles Chart. Why is it that a lot of the time when I listen to music it's the songs that barely crack the top 40 or get stuck somewhere in the middle that arouse my curiosity the most? "Thank You" is definitely a pertinent example. Perhaps it's the understated subtlety (Read: No overly emotional delivery or braggadoccio)that kept it from reaching its full potential. Guess we'll have to file that under "mystery for the ages". "Thank You" is the gentle yet solid display of gratitude one associates with those two powerful but easily ignored words. We probably as a collective bunch of people don't say it nearly as often as we should. Hopefully this review will convince you to take time out to say it to the person or persons who've been feeling snubbed as of late. If it doesn't you've still got a nice little dollop of neat nostalgia to smile about. Get in the way back machine and give this another listen. Don't be surprised if the ear to ear grin has made it to your face long after your brain has had time to figure out how it got there.

Ylvis Poses a Question For The Ages...I Think

About the only thing Norwegian that comes to my memory bank where pop music is concerned, and what a great memory it is, is "Take On Me" by the pin-up poster worthy trio a-ha. The song was a #1 smash in 1985 and employed a very snazzy, ahead of the curve video which featured animation in a style called rotoscoping. Their follow up single, "The Sun Always Shines On TV" for my money is one of the most priceless titles that ever existed in the annals of music history. That video was kind of a downer in that it completely destroyed the boy meets girl, boy and girl battle their way through a comic book world, boy fights his way out of his comic book alternate dimension to become a flesh and blood human, boy and girl apparently get to live happily ever after. Nope. The boy succumbs to his comic book world (did the antidote for the curse wear off?) leaving the girl without her newly found main squeeze. Why the Norwegian culture lesson? Because, as we fast forward to September 2013 we've now got a Norwegian variety act duo called Ylvis (A cabaret in Norwegian)that are pondering a question that mankind has likely been scratching its collective noodle over for centuries...the sound that a fox makes. Kudos to the two for taking all of our minds off of economic misery, troops overseas, etc...The two have names of course. Please don't ask me to pronounce them. I'd probably need some definite muscle relaxants to come down after the attempt. Anyway the twosome are Bard Urheim Ylvisaker and Vegard Urheim Ylvisaker. Give them credit also for coming up with a variety of potential fox sounds. If this is some kind of attempt at global dumbing down at least they've gotten comfy in the See Spot Run vein of things. They play electronic which is appropriate given the light as air subject matter they're working with. It's party time once we're introduced to their attempts to crack the fox vernacular code. "Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow!!" or quite possibly "Joff-tchoff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!" Might it be "Jacha-chacha-chacha-chow?" You'd be best served concentrating on the smoking dance floor primed cranking going on and just let the not so eternal question bring a friendly grin to your face. Beforehand they set us up with what isn't exactly earth shattering differently knowledge about the kind of sounds other well-known animals make. Allow me to illustrate it in their words. "Dog goes woof. Cat go meow.Birds go tweet. Mouse goes squeak. Cow goes moo. Frog goes croak. Elephant goes toot. Ducks go quack. Fish go blub. Seal goes OW OW OW. Let me say we could just as easily put the elephant in the hard to categorize file. It's just an imposing roar to me. Toot seems a bit delicate. And as for the seal I think that it makes more of a bark than an "Ow" sound. So I guess we shouldn't send Bard and Vegard into an elementary school science class. It's nice of them to compliment the fox on its beautiful red fur which, to their way of thinking, makes it look like an angel in disguise. Next question, meant for anyone who's heard this latest viral sensation. Why would a fox communicate with a horse, in Morse code or otherwise? Keep shuffling to the beat and you won't have that conundrum pounding away at your skull for the next several weeks. I declare "The Fox" is to music what angel food cake is to dessert, not much substance but lightly pleasing to the palate. There's some piano tossed in for what could be construed as dramatic effect but again it could just be to distract you from the realization that not much of your waking life is spent asking yourself what sound a fox makes. A five year-old might wonder but not a blogosphere full of halfway educated adults. The video is good for a few chuckles. You might have to pull the shades down out of embarrassment but not for the usual lurid sex, gratuitous cursing reasons you'd usually associate with hiding your viewing habits from the nosy Nelly who lives a few doors down. Overall "The Fox" doesn't merit a huge quantity of your valuable time. However if keeping up with what's making the viral rounds floats your boat then have it, cop the puzzled look I know your face will likely be getting and then move on to the next burning cultural question you might be entertaining. How about I suggest "Why is it that Goofy wears pants and Pluto doesn't?"

John Legend's Love In The Future Is Exquisite In The Here and Now

Make no mistake, when John Legend emerges from his creative hibernation to discuss love, his audience gets spectacle, the technicolor brush stroke of what it's like to love or, as was the case in "Used to Love U", estranged from it. "Caught Up" is the final track listed on John's compellingly splashy new effort "Love In The Future", but its soaring majesty would've easily made it worth including right up front. Love stokes John's oxygen and who wouldn't be in the front row of that church uttering one hearty amen after another. He's highly convincing. One of the other highlights gracing a project full of them is "All of Me". The way his voice quivers with vulnerability as the regal harmonies shimmer behind him is nothing shy of remarkable. He has us the listeners hanging on every nanosecond of drama. Guest vocalist Stacy Barthe lifts "Angel" to a superior exalted place. "Love In The Future", the intro, is an ambitious opening salvo, the extended staircase leading to the 14 panoramic tributes to how much of a revelation it is to be in the tranquility promoting arms of love. "Dreams" puts John's softer shadings in the spotlight. "Hold On Longer" is vintage Legend, a performance worthy of that last name. There's no setting where the tracks on this CD wouldn't be welcomed. Champagne and chocolates are optional but I suspect if you listen long enough you'll conclude they are preferred.

Art Brut Shakes Things Up A Bit

Grab a straw, put your lips into a tightly pursed sucking position (you know, for the benefit of sucking out as much sugary goodness as possible), and kick that bathroom scale to the curb because it's time to salute National Chocolate Milk Shake Day. Helping out in that area is a quirky little German indie rock outfit answering to the name Art Brut. The objects of lead singer Eddie Argos' desire are "DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake". Art Brut makes a very compelling pitch band for these two not so guilty pleasures because they wax energetic about them, and do so with guitars organically grungy, drums bursting with strength, and Eddie explaining his young manhood days and how DC Comics and chocolate milkshakes made his world not seem quite so unbearable. In the opening stanza Eddie sort of goes off the milk splattered path with a brief explanation of how he loves cereal so much he has it for almost every meal. Yet, his life never really got that bad while he had DC Comics and chocolate milkshakes. Allow me to add my homespun two cents worth. When I was a little boy attending Casis School in Austin, Texas (I say this for the benefit of you bloggers not from the ATX...just in case)milk came to us from a distributor called Superior Dairies. Specifically we got regular white boy white milk (not sure if it was Vitamin D or not)and chocolate milk from the dairy whose product was "Moo Fresh". At least that's what it claimed on the small little carton. In the present day I'm enjoying Walgreens chocolate nutrition shakes and let me tell you they're too good to be nutritious. I sing praises of chocolate milk. It's one of those sublime luxury items that brightens up the sourness of any uber-crappy day you might be having. Now, about DC Comics, which is home to Green Lantern, my favorite superhero. Why is he my favorite you ask? Why is he even bringing this up in a blog that's supposed to be musically catered you might ask? Because I can think of about a half dozen situations where owning a power ring would be singularly grand. Think of the boring board meeting you don't want to nudge into your happy place. Just fire some well timed green laser at the assembled snore bores and voila, you have yourself a green soundproof bubble. Ah, now you can go back to my desk and get some bona fide work done. Answering the second question, well, because it's relevant to this review that I give both indulgences equal time. Now back to the song. Freddy Feedback (nice moniker) manages to make his bass moves sound as seductive as the titular items. He very much weaves his instrument up and around the endorphin zone of the body. Meanwhile lead guitarist Ian Catskilkin (they don't make last names like this anymore, do they?) is very zippy. That's the very adjective you'd want applied to this fun loving oddball of a tune. Mikey Breyer's adrenaline level behind the kit is exactly where it should be. In fact the entire band as a package has an average energy level that does wonders for the circulatory system. Just amped up enough, but not burning out of control. Eddie's been working since he was 10 (lyrically speaking) yet he's still into DC Comics and chocolate milkshake at the AARP magazine collecting age of (gasp!) 28. He can say that he's been accused of Peter Pan Syndrome and arrested development all he wants. He can claim to be developing late. I say there are some things you never outgrow (thank goodness). DC Comics and chocolate milkshake are wonderful things to wrap both your taste buds and creative juices around. I love the confessional nature of the song. You get a peek into the sensitive portion of Eddie's universe. He never got over that sweet, sweet taste. Please let the man have his two transgressions!! Snappy place to visit. Very silly too, which is also welcome in the post-millennial angst age we're enmeshed in. Pick up a copy of "Art Brut vs. Satan" the band's 2009 release if DC Comics and chocolate milkshake excite you no end. From a sonic vantage point the boys bring the extra little hint of pizzazz that makes for rewarding listening experiences. And besides, your waistline won't wag a finger at you. Always great, Eddie. We hear you and drink in each dairy boosted dollop.

Grouplove Singularly Amusing

I wanted to take the time to single out one of the songs on my own personal top 10 list. Just my way of giving everybody my taste of what's fun on the current music scene. I'd keep Grouplove's "Ways To Go" in any musical conversation involving whimsy. Do yourselves a favor and YouTube the video. The infectious spirit of this LA indie band is on full display. At the core of the mellifluous madness is keyboards ratcheted up with the intensity of an approaching thunderstorm. Christian Zucconi warbles more than he sings in this case. I guess you could achieve the same daffy pitch effect while inebriated but that's for Christian to divulge. Good to know the shakes of a potential heart attack aren't enough to keep Christian from giving in to the dumbstruck attachment he seems to have for the unnamed woman of this song. As the chorus attests he's hung up on her even when he sleeps all day. Hannah Hooper joins in the fun with her own bouncy vocal approach. It's a nice counterbalance to Christian's high drama delivery. Ryan Rabin taps out the recipe for undemanding fun. Sean Gadd lays down a fiery bass riff to keep the gang in line. When his rhythms sidle up to Hannah's keyboard playing then the game, as they say, is on. As for Andrew Wessen's guitar work he's content not to hog the spotlight. Taking equal ownership of the jam session is fine by him. Flashing back to the video what I believe you'll find most affecting is the group dance routine led by the young Asian boy whose antics are prominently featured during those thoughtfully placed moments when the band isn't wallowing around in its own silliness. And was that breakdancing? Not necessarily nine on a scale of one to ten but assuredly high up there on the cuteness scale. At the beginning the keyboards float there weightless as if they were waiting for the guests at their party to makes themselves known. In due time they do. Don't feel like you have to keep the shades drawn to prance around the house to this soft hearted cutie. If you've called a sweetie just to hear his/her voice you'll close your eyes, absorb the image totally, smile from ear to ear, and open your eyes feeling newly refreshed. "Ways To Go" is a delightful cleanser with the mojo to shake away any loose cranial cobwebs you have and then pay that forward to the tips of your toes. Goofiness has been placed in expert hands. The "Spreading Rumors" hit parade is off to a tantalizing start. May there be more friendly wink slabs of ingratiating rock like this down the road.

OneRepublic Preaches Some Indelible Words About a Great Grandfather

Right off the bat I wish to wish grandparents nationwide a wonderful Grandparents Day. OneRepublic certainly demonstrates that it knows how special you all are with "Preacher". The arrangements are classic OneRepublic, a hodgepodge of magic that isn't weighed down by the din of this world. Front and center for this song is Ryan Tedder singing the amazing virtues of his preacher grandpa. In his bag of tricks are words on God, love, and life. Ryan is awestruck by his old man's scholarly ways on these subjects. The prime message is, although by no means was Grandpa Tedder a rich man where dollars and cents were concerned, he had a wealth of wisdom that was too valuable to be spent. The guiding hand here is shown to be more far more valuable that scads of pocket money. Praise to all five members of this Colorado band for packing this tribute with an emotional wallop. The sincerity is second to none. There's a classical music brand of style at work but the percussion section keeps this track firmly grounded in the here and now. Tag team keyboards remind us all that OneRepublic's signature slick production values are firmly in play. The importance of the subject matter shows in the volume level of the instruments and, to get right to the point, how they seldom stray from respectful homage. If the swirling melodies sound like they're being orchestrated from a heavenly zone, well, that figures. What separates "Preacher" from prior singles like "All The Right Moves" is the percussion isn't nearly as relentless. It glides on in the fashion of a smooth coat of paint on a weather worn house. Ryan is the right earnest carrier of the message. There's unconditional love there. This track can be found on OneRepublic's current "Native" album.

Eminem's Reliance on Sampling Throughout "Berzerk" Drives Me Crazy

I have a great deal of respect for Eminem. Though controversy is natural in his universe he does have some of the best rap delivery that ever was. The leadoff track from his forthcoming effort "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" demonstrates he's just as committed to pushing the throttle down as ever. He's in full on party mode encouraging his disciples to say fuck it before we kick the bucket. There's a mantra in there somewhere, right? He lends his two cents to the notion that, as he puts it, "Life's too short to not go for broke." His ways with a rhyme certainly have kept him from being broke. I owe the man some debt of gratitude for demonstrating that we as white people can do better than Vanilla Ice. Sad day for white people when "Ice Ice Baby" became the first rap song to reach #1 on Billboard's Singles Chart. Sad precedent. However since that time, whether with the brazen love it or leave it affirmation of self in "The Way I Am", the twisted one sided pen pal cool ghoulishness of "Stan", the one man show ringmaster flair of "Without Me", or the ambitious to the point of night sweats intensity of "Lose Yourself" Eminem has conducted a master class on how to scramble brains with your rhymes. That's the upbeat portion of this blog. The finger wagging, and unfortunately condemning part of this blog concerns the not one but two conspicuous samplings from '80s artists that weave their way through the beats. The first verse is top heavy with the opening "Kick it!!" portion of the Beastie Boys defiant anthem "(You Gotta Fight) For Your Right (To Party)." From "kick it" to "crickets" to "pick it" to "stick it". Each one copping that familiar Beastie feel. It's true that Eminem sampled "Thank You" from Dido very liberally for "Stan". He also sampled Aerosmith's "Dream On" in order to give "Sing For The Moment" some vigor. One's artistic embellishment. Two is the song equivalent of a small child stacking two chairs on top of each other so he can reach the cookie jar on the high cupboard shelf. What's two you ask? Good question and let me not beat around the bush with the answer. The other sampled song is "The Stroke". To all you Gen Xers out there whose bread and butter of musical entertainment was '80s music that title ought to provide a knowing smirk. It was a macho romp from Billy Squier, the guy who music insiders think committed career suicide with the decidedly non-masculine video for "Rock Me Tonite. The music video time warp book "I Want My MTV" dedicates an entire chapter to spelling out just how awful it was. "Turd" is one leave nothing to the imagination description. The key riff from "The Stroke" is prominent in the hook portion of the song, the self same fuck it, kick the bucket section. Eminem's perfectly capable of dishing out the kidney punches without resorting to '80s archives. He's a biker in the big boy lane who I thought gave the fuck you finger to training wheels ages ago. Unless I am sorely lazy in getting my facts straight, "The Real Slim Shady" doesn't borrow big hair age bombast to bang out the beats. Neither does "Cleaning Out My Closet" which to be sure has more of delicate, somewhat tragic smell to it. Still, the man name drops Public Enemy "Been Public Enemy since you though PE was gym, bitch". He also clears up any confusion that MC Ren is not the same cat as Ren Hoek of Ren & Stimpy fame whose twisted friendship saw him linked up with a cat: "The art of the MCing mixed with da Vinci and MC Ren and I don't mean Stimpy's friend, bitch". Does he paid a million dollars every time he says "bitch"? Not likely but he uses that put down so much it begs the question. Frankly the bridge lyrics are phoned in. They found some deep bass voice to keep "The Stroke" swagger going. The spotlight needs to stay on Em. Even as I say that, he doesn't do himself any favors with the listless way he name drops Kid Rock and his lethal rap/rock cannonball "Bawitaba". That the Beastie Boys show up in this song is understandble. They were '80s rap pioneers, not to mention the other white rap act that hit the nail on the head. Eminem is the current pioneer whose legacy extends from the late '90s on. "Yessiree Bob" sounds like something someone's Grandpa would utter when telling one of his heavily detailed stories. Trying that Macklemore "Thrift Shop" hand-me-down type of antiquated speech on Eminem makes it sound like he's resting on his laurels a bit. Then, back at the hook, he swallows some Jolt Cola (Yes, you can still buy it. Go to Amazon.com if you don't believe me.) and we're back to letting yourself go because life's too short not to cut loose. Did Marshall Mathers show up to nonchalantly fire off Verse 2? Slim Shady's the guy steering the hook. The voyage would be nicer if it didn't include a disgraced '80s rocker whose inclusion here is a puzzler to me. Was it to light the fire on a partying mood. Did Em simply think the riff was too amazing to pass up. Did Billy plead with Eminem to help him avoid a slide into permanent cultural irrelevance. You know, for a man solidly planted in the rap camp, Eminem sure has had his moments where he's peeled back that layer to reveal his inner rocker. Sampling Aerosmith could be forgiven because Aerosmith and Run DMC made music history in 1986 with the rap makeover of "Walk This Way" Kid Rock has his crossover appeal for both rappers and hard rock, tattoo sporting types. Billy however doesn't straddle the fence like that. Back to scratching my head in utter bemusement I go. As of this blog "Berzerk" has already debuted at #3 on the Billboard chart alluded to earlier. That pretty much means it's Eminem's star wattage that's rocket fueled his initial success. Can't say it comes close to being his best work. Radio accessible for sure but when he had more of a junkyard dog mentality I enjoyed it more. "Berzerk" goes crazy on sampling which detracts from the power of his presence. Billy Squier really ought to send Eminem a thank you text though. Don't know when the last time his name came up in artistic conversation. "I Want My MTV" opened the door. For some bizarre reason Eminem pried it wider. Not that Eminem's persona has ever been short of way off the spool. Let's hope whichever single he or his label opts to release next puts the focus 100% on Eminem and not on artists who can get along just fine on their own.

This Skyscraper Seems Too Easily Torn Down

Welcome to my dizzying tribute to Skyscraper Day. Along for this ride is young starlet Demi Lovato who Disney Channel devotees likely remember from the series Sonny with a Chance. There's nothing particularly sunny about "Skyscraper", a featured track from her third album "Unbroken". Here we're greeted with the classic boy hurts girl real bad scenario with Demi, our heroine, vowing to rise up from the ashes. Production wise there isn't a whole lot of razzle and dazzle to cloud Demi's message of empowerment. That's in her favor. It takes no end of guts to find the strength to move on from an ill-fitting relationship so as to better position yourself to find that someone who will, warts and all, love you for you. In the best social circumstances, be it in a family, a friendship, or a marriage, that's not a simple task. Now for the comment that might make some of you ask yourselves, "Does he spend his spare time pulling the whiskers off kittens, too?" I get the agony Demi's conveying here. She begins from more of an understated whisper like posture. Nice strategy. You want to build up the tension, leave the audience wondering what smack between the eyes is potentially coming next. The piano at the start is gorgeous. The drumming stemming from the second verse is delicately blended in. If this was a gymnastics routine I'd say all Demi has to do is nail the dismount and she'd get at least an 8.5 out of 10. Oh but she makes this mistake of confusing empowerment with enough of a touch of victim mannerisms to make me think yes, she wants to rise again and love again, but is she really spending that energy trying to convince the loser she's leaving this or is she trying to convince herself she can actually do it. If I can hear the tears well up in her throat while she's singing, that's a red flag. If only she had dialed down that affectation just a little bit I'd have been more charitable. As they say breaking up is hard to do. A mourning period is certainly acceptable and within the bounds of social decorum. What Demi's done is wrap her pipes into some undermining cocktail mixing pity with a small seed of revenge, unhealthy revenge. Had her voice been allowed to ring through in less of a watered-down manner I'd have been convinced Demi's a woman scorned, but not for long. "Would it make you feel better to watch me bleed" has guilt trip scrawled all over it. I know youn love isn't shy on dramatics, and I suppose that's why it became the big hit it did but Demi playing the more than a little unhinged card has me wondering if I should lock up the sharp objects in case she stumbles to my door asking for sugar, you know, the kind Mary Poppins claimed helped the medicine go down. Anti-psychotic meds? Hmmm...again not the imagery you want to encourage in a song about female empowerment. There are non police blotter ways to tap into inner strength. This "Skyscraper" doesn't have the firm foundation to convince me it will, several years from now, still be standing, the tangible embodiment of that old saying, "The best revenge is to thrive. Demi needs to consult either a counselor or a building contractor. The fact of the matter is Demi isn't remotely standing on her own two feet yet. We'd be better served delving into the sleeping giant within the animal instead of the overwrought sting of the wounds.