song of the day 12/1

its december!!!!!

i watched love actually the other night. this is the last song in the movie, and although it’s not a christmas song, i can’t help but associate it with this time of year…

“god only knows”- the beach boys

album review: “battle studies” -john mayer

battle studies- john mayer: c+

well, i’m sure yall are happy. my 3rd cd review and the 1st one that anyone will actually care about. i’m sure everyone has their own opinions about this one, so i’m interested in what yall think.

i’ve given myself almost 2 weeks to let this one soak in, and honestly, i’m glad i did because i hate battle studies a lot less than i did on november 17. however, i will preface this review by stating that i feel that this is john mayer’s weakest release to date.

what i’ve come to appreciate about jm is his ability to make every collection of songs distinctly different than the previous one. inside wants out was very stripped down and ushered in the era of male, acoustic, singer/songwriters that’s still going strong more than 10 years later. (wow, i feel old.) think about “victoria” and “comfortable.” he hasn’t written anything like those songs since ‘99.then we got room for squares. very unfocused in terms of sound, but that’s typical for an artist’s first major label release. it was kind of everywhere, but looking back, a very obvious bridge from the previous ep to heavier things, which, in my opinion, is the most instrumentally diverse jm album. it’s philosophical, poetic, inspired, and pushed past the categorical stereotypes that the industry used to define his talent after the commercial success of room for squares. perfect segue into the try! trio album. a continuation of the whole “you think you know who i am, but im going to show you that i’m not that.”

i think it’s safe to say that continuum blew everyone’s minds. initially. his political and thought-provoking lyrics proved that he was growing up. he was also able to show us what he was capable on the guitar, integrating his pure talent and skill into music that could be still be enjoyed by mainstream america.

each of these albums, to me, conveyed a maturation of themes. this one was almost a regression. i’ll admit that my standards for john mayer are high. i’ve seen him 3 times in concert, and i know what he is capable of. he is capable of more than what can be heard on battle studies.

the sound is so simple…some of the songs sound almost too effortless. i think the guy has had moments of brilliance in the past, and i just don’t see any here. it’s actually a little frustrating because i 100% commend the concepts that he was going for. but they just werent executed to the degree that he was able to in the past. the tracks just kinda fall short. i think watching him perform the majority of these songs live would be terribly boring.

dont get me wrong…some of the messages are spot on. let’s take, for example, “half of my heart.” i love love love the idea of this song. “half of my heart’s got a real good imagination/half of my heart’s got you/half of my heart’s got a right mind to tell you that/half of my heart wont do.” YES AMAZING! but what is the point of bringing taylor swift into it? if you’re going to feature one of the most heralded young songwriters of our time (arguably) on your highly anticipated album, the song better be explosively rich. i mean, let’s be honest. she is not known for her outstanding vocal prowess. what is her contribution here? if anything, it adds a level of creepiness to hear a 19 year old telling a 32 year old that she can’t keep loving him. i will tell you this, though. there are probably hundreds of thousands of highschoolers buying this track on itunes because it says “taylor swift” next to it. pretty sure the goal here was cash money. (dolla dolla bills yallll)

“friends, lovers, or nothing“. that’s something that i’ve come to terms with recently. the first time i heard it, i was like “YES JOHN MAYER UNDERSTANDS ME!!!” but john mayer is 32 years old. i’m not going to criticize him for being immature or whatever, but it almost depresses me that people who are 10 years older than me are still dealing with these issues. will we ever just grow up?!?

lets just cut to the chase. im throwing “who says,” “assassin,” “war of my life,” and “do you know me” in the crap pile. sorry, i just don’t like those. i never ever listen to them. those songs get an automatic skip in the car. especially “assassin.” what the FRICK FRACK  is that even?

however, most of this can be mitigated by “perfectly lonely,” which has officially cracked my john mayer top 5. talk about hearing a song that explains your life to an exact t. also, “edge of desire” is going on my next honeymoon mix. it’s the new “slow dancing.” and “all we ever do is say goodbye,” or as i like to call it, “the jennifer aniston song,” is beautiful too.

i don’t know if this was his purpose, but everything is almost too straightforward here. battle studies lacks the overall inspiration and provocation of his past albums. i mean, he did say that this was supposed to be a guidebook or something for love, so maybe his intention was to lay it all out there, clearly and simply.

if i’m gonna give inside wants out an a-, room for squares a solid b, heavier things a solid a, try! a b-, and continuum a b+, battle studies is getting a c+.

song of the day 11/28

thanksgiving is over. TIME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

granted, ive been listening to christmas music since halloween was over, but for those of you finicky individuals that think it’s a crime to get into the christmas spirit until after turkey day, FINE.

“the christmas song”- dave matthews & tim reynolds. probably my favorite christmas song of them all.

 

“slight figure of speech”- the avett bros: the video

the creator of eastbound and down (one of my favorite tv shows of alllllll time), jody hill, directed the new avett brothers video and TERRENCE CUTLER (andrew daly) IS IN IT!

just a warning, the music doesn’t start til 3 minutes in.

 

im now 1000% sure that the right person won american idol.

in case this is an actual thing that real adults like me still think about.

yes, american idol has been over for months, and by now, i have it made it perfectly clear to the world that i think kris allen is THEBOMBDOTCOM. like really, i have a crush on that guy like a silly schoolgirl, and i am not ashamed. i won’t even pretend to be unbiased here.

at the same time, though, ive never hated adam lambert. i actually think he is somewhat entertaining when he is not being scary. its just hilarious to me how the top 2 contestants from last season’s ai have taken such contrasting turns with their musical careers. youve probably seen this already because it’s been all over the news (literally, allll over msnbc yesterday. and believe me, i would know), but here is adam’s performance on the american music awards on sunday night.

yeeeeeeeeeeah. that really happened. trainwreck! ummm the part where he shoves the guy’s face into his crotch? PRICELESS! apparently, this caused a huge uproar and good morning america cancelled his appearance on their show because of all the backlash. yiiikes.

on the other hand, there’s kris allen, who graced ellen with his presence this morning.

obviously not the greatest song that was ever written, but still.

so funny that america’s choice came down to these 2. could they be any more different? hilaaaaaarious.

the mellow show with jack johnson!

oh my gosh andy samberg, dave matthews (as a character and actor, separately!), boyd tinsley, and a mention of horchata all in the same snl skit.

most of the impressions were SPOT ON. joseph gordon-levitt as jason mraz? impressive! (wasn’t he just great all around? like really, i was impressed. his energy levels were probably that of a 12 year old boy that drank an entire case of mountain dews in one night, but still!) sadly, that is definitely not what jack johnson’s voice sounds like, but i will forgive and forget because 1.) its andy, and 2.) i loved that reba video.

makes me think that dave could be a pretty decent host for this show…better than taylor swift, i’m sure.

anyway, sorry this is a little late. im just now getting around to watching the episode. at 8:45 on a monday morning. ahh, my life…

kgsr gets a new home.

for all the austinites:

kgsr is moving from 107.1 to 93.3 beginning tomorrow afternoon at 5.

then, for a week afterwards, kgsr will be broadcast on both stations.

the new 107.1, a regional mexican station, will take over after that.

word.

(via austin360)

“cousins”- vampire weekend: the video

for whatever reason, this cracks me upppppp. ezra is still sporting that bowl cut thing from lollapalooza, though. and i dont think this song is as catchy as some of their others…probably because i still have no idea what it’s about…

 

can we all agree that rostam is the clear winner of this video? him clanging that bell at the end…WINNER!!!

COME ON, JANUARY 12.

 

what do people REALLY think about radiohead?

so thanks to lollapalooza, i got a free one-year subscription to spin, and this month’s cover story is: “16 rock myths debunked.”

#1: radiohead can do no wrong.

WOW. there’s gonna be so major backlash for that one, if the internet hasn’t exploded from it already. i’m not a huge radiohead fan, so i don’t really care about this article that much, but if you’re interested, you can read it online:

REALITY: radiohead kinda blow.

what does this mean???

that’s from belle & sebastian’s official website. its been almost 4 years since the life pursuit, so IT’S ABOUT TIME.

(via consequence of sound)