Only a few more days before we give a warm and friendly hello to 2012 and how much warmer it feels after listening to a Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon Levitt’s duet of “What are you Doing New Year’s Eve”! JGL has his trademark adorable smile and Zooey is still the quirky girl everyone fell in love with. And the voice? Does NOT play second fiddle to their cute antics! We all know Zooey has a great voice – she’s made that known on almost every single movie she’s been on, in addition to her “She and Him” indie band. But not a lot of people may know that JGL, behind his smile and acting prowess, also has quite a stellar voice:
I am SO excited for 2012. Perhaps it’s going to be a year filled with a lot of JGL-Zooey duets?? Please let it be so!
What do you get when you combine Back to the Future, one of the most awesome shows on the planet of all time (1955 or 2015 or whatever other year) with a great indie song from Canadian band, Said the Whale? You get a masterpiece of epic proportions! Check out the video below to see Said the Whale’s latest music video for one of their newer songs called “Lines”. It is an accurate reenactment of the Enchantment under the Sea dance scene on BTTF:
Make sure you catch Mr. Strickland, those naughty kids slipping some alcohol into the punch, and Marty McFly number two going incognito!
We’re starting this new thing where we feature a song we’re currently really digging and post up the lyrics to the song. For the first lyric Friday we’re featuring Scars on 45’s “Heart on Fire”. You’ve probably heard this from Grey’s Anatomy, a TV series that has really given me a number of great music recommendations in the past:
Without further ado, here are the lyrics:
And bowl me over black and blue
It’s far too hard to say I’m all over you
And take my pulse and hose me down
My heart’s on fire
I’ve said these words a thousand times
The bathroom mirror stopped and smiled
So take my pulse and hose me down
My heart’s on fire
Cause when you’re standing on your own
And you feel you’ve got nobody round you
Yeah you know I’ll be the one who helps you from your knees
When you’re standing on your own
And you feel you’ve got nobody round you
Yeah you know I’ll be the one who helps you from your knees
My heart’s on fire
My heart’s on fire
I wish you’d never show me now
It seemed to easy to turn you down
And so it seems you are my tears
Is your heart on fire?
Cause when you’re standing on your own
And you feel you’ve got nobody round you
Yeah you know I’ll be the one who helps you from your knees
When you’re standing on your own
And you feel you’ve got nobody round you
Yeah you know I’ll be the one who helps you from your knees
Yeah you know I’ll be the one who helps you from your knees
My heart’s on fire
My heart’s on fire
So bowl me over black and blue
It’s far too hard to say I’m all over you
I’m very happy that the Indie concert scene is really going more and more full-blown. That there are more and more indie bands traveling Asia for a gig is testament to that. From Norwegian folk-pop duo Kings of Convenience to Brooklyn pop, post-punk band, The Drums, the list of bands hitting the Asian continent increases continuously. The areas in Asia that have been blessed with indie concerts are Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines concerts, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Meanwhile, here in the US the indie scene is also thriving and I can hardly keep up with all the new group names popping up almost every week! That’s part of the fun though – discovering a band I truly love amidst the obscure, quirky names is almost like finding gold!
Yup you heard right. It’s a sad sad day. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten any mailing list updates from Silverchair, only to find that this one in particular is about their band being put into a “deep sleep”, as they call it. Not only are they not going to be making any new material, it gets even more depressing. They continue, saying they won’t be “… playing shows any time soon. It also means that the three of us won’t be working together unless and until it feels right again. “ Dig the dagger deeper why don’t cha?
But let’s get past the angst that comes with the news. It seems that each of the members of Silverchair will still be very much in touch with the music industry – Daniel is creating a film soundtrack, Ben is recording his own music and Chris seems to be on the business / musical venture side. And it’s also good to note that they’ve disbanded only because they wanted to pursue something that inspires them more, not because of some childish rift. In fact, the members even mentioned in the mail that “the three of us still truly care about each other”. So there’s still hope for the future.
For now, let’s take out all the Silverchair CDs from the rack, from Frog Stomp to Young Modern, and celebrate one of the most prominent and versatile names of the music industry, and one of the most influential names in my own personal music journey.
Post a comment below to give a nod to this great Aussie band! We love you guys!
The Michael Jackson hit song, “Man in the Mirror” has been sung again and again on the American Idol stage, the latest of which came from Season 10 contestant, Jacob Lusk, who for me, peaked during the first week when he sang “House is not a Home” and has yet to outperform that one ever since.
Another distinct performance comes from Kris Allen during top 36, the song that got him through to top 12. It was the song that made me remember his name and face for the very first time and marked the start of his great journey of growth throughout AI season 8 until finally winning the whole thing.
And as if that weren’t enough, back in season 9, Man in the Mirror was one of the songs you can sing during Hollywood week. Needless to say, several sang this Jackson tune, enough to subconsciously compel me to look in front of bathroom mirrors more frequently. One of them was Jermaine Sellers who let out his Diva attitude a few weeks too early, stating the band screwed up:
I also distinctly remember Thaddeus Johnson’s slower rendition, who didn’t quite make it through the big stage at American Idol:
And still others like Joe Munoz, who didn’t quite make it his own:
A lot of my Cougar Town watching friends have asked me to hunt down the songs that played on various episodes of Cougar Town, so I’ve decided to post it here as well for those who are looking for it, too. In particular, I’m sure you guys would like to know the song on the final episode of Cougar Town.
This isn’t fully complete, so if you’d like to ask something, or you’d like to give your input, feel free to post a comment!
Episode 1:
“Lisztomania” by Phoenix – Jules is inspecting herself and looking at all her imperfections in the mirror.
“Bulletproof” by La Roux – Laurie brings Jules to the bar and they talk to the bouncer outside Westside Bar.
Episode 2:
“Feeling I’m Falling” by True Music – Jules gets drinks at Grayson’s Bar/Restaurant.
Episode 3:
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel – the song Andy hums, because Ellie tapped the drum beat of this song on his behind the night before.
Episode 5:
“Closing Up” by Witness UK – Josh & Jules at the cafe.
Episode 6:
“Stolen” by Dashboard Confessional – Josh and Jules talk on her cellphone post-breakup, Josh is crying under the rain outside Jules’ house.
Episode 8:
“Calling” by Leona Naess (also the singer of the song on the last episode) – Jules and Trent dance on her birthday, by the bar/lounge of the hotel.
Episode 9:
“Give A Little Love” by Noah And The Whale – Thanksgiving song. Nice touching scene where Travis helps Jules with the turkey, after the faux pas Jules committed in front of Travis and his girlfriend, Kylie.
Episode 11 (the episode featuring Lisa Kudrow!):
“Romeo and Julie” by The Rifles – Jules and Jeff play Scrabble on the bed.
Episode 15:
“Feel Good About It” by Marching Band – Grayson hangs lights on his house for Jules on Valentine’s Day.
Episode 17:
“Don’t Wanna Know Why” by Whiskeytown – Jules and Grayson talk as they watch Andy riding around in his motorcycle.
Episode 18:
“Animal” by Miike Snow – Jules pulls over her car to answer the phone and is elated by the fact that she can still change.
Episode 22:
“Keep The Fire” by The Goldhawks – The “Why Not?” Jules/Grayson moment! Grayson rushes up to Jules and kisses her on the street. *gush* (watch starting 0:07)
Episode 24: Final Episode of Season 1!
“Leave Your Boyfriends Behind” by Leona Naess – The cul de sac gang goes to the beach! The girls ride the bike, while the guys ride a car.
Keane is one of those bands who have made it a point to reinvent their music style every album. I was first captivated by Keane back in 2004, when they released their debut album, “Hopes and Fears”, reveling in the often melancholic emotion that each of their songs was attached to, perfectly portrayed by Tom Chaplin’s distinct voice, and the way he’d gasp for breath in parts of the song, that somehow makes the feeling of despair even more tangible.
Another unique characteristic of Keane is the absence of a guitarist, something that has worked to their advantage, because you get tunes that are more raw, and somehow more reflective.
When they released their second album, Under the Iron Sea, with “Is it any Wonder?”, you start seeing that they’re embarking on a journey towards something less morose. But you have songs like “Bad Dream” that beg to differ. The second album felt like an amalgamation of both the past and what is to come. I enjoyed the second album as much as the first.
Fast forward to 2010, with the release of Night Train, which includes 2 songs featuring Somali Canadian rapper K’naan. The melancholy has been replaced by upbeat saccharine beats.
The new songs are definitely a light year far departure from the old songs, but I remain in the middle as to whether it’s a departure I love or approve of, or whether I’m hoping they’d go back to where they came from. Tom Chaplin’s beautiful voice is still eminent but instead of sitting down in quiet, almost solemn contemplation while listening to Keane’s tracks (something I find myself doing when I listen to their earlier songs), I find myself bobbing my head, tapping my foot, and generally feeling the good energy of the newer songs. Between these two effects on me, I would say I like both equally, depending on the day and depending on my mood. My opinion on the albums is quite similar.
What I find myself missing terribly though is that characteristic way he’d gasp for breath at certain intervals of the song. It sounds a tad ridiculous I know, but I just can’t help looking for it. I won’t ever stop looking for it, which means I probably won’t ever stop listening to the addictive tunes that Keane continues to dish out either.
What are your opinions on the new album of Keane vis-a-vis the older ones? Which do you like more?
So in the heartfelt season finale of Glee, Mr. Schuster takes out his ukulele and sings for his class a rendition of “Somewhere over the Rainbow” – the same version Jason Castro was known for back in American Idol, and I must say the Glee club teacher’s version pales in comparison. His voice doesn’t have that unique quality to it (I feel that Schuster’s voice is very boy band / acapella) that the dreadhead has, and musical timing and interpretation was done better by the American Idol contestant. You be the judge if you agree:
Will Schuster’s version:
Jason Castro’s version:
What’s your take on this Somewhere Over the Rainbow duel?
Okay, so I am still having a Cougar Town hangover, so I’d like to show you just a couple of YouTube videos that clearly show why I love this TV series:
You have the crazy/slapstick-like humor:
You have the relationship-related satire, and dancing/singing:
The truth about women humor:
The Jules/Grayson romance, which majority waited to happen, with baited breath
And just the great chemistry among all the characters, like they’re really one big cul de sac family:
