In college I took a history class called “The Roots of Rock and Roll” taught by Scott Sandage. One of the major lessons was to stop using words like ‘authentic’ in the context of music. Does authenticity really have any meaning or intrinsic value when it comes to music? Is Nirvana’s cover of In the Pines any less authentic or valuable than Leadbelly’s? Artists have been covering and adding their own flair to songs for centuries. This is how music grows and evolves.
I think it would be fair to say that Umbrella by Rihanna has a pretty wide appeal. It features a guest spot by Jay-Z, a fun beat, and well… Rihanna covered in silver paint. Critics may harp on the jarring chorus - but people also still dig the Macarena. The point is, the song is great for the treadmill, twerkin at the club, and generally rocking out.
The problem? Mandy Moore decided that she had to cover it over at Yahoo Music. Have you watched this shit? Is she seriously using a house band? A guitar? Does she really have her eyes closed as she tries to emote so passionately into the mic? Why does she have the video on in the background? The whole thing looks like some crap taped in 1998 when RealPlayer was still a big deal and you could get 60 million in venture capital without a viable product.
Pay attention to the intro, Mandy doesn’t even seem that into the song. It’s her favorite song ‘of the moment’, and she’s ‘not a big Top 40 sort of listener’. Oh Mandy you forgetful lass, your first single Candy was top 40 music! You owe all your initial success to the pop charts. Way to turn one of my favorite summer jams into a pile of steaming crap Mandy.
My open appeal to Ms. Moore: Stick to funny TV cameos with your boyfriend of the minute and romantic comedies. The way your wrinkle your face when you say “You can’t deny how melodic this song is,” is too good for this silly attempt at a music career. Please Mandy, step away from the mic and back on screen.
Fantastic Four #550 is the best of McDuffie’s tales yet on this run. It’s smart, bold, big, and human. It takes the team from the furthest reaches of space and reality back to their kitchen. It’s pure sci-fi superhero fun. It’s also thoughtful and very compassionate, which really sold me.
*Sniffle* The main reason I was picking up this series will soon be gone. This is the final issue featuring Black Panther and Storm as regular cast members, and DAMN what a story. The other reason I was picking up this book - Dwanye McDuffie - will also be departing, but he has at least two issues to go. His brilliant storytelling has taken a series that I always struggled to enjoy and turned it into one of my favorite must-read comic books.
The boys are back with mucho media discussion. Trey Songz, Blue Magic, J.R. Writer, Jill Scott, The Heartbreak Kid, Grandma’s Boy, Avatar Book 3 Chapter 3, Paul Jenkins’ Sidekick, webcomics, Tales of the TMNT, licensed movie comic books, and so much more. Get on the train baby cause we’re riding deep into pop culture country.
As you can see, we’ve got a link to our iTunes page up on the site now. Go write us a review! Make it dirty, cause we like it like that.
So we got the first episode recorded. After searching online forever, I found a program called HotRecorder. It works with Skype and only costs $15. It was the best way to go for us since I’m working on a Mac. It can record as high quality or as compressed as we want. It was def the way to go.
But the first episode did ramble on, so Neal suggested we try segments. Look out for some more uniform music, movies, and comics discussion on next Tuesday’s episode. It’ll be a more manageable length too, about 45 mins.
And in other business, to claim our PodcastAlley feed I need to post this link and crazy string of characters on the blog:
While you’re at it, go leave us a review on Podcast Alley and iTunes. And you can always call the comment line at 412-567-7606.
EDIT: Okay, I made a boo boo on my first post. The program I’m using is Call Recorder from the Ecamm Network. HotRecorder is the one that only works for PC. Call Recorder is Mac compatible. And it rules. It also records video conversations. Plus it comes with some great media conversion programs.
More interesting though, this really isn’t ‘news.’ This is a rehash of an old Ghostface mixtape track - My Guitar from sometime in back ‘04. (Nick actually put me up on this track when it came out) It uses the same sample, same thematic content, hell Ghostface is even on both tracks. This is like a radio edit for public consumption. All the media coverage is just to plug the Clan’s upcoming 8 Diagrams album.
Ghostface’s original version relied on an aggressive beat and wild flow. Conversely, the 8 Diagrams cut is subdued by Badu’s hook, and sports an unusually smooth delivery from Raekwon, Ghostface, and Method Man. The track is mellow — but has some of the grit that made the Clan famous. I don’t know if RZA produced this track - but I certainly couldn’t put it past him. RZA has really shown a lot of range in the last few years.
It is always great to see the Clan do their thing. I really regret missing them when they came to Pittsburgh. I think ODB was still alive then. I’ll never forgive myself for missing that show. sigh…
This week the award goes to Paul Jenkins’ Sidekick: Super Summer Sidekick Spectacular #2. Uncanny X-Men and Ms. Marvel were solid but standard. Metamorpho: Year One was a downer. (Tales of the TMNT is out too, but I haven’t read it yet!)
In unrelated news, Cable & Deadpool writer Fabian Nicieza discussed his soon-to-be-ending series. I haven’t been the biggest fan of the book, but I enjoyed last issue immensely. Here are some wise words that Fabian offered up regarding FREE: “Whoever said there is no such thing as a free lunch was really an idiot. There actually is. It’s when someone else pays for the food you eat. That’s the basic working definition of the word ‘free.’”
This is it. We made it, baby. Literally. Neal and Nick talk music, movies, comic books, and other current entertainment events just for you. Get your fill while you get your AudioShocker.
An interview with Chris Giarrusso, the creator and cartoonist behind Mini Marvels and Bullpen Bits, in Podcast Episode 046 on Tuesday, September 9, 2008.
Fantastic Four #550 is the best of McDuffie’s tales yet on this run. It’s smart, bold, big, and human. It takes the team from the furthest reaches of space and reality back to their kitchen. It’s pure sci-fi superhero fun. It’s also thoughtful and very compassionate, which really sold me.
This week the award goes to Paul Jenkins’ Sidekick: Super Summer Sidekick Spectacular #2. Uncanny X-Men and Ms. Marvel were solid but standard. Metamorpho: Year One was a downer. (Tales of the TMNT is out too, but I haven’t read it yet!)
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