Tag Archive for ‘napoleon dynamite’ at AudioShocker

I must admit, I’m a bit nervous about my first post on the Audioshocker. Not that I should be (I did, after all, once upon a time, participate in one of the podcasts), but I am concerned that I am simply neither hip enough nor up-to-date with my pop-radar either. I was initially thinking that I could orient my posts around that very out-of-touchness, but have, at least for the time being decided against that. I will keep up with the world around me, dammit! And, with that in mind, let me get to what I’m getting to for this inaugural post: Ted Nugent.

Though you may not be as enthralled by the phenomenon of The Nuge as I am, you still must admit that he’s something of an anomaly. For all intents and purposes, the man should have been just another one hit wonder, with his one song “Cat Scratch Fever,” but somehow he has maintained a cultural cachet well greater than what writing a single hit song should command. He’s, of course, well known for his ultra-conservative radio show, and hosting his own reality TV series, and appearing on at least one other one. This is, perhaps, not so different a CV as any other flash-in-the-pan success, but bear with me. I am not claiming that The Nuge is hugely famous or wildly successful, merely that he has a greater piece of the pop-cultural pie than one would expect for the scribe of a song about venereal disease.

Continue reading ‘Culturology 001 - The Nugent Way’

Keri Hilson just released the video for the lead single Energy off her new album. I don’t know much about Keri, but it turns out she actually has been active for some time. I do know that Timbaland has been promoting her quite a bit these last few months though. So, how does the video stack up? Read on to find out.

The Track: When I realized this was the track from the Verizon commercial I’ve seen at the movies for the last 2 months, I almost shut it off. But I lingered. It turns out the worst part of the song is that keyboard intro before the bass really drops in. The beat is courtesy of The Runaways and not Timbaland. No guest verse, no vocoder, no screechy notes, no skits, no dance breakdown, none of that stuff. It is listenable, and so far, I haven’t noticed the severely flawed logic present in other current hits such as Danity Kane’s Damaged. Love it or hate it - prepare to hear this in the club all effing summer long.

The Video: Whoever wrote the treatment for this video watches a lot of HBO. This is Million Dollar Baby meets Flashdance meets The Pussy Cat Dolls. Confused? There is boxing, a wardrobe stolen from Jennifer Beals’ closet, and wet hair / dancing that reminds me of Nicole Scherzinger. Perhaps she rubbed off on Keri during the Scream shoot?

It probably went something like this: Ok, We’ll dress up Keri in something totally backdrop-inappropriate and she will alternatively spar and makeout with her trainer; he must have tattoos. Oh - she knocks some other chick out too, and at the end she gets ugly highlights and leaves.

Keri’s silver tapsuit (is that what it’s called?) is as ridiculous as her interpretive dancing/voguing, and I swear I saw some Happy Hands Club choreography in there. It was kind of hard to watch this without wanting to laugh. Hilson does look good and is clearly doing the damn thing, but I’m not sold.

The Bottom line: Energy is better heard and not seen.