I watched the Super Bowl half-time show yesterday. I was underwhelmed by yet more lip syncing by an artist I actually liked when I was ten. Flanking her for part of the show was Nicki Minaj, who grimaces too much for the camera, and M.I.A. who flipped us all the bird. We deserved it.
I was reading earlier today someone's theory that Nicki Minaj is actually a sped up Jay-Z. I'd link to the source, but I can't seem to find it now. I did find, however, this slowed down version of Nicki Minaj's Super Bass.
And, if you're still interested, there's this sped up version of Kanye West and Jay-Z's Niggas in Paris.
I think Nicki Minaj slowed down does sound a little like Jay-Z, but I don't think Jay-Z sped up sounds like Nicki Minaj. Either way, if you're going to throw a rapper in the mix, I'll take Kanye West or Eminem, please.
Clive Young tells a great story about Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y." from his 1982 solo effort The Nightfly.
Everyone does play “I.G.Y.” It’s become the “Freebird” of pro audio—visit a linecheck at a major concert venue or a speaker demo at AES or InfoComm, and those familiar strains will turn up sooner or later. It’s a well-recorded song, to be sure, which is why it’s always used to illustrate a system’s “tight low end” or “crystal-clear mids” or, to be honest, any other detail they want to point out.
However, the sheer pervasiveness of “I.G.Y.” within the pro audio community as the track that you use to tune or show off your PA is remarkable. The distant second place song is, of all things, “Pulp Culture” from Thomas Dolby’s obscure (but admittedly awesome) 1989 funk album, Aliens Ate My Buick.
Here's Donald Fagen's I.G.Y. so you can test your audio system.
Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about Check the O.R., a CanCon hit from 1992...
Organized Rhyme is now most famous for including Tom Green, but back in '92 I knew them best as the band the Dream Warriors were supporting. The video for Check the O.R. was shot at Jane and Finch and features a Dream Warriors cameo. At the time it was released, I was actually working at a Food City, but not the one you'll see below.
Nobody outside of Tom Green's family can name a second Organized Rhyme song. Go ahead and try. It's impossible.
Check the O.R., however, was a fun rap song and I still know most of the lyrics by heart. Who doesn't drop a "I lay more chicks than Mother Goose" boast or a "I talk smooth like Lando Calrissian" claim now and then?
Check the O.R. even got remade recently, sort of... here's the Check the O.R. Redux.
Go off like a Canon, you're a copier... that's some gold right there.
Neil Young had some very interesting things to say on the stage of D: Dive into Media the other day.
"Young is calling for a new digital ecosystem of high quality music files and he believes that Jobs would have gotten there had he lived long enough. On the distribution side, Young isn't particularly concerned with the effects of piracy on artists, he's more concerned that the files that are being shared are of such low quality:"
It doesn't affect me because I look at the internet as the new radio. I look at the radio as gone. [...] Piracy is the new radio. That's how music gets around. [...] That's the radio. If you really want to hear it, let's make it available, let them hear it, let them hear the 95 percent of it.
I think he's right on point. Piracy is the new radio. There's no point fighting it, you may as well embrace it.
There are only two nominees for Best Original Song at this year's Academy Awards. The Oscar will either go to the folks behind Real in Rio or Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie's pretty awesome Man or Muppet.
It's pretty bizarre that only two songs were deemed worthy of being nominated, but it's pretty cool that Bret might actually win an Oscar.
Here's that Real in Rio song that doesn't stand chance.
And here's your winner, Man or Muppet.
If you want to read more of my Conchords entries, click here.
Who else remembers Spookey Ruben? If you don't know the name, you might recognize this:
If you were watching MuchMusic in the mid-90s, you likely remember Spookey Ruben. I hadn't heard his name in years until Rob Pagetto mentioned Spookey was a bud.
Hi Spookey! These Days Are Old is still a fun tune.
I missed Lana Del Rey on Saturday Night Live last weekend, but judging from my Twitter feed she was terrible. Most people were probably hearing her name for the first time, and from what I've read she was a little nervous and had an off night. People love to hate, so the Lana Del Rey jokes started to fly.
I like Lana Del Rey, and she can sing. Trust me, she's far more talented than the usual top 40 slop folks are inundated with. Here she is performing live on German television.
I take it her SNL performance wasn't as good as that...
Walk off the Earth's YouTube video for Somebody That I Used to Know is everywhere these days. I'm sure you've seen and heard it by now, but if you haven't, here it is.
It's a fantastic tune. I love it, and can't get enough of it, but it doesn't belong to Burlington's Walk off the Earth. It's a cover of Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know, featuring Kimbra.
Here's the original, because it's highly unlikely you've seen this.
Gotye's from Australia and this tune won him a few ARIA awards. ARIA is the Australian Juno or Grammy, I gather. Thanks to Walk off the Earth, this cool tune is finally getting heard on this side of the world.
Absent Minded & iLLvibe are Blunts & Roses. The album is a mash up of Legendary Classic Rock tunes by The Eagles, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Queen and more, and I've been playing it all week.
Oh yeah, and it's a completely free download here. Glove tap to Kicster for the tip.
Band of Horses' The Funeral is aging very, very well.
It was released almost six years ago, yet when it came my iPod earlier today, it sounded better than ever. Like a fine wine, I'd argue The Funeral is getting better with age.
I watched the Super Bowl half-time show yesterday. I was underwhelmed by yet more lip syncing by an artist I actually liked when I was ten. Flanking her for part of the show was Nicki Minaj, who grimaces too much for the camera, and M.I.A. who flipped us all the bird. We deserved it.
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Clive Young tells 
Full disclosure: 
Band of Horses' The Funeral is aging very, very well.