The Jonas Brothers

The Jonas Brothers played a single gig in the UK this week. Do they cause the same stir here? Read the review...

Madonna at Wembley

So Madonna performed at Wembley on September 11th and The London Paper had a sensational review of it. My favorite quote was this:

"After seeing Kylie Minogue recently, all I can say is that maybe it is time Madonna gave it up. Kylie charges half the price for a ticket, actually signs live, looks better and cares about the audience."

It was hilarious to read that since last month I had written the following, but just hadn’t posted it.

I laugh whenever I think of an IM chat that K and I had months ago. I have never followed Kylie Minogue’s career and I was surprised to learn after I moved to the UK that her sister Dannii has also had a pop career. One day I IM’d her and said that I knew what I would say may be controversial to some people but I didn’t understand why the world needed two Minogues. Her response was, “Lay off the Minogues Woman!” hahahahaha

Today I was flipping channels and ran across Kylie’s recent concert at the O2 Arena in London and I stopped and watched for a few songs. Is Kylie the poor man’s Madonna? I ask this because there was a lot of choreography, costume changes, and even a Geisha theme as Madonna has done in the past.

Madonna, one of your target audiences may be questioning you. --J

OH MY GOD!!!!!

Oasis is releasing a new record. Underwhelmed? Feeling like the title of this post is unnecessary? Yeah, I feel that way. Should there be this much fanfare for a new Oasis record? Here in the UK Q is pulling out all the stops in their magazine and on their music channel.

I might feel differently if K and I hadn’t seen them live in 2005 in Chicago. Every time they would play a song from their catalog beyond Be Here Now, the momentum of the show just slowed. In the late 90's they seemed like a refreshing change from what was going on in American music but now, not so much.--J

2008 VMAs - Heaven Help Us

Debby Downer alert!

I just watched the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards and just want to put a couple things out there. Britney “dead eyes” Spears owned the night and gave the same acceptance speech for each award. Really there’s nothing more to say about that.

Secondly, the whole “nothing is as it seems” didn’t translate at all from my perspective. The performances seemed small and minor. The VMAs didn’t have that pomp and circumstance that it used to. The producers tried to give the illusion that it was big or something, but it failed. Simply put, I found it boring as hell.

Thirdly, why- OH WHY are we celebrating The Jonas Virgins, I mean Brothers? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO US?

Finally, poor Brit Russell Brand didn’t translate in America. His rather funny and harmless comment about the Jonas’ Brothers vow of chastity, symbolized by rings, unleashed the fury of fellow virgin Jordin Sparks who stood defiantly onstage with the shoulders of a linebacker and defended the promise of abstinence. Standing next to John Legend, who looked like Mike Meyers did when Kanye West declared that George Bush doesn’t care about black people on live television, she stated “I just have one thing to say about promise rings. It's not bad to wear a promise ring, because not everybody, guy or a girl, wants to be a slut.” Am I wrong to say that I find it hard to believe one of them is a virgin after dating Miley Cyrus? I’m just saying. We ALL saw the multiple pics of her being a regular teenager...in the shower. Anyway, as J put it, Sparks is in her fourteenth minute of fame so who gives a shit what she says. But, I think Russell put it well when he countered with “a little sex never hurt anybody.” Ha! Russell, you may want to stay on your shores. We’re all drowning in our own hypocrisy and recession in this great country.

The pomp and circumstance of past VMAs were noticeably absent, we imported a host, we celebrated mediocre virgins and then saw Britney own the night--it's clear these are signs that we are in dire straits in this country. Finland, take me away.

Check out this hilarious bit from Popcrunch.com. It's like this chick is reading my mind 0:-)



-K

Pop Britannica

Last week I watched a great documentary about pop music in England. I think it was a multi-parter but I saw just one part. In the timeline of the show, right after discussing the manufactured pop bands of the 90’s and then the rise of shows like Pop Idol and X Factor, there was a segment on Damon Albarn’s next project, Gorillaz which he created with a graphic artist. It was described as the ultimate manufactured band since it was made of two dimensional characters.

Damon Albarn said this of Gorillaz: It was “An English version of hip hop very successful in America… it is British but because it’s a cartoon it is very hard to identify that. Especially for the Americans and that’s why it did well because Americans don’t, to be honest with you allow anything other than American hip hop”

Well, my first thought was if they keep sending things like Lady Sovereign to our shores, yes, we will only accept American hip hop! But then I also started thinking about Gorillaz and how, if I am remembering correctly, Gorillaz was totally marketed to the U.S. alternative market, not the hip hop market, so I guess it still wasn’t accepted as he intended it to be. Whenever I play Feel Good Inc. I’m taken back to the summer of 2005. It was on heavy rotation on my iPod and part of mine and K’s late night drives back from concerts. --J

Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple

Even though I absolutely loved the first Gnarls Barkley record and thought their live show was something everyone should experience, I was slow to want to hear their second record. After prompting from my buddy Jim, I picked up a copy. No, it doesn’t have a phenomenon like Crazy on it but it is a really solid record, that proves once again, Gnarls Barkley do whatever the hell they want. My favorite song is probably Going On. It has been the soundtrack to my bus journey for a few weeks now. --J

My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine is reuniting. I picked up Loveless for the first time about six months ago since so many bands name them as an influence. I believe I like the bands they influenced more than My Bloody Valentine, I just don’t get it. Any readers out there who are MBV fans, I would love to hear what you think. I’ve heard the critical praise, now I’d like to hear why it speaks to you. --J

Reading - Rock Day

Metallica headlined the last day of Reading. I have a certain amount of respect for them although I don’t own any of their music and was flabbergasted that they were the band to do two hours of therapy on camera (see Some Kind of Monster). They put on an impressive live show and what blew me away is the kids in Metallica t-shirts at Reading looked just like the guys in my high school all those years ago who sported Metallica t-shirts. There is something timeless in their music that speaks to them for sure. --J

Reading and Leads - Day Two

The festival just got better on Saturday. Coverage included:

The Raconteurs
The Editors
Mystery Jets
Santogold
Cage the Elephant
Bloc Party
The Killers
The Black Kids
The Kills
The Ting Tings
Bullet for My Valentine
Manic Street Preachers
The Subways

The Killers were over the top great. How cool to see Cage the Elephant from Bowling Green, Kentucky on the big screen. Their song Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked sounds like a funkier version of The Band. --J

Reading and Leads - Day One

Watching the coverage of Reading and Leeds this year is bittersweet since I had the opportunity to cover Reading and had to turn it down. But I have to say, with a nasty summer cold, I’m glad to be enjoying the coverage wrapped in a blanket on the sofa instead of queuing at a port-a-potty with thousands of people.

Day One Coverage Included:

The Enemy
Jack Penate
The Fratellis
Biffy Clyro
Dizzee Rascal
Ida Maria
MGMT
Friendly Fires
Vampire Weekend
Queens of the Stone Age
Tom Morello and Serj Tankian (acoustic)
One Night Only
The Wombats
Babyshambles
Glasvegas

I hope this link to the Friendly Fires’ BBC3 performance can be seen in the States. The dance moves and the shoes with no socks make the performance.

What band was not televised? Rage Against the Machine. They have been making the festival rounds but nowhere have they allowed camera crews to officially cover them from what I have heard. This is unfortunate. I’m still not sure what to make of MGMT. The presentation is a bit on the hippie side but the music doesn’t match that look. Maybe I need to hear the whole record to understand it. The Enemy sounded great and so did Queens of the Stone Age. When being interviewed by Zane after the set, Josh Homme told him he was feeling sexy and then took the joke further offering to have sex with Zane. An awkward giggle from Zane wrapped up the interview. --J

Madonna Turns 50

I used to love her back in the day. Now, although occasionally I still like one of her tunes, her public image annoys me. They ran this clip on one of the UK music video show countdowns as an example of a "stunning debut". It made me laugh out loud, not because of Madonna but because this had to be the beginning of the end for Solid Gold. The dancer's disco costumes just look so out of date compared to Madonna's. You think it can't get any cheesier until host Marilyn McCoo comes on.

Here's where mainstream exposure began for Madonna in America. Enjoy! --J

Seasonal Music

Now that there is an ocean between K and I, we just don’t have those five hour road trips to discuss music like we used to. Now it’s usually a quick chat here or there over IM. I mentioned to her that one of the highlights from V Festival coverage was Travis. I am not that familiar with their stuff but now I’ll check it out. K mentioned that Travis is a fall/winter band for her. That got me thinking, (cue the Sex and the City clip as Carrie types on her laptop), “are some bands seasonal?”

Well, I would say that missing a real summer this year is making me gravitate towards breezy pop music. Check out Alphabeat’s latest single. This is sooo summer and so 80s to me. --J

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time...

How often do you see a slam dancer in a pink tutu? You would have seen it at V this weekend, hahahaha. --J

Hit the FF Button

I whizzed through about ten hours of V Festival coverage last night that included sets by

Air Traffic
The Stereophonics
The Futureheads
The Pigeon Detectives
The Kooks
The Hoosiers
The Prodigy
Ian Brown
Muse
Estelle
The Script
The Pogues
Maximo Park
Duffy
Sugababes

Wow, there’s a lot of really boring guitar rock on the main stage. The Prodigy and Muse were by far the best acts. It made me once again appreciate the Muse show at The Pageant in St. Louis that Judakris attended awhile back. When they launched into Hysteria, the massive crowd went wild. --J

Un-Summer Playlist

The only truly hot summer days I’ve experienced were outside of my new home country. Therefore, I consider this the un-summer of 2008. Here are the songs that have amused me, captivated me, and annoyed me in the last few months. M, this one’s for you since in Houston, it’s summer all year round! --J

Many Shades of Black – The Raconteurs
Let’s Dance to Joy Division – The Wombats
Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon
Strange Times – The Black Keys
Going On – Gnarls Barkley
Closer – Ne-Yo
Like This - GirlTalk

(In the annoyed me category…)
I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You – The Black Kids
I Kissed a Girl – Katy Perry
No Air – Jordin Sparks/Chris Brown