Tag: music

FutureSex/LoveSounds

Post ImageNormally when I listen to music, I listen to a playlist I have created, not a specific artist or album. This is primarily because I find there just aren’t many albums that are excellent from start to finish, or that I would want to listen to over and over again. Justin Timberlake’s new one titled FutureSex/LoveSounds however, is one such album.

I’m completely addicted to this album, and it kind of surprises me. The first time I heard “SexyBack” on the radio, I wasn’t that impressed. The song really grew on me though. Same for “My Love”. Actually I think you could say that about most of the album – the more you listen to it, the more you’ll like it. If I had to pick a least favorite track on the album, I’d say “Chop Me Up” which features Three 6 Mafia (and I don’t care for them). My favorites are the title track, “What Goes Around…”, and “Pose” which features Snoop Dogg.

It appears I am not the only one who likes the album either:

The album became the fastest in 2006 to hit 2X Platinum, making it after only a couple of weeks one of the biggest hits of the year. Timberlake will begin touring in January 2007 to support the album.

It has already set some records too:

The album debuted in the number one position on the Billboard chart, selling 684,000 copies its first week. The album is also the biggest album ever for pre-orders on iTunes, and beat Coldplay’s record for the biggest one-week sales of a digital album.

FutureSex/LoveSounds is Justin’s second studio album (Justified was released four years ago). All I can say is that I am glad he made it. And if his next album is anything like this one, I hope it comes sooner rather than later!

Read: Wikipedia

What would Apple do without any content?

Post ImageImagine for a moment that the record labels restricted or entirely removed Apple’s access to their catalog of content. What would Apple do? I’m not suggesting the record labels are going to do this anytime soon, but it seems Microsoft has gotten smart and come up with a way to attack iTunes, and it’s not related to the hardware:

Nobody partners like Microsoft. The company is one of the shrewdest deal makers on the planet, when it isn’t competing with partners…There has been buzz for sometime that labels were unhappy with Apple’s single pricing and were looking for a cut of iPod sales…Seems to me: Microsoft is looking to suave labels’ hurts as it seeks to get the deals that could make table stakes for taking on Apple. After all, Apple doesn’t control the content.

When you consider Microsoft’s deal with Universal Music, the possibility of similar deals with the other record labels, and it’s recent Xbox Live Video moves, it becomes clear that access to content is at the heart of Microsoft’s new strategy.

Apple’s strength is hardware, it’s what they do best. Without any content for that hardware however, it becomes a much tougher sell.

Read: Microsoft Monitor

Zune doesn't hate podcasting after all?

Post ImageIt may be true that Microsoft’s upcoming Zune device doesn’t explicitly support podcasting, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t copy a podcast episode to it yourself. In that sense, it’s a lot like any of the other Windows Media based devices out there.

Until today, I was more worried that Microsoft and the Zune would snub podcasting altogether. No mention of podcasting in any literature, marketing, or other materials. No hope for future updates to the Zune to support podcasting. That sort of thing. Today however, Microsoft launched Zune.net and put my fears to rest:

Zap! You’re connected to your best friend and send the new song your band recorded in the garage last weekend. Another friend gets the hilarious podcast your kid brother made at school…

Emphasis is mine. See! They don’t hate podcasting!

Maybe there’s hope for V2 after all.

Read: Zune.net

White and Nerdy

Post ImageWeird Al has done it again! If you haven’t seen the video for his new song, “White and Nerdy”, you must. It’s really that good! Well as long as you understand the jokes I suppose. You can watch it on YouTube.

Most of Weird Al’s stuff makes me laugh, but this one especially. I’m definitely not a trekkie or anything, but I still think he covered all the “nerd” bases, except possibly being a cultish Mac lover. Where was that one Al? Other than that, great song and video 🙂

Read: YouTube

REVIEW: Cheyenne Kimball's debut album

Post ImageI’ve been listening to Cheyenne Kimball’s debut, titled The Day Has Come, and I really like it. I guess I am a sucker for her brand of “not quite bubblegum pop” but I’m okay with that. You’ve probably heard the first single, “Hanging On”, on the radio. You might even have seen her reality TV show on MTV if you’ve been channel surfing. It seems she’s everywhere!

The album contains 13 tracks, but one of them is a short “Intro”. My favorites, aside from the first single, are “Hello Goodbye”, “Good Go Bad”, and the title track which according to Wikipedia will be her next single. There isn’t really a song on the album that I dislike – they are all fairly catchy and happy-sounding.

Cheyenne is only sixteen years old, and unlike JoJo, on some songs you can tell. There are times when she sounds much older, with a powerful voice. But there are also times when she really does sound like a sixteen year old. I don’t think this is a bad thing necessarily, but I do think it means that she has room to grow as a singer.

It’ll be interesting to see where she takes her career. I wouldn’t consider her in the same category as Hilary Duff or Lindsay Lohan, but you never know. There’s lots to like about Cheyenne though. She’s pretty, she has a very unique name, she seems like a natural-born performer, and best of all, she’s a podcaster! And she has a blog too, but it doesn’t appear to be updated regularly.

Read: Cheyenne Kimball

Mainstream Media Meltdown III

Post ImageI started reading Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail a little while ago, and so far it’s really good. I still remember reading the original Wired article, and thinking it was pretty darn smart. One of the best things about the book is that Chris has sort of continued it online, using his blog. A couple days ago he posted an update on the state of mainstream media:

A couple times a year, I take a statistical look at mainstream entertainment and media in decline. All figures are year-on-year comparisons unless otherwise noted.

He has some really fascinating numbers, though I suppose less fascinating once you grok the long tail. TV, Music, Radio, DVDs, and Newspapers are all down. Magazines and Books are mixed (and The Long Tail itself has cracked the top ten). Only Videogames, Internet advertising, and the Box Office are up (and the box office is still down from 2004).

I am pleasantly surprised to find that, at least so far, the book is more about economics and less about business. The idea of the long tail just makes so much intuitive sense to me – it really is about economics. I’ll hopefully post a review when I finish it later this week.

Read: The Long Tail

Coming Zune from Microsoft

Post ImageTurns out the rumor is true! Microsoft is working on a new project to take on Apple and the iPod called Zune. Information is flying fast and furious around the web, but Engadget has come to the rescue with a pretty good status check of what is known thus far. They also posted a quote from Microsoft’s GM of Marketing, Chris Stephenson:

“Today we confirmed a new music and entertainment project called Zune. Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year. We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together.”

From the CNET News.com article on Zune, I found the teaser website which is pretty unimpressive, though it does give you the ability to sign up for news and updates.

As has been noted elsewhere, this marks a significant change in Microsoft’s media and entertainment strategy, which thus far has relied upon partners to build and sell devices. I don’t think it will be quite the problem that many believe though – Microsoft competes with partners all the time, in a wide range of different industries. In fact I hope Zune turns out to be great, so Microsoft’s partners can follow their lead and improve their own players.

With keyboards, mice, webcams, the Xbox 360, and probably other stuff I don’t know about, Microsoft’s hardware business is already somewhat substantial. Add media players to the mix, the rumored portable gaming device, and maybe Microsoft sees a future in hardware? I wonder how long it will be until they manufacture their own Media Center PC.

In any case, bring on the Zune!

Read: Engadget

Nelly Furtado wants to be Britney!

Post ImageTo be more specific, she wants to be like the old Britney. Sounds kind of crazy right? I can make a pretty good case for it though! Look at her new single and its video, “Promiscuous”, for example. It’s chalk full of sexually suggestive lyrics and dancing, scantily clad club-goers, selective lighting, and that kind of singing voice that Britney made famous (you know, the really sensual one where she almost sounds out of breath). Nelly herself sports a bare midriff and tight dresses throughout the video as she gyrates next to Timbaland. And here’s the kicker – Justin Timberlake makes an appearance for some reason at the end of the video!

As some of you might know, I loved the old Britney, before she went crazy. Anyway, Nelly Furtado is not, and cannot be, Britney Spears. Britney always had the bare midriff, while Nelly seems to have forgotten that she used to be against that sort of thing! Here’s what she said a few years ago, about an FHM magazine:

There I am with a shirt that has actually been digitally altered to go to just below my chest, with a stomach that I don’t recognize. I don’t like being misrepresented to my fans. You work hard to represent a certain thing and have a certain image, and somebody can take it all away with the cover of a magazine.

Or Nelly, you can destroy it yourself with one music video. What a load of crap your appearance on MuchMusic’s “Too Hot or Not?” show must have been. I’m more than happy to say that if you’ve got it, and you want to flaunt it, more power to you, but not when you were so against the same thing only a few years prior!

As I said before, I really like the new song, and I’m looking forward to the new album. I for one am glad that Nelly has abandoned her old musical style for something much more commercially-viable, because I found her tendency to sound very nasal annoying. That said however, I am a little put off by her blatant “Britney” rip-off.

Jeff Martin in Edmonton

Post ImageFor those of you who don’t know, and I admit I didn’t realize it at first, Jeff Martin is the former lead singer of The Tea Party who now has his own solo project. I guess he had reached a point in his life where the dark music of The Tea Party didn’t match up with the joy of everything else (his wife, his new baby boy, etc). Anyway, he played a show last night at Red’s here in Edmonton, which Megan and I attended.

And as it turns out, we were among the few who did attend! As Jeff himself remarked, the show seemed to be “Edmonton’s best kept secret”. At the end of the show, he said he was going to beat the promoter, but that the show turned out to be “intimate and beautiful.” And it was. He is an amazing musician, with a voice that is just so distinct and intriguing. Even though he’s moved on, he has the perfect kind of voice for The Tea Party’s style of music.

Most of the songs he played were from his new album, titled “Exile and the Kingdom”, and each one had an interesting story behind it. Turns out he’s one of the happiest rock stars ever (Megan’s words, not mine) with joyful new music, and a very upbeat “thank you very much” a la Elvis after each song and applause. It was actually a very entertaining show!

Also entertaining was the opening act, Sonic City. At first we thought it was a joke, as their guitarist (Danny Sveinson) looks like he’s twelve years old! And it turns out, he’s only about 14 (I think). But don’t let his age fool you, the kid is absolutely amazing.

Read: Jeff Martin

Arctic Monkeys

Post ImageIf you haven’t heard of the Arctic Monkeys yet, you will soon enough. I was introduced to them a few weeks ago when I heard their single “I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor” (yes, like Fallout Boy they seem to enjoy incredibly long song names) and I have really started to like them since. And I am not the only one apparently:

The musical impact the Arctic Monkeys have had in the past six months, on a global scale, is astonishing.

Not content with creating the fastest- selling British debut album of all time in the shape of Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, the band have also made serious inroads into a fickle American market with a record that is based on the British vernacular experience.

That’s right, fastest-selling British debut album of all time. Faster than Oasis, The Beatles, you name it. If you know nothing about popular culture, that’s fast kids! Apparently the band still isn’t used to the celebrity parties, despite having already met stars like Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg.

I encourage you to check them out! They have a very unique sound (and a unique name for that matter) and have been getting rave reviews for their concerts. The band also seems to “get” the current trends in pop culture – they have a MySpace profile!

Read: Arctic Monkeys