Just watched Walk The Line (2005), a sort of biopic on Johnny Cash and June Carter. It’s a riveting film that recreates the 50s in which the two musicians met, performed, and eventually married. The music scene at the time had Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Dylan, and Waylon Jennings amongst others, and it’s so great to see them appear on and off through the film. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon are brilliant and the story of how their love returns him to his former glory, after a pill-popping roller-coaster ride, is touching. Music, history, a Hollywood film made with a measure of sensitivity; what more could you ask for on a lazy last day of the weekend. Here’s an original video of the title song.
I’m typically not in to ‘pop’ but, like Amy Winehouse, Lilly Allen makes for an addictive exception. She deserves many kudos for her gritty lyrics, mired in funky beats and slick melody. All of 23, she’s made a formidable debut with her album called Alright Still, on which you will find a slew of great songs…
Alfie is about her little brother who smokes a bit, well, much. There’s also a song in which she makes fun of her granny’s colostomy bag, in Nan You’re a Window Shopper. (So terrible, Lilly!) In LDN she talks about the sights she sees as she rides through the park - you won’t guess how sorry those sights are unless you listen closely. Take What You Take is unbelievably catchy, but my absolute favourite is Shame For You in which she sings: “Oh my gosh must be jokin’ me, if you think that you’ll be pokin’ me, don’t take me on, no no!”
Very funny. As her target audience might say: truly wicked. If there’s one song that captures all of her attitude though, then it’s this one: have a listen!
PS: Is there a good reason why, when it comes to decent pop, the British trump the Americans? I’ll have to save that for another day.
Josh Rouse is a singer-songwriter I’m a little conflicted about. I got pretty hooked on to a couple of his CDs - his songs are so mellow and catchy! But then I saw him play on stage, and it was a sorry disappointment. Something about his music just doesn’t work live. I also don’t think much of the sound engineering at the El Rey in Los Angeles, but blaming the venue is often a lame excuse for a mediocre performance, and so I resist.
Compare him to Ben Harper (yet another typically mellow ‘n’ catchy fella) live , and it’s easier to see why Josh falls sort of flat in person. Maybe it’s because Ben’s so comfortable going extempore that he rocks it. Josh hesitates in venturing too far from the original recording, and it detracts greatly from the musicianship. I meant to find a couple of videos from each to make the point better, but you know how recordings of live performances on youtube can be…
So here’s a random tune from the eternally hot Bruce Springsteen instead!
Had either Rihanna or Beyonce won Record of the Year, I would have lost what little of faith I have left in the Grammy’s. There is a modicum of justice yet! Go Amy Winehouse.
This is a live version of Sia Furler from Zero 7 singing I Go To Sleep. I am deeply moved every time I hear it. And even though this recording isn’t at all great, I think you’ll see how beautiful the song is, and how inimitably she sings it. Here is a preview of the recorded version.
Have you often wondered why the television set seems to blare much louder during the commercials between programming?
I dug around a little and it appears that the peak levels of commercials are actually no louder than that of the shows they pepper. It’s just that the average level of sound in TV ads is greater and so the perceived loudness is higher too. But I digress. Regardless of whether or not they do get louder, they sure seem to get louder, and so we turn the sound off/down or change the channel.
Wouldn’t it make sense for advertisers to tone the sound down so that we aren’t knocked off our sofas? To keep us from constantly clutching at our remotes, one finger on the mute button, in dread of the commercial breaks? Perhaps on more than one count…
Communication researcher Carson Wagner has recently found that watching anti-drug commercials under conditions of low attention is actually more convincing than watching under conditions of high attention. One reason offered up as an explanation for this phenomenon is that when pro-drug viewers are watching with full-on attention, they have the resources required to find faults with the message. They refute it and, in so doing, are less persuaded by it.
That kind of ‘counter-argument’ of the ad’s message doesn’t happen when viewers are watching the commercials in their peripheral view. In the latter case, the associations between the concept ‘drug’ and the concept ‘bad’ are subtly reinforced, despite - and perhaps even especially because of - a lack of complete attention on part of the viewer.
The same could easily apply to selling brands. The ads would play at slightly lower volumes and yet reiterate the connection between the ‘brand’ concerned and the concept ‘good’. It would be a softer sell, sure, but a sell nonetheless. And at least it wouldn’t encourage viewers to turn the darn telly off or have them change the channel to escape those in-your-face “breaks.”
Also, commercials that are replayed incessantly might not become as off-putting as they do when they are too loud. Anyone who watched the India-Australia test match at Perth on TV this week could vividly recall the Airtel annoyance. It actually made my father swear he would never subscribe to Airtel - even though he considers its message quite good. The intrusiveness of the ad somehow got attached to the brand for him, and I suspect that he is not alone.
So, advertisers, hear hear! It would probably be wise to turn the volume of your ads DOWN.
Not at all new, but incredibly good pop, this is called In the Waiting Line by Zero 7. The album is Simple Things and this beautiful song is also on the Garden State soundtrack. If you are in the mood for particularly bad pop however, go here. Eh eh eh? Now before any Rihanna fans take that to be racially biased or something, here’s another song that I think falls in to the bracket of awesome pop fair and square…
Okay, so I seem to be whining exclusively about women today. But how can I help it! See I heard Archana Puran Singh on the radio. She is a sassy actress and comedienne who delivers - in her upbeat Hinglish sort of style - Indian celebrity news. And as she does so, she classifies actors and their acts, whether on stage or off, as “HS”, “LS”, or “MS”. If it has you scratching your head, that’s high society, low society, and you got it, middle society.
Believe it or not, her audience laps it up! India has historically been a country of much hierarchy - from the caste system, to the imperialism imbibed from the British, to the recent-haves and always-hads created by the more recent economic boom. Which is precisely why I find Archana’s system of stratifying Bollywood gossip to be irresponsible. I’m very tempted to label her deejaying as deeply LS, but I’ll settle instead for HI. As in, highly ignorant.
It’s neat how certain internet gimmicks have been wildly successful in transcending language barriers and publicising brands across the globe. Not always elegant perhaps but often powerful! You’ll see what I mean, if you enter your first and last name in the two boxes on top, and then hit the ‘visualiser’ bar on this link.
Now before any Rihanna fans take that to be racially biased or something, here’s another song that I think falls in to the bracket of awesome pop fair and square…
