When I did this post last month, I said I was going to try and make it a monthly thing so I'm back in black and ready to rock.
February was an interesting month on my iTunes library as I added 120 songs during the 28 days but only managed to listen to 75 of them during that same period. It also was interesting in that to make the Top 5 for February, the song only needed to be played in its entirety THREE times which created quite the pileup at the top of the heap.
Let's take a look - shall we?
Top 5 Played of February 2009
Honorable Mention: Other songs hitting the magic number of 3 times played included: Vato - Snoop Dogg, Shake - Sam Cooke, Stay Alive - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
5. Surprise, Surprise - Bruce Springsteen In my ongoing quest to rediscover the lost art of the album, I've been trying to at least buy one full album a month. This month, of course, I bought the new Boss album. Sadly, on a first listen, I didn't care for it as much as previous releases but there are a few bright spots. This is one of them.
4. I Really Love You - Dee Dee Sharp This becomes difficult when I just wrote about some/most of these songs two nights ago.
3. Crack A Bottle - Eminem, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent Yep. See #4.
2. My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson Ah, there's something new. Is it just me or does there seem to be a flurry of former American Idols releasing music when the season starts up? I'm sure that's no coincidence. I've made no secret in the past that I think Kelly Clarkson makes some damn fine pop music and I have tremendous respect for her as an artist after she stood up to her label last time out and made the album she wanted to make rather than the one they wanted her to make. This is a return to the poppy princess Kelly but that's fine with me.
And the #1 song of February...
1. Green Means Go - The Color Wheels Do you have the chorus for this song out of your head yet? Hah! Told ya.
I'm not going to bother with doing a Seeqpod playlist for this Top 5 since you got most of them a couple of days ago and at a quick glance, some of the ones you didn't get aren't up there. Trust me - go buy them. To make up for that, as an added bonus, let's take a look at the charts for the Year To Date!
2009 So Far!
20. On The Way Home (Live) - Neil Young 19. My Life Would Suck Without You - Kelly Clarkson 18. Hot And Cold - Katy Perry 17. Green Means Go - The Color Wheels 16. Mausam And Escape - AR Rahman 15. Riots - AR Rahman 14. You You You You You - The 6th & Katharine Whalen 13. Half Asleep - School Of Seven Bells 12. Let It Slip - The School 11. The Good Old Days - The Lodger 10. The Wrestler - Bruce Springsteen 9. Seattle - The BPA 8. Liquid Dance - AR Rahman 7. More Adventurous - Rilo Kiley 6. Come Saturday - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart 5. Secret Heart - Feist 4. Thank You Mario But Our Princess Is In Another Castle - The Mountain Goats 3. We Rule The School - Belle & Sebastian 2. Jai Ho - AR Rahman 1. Latika's Theme - AR Rahman
It wouldn't be a Year In Review without a countdown of the year's best music, right? Well, since I'm a horrible critic, I instead decided to present a countdown of the year's Most Played Music by the Missus and myself. It's essential that I include her in this since:
a] We share an iTunes library so the play counts are as much hers as mine
AND
b] It gives me someone convenient to blame if an embarrassing song makes the list.
I originally was writing this up as a Top 40 - Rick Dees style - but the Missus said that a Top 50 would be better. I decided to one-up here and in honor of the iTunes Music Store that gets at least $20 from me every month, I present:
The Blues' Top 100 Played Songs Of 2008
Qualifying statement: To make the list, the song had to be added to the iTunes library in 2008 which will explain if you see a song from 1960 or what have you that made the list.
Here we go...
100. Listen - Dreamgirls Soundtrack
Ahhh - and so it begins. With my admitted love of musicals, you will soon notice a trend of songs from musicals being all over this list. However, don't blame me for the Mamma Mia stuff. That's all her. Side note: It took 16 plays throughout the year to make the #100 slot on the list. That really doesn't seem like much actually.
99. Dance With Me - Old 97s
98. Skeleton Song - Kate Nash
97. Home - Foo Fighters
96. Fake Your Way To The Top - Dreamgirls Soundtrack
95. A Bitchslap - Sebastian Bach feat. Axl Rose
<
(Love Is) A Bitchslap (Featuring Axl Rose) - Sebastian Bach
I still really like this song but nowhere near as much as I did when I first bought it. I think there was a novelty involved of hearing Sebastian Bach belt out a serious hard rock song in 2008 - plus the awesomeness of having Axl on backing vocals. If you're a fan of either, check this one out.
94. I've Been High - R.E.M. (Live from the Hollywood Bowl)
I'm glad this one made the list since we were at the show. Still wishing I had a better mix of this though because the bass makes it absolutely unlistenable in my car.
93. Come Alive - Foo Fighters
92. Erase/Replace - Foo Fighters
91. The Fighter - Ferraby Lionheart
90. American Boy - Estelle feat. Kanye West
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was added to my iTunes back in Feb. before any of you fuckers had heard it on your local pop radio yet so bite me.
89. The Score - Chris Walla
88. Merry Happy - Kate Nash
87. Nicest Thing - Kate Nash
86. Fallen - Bret Michaels
You've gotta love when your music library becomes littered with songs you heard on reality television - especially when it's trainwreck reality television. Rock Of Love was one of my guilty pleasures on television this year and Bret Michaels kickin' out the slow jam is one of my musical highlights of the year.
85. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
84. Ladies of Cambridge - Vampire Weekend
83. Time To Pretend - MGMT (Live)
82. Pumpkin Soup - Kate Nash
81. Mariella - Kate Nash
80. Take A Chance On Me - Mamma Mia soundtrack
I told you! Blame her!
79. Beautiful Ride - Walk Hard soundtrack
78. I Get The Sweetest Feeling - Jackie Wilson
High Fidelity rears it's beautiful, sweet head. One of my favorite movies delivers this one into the iTunes library which made one of my Mixtapes of the Month earlier in the year before they were discontinued due to time constraints.
77. Body MMMBoppin' - Hanson vs The Beastie Boys
I'm not a huge mash-up fan but every once in a while I find one that is just absolutely perfect together. This would be one of them. I mentioned this one at work a couple weeks ago and was met with stares of derision. Fuck the haters.
76. Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners - Foo Fighters
75. Not While I'm Around - Sweeney Todd soundtrack
74. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! - Mamma Mia soundtrack
73. Crushcrushcrush - Paramore
72. Anyone Else But You - The Moldy Peaches
The lyrics have the Contra Code in them. 'Nuff said.
71. Leave The Memories Alone - Fuel
The farewell to Ric Flair promos were filled with this song and it stays among my favorites of the year. It's one of the few songs from earlier in the year that I'll still listen to almost every time it pops up on shuffle.
70. Stranger Things Have Happened - Foo Fighters
69. The Ballad Of Gus And Sam - Ferraby Lionheart
68. World Shut Your Mouth - Death Cab For Cutie
67. Does Your Mother Know - Mamma Mia soundtrack
66. Supernatural Superserious - R.E.M.
65. Three Wishes - The Pierces
64. Love Story - Katharine McPhee
63. Play - Kate Nash
62. Summer's End - Foo Fighters
61. Won't Be Long - Ferraby Lionheart
60. Paper Planes - M.I.A.
And yes, I had this before it was on all the Pineapple Express commercials too. Oooh! Sick burn!
59. Long Road To Ruin - Foo Fighters
58. The Pretender - Foo Fighters
57. A Kiss Is Not A Contract - Flight Of The Conchords
56. Something To Love - Ferraby Lionheart
55. Lay All Your Love On Me - Mamma Mia soundtrack
54. Atom - British Sea Power
53. Rich Girls - The Virgins
52. Coconut - The Sea And Cake
51. By The Sea - Sweeney Todd soundtrack
TOP 50!!!
50. Foux De Fafa - Flight Of The Conchords
49. Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect - The Decemberists
48. Care Of Cell 44 - The Zombies
47. Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend
From one of my favorite new bands of the year, this song is actually my ringtone currently. The album also was cool enough to inspire me to buy my first album on vinyl in decades.
46. Accidents Can Happen - Sixx A.M.
45. Birds - Kate Nash
44. Tickets To Crickets - Ferraby Lionheart
43. Love Is A Battlefield - Brooke White (American Idol)
42. Believe - The Bravery
41. SOS - Mamma Mia soundtrack
TOP 40!!!!
40. Come Home - OneRepublic
39. Mamma Mia - Mamma Mia soundtrack
38. No Air - Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
37. Take Me To The Riot - Stars
36. Secret - The Pierces
Okay, it made it because it played on Gossip Girl. I'll admit it.
35. The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf
One of my favorite songs of the year. I'm disappointed it finished this low actually.
34. Dancing Queen - Mamma Mia soundtrack
33. Slipping Through My Fingers - Mamma Mia soundtrack
32. Think About It - Flight of the Conchords
31. Tea For The Tillerman - Cat Stevens
The end credits music on Extras. We got into an Extras obsession for a while leading up to the finale so that explains that. Also, since it's barely over a minute long, there's not much time for you to skip it before it's notched another mark in your musical bedpost.
30. The Guy That Says Goodbye To You Is Out Of His Mind - Griffin House
29. Leggy Blonde - Flight of the Conchords
28. A Crack In Time - Ferraby Lionheart
27. When All Is Said And Done - Mamma Mia soundtrack
26. The Winner Takes It All - Mamma Mia soundtrack
25. I Have A Dream - Mamma Mia soundtrack
Sensing a pattern yet? And she didn't even see this til late in the year!
24. M79 - Vampire Weekend
23. Silver Lining - Rilo Kiley
This might have stood a better chance if they didn't make it the first song on the playlist every morning at work. Hearing it seemingly every day from July 1st until November will sour you a bit on a song.
22. Super Trouper - Mamma Mia soundtrack
21. We Get On - Kate Nash
TOP 20!!!!!!!!
20. Bubbly - Colbie Callat
This is one of those songs that you really want to hate. It's just so sickly sugary sweet but it gets stuck in your head and it won't leave. It's like a musical version of genital warts... or something. This one made the playlist at work late in the year so it'll soon make me want to slit my wrists as well but for now, it makes the Top 20 by a hair.
19. My Dog Licked My Balls - Bob Saget
My Dog Licked My Balls - Bob Saget
Ugh! This one's so sugary sickly sweet too! Well, no - not really. But it is a love song about a boy and his dog. It's touching in a way. It'll tug at your heartstrings and beat the living fuck out of your funnybone.
18. Thank You For The Music - Mamma Mia soundtrack
Whatever. I'm not dignifying this with comments!
17. Pull Shapes - The Pipettes
Pull Shapes - The Pipettes
Aww yeah! I love this song too - another of my favorites from the year. It has a classic 50's/60's bubblegum pop type sound to it. You could easily imagine it on one of those Time Life "Songs Of Your Life" type commercials. Only $19.95 if you order now!
16. I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - Kate Nash (Black Kids live cover)
15. Tattoo - Jordin Sparks
14. I Wana Love You - The Maine (Akon cover)
One of my favorite covers of the year - the inspiration for the Cover Song Challenge mix from early '08.
13. All That I Want - The Weeples
12. The Name Of The Game - Mamma Mia soundtrack
11. Now That We're Done - Metro Station
And without further adieu... THE TOP TEN OF 2008!!
10. Our Last Summer - Mamma Mia soundtrack
Odds are high that the Missus is responsible for every single one of the plays of this song. I really can't stand it. From time to time, the beginning will stick in my head but never enough that I want to listen to it. And whoever decided to let Pierce Brosnan sing on camera and on recorded musical media should be dragged out into a field and shot.
9. How Many Words - Blake Lewis
I think most people that liked Blake on Idol were concerned that the record labels would destroy the guy who wanted to perform with Doug E. Fresh at the Idol finale. But there was just enough beatbox in this song to make it sound like Blake Lewis and just enough slick production to make it very cool. It's completely not the type of song that I usually like but dammit, American Idol tends to do that to me.
8. Break The Ice - Britney Spears
Sadly, this may be all me. When everyone was trashing Miss Britney before her big comeback, I was actually finding her music to be a bit better than it had been in a while. I haven't listened to anything from the "comeback" album but I'm betting I won't like it anywhere near as well.
7. This Woman's Work - Kate Bush
Oh my god. The scene in the Extras finale where they played this song was absolutely tear-your-soul-out-of-your-gut-and-stomp-on-it-with-golf-spikes levels of painful to watch. The song fit the scene perfectly for the one of the dramatic, emotional moments in what was often a show best known for Kate Winslet talking dirty. For shame. If you haven't seen it, now's a good time to blow through the entire Extras series on your media of choice.
6. Unbroken - Jessica Sierra
Remember what I said waaaaay back under Bret Michaels' name? That goes double here. A song heard from someone checked into Celebrity Rehab kicked the fucking door down into our Top Ten. We both just couldn't get enough of it.
5. I Was Made For You - Rivers Cuomo
2008 saw the lead singer of Weezer release an album of demos, rarities, and outtakes done in his garage. This was the absolute highlight of that album from what I heard.
4. Foundations - Kate Nash
Kate Nash was one of my favorite artists of the year - someone I liked enough to subject myself to going to a show where odds were very high that I was among the oldest people in the audience easily. You've seen her name littered up and down this list (with one more still to come.)
3. Honey Honey - Mamma Mia soundtrack
The ONLY song on the Mamma Mia soundtrack that you can partially blame me for appearing this high on the list. I liked this one... what can I say?
2. Apologize - OneRepublic & Timbaland
No idea how this ended up here. Absolutely no idea. There's no fucking possible way that I listened to this song that many times. It's an okay song but... yeah, not #2 on my list.
I was working on something else for Top Five Friday when this popped to mind. So, the other thing may have to wait for a Top Five Sunday or some suchness. I suppose I could have held this one back until next week but some stuff just needs to be said.
First off, much props to NOFX for the title of this post - I think they'd be pleased with the words I'm about to spew forth.
A few months ago when the Missus and I were at the Kate Nash concert, we saw some things that... well, really just kinda annoyed us. But the more we discussed it in the days to follow, I noticed a trend following fans of the music industry that seemed a little more than annoying - I think it seriously threatens the musical world as we know it! [how's that for melodrama?]
With that in mind...
The Top Five Things Music Fans Do That Concern Me
5. "NO TICKET!" One of the first things we noticed at the Kate Nash show was the amount of kids [yes, I suppose they're kids to me now - I feel old] clutching sheets of paper in their hands instead of actual tickets. What the fuck's up with that? Ticketmaster has been offering this TicketFast shit for a while now, I guess, but I've never used it. I want a god damn ticket. And if that makes me cruel to the environment, well, fuck that noise. Do you know how depressed those kids are going to be in ten years when they're going through shit while cleaning the house and not finding ticket stubs to remind them of the shows they went to in the past? I LOVE my ticket stubs! How else would I remember that I saw Reel Big Fish at the Hollywood Palladium in 1998 and then recall that we left before RBF actually took the stage? Those old faded ticket stubs are like boosts of ginkogaloba to make me remember shit. These kids with their sheets of paper will never remember anything. Fuck them.
4. Cellphones - Fucking Cellphones Don't get me wrong. If you've got an iPhone, you rock. You may not deserve it and I may ponder what would happen if I kicked your ass behind the dumpster and stole it from you - but you rock for owning it. But when you don't rock is when you clutch your iPhone in your sweaty hand and snap pictures the entire night long with the 2 Megapixel camera. Do you really think that shot is going to turn out? And even if it does, are your friends going to swoon when you show them your blurry, pixelated shot of the flavor of the week? And what about you fuckers who decide it's a good idea to text ALL NIGHT LONG?! Hey, it's cool if you want to do it during intermission. Occasionally, I find it okay to do it too. And while it's completely disrespectful to do it during a band, if it's a shitty band [fuck you Modest Mouse!], you have my permission too. But during the band you came to see? Seriously? What could you possibly have to say that's so important at that point? "omg! they r so TOTALLY playing that that's me in the corner song!! its so 80s! lawl!" Do us all a favor and wait. And yes, I could write an entire post on those fuckers who do this in the movie theater too.
3. Mid-Show Conversations If it's superloud and no one can hear you, go for it. But if it's during a slow song or it's a small venue, I really couldn't give a shit if Billy give you the crabs or not so don't bother to tell your friend next to you - since EVERYONE ELSE CAN HEAR IT TOO! You paid good money [maybe your parents but... well, that's another story] to see the band perform so fucking watch them perform. Apparently you like this band for some reason so show them a little respect.
2. God, I Feel Old Kids go to shows. I get that. The music industry, for the most part, is aimed at the kids who have lots of [their parents'] disposable income to pour down a rathole on shitty music they'll be embarrassed to own at some point - New Kids Christmas album, I'm lookin' right at you. But that's okay. Your youth is the time period when you're allowed to like music you shouldn't like. It's when it's okay to have a drawerful of cassette singles like Snap, Dino, and Pebbles. But keep that shit in a drawer. Kids are going to shows at far too young of an age these days. That means that someday you'll have to openly admit that your first show was at age 9 seeing the Jonas Brothers. You want to know how that feels? Go ask the people whose first show was Hanson. See, my first show wasn't until I was 16 or 17 which means I get to tell people my first show was Stone Temple Pilots. My second show was Metallica. My third show was Live and Weezer. Fourth was Aerosmith. Sensing a trend? I've got nothing to hide in shame over. But all these kids going to shows will someday live to regret it when they have to recite a list of one hit wonders for their first shows.
And the #1 problem facing music fans today...
1. What's An Album? The death of the album in modern music is a tragic thing. I'm as guilty of this as anyone but can anyone really recall the last full album they knew from front to back and everywhere in between? Remember the good ol' days with Ten and Nevermind where you knew every nook and cranny of that album? Remember when you even knew the really bad gimmick songs like "Bugs" that PJ would slip onto an album? Now everyone only knows songs - and worse, a lot of people don't even call them "songs" anymore. Now they're "tracks." And they probably have been tracks for a long time but dammit, that needs to change. I'm going to bite my lip until it bleeds the next time I catch myself call it a track. But back on point, the death of the album is a horrible thing. While it's great to have the option to buy songs individually, it's led to a world where no one knows an album anymore. It was bad enough when CDs came out and people would say shit like, "Oh, I really like Track 5" but it just gets worse with time. That's why I've been on this crazy kick for a while now to buy a record player, fill our shelves with vinyl, and re-live the glory days of music. So many bands are putting stuff out on vinyl again, I think it could be a renaissance of music for me personally. Just sitting with headphones on listening to an entire album - yeah, I can dig it. I wonder if they still do that radio show "The Seventh Day" where they would play a bunch of albums all the way through. God, that shit was great. We've gone from a world of b-sides and "deep cuts" to whatever is in the Top 10 on iTunes. Things need to change.
Anyways... my soapbox is worn out. Until next time...
Okay, so now let me show you why. While I was on here ranting and raving about the music industry yesterday, I was completely oblivious to the fact that Tom Petty had already done it for me. His song, The Last DJ, was fresh on my mind yesterday so that may have led to my ranting.
I was scouring some of my favorite mp3 blogs this morning to check out what else is out there in the world and I stumbled upon an interested piece of an interview [in addition to some great music.] I've never heard of this guy giving the interview but he had a very interesting thought process when it came to commercial music that I thought the rest of the world should see so I'm paying it forward.
Obvious: Dude, I was surprised to see that you have an artist page on CMT.com. Which brings me to this.. why does popular country music suck so terribly?
Burr: That's another great question. First off, it's always funny to me to see myself there, because it's just an odd combination. But I still take it as a compliment. If anyone's willing to accept my music as it is, and introduce me to a new audience, then I'm game. Anyway, I'm not real sure how pop country came to be this way. I think the nineties and the Clinton de-regulation of the airwaves killed commercial pop as a whole because it just got so homogenized. I mean commercial airwaves is how major labels have to sell their product - that's their only shot because their overhead is so ridiculously high. It's really a broken model... but when de-regulation happened and now 90% of domestic commercial airwaves are owned by two corporations, you have this homogenization that's occurred with playlists being forced down from on high and accommodating less diversity of sound and artists...The people at the top care about maximizing the profit dollar only - I mean it *is* business - and the way to do that is to water down the sound so each song/record hits the widest market segment possible. Pedal steel now becomes "too ethnic." And banjo too, etc. You've got a bunch of people hailing Cash and Townes Van Zandt, but none of these artists sound anything like them. It's a weird thing. I don't fully understand it. But there's plenty of people in line that just want to make it. They just want to sing - doesn't really matter what.
And there are times you just can't follow something so eloquently said.
It's a tricky thing to find something witty to write here that reveals absolutely nothing about yourself to potential cyber stalkers or identity thieves
Posts
