I'm mostly just shocked that the first time I heard this song was over the piped-in sound system in the suburban mall where I work now. Technically it's not the radio, but who cares, because do you think the radio would ever play this song?
Last year I worked in a drug store and the chain had its own piped in "radio" playlist. It had many advantages to radio, but just as many disadvantages: Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and Feist were in their rotation, but so was Colbie Caillat. Also, more songs and more diversity means less certainty that you'll hear what you want, but then again it also means you don't have to hear "Don't Trust Me" 4 times in a 7-hour period.
Jet are the kind of big dumb shaggy-haired rock band where you're embarrassed to say you like them, but when you listen to their songs you can't figure out why exactly, because you're too busy rocking out hard. Even when they get all misguidedly artistically ambitious and channel the Beatles via the Vines, they're solid. They're repetitive, derivative, and boring, but at least they're trying.
Still not gonna even look at this album in the record store though.
But seriously, if you whole-heartedly, unironically love anything Our Lady Peace has done since 2002, or for that matter any lyric Raine Maida has written since 2001, you should go. Now.
I don't get it. Van Halen in the Sammy Hagar era was decent, Joe Satriani is a legend, Chad Smith is the drummer for the goddamn Red Hot Chili Peppers - so how the fuck did that collaboration result in a song called fucking "Oh Yeah!"? Taking "lowest common denominator" literally, it seems.
I’m not actually sure why this song is so bad. The lyrics are cheesy, but not abnormally so; the slow grind of the music is trying, but not irritating; and it’s old (if 1992 is old now), so it’s harder to accuse it of unoriginality. But for some reason, all of this adds up to create the kind of hypnotically bad song that seems to go on for 10 years and makes you sit around for all 10 of them, saying “This is so bad” but unable to change the station.
102.1 the Edge DJ Josie Dye thinks this song "sounds exactly like The Strokes". It gave me the same "Oh honey, no" feeling I get when the Toronto Star publishes wide-eyed articles about Twitter - you mean well, but you've got it all wrong. I like Josie, so I'm going to pretend she actually said the White Stripes and I just heard it wrong. (Does it sound like The Strokes? Am I crazy?)
You know those songs that you get into when you first start listening to the alternative radio station, because they're short and addictive like pop songs but edgy enough to accommodate your burgeoning teen angst, but then you get older and start liking music that's increasingly inaccessible and less melodic and you become convinced that all of those songs you liked when you were younger are embarrassing, poorly made, indulgent crap, and then when you get older and get over yourself and start listening to the radio again the song comes on the radio, years after you forgot it ever existed, and you realize that it's actually a really good, perfectly constructed song?
I don’t know enough about classical music for this to become I Hate Classical Radio, and it wouldn’t be funny enough anyway (“Seriously, who likes Liszt more than Beethoven? YOUR GRANDMA, MAYBE”). But I heard this on the radio today and it blew me away. The next time you tell someone music used to be so much better than it is nowadays, you should be talking about this.
This song actually isn’t so bad. Except that it sounds like Green Day trying to do “The Scientist”, which is just wrong. To top it all off, the radio played “Basket Case” right after it, which despite being 15 years older sounded much fresher. I guess it's good that Green Day is maturing, rather than desperately attempting to replicate their Dookie sound. But I don’t have to like it.
BONUS FACT: According to Wikipedia, “Basket Case” is a take on Pachebel’s “Canon in D”?! Damn
However you feel about “Boom Boom Pow” or the Black Eyed Peas in general, the positive energy of this song is undeniable. So what if the lyrics are only, like, 10 words? I feel like this song is perfect for a prom/high school graduation slideshow. (Or, you know, a Gap commercial.)
“There are no new ideas,” say my coworkers disdainfully whenever I bring up a blatant ripoff playing on the radio. And lately, there have been a lot of songs proving them right. I’m not talking about cover songs or sampling; I mean songs that steal whole chord progressions, chorus lyrics, and even backing tracks, sometimes in well-meaning, if poorly executed tribute, but usually in order to profit off listener familiarity with the older (usually better) songs.
So we meet again, Karl Wolf. And now you’re ripping off the 80’s. Somehow, I’m not surprised.
However, I have a feeling that I might be missing the point. Maybe Karl Wolf is actually a brilliant and innovative artist who wanted to mash up Toto’s “Africa” (the choruses) and his own “Carrera” (the verses). But instead of using the same technology as all those other hack mashup artists, decided to take it to the next level or at least the Jay-Z/Linkin Park level and perform the resulting song himself. Either Karl Wolf is a genius, or I am for reading that far into the conceptual framework of his music. Actually, I think using “Karl Wolf” and “conceptual framework” in the same sentence nullifies any genius I may have.
The original:
BONUS ROUND! Forward-thinking mashup artist Karl Wolf’s album version of “Africa”, featuring vaguely nonsensical guest rap and appropriately ridonkulous video:
But OH MAN check out that intense air keyboard solo at 3:11! I think I like him now based solely on that.
Confession: I’ve heard this on the radio before and liked it, but just now I accidentally started listening to it while creeping Victor Norlander and I can't seem to press the stop button. Seriously, I’ve listened to this at least 4 times now in a loop. This might even transcend guilty pleasure and just be best song of the day, if not summer. It’s 1:51 AM. I think I’m hypnotized. SOMEBODY CALL 9-1-1
This is the first in a series of posts highlighting a sorry trend I’ve been hearing on the radio of late: new songs that blatantly rip off older (usually better) ones. I’m not talking about cover songs or sampling; I mean songs that steal whole chord progressions, chorus lyrics, and even backing tracks, sometimes in well-meaning, if poorly executed tribute, but usually in order to profit off listener familiarity with the older (usually better) songs.
This is the radio rip-off I dislike the least, “Sunglasses” by Divine Brown, which borrows from fellow Canadian Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses At Night”. Though it uses a sound-alike keyboard riff, it’s not really a rip-off in my opinion. It’s a decent song with a catchy chorus, and doesn’t capitalize on the famous original lyrics until the very end, where all good medleys and shout-outs belong. It’s more of a payoff than a hook in itself. Overall, the song strives to be recognized for its own merit, rather than just using the catchiness of the original songwriting to compensate for mediocrity.
For comparison’s sake, here’s the original in all its glory:
Someone named spongebobfan879 has put together these neat visual aids to deciphering the exact appearances of samples in Girl Talk’s tunes. Mostly I just find it funny when they pop in and out. (Song shown: “Give Me A Beat”)
Or, as it is known at my workplace (and probably on Google), “Don’t Trust A Ho”. The fact that they spell their band name 3OH!3 is bad enough. This song has heavy rotation on Virgin Radio and unlike, say, “Boom Boom Pow”, it never gets to the point where I can appreciate its ridiculousness. Also, every time he talks about his tongue behind some other girl’s teeth I throw up a little.
P.S. “Do the Helen Keller and talk with your hips” is a pretty good line though. Maybe not as good as “You so two thousand and late”. EDIT: Oh of course the only redeeming feature of this song is not in the radio edit!
I tried really hard to avoid this song when it first came out. Then I started listening to it (by force, as with any song on the radio) and now the chorus is stuck in my head. Not to mention that goddamn opening keyboard riff, which they used to play in an ad on 102.1 the Edge all the time and I had no idea what it was. Wasn’t Martina Sorbara a country singer, though?
Now this is a real guilty pleasure, because I dislike Pink (P!nk? Is she still doing that?) to a degree that I would never visit upon my girl T.Swift. But I love this song. I love the background vocal riff and the sound of the guitar. I even like Pink’s voice. But as soon as I hear “Sober” again, the fuzzy feelings will be gone, you hear?
The verses and choruses sound like they were written at the same time in different rooms and then some third party suggested a key change would make them fit together. I know the chorus is the only thing that people like/remember of a popular song, but that’s a little extreme.
Also, I thought “carrera” was a nickname for a girl or something and was weird and ungrammatical, but it’s a car, so I’m not going to complain about that.
A coworker told me today that Lady Gaga was born a hermaphrodite. I always did think her leotards looked a little boxy in front. Anyway, I was actually starting to like her music until I heard this song. LINK
I had totally forgotten that Rick Astley had a second single. It’s basically the same as the one everyone knows, but different enough that it will get stuck in your head just as deeply and you will still never mistake the two. BRB, dancing
This is music for people who like Josh Groban’s voice but find his music too experimental. I just found out that this guy is a Canadian Idol winner, which makes more sense. I guess the music itself isn’t terrible (it’s no “LoveGame”), but the title makes me cringe and the lyrics are, well, lazy. One nice thing about this song: the cover of the single matches my layout nicely. LINK
I work a full time job, 9 to 4, that involves a lot of filing and hands-on, mind-off work. Fortunately, I have the radio to keep me going. Unfortunately, I am a music snob who stopped listening to the radio years ago. Join me as I rediscover the highs and lows of modern popular music - mostly lows.
DISCLAIMER: Though I may name specific radio stations, I mean no ill will to the people who run them. I’m sure they have only slightly more control than I do over what music they play. No hard feelings, guys!
All songs are copyright their respective owners and are posted here for entertainment purposes only.
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