What year would be complete for me without the annual mixtape? I’ve done this for a few years now, and over time it’s evolved. In its latest form, I create a Spotify playlist. This is my longest mixtape with 70 total songs this year.
Now, these songs are, for the most part, from this year. Actually, the only exception may be Josh Groban’s “Brave,” which was actually released December 18, 2012. I put it in the same boat I did as Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” last year. It came out in December of the previous year when we’re paying more attention to Christmas music, so I’ll excuse that.
How did these songs make the list? They’re a sampling of 2013 with my own personal bias. As such, I left out a lot of country and younger artists that I don’t really care for. So, I’d rather not hear I’m wrong about something or have left something out. If I left out your favorite, I suggest you make your own list because there is no way I could ever please everyone.
As a forewarning, there may be some offensive language in these songs, and I cannot be held responsible for the content of the songs or music videos. I’m not a fan of censorship in any form (though, this is a discussion and a half that goes beyond cursing in music).
I know I would normally do the Top Five on Friday today, but I’m very busy right now with work and trying to find a full time job. I’m also working on a couple of other internet projects lately (some that correlate with finding a full time job), so I’d like to focus my energies there. Since this is the case, I’m going to take a short hiatus. It will be two months, and I’ll be back in June.
I love this little blog and how much it’s grown (if not very much—progress is progress), but I’d rather not grow to hate it and see it as another thing I have to do in the week. I’m just stepping away for a little bit to let some ideas bounce around. I do enjoy writing in this space, but it’s currently not a priority. I don’t want my posts here to suffer because I used up my writing energies on other things. Hopefully when I return, I’ll have more ideas and time to devote to this place. I’ll see you in June!
I know it’s only down to the top 8, but I think we’re at a point where we’ve heard a few performances that are good enough where I can pick out some of the best. I’m actually curious to see if this changes by the end of the show. Have some people peaked too early? Or do they have some more climbing to do?
“The Power of Love” by Hollie Cavanagh: I think, among the younger girls, Skylar is my favorite. She’s a little firecracker and highly entertaining. I did like Hollie when she sang this one. I fear it may have been her peak, though. The problem with the lower age limit is that some kids are ready for this while others are not. Hollie is one who isn’t quite ready. I’m with Jimmy Iovine on this one. She’s got the technical part right, but she needs to work on the emotion that comes with life experience.
“One and Only” by Elise Testone: On Top 25 night, Elise and Jen Hirsh ended up singing the same Adele song, and it was pretty clear who did it best. Many might consider her Zeppelin cover her best so far, but when it’s a song by an artist that people are constantly trying to imitate on this show, I love when someone does it right. Elise is the only older female contestant remaining, and she seems to be gaining power.
“The Edge of Glory” by Erika Van Pelt: Erika had to save herself with this song, and that’s exactly what she did. She was miles above the other girls seeking a Wild Card pick from the judges. I appreciated how she put her own spin on this song too. It might be tempting to sing it the way it was recorded. I’m disappointed we didn’t get to hear her sing a Pink song with the band backing her.
“When a Man Loves a Woman” by Joshua Ledet: So, the easiest way to get my vote on Idol is to sing a song I love and make me like it. I’m really picky about my favorite songs, but Joshua sang the sh*t out of this. Joshua hasn’t been as impressive in recent weeks. He hasn’t been placed in the bottom three yet, so we’ll see how long he can continue to ride this wave. To stick around, it’s about time for him to pull something else out of his pocket. At this point, I worry if he has anything else, though. He’s got a great voice, but if a contestant doesn’t shake things up once in a while, the audience gets bored.
“Piano Man” by Colton Dixon: I love Billy Joel. I’ve heard this song ever since I was a kid, and I never thought I’d be impressed by a cover version. Colton was quite good. He managed to modernize a song I grew up listening to over and over again and make me like it. That isn’t easy.
Because it’s been eighty degrees here this week—yes eighty (I know it’s hotter in other areas right now too and colder in others, but I’m not used to sweating and wishing I had a few more pairs of shorts in March), I thought I’d choose my top five favorite summer songs from last year. I went with singles since, well, artists have been riding albums for two (sometimes three years) at a time when they’re jammed full of potential singles (good or bad? Who knows). Some of these songs were also released in spring but still carried weight over the summer. Anyway, I preferred the summer of 2010, but the summer of 2011 brought us some interesting music as well. Many of these were indulgent pop singles, but that’s how I like my summer. My top five from last year? These are in no particular order this week.
“The Edge of Glory” by Lady Gaga: I don’t normally like songs by Lady Gaga, and I didn’t like the first few singles released from Born This Way, but “The Edge of Glory” was quite good. One of the reasons I didn’t like the first few singles was because they felt like they were forced into being eighties sounding pop hits. “The Edge of Glory” felt like a nod to that kind of music more than the Madonna-copy many claimed of “Born This Way.” It sounded good, the lyrics weren’t shallow, and the incomparable Clarence Clemons played sax on it.
“Super Bass” by Nicki Minaj: I have no idea what drove me to this song; I just know I loved it from the moment it started playing.
“The Lazy Song” by Bruno Mars: This song was released in February of 2011, but it was sitting happily on the charts over the summer as well. It was the perfect summer song, actually, featuring many of the things we do (or don’t) when we can afford to be lazy. Of all of the songs on Mars’s 2010 release Doo-Wops & Hooligans, this was probably the only one without deep and meaningful lyrics. But doesn’t every record need at least one feel good song?
“Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera: Admittedly, I think I’m over this song now, but when it was first released, I could really get behind it. It was one of those summer hits that felt like a summer hit. You know, the one you dance around like crazy to anywhere with your friends. Perhaps because I heard it a lot at the pool it feels that way…
“Otis” by Jay-Z and Kanye West: This song didn’t win its Grammy for nothing! OK, sometimes that’s arguable, but this track really deserved it. It has no hook, no actual chorus, but it still did well overall, and I think that speaks to the song itself. So this wasn’t a big fun summer song, but it was still among some of the best of the season.
I know, last week I did songs of theatre, so it might feel a little too soon to do this one this week, but I had the idea in mind, so I thought I’d do it anyway.
Movie musicals can be very successful. On the other hand, they can also be giant cheesefests. Something about people who randomly break into song in the middle of the street just doesn’t work at times. Who knew? In any case, movies like this have made something of a comeback in recent years (some claim High School Musical did this while I’d argue that it was more the success of Chicago that did it—not to mention, it came first so probably did influence Hollywood to make this type of film more often). Although none have done quite as well as Chicago did, it’s been interesting to see the movie musical make a return. Over a number of years, we seemed to get the impression that musical numbers were reserved for Disney movies, and anything live action was over. Clearly that isn’t the case.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978): I know what you’re probably thinking, and I’d probably normally agree with you. It’s just that I find this so bad it’s good. Plus, it was the Beatles. OK, so it was covers of the Beatles, but it was still their music. And it was a movie with Aerosmith and Steve Martin. I mean, come on.
Grease (1978): I think we all know why this is here. This may have been the first movie musical I ever saw, so it has a special place in my heart.
8 Femmes (2002): I really like French films, and this one being filled with musical numbers was such a great watch for me. One night, a man named Marcel is murdered in his own home over the holidays. Cut off from the rest of the world by a winter storm, eight women in his life are gathered there to put the pieces together. However, when they discover that the phone is cut off and the car has been damaged, it becomes clear that the murderer is one of them. What I remember most vividly about this movie were the performances of “Mon amour mon ami” and “Pile ou face” by Virginie Ledoyen and Emmanuelle Béart respectively.
Chicago (2002): Like I said, this film may have been responsible for making the movie musical popular again. While Renée Zellweger delivered the lead role, it was performances by Catherine Zeta-Jones that seemed to impress the crowds. At least, that’s what her shiny Oscar would lead us to believe. Set in the city of Chicago (that was probably pretty obvious, huh?), the chorus girl Roxie Hart murders her boyfriend when she realizes he has lied to her as he doesn’t believe she’ll do well in show business and has no intention of helping her get to the top. Awaiting her trial, she is jailed with other women who have committed the same crime she has—murdering their lovers. This includes Velma Kelly who killed both her sister and husband when she caught them in bed together (but she blacked out and can’t remember a thing). Rather than having it seem like the characters randomly broke out into song, the performances were tastefully done as moments in Roxie’s imagination. This may have been a reason why it was so well-received.
Guys and Dolls (1955): I wasn’t expecting to like this one as much as I did, but I love Sinatra in films. He made them seem effortless. “Luck Be a Lady” is one of my favorites, and I was quite impressed with Marlon Brando’s Sky Masterson. A bet, a reluctant groom, a mission in need of sinners, and a large crap game are the center of this musical. Definitely a classic.
This week? It’s songs of theatre. I may be watching too much Smash (I know what you might be thinking, and I have a post in mind for this show, actually), but I actually really love this stuff. You know how Glee has their show choir singing a bunch of current pop hits each week, no matter how school appropriate they are or not? Yeah, that wasn’t my show choir experience. Occasionally, we would do pop songs, but more often than not my directors tried to expose us to works from musical theatre. As such, I began to find a connection with these songs. What I find interesting is that these songs are performed in such a way that if pop songs were done in the same style, they’d be considered over the top and ridiculous. It’s a moment from a production, and a character has been built up for an audience, so it makes sense. These songs are designed to push plot along and illustrate exactly what a character’s emotions are.
“Memphis Lives in Me” from Memphis: Normally when you think of a popular rock musician going Broadway, you think of productions like American Idiot or Movin’ Out where songs are pulled from that particular band or musician’s catalogue and woven together in some kind of plot. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t because often these songs weren’t originally meant to be strung together in the form of a story. While there is a chance for this to be successful, David Bryan, probably best known as keyboardist for the band Bon Jovi, also works on compositions for musical theatre, and the Tony Award winning Memphis was one of them. Memphis tells the story of a white disc jockey who was one of the first to play black music in the fifties. As a result, there is obviously much controversy surrounding the young man’s rise to fame. Toward the end of the musical, the main character, Huey, performs “Memphis Lives in Me” as he comes to the realization that Memphis is his home.
“Anything Goes” from Anything Goes: From Cole Porter’s musical of the same name, “Anything Goes” is a little different from other songs on this list. Not only is it the oldest from 1934 but it dates itself by making references to this era. As such, changes have been made to the lyrics during revivals of the production (it’s the title number, so they can’t very well cut it). The song reflects on how times have changed in quite a humorous way. I’ve always had a special love for this one.
“Endless Night” from The Lion King: Remember before Disney completely took over Broadway? Actually, a number of the Disney shows do well and are of excellent quality. I do worry about the over-saturation of them, though. In any case, The Lion King followed the success of Beauty and the Beast’s move to the stage, and it was one for the books. In order to change the 90 minute film into a full fledged Broadway musical, new songs were written to extend the length of the show and ended up providing more depth to the story. Among them was “Endless Night,” a beautiful song where Simba reflects on the memory of his father and wonders how to carry on without him. Yet, there is hope in it as he knows the sun rises again every morning, and the same will happen for him.
“Defying Gravity” from Wicked: The musical that took Broadway by storm almost ten years ago, Wicked attracted a younger generation and a wider audience to musical theatre. Based on the book by Gregory Maguire, the musical is less political and religious, but it still has a few statements to make. Wicked is essentially The Wizard of Oz from the Wicked Witch of the West’s (here called Elphaba, taken from L. Frank Baum’s initials) perspective. Oz is not the happy land everyone seems to believe it is, and the Wonderful Wizard isn’t so wonderful. Most fans will point to “Defying Gravity” as the central song. Taking place at the end of the first act as the Wizard and Madame Morrible attempt to silence her, Elphaba declares that, no matter what, she will do what she believes is right, and no one can stop her.
“All That Jazz” from Chicago: You probably recall back in 2003 when the film version of this show and members of its cast were nominated for thirteen Academy Awards and won six of them, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress by the talented Catherine Zeta-Jones. I loved her in this role, partly attributed to the fact that she did my favorite song from the production justice. The song performed by character Velma Kelly, with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb and choreographed by Bob Fosse, is meant to introduce the audience to the production—Chicago is a city that hasn’t been dulled by the era of prohibition. In fact, the night life is soaring. As this is going on, however, Roxie Hart has murdered her lover introducing us to the dark side of the tale. It all sets up the story well and couldn’t have been done any better.
I thought I’d do something different this week. Even as the music industry continues to move toward the single as the most important work a musician will release in terms of success, I’m still stuck in the Stone Age of the album. OK, so singles have driven record sales for a long time. It just feels like the album is always going out of style. A good one is cohesive. It varies without the songs losing their identity, and the music is, of course, good. The following are my top five favorite albums. These are records that for some reason, I’ve latched onto and can listen to over and over again without ever tiring of them. I think there’s something special that happens when an album is done right. This post is basically going to be a love-fest; you’ve been warned: I ramble.
And you’ll have to click for more because I didn’t want to give anyone a wall of text if they weren’t expecting it.
This week, I decided I would do my top five (ask me if I’m starting to feel like John Cusack yet) “It Gets Better” anthems. Sadly, some people believe there are too many of these. True, it was trendy to do these kinds of songs last year, but we’ve also placed a huge focus on bullying and the effects it has on people, especially teenagers struggling with their identity in any capacity. This seems like it was simply the answer from music artists. Sometimes a song like that means the world to someone young (or old even), especially if it comes from somebody he or she looks up to. In my opinion, there can never be enough of these songs, as long as they are sincere. Besides, someone who dislikes Lady Gaga may love Pink and be more likely to listen to her. These songs have saved people, so I wish people would relax. At least it isn’t another depressing heartbreak song. There are plenty of those.
OK, off of my soap box. My five favorites are as follows:
“Coast (It’s Gonna Get Better)” by Patrick Stump: Do I talk about songs from Soul Punk too much? Oh, well. “Coast” finishes off this record quite nicely, which is part of why I like it. After an album of heavy material in the lyrics, it’s a welcoming song. It’s also that heaviness throughout the album that drives home the song’s point incredibly well. Yes, things are more than bad. Life can really suck sometimes, and people who say things are easy are liars. But. It will get better. Yes, the message is stronger with the rest of the album in front of it, but it’s also pretty straightforward. Stump uses no gimmicks.
I would have used the actual music video here, but I didn’t want anyone to get on my case for the beginning of it.
“F***in’ Perfect” by Pink: This was probably one of the most popular of the “Gets Better” anthems. More than that, Pink begs the listener not to change because they are perfect exactly how they are. Yeah, there’s a lot of bad out there and people who don’t understand, but that will not change what makes you special. It’s a plea to not give up because someone whose opinion really doesn’t matter when it comes to knowing what’s best for you is judging you. It’s also about taking it easier on yourself. We are our own worst critics, and I think our own minds can sometimes be the darkest place of all.
“Innocent” by Our Lady Peace: I love this song. It’s more a reminder that we’re all humans and we all go through these tough moments in life, but it also touches on specific problems that people face. The song mentions cancer as one, something that happens to, sadly, many people. It explores how people suffer and how we can overcome these sufferings. It’s a beautiful song that also works to remind us of how awful those feelings were but that moment they ended was absolutely brilliant.
Although the video could be described as “campy,” the subject matter is specifically about suicide, and the music video does deal with that. Just a possible trigger warning.
“You’re Only Human (Second Wind)” by Billy Joel: Something you’ll want to note is that this song was written specifically to combat suicide. What made this song so earnest? Joel is honest when he sings I wouldn’t be telling you if I hadn’t been there myself. I think it’s often easier to digest certain songs when the artist actually has been through this situation. We tend to tell ourselves that these people with money or are celebrities can never understand what we’re personally going through. They have money. Why should they ever feel unhappy? We forget that in spite of a bigger paycheck, they’re still humans with emotions. I think this song is a good reminder that anyone can feel down, but it also reminds us that we’re also capable of picking ourselves back up again; sometimes we might need a reminder and help, but we can.
“Let It Be” by the Beatles: Yes, I did post this song last week. Yes, I decided to post it again. I stand by what I said about this song last week: it’s an amazing song. It’s just another way to get you through something tough. It isn’t a very proactive stance, but, when you think about it, it makes sense. Some things will be out of our control. There are things out there that if you just leave alone will turn out all right. Not everything works this way, of course, but this song doesn’t push you to do anything. It just lets you know that sometimes time is all it takes.
Since Sir Paul McCartney serenaded us with some Beatles songs on Sunday, I thought my top five favorite Beatles songs were in order this week.
5. “Penny Lane”: I suppose a better way to phrase my love for this song is to say that I adore it. I don’t think I really have an explanation for why I like this song. It’s one of those where I just do, and that’s probably explanation enough.
4. “Revolution”: By the time you get through this list, you’ll probably realize that every other song here that is credited to Lennon-McCartney is actually a McCartney song. That isn’t to say I don’t like Lennon’s works. In fact, I find some of my own beliefs reflected in his music. “Revolution” is no exception. It’s the idea that protest is all well and good but is the violence necessary? And what kind of plan do you have for when you do succeed? The phrases “look before you leap” and “think before you act” come to mind. There are a few different versions of this song out there, “Revolution 1” (a slowed down bluesy version of the song included on The White Album), “Revolution 9” (an experimental track inspired by “Revolution 1”, also on The White Album), and “Revolution” (the hard rock single version). Each one is worth a listen.
3. “Blackbird”: I really love the symbolism in this song. I honestly think the metaphor is something McCartney did very well. And when I hear the song, I get the idea that the vocals are flying or dancing over the acoustic guitar. And when you realize that that is basically all this song is: vocals and a guitar, it makes it that much more incredible.
2. “Let It Be”: This pick may not be very imaginative. I think you’ll find this on nearly every list of the greatest Beatles songs and highly likely to be near the top if not number one. However, there’s a reason for that. This is an amazing song. McCartney claims to have gotten the inspiration from a dream where he was visited by his mother who passed away when he was fourteen. The gratefulness Paul felt from that is apparent throughout the track. Both the music and lyrics capturing the moment in a way that I think only McCartney could have.
1. “Here Comes the Sun”: This is the only song on the list that is not credited to Lennon-McCartney. I think the reason I love this song so much is that it is still perfectly relevant even after all of these years. Thematically and musically it has withstood the test of time. Many Beatles songs do this, I think, which is why we still listen to them today, but the idea that even though things aren’t going very well for you right now, they will get better is universal and one that can touch anyone at any time. This is one of Harrison’s best known songs that was written for the Beatles, and I think it’s very clear why that is.
Now that the night is over (uh, long over…I had work today), how about a recap of the events? I would have done a live blog, but it’s quite a long night, and I felt I’d get side tracked too easily. So I made note of the things I wanted to address.
Hearing It As It Is 