I’m completely LTTP on this Nina Gordon cover of NWA’s classic “Straight Outta Compton”. It’s a lovely acoustic rendition that brings soft female vocals to a fierce song. It’s so crazy that it works! My friend Marcus showed it to me and I wanted to share it with you. Check it out and let me know what you think (please).
Category: Music
Jon Bon Jovi Hates Steve Jobs
According to Jon Bon Jovi, Steve Jobs is responsible for killing the music business. Never mind that you can buy dozens of Bon Jovi songs on iTunes. Jon believes that his royal Steveness has killed the experience of buying music. He told The Sunday Times Magazine (via MSN):
Kids today have missed the whole experience of putting the headphones on, turning it up to 10, holding the jacket, closing their eyes and getting lost in an album; and the beauty of taking your allowance money and making a decision based on the jacket, not knowing what the record sounded like, and looking at a couple of still pictures and imagining it.
God, it was a magical, magical time. I hate to sound like an old man now, but I am, and you mark my words, in a generation from now people are going to say: ‘What happened?’ Steve Jobs is personally responsible for killing the music business.
I’m a big Bon Jovi fan, but I have to dismiss Jon’s remarks as stupid and out of touch. Digital music, which Apple helped make popular, has definitely changed the way people buy and consume albums and songs. That’s not necessarily a bad thing — just different. Apple, Amazon, and others seem to be selling tons of MP3s, so I’m not sure what Steve Jobs has “killed”. Altered would have been a better word.
Any thoughts on Jon Bon Jovi’s comments? Do they cement the fact that Richie Sambora was always the cool one in the group?
Henry Rollins, Roddy Piper in Green Lantern: Emerald Knights
In my review of All-Star Superman, I mentioned that the disc comes with a teaser feature on Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. Nathan Fillion takes the lead role as Hal Jordan. He’ll be accompanied by rocker/author Henry Rollins and WWE legend “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.
I’m super psyched to hear Rollins as Kilowog. Once described by a thick Russian woman as “a most interesting warthog creature”, Kilowog has trained thousands of Green Lantern Corps members. While Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and Kyle Rayner have all the big adventures, a lot of readers view Kilowog as the backbone of the Corps. It was fun listening to Rollins talk about the character — he totally gets it and it looks he’ll do a knockout job.
Sadly, The Hot Rod was not in the feature. Who do you think he’ll play? Are any of psyched for Henry Rollins as Kilowog? On a related note, wouldn’t Nathan Fillion make a better Nathan Drake than Mark Wahlberg?
Coffee Talk #303: Your Favorite Videogame Music
What’s some of your favorite videogame music? I’m not just talking about soundtracks. If “Pac Man Fever” floats your boat then let’s talk about it! As for me…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the best potato chips, thoughts of CC Sabathia leaving the Yankees next year, or Lindsay Lohan getting sexier as she becomes more messed up, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
What’s some of your favorite videogame music? I’m not just talking about soundtracks. If “Pac Man Fever” floats your boat then let’s talk about it! As for me, the soundtrack to Final Fantasy Tactics is my favorite score. Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata did a phenomenal job composing music that was moving and memorable. I’ve been a huge fan of theirs ever since I heard FFT’s music.
Naturally, I love Mortal Kombat The Album by The Immortals. The songs are just awesomely ridiculous. I have fond memories of listening to the soundtrack in college with my friend Wil. It’s just fun screaming, “Johnny Cage is not afraid to die!!!” If you haven’t heard these songs then I highly recommend clicking the link above and listening to the samples. These tracks will change your life…especially Sub-Zero’s song.
Now it’s your turn! What’s some of your favorite videogame music?
DICE 2011 Outtakes: Jay Mohr Sings Van Halen
I was trying to interview actor Jay Mohr about hosting the 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards at DICE 2011…but that never really got started. He liked my microphone and thought it was cool that I also use it to belt out Journey songs in karaokoe. This led him to singing a bunch of Van Halen songs. I thought it was cool that he did one in his Christopher Walken impersonation, as per my request. I thought it was cooler that he cut off his interview with Kotaku’s Brian Crescente because he remembered what song he wanted to sing. Ha!
Check out this clip of outtake footage when you have a chance. Bonus points will be awarded if you can name the famous gaming people in the background!
Coffee Talk #296: Where Do You Buy Your Music?
Google is holding a press conference today and one of the strong rumors is that it will finally reveal more details on Google Music. The company’s music service will differ from Amazon’s MP3 store and Apple iTunes in that…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, 20+ hours on an airplane in two days becoming a cold, where you’d go if you had a time machine, or your favorite element, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Google is holding a press conference today and one of the strong rumors is that it will finally reveal more details on Google Music. The company’s music service will differ from Amazon’s MP3 store and Apple iTunes in that it will store music on the cloud. Last year at Google I/O, the company showed some cool functionality that allowed you to stream music from your desktop to your phone; this could be part of the rumored service too.
The rumor made me wonder about your music purchasing habits? Where do you buy your music from? Do you still buy physical CDs from a store? Do you buy mostly through iTunes or Amazon (and really, you should buy all your MP3s from Amazon, *snicker*). Perhaps you don’t “buy” music at all and resort to…Captain Jack Sparrow behavior. Kindly take today’s Coffee Talk poll and let me know (please)!
[poll id=”100″]
Coffee Talk #294: Celebs You Should Hate, But Actually Like
Confession: I like Ashton Kutcher. On paper, I should loathe him. Punk’d is retarded. A lot of his movies suck. And there was that stretch in the early 2000’s when he annoyingly went to every videogame party in Los Angeles…
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Timmy Bradley’s disappointing victory, Ozzy Osbourne’s sudden illness, or last-minute international jobs, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Confession: I like Ashton Kutcher. On paper, I should loathe him. Punk’d is retarded. A lot of his movies suck. And there was that stretch in the early 2000’s when he annoyingly went to every videogame party in Los Angeles. (To be fair, it wasn’t just him. Every party had at least on person from That ’70s Show and American Pie.)
The truth is…I find him funny and charming in some of his movies. I’ve enjoyed listening to him talk about his politics (fiscally conservative, socially liberal). I like that he’s perceived as this idiot pretty boy, but is much smarter than he looks. I love that he was one of the first celebrities to use Twitter in a hardcore way. Although his restaurants — Dolce and Geisha House — draw a hipster crowd, they’re actually very good. The Demi Moore thing is pretty cool too.
Ah, I feel better now that I’ve come clean about all of that. Do you have any celebrities you like but, on paper, should hate? Whether they’re from movies, music, or TV, please share your celebrity confessions today!
Coffee Talk #267: Your Favorite Music of 2010
It’s time for more of your 2010 favorites! This time around it’s music…because you can’t stop the music.
Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, following Scarlett Johansson to Jamaica to console her, dreaming about the MacBook Air, or Paul Pierce giving Nate Robinson a back body drop, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
It’s time for more of your 2010 favorites! This time around it’s music…because you can’t stop the music. This’ll actually be really good for me too since I shy away from modern music. All the indie-pop bands I loved in 2001 have broken up and the only new music I’ve listened to a lot this year is Infant Sorrow. Hopefully some of you will inspire me to buy some new tunes!
Now give it a go (please)! What was some of your favorite music in 2010?
Remembering John Lennon Oct-9 1940 – Dec-8 1980
I remembering hearing about John Lennon’s death the day after it happened. I was still a small boy, so I was fast asleep when he was murdered on December 8, 1980. It was all over the news the next day. I remember watching NBC news as I was eating dinner with my family. We had a small black-and-white television in the kitchen. Of course I didn’t really have a concept of mortality at that age, but I loved The Beatles from the numerous times my dad would play Rubber Soul and Magical Mystery Tour on the record player. I just wondered why anyone would shoot this wonderful man.
Although I’ve come to love Lennon’s song writing and music, I was more inspired by what he did socially. He took his fame and used it to make powerful anti-war statements. Similar to how Muhammad Ali — one of my other favorite people that ever existed — leveraged his fame in the sports world, Lennon made people think whether you agreed with him or not. He was an amazing man on so many levels.
Let’s talk about what John Lennon meant to you. Did you he influence your taste in music or your social stances?
Jack Black and Jason Segel Team Up on “Little Drummer Boy”
Actors Jack Black and Jason Segel have teamed up for charity in a rock-infused version of “Little Drummer Boy”. According to People, “The song goes on sale on iTunes beginning Tuesday, with proceeds going to Blue Star Families, a nonprofit that connects, supports and empowers military families.” I’m a fan of both actors and love their take on the Christmas carol (similar to the Bing Crosby/David Bowie version). I’ll buy the song to support their charitable efforts.
Check out the clip above and let me know what you think of the song (please)!
Update: I’ve added the Bing Crosby and David Bowie version below because it’s awesome.