Music Archives - Page 11 of 19

What Will You Miss About R.E.M.?

Yesterday I was bummed to learn that R.E.M. broke up. I liked the band in high school and came to love them in college. Sure, a lot of people felt that they went too mainstream with “Shiny Happy People” (and especially that silly “Furry Happy Monsters” version from Sesame Street), but they went on to record some great songs after that. Plus, their older stuff was just fantastic.

One of my favorite R.E.M. memories was playing “Driver 8” with my friends Dominic and Roland in college. We performed a three-song set at a student show called Asian Occasion. Partially because of this “performance” and partially because it’s just a frickin’ awesome song, “Driver 8” is my favorite R.E.M. tune and will always have a special place in my heart.

Any other R.E.M. fans out there? What songs and albums of theirs did you like? What will you miss about the band?

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Coffee Talk #398: Pick Your Personal Entrance 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, Mariano Rivera’s 600th save, putting a dollar value on your work, or Dyson’s hot air multiplier, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I’ve always wanted my own entrance music. You know, like how pro-wrestlers have their own entrance music. When I was a kid, I thought it was awesome that Hulk Hogan used “Eye of the Tiger” (Survivor), Junkyard Dog used “Another One Bites the Dust” (Queen), and Kerry Von Erich used “Tom Sawyer” (Rush) as their entrance themes. Of course nothing beats Ric Flair hitting the ring to “Also Sprach Zarathustra“, more commonly known as the intro music to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Entrance music changed when Vince McMahon realized that he could save money in licensing fees and make money by selling his own music. Awesome songs by established artists were replaced by mediocre songs performed by no-names. Sure there are exceptions. Hulk Hogan’s “Real American” (Rick Derringer) seems completely appropriate for his character. Motorhead is awesome and Triple H is a mark for the band, so “The Game” makes total sense for him. While today’s entrance music isn’t what it used to be, most of it still works.

If I had my wish, I’d borrow “Sexy Boy” for my personal entrance theme. The lyrics are ridiculous and the music is cheesy. Most of you have known me long enough to have figured out that I’m ridiculous and cheesy. I would absolutely abuse my entrance theme (and spend a fortune in background fireworks). I would use it every time I entered groceries, office buildings, restaurants, courtrooms, etc. (I wouldn’t use it at funerals and when entering bathrooms.) The music fits my personality and would be my little tribute to “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels.

If you could have your own entrance music, what would it be? Choose wisely!

Coffee Talk #395: Your Dream Dinner for Four

If you could have dinner with three people from the history of the world, who would be at your table? They can be game developers, actors, musicians, etc. It’s your dream dinner for four and I’d love to hear your…

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, rain ruining my U.S. Open (tennis) background noise, why my coffee beans are late (again), or dinner/drinks with two excellent people, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

If you could have dinner with three people from the history of the world, who would be at your table? The only condition for this game is that the people you choose have to be real (this is mostly to prevent one of you from choosing He-Man or Bugs Bunny). They can be game developers, actors, musicians, etc. It’s your dream dinner for four and I’d love to hear your picks! Here are mine:

Muhammad Ali: “The Greatest” would headline my dream dinner. I’d choose the Ali that was banned from boxing and speaking out against the war in Vietnam. Ali was already an extraordinary athlete with unmatched speed for a heavyweight boxer, but his stance against the Vietnam War made him so much more. He lost three prime years of his career, but inspired so many people while he was away from boxing. He became more than just an athlete. He became an icon.

John Lennon: My feelings about Lennon are similar to my feelings about Ali. He was already a renowned performance artist and songwriter, but his post-Beatles activism made him so much more. I love that he used his fame to spread positive messages and to get people to think. I also love the continued to write great songs when doubters thought he was washed up. I’d love to have ’70s John Lennon at my dream dinner.

Steve Jobs: My last spot was a tough choice. As I mentioned to you last year, I’d love to have a one-on-one dinner with Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto. For some reason, I’m being a stickler with my dinner-for-four scenario and am disqualifying Miyamoto because he would require a translator (sorry Bill!). The final spot goes to Apple’s Steve Jobs. This would be 2005 Jobs, fresh off his Stanford commencement speech. In addition to getting his thoughts on making products people are passionate about, I’d love to hear about how he felt about getting booted from Apple, elevating Pixar, and returning to make Apple better than ever.

So that’s my dream dinner for four. Now let me know who’s sitting at your table (please)!

Coffee Talk #392: Bigger Disruptor — iTunes vs. Napster

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, whoopie pies sweeping the nation, Oscar De La Hoya’s admission of cocaine use + adultery, or Michael Vick’s sweet contract, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Two of my friends were arguing over which service disrupted the music industry in the bigger way, Napster or iTunes. The Napster backer believes that creating absolute anarchy and making music available to more people than ever is an unmatched accomplishment. He argued that Napster paved the road for iTunes’ success and put an emphasis on being the first change agent. The Apple supporter acknowledged that Napster was the first major agitator, but argued that iTunes had a more meaningful impact on the music industry. He believes that getting the music business to change its pricing model is more significant than the free-for-all environment that Napster created. He also thinks the combination of iTunes and the iPod, later joined by the iPhone and iPad, changed the way millions of people buy music.

The arguments were interesting and I’m still processing both sides. I don’t have my own opinion on the matter yet, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on this debate. Please vote in today’s poll and expand on your answer in the comments section!

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Lady Gaga Goes Drag as Jo Calderone at MTV VMAs

Lady Gaga shocked the crowd at the MTV Video Music Awards by appearing and performing as her male alter ego, Jo Calderone. While I loved Gaga’s performance of “You and I”, mostly because it featured Queen guitarist Brian May, everyone seems to be fixated on the Calderone character instead of the music. Check it out below and let me know what you think (please)!

As for me, I love the song and the guitar playing. The Jo Calderone thing seems like another way of Gaga pushing buttons. I like what she was trying to do, but it seemed a little silly to me. Calderone looks like a member of The Jets from West Side Story. I was waiting for a medley of “When You’re a Jet” and “Somewhere“.

Kanye West Performing at Call of Duty XP Convention

As we discussed in yesterday’s Coffee Talk, renowned hip-hop artist and producer Kanye West will be performing at Activision’s Call of Duty XP convention. He’ll be taking the stage on September 3, 2011. My personal dream is that Taylor Swift shows up and interrupts his show…but I don’t see that happening. Here’s a clip from the press release:

In his first public performance since the release of his fifth #1 album, the global smash “Watch the Throne,” Kanye West is set to close Call of Duty XP, the only full-immersion fan experience for Call of Duty gamers. West will take the stage at 8PM on Saturday, September 3rd, capping an impressive roster of firsts for casual and hardcore Call of Duty fans alike, including the world premiere of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 multiplayer, the first public hands-on with the title, the finals of the Call of Duty $1 Million tournament sponsored by Xbox 360, Call of Duty-inspired live action-experiences and much more. Call of Duty XP takes place September 2nd and 3rd, 2011, in Los Angeles, California.

What do you think of Kanye performing at a Call of Duty convention? Are there any recording artists that you think match up well with certain games? As I mentioned yesterday, Yasumi Matsuno is a Queen mark and litters his game with all sorts of Queen references. Ice-T has a connection with Gears of War. Jack Black is a known Grand Theft Auto homer. Name some recording artists and match ’em up with games (please)!

Muppets: The Green Album Totally Rocks!

The soundtrack for The Muppets, titled Muppets: The Green Album, looks fantastic! It’s a bunch of contemporary artists doing updated versions of classic Muppets songs. The talent includes Weezer, My Morning Jacket, Brandon Saller (Atreyu), and OK Go. I’m completely psyched that Rachael Yamagata is in the mix too! Her 2004 album Happenstance is one of my favorites of the last decade.

The initial trailer for The Muppets had me looking forward to the movie. The soundtrack just sealed the deal!

If you have a chance, head on over to the track listing page and listen to the samples. Let me know if you’re digging any of the songs on Muppets: The Green Album. Mahna mahna!!!

[I wanted to post this story yesterday, but my crap web host decided to take the day off. Never use AnHosting.]

Noel Gallagher (Oasis) Blames London Riots on Videogames

Former Oasis lead singer Noel Gallagher knows the cause of the London riots — violent television and videogames. It’s fantastic that geniuses like Gallagher are providing astute analysis of the London riots, while Mensa members like Hulk Hogan are offering solutions. In a recent interview with Bang Showbiz Gallagher said:

We live in this age of violence — and I don’t care what other people say: Brutal TV and brutal video games are a reason for this pointless violence as well. The people are immune to violence, they are used to it.

As much as I’ve enjoyed Oasis music in the past, I’ve always thought that Noel Gallagher was a prick. His take on the London riots confirms his dickishness, as well as his idiocy. Also, he looks like Mr. Bean.

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R.I.P. Jani Lane (Lead Singer of Warrant)

My friend Parisi posted a link to this story about Jani Lane’s deceased body being found at a Comfort Inn in Woodland Hills, CA. The news bummed me out more than I thought it would and I was genuinely surprised by how sad I felt. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I shouldn’t have been surprised at all. I loved Warrant as a youngster. “Heaven” was one of the first songs I learned how to play on guitar from start to finish. Yeah, they weren’t the greatest band in the world, but they were fun and they were definitely a big part of my youth. The band became part of my adult life too. My BB Zoe Flower and I usually perform “Heaven” during videogame industry karaoke. (We’re awesome at it, btw.)

I know that RPadholic N8R got to meet Jani Lane. Any of you get to meet him? Any other Warrant fans out there?

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HTC Teaming Up with Dr. Dre, Beats Audio in Phones Coming

[Updated 8/11 with awesome PR photo.] HTC CEO Peter Chou has revealed that his company is investing $300-million in Beats Electronics. Some of you will remember Beats as the high-end audio company founded by hip-hop legend Dr. Dre and Interscope super-producer Jimmy Iovine. The goal is to improve the audio quality of HTC phones and leverage the Beats brand. AllThingsDigital had more from Iovine:

Beats CEO (and legendary music producer) Jimmy Iovine told AllThingsD that the partnership with HTC is just the latest piece of his crusade to improve the sound in modern electronics. Iovine said that the shift from listening to music on stereos to one where MP3s are played on computers has led to “an entire generation lost to bad-sounding music.”

There’s no denying that Beats has a certain cachet and will be useful for marketing purposes, but I wouldn’t expect HTC phones to suddenly have magical audio quality. Current Beats products, like Beats by Dre from Monster Cable, are decent goods that are also overpriced and overrated. I’m sure Beats Electronics will help improve the audio quality of HTC phones, but I mostly see this as a really expensive marketing move.

HTC phones with Beats technology are expected to arrive in late 2011.

What do you think of HTC teaming up with Beats? Does it make you more interested in HTC phones? Or is it just a marketing ploy to you?

[Update: Below is an amazing photo of Chou, Dre, and Iovine. This was, by far, the best part of the press release.]

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