Christina Aguilera is one of those artist I had a hard time deciding if I liked or not. She’s got a great voice and has done one or two nice tracks but also some really bad. And just after doing “Dirty”, a song I actually liked (even before seing the video) what does she do? A song like “Beautiful”! A song that, if I understand it right, is about how beauty is only skin deep and that it’s what you think of yourself that is important. Which ofcourse is a theory I totally support and a pretty good message. But I just can’t get over the fact that Aguilera tries to be the messenger! Seriously, she’s one of the last people on earth who should do a song like that! It’s like when our king tried getting involved in a debate over homeless people, it’s kinda hard to take a person like that seriously! So please, stick to something you know…
I had a pretty funny update for today. But I barely made it into the office until I didn’t feel like being funny today. I got some disturbing news. Disturbing in the way that it upset my entire reality! My reality has included some undeniable facts like sky is blue, water is wet, women are impossible, Moby makes great music, everyone who is married is happy with that, Natalie Portman is beautiful, Formula 1 is fun no matter what anyone else says, Eminem is a bad role model, and so on. Today I got news that atleast one of them is false (and at the same time re-confirmed another one!). Unfortunately I can’t get into details for a while, but I just don’t feel like being funny even though it’s at times like this you really should try to shake it off with humor.
Today I woke up and didn’t feel like doing nothing (except use double negatives) so I’ve spent most of the day in front of the television. And except for seeing two movies I probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise, I accidentally switched over right in time for a program that should replace all education in modern music – the VH1 special “100 Top One Hit Wonders”. First of all it was a great nostalgia trip seeing all those videos and stuff, but more than that it was very, very informative with all trivia and “then what” info. I picked up alot of trivia info that’s probably useless, like Marlyn Manson’s “Tainted Love” is, ofcourse, a cover of Soft Cell’s, but I had no idea that Soft Cell’s wasn’t the original, it was a cover too! The only bad thing about the show was that it was very US so there were some artists there that I don’t think belonged there, like Sinead O’Conner, A-Ha and The Cardigans. And the fact that William Shatner was hosting it was just right up my humor-alley!
Btw, did I tell you about the great musical lesson in classical music we got back in high school? Our teacher pulled in the TV, flipped on “Amadeus” and three hours later – end of class 🙂 And somehow I ended up preferring Beethoven…
As you may or may not have noticed, I’ve cut 99% of the 2002 entries and saved them here so you can read about my 2002. But it’s really not that interesting…
Wanna hear some more argument to the theory that the God of Joy has it in for me? Here goes, follow with me here because it involves three people. First it’s Britney Spears. As you might have picked up over the past two years I don’t like her. Or rather I don’t like the product Spears, I can’t really say I dis-like her since I don’t know the woman, although I do feel a little bit sorry for her because of all the bad publicity and almost witch hunt like stuff that was happening over 2002. But she’s kinda been the symbol towards my arguing that it seems more important these days in the music business to put on a good show rather than make good music. Because let’s face it, if it wasn’t for her looks she probably wouldn’t be as big as she is.
Which brings us to number two, the person who is the totally opposite to that – Moby! Although I certainly enjoyed his concert, he puts most of his effort in making good music rather than good shows. And he never plays on his looks either, and he’s a really deep and open person (just check out his journals on Moby.com) with a great sense of humor.
Another thing about Moby is that he has over the past years had a New Years party that’s been totally weird and different, and one person that has loyally attended them is person number three – Natalie Portman. Did you know they were an item, for a very short (but from Moby’s statement very intense!) time? I’ve always had great respect for Natalie, thought she’s been one of the greatest female rolemodels since Lady Di. A woman who cared more about graduating from Harvard than to make movies (=money).
So why am I going on about this? Because Natalie gave in to the dark side and teamed up with Britney to host a New Years party of their own!!! What are the odds that a woman I had so much respect for teams up with a woman I have so little respect for to compete against the dude I have the greatest respect for? There must have been some kind of divined intervention involved there.
I’ve got a terrible confession to make. I actually like Jen Lopez’ “Jenny from the Block” 🙁 It’s not the lyrics (I couldn’t care less about her trying to reconnect to where she grew up, and I’m surprised anyone else does!), and it’s sure as hell isn’t the video ( 1) She’s in it 2) Affleck is in it 3) I don’t pitty her one bit for having paparazzi’s everywhere she goes), but there’s just something there in the song that I like, and I don’t like liking a Jen Lopez song!!! Somebody please say there’s a hidden message in there that effects me on a subconscious level, that might explain it…
I accidentally saw an interview with the t.A.T.u chicks on MTV and got they came up with a pretty good quote – “we’re not lesbians, we’re just in love with each other”. I liked that quote. Actually I like people who refuse to be labelled, and that quote pretty much summons that up!
Let’s combine two subjects I’ve already covered – prejudice and peoples likes/dislikes. Is it ok to like some artist or something because that person is say… TOTALLY HOT? Not without being very shallow! Well what if that person is very talented, still ok? But the real question is – can other people accept that you may like that person because of his/hers talent, not only because of ‘that other thing’?
Confused?
Let’s take the example that prompted this question – t.A.T.u! When I was listening (yes, I listen to the TV which means the TV is on but I’m sitting in front of my computer!) to the pre-show to the MTV EMA’s last thursday I heard this song that I like, “All The Things She Said“. Pretty good song, very catchy. But I had no idea who did the song. So I turned around to see who it was. Turns out the “group” is called t.A.T.u. They are two teen chicks from Russia (one of which is totally hot). Then they start making out on the stage! Nothing much, hugs & kisses but still surprising. Although I should be if I’d pay attention to lyrics like “They say it’s my fault but I want her so much”… Then my friend Dazza says that’s one of the things they are famous for. So the question I asked myself after that experience is – will people judge me as “superficial, typical guy who likes seeing two chicks go at it” simply because I like their music?
It’s the same with Jeri Ryan (7 of 9 in Star Trek Voyager). I’ve always liked her, and not only because she’s like the apex of sexiness, but because she’s actually a good actress. But everytime I mention that I like her in any forum what so ever, people judge me because I can’t possibly like her for her acting skills, can I?
What doesn’t make this any better is the fact that I do it! A friend of mine likes Pamela Andersson, and I immediately threw that out the window as “shallow guy who likes big breast”. Although in that specific case I might have been right, but it doesn’t make me any better than anyone else 🙁
Everyone who knows me will tell you that I’m pretty childish and immature, and I’m fine with that. But yesterday I felt old and obsolete! I was talking to Dazza (of NP.com) on ICQ and he was telling me about the EMA’s going down on MTV. I had no idea that was on, completely out of the loop. But I switched over to enjoy the show. And as I was talking with my friend on ICQ I found myself dissing almost everyone and all the modern pop music! Totally dissing it! Either that’s because I’m too old, or the music has gotten worse! The only thing thing that saved it was Röyksopp’s opening act and Moby’s closing act, everything inbetween there was more or less dissed by me! And there was only one category in which I DIDN’T diss all the nominees – “best new act”, so maybe there is hope for me or the music industry yet!
And Moby finally got recognition for his website! It’s been way overdue!
But one thing I’m pretty sure of – MTV has really lacked off over the years! They used to be cutting edge, no holds barred unrestrained music and entertainment! Today Pink can’t say “bitch” in her lyrics, half of eminem’s song has some mute built into them and that naked chick yesterday (I’m pretty sure that was pre-arranged!) will have some parts blurred out in the re-runs!
One of the hardest things to define about me is my taste in music! To give you an example of how diverse my taste is you can download my 2 favorite songs at the moment – 1) The theme from “Red Planet”, really good techno & ambient feeling there and 2) Norah Jones “Don’t Know why”, really nice and soft song. After listening to these two, try and put me into a genre…
Speaking of music, the other day I flipped over on VH1 and saw the video to Leann Rimes’ “Life Goes On”… I remember her in the video to “Coyote Ugly”, didn’t react that much, but DAMN is she beautiful in this video! Simply amazing… damn I love women…
But to switch topic and talk guy-music – also just saw the video to Jimmy Fallon’s “Idiot Boyfriend”… DUDE, I was laughing so hard I missed half of it and had to download it and laugh at it again! I absolutely LOVE his clothes, coreography and… well, you just gotta see it yourself!
Let’s talk about Moby! I’ve been a Moby fan for a couple of years now. Hell, if I had a theme playing when I entered a building it’d be “Everloving”! First time I heard of him was when he did the techno cover of the Bond theme. The video for that was shot in Stockholm btw. And I love the Play album! What I also like about the dude, besides his music, is his personality. And his journal on his website that he updates, even when he’s out touring the world! And I love how he bashes the political establishment in the US of A! I bough his 18 album the day it was released (I did not even download anything before that!) and loved it too. Although it was much more… calmer, smoother, subtle than his previous work. Anyways, I’ve somehow never seen the dude live, not even when he was here for the MTV EMA’s in 2000, so I had to make due with the live part of the DVD. So when it was announced that he was gonna give a concert here in Stockholm I got excited, but that turned to disappointment as I didn’t find anyone that wanted to pay $33 do go with me. I just accepted the loss, but then Henke (the old friend from my school daze) asked me a couple of weeks ago and wondered if I wanted to go! I hadn’t even thought about asking him, because he’s more into… the techno part, high BPS and stuff like that than I am, and since this concert was gonna mostly be with the new 18 songs I didn’t think he’d be interested. But he was, and he got us ticket and yesterday was the M-day! The opening act was “Röyksopp”, that Norwegian duo who makes OK music but really freaky videos. They opened with a bang and never stopped. And I mean that, loud bang that never stopped. At first I digged it but after 30 minutes it got a bit old. So they went off, the stage was rearranged, and then the dude came running in like he was on fire! Seriously, every thing I’ve ever seen with this guy he’s always been calm and collected, even the live shows. But in those he’s just had a few square meteres do work with, here he had the entire stage and he was everywhere! He mostly played songs from the Play and 18 album, but he also played the Bond theme and something totally unexpected… HEY , HO… LET’S GO!… Didn’t see that coming! Add to that a hilarious DJ battle, a nice guitarr solo and ofcourse the usual Bush-bashing and it turned out to be a hell of a show!
In fact, I just have one little thing to compain about… they never played “Everloving” 🙁 I really missed that, but the tempo of the evening, which more suited Henke than it did me, kinda made hard to play it.
Twelve hours later and my right ears is still ringing! Trust me, use ear protectors when going to concerts like this! I though “nah, it’s not gonna be that loud, and I almost never go to concerts so my ears can take it”… yeah, right!
But to quote the great man himself – that was some noble shit!
When asked “what kinda music do you like?” I’ve always answered it with something like “I’m not into any special genre. I like the tracks, individual songs!”. What I mean by that is that I’ll listen to almost any kinda of music, as long as the song itself is good. Sometimes a musician/group that I like makes a bad song that I really dislike (like Meatloaf for example!). Then there are some musicians/groups that I dislike that does a song I actually like (like Britney Spears).
There are a few that have made my list of people who can’t do a song I will like. Eminem just made that list. All pop-groups put together by all these star-search TV-shows are also there.
Then there are very few that are on the list of people who can do nothing wrong. Who’s work I like no matter if it’s good, bad or crappy lyrics. Today I saw a documentary featuring one of those very few people – Jewel. I remember when I first saw her, it was on some MTV show. It was just her, her guitar and a piano and she was performing “Foolish Games”. I just fell in the love with her voice and the overall feel of the song. Went out and bought the CD right away and never looked back. And I’m still kicking myself for not getting tickets to see her when she was here in Stockholm. Another person on this list is Moby.
So now you know.
Next big party-track that’ll top the charts will be Alexia’s “Don’t you know”. Time will prove me right. Again.
So my mother thinks I should stop using “So” to start these updates. But you know, it’s like everyone has a word or expression they use abnormally much. Like a F1 commentator uses “precisely” on average 1.21 times per lap, and Juan Pablo Montoya uses “you know”, and Schumacher “to be honest” and Natalie Portman “like” and so on. So I use “so”, so sue me 🙂
And Will Smith and Wycleaf Jean are in town. And boy do we know it, it’s been hyped to the max in the media. Are they really so bored they have to write what these two guys had for breakfast? It’s like a couple of weeks ago when the biggest headline was that princess Madeleine was finally old enough to buy her own alcohol. I can really see that happening, Madeleine buying her own alcohol. Exactly how would that go? In case you didn’t know, we have government control on alcohol so we have a special chain of stores that only sells alcohol, noone else is allowed to. You can’t stop at a 7-11 and buy anything stronger than 3.5%. And these places tends to get very overcrowded, especially around the holidays. So yeah, I can really see Madeleine waiting in line to buy her alcohol. And then being asked about her age and ID card to prove it. As if …
(now all the smart readers are thinking “how can you bash the media for talking about it when you’re just as bad”. Well, I don’t get the hundreds of thousands of hits everyday or sell a million issues! They should have something better to cover than that!)
Ok, everybody grab onto something because what I’m about to admit will send shockwaves all over the world : I saw the video to the Spears cover of “I Love Rock and Roll”. And liked it. Seriously, the video was OK. Although it was zooming in on her belly abit much, it was still a step in the right direction! And she definitely knew how to mount that bike 🙂 The song I still have a problem with though. They’ve toned down the volume to the music too much. In the original you could feel the drumbeats and feel the guitar ripping away. But in this you can barely hear it. So music-wise I still prefer the original, but video-wise the new is better. Which is the point I’ve been making all along – music is getting worse and worse because they are going further and further away from making good music to putting on a good show.
Eminem is also one of those artists who’s music I don’t like and who’s opinions I don’t agree with, but still have respect for because how he’s doing his thing no matter what anybody says. He also shares my dislike for the product named Britney Spears.
But then he goes and gay-bashed MOBY!?
Moby, you can get stomped by Obie, you 36 year old bald headed fag, blow me. You don’t know me, you’re too old, let go, its over, nobody listens to techno.
I don’t know for a fact Moby isn’t gay (although he did make out with Natalie Portman so I guess not). And Moby makes great music and preaches “peace, love and understanding” (he kinda proved that with his response in own journal) so what’s Eminem’s problem? So now I don’t like his music, his opinions or him.
So yesterday I re-discovered what may very well have been the best musical duo ever – Bill Drummond and Jimi Cauty, aka “Kopyright Liberation Front”. Most known as the KLF, or JAMS. Actually they have alot of aka’s. Back in the early 90’s they were extremely popular and I loved them, but the other day I heard “3 am Eternal” again and it’s still damn good. So I downloaded all the good old songs (love it when Whitney Houston joins the JAMS!). They pretty much invented illegal sampling/ripping 🙂
Their music is still pretty awesome, very creative videos as well, and the only thing I have against them is the fact that they don’t make any new music and haven’t since May 5th ’92 and won’t release any more “until peace reigned around the world”. Great goal ofcourse, but they made too good music just to quit like that 🙁
Do you know what Eurovisian Song Contest is? If you don’t, here’s the short point: Each country in Europe has a song contest, including a live performance, and the winner is sent as a representative for that country to the Euro-wide finals.
It’s an annual TV event and tradition, and I grew up watching it. In recent years I’ve kinda missed it, but this year when I was flipping through the channels and didn’t find anything else, I put it on the TV and went about other business. Until Greece’s contributions came on, and I got one of my infamous laugh-attacks when I just can’t stop laughing, it was so hilarious. And it never got better, other contributions was almost as bad, like the three guys dressed up as flight attendants! I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much to such a serious event! It’s watched by atleast a billion people, and is Euro-wide, but I couldn’t stop laughing! Unfortunately, politics comes into play at this event, but I mean, who didn’t expect Cyprus to give max points to Greece and Greece to give max points to Cyprus!
The real pathetic part was the bimbo calling from the Israel capital of Jerusalem… like, hello?!
And once more I’ve proven I’m more reliable than the experts! Sweden was a favorite, ranked very high at the bookmakers and some even expected them to win. They ended up fighting to even stay in the contest for next year! (as you may know, there are more than 22 countries in Europe, so you have to meassure up to be able to compete in the next one!)