John Legend - No Other Love (Feat. Estelle)

Excellent song by John Legend and Estelle!  Though I have to say that picking Legend as part of his stage name kind of makes me wonder just how arrogant he must be!

In any case, please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the song, please support the artist and buy his music!!!

Bat For Lashes - Moon and Moon

Like every Bat for Lashes song, Moon and Moon sounds great but starts to hurt my head when I try to figure out what the song is saying, especially the first stanza.

Lover when you don't lay with me
I'm a huntress for a husband lost at sea
If I had you here, we were here together
I'd be boy and you'd be girl, beautiful

 I think I'm safe in assuming that Bats For Lashes (otherwise known as Natasha Khan) is talking about a guy from the "huntress for a husband" statement but what does she mean when she's saying "I'd be boy and you'd be girl."  Maybe the guy doesn't want to be a girl?  Maybe that's the reason he's not there and she's alone?

Much of the song seems like a call for help but I'm not sure who she is calling when she calls "moon and moon."  Anyone have any ideas?  If so, please comment!!

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


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The Rakes - When Tom Cruise Cries

I love this song by The Rakes and it has the best title ever.  You know it's bad when Tom Cruise cries - it must be really bad then.

I'm sure Tom Cruise cried once again when the group split up in 2009.  They had three fairly good albums - When Tom Cruise Cries is from their second album, Ten New Messages (2007).  Doesn't seem available as an MP3 on iTunes or Amazon which is unfortunate but it is still available as a CD!

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the song, please support the artist and buy their music!!

Movie - The Help (2011)

I've wanted to watch this movie for a while now.  I'm always interested in period pieces that bring an era to life.  While the movie explored the racial and political issues of the time, it was at a very superficial level.  The movie could have spent more time delving into the lives of the maids since those stories really brought home the power that the employers had over them.  My movie synopsis is as follows:

1. Young white southern girl, "Skeeter" Phelan (played by Emma Stone), is an aspiring writer.  She doesn't fit the normal southern belle mold and is stifled by the restrictions placed on women during the 1960's.  
2. Skeeter returns home after graduating college and settles for a job writing a housekeeping column for the local paper.  This is hardly her ideal position.  She's been rejected by all of the best publishing houses but she perseveres.  
3. The housekeeping column turns out to be a stretch since, of course, Skeeter's never done any housework.  She asks one of the local maids, Aibileen (played by Viola Davis in an exceptional performance) to help her with the weekly column.
4. As she spends time with Aibileen, Skeeter realizes there is an amazing story to be told.  These African-American maids are for all intents and purposes acting as mothers to the white children left in their care.  This is all the more bizarre since the maids'own children are being watched by others.
5. Skeeter gets the "go-ahead" from a publisher for the story but needs to convince maids to come forward and tell their stories. 
6. Even with the promise of anonymity, the risk to the maids is severe.  Repercussions are not just economic - the Ku Klux Klan is active, powerful and willing to make examples of anyone upsetting the separate but equal concept that is farcically in place to meet federal requirements.  But Skeeter needs to find women willing to take the risk to meet the publisher's demands.

The story continues with the effort of finding and gaining the trust of these maids.  And as they tell their stories, the viewer learns that a century after the Civil War, the south remains very much as it was in practice.  As mentioned earlier, I think more time could have been spent on "the Help" rather than Skeeter and her travails, but it was still an excellent movie.

Life lesson learned from the movie - treat the people who handle your food with the utmost respect!

I gave this movie three stars out of five.

More movie information can be found on IMDB and you can always buy the movie on Amazon!!!

The Downtown Fiction - I Just Wanna Run

This song by The Downtown Fiction is a paranoid's anthem!  Or perhaps it's just about running from your problems.  Either way,  it's an enjoyable song with catchy lyrics!

Video below contains music and lyrics to the song.



If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!

Scouting For Girls - Take A Chance On Us

I like Scouting For Girls (I mean the group and not the activity).  They write good pop songs that are simple and without a lot of hidden meaning.  Sometime simple works just fine.  Their best known song is This Ain't A Love Song but I think this one is just as good if not better.

The London-based trio have been friends since childhood and two of the three met as Cub Scouts.  Their name is supposedly a take off on the Scouting for Boys handbook used by the Boy Scouts.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!

Martha Wainwright - Love is a Stranger

I like Martha Wainwright for her open and honest lyrics. Interesting song on a very interesting album. This song and You Cheated Me are my favorites on the album but there are plenty of other good ones as well.  An interesting piece of trivia - singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright is her brother.  It must run in the genes since both parents were also active musicians!

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like music, please support the artist and buy her song!!!

Reba McEntire - Cathy's Clown

Cathy's Clown was originally performed by The Everly Brothers in 1960 and was a fairly successful single for them.  In their version, the singer bemoans the fact that he is Cathy's Clown.

While it's a nice song, I prefer the Reba McEntire version where she's singing from the perspective of a third person watching the story unfold and is in love with the man who is Cathy's Clown.  Unrequited love abounds in this version!!.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the music, please buy the artist's song!!

Plushgun - A Crush to Pass the Time

Plushgun is an interesting group,  Don't take my word for it - look at the album cover and the title (Pins and Panzers).  This album is a listening pleasure and the songs are not the normal humdrum melodies. Heavy use of synthesizers aside, I think this is one of those unknown groups deserving of much more popularity!

A Crush to Pass the Time was such a cool song.  A horrible dating strategy but still a kinder gentler way to describe one's fear of taking a bold leap forward.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the music, please support the artists and buy their songs!!

No Doubt - Looking Hot

It's been more than ten years since No Doubt's last album, Rock Steady.  No one could be blamed for thinking that the group was no longer together after that long a hiatus.  Even when they did get back together to start the new album, Push and Shove, in 2008, progress was so slow that it didn't seem like the album would ever come out.

In any case, it is out now and it's very good.  The ska-punk sound still shows up in some of the songs.  Settle Down was the first single off of the album and was released in the summer in advance of the September album release.  Looking Hot is scheduled for a November release as a single.  The video below contains the music and lyrics.  Please tell me what you think.


If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!

Book - Half of a Yellow Sun (2006)

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was an impressive work.  Though I'm an avid reader, this isn't my genre of choice - Sci-Fiction/Fantasy, it isn't!  A friend recommended it, perhaps in the futile hope of expanding my tastes.

Adichie does a great job of developing interesting characters who capture the reader's attention.  Their experiences before and during the Nigerian-Biafran War personalize the historical setting and it becomes more than a dry recitation of facts.  It teaches subtly while keeping the reader motivated to finish the book.

So I learned that pre-war Nigeria was really an artificial English construct, with several hundred ethnic groups mashed together more for efficiency and economics than any true national identity.  However, the three major regional groups were the Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba.  The book explores tensions that led to the Igbo secession and subsequent war.

The book begins with an introduction to Ugwu, an intelligent but unwordly Igbo village boy who gets an opportunity to work as a houseboy for a professor at a local college.  Eventually we meet Olanna, who is Ugwu's master's girlfriend.  She and her sister, Kainene, are from a very wealthy Igbo family and the story begins to center on the two sisters and their relationships with each other as well as the men in their lives, all while history unfolds and intrudes into their comfortable lives.  The idealistic fervor of the academics dim somewhat as the harsh realities of war are realized and innocence is lost by every character in one way or another by the time the book is finished.

For me, the novel was educational and very easy to read.  I was captivated by the evolution of Ugwu as he matured and began to understand the world around him, sometimes better than the better-educated masters he served.  It also showed clearly the Lord of the Flies type of regression that can occur when our social framework collapses, all the more horrifying when applied to an entire nation.  I would strongly recommend this book, regardless of your reading tastes.

Catherine Feeny - Hush Now

Hush Now is a really great song by Catherine Feeny, an American folk singer.  It starts off with some interesting lyrics:

I won't bury you in the basement, as I've been known to do.  I won't bludgeon your memory, leave you crying out for truth.

Though it sounds like she's either killing someone or planning torture, I think it's about the ups and downs of relationships.  But who knows?

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!

Keri Hilson - Fearless

I like Keri Hilson a lot - except when she's singing about how pretty she is (on songs like Pretty Girl Rock).  Vanity is not a pretty thing.

She has a great voice.  She shines best on her collaborations with other artists and she's worked with some of the best like Timbaland, Akon, Kanye West, Ne-Yo  and Lil Wayne.

Fearless is one of my favorites solo songs by her.  Unfortunately, it's only available on iTunes in the deluxe version of the album No Boys Allowed.  That's unfortunate for anyone who uses Amazon instead.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the song, support the artist and buy her music!!!  

The Cure - Lovesong

Is there a group that expresses angst better than The Cure?  Lovesong is one of my favorites from this group.  Get their greatest hits album if you are a fan - lots of filler otherwise on the regular albums and it's much easier than combing through each album for nuggets!

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the music, please support the artists and buy their songs!!!

Paper Aeroplanes - Save it

Duo from Wales with a great sound.  I think Save It is representative of their music.  Folksy without being dull, it tells a story with simple lyrics and I never tire of it.

They've improved with each album and We Are Ghosts has quite a few good songs on it.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!

Stars - The 400

Love this group.  They have quite a few good songs.  I think the only complaint I have is that the production values could be better.  Maybe it's my imagination but I think the music is not sharp and crisp.  It sometimes overpowers the vocals.  Still, the songs deliver despite all of that.

This song is one of my favorites.  It sounds like a long distance relationship that's become estranged...everything rests on this visit.  "It has to go right this time" is the singer's mantra and the desperation is apparent each time he repeats it.  Wish I knew what The 400 as a title means...

The video below has both music and lyrics.


If you like the music, please support the artists and buy their music!!!

Sia - Breathe Me

Sia is an amazing performer.  A gifted singer, she can convey emotion, both positive and negative, like no one else.  While she is probably best known at this point for vocals with David Guetta and Flo Rida, I think her best work remains within her solo albums.

If you feel you've hit rock bottom, I think this song will help you discover that you can find new lows.  But I'm comforted by the fact that the singer is able to call on a friend to help. If you still have friends, it cannot be so hopeless.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.



If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!

Movie - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a remake of a television mini-series that aired in the late 1970's.  I did not see the mini-series and so cannot make any comparisons between the two.  However, I can unequivocally state that the movie version was an excellent experience!  My movie synopsis is as follows:

1. In the early 1970's, during the height of the Cold War, Control, a spymaster played by John Hurt, believes that there might be a mole in his organization at the very top.  An operation in Budapest to find evidence goes badly leaving an agent dead in the field.  Control is forced to resign as is Mr. Smiley, his loyal second played by Gary Oldman.  
2. Some time later, a senior government official is contacted by a field agent who believes that at least one of the top four officials remaining with the intelligence service is a Russian mole.  This government official remembers Control's warning; however, Control recently passed away and is no longer available to investigate the matter.  
3. The government official asks Mr. Smiley to review the matter and presses him on accepting the task.  After all, he argues, this is part of Smiley's legacy as well.  And so the movie picks up speed with Mr. Smiley's very methodical investigation.

The movie is full contact - don't walk away for a minute since every moment means something.  Even glances and pauses seem to imply meaning that must be further analyzed.  The story is interwoven with flashbacks that provide context and clarity so it may take an effort to follow.

The lighting is drab and dark but it lends itself to the Cold War Era and the certain doom that was in the air, especially in this profession where the lines blur between enemies...and moral codes are seen as liabilities.  

The cast is a director's dream and includes strong performances from Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Mark Strong and John Hurt.  However, this is Gary Oldman's movie and his performance is nothing short of brilliant.  See this movie!!

I give this movie four stars out of five.

More movie information can be found on IMDB and you can always buy the movie on Amazon!

Far East Movement - Dirty Bass (Feat. Tyga)

Dirty Bass is a fun song but like every song by Far East Movement, it's hard to figure out what have the song is saying (even if you know all the lyrics)!  Or maybe that's just a sign that I'm too old to get it.  It is a fun song regardless.

Definitely a talented group and they do have the honor of being the first Asian American group that's made it to number one on the US Billboard charts!

The video below has music and lyrics.  Enjoy!


If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!

The Killers - Here With Me

Battle Born is the fourth studio album by The Killers.  It has several good songs on it but there are also some songs that definitely felt like filler.  For me, any song by The Killers is either excellent or junk - there isn't a middle ground.

Here With Me is a great song about lost love.  I think the best two lines in the song are:

Well I saw you in a restaurant the other day
And instead of walking towards you, I ran away

It's a great image - a guy running frantically away rather than running towards what he says he wants so badly.  Somehow I think he's never going to get the girl back...

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.



If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!
 

Passion Pit - Carried Away (Lyrics)

Not a household name by any means but Passion Pit has had a couple of interesting albums.  For anyone who was wondering about the group's name, it comes from a slang term for drive-in movie theaters.  Who has actually been to one of those anymore?

I think their best known song is Sleepyhead off their very first album.  The latest album, Gossamer, came out early this summer.  While Take a Walk, the first song released from the album, is quite good, I think Carried Away is much better - my favorite off the album.

The video below has the music and lyrics.

If you like the music, please support the artists and buy their songs!!!

Diamond Rio - One More Day

One More Day is a simple but touching song from early 2001.  I think the title says it all - there's no hidden message in the lyrics.  The group has had a lot of great songs over the last two decades but I don't think they've had any new albums in the last couple of years.

Listen to it and I think you'll like it.  The video with music and lyrics are below.



If you like the music, please support the artists and buy their songs!!!

Nicki Minaj - Automatic

I get a lot of grief for liking Nicki Minaj but I cannot help it!  So what if she gets into fights with Lil' Kim and Mariah Carey - I'm sure it's all an act designed to provide us tabloid fun!

Her second album, Pink Friday Roman Reloaded, was just as good as her first and contains quite a few good tunes.  Lyrics are definitely not for the faint of heart but they are fun songs.

The video below contains music and lyrics.


If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!

The Script - Kaleidoscope

The Script's third album, aptly titled #3, has an interesting album cover, right on the edge of disturbing.  Lack of imagination about album title aside, the group has grown in terms of song writing without dramatically changing their style.  If you like the old stuff, you'll like this album as well.

While Hall of Fame (featuring Will.I.Am) is the first song released from the album, I like Kaleidoscope a lot better!  It explores the fact that relationships are about taking on the good and bad.  Listen to it and tell me what you think.

See video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!

Pink - Just Give Me A Reason (Featuring Nate Ruess)

Pink's new album, The Truth About Love, is a good one.  I think the only thing I would change is the marked increase in the use of profanity.  Her albums are always laced with expletives for emphasis; however, this time it seemed almost contrived, rather than a device for conveying emotion.

Still, there are some great songs on this album. My vote for the best song is Just Give Me a Reason.  I like the back and forth and the male/female perspective about a situation.  It is amazing how divergent views can become.

It's also a duet with Nate Ruess.  He may not be a household name but he is the lead singer for fun. (band name purposely not capitalized and ended with a period as they require). Very distinctive voice and I think it blends well with Pink's.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like the music, please support the artist and buy the song!!! 

Movie - A Thousand Words (2012)

A Thousand Words is an interesting concept that could have gone better.  For Eddie Murphy, it's one of his better decisions - it's all relative since I am permanently scarred by both Norbit and The Adventures of Pluto Nash.

Plot summary is as follows:

• Jack (Eddie Murphy) is a successful man with limited respect for the truth.  He is a smooth talking agent who can get any client he wants.
• He wants a hugely popular spiritual figure, Dr. Sinja (played by Cliff Curtis) as his client and says whatever he has to say to win the deal.
• Somehow Jack's life is connected to a tree he encounters at Dr. Sinja's retreat and it is magically transported to his backyard.  Even more cool is that every time he speaks a word, a leaf falls and the tree (and he) are closer to death.
• Will he survive?  Can a tree live without leaves?  Can he use technology to supplement his new handicap?  How will his family deal with the less gregarious personality?  Does he gain an appreciation for the value of each spoken word?  Does he join a monastery and take a vow of silence?  All questions that I wanted to know...kind of.  

Unfortunately, the movie did not capture my attention - I felt like it was work to remain engaged in the movie.  I don't think that were any truly memorable moments.  And that's the shame...Eddie Murphy is much too talented to not have a single funny moment in the movie.  It was just that lackluster.

I would give this movie two stars out of five, based on the following:

Cyndi Lauper - Change of Heart

In my humble opinion, Cyndi Lauper is such an underrated artist.  She has so many good songs but I think  her hair color(s) got in the way of critical acclaim.

Anyway, Change of Heart  is one of my favorite tunes by her.  It has a little more edge than most of her songs but that's alright!  And I do love the guitar lick a lot.

Tell me if you agree!


Please see the video below for music and lyrics.


If you like song, please support the artist and buy her music!!!

Bedouin Soundclash - Brutal Hearts (feat. Coeur De Pirate)

Very cool song.  Think it's about a physical relationship without any emotional attachment.  A fine thing except for the asymmetry in feelings that exists in any relationship - someone is bound to be more brutal than the other, leading to some hurt feelings.

Bedouin Soundclash - what a great name for a band!

Please see the video below for music and lyrics!

If you like the song, please support the artists and buy their music!!!

Frank Ocean - Lost

Good song - sounds like the basis for a movie of the week.  Pretty girl is attracted to the good life and falls for a bad man who ends up having her "cook [his] dope" and be a drug mule.  Or at least that's what I got out of it!  Tell me if you think differently.

Video with music and lyrics is below.



If you like the song, please support the artist and buy his song!!!

Train - Feels Good At First

I think Train as a group has some of the most interesting lyrics out there.  Clever twists and turns give character to their songs and make them a joy for those who love the words as much as the music.  On California 37,  their latest album, it's apparent that they don't subscribe to the thought of avoiding references to current events to make timeless music. The result is a great set of songs that hang together well and is a worthy follow up to Save Me, San Francisco, the album most responsible for their resurgence.

Feels Good At First is one of their more somber songs on the album and is about the beginning of a relationship (obviously).  It's a cynical view that expects hurt at the end. One hopes that the cynicism does not prove out but a bad attitude can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Please see the video below for music and lyrics.

If you like the music, please support the artists and buy their music!!!!

Julia Stone - Let's Forget All The Things We Say

This song, by Julia Stone, is simple but powerful.  I think it's about a woman who finds herself falling for someone, despite all her protestations otherwise.  "I am you" says that the other person has become a part of her, so much so that she feels she has no other choice as "in a way, there's nothing else to do" suggests.  Whatever the cause of the reluctance, it is slowly fading with time and she wants to forget "all the things that we say" and start again. Not sure what she means by the "feathers in your hair."

The video below contains the music and lyrics.


If you like the song, please support the artist and buy her music!!