Culture Greyhound

The Oscars are upon us this Sunday, and you know I will be watching what is sure to be the most predictable ceremony in recent memory.  With the comedic talents of James Franco and Anne Hathaway, viewers are sure to tune out quicker than usual.  I mean, I’m sure they have some singing routines planned or whatever, but it’s certainly going to be more of a back-scratching affair than the always funny-and-interesting, tell-it-like-it-is Ricky Gervais.

Anywho, without looking at any “who will win?” blurbs from the press, and armed with only my knowledge of who won SAG statues and Golden Globes this year (as well as general good sense), I have my predictions below of who I think will win. Let’s see how well I do!

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Tonight is the State of the Union address.  As is the tradition, I will sit and watch it along with the rest of informed, educated America.  However, this year I’m likely going with Brian Williams and the fine folks over at NBC.  That’s right – no cable punditry this go around.  Why’s that?  Well, other than the fact that the particular partisan tone of “analysts” can become headache-inducing after about an hour, my favorite indignant commenter will be absent from the proceedings.  I’m talking of course about Keith Olbermann, probably the most popular liberal in the country right now (with Bill Maher, who still claims libertarianism, though no one’s buying it, at a close second).

If you follow the news media at all, you already know about Keith’s decision to split with MSNBC on Friday – the announcement was abrupt, but, according to insiders, no one should be surprised.  Olbermann, who has been described as difficult to work with, had been butting heads with his superiors at the network for some time now.  Many speculate it all came to a head when Olbermann was suspended in November for two days for violating NBC News policy by donating to two Democratic election campaigns.

It has also been reported, in good ol’ NBC fashion, Olbermann’s exit clause has strict stipulations on when he can do interviews and appear on television again – several months for both.  In a twist of irony, the deal was completed exactly one year to the day Conan O’Brien exited the company in a similar scenario, even though Keith is definitely not the A-lister Conan is.  O’Brien even made a joke about it on his show last night, claiming the new industry term for this kind of move is called giving someone “the Conan.”  And it looks like the “I’m With Olbo” campaign is already underway.

Whether MSNBC likes it or not, Keith made their network what it is today, even if that is a second-place channel with under half of the viewers of Fox News.  Olbermann, with his Countdown program, slowly built the progressive voice the network is engulfed in today, and he did it in the nick of time, too; the vitriolic rhetoric of Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly had no clear counterweight on television until Keith came around to set things straight in his own fact-based, mocking, and intelligent way.

Countdown was probably the best written show on cable news, and Olbermann’s delivery, whether you agreed with him or not, gave the act of irascibility a certain charm his conservative rivals couldn’t match.  There’s no doubt Olbermann, with his now-dedicated following, will be back in some form, hopefully television where he belongs (I’m looking at you, third-place CNN….get to stepping!).  There have been talks, however, of a move to Hollywood or maybe a run for the Senate; I hope neither are true.  But in the meantime, while we wait and refresh Keith’s Twitter page constantly, here are a few of my favorite Countdown-related moments.

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The trend I’ve noticed these last few years, and this is just my opinion, is the years with an Olympics (every other year) isn’t as good musically as the year prior.  2007, in my memory, was way better than 2008.  And so, unfortunately, the trend continues with 2010.  Last year was ripe with up-and-comers and a new exciting indie subgenre called chillwave.  This year was the aftermath, as most of those up-and-comers were featured on car commercials, and this year’s bright new stars were slower and more acoustic-based – Beach House and Best Coast seem to be the two critical darlings.

Not that there weren’t some great releases this year, as we will see in the next few days.  Like most years, bands got bigger and disappointed (Kings of Leon), others continued to stay at the top of their game (Kanye West), and some even managed to blow our minds with a new progressive sound (Star Slinger).  Arcade Fire was nominated for an Album of the Year Grammy, an award they are sure to lose to someone less deserving, but hey, still, pretty cool, right?  Perhaps the biggest notable trend, though not surprising, is the inevitable transformation of indie into mainstream culture thanks to the festival circuit, television advertising, and TV/movie soundtracking.

As the years progress, I too find my musical tastes to favor the more popular sounds, akin to how they were when I was in grade school.  I attribute this to the simple fact that, thanks to the spotlight the Internet shines on deserving artists, popular music is getting better, though old mediums like FM radio would have you believe otherwise.  Sure, there’s still plenty of shit out there, but the kids’ ears are being exposed to more sounds than ever before, and that’s never a bad thing.  Much like the revolutionary period of the grunge/alternative wave of the early 90’s, it’s not uncool to like what you hear on a Kia commercial.

In an oversaturated world of media, the term “selling out” doesn’t really mean anything anymore.  Exposure is always a good thing in this day and age, even if it’s used to move a product.  Just my .02….anywho, I hope you’ll join me for the next couple of weeks as I count down my favorites in music from 2010.  Here’s what the blog posting schedule looks like:

Jan. 1 – Quarterly Review
Jan 2. – 10 Best Videos
3 – Top Tracks 200-151
4 – 150-101
5 – 100-51
6 – 50-21
7 – 20-1
8 – Top Remixes
9 – Honorable Mention Albums
10 – Top Albums 50-41
11 – 40-31
12 – 30-21
13 – 20-11
14 – 10-1

Enjoy, and here’s hoping 2011 rocks hard.

This year I made the big move from Lubbock to Austin, and the transformation has done wonders for my live music fix.  I should have been writing down all the awesome bands I saw this year (and the years before, for that matter) but alas, hindsight, she is 20/20 once again.  I think this post covers the highlights more or less, however.  There’s plenty of great live music I saw this year that I’m leaving out, but after the jump, in no particular order, are twelve of the best shows I witnessed in 2010, eleven of them right here in the Live Music Capital of the World.

And for the record, I wanted to put the Sleigh Bells show on here, as fun as it was once they finally started playing, but everyone who attended knows Beauty Bar is at fault for that show’s omission.  What a disaster.

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It was 30 years ago today…

Today has been a rough day for me, though hardly anyone my age feels the same.  On December 8, 1980, around 11:15 pm EST, we lost a musical icon and the finest Beatle of them all, John Lennon.  Just Google his name or search for him on Twitter and you will find a plethora of tributes, videos, eulogies, playlists, archived news articles, etc in honor of this sad anniversary. My favorites today are a few from Huffington Post, Death and Taxes, the Village Voice, and Yoko Ono herself, declaring John as the “Teamaker” on her blog this morning.  Although I have nothing incredible or revolutionary to add to the discourse, I would feel empty if I didn’t dedicate today’s Culture Greyhound post to the man and the impact he has had on my life.

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Music, Movies, Television, etc. Pop culture reviews for the short-attention-span Internet age.

Daft Punk – Tron Legacy Soundtrack

When I heard back in February Daft Punk were doing the music for Tron, I was immediately excited – new Daft Punk? Awesome!  In retrospect I don’t know why I thought producing a score for a Disney sci-fi film would sound anything like Discovery, and inevitably it doesn’t.  That doesn’t mean this hour-long soundtrack doesn’t have its moments – the sound is great, the French duo’s first stab at composing orchestral tunes is to be applauded, and the combination of strings with Daft Punk’s trademark house crescendo is simultaneously creepy and, well, cinematic.  And there are even a couple bangers hidden in here too, reminiscent  of the good ol’ Daft Punk.  There just aren’t enough for my tastes.  In the end, it’s just a film score.

Rating: 6

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Music, Movies, Television, etc.  Pop culture reviews for the short-attention-span Internet age.

Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday

Call it a case of the hype machine, but upon several initial listens, it would seem Nicki gave away her best verses to other people’s songs.  Certainly we are asking too much if we expected the album to be more “Roman’s Revenge” and less “Your Love” – and that is something (albeit a disappointing fact) that I’m willing to overlook.  The production is slick, the melodies are catchy, and Minaj has a great singing voice.  So what if the finished product is a little too soft R&B and less manic schizo rapping?  Nicki has many faces; the first impression was obviously just one of many styles.  But the rhymes on this album do not live up to Minaj’s past work on tracks by Diddy, Trey Songz, Kanye, etc.  The cadence is samey, the words are lazily repetitive, the dead air is filled by stuttering, and the unwritten law of rap is violated many times (the one that says you can’t rhyme a word with the same word….it’s the same word).  Pink Friday will be a moderate success, but it’s not strong enough of a debut to give Nicki the promotion from “featured” to “standalone” artist.

Rating: 6

Two more after the jump…

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It’s close to election day, and we have record early voting numbers here in Texas, not that that’s anything to be happy about, I’m sure.  I try not to get too political here on the blog, but sometimes, especially around November of an even-numbered year, I feel compelled to say something, even though most people reading this already know where I stand.  So today, rather than go on a rant about how maniacs have hijacked the Republican party and people are pulling levers for imbeciles, I’ll just let Keith do the talking.  He usually says it better anyway.

Poll: Enthusiasm Gap Favoring GOP, No Myth

The New Republic: Democrats Twisting In The Wind

DADT Conflict Explained: Why Obama Administration Lawyers Fight For A DADT Policy Obama Opposes

1. The Crowds

As with any major festival, there are thousands of people clamoring around each other in a heated, sun-screened swarm of deck chairs, umbrellas, flags, and people who actually want to see bands and elbow their way to the front.  Bottom line: there’s way too many fucking people to have any sort of intimacy with the performer you’re watching.  Chances are, you’re probably just watching them because you are NOT missing whoever’s next from far away.  A word of advice for ACL virgins: stick with someone ALWAYS because you may never see them again if you lose them.  Find a meeting place, a landmark, and forget about your cell phone working.  It will not. Especially if you’re on AT&T.

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