February 2010
16 posts
Adult contemporary, where did it come from? →
Here’s the theme-song to a Japanese videogame* that’s sung in English by a Chinese woman (Faye Wong) who was born in Beijing but originally rose to fame singing in Cantonese rather than Mandarin. But…
Relativism: So What? (Part Seven): Beats me; I... →
Int: In Philosophy And The Mirror of Nature, you attacked Putnam’s early philosophy. What do you think of his more recent work? Rorty: I think our views are practically indistinguishable, but he…
January 2010
23 posts
It's the nighttime that shatters →
What this does is gives us the guitar from Laura Branigan’s version of “Self Control” but then seemingly pastes in the vocals from the Raf version (‘cause you can’t have girls singing a man’s…
Microwaving A Tragedy (extended freestyle mix) →
Last month I linked the “radio edit” of my decade’s end piece, the version that was printed in the Las Vegas Weekly. Here under the cut is the “extended freestyle mix” (a.k.a. director’s cut), a…
Yet Another Year In America January 28, 2010 →
All ticks, but still a basic dullness to the chart with no game-changing inspiration in earshot. Taylor Swift “Today Was A Fairytale”: A Valentine’s Day card from the romantic comedy of the same…
So, yes, there was Chinese Eurodisco in the '80s →
So, yes, there was Chinese Eurodisco in the ’80s - which does not surprise me, given that my cheap introduction to Italodisco was through pirate cassettes out of Hong Kong and Singapore that I could…
Dave, did you ever read my recombinant dub piece? →
Dave (and anyone else), did you ever read my recombinant dub piece? “Recombinant dub” isn’t entirely what the piece is about, it’s just the name for one of the concepts in it, one of the poles of…
Buffering The Vampire Slayer →
Tried Hulu for the first time, watched Season 2, Episode 14 of Buffy again - that one was the morning after Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind. The picture needed to…
You understand yourself and your life better →
Dave’s got a nice write-up on the complexities of Ashlee Simpson’s “Shadow” over on heat six of the poptimists Best Song Of 2006 (something of an embellishment on his post about …
Adverse-Selection Death Spiral →
Paul Krugman a couple of weeks ago (“One health care reform, indivisible”) on why, if you prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage on pre-existing conditions, you need to institute other…
Consensus is the new postmodernism →
Lotsa convos on Tumblr today somewhat inspired by Xhuxk’s P&J essay, e.g., this one and this one and this one and this one. The problem that I’m having with them, and that Tom recognizes…
Yet Another Year In America January 21, 2010 →
Rihanna’s “Hard” climbs to eight, but for the most part the Top 40 remains peppy, joyless, and mediocre. Jason DeRulo “In My Head”: Characterless male singer gives us the same glitzed-up goo as…
Mother of God, is this the end of the mid market? →
Frustratingly broad piece in the Economist that both Sabina and Tom linked on their Tumblrs. I posted my own two cents over on Tom’s comment thread - a response to his commentary and to a…
More '09 tracks lobbying →
Cassie “Summer Charm”
K-Pop alert →
The Some Videos thread is developing into an interesting discussion of Korean pop (and a little bit of Japanese pop), featuring a couple of people - petronia and …
Who and what brought me to the music, 2009 →
Over on his own Pazz & Jop ballot, Josh Langhoff recommends that we list the “gatekeepers” who introduced us to our favorite music. Someone named “Chuck Eddy” recurs on his list. In any event,…
Some videos, 2009 →
I was keeping a list of videos I liked, then back in May I forgot to keep on with it, so here are some vids from early ‘09. For further viewing pleasure visit Kat’s tumblr. Will Young “Let It…
Microwaving A Tragedy (radio edit) →
My decade’s end piece in the Las Vegas Weekly, though after I’d pitched it I rebelled against the idea of trying to fairly sum up, hence no mention of Timbaland or Max Martin, whom I’d peg as the…
Top 6 Singles, 2010 (plus New Year's resolution) →
The Top Six Singles So Far In 2010 I don’t know what the status of “Night & Day” is, actually. If it’s simply a leak by the artist it’s a single; if it’s also a future album cut it or if it’s an …
Top 100 Singles, 2009 →
A few quick comments: Asher talks slow with ace timing on “College” and he does something different with a party track by giving it a 3 AM and spent feel, and these people don’t bother me. It’s…
Nonsingles '00s →
“What is a nonsingle?” I hear you ask. A nonsingle is an album cut that never becomes a single and never acts like a single (so, doesn’t get a lot of airplay or get talked about by more than one set…
Singles '00s →
Singles (as opposed to nonsingles). OK, here’s where the decade barrier gets in the way: for me the arc of modern music starts in approximately ‘97 when Timbaland begins hitting with Missy and Max…