The AMAs

So I'm a bit (okay a lot late) but I did watch the AMAs and I thought I should try to give my opinion on it. I did watch all three hours and take notes.

I missed Katy Perry's performance, but I didn't hear anything horrible about it. Everyone just says the same thing always, which is that she's a better radio artist than a live performer. Usually I agree.

Pitbull was the host, and I guess he was okay. I find him kind of boring, and I think the awards show should have been hosted by an actual pit bull in a tuxedo.

Look at that face! awww

One Direction did Story of My Life, and I will just say that Zayn's high note will be the death of me. I love One Direction and I'm not afraid to admit it. 

Arianna Grande performed after them and damn that girl can SANG. I have her album and I've listened to the entire thing multiple times, and she's very talented. She did Tatooed Heart, which was good. She's incredibly beautiful and her voice is incredible. So I enjoyed that. 

Rihanna won Best Female Artist, which I guess makes sense. I like her to an extent and no one puts out as much popular material as she does. 

And of course Taylor Swift one Best Country Album for Red, which I will go to my grave insisting is not a country album, though it's a pretty good album. But what can you do. 

Then Macklemore and Ryan Lewis won Best Rap Album, and they did like a lifestream thing from Florida. Then Macklemore starts talking about Trayvon Martin and how shooting is a huge issue and we need to do something, which is true enough. It was kind of random but he's right. I can see where he's coming from. 

Rihanna won some award for her achievements as an artist, which is cool I guess. Although I think she really needs to take a break at some point.

And then I watched the TLC thing and freaked out. Although I assumed they would use like a hologram of Lisa and I wondered who the chick with blue hair doing her part was. I later found out it was lil Mama. 

After that, I kinda zoned out. I came back to see Miley Cyrus close the show with Wrecking Ball, and even though it was a bit weird, I liked it. She sounded good, she looked good, and it flowed nicely. So no complaints there. 

It was a decent show I suppose. There was just a lot of stuff I didn't care about. But what I did care about was worth it.

CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story

I finally watched that TLC biopic that premiered about a month ago on Vh1, and personally I really liked it. I never realized how attractive Keke Palmer is until she played Chilli. Damn.

I mean DAMN girl. 

No but really, I thought it was good. The acting was good, the script was decent, the costumes were AMAZING. I'm about 99% sure that T-Boz and Chilli had some input in making it, so nothing could be terribly inaccurate or came off as stupid (I'm looking at you, created of the Diana biopic.) Overall, I would give it a B+. It's a tv movie, there's gotta be some wiggle room. 

Anyway, I have a lot of feelings about TLC. When people ask me what my guilty pleasures are, I like to say "TLC, both the channel and the girl group." I LOVED them as a child. They were my Spicegirls. And not to bash on the Spicegirls or anything, but I think TLC holds way more talent and charisma. The only reason they had more success was because they had a catchphrase little girls could scream everywhere (GIRLPOWER! GIRLPOWER! GIRLPOWER!). I feel like TLC had a stronger message to share than the Spicegirls. I mean they had a music video where they wore condoms on their clothes. 

I wasn't kidding.

I admire that they were sting promoters of safe sex, I mean that's certainly something you don't see a lot of in music. The interesting thing is that it's a message that doesn't feel forced. It feels like its something genuine, something they care about. Makes sense too considering that Chilli had some things going on beforehand (I don't wanna say it at the risk of making people angry.) 

They have so many good songs: Creep, Waterfalls, What About Your Friends, No Scrubs, and Unpretty are just a few of them. I still listen to them often, to be honest. 

To everyone who just watched the movie and are angry about Pebbles cheating them out of their money back in the day, I just wanna say this: That happened years ago, and everything worked out. I think the movie should be looked at as a celebration of what they did as a group, and remember Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes the way she would want to be remembered. That's how I look at it anyway. 

Either way, I'm glad I watched it, and if you haven't you definitely should. 

Everything I've Ever Been Angry About in the Music World

I try to be a happy, positive person. However, sometimes I just need to let everything out, and there's certainly some things that bother me about the thing I love the most: the music world. So I'm just gonna go.

Chris Brown is a horrible, horrible person. He's a talented dancer, an okay singer, and an awful human being. I like a few of his songs, but I honestly don't understand "team Breezy" at all. What is there to like about this man? It's not just that he beat a woman, it's that he acts like he has learned absolutely nothing from it. So why does he still have fans?

Why are One Direction fans looked down upon? I'm sick of the media portraying them all as crazy stalkers. I mean look at the fans of the Beatles. They used to chase them down the streets and grab at them and one girl even tried to mail herself to the home of one of them, yet if you say you're a beatles fan, no one ever looks at you with distain. Why is that?

Why does no one understand that Michael Jackson was NOT a child molester? The guy who first accused him in 1993 CAME FORWARD AFTER HE DIED and said he only did it so his dad could be rich. It was all a lie that people continued to build upon for their own personal gain, it was all just a lie, so why does no one understand that?

Why does everyone act like Robin Thicke singlehandedly liberated women with his incredibly offensive song? Yeah, Blurred Lines is awful, and the song itself is mediocre at best. Also the music video is cheap and ugly.

I'm sick of everyone acting like Ke$ha is a talentless moron who doesn't deserve to be famous. She's a very intelligent woman who writes her own music and has her own style. She sings songs about having fun, and what's so bad about that?

I'm really sick of twerking. Let it die, please.

I don't understand the censorship. I personally don't believe that songs on the radio should be so heavily censored. I listened to Eminem as a child and I turned out just fine. Why lie to children?

Please stop picking on Miley Cyrus. She's just doing her own thing, and this is her year. Get over it, she isn't Hannah Montana.

I don't have anything against Selena Gomez, but Come and Get it is terrible. It's the blandest song I've ever heard. Also dressing in Indian clothing when you're hispanic is offensive. Nothing pisses me off more than wearing a bindi 'for fashion'. Just no.

Why do people like 2 Chainz? he has no flow, his voice is annoying, and his rhymes are weak. The only time I find him tolerable is when he collaborates with Nicki Minaj, and that's only because she makes everything better.

Abby's November Picks

Halloween is over so you know what that means...It's officially okay to start preparing for Christmas! Well, after Thanksgiving if you live in the U.S. but still. I thought I'd get a kick start on this month by talking about a few songs I'm currently listening to. So get out your mug of tea and your oversized sweater and get comfortable...let's go.

Team by Lorde

This is my favorite song by Lorde so far, and I don't really know why. You can groove to it I guess, it's just so CATCHY and her voice is so good. And she's right, I AM tired of throwing my hands up in the air, SO THERE. It's awesome and she's awesome.

Standing in the Dark by Lawson

It's just really nice and it gives me a lot of feelings that's really it.

 

Chocolate by the 1975

Have I mentioned that the 1975 are my current favorite band? Yeah they are. Apparently they're an alternative band from Manchester (I read all of that in an English accent by the way.) Chocolate is so good, and as someone who loves chocolate I can relate quite heavily to this song. 

Sweater Weather by the Neighbourhood

I didn't think I would like Sweater Weather but I just can't help it. It may reek slightly of hipster-indie garbage but who cares? It's still nice and I know the feeling of having a comfy sweater with long floppy sleeves to hide your hands in. 

I Wanna be Yours by Arctic Monkeys 

I have so many feelings about this song it's ridiculous. It's so strange and has weird lyrics (wanna be your vacuum cleaner/breathe in your dust) but somehow it's so beautiful, it reminds me of like a bizarre relationship that's a mystery to most people but somehow it completely works. Also if you like your coffee hot/let me be your coffee pot is just the greatest set of lyrics ever sorry not sorry. 

Shiver Shiver by Walk the Moon

The whole EP is excellent to study to, but I like Shiver Shiver the most. I don't know why, but I found that it flowed nicely with this whole theme of November. This is probably because of how damned cold it is right now. 

Blue Jeans by Lana Del Rey

This was at one point my favorite Lana song. I love the religious imagery, the slow build, the wistful chorus, it's just all so perfect. It also has one of my all time favorite lyrics: you fit me better than my favorite sweater. It's a masterpiece. Also the video scared the crap out of my friend so that's also a plus. 

Halloween Special: Thriller by Michael Jackson

So in honor of Halloween, I decided to go back in time a bit, and talk about something very near and dear to my heart, and this would be Michael Jackson. Specifically, his 1983 short film, Thriller. Widely considered a masterpiece of epic proportions, even those who have little to know understanding of Michael Jackson know of Thriller's existence. It's practically a staple of halloween. So, without further ado, I give you my review of....

Okay, so this is gonna be a different type of review for me, as a real, honest to god review would be me just going OMG THIS IS SO COOL!!!! over and over until you want to punch me in the face. So instead, as an official Michael Jackson expert, I thought I'd share some interesting things about the making of this video. 

Okay so the video opens with this disclaimer, which seems a bit odd because why would anyone think that in the first place? The reason why Michael put this in is because he was a Jehovah's Witness at the time and Jehovah's Witnesses are really strict about this kind of thing. So there's that out of the way. A disclaimer on the disclaimer, if you will. 

The guy on the left is John Landis, who was the director. He was known previously for doing some pretty kick ass movies, such as Blues Brothers and Animal House. After doing Thriller he went on to direct another Michael Jackson video called Black or White in 1991, which is also epic. 

The girl in the video, Ola Ray, was a playboy centerfold the year before. the book I have, The Making of Thriller refers to her as an actress, but refrains from mentioning that she hadn't done any real acting at that point, or how in the documentary had her talking about how she was found because of the centerfold. I don't get why, what's the big deal? Michael Jackson looked at dirty magazines, so what? if anything I imagine that would make people think of him as more of a human than as some sort of pedophile monster. Just saying. 

ANYWAY, the video was shot in four days, and the monster makeup took hours to apply. Michael said that none of it bothered him, except the yellow contacts. They made his eyes water. 

The prosthetics and make up artist was Rick Baker, who was also part of the film An American Werewolf in London, which John Landis also directed. 

The song was written by Rod Temperton (this was before Michael established himself as a songwriter) and it was initially titled starlight. Quincy Jones asked him to retool it to be a title track for Michael's album. The song then became Midnight Man. Then according to him, he woke up one morning and one word came to mind; Thriller. So it was retooled again, Quincy Jones got Vincent Price to do the rap type verse which is really just the icing on the cake, and that's how this song came about. In fact after doing a little digging, I found the demo for starlight. Here's the link if you want to check it out. 

The idea of a short film where he turned into a monster was his idea. It would be the crowning jewel of this album. Which of course is exactly what it became. 

Heartbreaker Breaks Hearts

Justin Bieber is doing this thing where he releases a new song every Monday for ten weeks, and his first one is simply titled Heartbreaker.

After listening to some of his recent work (see: Lolly) I assumed it would be another hot mess of a song. To my surprise, it turned out to be a ballad. A very, very, very slow ballad. Almost to slow, to be honest. I have mixed feelings about it, to be honest. Justin Bieber has a beautiful voice, and I stand by that despite knowing how much of a douche he's been in public recently. The lyrics are nice, expressing desperation for this girl back in his life, and then it slows down even more and he starts talking about how he still believes in love, still believes in us, and is standing under an umbrella calling your name. 

I feel like he could have picked a less generic beat, but its a nice song, I guess. Not my favorite, but his voice sounds good, the lyrics aren't bad, and after Lolly, I know that it can get much worse.

I also can't help wondering how his ex girlfriend, Selena Gomez, feels about this song. It has to be about her, as a few weeks ago he posted this picture with the caption 'heartbreaker' underneath.

Yeah that's not obvious at all. Subtle.

I also can't help thinking where this 'secret place that we can go' would be. Behind a dumpster in an alleyway? They're both super busy and super famous. I doubt either of them have very much alone time. 

It's sad when people break up though. I hope that he can somehow heal his broken heart, whether it's with Selena or someone else. 

I'm also looking forward to hearing the next nine songs. I'm hoping that perhaps he'll surprise us all somehow, with something other than a sappy love song pandering to his female dominated audience. That's not likely to happen, but hey, that boy is full of surprises. Just ask the staff at that restaurant where he urninated in mop bucket. 

Bangerz by Miley Cyrus: An Album Review

Miley Cyrus's album came out a few days ago and I've listened to it several times by now. I have some thoughts that I want to share while I go through all the tracks.

Adore You  The album opens with this song, which is a really nice ballad that compliments her voice. I like that she chose this to start instead of going straight to the dirty stuff. Out of all the other songs on the album there's none that works as an opener as well as this one.

We Can't Stop Pretty much everyone has heard by now (*cough cough* number 2 on billboard) but I personally am still not tired of hearing it. People have tried to say that it sounds depressing and lifeless but I can't say that I agree. It makes me want to lay in a pile of bread and kick around a french frie skull. If a song makes you want to do that, it succeeds in my world.

(SMS) Bangerz feat. Britney Spears This song makes me want to dance. The beat is so infectious and it makes me want to hug Mike Will Made It for producing this awesome specimen. I like Britney on this song too. I'm glad she didn't do her Lady Gaga impression on this one, that's for sure.

4x4 feat. Nelly As much as I appreciate Nelly as an artist, I really don't like this one too much. It's not his fault, nor is it really Miley's fault. I just don't like the beat or the lyrics really. I just find them kind of annoying (round and round, and away we go, round and round and away we go) I'm assuming this song is an excuse to sing about how southern they are, which is a decent reason, I guess. It just doesn't appeal to me. It's not the worst song on here, however. That would be the next one.

My Darlin' feat. Future I really can't stand future. That's the main reason I hate this song. His voice is an auto tuned hot mess. I don't like his normal stuff either, but when he tries to get soulful, it's the worst thing in the world. Other than that, the song is actually really nice. It samples Stand By Me by Ben E. King, and it uses it very well. It's about her wedding day, which I'm guessing was recorded when she was engaged. But Future and his stupid wailing ruin it completely. If she had done this song with ANYONE ELSE I would have liked it a lot more.

Wrecking Ball I wrote a review of the music video, which I like very much. The song is beautiful. It's vulnerable, it's honest, and it feels real, which is more than you can say for some ballads on the radio (I'm looking at you, Katy Perry).

Love Money Party feat. Big Sean It's so CATCHY and it makes you wanna sing along to it's awesome chorus. Of course I also love Big Sean and I like his verse. Definitely one of my favorites. There's not much else to say.

#GETITRIGHT The whistling in the background doesn't bother me, but it is noticeable. It kind of reminds me of Kiss by Prince, which makes sense as she obviously is trying to portray herself as a sexy person who has all kinds of sex. It's easy enough to groove to.

Drive It feels very real and achingly so. It's obviously about a very vulnerable time, and she finds it hard to go home without her boyfriend's love. It makes the place where my heart should be ache slightly.

FU feat. French Montana I've heard mixed reviews for this songs, but I don't really get why. The way I look at it, it seems very theatrical and self aware. Kind of like Stupid Hoe but more aggressive. It's supposed to be over the top. That's the whole point. I also like French Montana's verse.

Do My Thang It's good. I like that line where she says I'm a so-southern belle, crazier than hell. A+

Maybe You're Right I like hearing the conflict going on inside her head over leaving. Part of her thinks she's doing the right thing, but a part of her is self-doubting. I think that's a cool subject to sing about. It seperates itself for sure.

Someone Else Is a lot like Drive but BIGGER. The part towards the end has this huge climax and her voice just goes SO HARD. It's such a good song.

Rooting for My Baby It's a very relaxing song, which is basically what it's supposed to be. It's her playing the role of supportive girlfriend/fiance/wife/whatever (I know, I know, that you go through a lot/ I know, I know, that the pressure makes you hot) I would love to hear an acoustic version of this, I imagine it would sound quite nice.

On My Own Basically 90 percent of Kelly Clarkson's songs but better and more bad ass. Yeah.

Hands in the Air feat Ludacris I think this song is a good conclusion to the album. It sucks you in sort of like Believe on Justin Bieber's album. The only part of it I don't really understand is when Ludacris starts bragging about all of his accomplishments. That's not what the song is about, it has nothing to do with it, but it 's a decent verse I guess. It just feels weird.

Over all, I give this album an 8.5/10, which I think is about a B+. I really love it but it's not perfect. I'll probably listen to it a thousand more times before I get tired of it. I definitely recommend.

Top Seven Songs That Make Me Want a Boyfriend

Music has the power to make you feel all the things. This includes making you feel all warm and mushy inside like a rotting pumpkin. Here are some of my top songs that make me feel warmth in the place where my heart should be.

All About Us by He is We feat. Owl City
I can see this being played at weddings alot. Some of the lyrics are a bit corny ("do you hear that love? they're playing our song.") but I still like it quite a bit. There's also a version featuring Aaron Gillespie,which is also very nice. I imagine a live performance of this would sound great.

Ours by Taylor Swift
All I ever wanted was for Brittany to sing this song to Santana on Glee. And what did I get instead? Santana singing Mine to Brittany and then breaking up with her. oh the irony. It's a nice song, it's alot like Mine except more soft and detailed. I like it.


Hazy by Rosi Golan ft. William Fitzimmons
It's just so lovely and perfect and delicious. It's like floating on a pink cloud that smells like sunshine. I've never heard anything else by either of the artists but I'm going to hunt for some of their other stuff now.

To Be With You by Mr. Big
This song makes me feel all the things. A lot of acoustic ballads by rock bands are sappy and stupid but this one is genuine enough to make you feel warm inside It's sad how the lyrics talk about a line of guys this chick apparently has and he wants to be lucky enough to spend a little time with her. He knows that he won't be her first or her last.


For All Time by Michael Jackson
I forced myself to not make half this list Michael Jackson songs because his is a voice that does it for me. This is my most played song on itunes, and it's actually a cut track from Thriller. But it's still so good. And I cut "Lady in My Life" for this so that tells you how good it is alone.

Dress and Tie by Charlene Kaye and Darren Criss
Their voices go so well together it's ridiculous. I've seen this performed live about three times and twice was with Dylan O'brian instead of Darren and it was also very good. It's a really cute upbeat song.

More than Words by Extreme
Ironically both Mr. Big and Extreme were then unknown rock bands that became famous for acoustic ballads. I really like this one. I think that I love you is an overused thing to say and I like that this songs narrator just wants proof that she loves him, and tells her how easy it is to do.

Wrecking Ball; Not a Train wreck?

Miley Cyrus' second single 'Wrecking Ball' (off of her upcoming album, Bangerz) has swung to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. This is arguably due to the amount of attention the video has gotten

But we'll get to that part later. The question is, how is the song without the video? I've read several reviews, and a lot of them praise her voice over the production. Which I think is a fair criticism. The background of the song IS kind of generic. I do think her voice sounds excellent on it, and she does a great job of sounding heartbroken. I've always thought she had a decent voice, and I think the structure of the song really works for her. Her voice has a lot of power behind it, which is certainly more than you could say about an artist like Katy Perry. 

The music video is a subject of controversy. Mostly because it features a TWENTY YEAR OLD Miley Cyrus naked on a wrecking ball. This doesn't really bother me at all considering she's over eighteen and it's tastefully done (I won't show a picture because to be honest you live under a rock if you haven't heard about it by now) and I understand how it ties into the song. She's naked to represent the vulnerability she feels atop something as dangerous and destructive as a wrecking ball. That's fine with me, I can get behind that. I think people need to lay off Miley Cyrus. The only reason people care so much when she does this stuff is because she was this at one point in her life;

but guess what? she grew up. And I say that as someone who had all the CDs and watched the show religiously (I also wanted Miley and Lily to be a couple but that's something else entirely...) Her obligation as a children's role model ended the minute she left Disney.

That being said, is the music video any GOOD? I would say so. It fits the tone of the song, it's got a distinct look, and the director did an excellent job. Her facial expressions are spot on. You can tell how heartbroken she is. 

I think it's really a beautiful video in a lot of ways. The only thing that seemed a bit weird to me was the part where she licked this hammer she was using to destroy stuff. 

I could justify kissing the hammer. That could be symbolism for enjoying the pain. That makes sense to me. But LICKING? yeah even I'm weirded out by that. Maybe it's just her tongue thing again. 

Also the minute I saw her sitting on that wrecking ball I could just smell the parodies. And boy was I right about that. I guess I can understand when a plethora of material is handed to you, but I don't think it's really all that FUNNY. 

Yeah she's on a wrecking ball. She's riding the wrecking ball. she's owning that wrecking ball. hahaha???

Over all, I give the video and the song a B+. The video would probably be an A- if it didn't have the hammer-licking but it's still a very nice video. The song is also quite nice, and I enjoy it every time it comes on the radio.

Why Pop Music?

Music has always been a big part of my life. I've always been in choirs and I've been to more concerts and musicals than I can count. Posters of Aaron Carter and Britney Spears were plastered across the walls of my childhood bedroom. Heck, my current room has pictures of One Direction and Taylor Swift everywhere. My favorite show is Glee, which I have a mini shrine to on my wall. Basically, music is the center of my life. Everything goes back to music for me.

                                                   I wasn't kidding about the Glee thing...

I love pop music. I love that there's a chart called the Billboard Hot 100 that gives a census of the most popular songs in the country are at any given moment. While I don't always like the songs that are popular, I like thinking about them critically. They say so much about what's currently going on in the world, and it's nice to think that it's something that bonds us together. If that's not beautiful I don't know what is.

I sit through the Grammys and the VMAs every year despite knowing that they really don’t mean anything anymore, if they ever did, for the performances and because some weird shit goes down and I want to be there to see it. And boy, sometimes it's rewarding....

This is what my dreams are made of. 

Speaking of Grammys I liked finding out who these guys were: 

Girl you know it's true, except it's not true...

I even like it when people make fun of pop music because it's okay, It doesn't have to be taken SERIOUSLY. Some of it is, in fact, vapid meaningless crap. It's fun to make fun of it sometimes. That's THE JOY OF POP MUSIC.

It's fun, and it makes me and alot of other people happy. and THAT is why I picked pop music.