SotW: Annie’s Song by Brett Dennen and Milow Thursday, Apr 18 2013

I’ve loved John Denver my entire life, so I was excited to see that a new tribute album recently came out. Lucinda Williams has a track on it, so I knew that it was going to be good (and her version of “This Old Guitar” is great!)

“Annie’s Song” has long been one of my favorite of John Denver’s many great songs. The version recorded for the tribute album really lives up to the original’s emotional lyrics. I also like that it’s two men singing it — that doesn’t have to make it a gay love song, but I choose to hear it that way. It’s a great cover that will surely become one of my favorite songs of 2013.

I’ve already threatened to have this version song at our wedding if PJ and I ever have one!

Leave a Response »

 

SotW: Believer by American Authors Monday, Mar 25 2013

Alt-Nation has been playing “Believer” by American Authors a lot lately, and it’s gotten stuck in my head:

I like this song’s peppiness and optimism. It also helps that all four members of the band are cute! They’re currently working on their first EP. If this first song is any indication, the band has a lot of promise.

Finally, here’s an interview with the band from earlier this year, which includes a brief introduction to “Believer.”

Leave a Response »

 

Nice Work If You Can Get It: A Review Sunday, Mar 24 2013

Since PJ was in New York City over spring break to work at the Public Library, I went along for fun. While he worked, I went to the matinée of Nice Work If You Can Get It, a musical starring Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara featuring the songs of George and Ira Gershwin.

I had heard a positive review of the show from a colleague, and I love Gershwin tunes, so I decided to see it. Besides, my seat was perfect, and I could only get a front row seat at either of the other two musicals I wanted to see.

Broderick plays Jimmy, a dim-witted wealthy playboy during the Prohibition era. O’Hara plays Billie, a bootlegger who stashes gin in the basement of Jimmy’s summer home thinking that he won’t be in residence. When Jimmy shows up with his new bride (wife #3), Billie has to think fast about what to do. She has to think even faster as she and Jimmy begin to fall in love.

Judy Kaye won a Tony for her featured role as a zealous temperance leader determined to stomp out all alcohol. Suspicious that something isn’t right in Jimmy’s household, she embarks on a quest to ferret out the local gang og bootleggers and have them arrested. She definitely deserved her Tony — she’s hilarious in this role!

Broderick and O’Hara are also great. Nothing terribly surprising happens in the show — everything one might predict would happen does happen, but it’s fun entertainment nevertheless. It also has one of my new favorite songs: “Treat Me Rough.” I immediately purchased the soundtrack just so I could have this song along with O’Hara’s beautiful rendition of “But Not for Me.”

Leave a Response »

 

Once: A Review Saturday, Mar 23 2013

PJ and I were in New York City for a few days over spring break. I saw five plays over the four days we were there. The first show we saw was Once, the musical adaptation of the great 2006 independent film. I loved the movie, so I was both eager to see the musical and a little anxious about it. I had tried to see it before but could only get seats with a partially obstructed view. This time we could get tickets without obstruction, but our seats were on opposite sides of the orchestra, which seemed fine to us.

The challenge this musical faced was that the movie’s plot is rather thin: guy meets girl; she inspires him to make music; they fall in love, raising the question of whether they’ll get together or not. Other than sing together, there’s not really much more to the plot than that.

To fill it out into a two-act structure, the musical adds a few supporting roles and a couple of musical interludes. Steve Kazee won the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as guy, but we got his understudy, Ben Hope instead. We had really wanted to see Kazee, but Hope was excellent in the role.(He also has great deltoids!

Indeed, the whole cast is great. I was especially glad to see David Patrick Kelly, who starred in the Broadway production of Twelfth Night that I love to show students when I teach the play. He plays Guy’s father. Cristin Milioti plays Girl; she’s wonderful too.

Overall, it’s a great show, and I see why it won Best Musical: it’s not your usual Broadway show. The spareness of the plot forces the production to think outside the box and be a little more creative. I definitely recommend it!

Leave a Response »

 

SotW: “Against All Odds” from Glee Friday, Mar 22 2013

It’s fitting that this week’s episode of Glee was about guilty pleasures. I don’t watch the show regularly anymore, but I indulge the guilty pleasure of peaking in from time to time to see what’s happening. When I flipped over this week, I was treated to Darren Criss’s performance of Phil Collins’s “Against All Odds,” the guiltiest of all guilty pleasures:

I’ve always loved this song. Against All Odds was one of the movies I liked to watch on cable when I was young and closeted. Jeff Bridges is so hot in it, and we get to see him mostly naked several times. Hearing this song always reminds me of a teenager lusting after him along with the overwrought emotions of the movie and song — why wouldn’t a teenage gay boy love it!

Contestants on American Idol sometimes try to cover this song, and until I heard this version I would have said that it simply can’t be sung any more — it’s too cheesy and too clichéd. But Criss demonstrates here that any almost any song can be redeemed with the right arrangement and a big dose of emotion. As I read later, the song apparently didn’t really match what was happening in the episode, since its emotion is too big to fit Blaine’s crush on his best friend Sam, but it’s a beautiful cover regardless!

One Response »

 

SotW: Closer by Tegan and Sara Sunday, Feb 10 2013

Since it will be Valentine’s Day later this week, I thought I should return to my songs of the week and find something appropriate for the “holiday,” or whatever it is.

I first heard “Closer” on the radio, and I’ve been meaning to listen to the album ever since. Our wireless has been somewhat intermittent over the past couple of days, but I finally had a chance to download and start listening to Tegan and Sara‘s new album, Heartthrob.

Tegan and Sara are twins from Canada who also happen to be lesbians. They’re generally labelled indie-rock, but they seem more mainstream than that to me (in a good way). They may now be my second favorite lesbian band after Lovers! So far, I’m enjoying the album, the first one I’ve bought this year, and I love this lyric:

All you think of lately is getting underneath me
All I dream of lately is how to get you underneath me

Sexy and fun! You can see the song’s full lyrics after the break.

One Response »

 

Favorite Albums of 2012 Friday, Feb 8 2013

Continuing my week of favorite music from last year, today’s post is about my favorite albums of 2012. Making this list was particularly difficult, since there were several albums that I really liked almost equally. So, the rankings below feel almost completely arbitrary — there’s little to distinguish one album from another on my list. But here goes anyway!

My favorite album of 2012 was Put Your Back N 2 It by Perfume Genius. This is PG’s sophomore album. His first CD, Learning, was my favorite album of 2010, so it’s safe to say that I love his music. In particular, I like that his albums feel like artistic wholes rather than just a bunch of disconnected singles. Two of his tracks appeared on my favorites songs and videos lists, so I thought I would add a different sample here: “Take Me Home.”

His music feels raw and real — he’s writing about real life and the struggles people go through, the feelings we all feel sometimes but are afraid to acknowledge out loud. It’s very powerful music. But I also like that he’s clearly grown as an artist since his first album. As much as I loved that one, this one is broader in its musicality and feels like a big step forward in conveying PG’s messages. It’s a great album.

Second on my list is Iris Dement’s Sing the Delta. I was a little ambivalent when I first started listening to it, but after hearing her sing many of the songs from this album in person, I fell in love with it. Her music is so much slower and more thoughtful than anything we hear on the radio today that I think it takes getting in the right frame of mind to really appreciate it. One of my favorite tracks off the album is “Morning Glory,” which I think is emblematic of Dement’s brand of music:

I really hope that Dement is inspired to put out another album soon — the world needs her music.

Leave a Response »

 

Favorite Music Videos of 2012 Tuesday, Feb 5 2013

On Sunday I posted my annual list of favorite songs/tracks of the previous year. Today I’ll list my favorite music videos of 2012. Be warned: my taste in videos tends towards the really, really gay!

1. At the top of my list is Father Tiger’s Christmas themed video, “On Christmas Day”:

I love the hipster, bearish Santa Claus, the good will message, and the modern take on Christmas. And the song is great — I would have listed it among my top ten songs of the year but I somewhat arbitrarily decided I didn’t want to include a Christmas song in that list. I’m really looking forward to this duo’s releases this year.

2. Number 2 on my list is Pink’s “Try,” a video that beautifully uses dance as a metaphor for the ups and downs of a relationship:

This video reportedly made Pink’s mother uncomfortable, but I think it’s a beautiful video as long as one takes it as metaphor rather than as a romanticizing of domestic violence. This is another song that could easily have been on my top 25 list but just didn’t quite make it. And Colt Prattes is hot!

3. Next up is Mika’s video for “Origin of Love,” one of my favorites songs of the year:

I love how ambitious this video is. It’s like a mini-movie rather than just a music video — as one reviewer put it, it’s cinematic. And Jorge Arecheta is hot — male hotness is a frequent theme in my favorite videos!

Leave a Response »

 

Favorite Songs of 2012 Sunday, Feb 3 2013

Every year, I compile a list of my favorite songs/tracks of the previous year. I’ve been meaning to blog this year’s list for the past two months; today I’m going to finally do it. Unlike last year’s list, this year’s is arranged roughly in order of preference, starting at the top:

My favorite song of 2012 is M Ward’s “Crawl after You”:

Ward’s 2009 album Hold Time was my favorite album that year, but this is the first time that one of his songs is my favorite. I love everything about this song, especially the thought that one feels compelled to crawl after the one you love and tell them who you are. It seems like an apt metaphor for life (or maybe just relationships). I also love the violin solo.

2. Mika’s “Origin of Love” is a close second on my favorites list this year:

It’s catchy and, like M Ward’s “Crawl after You,” a great love song. I guess maybe 2012 was a year of love for me! I  love the sentiment of pushing aside the crap that comes from what religion tells us about love and its origins. And the video is great — reminds me of  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

3. Number three on my list is Perfume Genius’s “Normal Song.” Here’s a live version from YouTube:

I love this song’s lullaby-like quality. It’s a tender and beautiful song.

4. Of Monsters and Men’s “Love Love Love” is number four on my list. This is also a live version YouTube:

I love this song’s treatment of forbidden love and desire. I haven’t really been in this situation, but I feel like this song would describe exactly what I felt if I were in this situation.

Leave a Response »

 

My New Barbara Cook Obsession Sunday, Mar 11 2012

When Barbara Cook was honored during the Kennedy Center Honors earlier this year, I didn’t know who she is — I was just watching to see the Meryl Streep tribute! I was a little bummed last night, and I thought to myself that I should reconnect with something that made me happy when I was younger. The first thing that came to mind was my youthful devotion to Broadway soundtrack albums (of course!). I started browsing on iTunes, and when I came across some Barbara Cook albums, it initiated my newest obsession.

Miss Cook is, without a doubt, a musical genius. I can’t believe I’ve gone nearly 42 years without knowing about and worshiping her! One of my favorite Broadway love songs as a kid was from The Music Man: “Til There Was You.” Imagine my joy when I learned that Cook originated the role of Marion the Librarian! Here’s her version of the song:

She won a Tony award for her performance in this show.

My newest favorite Broadway song is “Losing My Mind” from Follies. Cook has a great version of this too!

3 Responses »