I’ve had a bit of a love-hate relationship with Dido ever since she hit the scene in the late 1990’s. She’s had some massive hits, and those are the ones I struggle the most with; I’m not particularly enamored with “White Flag,” for instance, and never really have been. Yet I’ve always loved tracks like “Hunter,” which featured on her debut “No Angel.” Continue reading
Category Archives: Music
Required listening: Ariana Grande’s “The Way”
I listened to this the first time purely because it had reached iTunes’ top ten singles and I hadn’t heard of it before. It sounds like a Mariah Carey song from about 10 years ago… how is it that a newcomer can do Mariah Carey better than Mariah Carey? Continue reading
Required listening: Cathy Dennis
Work’s been kicking my butt, so apologies for another “required listening” choice that’s from another era, but it’s been driving my energy as the work days maintain their length lately. So, onto another choice that you may be less familiar with: Cathy Dennis. Continue reading
Creating a used marketplace for digital?
One of the great things about the printed word, the vinyl record, or even the CD, was that the item always retained some sort of value. The fact that you owned that item meant you could also sell that item, and the proliferation of options to buy used books, CDs, or even hunting through a stack of vinyl at a flea market had its moments of joy. Continue reading
Required listening: Swing Out Sister’s ‘Private View’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-11fCIrBgX4
It’s been 25 years now since Swing Out Sister unleashed a pop confection, “Breakout,” which became their biggest hit in the U.S. Although started as a trio, the group’s been a duo since their second album, and the music has evolved, but the cornerstones have always been there – strong songs that fit well in a variety of formats, musical ambition that always yields results, and an itch to play around with music, something that comes into vision with their latest release, “Private View.” Continue reading
Required Listening: Melanie C’s “Think About It”
I’ve got a personal post coming up, but I haven’t had the chance to sit down and finish it, so for now, here’s a fun song from Melanie C from 2011 that probably would’ve had a good chance over here if people hadn’t stopped paying attention to the Spice Girls after their breakup. Continue reading
Amazon rips open new AutoRip service
I’ve lauded Amazon for a number of its efforts over the years as a company that gets consumers, everything from letting consumers use credit card points to make purchases to their “read anywhere” approach to Kindle books that expand the reading options for eBooks and creating a true ecosystem. Their latest effort, AutoRip, is yet another consumer-friendly move that will only help their sales figures. Continue reading
Nicole Westbrook is back…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuzKCjoJozc
The girl who brought us “It’s Thanksgiving” (produced by Patrice Wilson, the guy who also brought us such gems as Rebecca Black’s “Friday”) is back with a song not nearly as gimmicky, “Smile.” It’s fine as a pop song but doesn’t really have the same redeeming sing-along factor as “Mashed Potatoes… EY!” so I doubt this will catch on to the same level. But hey, gotta keep plowing ahead (and actually, I suspect Westbrook probably can sing relatively well without all the vocal effects). “It’s Thanksgiving” embedded after the jump: Continue reading
Christmas Present 2012: A recap
Merry Christmas! For the past month I’ve compiled selections in the inaugural year of the Christmas Present project; across 10 entries more than 20 songs have been selected for a different kind of holiday playlist. Here, I recap them in the final hours of Christmas Day, and next year we’ll add more to the list. Continue reading
Christmas Present: Fitz and the Tantrums’ “Santa Stole My Lady”
Our last Christmas Present of the year is the first recommendation to come from a Facebook friend and co-worker, Ashley, who shared some of her own selections with me recently and, added bonus, they were made available as free downloads this season. Of them, I love most her recommendation of a 2010 track from Fitz and the Tantrums, “Santa Stole My Lady.” Continue reading