Telephone by Lady Gaga and Beyonce

I feel obliged to write a little somethin' about it. When I heard they were collaborating in a video together, my first thought was "Isn't Beyonce worried she'll be overshadowed by Lady Gaga?" But in actuality the parts that were the most fun to watch all involved Beyonce -- when she does the Lady Gaga dance moves, when she wears the infamous Gaga sunglasses (where can I get a pair??), when she flashes the camera that doe-eyed look...

While I (mostly) love what Lady Gaga has been doing to push the envelope and ah... redefine (music as) art, I wonder if this is the point from where she will shortly jump the shark. Well, probably not, considering all of the powerhaus producers she has behind her now, but there are some things that irritated me (and perhaps everyone else) about this video. 1. Seemingly gratuitous nudity and sex: Why so many crotch shots? Why was she the only one of the prison dancers wearing a thong? 2. Blatant product placement, although this has historically annoyed me about music videos.

Ah also Beyonce looks astonishingly like Tyra in some of these shots, especially in the stop-motion shots. Beyonce's hair was so spot-on throughout the video... the bangs! The volume and flawless curls! Perfect. She looked amazing in every shot. And: Telephone hair on Lady Gaga! Haha hilarious. Ironically in the Americana post-poisoning scene where Gaga is dancing with B, the eye is drawn to Beyonce while Gaga sort of fades to the side... I think it might be because Beyonce is wearing more clothes (relatively). Or, she's a stronger performer in this sense, when pitted head-to-head dancing side-to-side.

Overall, the video made me like the song a LOT more. And I realized that the song is very relate-able, haha. Aside from these gripes, it's typical Gaga genius. So I'll say it was a success!

Video embedded below, but you should watch it on Youtube for the wide-screen:

Animal

I'm obsessed with this song right now. How have I never heard this before? I feel weird. Am I obsessed with music? And fashion? I also don't want to listen to more songs by Miike Snow because what if they're not as good as this song?

There was a time when my world was filled with darkness, darkness, darkness

And I stopped dreaming now I'm supposed to fill it up with something, something , something

In your eyes I see the eyes of somebody I knew before long long long ago

But I'm still trying to make my mind up

Am I free or am I tied up

I change shapes just to hide in this place but I'm still, I'm still an animal

Nobody knows it but me when I slip yeah I slip

I'm still an animal

There is a hole and I tried to fill it up with money, money , money

But it gets bigger to your hopes is always

Running, running, running

In your eyes I see the eyes of somebody who could be strong

Tell me if I'm wrong

And now I'm pulling your disguise up

Or you free or are you tied up

I change shapes just to hide in this place but I'm still I'm still an animal

Nobody knows it but me when I slip

I'm still an animal

I change shapes just to hide in this place but I'm still I'm still an animal

Nobody knows it but me when I slip yeah I slip

I'm still an animal

I change shapes just to hide in this place but I'm still I'm still an animal

Nobody knows it but me when I slip yeah I slip

I'm still an animal x2

Comment on the Youtube video link:

loafie622 (22 hours ago) 

he looks like the love child of Jared Leto and Jesus

Done

Over the past week, I've grown increasingly obsessed with Yes Giantess. I can't wait for their album!

P.S. Turns out they're toured with both Little Boots and La Roux (and do covers of both artists)... do I know what I like or do I know what I like? haha.

Yes Giantess, Surfer Blood

I watched Yes Giantess play at Dartmouth a few weeks ago and they are great live performers -- so fun to watch/listen/dance to, and their music achieves that rare combination of being catchy, with some depth. After their show, I'm a fan. :)

Last night at another concert, my friend and I were chatting with JP and Jonas, the lead singers of Surfer Blood and Turbo Fruits, respectively, and we realized afterward how difficult it must be to make it as a band; both JP and Jonas said they never went to college (well, JP went to one year of Palm Beach Community College...) and have basically been touring/trying to make it big since high school. And Surfer Blood is good, too, so we were wondering: Why aren't these bands well known (yet)? We concluded that there must be an element of luck to it.

Anyway, I thought Surfer Blood was breezy yet energetic and easy to listen to, Turbo Fruits had some interesting ideas but mostly hurt my ears - they need a keyboardist or something to modulate the harshness of their sound.  They were largely unpleasant to listen to, but I did appreciate Jonas's flannel shirt. It was similar to one I bought my younger sister this Christmas.

Take a listen to Yes Giantess:

And Surfer Blood:

The interesting song we liked by Turbo Fruits:

(VOLCANO! VOLCANO! VOLCANO!)

Sleigh Bells - Crown on the Ground

Love this song. At first it's abrasive and you hate it, but then you love it. Oh and preemptively before you ask -- it's supposed to sound like that.

Spoon Album

How did I not know there was a new album coming out? Check out the link to NYMag's post here.

Their sound is so particular, you know? I love lead singer/guitarist Britt Daniel's voice. "Mean Red Spider" is okay, but not my favorite. But I just love Spoon all the time, so relative to, say, Kings of Leon, this is pretty good.

"Written in Reverse" isn't bad, either. I need to digest it more, I guess? The rhymes are kind of asinine...

New M.I.A.

The music video is really cool. But do you like the song? It's okay, to me--surreal, dreamy, whatever...but has the same backbeat as Paper Planes.



Actually, as I listen, it sounds exactly like Paper Planes. Are you excited about the new album due out this summah? Or are you sick of MIA?

MIA, pre-baby birthing in the infamous dot dress by House of Holland

Animal Collective New EP: Fall Be Kind

Just listened to this for the first time today on a friend's iPod.

AC's new EP is better than Merriweather Post Pavilion. Just sit back and let this particular song, "What Would I Want? Sky" wash over you--listen to the bass notes after the first time and then pay attention to the number of layers in the music and also the tone changes. It's the best AC has done yet, nearing perfection in their own psychedelic sound. So good.

What Would I Want? Sky
Fall Be Kind (2009)



You feelin stormy? You feelin phony?

You're not the only

Lady Gaga--Bad Romance

Just because...