Category Archives: Music

Music Video Of The Day: Comfort by Julia Jacklin (2019, dir by Nick Mckk and Julia Jacklin)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

ENNUI!

Ennui is actually one of my favorite words and not a day passes that I don’t find an excuse to use it.  For instance, a few days ago, I was stuck in traffic in downtown Dallas and I happened to notice that there was a pigeon sitting on a guard rail and it looked like it was wondering whether it should jump into traffic or if it should just continue to exist and contemplate life.  So, I rolled down my window and I looked straight at that pigeon and I called out, “ENNUI!”

The pigeon looked back at me.

We had an understanding.

Anyway, this video seems like it’s full of ennui.  To be honest, there’s no way to escape that feeling whenever you’re the only person standing near a swimming pool.  As I watched this video, I thought about that scene in The Graduate where William Daniels forces Dustin Hoffman to sit at the bottom of the pool.  I also thought about the Burt Lancaster film, The Swimmer, in which Burt attempted to swim home by going through all of the neighborhood pools.  And, of course, there was Todd Field’s Little Children, where Kate Winslet spent the whole movie hanging out at the neighborhood pool.

Julia Jacklin has got a talent for these ennui-drenched videos.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Bizarre Love Triangle, covered by Nouvelle Vague (2019, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As far as cover versions of classic songs go, this one is pretty good.  It’s certainly better than that overwrought version of Blowing in the Wind that they’re currently using in the WGU commercials.  This is a pretty simple music video but I think that visual simplicity nicely compliments the arrangement of this version of Bizarre Love Triangle.

So, instead of rambling too much, I’m going to wish you a good Wednesday and invite you to ….. enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Hey Juliet by LMNT (2001, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The year was 2000 and Lou Pearlman, the super creepy music producer who would later die in prison, was putting together a boy band called O-Town.  Because it was also the early days of reality TV, Pearlman was also producing a show called Making the Band, so that viewers could follow as Pearlman auditioned and selected the members of his new band.

In the end Pearlman selected five young men to be the members of the O-Town.  He announced that not only would they be stars but that he would also pretty much control every aspect of their lives and music.  Four members of the band were okay with that.  Ikaika Kahoano was not.  Declaring both Pearlman and O-Town to be “wack,” Kahoano left O-Town and instead, got together with two other musicians who auditioned for a spot with the boy band, Bryan Chan and Mike Miller.  They were signed by Atlantic Records, who promptly held a contest in the pages of Teen People to select a name for the new band.  The winner?  LMNT (as in Element).

Now, since every boy band has to have at least four members, Matthew Morrison was recruited to serve as the fourth member of LMNT.  If that name sounds familiar, that’s because he later went on to play Mr. Schuester on Glee.  Morrison was apparently as miserable in LMNT as Kahoana was in O-Town because he left the band before they recorded their first album.  Morrison was replaced by Jonas Persch.

With all the drama that went into forming the band, it can be easy to overlook their music.  It was pretty much standard 2001 boy band stuff.  In fact, there’s little distinguish LMNT from O-Town, except for the fact that LMNT didn’t have Lou Pearlman stalking around in the background.  Instead, they had Disney.  For instance, their song Hey Juliet first gained popularity when it was featured on an episode of Lizzie McGuire.

The video for Hey Juliet …. well, it’s all about doing laundry and having fantasies and, amazingly enough, there’s four members of the band and there’s four women in the laundromat so no one gets left out.  If you had any doubt that this song was from 2001, the Matrix homage will erase them.

Enjoy!

(As for LMNT, they broke up around 2003.)

Music Video of The Day: Low by Kelly Clarkson (2003, dir by Antti Jokinen)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Oh my God, is Kelly Clarkson on shrooms!?”

No, I don’t think that’s the case.  I think she just has a lot on her mind.  She’s just broken up with her boyfriend and now she’s stolen his jeep and she’s driving around South Texas.  She has a destination in mind….

“Okay, then why does she keep seeing weird stuff?”

Hell, have you ever driven around South Texas in a jeep?  You’re going to seem some stuff that’s going to make you doubt the existence of any sort of benevolent force in the universe….

Personally, I like to think of this video as being a sequel to From Justin to Kelly.  Like maybe Kelly’s stolen Justin’s jeep and now, she’s going to kick it off a cliff.  Maybe that’s why there was never a From Justin To Kelly Part 2.

Or, maybe, the jeep itself is possessed by the devil and Kelly’s visions are part of an effort to distract her from completing her mission.  Maybe Kelly is on a mission for God.  So, maybe this video belongs in the same genre as The Car, Christine, or The Wraith.

Well, whatever the case may be, let’s just be happy that Kelly got out before the jeep went over the cliff.  Still, you do have to wonder how she’s going to get home….

I have to say that, if I ever had to deal with demonic possession, Kelly Clarkson would probably be the first person who I would call to help me out because Kelly Clarkson just kicks ass.  She’s a Texas girl like me but her singing voice is like a 100 times better than mine.  I’ve actually got  lot of respect for Kelly because she’s one of the few American Idol winners to actually make a name for herself as an independent artist.  Like you can tell that she wasn’t going to let the show prepackage her as some sort of generic, safe performer.  She got what she needed out of the show and then she struck out on her own.  That’s one reason why this video works.  As you watch it, you have no doubt that, in real life, Kelly Clarkson would probably do the same thing that she’s doing here.  Like if some rich guy in El Paso ever cheated on Kelly Clarkson?  You better bet his car’s going right over the Franklin Mountains.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: 365 by Zedd, featuring Katy Perry (2019, dir by Warren Fu)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Ex Machina Part Two.

So, Katy Perry’s a robot now?  Actually, I’ve always liked Katy Perry, even though I still suffer from flashbacks whenever I remember how, during 2010, it was impossible to go anywhere or watch anything without hearing Firework.  I wouldn’t necessarily say that Katy’s in need of a comeback but it does seem like, between her feud with Taylor Swift and WITNESS, her popularity has faded a bit and she could definitely use an opportunity to remind the world that she’s more than just the latest judge on American Idol.  Hopefully, she’ll get those opportunities!

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Til I Forget About You (2010, dir by Isaac Rentz)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Remember Big Time Rush?

Right now, they’re on indefinite hiatus but, from 2009 to 2013, they were like the biggest boy band in the world.  They had their own show on Nickelodeon.  They did tours.  They released a lot of music, the majority of which kind of sounded the same but still had a fun, upbeat feel to it.  To be honest, I didn’t really know much about them other than the fact that their music videos always seemed to air between late night reruns of Degrassi.  If it wasn’t Victoria Justice singing about her best friend’s brother, it was Big Time Rush destroying Nick Cannon’s office.

One of those music videos was the one for Til I Forget About You, which is kind of a strange video.  It starts out with one of the Big Time Rush guys getting dumped via text and then, suddenly, the boys are being expected to perform at a snooty country club.  Luckily, they’re able to use the ROCK OUT app and make everyone totally rock out.  So all is right with the world, I suppose.

It’s a little bit frustrating that there aren’t more Degrassi-themed music videos.  I mean, there’s that video that Drake did, where they all burned down the school after killing one of Drake’s rivals.  And then there’s the video for Jake Epstein’s My Window, which is full of Degrassi clips.  And one of the really, really old episodes of Degrassi featured the Zit Remedy putting together a video but I’ve never been able to find a good copy of it.  Otherwise, there’s not much to choose from.  The show’s producers really missed an opportunity by not putting out any Downtown Sasquatch, Studz, or Whisperhug music videos.  I mean, seriously.  They should have taken a lesson from Big Time Rush.

Oh well.  Missed opportunities, what can you do about them?

Enjoy!

Song of the Day: Make Me Love You (by Taeyeon)

Posted on by Arleigh

Taeyeon Make Me Love You

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

It’s not too much a surprise that today’s latest Song of the Day is very much Valentine’s Day or, at the very least, romance-related. The song chosen comes courtesy of Taeyeon’s ballad from her first full-length album, My Voice, which saw it released in 2017.

“Make Me Love You” actually was part of the album’s deluxe edition which was released a couple months later with the song part of a trio of new one added just for this new edition.

The song has an R&B pop ballad sound that does a great job in incorporating Taeyeon’s unique voice. There’s a reason that for many year’s now that she’s been one of K-Pop’s top soloist in addition as being part of the biggest girl group in the country as leader and Main vocalist of Girls’ Generation.

We have a song that where Taeyeon seems to almost speak to the listener. For the listener to take the leap in allowing the romance begin between them and singer. It’s a ballad that speaks to the anticipation of a potential new romance and also the self-doubt that everyone goes through whenever one should or should not make the first move, leap or step in making it happen.

Music Video of the Day: All Time High, performed by Rita Coolidge (1983, dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Today’s music video of the day is for the song that was, of course, the theme song for the 1983 James Bond film, Octopussy.  Apparently, the producers realized that there weren’t many words that comfortably rhymed with the movie’s title so they tasked John Barry and Tim Rice with coming up with a theme song that would still be radio friendly.  They came up with All Time High.

And I know that some people will tell you that this is a lesser Bond theme song and apparently, Rita Coolidge used to refuse to perform it in concert because she felt that it was an “unfinished” song but I don’t care.  I absolutely love this song.  Seriously, there are two Bond song that I simply cannot stop myself from singing along with and that’s Nobody Does It Better and All Time High.

Seriously, All Time High is a hundred times better than that song they ended up using for SPECTRE.

And it’s the perfect Valentine’s Day song!  I’ll be singing this song later tonight.  Actually, I’ll be singing a medly of James Bond theme songs tonight.  It’s kind of a Valentine’s Day tradition….

Enjoy!

Song of the Day: Candy (by Red Velvet)

Posted on by Arleigh

Red Velvet Candy

Just a day before that hallmark of all Hallmark days. Usually there’ll be a flood of Valentine’s related postings and this latest Song of the Day will not be an exception.

Today’s Song of the Day: K-Pop Edition sees the return of one of my favorite K-Pop girl groups: Red Velvet. Seen by many K-Pop fans as the younger SM Entertainment sister group to SM’s main girl group, Girls Generation (aka SNSD), Red Velvet has managed to forge their own success with a unique sound that balances their dual concept of girl crush (Red) and sultry, mature (Velvet).

The previous two Red Velvet entries as Song of the Day sees example of the group under both concepts. There’s “Be Natural” which is their first “Velvet” concept. Then a little later there’s “Ice Cream Cake” which is them in their “Red” aka girl crush concept.

With today’s Song of the Day, we have Red Velvet’s lush ballad from their Ice Cream Cake mini-album: “Candy.”

It’s a track that’s well-suited for all the happenings today and for the rest of the week as even the most jaded will try to find a semblance of romance, if just for a couple days or so. A song that talks about both the effect that love has on couples. An emotion that’s both heartwarming and bittersweet as the emotional aspect of love can also lead to an overwhelming fear of that attachment fading that ultimately leads to separation.

“Candy” being the title is the group’s play on words as the whole Ice Cream Cake mini-album’s songs has done. The title may be about something sweet and enjoyable, but the lyrics definitely shows that it is a bit more than a sweet confection.