I wish I could say that I have not written in so long
because I was saving orphans in Somalia or backpacking through the Himalayas or
even on tour as a back up dancer for Lady Gaga.
But alas, I have none of these great excuses to grab on to, or any
excuses for that matter. Life has been
somewhat crazy lately but I doubt I can swing a dead cat without hitting
someone else who would say that exact same thing. So therefore, no excuses. But I’m here!
And since I have been M.I.A with the music updates and news
over the last few months, I have complied what I find to be the 30 most
important music updates/stories/quips/highlights that I regrettably was not
there to inform you of.
So, here we are: Nicole’s 30 music highlights of the last
[insert number here because I don’t feel like counting] days:
1. Christina Aguilera came out with another album
that I was all too excited about and she has once again has let me down.
2 I gave in to buying a Black Keys album: The Black Keys, El Camino. Worth the purchase!
3. Made the best mix ever: 79 songs more variety than ever before! As listed below:
1)
“Helena” My Chemical Romance
2)
“Angel Dust” AaRon
3)
“Road to Nowhere” Talking Heads
4)
“Five Is A Four Letter Word” Lostprophets
5)
“Dragula” Rob Zombie
6)
“Lean Back” Fat Joe
7)
“Ritual” Black Veil Brides
8)
“I Like How It Feels (feat. Pitbull & The
WAV.s)” Enrique Iglesias
9)
“Bottom of the River” Delta Rae
10)
“Weak And
Powerless” A Perfect Circle
11)
“Burn It
Down” AWOLNATION
12)
“The Kill”
30 Seconds to Mars
13)
“Never
Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy)” Rob Zombie
14)
“Scream!”
The Misfits
15)
“Kiss My
Lips (feat. Fabolous)” Dev
16)
“Crank It
Up (feat. Akon)” David Guetta & Akon
17)
“Minority”
Green Day
18)
“See You
In My Nightmare” Kanye West
Feat. Lil Wayne
19)
“The Man
Comes Around” Johnny Cash
20)
“Marco
Polo” Loreena McKennitt
21)
“Breaking
Down” Florence + The Machine
22)
“Living
Dead Girl” Rob Zombie
23)
“Adiemus”
Adiemus
24)
“Baby,
Please Don't Leave” Buddy Guy
25)
“Set Fire
to the Rain” ADELE
26)
“Pledge
Of Allegiance” Louis XIV
27)
“Turning
Tables” ADELE
28)
“Fortunate
Son” Creedence Clearwater Revival
29)
“I Call
It Love” Anastacia
30)
“Sail”
AWOLNATION
31)
“Where Is
My Mind?” Pixies
32)
“You Spin
Me Round (Like a Record)” Dope
33)
“Save the
World / Punk (Arty Rock-n-Rolla Mix)” Swedish
House Mafia & Ferry Corsten
34)
“If I
Could Turn Back Time” Cher
35)
“Shake It
Out” Florence + The Machine
36)
“Dig Up
Her Bones” The Misfits
37)
“The
Wolf” Fever Ray
38)
“Hey”
Pixies
39)
“History
Song” The Good, The Bad And The Queen
40)
“Dead
Leaves and the Dirty Ground” The White Stripes
41)
“The Edge
of Glory” Lady GaGa
42)
“Prologue”
Loreena McKennitt
43)
“This
City (feat. Lupe Fiasco)” Patrick Stump
44)
“Here We
Go” Hard Rock Sofa & Swanky Tunes & Swedish House Mafia
45)
“Don't
Wake Me Up” Chris Brown
46)
“Jesus of
Suburbia” Green Day
47)
“New Day”
Kanye West & JAY Z
48)
“No
Light, No Light” Florence + The Machine
49)
“Demons” Imagine
Dragons
50)
“Mmm Mmm
Mmm Mmm” Crash Test Dummies
51)
“Skyfall”
ADELE
52)
“Roll Up”
Wiz Khalifa
53)
“Some
Nights “ Fun.
54)
“Love Is
Blindness” Jack White
55)
“Payphone
(feat. Wiz Khalifa)” Maroon 5
56)
“Holiday”
Green Day
57)
“Sex On
Fire” Kings of Leon
58)
“Love
Lost In A Hail Of Gun Fire” Bleeding Through
59)
“Gold On
the Ceiling” The Black Keys
60)
“Tambourine” Eve
61)
“Rolling
In the Deep” ADELE
62)
“Shinobi
Vs. Dragon Ninja” Lostprophets
63)
“Rise” AaRON
64)
“Turn Up
the Music” Chris Brown
65)
“Holding
Out for a Hero” Bonnie Tyler
66)
“Luck Be
a Lady” Frank Sinatra
67)
“Mercy
(feat. Big Sean, Pusha T, 2 Chainz)” Kanye West
68)
“Written
In the Stars (feat. Eric Turner)” Tinie Tempah & Eric Turner
69)
“I'd Do
Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)” Meat Loaf
70)
“Bavarian
#1 (Say You Will)” Miike Snow
71)
“Big
Truck” Coal Chamber
72)
“Give It
to Me Right” Melanie Fiona The Bridge
73)
“Use
Somebody” Kings of Leon
74)
“Every
Teardrop Is a Waterfall (Coldplay vs. Swedish House Mafia)” Coldplay &
Swedish House Mafia
75)
“The
Unnamed Feeling” Metallica
76)
“Total
Eclipse of the Heart” Bonnie
Tyler
77)
“Replay” Iyaz
78)
“Lately” Divine
79)
“Return
to Innocence” Enigma
4.
Attended the Twins of Evil Tour featuring
Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie. An
amazing show. Had never seen Rob Zombie
in concert! I don’t care how old these
guys get—thy still can rock out!
5.
Still paying off the $200+ credit charge from
the concert after party which included me and a guy named Andrew heading over
to a gentleman’s club and me finding it necessary to “make it rain” with all of
his $1’s and $5’s as well as buying a private dance from a nice woman in a blue
thong. I still stand by that Rob Zombie
made me do it.
6.
Along the lines of finally surrendering to the
undeniable talent of The Black Keys, I also gave in to a Florence + The Machine
album, Ceremonials.
7.
Ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll New York 10K in which
bands play along the course in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Never realized the significance of Bruce
Springsteen’s “Born to Run” until that day.
8.
Swedish House Mafia came out with their second
compilation album last month. I now am
truly a fan. Listen to “Here We Go”—best
song on the album.
9.
Did not give a hoot about the new song “Skyfall”
by Adele for the new James Bond film until I actually saw Skyfall. I also have consistently not been a fan of
Daniel Craig until I saw Girl With the
Dragon Tattoo where I got just a whiff of his
I’m-too-old-for-you-but-you-cannot-deny-how-sexy-I-am quality. Then after seeing Skyfall I became an obsessed fan.
I downloaded Adele’s “Skyfall” and tried to picture being the next Bond
girl alongside Daniel Craig. However, I
realized that I would probably just get bored with his constant need to keep up
with his pull-ups and crunches and running to drugstores to get him Centrum
Silver.
10. I saw Madonna in concert at Yankee Stadium. I
have never been a huge fan of Madonna. I
mean, sure, I did dress up with 5 of my friends in high school for Halloween to
represent the many faces of Madonna, and yes, maybe I could not get enough of
the “Frozen” video for some weird reason, but that was the extent of it. However, I have to say she is pretty
impressive in concert. Her ass looks
better than mine ever will in buttless chaps, she gave kudos to her
thought-to-be rival, Lady Gaga by singing “Born This Way,” she cursed numerous
times (remember she is a MOTHER!), and she had Avicii as her opening act. Well played, Madonna, well played.
11. “Clique” by Kanye West. Word!
12. I
went to a Renaissance Fair and I was able to pinpoint one of the songs the
belly dancers were using during their performance. “Marco Polo” by Loreena McKennitt. Yup, you heard me.
13. Pitbull’s
new album, Global Warming has come
out. “Tchu Tchu Tcha” featuring Enrique
Iglesias is the only song I am listening to off of the album (mostly because I
already had the singles). Overall, not
as good as his other stuff.
14. I
have bought my whole family tickets to see The Lost Christmas Eve Tour of the
Trans Siberian Orchestra to start off the Christmas season with bang! (Or
rather a guitar solo and well chosen string section).
15. Rolling
Stone Magazine ranked Led Zeppelin’s “The 40 Greatest Led Zeppelin Songs Of All
Time.” “Whole Lotta Love” being #1,
“Kashmir” being #4, and my favorite, “When the Levee Breaks,” making it at #8.
16. “The
Wolf” by Fever Ray from the movie, Red
Riding Hood is pretty amazing. The
movie, not so much.
17. I
saw Train and Matt Kearney in August in Central Park. Matt Kearney opened up the show and was truly
was amazing. I was slightly distracted by
the tweens mouthing the lyrics to each other while clutching each other in a
loving embrace, however, Kearney was an example of the ideal singer/songwriter
performance. The album, Young Love = adorable. Oh yah, and Train was good too.
18. Due
to Hurricane Sandy, I was actually stuck in my hometown for longer than expected
as New York City was literally shut down.
Trick-or-Treating was the Sunday before the storm really hit so I
offered to my parents to hand out candy but I would not do it without the
proper attire. Sadly, I had not packed
for dressing up for Halloween. So, I
wore a Mad Hatter hat, a purple bow tie, black eyeliner and my Marilyn Manson
tour t-shirt. I got many compliments on
my costume from parents walking their children around for
tick-or-treating. “Ooo scary—where did
you find that costume?” one person asked.
“Um, a concert two weeks ago?” I responded. Awkward.
19. “Fuck
Hvor Er Det Fedt (At Vaere Hip Hop’er)” by Kato featuring Clemens (Hedegaard
Remix) is a great club song that I discovered on the radio.
20. Rihanna
is still being a whorebag.
21. Backstreet
Boys have a new Christmas single out, “It’s Christmas Time Again.” Sorry boys, you guys got nothing on ‘NSync’s
Christmas album.
22. “Living
Dead Girl” by Rob Zombie is my favorite.
23. The
Hobbit is coming out Friday, December 14th. This has nothing to do with music but Denny’s
restaurant has a special Hobbit Menu and there are advertisements on the sides
of buses and there is a collectors edition magazine showing a Gandalf the Grey cloak
for almost $1,000 and I want it and I have no idea where I would wear it but I
want it anyway and I took a half day off from work so I can either go in late
from seeing the midnight show on Thursday or leave work early Friday to see the
movie as soon as possible on Friday and I am looking forward to watching all
three films that weekend after seeing the Hobbit I just CAN’T WAIT. And that is my hobbit rant.
24. Was
watching Zack and Miri Make a Porno
and looked up the songs featured in the movie as one has consistently caught my
attention. “Hey” by Pixies. Listening to samples of their songs, it felt
sacrilege to be a supposed music connoisseur and not own a Pixies album so I
bought one! They are able to musically
reach an emotion that most bands can only dream of.
25. Jack
White’s cover of U2’s “Love is Blindness” is featured in The Great Gatsby trailer, as well as “No Church in the Wild” by
Kanye West & Jay Z. Such different
songs but worked so well together!
26. “I’ve
Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” is my new favorite Christmas song. Classic!
27. Obama
2012!!! Four More Years. No doubt, Jay Z
helped him along.
28. Another
Black Veil Brides album is coming out in January. Single, “In The End” leaves me to assume the
album will be nothing short of rock and roll happiness.
29. Major
Lazer is covering Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up.” Said to be released December 4th.
30. My
mom is setting the alarm for tomorrow (Wednesday morning) so we do not miss
Pitbull’s performance on the Today Show.
