Song I'm Obsessed With

I have not listened to Mat Kearney since the golden days of Grey’s Anatomy.  I have not watched the show since the season where “All I Need” by Mat Kearney was featured in one of the final episodes and coincidentally topped the music charts.

So I may be late in the game since Kearney’s most recent album, Young Love, was released almost a year ago in August 2011, but I happen to be obsessed with “Ships in the Night.”  Released as a single in November 2011, I totally ignored all his singles after not taking too warmly to “Hey Mama,” the first single off of the album.

Recently, as not to draw too much attention to my sometimes awkward music tastes at my new job, I have chosen Internet radio stations such as Lite Rock, Adult Alternative; stations you would hear at the dentist’s office.  And, it just so happens that “Ships in the Night” is a choice favorite on many of these stations.  I totally understand why.

“Ships in the Night” is one of the sweetest, most honest songs I have ever heard.  The song poetically documents the feelings and common actions during a typical couples fight.  It begins with the fight, then of course closing with the idea that he “is going to find [his] way/back to your side.”

Kearney was adorable in the Grey’s Anatomy days and he is adorable now.  Talking about “moms and pops” and when he “had to pack and you had cramps and [he] was late” I mean come on—relationships in their most raw sense—no sugar coating except for his super sweet tone. 

And it is true, we are constantly ships in the night . . . . ”we’re just wasting time/trying to prove who’s right.”  Most couples fights are a waste of time and one or the other is trying to prove their point rather than just trying to move forward.  And then they both become like ships in the night.

The melody is beautiful, the brief white-boy-rap he does between choruses, it is all-together “puppies and rainbows” and I cannot get enough of this song.  So, if you have not heard it, or think it might not be your thing, give it a chance.

Who is this Sia and why do we care?

Who is Sia?  Why is she everywhere?

“Hey I heard you were a wild one , oooooh . . .”  We have all heard it, whether it is in a store, bar, club, or radio.  “Wild Ones” by Flo Rida is a big hit, top of the charts, and part of the reason for its popularity is the female vocals featured on it.  The female artist is Sia.

Now, interestingly enough, the song, “Titanium” by David Guetta is also a big hit and features this same artist, Sia.

Sia?

Sia has apparently been around since the early 90s.  She is an Australian pop artist and even has a greatest hits album out now.  Her break through song that brought her popularity in the U.S. was “Breathe Me.”  It was featured on the season final of Six Feet Under and about 10-15 other television shows (so if you watch any television, you probably will recognize the song—I recognize it from The Hills, sad face).

She is a very eclectic pop artist.  All of her songs are different, some pop, some jazz, some singer/songwriter, and some like the ones she has been recently featured on.

Both “Titanium” and “Wild Ones” I like her contribution.  I do not really enjoy the songs on their own or enjoy the parts where Sia is not singing—I truly feel she makes the song.  I consider Sia the Australian version of Skylar Grey who changed hip hop songs like Dr. Dre’s “I Need a Doctor” and Diddy’s “Coming Home,” to something different than most rap/hip hop we hear.

So, though Sia is currently being recognized mostly as a featured artist right now—she may be someone to consider independently.

Topless Women, Boredom and AWOLNATION

Last night, I walked past a topless woman on my way to see AWOLNATION at Webster Hall. One thing has nothing to do with the other but now they will be in my memory as fused events.  She was wearing no shirt, no bra, no tube top, no pasties, no nothing.  Just walking down the street, wearing jeans, running errands with no shirt on whatsoever.

I turned the corner, after being thoroughly distracted by this woman's A-cups, and walked inside Webster Hall.  I was there a few minutes before 8 PM (doors opened at 7) and two hipster fellas were scanning tickets in front of the main stairwell.  One of them alerted me to the sign that AWOLNATION would not be performing until 10 PM.

"Fuck; that sucks," I told him.  He clearly did not care about my disappointment, nor was he shocked by my disappointment.  I would have two hours to kill.

I headed first to the bathroom and then straight to the bar (what else was I going to do?).  My initial plan was to drink and pee alternatingly until 10 PM.  It only took a half an hour for me to realize that was not going to be enough to entertain myself.

What else could I do in the interim? I felt like Raoul Duke walking amongst the other journalists at the Pink Flamingo hotel. 

“Humping the American dream.”

The first opening act was pretty good; a temporary distraction from my boredom.  The lead singer was trying to carry off Brandon Boyd's awkward hand gestures and dance moves and it was kind of working.  Good for him.

Bear Hands came on next and honestly, the band before them, who never even announced their name and had to put away their own equipment, was better.  The audience danced to Bear Hands like people driving cars off-road in slow motion.

Bored.

I went upstairs to see what the view was from up there.  There was a VIP section on the left side, a bar in the back, and open space to stand and mingle and enjoy the show.  I stood by myself, observing the crowd when I saw a girl taking her picture with a guy.  It looked fairly normal, friends take pictures with friends all the time.  However, the girl who was taking the picture handed her camera over to the girl being photographed and they switched places so that each could take a picture with this same guy.  No crowd was forming, no one else was watching this spectacle except me, but there was something odd about it.  The girls thanked the guy and he walked away from them, heading in my direction.  I saw his face, his hair, his clothes.

It was AWOLNATION.

We made eye contact as I gawked at him and rotated my body as he passed me and entered the VIP section, guarded by some secret service looking guy in a suit.  I Google-imaged AWOLNATION just to be sure and the photos online and the guy I had just ogled down looked the same.  I decided I was going to try to get an interview.  I chugged my drink (liquid courage was very necessary) and approached the guard.  

"Who do I speak to about getting an interview with the artist?"

"I don't know, you can make an appointment with the woman downstairs."

That made no sense--how do I make an appointment with someone who is only a few yards from my reach?

I walked downstairs as instructed and asked guard #2 the same question.

"Interview with who?" he asked.

"AWOLNATION."

"I don't know who that is."

Are you serious?  Why are you working here if you do not know who is even performing?  I continued my questioning to a small girl sitting in the corner with some sort of ID hanging around her neck that made her look important, but alas, she could not help me either.

I could sneak into VIP and maybe be carried out by the police . . .I could flirt with the massive security guard on the 1st floor who had been giving me the onceover all night.  But, I just couldn't risk it.  I headed back down and ignored the rest of Bear Hands performance and just stared at AWOLNATION and his posse from afar.  Did no one care that he was right there?

As I stared at him from below, all these great questions went through my head. And all these people just danced without a care, not realizing who was right there. I was stalking him with my eyes, trying to get in his business even though I couldn't.  Eventually he disappeared.

As was promised, AWOLNATION took the stage at 10 PM.  Throughout his performance, he reminded me of a marionette, jumpy and bouncy and excited just like a child’s toy. He and his 4 other band mates opened with "People."  They then played all the best songs: "Not Your Fault," "Jump On My Shoulders," "All I Need," "Burn it Down" and of course "Sail."  All the songs had something special about them: “Not Your Fault” had him crowd surfing, “Jump On My Shoulders” had numerous people literally climbing onto people’s shoulders and watching the performance from there, “All I Need” had the band requesting everyone in the audience to put their arms around the person to the left of them, even if we did not know them. 

He also performed “Kill Your Heroes,” and “Knights if Shame,” explaining in between that they did not consider themselves one genre of music and they assumed no one in the audience appeared to be that one dimensional either. 

How true . . .if only we could know what genre of music the topless woman liked?

Marilyn Manson Strikes Again

After buying Marilyn Manson’s last album, The High End of Low, and finding it utterly disappointing, I was excited but concerned as to how his new album, Born Villain would turn out.  But, as a faithful fan, I preordered the album and listened to the whole thing. 

This album is a big improvement over his last album attempt.  The single, “No Reflection,” is creepy; yet pop enough to be enjoyed like some of his previous hits such as “Tainted Love” (I knew it was pop because they actually played it at school dances). 

I still maintain that Marilyn Manson is not what he used to be, and maybe that is a good thing, but I do miss the days of the asexual onesies, the buttless chaps, and masturbating on stage.  Maybe he is getting older, maybe losing his desire to go against the Man, but his albums no longer have that, I-feel-rebellious-as-I-listen-to-this-and-I-like-it, quality.  However, I have to say that Born Villain has done a better job of staying true to his Antichrist Superstar self. 

The key tracks to check out are “No Reflection,” “Overneath the Path of Misery,” “Children of Cain,” “You’re So Vain” (which I will get to in a minute).  Born Villain is edgy but less harsh.  The tunes are dark but beautiful.  He is more Edgar Allen Poe than H.P. Lovecraft on this album—subtlety has come with maturity.

The version of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” is a highlight!  This was a treat because a bonus of Manson’s albums has always been his covers, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These),” “Tainted Love,” “Personal Jesus,” and “I Put A Spell On You.”  No one does covers like Manson.  In addition, this track features Johnny Depp on guitar.  I thought I had seen it all when Johnny Depp performed with Marilyn Manson at Revolver’s 2012 Golden God Awards, but there was no preparing me for seeing Johnny Depp on the track list of a Marilyn Manson album.

All in all, the album is a success.  And, if Marilyn Manson ever goes on tour with Johnny Depp, I will be front row center.

Let Your Freak Flag, Fly

            I had wanted to see Rammstein in concert since 2002.  XXX, the film with Vin Diesel (hold judgments until the end) came out and I saw it in theaters.  In one of the scenes at the beginning of the film, Rammstein is performing in an underground club.  As I watched the scene, I had a feeling it was them and then did research later on to find out I was right.  I liked Rammstein before the film, as musicians, but after seeing this quick glimpse, I knew I would need to see them perform.

            This past Sunday, I fulfilled my dream.  Rammstein is currently on their Made In Germany Tour, playing random hits and songs from all their albums since they began making music in 1995, and I was able to be a part of it.

            The opening act was a breath of fresh air as I actually enjoyed it as much as the band I was there to see.  It was a DJ, mixing his own versions of Rammstein songs.  He was on the corner of the stage, no lights or special effects on him (how un-Rammstein like) and there was a big screen projecting black and white images of Till Lindemann, Rammstein’s lead singer, along with crawling human beings, ants marching, rotting fruit—you get the idea. 

            What I later discovered was the opening act was actually Joe Letz, the drummer of Combichrist.  He was great and the music was phenomenal.  What was also great is there was no lag time between him and Rammstein.  He finished his set, the curtain projecting the images fell to the ground, and suddenly smoke and fire started popping up around the arena. 

I was seated a few rows from a railing that stood over one of the entrances to a lower section of seats.  An orange glow began to exhume from below the railing.  Suddenly people with torches, masks and Viking-like outfits began marching down to the stage in a cloud of fog.  If I had known it was Rammstein only a few feet from me, I may have been arrested for trying to climb the railing and grope one of the band members.

            A bridge was lowered from the ceiling that connected a smaller stage, two thirds of the way into the crowd, to the main stage at the front of the arena.  Rammstein walked across the bridge, and used the torches to light a few assorted spots of the stage on fire.  May the corrupted Olympic games begin!

            Rammstein was perfect.  Heavy metal at its finest.  What I realized about their type of metal is it is hardcore without the typical screaming, yelling and vocal strains that often comes with heavy metal music.  It is the 5 out of 6 members’ instruments that enhance their sound.  They are very talented musicians who do not rely exclusively on the lead singer to create the sound they want. 

            They performed all of there hits—some of my favorites were “Amerika,” “Sehnsucht,” “Wo Bist Du,” and “Engel.”  Of course, they performed “Du Hast.”  Before this concert, it was actually never my favorite of Rammstein’s hits.  However, seeing it performed live changed my feeling about that.  The whole band sported leather pants, overalls, suspenders or jackets (except for the keyboardist who wore a sparkling jumpsuit, which was fitting as he spent much of the time on a continuously moving treadmill). 

            Rammstein has always been known for their pyrotechnics.  They had huge blasts of fire on stage that I could feel the heat on my face when they exploded.  Till wore wings that set on fire and they had mic stands on fire followed by fireworks that flew over the crowd.  In addition, the keyboardist came out in a large pot as Till sported a chefs outfit and carried a knife and sharpener.  He was given a blowtorch and began to “cook” the member of the band in the large Tim Burton pot. 

Besides just fire and explosions, there were some other effects.  During another song, one of Rammstein’s members boarded an inflatable lifeboat and surfed across the crowd.  At another point, Till stood on a platform behind a cannon that shot out what looked like white cotton or feathers.  The cannon was painted in skin tones and the gestures he made behind it could only really suggest one thing.

            The band did perform on the smaller stage as well.  The bridge was lowered again and one of the band members “walked” the rest of the band over.  By walk, I mean he had them all in collars and leashes on hands and knees and walked them like dogs, across the bridge to the other stage.  It should not have been at all hot or arousing . . .but it WAS.

            The crowd was rather mellow for a heavy metal show.  The couple who stood behind me in their Goth clothes, black lipstick and both with similar hair styles (long black unwashed hair hanging next their faces) stood the whole time, with their arms lovingly around each other.  It just wasn’t right—this isn’t date night—this is Rammstein.  There were a few different mosh pits that developed randomly in the crowd but they only ever included a few people and never lasted very long.  There was crowd surfing as well, however I never even noticed it until one the two encores.

            The band spoke no English except for a few lines in “Amerika” and a “We are Rammstein, thank you” at the end of their performance.  This did not stop the audience from singing along (or rather, trying).   It was epic, an item on my bucket list I can now check off.  And it reminded me of one important thing . . .

            Let your freak flag, fly!