brownstar's Last.fm Journal

4 sentence review of the let-down that was Yann Tiersen.

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:01:56 +0000

Sun 19 Apr – Yann Tiersen

What a load of indulgent nonsense. Someone should tell yann that whether he likes it or not, people want to hear some amelie. huge let down. huge.

Full review here

Broken Social Scene's amazing concert at The Sound Academy (Toronto, November 28th 2008)

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 04:39:31 +0000

Broken Social Scene sure know how to put on a concert. Wrapping up their 2008 tour with one last show in Toronto at the Sound Academy, they pulled out all the stops. Featuring special guest appearances by Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse, Emily Haines from Metric (who was unexpected to say the least) and several great highlights during their set, this was one of the best concerts that I’ve ever been to. The Beauties opened the night on a solid note as well.

For some pics of the concert, check out: http://katuwapitiya.com/?p=174

For a video of "Looks Just Like the Sun", check out: http://katuwapitiya.com/?p=233

For a video of "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" (featuring Emily Haines of course), check out: http://katuwapitiya.com/?p=235

Finally, for the highlight of the night, check out the video of "The World at Large" (with both Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse and Emily Haines from Metric (on backing vocals)): http://katuwapitiya.com/?p=237

"Love Lockdown" = The end of my love for Kanye West

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 03:31:02 +0000

Taken from the Katuwapitiya Music Blog:

I used to love K.O.W.

All my life, I’ve been quick to defend the ‘black man in the spotlight who is heavily criticized’.

The root of this tendency probably stems from my love for Michael Jackson. He was the first artist that I can remember calling myself a fan of and for that reason, I’ve defended him my entire life. Hell, I even bought “Blood on the Dance Floor”. That’s dedication.

Often, I find that the mainstream media is quick to judge prominent black celebrities when there is a combination of a poor choice of words and a cocky attitude (justified or not). Some good examples of this theory are Terrell Owens, Isaiah Washington, and Kanye West.

Terrell Owens was the reason I started watching football. Isaiah Washington was the best part of Grey’s Anatomy. And Kanye West? I’ve been a fan of his from day one.

When I was in a car accident, recovering in a hospital, I flipped out when “Through the Wire” started playing on MuchMusic. I agreed with his George Bush sentiments and even agreed with the way he went about it. I didn’t mind the fact that he was so honest about deserving an MTV award because I thought he deserved one too. And I was brought to tears when he performed “Hey Mama” after the death of his mother.

But goddamn it Kanye. I’m done.

[to read the rest of the post/see all the links attached to the words, check out http://www.katuwapitiya.com]

Love Lockdown

Why "Live Your Life" Sucks.

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:24:36 +0000

Rihanna T.I.
Live Your Life (feat. Rihanna)

Formatting issues won't allow me to paste the blog directly, so click here. Katuwapitiya.com's take on Rihanna's numa numa b.s.

Why I love "First Love" by Adele

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:26:20 +0000

For more, check out the new location of this blog at http://www.katuwapitiya.com

Adele- First Love

Some say that you can't have Amy Winehouse without the drugs, drinking, and the insane love life. And maybe that's true. What caught me most with her album Back to Black was her raw edge and talent. That said, however, her being on crack doesn't make me too hopeful for albums that can match BTB and Frank. It's shocking what the limelight can do to some. I'm a fan and I hope that she keeps making music but until then, what about this Adele chick?

Obviously, the comparisons are being made. Just like people comparing Kate Nash to Lily Allen because they both have thick British accents in their vocals (the former being much better than the latter), Winehouse and Adele are comparable due to sheer singing ability. I'd say that production-wise, Winehouse's motown grooves definitely win out, but when you factor in crack, I'd say that Adele has a major advantage.

While the love/hate on here currently makes it seem like I only value songs with tremendous production, immense lyrics and other random superlatives, "First Love" shows that all it really takes is true emotion. Pop music at its finest, the song is something that most anyone can relate to and its simplicity makes it shine. Her lyrics of remorse are powerful and say a lot in such a short time frame.

With the grace of a lullaby, Adele sings: "This love has dried up and stayed behind/And if I stay, I'll be alive/Then choke on words I'd always hide" and she ends the song with the repetition of the phrase "Forgive me first love"... It seems that another similarity between Adele and Winehouse is that they both can take love's heartbreaking moments and express them so beautifully through song. Love.

Ironic recent youtube comment:
Alexandraisonfire (4 days ago)
I think she has quite a lot more soul in her voice then Any Winehouse - or what I like to call her Whine-house. Adele is a preformer, Any Winehouse is dazed and confused.

(For more Love/Hate: The Love/Hate Music Blog)

Why I hate "Sly Fox" by Nas

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:15:47 +0000

For more, check out the new location of this blog at http://www.katuwapitiya.com

Nas- Sly Fox

Now it's one thing when a bad song is about frivolous topics like 'shaking it' (Shake It) or girl-on-girl action (I Kissed a Girl). Sure, these songs are worthy of hatred, but I really stop caring pretty quickly.

It's a totally different issue when a bad song tries to make an impact (How to Save a Life) or pretends to be socially-conscious. These types of song awaken a completely different kind of hate.

In "Sly Fox", Nas does his best Immortal Technique impression and initially, it kind of works. First off, unlike an Immortal Technique song, this song doesn't make you want to kill yourself (for more information, please listen to "Dance With the Devil"). Second, the video starts off with a great clip from Fox News, highlighting the ridiculous nature of its "news". Nas then starts off with a pretty sick first verse that is dark and brooding. It seems as though we finally have an anti-fox news song for the masses, right?

Unfortunately, no. Instead of the Nas from "Illmatic", this song quickly begins to sound like the Nas from "Nastradamus". The great concept of the video soon loses momentum as it just becomes clips of Fox News being spliced together with images of... confused looking black kids?? Then we have the chorus, which sounds as though it was written by children. Oh wait. He's done that before (I Can).

Thought-provoking lyric example: "I watch CBS, And I See B.S." ...Wow...

But bad lyrics, shitty video and childish chorus aside, there's something much, much worse in this song. In his attempt to make people think critically about the problems of mainstream media, Nas says something that makes him sound as stupid as Fox News. "They say I'm all about murder-murder and kill-kill, But what about Grindhouse and Kill Bill?" So in response to the Virginia Tech shootings, Nas is saying that instead of focusing on violent rap music, we should be smart and focus on Quentin Tarantino movies. Way to make a valid point. It's definitely not much deeper problems like a lack of outreach for the mentally ill. It's Uma Thurman with a sword.

When you're trying to attack someone/something, do not do what they do. Don't blame America's obsession with violence on superficial things like violent video games/movies/music. Throwing in a couple of "Fuck Rupert Murdoch"'s doesn't make you socially aware. Maybe you should go back to the Oochie Wally's and leave this for the real voices. Hate.

Couldn't narrow it down, so here are two of my favourite youtube comments:

slikdarelic (4 hours ago)
Nas is a shark in an ocean full of fukkin brainwashed guppies... and the record companies and radio stations love that shit... Keepin the REAL emcees in their nets, restrictin them, while the sardines and tuna continue to populate... meanwhile the dumbass public are ignorant to see whats really goin on, and continue to walk forward with blinders on... believin that the ocean has ALWAYS been full of flounder.

da relic
ramonfrdeoliveira (5 hours ago)
"i watch CBS AND I C BS"!!!
NAS IZ DA ILLEST!!!

(For more Love/Hate: The Love/Hate Music Blog)

Why I Love A.A. Bondy's American Hearts

Thu, 3 Jul 2008 06:13:31 +0000

For more, check out the new location of this blog at http://www.katuwapitiya.com

When a song can make you feel proud to be an American, and you're a Canadian, you know it's a solid song. I saw A.A. Bondy perform this song on Conan tonight and was immediately captivated. He may or may not be trying to sound like Bob Dylan, but damn, this is about as close as it gets to moments of

"Dont tread on me, because I am your brother and I was born with an American heart," sounds straight out of the lost tapes of Dylan. The look, the voice, the lyrics, the harmonica, and most of all, the fact that he's such a man of the people that he doesn't even have a wikipedia entry, it all adds up to one thing. Love.

(he's so indie that he doesn't have retarded youtube comments yet)

AA Bondy - American Hearts

Why I Hate "I Kissed A Girl" by Katy Perry

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 07:37:57 +0000

For more, check out the new location of this blog at http://www.katuwapitiya.com

Hate for I Kissed a Girl

When a video has 2 ass-shots in the first 5 seconds, you know what it will be aiming for. Sex appeal is the only thing that a song by Katy Perry could have going for it as her voice makes the lead singer of Evanescence sound like Etta James. I predict that "I Kissed A Girl" will be crowned "The Summer Anthem of 2008", which is a lot easier to achieve than it sounds. All you need to do is include a sexy line that people can repeat and do themselves (in the vein of "I am getting so hot, I'm going to take my clothes off"). In this case, girls will attempt to kiss each other, which is supposedly a win-win for all involved, but what if the tables were turned? Would a song called "I kissed a man" achieve the same success? Probably not. When you think about it, her mentioning a boyfriend and going back to him in the end eliminates any possible positive undertones of coming out of the closet. But what bothers me most of all in this song is the second line of the chorus. It starts off all cool and sexy "I kissed a girl and I liked it", but then she follows it up with, "the sweet taste of cherry chapstick." ...... Chapstick? When I think of chapstick I just think of Carmex. And when I think of cherry chapstick, I think of the bitter, bitter taste of petroleum jelly mixed with cherry flavouring. Mmmmm... sexy. Also, just wait until you hear the bridge... =shudder=

A new added feature of the blog will be “favourite recent youtube comment” on each song. The comments on youtube are extremely insightful and can reveal much more than my simple blog. Here is one for Katy Perry:

tiggergurl12194 (13 hours ago)

ppl get off her even if she was a lez it dont matter n it even says in the begining that she kissed the gurl cuz she was drunk (k she doesnt say shes drunk but its implied)

Why I love Los Campesinos!- You! Me! Dancing!

Sun, 1 Jun 2008 02:42:14 +0000

For more, check out the new location of this blog at http://www.katuwapitiya.com

You! Me! Dancing!

When you look at the artist and song title of a certain track and count 4 exclamation points, it usually means that the song is going to suck. However, in the case of You! Me! Dancing! by Los Campesinos!, it's fully justified. There's a lot to be excited about here. There's the solidly-long crescendo at the beginning, a great way to start any song. Added to that is the great concept of the video, which you can see on last.fm. Then of course, you have the ole' brit-rock formula of sick accents and great hooks. Los Campesinos! then add in some random instruments (re: xylophone) and lines that anyone into indie music can relate to: "If there's one thing I could never confess, it's that I can't dance a single step." What more can I say? Love.

Why I hate The Fray's How To Save a Life

Sun, 1 Jun 2008 02:39:02 +0000

For more, check out the new location of this blog at http://www.katuwapitiya.com

How to Save a Life

The Fray is probably one of the most groundbreaking bands of our generation. They shattered the idea that your lead singer needs to be attractive in order to become a successful pop-rock band (also known as the Maroon 5 rule). The Fray's voice instead coming from someone who bears a striking resemblance to Karl Pilkington or the cartoon character "Bod".

They also brought a whole new idea to the craft of lyric writing. Sure, they start out with a standard AA/BB/AA/BB rhyme scheme. Sure, they're really only rhyming the last words of lines that have no other melodic connecton to the one another. Sure, they rely on simple words to rhyme like 'you' and 'through'. But the Fray sets themselves apart by proving that you don't even need to rhyme different words in order to write a song!

Examples:
1)"Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk"

2) "Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right"

3) "Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best"

4) "And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you"

I never thought that I would find a more ingenious lyric than "to the window, to the wall, til the sweat drip from my balls", but if Lil' Jon could read, he would be ashamed when reading the genius that is the Fray.

Of course, the song became popular after being featured on a Grey's Anatomy episode. So despite the fact that their songwriting is amazing and the lead singer's ugliness is unparalleled, all they really needed was that push. It just goes to show you, if you want to be a successful pop artist, all you really need is a crescendo into a chorus that can somehow be connected to the show Grey's Anatomy. All the Fray had to do was throw in a "how to save a life" to make it perfect for the show. If you're a struggling musician, take my advice and follow their example. For a song about being sad, throw in a "the tears are my IV" (or a "my skies are a shade of meredith grey" for the less subtle). Alternatively, for a song about being romantic, throw in a "your sweet lips are like a morphine drip". It's just that easy! It doesn't even need to have anything to do with the rest of the song!

Inspired yet? The Fray has shown you that fame is attainable with ugliness, the ability to rhyme the same word and the skills to write a medically-related metaphor.