Artist: Aerosmith Album: Toys in the Attic Release Date: April 8, 1975 I've been looking for a way into the ongoing mess that has been Aerosmith these past few weeks, and everything I've read and heard about it has held this album up on a pedestal, so here we are. My generation has a bit of a tainted view of Aerosmith. The biggest things they've done in the two decades I've been alive are the commerical juggernaut of Get A Grip and [...]
Artist: Steven Sater (Book & Lyrics), Duncan Sheik (Music) Album: Spring Awakening Release Date: December 12, 2006 Once upon a time I had planned to do a week full of Broadway soundtracks. Then I remembered that I have very low tolerance for Broadway musicals and that by Wednesday of that hypothetical week I'd want to cut my ears off. So instead expect a smattering of musicals in the remaining weeks of the project. It's hard to quantify what it is that bothers me about musical [...]
Artist: Modest Mouse Album: The Moon and Antarctica Release Date: June 13, 2000 I'm not going to lie and tell you that I'm the biggest Modest Mouse fan. Hell, before earlier this year I hadn't even heard any of their stuff beyond their recent radio singles, which were alright, but nothing special. Listening to The Moon and Antarctica right now, while I hear what it is that people like about the band, it's not exactly my thing. They score big points in my book [...]
Artist: The Calling Album: Camino Palmero Release Date: July 10, 2001 There's plenty to dislike about The Calling, and Camino Palmero . It's cookie cutter pop-rock, Alex Band's voice is the low-point of the headcold-stricken-singer fad from the early 00's (thank you, Scott Stapp), and there's absolutely nothing that separates The Calling from several more worthy bands. Even as I listen to the record now, I realize it more than kind of sucks. But it forever holds a tiny spot in my universe. [...]
So I have to confess that since I first blogged about Glee way back in May, I hadn't watched any more of it until about a week ago, when I caught the last 15 minutes of the most recent episode "Wheels" (which, if you ask me, missed a hell of an opportunity for a well-timed Foo Fighters tie-in). I thought about tuning in, but the fears of what the show might become kept me away. I was afraid that the show was going to turn into a vehicle for whoring out Top 40 artists a la American [...]
Artist: Creedence Clearwater Revival Album: Bayou Country Release Date: January 5, 1969 Out of all the bands from before my time that I listen to, I think it's a perpetual fight between The Who and CCR for my favorite. What's weird is the fact that CCR rarely comes up when I listen to stuff, so I tend to subconsciously put their output in the back of my mind (note that I used to do the same with Pearl Jam). But then I turn on an album like [...]
Artist: Secondhand Serenade Album: Awake Release Date: January 10, 2007 I'm not going to try to suggest to you that Secondhand Serenade is anything other than a poor man's Dashboard Confessional. In fact, Awake is overlong, hyper-melodramatic, and decidedly self-indulgent (it's a glorified mixtape for singer-songwriter John Vesely's wife). There's very little socially redeeming value in the album, other than the fact that John Vesely strikes me as a really nice guy. But my show ended today (for those who don't know me, I'm a [...]
Artist: Various Album: High Fidelity: Original Soundtrack Release Date: May 28, 2000 In my play and screenwriting class last year, I wrote a short piece that took place in a record store, and a couple of my classmates called me out, saying that it was a little too obvious that I was a fan of High Fidelity . They were right. I've said many times before that I would love to live the life of Rob Gordon, and at that point the closest I could come [...]
Artist: Various Album: A Knight's Tale: Music From The Motion Picture Released: May 2001 Another old favorite of mine, and another movie that never really got the respect it deserved. Granted, A Knight's Tale is also one of those films that has its flaws, and said flaws can interfere with the enjoyment of the movie. But at the same time, A Knight's Tale has a nostalgia quality for me that overcomes the issues. A Knight's Tale was one of the first [...]
So, astute readers will notice a new page on the left hand side of the site (as well as up top) entitled "Albums of 20093. This page lists every album that came out in 2009 that I've listened to so far. It's a pretty healthy list (70 some odd at last count), but I know there's more out there. Which is where you come in. I want recommendations from YOU, my loyal readers, as to what I still need to hear. Everything is fair game here. High profile, low profile, mainstream, indie, hipster-friendly...I'm not making any [...]
Artist: Various Album: Titan A.E.: Music From The Motion Picture Released: 2000 If you've never heard of Titan A.E. , go read the wikipedia and IMDB articles and understand that this film is a sentimental favorite from my preteen years. If you know the film, in all likelihood you join me in having very fond memories of the movie. I'm sad to say that I haven't seen the film in years, as I only have a VHS copy of it (probably stored [...]
Again, apologies for the late post. The ship will be righted once more after this weekend. Artist: Eddie Vedder Album: Into The Wild: Music For The Motion Picture Release Date: September 18, 2007 Honestly, I'm probably the wrong person to talk about this album, since I never saw the movie, and thus I have little or no context for how the music fits into the movie. But let's be real here. It's solo Eddie Vedder, and does anyone ever need a [...]
Artist: Bee Gees, et al Album: Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Soundtrack Released: November 1977 I'm pretty sure that if my roommates fully realized what it was I was listening to at the moment, I think I'd get taken out back behind the woodshed and I'd lose all right to talk music with them. Lucky for me they're playing some strange game. Anywho. This one comes as the result of a suggestion from my dad, to the point where I needed to go [...]
Artist : Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, et al Album : Walk The Line: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Release Date : November 15, 2005 Walk the Line is a rarity on two fronts; first, it is the rare musical biopic that makes it out of the rare "Hey, what if there was a movie about ____?" phase (films about Marvin Gaye, Keith Moon, and others have been "in development" for ages). Second, it is both a decent film as well as a stellar soundtrack. If you can get [...]
I've said before that I started Viva La Mainstream as an escape from the hipster snobbery that permeated much of what constituted music blogs at the time. Among the sites that inspired me and suggested that I could, in fact, write about mainstream music from a genuine fan perspective was Idolator, which at the time was beginning a slow ascent to the top of the music blog world. Well, today writer Maura Johnston, Idolator's lead writer and primary voice of snark and insight, announced her departure from the site. I initially envisioned VLM as a sort of counterpoint to Idolator, [...]
Within the last hour or so, subscribers to Them Crooked Vultures' email newsletters were met with the following image: And a link to a YouTube playlist featuring all 13 tracks from TCV's self titled album, in stores November 17th. Aside from the fact that the tagline on that image (Also the title of this entry) is unbelievably cool, getting to hear the album is a huge deal for the band and the thousands of people who have been anxiously awaiting it since Dave Grohl first suggested that a [...]
And so marks the beginning of soundtrack week on Viva La Mainstream! Just so we're clear, this week will not feature film scores; there'll be a separate week for that. I'm looking specifically at soundtracks featuring rock and pop music for this theme. I'm also open to requests for this one. Artist: Various Artists Album: Across the Universe (Music From The Motion Picture) Release Date: September 14, 2007 I took a film class about a year ago, and at one [...]
Artist: Coldplay Album: Prospekt's March EP Release Date: November 21, 2008 Usually I scoff at cash-in EPs like Prospekt's March , since they exist primarily to get people to repurchase an album they already have. But there's just enough charm and excitement in this one to make it worth a listen. That, and its short and calming, and perfect to doze off to sleep to. So I hope you'll forgive me for slacking on my Album A Day duties, but it's been a long day, and tomorrow starts a long week, so I [...]
I'm falling behind on these again...I'll make it up to you tonight... Ever find something in your music library and have no idea how or why it's there? Yeah. That's how it is with Hole and Live Through This . I hate Courtney Love; I feel as though she brings no positive light into this world, and she is contributing to the diminished legacy of Nirvana (her husband was Kurt Cobain, for those not keeping score). So the fact that I have not just a few tracks by Hole, but an entire album, boggles my [...]
I actually listened to this album yesterday, but never found the time to sit down and blog about it. Artist: Something Corporate Album: Leaving Through The Window Release Date: May 7, 2002 Honestly, I don't have all that much to say about this record. It's certainly not one of the best in the genre, or for that matter in Andrew McMahon's output, but the fact remains McMahon is a terrific songwriter, so even when the music backing him is only [...]
![The Calling - Wherever You Will Go Parady [MadTV]](http://cache.elbo.ws/youtube/UbEVdCKdggw_130.jpg)
new music from vampire weekend – cousins + music video
Friday Five: Surf Songs
Beach House: Norway
No Curve Allowed (Grading This Week's New Tracks)
