We here at the DHMBIB bar social club were big fans of Alanis Morissette's angsty Gen-X post-feminism 10 years ago. Sadly, she lost us with her last few albums, but we still from time-to-time wade into our CD collection to give Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie another spin [that CD was awesome!!! -- Ed.].
We also loves us some Fergie. Shut up. [pun completely intended -- Ed.]
So, it's not surprising that our hearts and ears and eyes were warmed today when we came across this video of Alanis channeling Tori Amos in a cover of the Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps".
Seriously. We could not possibly make this up...
[Alanis: "Hey, Fergie! Tori! Go down on THIS in a theater!!!"]
Now, we're sure you're asking yourself, "How did DHMBIB possibly discover this gem???"
We were first tipped off to this by the fine folks over at Idolator. After watching it, we searched some of our other favorite music blogs to see if they had it too. Both Stereogum and Pitchfork have it as well.
Time stamps on blogs are notoriously unreliable as indicators of when a post was "posted", because some blogging software programs allow the blogger to "set" a time, and some blogs use the time of the host server, which may be in a different time zone from the blogger. So, determining who had this first is difficult to ascertain. Stereogum credits Pitchfork's "Forkcast" as their source. Pitchfork credits "[a tip] in our mailbox" as their source. Idolator credits "YouTube" as their source.
We're not sure which is funnier -- this video, or the idea that the Idolators -- and perhaps the Pitchforks and Stereogums -- possibly spend their day searching for the following tags on YouTube: " 'Alanis' 'Morissette' 'My' 'Humps' 'Black' 'Eyed' 'Peas' 'Fergie' "
YMMV
Monday, April 2, 2007
Video Of The Day: This Is Why We Still Love Alanis Morissette [2 April 2007]
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Odds & Sods [27 March 2007 Edition]
[image courtesy Alaina Alexander Music on MySpace]
* Actual "professional singer" Alaina Alexander -- remember her??? -- realizes 4 weeks too late that Katharine McPhee, Antonella Barba, and Haley Scarnato may be on to something with this whole "rock your body, distract from your vocals" thing. [TMZ]
* American Idol rethinks that whole "songs of the 90's" theme, takes my sister's advice on "sing whatever the hell you want" theme; Gwen Stefani scared shit-is-bananas-less that Sanjaya will sing "Just A Girl". [Defamer, Idolator]
* At the YouTube Video Awards -- and I am not making that up -- OK Go's "Here It Goes Again" wins the award for "Most Creative". Sadly, it did not win the award for "they so totes ripped off that 'treadmill' thing from that Jamiroquai video from like ten years ago". [MollyGood]
* New Fall Out Boy video for "Thnks Fr Th Mmrs" sets record for combined number of product placements and monkeys. [Stereogum]
[anyone recognize the "love interest"? it sorta looks like Kim Kardashian -- Ed.]
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
BREAKING: Rich Trying To Get Richer At "You"r Expense
[graphic courtesy news.com]
We haven't been paying much attention to news today -- we're just so gosh darn excited about seeing DIANA ROSS on American Idol tonite -- so we haven't heard if there's any big news regarding copyright-infringement-on-the-internets lawsuits. If we hear anything, we'll have to digest it before we can post about it.
Refresh! Refresh!
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Video Of The Day: Charlotte Church [28 February 2007 Edition]
Some readers may recall Charlotte Church as the teenage Welsh ingenue with the big voice who achieved worldwide acclaim for her unique renditions of classical arias. Well, our little girl is all grow'd up now.
A couple of years ago, Charlotte decided to take her singing career in a modern BritPop direction. She released a straight-ahead pop album that achieved only modest success in Britain and was never even released Stateside.
Last fall, Charlotte decided to put her stalled music career on hold in favor of a television variety show project. The Charlotte Church Show seems to be a distant relative of American-style "late night" "talk shows", as it features a mix of sketch comedy, celebrity guests, interviews, and musical performances. The show has been only modestly successful in Britain [it's up against a popular long-established competitor] but has been renewed for two more seasons.
One feature of the show is a closing musical performance featuring Charlotte and a musical guest. In her short time on the air, Charlotte has been quite adept at getting some A- and B-list musicians to join her, and the performances are usually quite good. Trust me -- I've seen a few.
I stumbled upon the clip below on YouTube while searching around for something completely unrelated. This closing performance from the 6 October 2006 show features Alesha, who is better known in Britain as a former member of the R&B trio Mis-Teeq -- yet another BritPop fave that never caught on in the U.S. [their only Stateside hit was "Scandalous", which appeared in the dreadful Catwoman movie]. Charlotte and Alesha [and Charlotte's house band] take on The Killers's "Somebody Told Me", and the sound is...well, about what it would sound like if a Pop/R&B singer did the song on one of our "late night" shows with the house band.
I approached the clip with trepidation, but I quickly found myself digging the reworked version with the horns and female backing vocals. I also found it interesting that the women decided not to change the gender roles in the chorus ["well somebody told me, you had a boyfriend, who looked like a girlfriend, that I had in February of last year"]. Depending on your perspective of the narrative -- even the original is eyebrow-raising in its own way -- that makes the female version hotter, or weirder, or possibly both.
Because I haven't had one of these in a while, I decided to make this my Video Of The Day. Enjoy.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
This Week In Lily Allen: 27 February 2007 Edition
[image courtesy idolator.com]
Lily Allen is just cute as a button [guv'na]!!!
DHMBIB <3's Lily Allen!!! Lily was anointed the indie-music-bloggosphere's biggest crush last year, and now she's crashing our shores.
Just cuz, I'm devoting a "This week In..." entry to her.
* BREAKING: Lily Allen Doesn't Care About Corrine-Bailey-Rae-Named People, Lady-Sov-Named People: 
[image courtesy myspace.com/lilymusic]
[Ironically, as I blog this, I'm watching Ellen DeGeneres dance around her set to Kanye West. How meta.]
12 February 2007:
Lily Allen: "Corinne Bailey Rae? I think she's a bit boring, sorry. She's a lovely girl but I don't think her music stands out and I'd be a bit annoyed if she won Best Female Artist [at the Brit Awards, the British Grammys]."
22 February 2007:
Lady Sov: "I'm not hating on her but someone like Lily Allen, just 'cause her dad's famous, doesn't have to work as hard as someone like me. You get some of the media hating people 'cause they're 'chavish' but she's the biggest chav going." [In the same interview, Lady Sov also called CBR "boring" -- Ed.]
22 February 2007:
Lily Allen: "Dear Lady Sovereign: In response to Miss sovereigns comments, I've spoken to my Dad and he says he'd be happy to adopt you if you think it will give you a leg up." [sic]
[Ooh, snap!!! -- Ed.]
* BREAKING: Lily Allen Doesn't Care About iTMS Bully People:
"...iTunes [is] kind of bullying people into corners by making sure they have extra, you know, extra songs so they can put them on the front page. And they won't [advertise] your album unless you kind of give them extra material and so on. And we've kind of been backed into a corner. We want to do this remix, but the remix isn't ready, but they need it delivered by today and blah blah blah. So I said, 'Okay, fine, give iTunes the rubbish remix, and then what I'll do I'll get the people remixing it to do a good remix and then we'll give it away for free on MySpace."
[Sound Opinions, via Idolator]
* BREAKING: NBC Uni Doesn't Care About "You"-Lily-Allen-Loving People:
Lily Allen was the musical guest on the 3 February 2007 show of Saturday Night Live. Lily's performances made it up to YouTube -- where, of course, they no longer are, because NBC Uni C&D'd YouTube. And, of course, guess which other site they're not on -- that's right, kids: NBC.
[NBC's SNL site lists the 3 Feb 2007 episode as the "next" episode. Douchebags.]
But a trailer is still on YouTube:
*****
[Smile, Lily!]
*****
Here is the "rubbish remix" that those bullies at the iTMS insist you *must* hear:
Lily Allen - Smile (Mark Ronson Remix) [mp3, via YSI]
Lily Allen - Smile (Mark Ronson Remix) [mp3, via zShare]
Friday, February 23, 2007
This Week In Christina Aguilera: 23 February Edition
[Rob, didn't you already do a "This Week In Christina Aguilera" post, like, earlier this week???]
Okay, it's no secret that we here at DHMBIB <3-with-a-capital-"3" Xtina.
But seriously, is there anyone in music who has had a better two weeks?
Here are some of the things that Xtina has done in the last couple of weeks:
* Appeared as Ellen Degeneres's featured guest and musical performer on her 600th show:
[Holy flurking shnit!!! Check out those big-ass roses!!! -- Ed.]
[Try not to get turned on when Xtina talks about "Naked Sunday". Is it getting hot in here??? -- Ed.]
[Xtina can dress appropriately for daytime TV meant for stay-at-home Moms, retirees, and bloggers? Who knew??? -- Ed.]
* Brought the Grammy house down with a performance of James Brown's "It's A Man's Man's Man's World":
[Oh, yeah -- and she actually WON a Grammy. Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Ain't No Other Man" -- Ed.]
* Brought the NBA All-Star Game house down with performances of her own "Ain't No Other Man" and "Candy Man":
[Let's see how long it takes the NBA to C&D YouTube over this version -- Ed.]
* And yesterday, she premiered her new video for "Candy Man" on TRL:
Four points to discuss about this last item:
1) I'm sure you're grumbling a little bit right now about how you're supposedly already "sick" of hearing this song. It's been so ubiquitous in 3 different national ad campaigns that you're probably saying to yourself, "You mean, there wasn't a 'video' already??? And what qualifies as a 'music video' nowadays, anyway???"
Whatevs. Stop fake-hating and enjoy.
[P.S. Our iPods have been rocking out to "Candy Man" since September, when our wise-beyond-her-years friend gave us Back To Basics as a birthday present.]
2) Vanessa Minnillo apparently has morphed into Katharine McPhee. Hey, Nick Lachey -- that might just qualify as an UPGRADE!!!
3) [Item #3 was supposed to be about how long this clip would last on Google Video given that MTV Networks parent Viacom has been C&D'ing Google recently because Google refused to pay them gobs of money over copyrighted Viacom material. But the internets reminded me that MTVN reached a separate agreement with Google last year that presumably makes this clip kosher. Move along. Nothing to see here.] And...
4) TRL is still on the air???
Sure, Xtina has had a few good things happen in her life the last couple of weeks. But, alas, she hasn't quite "done it all". Here are some of the things Xtina has NOT done in the last couple of weeks.
* Enter rehab and leave in less than 24 hours...
* Twice...
* Enter rehab for a third time...
* Shave off her hair to reassert control over her life to spite her mother to foil a threat to have her hair drug-tested...
* Assault an SUV with an umbrella...and,
* Make anyone think that KEVIN FUCKING FEDERLINE would be a better custodial parent than she is.
In 2000, Christina Aguilera defeated Britney Spears for the Best New Artist award. Xtina has since won 4 career Grammys and 1 Latin Grammy. Britney Spears has exactly 0 career Grammys on her resume.
In 2000, did Grammy make the right call???
Monday, February 19, 2007
This Week In Christina Aguilera & Christina-Aguilera-Wannabes
You really disappointed me this weekend.
Over the weekend, I started thinking about how this was the best time of the year for big-time music stars. There are all sorts of opportunities to make high-profile appearances. Just in the last three weekends, we've had the Super Bowl, the Grammys, the Daytona 500, and the NBA All-Star Game. Next weekend is the Oscars. All of these high-profile teevee/entertainment events provide an excellent opportunity for big-name music stars to reach mass audiences to plug their new projects shill for Oscar votes or record sales entertain us with their great art.
But I rely on You to record all of this for me so I can mooch off Your hard work and link to it.
Yes, I know. You think I could just do this myself. I know what You're thinking -- it's just as "easy" for me to record this, edit it, upload it to YouTube, etc., as it is for You. Except: 1) I don't have cable [or satellite, or carrier-pigeon-TV, thank goodness for that], which means I only get to see a handful of channels at home 2) with my crappy antenna, which doesn't produce good video, and 3) I'm usually not home when these events occur, because I want to see them clearly with friends, etc. So, You see, I can't really do this myself. That's why I rely on You to do this for me.
That's why I'm so disappointed in Your [lack of] efforts this weekend.
I was thinking over the weekend I would do a "high points and low points of musical performances over the weekend" post. But I can't find several of the key performances on YouTube or anywhere else. Big & Rich singing the National Anthem at the Daytona 500? Nope. Toni Braxton performing at the half at the NBA All-Star Game? Nope.
So, clip-challenged because of YOU, I decided to work with what I could find. So I present: This Week In Christina Aguilera & Christina-Aguilera-Wannabes...
* CHRISTINA AGUILERA
Regular readers of this blog should not be surprised that I have declared Christina Aguilera's half-time performance at the NBA All-Star Game to be the best of the weekend. Coming off her bringing-the-house-down performance at the Grammys one week earlier, Christina humbled Toni Braxton -- her "opening act" -- on Sunday nite with her performance of "Ain't No Other Man" and "Candy Man". Fortunately for You, someone else got the whole thing up on YouTube:
[Spoiler alert: Xtina was rocking platinum-blond hair and bright red lipstick during this performance.]
Yes, Xtina is singing live. And she obvs don't need no ProTools help. Unlike...
* KELLY CLARKSON
Well-known American Idol 1 winner and Xtina leech wannabe Kelly Clarkson was the "featured" pre-race performer at the Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon. Apparently, there is a difference between the "studio" KC and the "live" KC. Kelly performed three songs -- the predictable "Since U Been Gone" and "Miss Independent", and, sandwiched between them, a new song called "One Minute". Kelly's performances of "Since U Been Gone" and "Miss Independent" were predictably jump-up-and-down-and-throw-your-hands-in-the-air-errific, but not equal to the "recorded" versions we all know and love.
And no thanks to You, only her performance of "One Minute" has made it to the internets.
What's that smell??? Smells like teen spirit record company viral marketing to me:
But I will give Kelly Clarkson mad props for this: she managed to grow 9 inches of hair in only 24 hours -- compare and contrast the Sunday video above with this photo from Daytona Saturday:
P.S. I actually liked Kelly's outfit on Sunday. I hope she remembered the sunscreen for her back -- she strikes me as the pale-skin-burns-easily type.
ciaobaby
Thursday, January 18, 2007
BREAKING: Most People Are Bad Singers, Refuse To Acknowledge It; Rupert Murdoch Still Smarter Than You
American Idol has returned!!!
AI vets know that this part of the season highlights the worst of the worst. Indeed, it was the train-wreck failed auditions that originally hooked people on AI in the first place [remember back in '02 when AI watchers -- especially those who tuned in after hearing their friends describe Simon's sharp-tounged put-downs of the losers who had no clue they couldn't sing -- were disappointed that the remaining contestants' reasonable vocal skills were not prompting much biting criticism from the judges???].
As AI has evolved over time, and grown into a cultural phenomenon that leaves network execs at networks not named "FOX" shaking in the corners of padded rooms, both the judges and the potential "contestants" have gotten savvier about 1) delivering what the viewers want in the early weeks [audition train-wrecks and put-downs], and 2) how to make the most out of their one chance at 15-minute-fame. Thus, we get auditioners that are either delusional about their lack of talent, or deliberately bombing hoping to be the next William Hung -- or both [Troy Benham, the "Urban Amish" guy who claims never to have seen AI, and to not even have "broadcast television", but who somehow manages to be on MySpace -- I'm calling you out!!!] -- along with judges who are overly critical of marginally-talented performers [seriously, I didn't think Jessica Rhode -- the Jewel fan who kicked off the Minneapolis show by singing "Who Will Save Your Soul" to her idol -- was really that bad, and certainly not "that bad" enough to deserve the evisceration she got from the judges].
If you are even remotely interested in what happens on AI, you don't need me to link to the multitude of reviews of the first two installments of AI6. But I will link to maybe the most interesting resource -- and perhaps the most linked-to out there -- about the first two nights. Eric over at deathbycamera has done some awesome work tracking down the MySpace pages of some of this year's contestants -- winners and losers. Please note -- depending on when you check these out, some of the profiles may be already gone [including, sadly, the profile of the afore-mentioned Jessica Rhode, who listed among her "music interests" some band called "The Google Dolls"]: Minneapolis; Seattle.
deathbycamera's work got me thinking about AI in the MySpace era. Although MySpace has been around for a couple of years now, deathbycamera's work is the first I've seen connecting the contestants to MySpace profiles. Which got me thinking.
I'm sure you all know that AI is the highest-rated show on television. Tuesday's AI6 premiere was the highest-rated show in the key 18-49 demographic -- over 37 million viewers -- since the Friends finale in May 2004. But MySpace's traffic is even gaudier than that. Reliable MySpace data is hard to come by, but it is estimated that there are approximately 150 million MySpace accounts.
MySpace, you may recall, was originally designed as a community site for musicians / bands to connect with their fans unfiltered by big record companies and big radio, etc. It still is a must-have-a-profile site for even the biggest names in the business, due to its large user-base of fans who are already used to accessing music in these "non-traditional" online venues.
This large collection of musicians and music-lovers proved a potential rival to the success and influence of AI. Imagine for a moment, if MySpace had decided to organize its own AI-style "competition", it could have quickly cultivated a contestant-space [remember -- You are the Person Of The Year, for good reason] and created an audience that would have made AI's numbers look like the audience for an overnight infomercial on the H&G channel. Imagine further, if MySpace had partnered up with someone else who knew a thing-or-two about marketing music-and-lifestyle to young people [do I have to spell it out??? it rhymes with emteevee...] -- well, that's formidable competition right there.
Okay, so all of that bloviation gets me to what I've been thinking about today:
1) Did Rupert Murdoch buy MySpace because he saw it as his most immediate potential threat to his American Idol cash cow?
2) Was Rupert Murdoch being penny-wise-and-pound-Australian-dollar-foolish in not picking up YouTube, his longer-term, potentially-tougher threat to his American Idol cash cow?
3) If Viacom/MTVN had picked up either MySpace or YouTube when they had the chance, would Tom Freston still have a job???
Discuss...
Bonus gettin'-all-meta-meta-and-shit link: 'Idol 5' runner-up Katharine McPhee to appear on 'Lonelygirl15'
Katharine McPhee is not Kelly Clarkson.
[still waiting for the CD -- only a week-and-a-half to go...]
Monday, January 8, 2007
BREAKING: Website Allows Average User To Post Videos And Stuff
Hey, have you guys heard of this site called YouTube? That site's just craaaaazy, man. It's got all these videos and shit that people have uploaded. Is that possible, cuz that just sounds crazy!!!
Anyway, I found this crazy video over there, and even though it's been on the site since February 20, 2006 -- this YouTube site has been around for a year? that's just crazy!!! -- I just saw it. And I'm making it my inaugural "Video Of The Day".
Enjoy.
[Okay, that was clever. As you can imagine, after hearing the audio again, the Tubes have conflicting transcriptions of the lyrics. The consensus looks something like this. YMMV.]
