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Thursday, February 11, 2010
Opinion / Mike McCray / News Umm...where's the music?
Posted By Mike McCray on Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 11:24 AM
There's nothing more jarring than silence. Now, imagine being in a public place where you're used to hearing some mundane soundtrack to whatever you're doing and it strangely be missing. You'd be surprised how noticeable it is.
I'm sure many-a-smooth jazz or easy listening artist, doing watered down covers of Motown hits, has kept their head over water because of retail shops and elevators wanting to play something to drown out the sound of nothing.
No one wants to overhear conversations about what colors look best on you, or the cash register opening and closing reminding you that you probably shouldn't be spending your money anyway. Give me the Michael Bolton! Give me anything but the sounds of... everyday life.
Some stores don't try at all with their soundtrack and others try way too hard to cool, but a lot of times it's unnecessary. Lord knows if "Party In The USA" wasn't blaring out into the mall, teen girls would still flock to Forever 21 to try and fool older guys into thinking they're legal.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Opinion / Jeff Hahne / News Bonnaroo lineup sounds good to me
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 4:08 PM
It's interesting, ever since the lineup for the 2010 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival were released yesterday, there have been as many "awesome" comments as "fail" ones.
I figured I'd offer up some thoughts of my own on the lineup. Let's start with the biggest one, right at the top — Dave Matthews Band. There are cries of pain from some that heard DMB would be headlining... some want him to play Sunday night so they can go home early. Other people are worried he's going to bring the wrong crowd, i.e. frat boys, to the 'Roo. But, guess what? Dave's been there before. He was there in 2004 and he was there in 2005. So, sit down and relax...
The next complaint is usually about Kings of Leon. Guess what? They've been there before, too, and on the main stage. They played an afternoon set back in 2007 (they were also there in 2004). Since then, they released a couple more albums and won something called the Grammy. Yeah, settle down on this one, too.
There are cries that the festival is not like it used to be. You know who was there in 2002 and 2003 when the festival started? The Disco Biscuits, Les Claypool, John Butler Trio, The Flaming Lips, Medeski Martin & Wood, Michael Franti... Guess who's there this year — all of those bands. (It should be noted that JBT has the date on his tour schedule, but Bonnaroo has not listed him on the official artist list, yet.)
Monday, February 8, 2010
On TV / Awards / Opinion / Mike McCray / News The halftime cultural divide
Posted By Mike McCray on Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 5:16 PM
Half-way through the Saints win during Super Bowl XLIV last night, The Who took the stage in Miami to perform the hits.
Now, I wouldn't consider them crossover artists by any means, but I'm at least aware of them and willing to argue that everyone who's ever watched TV or a movie has heard, "Who Are You" and "Baba O'Reilly" but following people's reactions on Twitter, thoughts and opinions were clearly split along racial lines.
One side raved about the band, 'still having it' and the lights being awesome while the other had lots of "Who the fuck are The Who? and "That old white guy's gonna die on stage" tweets, the funniest one from comedian Lil Duval, "I wonder is this how white people felt when Nelly performed at the Super Bowl?"
Light-hearted, but an interesting point.
Friday, February 5, 2010
News / Opinion Ke$ha takes over Hollywood sign... maybe
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 1:16 PM
A new viral video shows pop star Ke$ha sneaking into the Hollywood sign and changing it to read Ke$hawood... The video is slowly hitting the 'Net today and many people will wonder if it's real or fake.
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Here are my thoughts...
1 - Fantastic editing. If it happened last night, and the fell asleep in the limo like it shows, who was doing all that fantastic editing.
2- A cop is there before they go over/under the fence. He would have just walked away?
3 - The cop chases them off after catching them changing the sign, but then left the sheets up and the sign changed? I doubt it.
Still, a clever piece of marketing, the video is...
Thursday, February 4, 2010
News / Opinion / Jeff Hahne So, maybe Taylor Swift's not such a good singer...?
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 3:02 PM
During this year's Grammy Awards, Taylor Swift sang a duet with Stevie Nicks and critics and fans alike came out saying Swift was off-key and not the best singer they've heard. The youngster went on to win four Grammys, but people were questioning those after her performance.
Now her label has come out in her defense... by admitting she's not a great singer?
“Maybe she’s not the best technical singer, but she’s probably the best emotional singer because everybody else who gets up there and is technically perfect, people don’t seem to want more of it,” Scott (Borchetta of Big Machine Records) told The Tennessean.
Odd defense, if you ask me.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Opinion / Jason Younger / News It's Miss Jackson if you're nasty...
Posted By Jason Younger on Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 12:46 PM
If history has taught us anything, it’s that one small event can change the world. Especially if that one small event involves Michael Jackson’s little sister’s boob. Take a trip down memory lane with me if you will...
In 2001, the NFL made the interesting decision to let MTV “produce” the Super Bowl halftime show. In what can now be referred to as “Lip Synch Fest ’01” the show consisted of a smattering of pop, hip-hop and rock with Aerosmith, Brittney Spears, ‘N Sync and Nelly. Apparently Milli Vanilli had a prior engagement – how can you NOT include them when they mastered the art of the lip synch? I say this is a travesty even now.
This trend would continue for a total of three Super Bowls (the one exception being in 2002 when U2 did a tribute to the victims of 9/11) culminating in the now infamous “Wardrobe Malfunction” in 2004. You KNEW with MTV producing these things that something was bound to happen. You know the rest of the story. Miss Jackson shows the world her throwing star and MTV is left to “produce” crappy award shows on their own network.
Monday, February 1, 2010
On TV / Awards / Opinion / Jeff Hahne / News Grammy results — Awards and predictions
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Mon, Feb 1, 2010 at 11:13 AM
You can see a list of all of the winners of last night's Grammy Awards here. As you may or may not know, I gave my thoughts and predictions for all 109 categories last week.
So, how'd I do? I got 57 of them wrong, 52 right. I didn't do so well in the producer and engineer categories, the instruemental, gospel, country or latin categories...
I was correct with most of the big ones — Record of the Year (Kings of Leon), Album of the Year (Taylor Swift), Song of the Year (Beyonce), Best New Artist (Zac Brown Band), Best Pop Vocal Album (Black Eyed Peas), Best Electronica/Dance Album (Lady Gaga)...
On a handful of categories I had a toss-up between two artists and chose the wrong one. Other times, I had a feeling one person was going to win, but I wanted someone else.
Oddly, I also predicted the winners for Best Musical Album for Children, Best Bluegrass Album, Best Americana Album, Best Tejano Album, Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album, Best Recording Package, Best Historical Album, Best Chamber Music Performance, Best Classical Crossover Album and a bunch of others...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Live Reviews / On TV / Awards / Opinion / Jeff Hahne / News Live Grammy commentary
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 5:10 PM
Stay tuned right here — I'll be offering up my commentary on tonight's Grammy Awards during the broadcast (live from my couch). Expect complaints, humor, winners and whatever else is running through my mind while the broadcast goes on...
Just flipped past the Grammy previews on TV Guide channel. Glad to see my predictions are doing so well — Levon Helm won for Best Americana Album, Ziggy Marley won Best Children's Album, Buckwheat Zydeco, Stephen Marley, Los Tigres del Norte and I even picked the Best Surround Sound Album right...
Mr. "Pants on the Ground" is at the Grammys — ok, it was a catchy song, but he's at 14:59 in his 15 minutes of fame.
The live coverage brings now...
Friday, January 29, 2010
On TV / Awards / Opinion / Jeff Hahne / News Grammy Award predictions
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 1:25 PM
I did it last year, so, why not try it again this year — here are my predictions for all 109 categories of this years Grammy Awards.
The event will be on television on CBS on Sunday night at 8 p.m.
Here are my hopes and predictions (and, like last year, I recommend getting a snack before you jump into this list.):
Record Of The Year — My fingers are crossed that Lady Gaga will not win this one... I'm guessing that Taylor Swift is gonna walk away the winner, but for the hell of it, I'm going to predict Kings of Leon.
Album Of The Year — Beyonce and Lady Gaga (unfortunately) have a good shot at this one. DMB has a great story behind it, but I'm going to go with Taylor Swift again.
Song Of The Year — "Poker Face" stuck in the heads of a lot of people, but not for a good reason... mostly because it's just plain annoying. I can't imagine Taylor Swift winning the three big ones — but she make take this and lose one of the others. Again, I'd love to see Kings of Leon win it, but I'm gonna guess Beyonce's repetitive "Single Ladies" will be the winner. Ugh.
Best New Artist — The Ting Tings are one-hit wonders so far, MGMT doesn't have enough of a mainstream audience yet... Silversun Pickups are a possibility, but I"d weigh heavy on Zac Brown Band for their crossover appeal.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Opinion / Jason Younger / News Cover band requirements
Posted By Jason Younger on Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 4:19 PM
Calling all area Charlotte bar owners and live music operators – in case you haven’t heard there appears to be a recession upon us. You may have noticed this in your establishments on some nights (see: Sunday – Thursday). You may be wondering how to improve this situation, and actually make some money? I have the answer my friends:
Get a better-than-average, versatile cover band. Trust me. It’s money in the bank. Guaranteed. Want proof?
Hong Kong is basically the New York City of Asia. There are roughly a bajillion bars with live music in that city (trust me, I’ve been there and counted them myself). And you wanna know what type of band is playing in every single one of those bars 7 nights a week? That’s right – the aforementioned cover band.
Imagine this if you will. It’s Sunday night - the worst night of the week in terms of people out drinking (unless it’s Super Bowl Sunday). Your establishment is a quarter full (MAYBE). Wouldn’t you love to have a packed house, rockin’ out, spendin’ wads of cash? That is exactly what the scene looks like in Hong Kong on any given night.
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Charlotte singer-songwriter Bart Lattimore releases the ultimate 'dad' video 1
Lattimore and Modern Primitives drummer Phillip Gripper collaborate on "That's What Daddies Do."
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Live Review: Soweto Gospel Choir
Review of Soweto Gospel Choir's performance in Charlotte.
