I had a bit of a delay getting this one out with MEA in the schools and all, sorry.
This is the second album from Fatboy Slim. It was released
in 1998. It is considered to be a big beat electronic record. The album had
issues with profanity, primarily for the track Fucking In Heaven where the word
“Fucking” is spoken 108 times from a sample of DJ Freddy Fresh. The album was
given a parental advisory sticker because of the profanity issue. There are
four singles that were released from this album plus a fifth promo single. The
first single is The Rockafeller Skank. Because of the four samples used in the
song, Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook), does not receive any royalties for the song.
The royalties are split 25% to each of the owners of the songs that are
sampled. It is a great song with a great beat. I think that he got robbed with
the ownership of this song. I think that he should have gotten to keep at least
25% of the profits on this song. The song couldn’t have been made with out his
creative ideas to put the samples together to make the song. He should have
gotten paid too is all I am saying. The next single from this album is called Gangster
Tripping. This song uses samples mostly from other DJ artists. I think that, by
using other DJs works, the royalties mainly remained with Fatboy Slim on this
track. This song has a cool funky beat to it with no swear words in it (kid
friendly). The third single, just about everyone from the 90s should know, is
called Praise You. The song is supposedly about praising the clones, if science
was successful, as normal human beings. The video, also very memorable for the
time, was made by Spike Jones. It featured a “dance troop” that was seemingly
home video taped while they danced a routine to this song. The video was kind
of quirky but still funny to me. The next single released from the album is
called Right Here, Right Now. This song has a really cool beat that is backed
by a building string chord progression. It has a great sound and makes me want
to, if not dance, bob my head to the driving beat. The repetitive word through
the song is “Bounce”. There have been some musicologists that say the echo of
the word has been edited to sound like the name of Norman’s favorite author, Ben Elton. I think
that this is a bunch of baloney because who in their right mind would try to
edit the echo of a word. That is ridiculous in my mind. But who am I to second
guess a musicologist? Anyway, the song
is another fun song to bob your head to. The whole album is fun really. With
the exception of the song Fucking In Heaven the album is pretty clean in my
opinion.
This is the eights album from R.E.M. It was released in
1992. There were a whopping six singles released from this album. This album
was released on the heels of Out Of Time. The first single, Drive, was not the
hit that the band thought that it would be. At least, it was not the number one
single that past albums initial released singles have been. It is still a good
track in my opinion though. The next single from the album is called Man On The
Moon. The song is a reference to Andy Kaufman and his crazy antics ranging from
Elvis impersonations to his work with wrestlers. The song also references the
conspiracy theory that the moon landings were faked. The song also lent its
name to the movie from 1999 that is based on Andy Kaufman’s life. I like the
music for the song but I could care less about the lyrics. The band has a
tendency to make songs about reality though, such as *69 and this song, so you
kind of have to live with them if you are going to be a fan of the group. The
next single from this album is called The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight. This is
not a great song but it is a good song. It is classic R.E.M. Sometimes, when
this song is on, I find myself thinking that this is a good song but when is it
going to be over. I like the track but it is not a song I want to hear all the
time. What I do like is the organ. I don’t usually like the organ played in a
song but this organ sound is very sweet. The fourth single is called Everybody
Hurts. This was a track that stood out in my life during high school. It was
played to no end it seemed on MTV. The video took place in a major traffic jam
on a major highway during rush hour. The video moves by many cars with people in
each car. Each car is different and each person in each car is different. The
band and the people get out of the cars and start walking. It is really a do
nothing, go nowhere video but it somehow still has meaning. That meaning is
that we are all the same in some way. By the lyrics we are all the same in that
everybody hurts. There are, of course, more ways that just this that we are all
the same but just as many that show we are different as well. The next single
is called Nightswimming. This is my favorite track on the album. It reminds me
of something that I always wanted to do. The lyrics perfectly depict what I
would imagine it would be like. The song is a slower song with a wide array of
instrumentation. I particularly like the string arrangement when it is
accompanied by the Obo. The song also reminds me of the last scene in the movie
Hackers. The pair are in a pool that is closed and across the way the buildings
light up with their alias names. It was a cute end to the movie. Anyway, on to
the last single. It is called Find The River. This song is not one of my
favorites. It is still interesting though. It kind of has a Midnight Cowboy
feel to it. I really like the theme to Midnight Cowboy. I think that I am not a
fan of the song because of the lyrics. Midnight Cowboy theme is just music. It
just doesn’t seem to work for me to add lyrics to the song. I think it would
have been better if Find The River would have been remade into an instrumental
track. This album seems to be very depressing. If you are in that mood then, by
all means, go and listen to the album. 
This is OK Go’s first album. It was released in 2002. I fell
in love with them on their first single, Get Over It. The song features the
classic Bass drum hit and clap alternating similar to the song We Will Rock You
from Queen but a bit more simplistic and rhythmic. I really like the song
because I can easily sing the lyrics as they are annunciated very clearly
through the song. The next single from the album is called Don’t Ask Me. This
is a song that has a great beat to dance to. It is yet another song that is
clearly annunciated and easy to sing along with. The lyrics to this song lead
me to believe that they are singing about someone that seems to think that they
are better than the singer is and the lyricist can’t stand it and lets them
know that they can’t stand it too. Singing this song, for me, is a good way to
get my angered emotions out. It is also just a lot of fun to sing along with
these songs too. There was only two songs released from this album as singles.
I will say that when I was wooing my wife I made her a CD with the track called
C-C-C-Cinnamon Lips on it. It is a track that describes parts of the body,
nothing explicit mind you, in a delicious way. It was a cute way to say to her
that I thought she was cute. Her sister did not really like the track but then
I was not trying to woo her sister. It all worked out in the end I guess. The
album was very indie for the time I guess. I always seem to have been on the
lookout for underground music I guess but I have said that in the past very
frequently too.
This is the first album by the artist known as Kenna. It was
released in 2003. I found out about Kenna from MTV. They had put out the video
for the first single about a year before the album was released. I remember
being fascinated with the video. I wanted more from this new artist. Then I
found out that the album had been delayed. I kept my eye out for the album
though. The video is brilliant and everyone should watch it. The name of the first single that was released is Hell Bent. The second song released from this album is called Freetime. This track is more upbeat
than the first single was and the video to go with it seems to be happier as
well. The video for this one is just as creative. It is viewed from a worms eye
view. What I mean is that the video is shot from the shins of the actors down.
The video is also a love story. It is a very interesting way to view a love
story at that. You can see that video here. The last single released from this
album is called Sunday After You. The release version of this song is actually
a remix of the song by Chad Hugo. This version is very different from the album
version. This is a really great dance album with a wide variety styles on it.
It is a lot of fun but can be a downer at the same time.
Well, That is all I got for now...
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