May Misses

I'm back! I know, it's been a minute and I know it's a little late for a recap of music from May, and all I can say to that is S.A.D.U. (shout out to Jodi Dion). I decided to go with a new format this time and present the songs in a playlist. I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier, seeing that embedding 10 individual songs is kind of a pain in the ass.

New Music: Aloe Blacc - Love Is The Answer (produced by Pharrell)

I remember a few years ago this man was telling us how he needed a dollar, now he's doing songs with Pharrell.  Looks like he got that dollar and then some. Love Is The Answer is from Aloe Blacc's Wake Me Up EP, and I am REALLY feeling it. Aloe's voice has that powerful and gruffy Roy Ayers/Bill Withers vibe to it that I dig. As for the beat, (I hate to do it to you again, Pharrell, but...), it has the perfect blend of bounce and groove to it, but it kind of sounds like Pharrell borrowed from, stole from, paid homage to parts of Herb Alpert's 1979 jazz classic Rise.

It might sound familiar because Diddy also borrowed, stole, sampled, Diddy-ed elements of it for The Notorious B.I.G.'s 1997 hit Hypnotize. Great minds think alike, I guess. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal to me, but Pharrell kind of annoyed me when he played the Vanilla Ice card when he was questioned about his last allegations of musical theft (the eerie similarities between Robin Thicke's summer smash Blurred Lines and Marvin Gaye's classic Got To Give It Up). Here's what he told the Associated Press last month:

"If you read music, all you have to do is read the sheet music, it's completely different. [Marvin Gaye] is the king of all kings, so let's be clear about that, and we take our hats off to him. But anybody that plays music and reads music, just simply go to the piano and play the two. One's minor and one's major. And not even in the same key."

Now, I can understand than no artist wants their creativity questioned, but at the same time, don't discredit the intelligence of your audience. Just admit it, you like to borrow from legends. We get it, Rise and Got To Give It Up are infectious jams, you couldn't help yourself.

All of that aside, I really like this song, and if you value my musical opinion you will too. You're welcome.

The Curious Case of Miley Cyrus

The 2013 Video Music Awards (the VMAs for all you cool cats) aired on MTV (Music Television for all you old cats) this past Sunday, and I didn't watch. I'm sorry, I just refuse to legitimize a music award show produced by a network that has the word "music" in its name and devotes less than 10% of its programming to music, but that's another post for another time.

So there I was, watching Low Winter Sun on AMC (consider this my official endorsement), and around the 9:04 mark, all hell seemed to break loose on Facebook. The focus of the outrage, Miley "Don't Call Me Hannah Montana" Cyrus' performance.

May Misses

Sorry about my tardiness.  I find it difficult to blog when my 9 year old is on summer vacation and hogs the damn computer.  Its amazing how much computer time a chocolate shake from McDonald's can buy you.
Even though I received no funds from the fast food conglomerate, this blog post is literally brought to you by McDonald's.  Enjoy the McList.

Daily Throwback: Marvin Gaye - Got To Give It Up

The Shuffle God went way back went this one.  Who hasn't Marvin Gaye influence, I mean Pharrell basically stole this beat paid homage to Marvin when creating Robin Thicke's current hit Blurred Lines. This song just emotes good energy, I'm nodding my head as I type this up.  All we need is some Al Green, some Isley Brothers, some sunshine, a grill, a Spades provoked fist fight between cousins, and we got ourselves a classic barbecue, baby!  You're welcome.

Daily Throwback: Robin Thicke - Lost Without You

On this wet morning, the Shuffle God has decided to hit us with a slow jam from Alan's son a.k.a. Mike Seaver.  Just go with it, I guess.  You're welcome.

Robin Thicke ft. T.I. & Pharrell - Blurred Lines

Uh oh, JT's not the only cool white boy that can get a veteran rapper and a platinum producer to hop on a track.  Mr. Thicke a.k.a. Mike Seaver (I wonder if that will catch on) drops a hot one that has the interweb buzzing.  I'm digging this one. It has a nice little summer time vibe to it.  Shit, its been so cold so far this "spring," everything sounds like it has a summer time vibe to me.  Blurred Lines will be officially released on iTunes this Tuesday. You're welcome.