Blame It On the Pop

Another year in music has come and gone. And once again DJ Earworm has given us a mash-up that says it all. He has taken the Top 25 hits of 2009, according to Billboard and arranged and mashed them all into one 4 and 1/2 minute song.  And I have to say I am pretty impressed that this can be done and made into a reasonably enjoyable song.  It even has a bit of a theme and a decent song structure.

But what does that say about the state of pop music,  that all of these songs are similar enough to mashed up into one singular song?  I don’t think this a completely untalented group of artists.  I actually enjoyed a fair amount of these songs this year.  But I think it goes to show how much the labels and producers are controlling the sound on these records.  It’s no wonder we eat these songs up and then make ourselves so sick of them that we never want to hear them again. Because we’re essentially listening to the same song over and over again.  What do you guys think?

Here’s a list of all of the songs included in this year’s mash-up.

• The Black Eyed Peas – BOOM BOOM POW
• Lady Gaga – POKER FACE
• Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O’Donis – JUST DANCE
• The Black Eyed Peas – I GOTTA FEELING
• Taylor Swift – LOVE STORY
• Flo Rida – RIGHT ROUND
• Jason Mraz – I’M YOURS
• Beyonce – SINGLE LADIES (PUT A RING ON IT)
• Kanye West – HEARTLESS
• The All-American Rejects – GIVES YOU HELL
• Taylor Swift – YOU BELONG WITH ME
• T.I. Featuring Justin Timberlake – DEAD AND GONE
• The Fray – YOU FOUND ME
• Kings Of Leon – USE SOMEBODY
• Keri Hilson Featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo – KNOCK YOU DOWN
• Jamie Foxx Featuring T-Pain – BLAME IT
• Pitbull – I KNOW YOU WANT ME (CALLE OCHO)
• T.I. Featuring Rihanna – LIVE YOUR LIFE
• Soulja Boy Tell ‘em Featuring Sammie – KISS ME THRU THE PHONE
• Jay Sean Featuring Lil Wayne – DOWN
• Miley Cyrus – THE CLIMB
• Drake – BEST I EVER HAD
• Kelly Clarkson – MY LIFE WOULD SUCK WITHOUT YOU
• Beyonce – HALO
• Katy Perry – HOT N COLD

Mr. A to Z, might be about the word play, but certainly not about making a decent album.

So this is my first post (super exciting eh) since Mr. Mckinney asked me to contribute to this wonderful website. I’m an excited wrecking ball of joy about to be swung with great force into Jason Mraz‘s most recent album, “We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things“. Ok here’s the deal, I want to like Jason Mraz, i really do. And to be honest, this album has some greats tracks, (as do all his albums) unfortnatley, 3 to 4 decent tracks on a record isn’t a passing grade. And for somone who has as much talent as he does, it is super disappointing. I mean seriously, the kid’s got a phenomenal voice, some unbelievably catchy rhymes, good looks, the whole package. Oh wait a minute, except for the fact that Rafee can put together a more equally balanced album. I think the reason this album peeved me as much as it did was the fact that it opens so strongly, and I truly felt like Jason had finally hit his stride. The first track, “Make It Mine” is great, fast, progressive and smooth. Then he follows it with “I’m Yours” which makes one assume that Jason is beginning to follow the Jack Johnson/ Jimmy Buffet smooth landback, islandy music i like so much. But after that is when things begin to go horribly wrong. Example: the song “Butterfly” is unbelievably catchy and has a big band sound, but is simply a song with no substance and the lyrics are one that should be played at a reno strip club. Then you have the track “Details in the Fabric”, which opens up with somone freaking out over an answering machine about an ordeal I can’t completely figure out, and then Jason Mraz comforting the individual through song. After all, what more would we, the listener, enjoy than a song that has absolutely no connection to us, giving us advice about a subject we barely understand. And then we have the depressing song “Love for a Child”, where we learn about how depressing growing up in the Mraz household was: when Jason started abusing drugs, neglect…. sounds like a bucket of trolli bright crawlers and chicken pot pie eh? Ok so its not a solid album, but if one does buy this album I have three tracks to recommend. 1. Make it Mine, 2. I’m Yours. 3. The Dynamo of Volition (I’m still trying to figure what on earth old Jason is talking about but its catchy and fun). Anyway the reason I’m so hard on Jason is because I really thought he had finally nailed the bullseye. I was obviously mistaken. But hey, i wont worry my life away!

JC

Jason Mraz – I’m Yours (removed 2/13/09)