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

RW: Cult Logic Forever

There’s a popular mashup sloshing it’s way around the good ol’ web right now combining the talents of indie-electronic rocker Miike Snow and rapper Drake.

Lemme map out what was changed here.

(Miike Snows‘s “Cult Logic” – Vocals) + (Drake‘s “Forever” – Music ) – Eminem =  The Hood Internet‘s “Cult Logic Forever“

Incase mathematic symbols cause your head to spin, I just said that the mashup is the base track of Cult Logic with the vocal part of Forever, minus the Eminem section.

If anything, I’m just going to treat this song as something that helped bring Miike Snow to my attention. I’m huge on electronic-pop and this guy delivers.

So I hope that you find something of worth on this fine remix day. I hope your ears are satiated. Ω

William Fitzsimmons Covers Kanye West

I know that it has become somewhat trendy to take a pop song and strip it down to nothing but a voice and an acoustic guitar.  But this isn’t just another guy trying bank off of the fad of the day.  This song is legit.  It works for the same reason that it worked for Sam Beam’s “Such Great Heights”, or Jose Gonzalez’ “Heartbeats.”  It’s very real and it’s no stretch of the imagination.  I feel like this could fit right in with any of his albums so far, and that is what I love about.  And as usual, for a cover to work, the original has to be a solid track.  This right here is a reminder that as ridiculous as Wests actions may be while he is in the public eye, his music is still very relevant.

Kid Cudi’s “Moon” Mixes Fear with Zeal

Cleveland’s Kid Cudi scored a massive crossover hit with “Day ‘N’ Nite,” a song that had every club-hopper and hipster singing about being stoned and lonely. It’s a song that personifies everything about the rapper, most importantly the fear and isolation brought about by his creativity.

Man on the Moon: The End of Day is a concept album, first and foremost. This is Cudi’s quest to shape his slippery, subjective thought life into a singular piece of art and his self-conscious bid for a unique hip-hop masterpiece.

On one hand, Cudi’s sincerity is refreshing. He is Kanye West’s protégé, and the emotional tactics are similar: front a big game, but constantly admit insecurities. Conversely, Cudi’s humility sometimes rings false. On “My World,” he details his former fear of women before sneering to them, “this will be my world. I told you so.”

Melodrama abounds. On “Heart of a Lion (Kid Cudi Theme Music),” he croons, “Hide and seek within a dream I seem to glide above my horror, though I feel I’ll never be complete inside the dark I borrow.” Someone’s been listening to 808s & Heartbreak.

Actually, Cudi helped write some of that album’s better songs, including “Heartless” and “RoboCop.” The production of 808s left critics and fans cold but in hindsight, the album transformed Auto-Tune from gimmicky tool to artistic statement. West reassured rappers they could sing.

Cudi obviously took the sentiment to heart, as he demonstrates repeatedly on Moon. His voice is a crude instrument; it sounds like Q-Tip’s nasal delivery shifted down a few octaves and zapped of its giddy.

His songs are better when kept light and airy, as with “Simple As…” and the hit, “Make Her Say.” In fact, much like Kanye West, Cudi’s best work blurs the line between pop and hip-hop, and “Day ‘N’ Nite” is proof.

Moon does not live up to Cudi’s grand vision, but in reality, how could it? It does reward the listener willing to follow more than a few rabbit trails, though. It’s a strange, charming and divisive record, making it the hip-hop Sgt. Pepper’s of 2009.