I swear this isn’t turning into the Lily Allen blog, but her new video bears mention. The song is called “It’s Not Fair” and if you hear it before you see the video, you wouldn’t think there’s anything terribly “country” about it. It’s more or less a dance track, a song you hear and then mentally picture the bass thump-thump-thumping in an urban nightclub somewhere. After seeing the video, though, you may feel differently. Of course, there is nothing remotely country about Lily Allen. But that’s why I like the video so much, I guess. I mean, Porter Wagoner? Nice curveball – and she’s still a terrible dancer, too. But the songs – she’s got an arsenal. Shouldn’t take you long to realize what the song is about, either, if you really listen. And the band in the video – guaranteed to crack you up.
Other stuff:
The 60 Minutes piece this past weekened about this Conficker virus seems to have ruffled a lot of consumer feathers. Whenever I hear about big, nasty computer viruses I, perhaps naively, just shrug my shoulders. Because it seems like nothing ever becomes of them. Now, I should add that I do carry the Norton Anti-Virus software on my computer and I keep it updated fastideously. I also make sure I have any Windows updates. I did almost lose my entire hard drive once, music included, so I pay attention to this stuff. But all the hoop-dee-do about these huge viruses never seems to get me overly worried. Today’s Boston Globe article makes me feel a little better.
This morning after dropping off the boys at day care, the Scorpions song “Still Loving You” came into my head. No idea why. I’d love to understand better how the brain works with stuff like this. You know? Like, how the hell does a song from 7th grade (1984, BTW) make its way into my head one morning when I’m on the verge of 38? Anyway, I was never a big fan of The Scorpions. My friend and I used to make fun of their accents when we saw them on MTV. Their music – sophomoric at best. But there was something about “Still Loving You.” I mean, if a Scorpions song pops into your head, shouldn’t it be “Rock You Like A Hurricane” or “No One Like You?” That’s probably what comes into everyone else’s head. But no, I get Still Loving You. The ballad.
I’ve been trying cereal with dried fruit in it lately. Call it a phase. It’s those cereals where, when you pour the milk in, suddenly the fruit comes to life and looks like fresh fruit. Weird. But I’m liking it. It can’t be bad for me, ay? This week I tried the Trader Joe’s Blueberry & Pomegranates with oat flakes. Really quite good. I try to keep a close eye on cereals I eat because a lot of them are loaded with sugar. I try to keep my cereals to under 10g of sugar per serving. It limits your choices significantly, but there’s still a good amount to choose from out there.
I’m thinking when the NHL playoffs are over it might be time to really move on getting rid of cable tv.Leave it to the Bruins to make me keep spending more money. Hopefully I’ll be spending it through June.
One of the things I love about music is that once in a while somethnig comes out of left field and just gets me. Something that nobody would ever imagine I would like. Yes, I’m posting about Lily Allen again. I thought maybe when I wrote about her back in August that it was just a quick appreciatation and eventually I’d get over it and be on my merry way. I call this my Aimee Mann Syndrome. Mann released exactly one album that I find almost perfect – and the rest of her albums I just can’t stand.
So I thought I’d be putting Lily into the Aimee Mann Syndrome folder, but she’s released a new album recently and I’ll be damned if it’s not just as good as her first! There’s just something about Allen’s cheerful, joyous, deep pessimism that stays with me. Yes, I said “cheerful pessimism.” Allen makes it possible. I need to share two videos with you.
The first is her appearance on the Jay Leno show earlier this week, where she NAILS her new single, called “The Fear.” Just listen to those lyrics……she is good. I can’t believe I’m saying it. She can’t dance, though.
The next one is a perfect example of “cheerful optimism.” It’s the video for a song called “LDN” from her first album. A few things I love about this video/song. The opening bit in a record store kills me. The song itself is so toe-tappingly cheerful you can’t even imagine it’s about crack-whores and muggers. It’s the curve balls that I like so much……and Allen’s got a 12-to-6.
My latest inexplicable obsession, which came totally out of nowhere, is Lily Allen. It’s not like I saw a video or heard it on the radio. I found it on the web. I guess there’s been some buzz because her new song, called “Fuck You Very Much,” is getting a bit of attention. But here’s the thing – other than the saucy title and wondering how radio might approach it, the song is GOOD! Very good! When I think about my music tastes, I don’t think that a little British princess who sings ska/pop/dance tunes would really be up my alley, but I guess my alley just got a little wider.
So, after hearing that track, I explored. She only has one album, but there are a couple of doozies on there. What is happening to me? Is there something there, or is it just me on a tangent for a couple of weeks? I’m curious to hear everyone’s thoughts on this girl. The song that jumped out at me was “Alfie,” a song about her lazy, stoner brother who spends all day in his room smoking pot and playing video games. I’d post the audio link here, but the video she made for it is way better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRX57zprNdw
OK, so now that you have a slight sense of what she’s about, why is it that when most Brits sing, their accent disappears? This has been a long-standing question in my head that has never been answered. The amount of Brits whose accents don’t disappear when they sing seems very very small. Lily Allen is one of them. Her accent is strong and true in her singing. Who else? Maybe Belle & Sebastian? Sandy Denny. Any others come to mind right away? Can anyone explain why this is the case?
