Twostepcublog

Hey boys and girls..it's time for my tunes of the week. As per the drill, you can click on the highlighted artist name of nay artist to go to their webpage to find out more information, listen to songs, see videos, yadda yadda yadda (it's better to right-click to bring up another window). This week Justin Timberlake makes it to the top spot, while George Strait (above) has the highest ranking country song this week on here. Saying goodbye are songs by the Scissor Sisters, Landon Pigg, The Bird & The Bee, Robin, and James Blunt, while big moves are made by Rodney Atkins, Shakira, and Dierks Bentley. Keep Warm! This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. My Love - Justin Timberlake (3) 2. Hurt - Christina Aguilera (1) 3. Welcome To The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance (2) 4. It Just Comes Natural - George Strait (5) 5. U & Ur Hand - Pink (7) 6....

One of the biggest fallacies is that the only good pop music after the rock-n-roll breakout mid-fifties and the psychedelic late sixties was either Brit Invasion or Motown. Not true. Doo-wop, evolving from the primordial music ooze which by way of groups like the Crew Cuts and the Platters helped bring rock music and soul music together. And doowop, like girl group music, was not all cookie-cutter lovey-dovey ditties. In flashes of greatness, many artists contributed classic songs to the American songbook. One of those groups were Little Anthony & The Imperials . Coming from New York City, and led by the appropriately diminutive Anthony Gourdine, the Imperials first hit in 1958 with the classic "Tears On My Pillow", making the US top 10 pop chart on their first try. After a bunch more minor singles, they left End Records for DCP Records. With the guidance of Teddy Randazzo, the group hit the trifecta with three classic soul songs, " I'm On The Outside (Looking In...

And they said it wouldn't be happening. Forever tagged the underdog, even with the best record in the NFC, Da Bears are going to Miami for the Superbowl. I am totally psyched. I was going to put up the SNL skit, or the Superbowl Shuffle (maybe next week), but for now this clip just about does it. Enjoy.

Kate Bush is one of those artists you're supposed to love, even though you may not remember anything beyond "Running Up That Hill". She's in that triumverate with Enya and Tori Amos to nab the "sensitive chick" in the 90s (not like I would know anything about that). Bush had been insanely popular in England since the late 70s/early 80s though, and helped usher in the musical climate that brought new wave music to pop radio. recently she has slowed down her output so that this is only her third studio album in the last 20 years. But it's a double. Was it worth the wait? On a whole, yes. Aerial is split up into disc themes, "A Sea Of Honey" and "A Sky Of Honey". "Sea" is the more experimental of the two in terms of musical structure, though explores more mundane subjects like laundry (" Mrs. Bartolozzi ") or math (" Pi "). Lead-off single " King Of The Mountain " is by no means a standard p...

Kenny Rogers is the Cher of country music. Hear me out. First off, let me say, I generally like Kenny. In fact, as a younger cub I sorta had a weird little crush on Kenny. Not really like in a sexual way, but like "he's Prince Charming-husband material sort of way". Of course seeing Sixpack 2 gazillion times on HBO probably didn't hurt. His music, was alright, but always there . There always was some kind of Kenny Rogers music in my early years, from the First Edition stuff to his country stuff to his pop stuff to his soft rock stuff. But lots of things also tip me off to make him the country "Cher" for me. Cases in point: #1) He's survived like roaches after a nuclear war. I mean, where other country artists can get put to pasture after even 3-5 years of relevance, Kenny is like the great-great-grandfather to the newbies. Even having a top-20 hit in 2006, at the age of 68. Like Cher's "Believe" hit #1 at 52. Hmmm... #2) Kenny's gon...

It's time again for my tunes of the week. Each artist is highlighted, and if you click on it you can bring up their webpage to find out more about 'em, listen to their music, etc, etc. (Rightclick to bring up another window). This week Christina Aguilera returns to the top spot with the second single from her album, while Justin Timberlake (above) makes it in the top three. Big moves this week are made by Supafly, Inc., Bob Sinclar, and 30 Seconds To Mars, while songs by Keith Urban and All-American Rejects leave the charts (but with followups both already in the top 50). Da Bears! This Week Song/Artist (last weeks position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Hurt - Christina Aguilera (2) 2. Welcome To The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance (1) 3. My Love - Justin Timberlake (4) 4. Here (In Your Arms) - hellogoodbye (3) 5. It Just Comes Natural - George Strait (7) 6. Through Glass - Stone Sour (6) 7....

God bless Q magazine . Otherwise I wouldn't know about gems like Hard-Fi 's Stars Of CCTV . Pretty much unknown in the US, this thoroughly English rock band is miles ahead of even hip bands like the Libertines and the Kaiser Chiefs. Combining punky brat licks with funky almost-disco highlights, Stars is a all-round great listen for those pining for the next answer to Blur and the like. The set starts out with " Cash Machine ", a poor-boy-with-a-problem lament that has a killer bass line that wouldn't be out of place in a Bowie or a Blondie set. " Middle Eastern Holiday " shows of Hard-Fi's punk leaning's, while offering a subtle jab at the Iraq war from the view of a hapless kid sent off to the desert. After that, " Tied Up Too Tight " is a classic Britpop tune that makes you wanna get up and dance without being "dancy". That attitude continues with " Gotta Reason ", then leads to the highlight track, the ultra-cool...

I've been thinking about this song lately, it never got released here, but was a hit in Australia. Tina Arena is a great artist and writer, authoring Jo Dee Messina's great "Burn". To listen to " Dare You To Be Happy " with James Ash's Remix you can click here to download (rightclick to bring up another window). And here's the video of the original version.

Hey folks, it's time again for my tunes of the week. You can check out these songs by going to the webpages of the artists by clicking on the highlighted name (its better to rightclick to bring up a new window). This week My Chemical Romance is at the top for a third week, while hellogoodbye (above) make it into the top 3. A big song by Kenny Chesney is leaving the list, but songs by Supafly Inc, Depeche Mode, Kellie Pickler, and Little Big Town are doing well. Cheers! This Week Song/Artist (last weeks' position in parentheses) --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Welcome To The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance (1) 2. Hurt - Christina Aguilera (2) 3. Here (In My Arms) - hellogoodbye (4) 4. My Love - Justin Timberlake (5) 5. Jump - Madonna (3) 6. Through Glass - Stone Sour (6) 7. It Just Comes Natural - George Strait (10) 8. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol (8) 9. When You Were Young - The Killers (9) 1...

Trent Tomlinson 's Country Is My Rock is a seemingly ready-made-for Hogs-n-Heifers outlaw-country prefab that pops up every now and then. However this one features one very killer song (" Drunker Than Me ", relating Trent's frustration over his apparently intoxicated-to-deal-with-him state), one good country take (" The Bottle "), a couple ok tunes, and a lot of filler. The usual themes of honky-tonks, rock and country in the same line, sports analogies, and bad-guy-really-is-good are scattered throughout like there was a checklist. The album does get better by the last four songs, but a lot of people may not wait around for that. More hooky songs like "Drunker" would help a second effort bigtime. Grade: C Best Cuts: "Drunker Than Me", "The Bottle" Weakest Links: "Hey Batter Batter", "Country Is My Rock", "Cheatin' On My Honkytonk" Country is My Rock hit #20 country albums and #95 pop albums....

Ok Gap, you've got your new ad. The blond, the brunette, and the redhead, a collective "Josie & the Pussycats" of country-pop, if you will. SHeDaisy (don't ask me about the capitals, it's how they spell it) is another in the long line of Utah-based (read "probably Mormon") family singing groups that culminated in the death-star of pop that were the Osmonds (gotta love those Osmonds). After three albums (as well as a kick-ass Christmas album and a weirdly-made "remix" album), Kristyn, Kelsi, and Kassidy (awww, how cute, the same letter, even) have chugged along as a moderately successful female answer to Rascal Flatts, who by the way came out on the same label at around the same time....hmmm. Fortuneteller's Melody continues the soccer-mom easy country style they've succeeded with on their other albums, however the songs here aren't as strong or memorable. The leadoff single, " I'm Taking The Wheel ", a standard...

Hey boys and girls, it's that time again. I know I've been short on reviews lately, when I get back from Phoenix, I promise to do catchup. For now, here's my tunes for the week, and as usual you can click on the highlighted name of the artist or band to bring up their webpage (it's better to right-click to bring it up in a new window). This week My Chemical Romance is at #1 for a third week, with Christina Aguilera (above) inching in at the runner-up spot. Saying goodbye from the chart are songs by the Pussycat Dolls and Cerrone, and big moves are made by songs by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Daughtry, and The Killers. Cowboy up! This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Welcome To The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance (1) 2. Hurt - Christina Aguilera (3) 3. Jump - Madonna (4) 4. Here (In My Arms) - Hellogoodbye (5) 5. My Love - Justin Timberlake (13) 6. Th...

....Hot water heaters cost a friggin' LOT to replace. ....I don't care about Britney Spears' "problems", Jennifer Aniston's "problems", or whatever Olsen twins' "problems". ....Rosie O'Donnell needs to just go and beat the shit out of Donald Trump. ....Dick Cheney may be a pure source of evil, but Tony Snow is the most smarmy self-righteous lying egotistical pompous douchebag in the city of Washington today, and that's saying a lot. ....I couldn't give two shits if either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama will or will not be running for president. ....On that matter, ditto that for hypocritcal panderers John McCain or Rudy Guiliani. ....Carson Daly is slowly but surely morphing into a clone of Dick Clark. ....NO amount of US troops will stop the downward spiral in Iraq. ....Youtube is crazy addictive. ....The Dixie Chicks were right. ....No one in their right mind could can 10 minutes in a locked room with Sean Hannity. ....Th...