Twostepcublog

Song for the night. 143.

Hey folks, its time again for my tunes for the week. This week Rascal Flatts spends a third week at the summit, while Darren Hayes (pictured above) holds on in the top-10. I say goodbye to songs by Keith Urban, Ne-Yo, Enrique Iglesias, Pink, Erika Jayne, and Taylor Swift, and in the same time big moves are made by Colbie Caillat, Barbara Tucker, Garth Brooks, Simply Red, and the Perry Twins. Link-O-Mania is back in full force, so you can click on the highlighted name of any artist to take you to their webpage (if you rightclick, you can bring it up in another window or tab). HBSB! This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Take Me There - Rascal Flatts (1) 2. Don't Stop The Music - Rihanna (3) 3. Who Knew - Pink (2) 4. 4 In The Morning - Gwen Stefani (4) 5. Paralyzer - Finger Eleven (5) 6. Rockstar - Nickelback (6) 7. Thks Fr Th Mmrs - Fall Out Boy (7) 8. Big Girls Don't Cr...

Watch, as Senator Tom Harkin (D-Of course) hand General Peter (it's ironic my name's a synonym of "dick") Pace his ass on a lovely Mikasa platter. This is how you make a passionate, sincere argument without becoming heated (like I would).

(H/T to the great political blog Hullabaloo - go read it for some great political writing)...

Mike Reid , former pro-football star for the Cincinnati Bengals and country singer/songwriter, was unfortunately caught in the middle of having a stronger career in the music world as a singer by having his success in the nebulous early 90’s, before the deluge led by Alan Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, and Garth Brooks. His first album, Turning For Home , produced five country hits, including the #1 "Walk On Faith". Sophomore effort Twilight Town came out at the wrong time, and floundered. Even though the set is dated, and has the requisite 80s-early 90s cliché-ridden lyrics at times, does have worthwhile material, as well as a couple classic songs made more famous by others. Both of those songs are at the end, with “ Love Without Mercy ”, covered later on by Lee Roy Parnell, and the sublime yet heartbreaking “ I Can’t Make You Love Me ”, which Bonnie Raitt converted into an adult-pop classic. Personally, I like Reid’s more mournful take on “ I Can’t ” than Raitt’s, while Par...

Oh Robbie, what in the world has happened to you? You’ve gone from the superstar of British pop to a drug-addled male version of the Britney/Winehouse/Whitney class. Leaving British boy-band Take That, Robbie Williams became a British singing legend, racking up millions of record sales and racking up 24 top-10 singles in the UK (every one he put out save two). Every album he released in England hit #1 except his live one, which made #2. However, in the US, somehow inexplicably he hasn't caught on, only releasing 3 of his albums here physically (his latest two studio albums are on I-Tunes). After losing both original collaborator Guy Chambers and fill-in Stephen Duffy, Robbie Williams’ latest album, Rudebox , is a disappointingly scattershot stopgap affair that has a few moments of splendor amongst a lot of faux-rap dreck. Somehow Robbie fancied himself at this point of his career more of a rapper than a singer (or was his voice suffering?) and the album is strewn with weird att...

Yes, it's Sugarland in concert. Wow. (h/t to Country Universe for this)

Out of all the pop-inflected new wave bands of the early 80’s, it’s been Duran Duran who have been holding on to relevance by the skin of their teeth. I know this because the second box set of singles from the group covers a period up to twelve yeas ago! The Singles 1986-1995 is the follow-up 14-disc set that chronicles DD’s British singles after their meteoric rise. It’s a labor of love that’s clearly meant for fans since each CD only contains between 3-10 songs, mostly remixes but also scattered album cuts and earlier hits. While the first box set ended with “A View To A Kill”, their second (and final) #1 pop hit, Singles 1986-1995 starts out with a fractured lineup, as their Notorious album pared the group to a trio of Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, and Nick Rhodes (Andy Taylor contributed only on a couple of tracks to the album). The side projects of Arcadia and the Power Station have clearly driven battle lines, and the funk-art of Arcadia basically won out. “ Notorious ”, pr...

Hey folks, it's time again for my tunes for the week. This week Rascal Flatts holds on to the top for a second week, while newly-coiffed Dierks Bentley (pictured above) moves within the top-10. Colbie Caillat, Barbara Tucker, The Perry Twins, and Pat Monahan make the biggest jumps, while songs by Tim McGraw, Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson, Ben Macklin, and Nickelback drop off. Happy Autumn! This Week Title/Song (last week's position in parentheses) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Take Me There - Rascal Flatts (1) 2. Who Knew - Pink (2) 3. Don't Stop The Music - Rihanna (6) 4. 4 In The Morning - Gwen Stefani (4) 5. Paralyzer - Finger Eleven (3) 6. Rockstar - Nickelback (7) 7. Thks Fr Th Mmrs - Fall Out Boy (9) 8. Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's (5) 9. Free & Easy (Down The Road I Go) - Dierks Bentley (10) 10. Step Into The Light - Darren Hayes (14) 11. Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal) - Fergie (17) 12. Stranger - Hi...

So the "honored" general and just about every other Bush-apologizer or lemming is pissing their pants over this ad? WTF? We actually had to spend taxpayer money for those fucktards to pass a bill "condemning" the Petraeus/Betray Us ad? Is the witty bitty genewal too scared? Go to the MoveOn.org site to get the real information. Seems the dicks can attack the credibility of any military man that goes against the dickhead of a president's wishes, but this snow job of a report is supposed to get a free pass because he's playing dressup? Can we say Swift Boat, people? If Ambassador Negroponte, whom I'm not a fan of, thinks he's full of shit, tell me why should I? Huh? Republican douchebags (and the fucked up Democrats who went along with that shit). Hope those every-increasing senseless deaths of our men and women aren't hovering over your heads too badly. He is a liar, he did fudge the numbers, and he is a willing pawn in a political dance mor...

Gotta hand is to Seth Green....

Hey guys, I had "retired" the single file for a while since I was so hectic, but it's back. Woohoo! I Nine - "Seven Days Of Lonely" - This South Carolina band is a low-tier rock band straddling between the sing-song juvenality of Avril Lavigne to the female-led pop-rock of Sixpence None The Richer. Pleasant jangle of 90's pop-rock, though not earthshattering to bring across-the-board success. Grade: B- Flyleaf - "All Around Me" Now Evanescence has a full-fledged Christian-rock clone. Hailing from Texas, this track comes of their already almost two-year old album. Not as lyrically and musically complex as Amy Lee et al, it tries a little hard to push the right alt-buttons. Grade: C Trisha Yearwood - "Heaven Heartache & The Power Of Love" An awesome return for Yearwood, who puts through a much looser and enjoyable track than the serious return for husband Garth. Clearly a woman putting music out for her standards, and not country...

Hey guys, it's time for my tunes for the past week. This time Rascal Flatts take over the top spot, while Fall Out Boy (pictured above) move within the top-10. Songs by Smashing Pumpkins, iio, Kim English, and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus drop off the chart, while Darren Hayes, Matchbox Twenty, Mark Ronson, and Robbie Williams make some of the biggest moves. (whisper whisper whisper whisper....) This Week Song/Artist (last week's position in parentheses) -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Take Me There - Rascal Flatts (3) 2. Who Knew - Pink (4) 3. Paralyzer - Finger Eleven (2) 4. 4 In The Morning - Gwen Stefani (8) 5. Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's (6) 6. Don't Stop The Music - Rihanna (11) 7. Rockstar - Nickelback (9) 8. Umbrella - Rihanna (1) 9. Thks Fr Th Mmrs - Fall Out Boy (10) 10. Free & Easy (Down The Road I Go) - Dierks Bentley (12) 11. Makes Me Wonder - Maroon5 (7) 12. Rehab - Amy Winehouse (5) 13....

Joe Lieberman has finally what was left of his rational mind. Here watch the douchebag actually bring up attacking Iran . Holy friggin Christ! He really need to be removed from the Democratic caucus ASAP before he brings us his own Yiddish armeggedon...

I must be on a roll. Three CDs in a row I wasn’t crazy about. Hey, that’s the breaks. But I didn’t expect too much for Bomb The Bass ’ Beat Dis – The Best Of Bomb The Bass save for the title-named song, “ Beat Dis ”. A smorgasbord of samples in the vein of the classic dance track “Pump Up The Volume”, “Beat Dis” is a six-minute string of non-sequitors driven by a hypnotic bassline that rides the entire track. Tim Simenon went on from there to use the BTB name to put out records of English break-beat (yes, English Break-beat) that don’t really measure up to the promise of the debut. The other notable song on the set is a remake of “ Say A Little Prayer ” that veers into Soul II Soul territory. Otherwise for the casual listener, Beat Dis – The best Of Bomb The Bass is heavy on beats, low on melody or substance. Grade: D Best Cuts: “Beat Dis” Weakest Links: “Liquid Metal”, “Run Baby Run”, “Hey You” "Beat Dis" hit #1 dance club and #2 in the UK. "Megablast/...

I love me my English pop. Which should make (British) Pop Idol Will Young ’s Keep On a no-brainer. However, Young’s third album seems to be a muddied affair at being current, with Young’s voice whining and hidden under too-busy instrumentation at times. When he’s left pretty much alone, like in “ All Time Love ”, he’s sublime. A couple of the beat-ier number work to some effect, like kiss-off track “ Ain’t Such A Bad Place To Be ” or the lush “ Home ”. " Who Am I " is nicely ambient. And admittedly most of the album is listenable, in a “I’m trying real hard to take over from George Michael” way. However it suffers from a severe lack of hooks, and I really can’t remember succinctly many of the songs after hearing the whole disc twice. For a pop album, that’s not good. The worst is the swamp of “ Switch It On ” which was promoted as a single, no less. With " Happiness ", Young channels Basia, and on " Think It Over " he attempts to be funky. At a discount,...