OK, Mariah. We GET it. You’re hot. You like your body, and you also like showing it off. You’ve never been an artistic giant, but at least your earlier albums had some substance. Now, it’s like, damn. Your songs are lame (how many more times is that DeBarge loop gonna get jacked?) and people are kinda tired of you almost showing the vag. And why T.I.? Justin Timberlake took that boat and sailed with it two years ago, baby.
Blog
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Paul’s MyTunes Baker’s Dozen: A Random Nickel Tour of What’s Playing on My iPod
If you haven’t been watching Bravo’s Flipping Out this summer, you should really start. It’s the kind of show that makes you really reassess just how crazy your boss might be, or just how degrading your job might be, or just how anal-retentive your partner or spouse might be. This reality show follows obsessive-compulsive (to the hundredth power) house-flipper Jeff Lewis and his crew of long-suffering assistants. In one of last season’s best episodes, Jeff had one of his assistants drive his cat to an appointment with an acupuncturist, and insisted that the assistant have a discussion with the cat on the way over to explain where they were going and what would happen there.   Jeff Lewis’s mindboggling demands and his perfectly timed, deadpan one-liners are the true star of this show; but the absurdist antics of his assistant Chris Elwood (a sometimes actor) sometimes threaten to steal the occasional scene.
This week, Chris Elwood drew his boss’s ire by wearing his iPod headphones all the time, which had everyone he ran into asking what he was listening to. It was one of those scary moments when I actually understood and (gulp) agreed with Lewis’s righteous indignation – it’s so… unprofessional! – but then, I wanted to know what Elwood was listening to too, and felt cheated when I didn’t find out. Then again, one could hardly fault Elwood for turning up the Tunes and tuning out his boss’s self-absorbed rants. If I were Elwood, I’d probably do the same.  And here, apparently, is what I’d be listening to:
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San Diego’s Bedford Grove
Pat Benatar headlined a concert after this year’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego, California. It was great to see the Grammy award winning rock legend, but I was just as interested in the opening act, San Diego’s own Bedford Grove. The group started out the evening with a bit of light funk that got my head noddin’ just a little bit. But that’s all it took to get me interested.
Grove’s front man Marc Gould describes their music as fun and danceable, but with a jazzy, funky, kickin’ swing to it. When I pressed Gould to come up with influences, his answer was “Anything in that moment of inspiration.” He says that whatever provokes spontaneous emotion, be it a conversation, song, or movie, is an influence.
Drew Grethel plays the drums, Andrew Saunders & Matt Davies are on the brass, and Ms. Lauren Paul adds the band’s female touch with background vocals. Gould says that Paul adds more color and sexiness to the music.
Gould says that San Diego has seen a new wave of good music, but nothing that resembles the style of Bedford Grove. He calls it, “Mixing the upbeat feel of the beach with the gritty grooves of the city.” When I tried to get him to predict where he thought they’d be in several years, he says that he’s only got his mind on next month. But he also added, that I should ask him again in three years when the band is selling out Madison Square Garden. I’ll keep him to that promise.
You can take a listen to the sounds of Bedford Grove by going to their website or on their MySpace page.