Consie

He's testing our faith to see if even after horrendous, incomprehensibly disgusting things happen to us, we'll still worship him, the one who caused it. :rolleyes:

I hope Regina Spektor rises! "Fidelity" is wonderful!

I love it when they claim to be taking requests, too. Yeah, I'm SURE some casual listener requested you play Beyonce for the 3rd time in the last hour :rolleyes:

It's true that most of the staples of "American culture" (if such a thing exists) from baseball to the cowboy to the hamburger are derivative. But the reason is because many of the origins of those institutions are older than the country itself. And even if the country is only 250 years old, the vast majority of its residents continue(d) practicing their native customs for several generations, while assimilating with people of other cultures, which is why you get new customs that are bast*rdized versions of age-old traditions.

We'll see if Jennifer Hudson can do it. The stakes are nearly impossibly high. Jennifer Holliday's performance is perhaps the most incredible vocal performance in the history of Broadway theatre. Can Hudson really match this? kC_u_q-iND0 Skip to 4:00 for the song that immortalized her a Broadway legend.

This isn't totally related but I read an article that McDonalds was testing out new locations in which you drive up to a speaker and dictate your order to someone in a call center in India, who then sends the order to the kitchen via computer. It means one less employee working. Outsourcing will grow and grow as long as corporations find new ways to cut costs...

As someone who only recently began to appreciate such music, I am thrilled at this countdown. it's like a comprehensive list of not merely songs, but artists to further explore. Fantastic as usual! :D

I'm almost positive the Wikipedia info is wrong. Liberty X actually came close to a hit with Just a Little - it charted on pop airplay in the top 100 and was steadily rising in the fall of 2002. But there was aboslutely no promotion and the single just kind of died. I doubt it ever charted on the Billboard Hot 100. There was an interview with them on Dotmusic back that fall... fans could submit their own questions. I specifically asked "Will you come to the US and release your album?" and the question was picked up. One of the members basically said "yes" but I don't think they ever did.

Starsailor - Four to the Floor (Thin White Duke mix)

In all seriousness, I think "movie" is more slangy than anything. Everyone in Hollywood uses film and most critics or people who take cinema seriously use film. It's the more proper word. Not really like pavement vs sidewalk because if you tell someone to walk on the pavement in New York, he's likely to tell you the entire city is paved! I want to bring back "motion picture" into the vernacular. It's so class!

I'll do that today after I go shopping at the mall :D

I saw Bond today at the movie theater but I couldn't hail a cab afterward so I hopped in my sedan, despite the crack in the windshield and the dent in the hood and fender, and took the one-way highway home (through the counter-clockwise traffic circle) so I could ride the elevator to my studio apartment, take off my shorts, pants, and sweater and eat french fries and Lays potato chips. :D :D

Don't forget Peter Sellers' ridiculous French accent in the Pink Panther films.

Typically each Enya album has 1-2 piano tracks and I find those to be probably her best work. No Holly for Miss Quinn, A Day Without Rain, Watermark come to mind. I love songs with a strong piano presence and they don't always have to be drippy ballads - artists like Tori Amos and Vanessa Carlton use driving piano melodies that add depth and drama to what might otherwise be an insipid pop ballad.

I am very much fascinated by extremely divisive films. While every film has fans and critics, there are some that seem to draw the strongest praise or criticism... almost like half the audience ADORES it, the other half LOATHES it. Two examples I can think of offhand are two musical revival films from 2001 - Moulin Rouge and Dancer in the Dark. Literally every review of these two films is of extreme negativity or fantastic praise. Interesting that they both seem to elicit strong reactions. Personally I absolutely loved MR and consider it one of the best films of the decade, a modern classic and truly entertaining - meanwhile I found Dancer insulting, ridiculous, contrived, and pretentious. Anyway do you find either of these films polarizing? Are there any other such films?

The song is gorgeous. There is no appreciation for any of the various classical/instrumental genres on buzzjack which is sort of a shame because I'd love to hear and discuss more in that area of music if there were any interest.

I recommend the animation film "Waking Life" for a rather bizarre but fascinating flick. Also if you like Pi and The Fountain I presume you've seen Requiem for a Dream (and if not, it's an obvious must). I haven't seen Irréversible but I've heard that it's extremely disturbing and far from conventional, Hollywood cinema.

This made me laugh and want to post some sarcastic remark like "oh Scott how loosely you define murder" but... ****ing hell, the number of politicians that fail to equate murder with genocide, pre-emptive war, state-sponsored terrorism... It really is necessary to make clear your stance. So let me just say... I, too, personally think genocide constitutes murder and someone who commits genocide is implicitly a murderer. just so you know... :P :(

I used to love Ring a Ding Dong Song years ago. Sadly, they died in the same plane crash (Crossair Flight 3597 in Zurich) as Melanie Thornton, the late lead singer of the much bigger 90's duo La Bouche.

This song is AMAZING, it was very close but I did end up with Walking Away...

Just the fact that the voting varies so much proves it - 2000 was the most diverse, incredible year for the UK charts. SO many classics!

I agree entirely, though it's more of the difference between "album" voice and "live" voice that bothers me. Although I realize too that it can vary substantially. I have heard Britney absolutely KILL live a couple times, absolutely perfect vocals. But most of the time she doesn't quite match the vocal strength of her albums. Another example is Kelly Clarkson - everyone knows she has phenomenal vocal talent because of Idol... but I've heard a couple live performances that were appalling.

Milli Vanilli did win a Grammy for Best New Artist I believe. It was taken from them when their manager decided to go to the press with the truth. They were enormously popular - they had 2 top 5 UK hits.

Well okay, if that's the case then he gets credit for that shrewd decision but I still think the song's strength is its production

You're right but... to be honest, I've never heard a live vocal performance of hers that comes even close to that of her album recordings. I won't pick on her alone but so many artists are a dissapointment live and it's a known fact that digital enhancement technology exists. Is that any better than miming someone else's voice? Perhaps, but not much... Jennifer Lopez may be the worst example, she's never done a tour and very rarely performs live. When she has (VMA's in 2002 or something) her vocal performance was truly ABHORRENT. Makes you wonder where the voice from the album came from...