Monthly Archives: November 2014

#PhillipsSongOfTheDay, Music

Memories…

Do you remember when you were a kid and there was that song that you played all the time and it was one of your favorite songs?  And then you got into your teens and you completely forgot about that song, and then one day you put your iPhone/iPod on shuffle and the song randomly plays and you have a flurry of memories?

That happened to me today when my iPhone played “Shoebox” by Brie Larson when I was jogging on the treadmill.

I have absolutely no idea how I came to know this song when I was younger, and I don’t know why it’s stuck with me so long, but it’s a sweet little tune.  Larson’s debut album Finally Out of P.E. was delayed numerous times until it was released in 2005 and was a commercial failure (it apparently sold only 4,000 copies), but it’s actually pretty good.  I mean, if you’re a preteen sick of school as I was when I bought it (and it was actually really hard to find in a store…I remember I found it, of all places, at my local Barnes and Nobles).  The thing I really like about this song is the guitar in the beginning and the end; there’s something heartening about it that pulls at my heartstrings.  I especially like how they brought that guitar back at the end.  It just works.

 

Grammys, Music

The Frozen Album of the Year

We’re so close to the release of the  2015 Grammy Nomination list, and the wait is starting to kill me.  I’ve been cruising other music blogs, including Billboard, seeing who music critics are predicting will get nominated, particularly for the biggest award of the night, Album of the Year.  There seems to be great consent Beyoncé by Beyoncé and X by Ed Sheeran will get nominated.  A couple think Jack White’s Lazaretto will get a nod, as well as Pharrell William’s G I R L.

However, many critics/bloggers/experts think The Frozen Soundtrack will get nominated for Album of the Year and “Let it Go” will see a nod for Record of the Year (which Idina Menzel’s vocal performance alone deserves a Grammy).  I never considered Frozen for the Grammys…I thought it could probably get a nod in the Best Song Written for a Visual Media for “Let it Go,” but I didn’t think we’d see it in the major categories.

I don’t know why it would come as a surprise, considering ten soundtracks for movies have been nominated for the big award, two of them actually winning.  The last soundtrack to be nominated for Album of the Year was the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which actually won the Grammy back in 2002.  And considering the Frozen soundtrack has been one of the biggest selling albums of this year, it shouldn’t be a surprise to see it nominated.

We’ll just have to wait until December 5th to see who gets the nominated! Fingers crossed for our girl Idina Menzel and the rest of everyone from Frozen.

The soundtracks that have been nominated for Album of the Year were from the following films: Breakfast at Tiffany's, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Dr. Zhivago, Star Wars, Grease, Flashdance, Beauty and the Beast, The Bodyguard**, O Brother, Where Art Thou?**
**indicates the soundtrack won the Grammy for Album of the Year

Read my Grammy nomination predictions here.

#PhillipsSongOfTheDay, Music

Gwen Stefani Doesn’t “Lie” with this #PhillipsSongOfTheDay

So there I was, driving to school when the radio announced Gwen Stefani’s new single “Baby Don’t Lie.”  My ears perked up at this because I remember seeing it on iTunes…I didn’t actually listen the preview, but I remember thinking “obviously Gwen’s releasing a new album…she’s the new coach on The Voice.”  And I got to say I think Gwen can make a comeback.  “Baby Don’t Lie” is actually a pretty catchy song, it has a great beat, and it’s great to run on he treadmill to.  I’m not saying it’s up there with “Hollaback Girl,” but it’s still pretty great.  Check it out:

#PhillipsSongOfTheDay, Music

Sia’s Perfume

I saw this interview with Sia on YouTube, and it showed how she writes songs, which I thought was fascinating.  Basically, her partner plays some melody on the piano, and she just sings whatever comes to mind.  They then discussed how they’ll write a song in a couple minutes, record a demo, and send it out to different artists.  Apparently she wrote a song, “Pretty Hurts” for Katy Perry, but it got shuffled around to Beyonce.

Long story short, I stumbled onto the demo Sia recorded for “Perfume,” a song she wrote for Britney Spears.  And, my mind is blown.  It’s so raw, full of emotion, and just beautiful.  Then I listened to the Britney Spears version and can’t believe it’s the same song.  You know, I don’t like to be negative and criticize music, but Britney is not Sia.  I don’t know whether it’s the over-synthed nature of Britney’s version or the fact she seems to be over-enounciating the words, but it just is not the perfection Sia’s is.

Sia’s version really demonstrates the raw pain of an unrequited love, and it certainly resonates within my heartstrings.  Unfortunately, Britney’s doesn’t ring like that with me.  Therefore, Sia’s version is #PhillipsSongOfTheDay, not Britney’s.

Again, I want to end on a positive note and say that I’m not here to say Britney Spears is an awful musician or anything, I just wanted to point of that Sia’s demo is simply sublime and I think she should have kept it for 1000 Forms of Fear, instead of selling it (incidentally, Sia apparently was going to sell “Chandelier” to Rihanna or Beyonce, but then she didn’t think either of them could understand the pain behind it, so she recorded it herself).  You know, Sia should just release all her demos of the songs she wrote…like “Diamonds,” “Perfume,” “Pretty Hurts,” etc. so we can hear the original beauty within them.

Grammys, Music

2015 Grammy Predictions

It’s that time of year again.  In one month, the Grammys will announce the nominees for the 57th Grammys.  I really get into watching the Grammys and predicting who will get nominated and who will win (and I am actually pretty good at it).  While sometimes it feels like the Grammys are rigged and sometimes I wonder how some songs even get nominated, I think they occasionally do a good job at honoring great music .  For me, the Grammys are a great way to be introduced to new music and/or different genres.  I’m in the process of creating my list of potential nominees, so I will update/edit this as I think of nominees, but look out for the real list December 5th!

I base my nomination predications on looking at past actions of the Academy and looking at past nominees; I’m not predicting nominations because I personally think they’re awesome (some of them I actually don’t), but because they’re just likely to get chosen.

Below are some categories with potential nominees as I think of them (there is no order, and I’m not capping the nominees at 5 like the Grammys will…I’m good, but not that good).  Again, it’s not who I think will or should be nominated, it’s more a list of who could be and has a good shot at being nominated, and it’s not a complete list because I haven’t finished thinking about it, so it will grow/be edited until the actual nominations are released .

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