D'isapointed

I waited nearly a decade for this?? Come on, D'Angelo. You're telling me that the best you could pull off was a remake of YOUR OWN SONG FROM 1996? I give up.

Oh yeah, to give you some context, D'Angelo is back after 8 years with a (sort of) new single called "I Found My Smile Again," which is a remake of a song he released on the "Space Jam" soundtrack from 1996. He sounds good, but after 8 years my expectations were too high. It sounds better than any of Ne-Yo's shit, for example, but only on par with his own 2000 release, "Voodoo."

The Bobby Valentino Formula

I had a bad first impression of Bobby Valentino when he released "Slow Down" in '05. He struck me as off-key, average-singing, average-looking, and a lazy songwriter. But over the past 3 years, he has managed to charm me thrice:

1) Pimpin' All Over the World (2005): I figured this was just a fluke. Bobby only appeared in the hook, so I assumed I enjoyed this song in spite of him. I did notice the unusual yet sensible harmonies, and was confused to see Bobby Valentino mouthing the lyrics in the video.

2) Anonymous (2007): Smacked me in the face and called me Susan. The vocal harmonies, off-beat arrangement, combined with Timbaland's incredible production sound like the eye of a tornado if you're in a truck with a great sound system.

3) Mrs. Officer (2008): I came home very early one recent morning after pulling an all-nighter at a studio, and in the middle of my delirium I heard it: "Wee-oo-wee-oo-wee, Wee-oo-wee-oo-wee, Wee-oo-wee-oo-wee." I had no idea what this sound was, but it followed me to sleep that morning. A few weeks later, I heard this sound again behind an unmistakably Weezified voice identifying the source of this pleasure: "Bobby Valentino." The formula made sense: atypical vocal harmonies measured against very memorable refrains.

Bobby Valentino is inconsistent- often bland, but with flashes of promise. Let's hope these promises aren't empty.

Pickup Artist Season 2

It only took em a year, but The Pickup Artist is back for another nerdily awesome season. I've already spotted an actor in the promos I've seen so far. There's this one kid with long dirty-blonde hair and wide rimmed glasses, a flannel shirt, and khaki pants. Switch the khaki with jeans and give the dude a shaggy haircut, and BAM! Williamsburg. I'm not fooled for a second.

I know a lot of guys are pissed off that producers have decided to ditch J-Dawg for Tara, the female wingman, but I'm ecstatic about this prospect. I loved Tara last year, but I just hope she has enough personality to provide balance to Matador's melodramatics. (Anyways, what the hell are guys doing watching VH1 in the first place?)

And I don't know what happened, but judging from the short promos I've seen, Matador is extremely hot this season. Maybe it's the hair, maybe he lost some weight, maybe got some work done... or maybe he was competing with Tara. Cat fight!

SNL Weekend Update with Bill Clinton

Best skit since the Farley era!

John Kerry Butts Heads with Bill O'Reilly Tonight on The Factor

I bet this shit was scripted.

The Bailout Fiasco: Conspiracy Theory

Call me paranoid, but I have a theory that these bailout talks, the debate controversy, and possibly the entire election amount to nothing more than an elaborate ploy by the media to divert our attention from the OJ Simpson trial... I refuse to be distracted. Here's the latest.

Cool Right-wing Music: Possible or Not?

Ugh, it's been forev since I updated this thing; but I've decided to finally do so. I sort of got inspired again to do this because I've been going buckwild with my Google Reader Shared Items page. That thing is amazing. I am constantly forwarding articles to people, so now I can centralize everything, giving me extra time to.... look for more articles.

In any case, I thought I'd re-open my E.I. blog with some food for thought stemming from a couple articles I've seen recently about music artists sending all these cease and desist letters to the RNC and the McCain campaign for using their songs at events. Are there ANY music artists out there besides Trace Atkins who actually support the Republican Party? Actually, are there any who don't hate the Repubs? Doubtful.

Even so, I had a brief exchange on this topic with Laura, who reminded me that there were a couple artists from generations past who celebrated certain right-leaning ideals:

me: I'm listening to my favorite leftist music: late Marvin Gaye
"Mercy Mercy Me (the Ecology)"
i wonder if there is a way to make cool right-wing music; somehow i think that's really difficult

Laura: uh johnny cash maybe?
taxes-death-trouble? trouble man?

me: gosh, that's true. I suppose George Harrison's "Tax Man" was pretty right-leaning

Laura: indeed

me: the only cool right-leaning music I can think of is about taxes tho
then again
hating to pay taxes is probably the coolest part about being a conservative