Alright, last fall I started to talk about Pomplamoose and people were like, "Yeah, I'll definitely check it out."... yeah right.
You need to check out this band. If anything good can come of music videos via You Tube, this is it. If Rebecca Black left a bad taste in your mouth for viral videos then please, allow me to show you the cure (no, not Robert Smith's Cure).
Pomplamoose is made up of two members, Jack Conte and Natalie Dawn. They are multi-instrumentalists and good ones at that. Natalie's voice is great and her abilities at harmonizing are incredible. Jack's drum work as well as finding odd, old and interesting items to play tunes are very admirable and his enthusiasm is contagious. They formed in 2008 and by 2009, they had already sold 100,000 songs online (how many bands have been around for years struggling to get half that?). They have over 240,000 subscribers to their You Tube channel as of the beginning of this year and their covers of songs have been featured in Toyata and Hyundai ads.
Jack has stated there are two rules with their video songs and they are:
- What you see is what you hear. (No lip-syncing for instruments or voice)
- If you hear it, at some point you see it. (No hidden sounds)
Pretty cool. Some of my fav covers they do are Mister Sandman (The Chordettes), Single Ladies (Beyonce), and Beat It (Michael Jackson).
I believe they are now on an East Coast tour with fellow You Tube video posters, OK Go (another creative band). Check 'em out here: http://www.youtube.com/user/PomplamooseMusic
You can thank me later for this great band that know how to leverage the culture to garner quite a following.
Pop...
Greg
A friend on Facebook (thanks Mark Hardwick!) posted a "How It Should Have Ended" clip of Iron Men and I realized, 'Why haven't I ever heard of this website?' It's awesome and pretty funny. It takes a look at movies that are ingrained in pop culture lore and turns it on it's comedic ear. The animation is simple yet very well done and the comedy for the most part is clean and very clever.
Interested?
Check out: www.howitshouldhaveended.com/videos
I know pretty much how every movie over the last few years have ended. How? Is it because I watch a lot of movies? Not really, I go to themoviespoiler.com or moviepooper.com so I can find out the ending but also what the film entails. If you like to keep things a secret and don't want to read spoilers, no problem but if you're like me and want to see if the film is worth seeing, check it out. Please know that the endings and major secrets to the films will be revealed so don't be surprised. You've been warned.
If you're ever wondering why you've never heard of a film until it's opening weekend, it's because you haven't been checking up on the trailers of upcoming films. Where can you go? Lots of places! I usually check Yahoo! movies but there's lots - just Google movie trailers.
Anways, I'll try to update this blog more with better stuff in a couple of days...
Pop...
Greg
A couple of days ago, I tried to answer the top five books that I've ever read. I had to think because I read quite a bit (maybe a book a week tops) but I never categorized books like I do films, music, etc. So, after careful thought, here it is:
5. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
A childhood favorite. How many horrible things can one boy endure? There is hope and there are good people that exist in the world but poor Oliver is surrounded by people who generally don't fall into this category. I love Dickens, even though I find his descriptions too much as I want to paint my own pictures of what scenarios look like.
4. Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling
I read this and didn't stop until I was done. An excellent way to write a career was by doing audio diaries for many years in order to be as accurate as possible and that's what he did. At times a dark look into the behind-the-scenes look at wrestling (i.e. drug addictions, firing of talent, infidelities) but also a well written account of how one man overcame the shadow of his father and his crazy family. There's a lot of language in the book and I could do without Bret talking about his many sexual conquests on the road. As a wrestler, few can compare to the stories he told in the ring with other greats and not-so greats but as a person, I read about a man who emerged out of the wrestling world, scarred, battered and sinful but still alive. Aren't we all that?
3. The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
I'm more of a Marvel Comics guys as compared to DC Comics. DC comics has mutiverses and some pretty goofy superheroes (not that Marvel doesn't have it's share) but often the storytelling can be better than many Marvel stories. This is the one that puts it in the top five. Who is the Holiday Killer? A well written mystery focused on three men: Batman, Commissioner Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent. Dent, if you saw the 2008 film The Dark Knight, eventually becomes Two Face, a villain who decides the fate of people by the flip of a coin. Most of the characters who are killed would be described as deserving their fate as they are members of a crime family but what is real justice? Is it vigilante style or is it seeing law and order being upheld. There is a serial killer out there who is killing members of the Falcone family as well as other important people who would help fit the puzzle. The ending is a surprise and I when I put it down, I realized how well-played the book had been in pointing out the obvious.
2. Heavier Than Heaven by Charles Cross
The definitive book for any Nirvana/Kurt Cobain fan. It's exhaustive and thorough in its research. It chronicles his early childhood, his teen years, his pre and post-fame days and the tragic final weeks of his life. It also guesses as accurately as one can about his final day on earth. I have found a lot of illustrations in this book about a myriad of subjects that I could preach on. The importance of loving children is never made more abundantly clear than the life of a man who never got enough. An enjoyable and sad read.
What's number 1 you may ask? If you're one of the singles and singles people reading this blog, I don't have a number one book. I could say something like the Bible but it wouldn't be true. The Bible is convicting and provides so much sage advice but it can be a tedious read. I could say, A Wrinkle in Time but I haven't read it enough times to warrant a number one. Super Fudge was a childhood favorite. The Church on the Other Side is a must read for anyone tired of same-old/same-old religion/denominational attempts at trying to insulate Christians in a sub-par cultural bubble. There's tonnes of good books/graphic novels out there. Fiction, non-fiction, religious, etc., etc. What's on YOUR top five? I've fixed the comment section for this blog (I think) so let me know what books you like!
Pop...
Greg
Alright, alright...I know. For those that knew me in the '90's, you know that I was a huge fan of Counting Crows. I've been to a couple of their shows, gotten their autographs, bought their albums, T-shirts, stole some posters (actually, Kerry did) and even bought a bunch of bootlegs off ebay.
Whenever I ask anyone if they're a fan of CC, they say, "I think I have their first album." If anybody that I know has bought an album or has an album by them, it is usually August and Everything After. Seriously, there's a reason why this album sold approximately 8 million copies in the US alone (almost unheard of today thanks to digital downloading). They have four other studio albums - Recovering the Satellites, This Desert Life, Hard Candy and Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings). While sales have slipped with each album debut, they still debut their albums in the top 10 selling at least one hundred thousand copies alone in the first week. They have built a "Dead-head" like following.
Their albums have been produced by a who's who of the music world. T-Bone Burnett (numerous country and rock acts such as Wallflowers) and Gil Norton (Foo Fighters) have been producers. Adam Duritz has collaborated with several respected artists including Ryan Adams, Sheryl Crow, Jakob Dylan, Nanci Griffith, Dashboard Confessional and Live.
Adam Duritz is famous for two things: 1. Writing morose and tortured songs and 2. Dating lots of famous women (Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Emmy Rossum and a few others). I can't comment on all the stars he's been with but he does suffer from a "dissociative disorder" which makes the world seem like it's not real. Many artists that have the right brain tendency (artistic side) tend to struggle with depression or mental illness which makes them brilliant artistically but also have problems as a result of being bi-polar, etc.
Thinking of checking them out? Start with August and Everything After and the skip to Hard Candy. The rest of the albums are excellent but these two stand out especially. They don't cuss like sailors but they do swear occasionally but not liberally. Often times swearing is used to punctuate a point rather than being crass because they can. Duritz's illness can be detected throughout the music which is a fascinating listen to hear of how he hurts others and how others close him up.
They have also released two live albums (Across a Wire and another one that I can't remember).
Pop...
Greg
