SotW: Felicia by The Constellations Friday, Jul 23 2010 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 8:18 pm

“Felicia” by The Constellations is another song I’ve heard a lot recently on Alt Nation on XM radio. I love it! Here’s a live version:

I love “dirty” songs like this in general, but what I love most about this track is the groove. It just makes you want to dance. (And for a change I don’t think the lead singer is hot, at least not here!)

I also love the female back-up singers. I like that the female voice is represented — it makes the song seem less sexist and more equitable!

Here’ a link to the official video (the singer is much cuter here — love the glasses!). I think it’s a fun and really sexy video.

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SotW: Yeah Yeah Yeah by New Politics Saturday, Jul 17 2010 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 10:57 pm

In preparation for a drive to Richmond, Virginia, for a memorial service today (we left yesterday, spent the night, and returned him this afternoon), We re-subscribed to XM Radio. During the drive we listened to Alt Nation a lot, which has introduced me to a few new songs that I love, including New Politics‘ “Yeah Yeah Yeah”:

This song is infectious! New Politics is a band from Denmark but are now living in New York. And, not surprisingly, I think the lead singer, David Boyd, is hot! I’ve just purchased their album on iTunes.

Here’s another video of New Politics singing Yeah Yeah Yeah for the SXSW 2010 Showcasing Artist:

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SotW: Crossfire by Brandon Flowers Friday, Jul 9 2010 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 6:06 pm

The Killers is (are?) one of my favorite bands, and I’m totally in love with Brandon Flowers (regardless of his heterosexuality and Mormonism). So, I was extremely excited to learn recently that he’s putting out a solo album. I was even more excited to hear his first single, “Crossfire.” And the video is smokin’ hot:

I love the way this video casts Flowers in the damsel-in-distress role and Charlize Theron as his rescuer. He’s so cute when he gives her his little small, and I’m surprised by how hot I think he looks with a bloody lip and a black eye! I also love the way she puts her arm around him at the end. The gender politics of this video are so interestingly feminist — maybe his Mormon heterosexuality isn’t so bad after all! (He’s seems gay-friendly in his interview with The Advocate and he’s on record as “not opposing” gay rights.)

I look forward to the new album, which is due out in mid-September.

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SotW: Fire with Fire by Scissor Sisters Friday, Jul 2 2010 

music thisgaudygildedstage 1:28 pm

It’s been a while since I’ve had a song of the week, but this morning I purchased the new Scissor Sisters album, Night Work, so I thought I would revive my SotW feature so that I can write about it.

Here’s the video for the first single off the album, “Fire with Fire”:

Of course I’ve heard about the Scissor Sisters since their first album came out, but I’ve never really listened to them before. I’m not sure why this is, but it’s probably just inertia or something. But then Jake Spears was interviewed in Butt Magazine, a queer zine that I love. (Click here and here for the interviews.)  Then I started to pay a little more attention.

While we were in England, we kept seeing advertisements for Night Work, so at some point I decided that I would give it a listen and see if I liked it. I sampled it on iTunes and enjoyed it, so I downloaded it so PJ and I could listen to it on our way to see his family in Indiana over the weekend.

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Tell Me You Love Me by Leela James Wednesday, May 26 2010 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 8:53 pm

I saw Leela James‘s new album, My Soul, on iTunes and immediately felt that it was just the kind of album I would love. So, I surfed over to YouTube and watched the first of her videos to come up, “Tell Me You Love Me”:

I liked what I heard, so I sampled the tracks on the album and decided to download it. So far, I love it! This is exactly the kind of music I love, neo-soul. James reminds me a little of early Tina Turner crossed with Anthony Hamilton. Listening to her also reminded me that I want to download Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings’s new album too.

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Satisfied by Woody Pines Wednesday, May 19 2010 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 5:49 pm

After seeing Woody Pines live over the weekend, I decided to make one of their songs, “Satisfied,” my song of the week. It’s a great little song about being happy where you are. Here’s a live version I found on YouTube:

I’m looking forward to the band’s return to Athens next weekend (May 28). PJ and I are going to go (they’re playing at Casa Cantina) as are a couple of our friends. It should be a lot of fun.

“Satisfied” is off the new, 2009 album, Counting Alligators, which is great. I can’t find the lyrics for this song, so I’ve added another video of the band after the break.

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Nelsonville Music Festival 2010 Sunday, May 16 2010 

music thisgaudygildedstage 3:45 pm

Yesterday, PJ and I spent the late afternoon and evening at the Nelsonville Music Festival. We’ve been to the festival twice before, the first time to see Iris Dement, one of our favorite artists. Last year we saw Willie Nelson at the festival. We were extremely excited to have the opportunity this year to see Loretta Lynn, but there were also a number of other acts that we wanted to hear.

We arrived at the festival around 4 o’clock. The first thing we did was find a good spot for our lawn chairs so that we could see the stage when Loretta Lynn appeared later. Our favorite local band was already playing, so we also got to see their set:

These seats put us near enough to see well without being too close. Last year, the sound system wasn’t amplified enough; this year there were no problems with that, so I didn’t want to be so close we couldn’t hear each other talk.

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Favorite Videos of 2009 Monday, May 3 2010 

music thisgaudygildedstage 2:53 pm

After an incredibly busy two months, which put me way behind on blogging, I finally have a few minutes to finish my best-of posts for 2009! I’ve already listed my favorite movies, albums, and singles/tracks from 2009. Now I’ll list my favorite videos.

2009 was definitely the year of Lady Gaga. She became a full-fledged video artist, especially with her videos for “Paparazzi” and “Bad Romance,” my favorite videos of the year:

These songs are both great pop/dance songs, and the videos are, in my opinion, the best of the year. With “Paparazzi,” Gaga established herself as an artist who wants to tell stories with her videos, and with “Bad Romance” she took another step towards visual artistry. No one else is as interesting as Gaga at the moment.

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Pick U Up by Adam Lambert Wednesday, Apr 28 2010 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 12:51 pm

Adam Lambert’s “Pick U Up” has been in my head for the past two weeks. I love it! It sounds a quite a bit like All-American Rejects, although it was co-written by Rivers Cuomo.

It’s a great song, and Lambert’s voice is amazing, especially toward the end with the big note at the end of the line, “I need someone to be my lover.”

This is the third of Lambert’s tracks on For Your Entertainment that I’ve made my song of the week. It’s the kind of album that I like more and more the more I listen to it. It also reminds me just how personality-free this season’s American Idol is. People might have complained last year that Adam was too over the top, but I think everyone would have to admit that he brought a lot of drama to the season. No one’s doing that this year.

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Money Changes Everything Thursday, Apr 15 2010 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 7:14 pm

Suddenly, I can’t get Cyndi Lauper’s “Money Changes Everything” out of my head:

I  love the original version, which is the one stuck in my head, but I also thought I would look around and see what other versions there are. I found this one from Lauper’s 2005 acoustic album, which rerecords some of her biggest hits in acoustic duets with other artists:

I’ve since downloaded this album, and I really like it. Lauper has a bit of raspiness to her voice in this version of “Money Changes Everything” that really appeals to me. This version feels like the point of view of a more mature woman rather than the carefree younger woman of the original version.

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