ChordStrike

Pink Floyd and Seattle: Another Decade in The Wall

Seems hard to believe, but The Wall by Pink Floyd was released 30 years ago today, November 30, 1979.

And, even harder to believe, the WTO protests in Seattle, also known fondly as The Battle in Seattle or N30, started 10 years ago today, November 30, 1999.

Both of these N30 anti-establishment zeitgeists featured elements of rioting, burning rubbish, and gas masks. Coincidence? I think not.

Pink Floyd, 1979:

Seattle, 1999:

--Lucas Hilbert

Musical Look-Alikes

No question: Look-alikes make for really cheap humor. But after ten years of enduring an almost daily barrage of strangers telling me I'm a dead ringer for a certain fictional British wizard, I like to think I've earned it. So here we go with a few favorites from the world of music...

Vicente Fernández ("The King of Ranchera") and Burt Reynolds

Enya and Winona Ryder

 

Meatloaf and operatic bass-baritone Bryn Terfel

 

Leonard Cohen and Leonard Nimoy

 

Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker

 

Susan Boyle and Julia Child

 

Lady Gaga and Hazel O'Connor

Keith Richards and J.P. Patches

 

Selena Gomez and Clarice Starling

 

Michael Stipe and Gollum

 

Brad Paisley and my brother Sam

  

And finally, a recent favorite from the music archives at TotallyLooksLike.com...

Adam Lambert and Liza Minnelli

 

Thanks to my fellow bloggers Robert Arambel, Jon Foro, and Hugo Munday for suggestions...

     --Jason Kirk

Animal Collective: A Perfect 10

This just in: Pitchfork has given the new Animal Collective song "What Would I Want? Sky," releasing on December 15 on the Fall Be Kind [EP], a perfect 10 rating. We wanted to mark the occasion since the music blog is stingy with its perfect rating (rightly so). And even though we at Chordstrike fawned all over the band and included them in our Best of the Year list, we're not quite sure if the favorable comments in the review fully justify the rarefied rating. Sure, "consistently different," and sounding like "new age or yoga or the 1990s" (things that make you go hmm), and the ability to "take a sound and turn it inside out to make something new, but something recognizable, even familiar" are all admirable if not altogether coherent qualities in a song. But are those really the things that merit a perfect 10? Indie bands take notice -- there's your new playbook for success.

--Lucas HIlbert

Whoah There, Adam Lambert

Adam Lambert has broken free of his Idol chains, and last night at the American Music Awards he unleashed his new, sexed-up image during a performance of the title track from For Your Entertainment (which is out today, incidentally). Dancers on leashes, dancers getting their heads pushed into Mr Lambert's apparently not-so-private parts, Adam snogging a band member... The video is certainly turning some heads.

It's not quite Christina Aguilera debuting the "Dirrty" video, since we knew all along that Adam wasn't of the safe and sweet school of pop thought, but I'd say he did manage to pull out a bit of a shocker - particularly when he grabbed the keyboard player and somewhat forcibly made out with him (talk about band members going above and beyond the call of duty).

Unfortunately the video has already been yanked from YouTube, but The Huffington Post has close-ups of all the highlights (or worst offenses, depending on your perspective). Here's one:

What do you think -- next Madonna or next has-been?

-- Courtney Powell

Hip Hop Putin Don't Stop

If you follow the movements of certain international politicians, you may have noticed that Vladimir Putin has been polishing his image of late, as evidenced by some widely-distributed photos of the Russian prime minister in recent months. We've now seen this rugged man of the people shirtless with gun, shirtless on horseback, fishing shirtless, and of course flexing on his own Judo DVD.

Last week, Putin covered his famous pecs with a turtleneck and appeared at a hip-hop show to warn his younger countrymen about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. At a music contest aired on Russia's Muz TV, the prime minister stood stiffly between his nation's young b-boys and b-girls, and as they danced and swayed around him, he clapped off-beat and looked somewhat uncomfortable. After the rappers performed, ABC News reports that Putin shared some thoughts about hip-hop culture:

“Street rap may be a little bit rough but it contains social meaning, raising social problems. Graffiti has become a real elegant art, break dance is something special. It is really a promotion of a healthy lifestyle. It is hard to imagine break dance being combined with alcohol or drugs."

Watch the Reuters video of the event below.

-- Courtney Powell

Christopher Walken Performs Lady Gaga's "Poker Face"

Our friends over at Armchair Commentary posted this awesome video of actor Christopher Walken performing Lady Gaga's "Poker Face."  I'm a Lady Gaga fan, but I have to say--nobody does it like Christopher Walken.  Check out both Walken's version and the original Gaga music video below.

--Bri Nguyen

The Worst Lyric of 2009

For my money, this dubious honor belongs to Five For Fighting for the first song on their new album Slice (also called "Slice"). Behold:

"Have you ready my blog today/300 million little USAs"

Honestly, I've never really liked this band, but, BARF! Really? Really?? You're going there?

Everything about this lyric makes me cringe. I dare you to tell me I'm wrong--I'd love to hear what you think is the worst lyric of 2009. Please share the not-so-poetic lines that made you hate music this year in the comments.

--Alan Wiley

2009 CMA Awards: The Best & Worst Moments

Another year of CMA Awards has come and gone and Chordstrike is here to vilify and praise the worst and the best of "Country Music's Biggest Night." Without further ado...

Top 10 Worst Moments:

1. Taylor Swift's "mature" opening show performance replete with a stripper pole and black spandex (or was it leather?), not to mention, her voice was flat and off key.
2. Carrie Underwood does "Cowboy Casanova" looking strangely like Christina Aguilera circa 2003. The presence of synchronized dance steps and costumes proves yet again that the contemporary country genre is anything but Country.
3. Sugarland wins Duo of the Year and asks Brooks & Dunn if they want to come on stage to say anything. The awkward and uncomfortable look on B & D's faces was oh so palpable.
4. Sugarland performs another wannabe tear jerker song which leads this viewer to ask, "whaddu I gotta dooooo to keep from listening to youuuu?"
5. Kenny Chesney - another CMA Awards Show, another blue shirt and pair of gray pants. And he went way off key, saved only by Dave Matthews appearing on stage to rescue him from his own warbling.
6. Video screens flashing lyrics word for word during a few of the performances. Did I forget to turn off my close captioning?
7. Lady Antebellum win the Vocal Group of the Year award followed immediately by a TIAA CREF commercial that features a Lady Antebellum song. This makes for the quickest sellout story in Country Music history.
8. Brad & Carrie are interrupted by an Little Jimmy Dickens rambling about a Taylor Swift video. I know it was supposed to be a play on the Kanye thing, but it didn't come off quite right.
9. ABC's lame attempt to promote their new show "The Middle" by using the show's stars as award presenters, along with their painful attempt to link their show to the "common family" epitomized by Country Music. Yea, nice try.
10. Brooks & Dunn perform with ex-ZZ Top member making it the one and only geriatric retiree performance of the night.

Top 10 Best Moments:
1. Darius Rucker wins the New Artist of the Year award and is the first African American artist to do so, as well as his acceptance speech.
2. Carrie Underwood dissing Kanye West to the tune of "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Kanye."
3. Zac Brown Band's cover of "Devil Goes Down To Georgia."
4. Jamey Johnson's subtle and understated acceptance speech for Song of the Year, including the link between our grandparents and Veterans Day to "In Color."
5. On stage banter between Brad and Carrie, including the comment about "George Straight plus eight."
6. Kid Rock and Jamey Johnson perform "Somewhere Between Jennings and Jones" to thankfully feature some traditional country for the night!
7. Miranda Lambert's bass player with the white suit and mohawk. So Country Punk!
8. Lady Antebellum on-stage performance reminiscent of an old duo between Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.
9. Darius Rucker does his version of crowd surfing during his performance. We loved those lip syncing fans that couldn't quite get the lyrics right.
10. The huge psychedelic flat screen ceiling lights hung above Keith Urban during his performance.

What did we get right or wrong?

--Lucas Hilbert

Piano Stairs

Back when I used to work at a major automobile manufacturer, I couldn't believe all the overweight, out-of-shape career engineers that would take the elevator one floor up and one floor down, every day, multiple times a day. I wish I'd thought of this back then:

Thanks to former Amazon Music Editor Tom May for sending this along...

     --Jason Kirk

2009 CMA Award Winners

Congratulations to this year's winners at the CMA Awards Show. The list of winners includes:

Entertainer of the Year: Taylor Swift
Female Vocalist of the Year: Taylor Swift
Male Vocalist of the Year: Brad Paisley
New Artist of the Year: Darius Rucker
Vocal Group of the Year: Lady Antebellum
Vocal Duo of the Year: Sugarland
Album of the Year: Taylor Swift, Fearless

To celebrate, we're offering a free MP3 download by a CMA Award-nominated artist (code: CMAAWARD).

Browse all the winners, nominees, featured artists, and more in our CMA Awards Store.

     --Jason Kirk

Say it Loud, I'm a Geek and I'm Proud

Favorite quote: "I'd rather raise nerds than raise gangstas."

-- Courtney Powell

Steven Tyler quits Aerosmith by Internet Post

As we reported on August, 2009 has not been kind to members of Aerosmith. Steven Tyler fell offstage on tour in August and cracked his collarbone, resulting in the cancellation of a pile of tour dates. We heard rumors at the time that Tyler would latch onto any excuse to cancel gigs, and it appears now that there may have been truth to such statements. Because according to the Las Vegas Sun, quoting Joe Perry, Steven Tyler Has Quit Aerosmith. By Internet post, it seems.

From the article:

“Steven quit as far as I can tell,” Perry said from his Boston home. “I don’t know anymore than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band. I don’t know for how long, indefinitely or whatever. Other than that, I don’t know.”

Read more at the Las Vegas Sun.

--Courtney Powell

The Best Music of 2009

It may feel a little early for this sort of thing, but we on the Amazon music team have pooled our collective knowledge and taste to determine the best music of 2009.

We spent 2009 soothed by Neko Case's wail, moved to dance by Yeah Yeah Yeahs' turn towards big beats, intrigued by Somali hip-hop Troubadour K'naan, and ready to hear three key words from neo-twangsters the Avett Brothers.

On the songs side, French popsters Phoenix went nutty for a composer and we went nutty for Phoenix. La Roux made us feel invincible, Jay-Z officially crushed an awful trend, and Passion Pit sent us reeling.

Voting with their wallets, our customers told us they really like U2, as it was both our bestselling CD and MP3 album of 2009. Black Eyed Peas also popped up in plenty of playlists, as they locked down the top two slots on our songs chart.

Every year, great albums slip through the cracks. This year, our editors wanted to save some from that unfair fate. We shine a spotlight on excellent underheard CD and MP3 albums across all genres, and we've even made a playlist featuring a single song from each record, so you can sample 'til you find something you like.

Dig into the lists and see which lists line up most closely with your personal tastes:

Best Albums of 2009

1. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
3. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
5. the Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
6. Girls - Album
7. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
8. K'naan - Troubadour
9. Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
10. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career

> See all top 100 best albums of 2009
> See the list at Amazon MP3

Best Songs of 2009

1. Phoenix - "Lisztomania"
2. La Roux - "Bulletproof"
3. Jay-Z - "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)"
4. Animal Collective - "My Girls"
5. Neko Case - "People Got a Lotta Nerve"
6. Passion Pit - "The Reeling"
7. Girls - "Lust for Life"
8. Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"
9. The Avett Brothers - "I and Love and You"
10. Lily Allen - "The Fear"

> See all top 100 best songs of 2009
> Sample songs 1-50
> Sample songs 51-100

Bestselling CDs of 2009 (through October, including pre-orders)

1. U2 - No Line on the Horizon
2. Susan Boyle - I Dreamed a Dream
3. Diana Krall - Quiet Nights
4. Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream
5. Bob Dylan - Together through Life

> See all 100 bestselling CDs of 2009

Bestselling MP3 Albums of 2009 (through October)

1. U2 - No Line on the Horizon
2. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
3. Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
4. Paramore - Brand New Eyes
5. Lily Allen - The Fear

> See all 100 bestselling MP3 albums of 2009

Bestselling Songs of 2009 (through October)

1. Black Eyed Peas - "Boom Boom Pow"
2. Black Eyed Peas - "I Gotta Feeling"
3. Flo Rida - "Right Round"
4. Miley Cyrus - "The Climb"
5. Pitbull - "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho"

> See all 100 bestselling songs of 2009
> Sample songs 1-50
> Sample songs 51-100

Outstanding 2009 Albums You Might Have Missed

1. Throw Me the Statue - Creaturesque
2. Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band
3. The Legends - Over and Over
4. Lushlife - Cassette City
5. Point Juncture, Wa - Heart to Elk

> See all 100 2009 albums you might have missed at Amazon MP3
> Sample songs from albums 1-50
> Sample songs from albums 51-100

Head over to our best music of 2009 store to find complete lists, plus the best in everything from Latin music to Gospel to comedy and all points between.

We're aware there's still a decent chunk of the year left. We'll be adding a latecomers and honorable mentions feature over the next few weeks. Hit the comments, let us know what we missed, and perhaps it'll make an appearance.

-- Jeff Reguilon

Them Crooked Vultures Album Out November 17

Them Crooked Vultures have been together for almost four years, but the supergroup has never released an album. That, my friends, is about to change. On November 17, the band releases its first studio collaboration: the self-titled Them Crooked Vultures. Want it on your doorstep on November 17? Pre-order the album from Amazon.com and get it delivered on release day.

Check the lineup of veteran rockers:

Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana), drums
Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal), guitar and vocals
John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), bass and keys
Alain Johannes (Eleven, Queens of the Stone Age), guitar

Listen to "New Fang," the first single from the album:

This is going to be good.

-- Courtney Powell