well second gig has come and gone. it kind of came up much more suddenly than the first one and it was more of a hodge podge i guess you could say, but it was still a ton of fun. little back story, eli lets me know that he's playing on thursday night at the hydrant and bruce can't due to a prior gig the next day for which he wants to save his voice (bruce's actual band stable daze was playing friday night and recording the show for a live record) but eli asked me if i would be interested in playing with just him. the problem with all of this is that the week ended up being full of stuff and we weren't really able to practice at all until thursday afternoon. by "practice" i mean eli coming over at 4 pm (gig was at 10) and us talking about songs we might want to do and not actually playing any more than one song together. ironically, it was the song i flubbed up big time at the gig but i'll get to that.
in the end, we decided that since it was just two of us, it'd be better if i was just gonna play along since we didn't really have time to practice at all. not really a night for me to play solos since there was just the two of us. and that was a good plan, but it would've been better had i been able to play some of the songs first. anyway. fast forward to later, we go up to start playing. and let me tell you, the hydrant got packed quick. i had invited more people than i realized and i think every person i told showed up. there were school friends, work friends, church friends, old friends. even a professor. it was pretty nuts. so the place felt really packed. which didn't really make me nervous, and just the fact that i wasn't really nervous was great. so eli and i go up and i just say to him play whatever and i'll catch up and we start. and i don't catch up as fast as i had hoped.
this was the result of a few little problems. first, i should've asked eli to turn my guitar up louder in the monitor. i could hear it ok, but not great during the one or two solos that i had in the beginning and i'm not one to play my guitar loud anytime at all, especially when i'm playing along with someone else to a song i've never really practiced before. so that was problem number one, and probably the biggest one. secondly, we played the song omar bay as we had at the hub at our first gig, and boy did i suck. eli gave me a solo and it was like will ferrell's devil character trying to join in. i couldn't hit notes and i was just struggling to play anything that sounded remotely good. eli took the song back quick though so it was ok. but man after we ended i could feel the sweat on my forehead and knew i had ground to gain after that.
the bright side was, as far as i could tell, the night only got better after that first crappy omar bay. we played a ton of stuff, and for a long time. we started at like 10:15 and played for about a hour, then took maybe twenty or thirty minutes and went back on until like 1:15 or 1:30. and since it was just eli and i, when we were playing we were actually playing. no eli solo sets for me to take a break. by the end, my fingers were killing me and my hands felt like glue.
we played tons of stuff too. hooch, the weight, falling slowly, always lift him up and never let him down, gulf coast highway, arms of a woman, will it go round in circles, a few eli originals, what i got, candy, street corner preacher, sitting waiting wishing, more stuff. tons of stuff i'd never played and didn't even know he could play, like candy. that was super fun cause we had never talked about us being able to play it and then he started this little riff off and i was like "what's this?" and he was gonna walk me through the chords quick and he was like "it's candy" and i immediately joined in where he was at. and then we rocked it. it's a song very conducive to two guys on acoustic guitars in a bar. another one i really enjoyed was the weight. again, hadn't played it with him before, or actually ever, but since it's a total of three chords, i picked it up quick. and it's just a fun sing-along and we threw some funk into the last few choruses that eli wasn't expecting but liked a ton.
one reason it's fun to play for some of these new people is that they don't know all my old guitar tricks. i'm pretty good at guitar, but even more than being good, i'm really good at making it seem like i'm really good at guitar. and for someone who doesn't play guitar or doesn't know tons about music, it's not that hard to come across as good. for most of our audience at the bar that night, me playing the D chord as a 7th in the chorus of the weight makes it sound funky, and all i did was play one note differently than eli did. and yet people will cheer if i play that one note and bob my head like i'm really "feeling" the groove. i'm such a poser.
but it was still a lot of fun once i found my footing. what i really think would make me and eli sound better is a time to play and practice with no one else really around. a time where i could sing harmony loud, and we could go over songs multiple times until we got them down. not playing until showtime isn't good for me. we've got two gigs this week coming up too so hopefully we'll get to play soon.
gigs this week: wednesday night at the hub (benefit/charity type show for paige. i think bruce is playing with us? i definitely want to practice before this thing) and then thursday night at the hydrant. it'd be fun to have bruce but i haven't seen that guy since i think our first show so i have no idea if he still exists. so potentially a repeat of this second gig with just eli and me. and hopefully my name will be on the ad poster hanging up at the hydrant. that would be awesome. hope to see you out there!
-jon
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
colleen's wall post.
follow-up:
spitting image.
-jon
p.s. colleen wants credit for finding this picture.
spitting image.
-jon
p.s. colleen wants credit for finding this picture.
compliment.
tonight, colleen and i were sitting in her living room watching tv and doing homework and cheers comes on and she goes, "you kind of look like that guy," referring to sam, played by ted danson.
i love that girl.
-jon
i love that girl.
-jon
Friday, April 10, 2009
spring music preview '09.
so rolling stone has recently released their spring music preview, showcasing bunches of albums coming out in the next six months or so. here are the ones that caught my eye for one reason or another.
1. bob dylan - together through life (4/28)
bob dylan is an enigma to me. his music isn't exactly campus-walking music to me because i wouldn't necessarily call him all that good. like technically good. he was revolutionary, ground-breaking, all that, but he played simple guitar tunes and sang his lyrics through a weird wail. not saying it's bad, but i just wouldn't call him a virtuoso. so i wouldn't say i'm excited about a new bob dylan album, and i certainly won't go get it right away, but it will eventually find it's way into my itunes library.
2. ben harper - white lies for dark times (5/5)
this is more noteworthy just cause ben harper is a artist i respect, even though i hardly ever listen to him. he's one of those artists that i know is incredibly talented, his live shows are out of this world, he has a very cool style, but i've just never really focused on him or his music. i have his live at mars album but that's it. and the main reason i have that album is cause of his sexual healing cover (so freakin' sexy). so for me, seeing he's got a new album coming out is more like "oh. i bet it'll be good" but that's about where it ends.
3. dave matthews band - big whiskey and the groogrux king (6/2)
this is almost the same as the ben harper release for me; i almost wish i was a bigger dave fan so i was more excited about it. when i was around 15 though i fell in love with the dave matthews band and absolutely ate up all of their albums. for the last 5 years or so though, i haven't really listened to them at all. so this album i'm kind of iffy about. maybe one day in the future i will find all my old dave cds and put them on my computer and introduce them to my kids and fall back in love with their music. at that point i will probably get this album and not like it as much as under the table and dreaming.
4. ok go - title tbd (august)
i guess i can't say i'm excited for this one either, but i'm interested to hear how it sounds. their first album was great and i never really got into the second one more than like three of the tunes, but i think i would've liked it had i really spent time on it. but when lead singer damien kulash says this album sounds like "purple rain through broken speakers," that's definitely enough to intrigue me.
there were a bunch of other albums that made me say "hm interesting" but nothing i was excited about. even these four i'm like "eh." other ones i noticed but don't care about were eminem's new album, lil' wayne's, 50 cent's, green day's, jonas brothers, mos def, black eyed peas. i have thoughts about all these, but only like a sentence long so it wasn't even worth writing them down. on second thought that's wrong. here's what i think about those 7, respectively:
- you can rhyme like nobody but that doesn't matter when you don't rhyme about anything substantial and your music is SO childish.
- you had the biggest album last year but none of the songs were good. how does that work? i hope this new "rock" style you're exploring shows everybody that you actually do suck.
- no one cares anymore. what happened to the no more solo albums pledge if your album lost to kanye?
- stop trying to make epic punk music. those two words don't belong together.
- you got your fame from the DISNEY channel. how can you look at yourselves as real artists?
- i wish i liked your music more. you are a great emcee but your stuff's just not accessible to me.
- holy cow you guys stopped being good before you ever even started. pump it was kind of a fun song, yet nothing good came before it and nothing good has come since. your new song is awful. how are you still popular?
the other thing of note in the rolling stone article is how many old artists are releasing new albums. elvis costello, dmb, depeche mode, bob dylan, steve earle, flaming lips, green day, willie nelson, sonic youth, wilco, neil young. these people have all been around for at least like 15 years, some much much longer than that. that's incredible. and at the same time, disappointing that really none of them i'm big fans of.
so that's about it. really kind of a disappointing year. last year i had coldplay, ben folds, al green, john mayer. some of my absolute favorites. this year...nobody. sucks. guess it'll give me time to focus on my surplus of older music.
-jon
1. bob dylan - together through life (4/28)
bob dylan is an enigma to me. his music isn't exactly campus-walking music to me because i wouldn't necessarily call him all that good. like technically good. he was revolutionary, ground-breaking, all that, but he played simple guitar tunes and sang his lyrics through a weird wail. not saying it's bad, but i just wouldn't call him a virtuoso. so i wouldn't say i'm excited about a new bob dylan album, and i certainly won't go get it right away, but it will eventually find it's way into my itunes library.
2. ben harper - white lies for dark times (5/5)
this is more noteworthy just cause ben harper is a artist i respect, even though i hardly ever listen to him. he's one of those artists that i know is incredibly talented, his live shows are out of this world, he has a very cool style, but i've just never really focused on him or his music. i have his live at mars album but that's it. and the main reason i have that album is cause of his sexual healing cover (so freakin' sexy). so for me, seeing he's got a new album coming out is more like "oh. i bet it'll be good" but that's about where it ends.
3. dave matthews band - big whiskey and the groogrux king (6/2)
this is almost the same as the ben harper release for me; i almost wish i was a bigger dave fan so i was more excited about it. when i was around 15 though i fell in love with the dave matthews band and absolutely ate up all of their albums. for the last 5 years or so though, i haven't really listened to them at all. so this album i'm kind of iffy about. maybe one day in the future i will find all my old dave cds and put them on my computer and introduce them to my kids and fall back in love with their music. at that point i will probably get this album and not like it as much as under the table and dreaming.
4. ok go - title tbd (august)
i guess i can't say i'm excited for this one either, but i'm interested to hear how it sounds. their first album was great and i never really got into the second one more than like three of the tunes, but i think i would've liked it had i really spent time on it. but when lead singer damien kulash says this album sounds like "purple rain through broken speakers," that's definitely enough to intrigue me.
there were a bunch of other albums that made me say "hm interesting" but nothing i was excited about. even these four i'm like "eh." other ones i noticed but don't care about were eminem's new album, lil' wayne's, 50 cent's, green day's, jonas brothers, mos def, black eyed peas. i have thoughts about all these, but only like a sentence long so it wasn't even worth writing them down. on second thought that's wrong. here's what i think about those 7, respectively:
- you can rhyme like nobody but that doesn't matter when you don't rhyme about anything substantial and your music is SO childish.
- you had the biggest album last year but none of the songs were good. how does that work? i hope this new "rock" style you're exploring shows everybody that you actually do suck.
- no one cares anymore. what happened to the no more solo albums pledge if your album lost to kanye?
- stop trying to make epic punk music. those two words don't belong together.
- you got your fame from the DISNEY channel. how can you look at yourselves as real artists?
- i wish i liked your music more. you are a great emcee but your stuff's just not accessible to me.
- holy cow you guys stopped being good before you ever even started. pump it was kind of a fun song, yet nothing good came before it and nothing good has come since. your new song is awful. how are you still popular?
the other thing of note in the rolling stone article is how many old artists are releasing new albums. elvis costello, dmb, depeche mode, bob dylan, steve earle, flaming lips, green day, willie nelson, sonic youth, wilco, neil young. these people have all been around for at least like 15 years, some much much longer than that. that's incredible. and at the same time, disappointing that really none of them i'm big fans of.
so that's about it. really kind of a disappointing year. last year i had coldplay, ben folds, al green, john mayer. some of my absolute favorites. this year...nobody. sucks. guess it'll give me time to focus on my surplus of older music.
-jon
Sunday, March 29, 2009
gig #1: the hub.
ladies and gentlemen, i'd like to introduce you to the immortal string trio.
about two weeks ago, i played at the hub with these two guys. from left to right, it's me, eli, bruce. it was a ton of fun too. i was really nervous leading up to it, mainly cause the only other time i've ever played on stage was at church like three times, and these guys have been performing forever. the other reason i was nervous was that i was a little out of my element. the gig was originally gonna be at the hydrant, a small little bar that my roommate kevin works at, which i've spent a substantial amount of time at. i thought it was gonna be a really small crowd, nothing too big of a deal or anything, but then plans changed with the venue owners and we ended up playing the hub on a wednesday night. the hub is a quite bigger bar than the hydrant and i had an extra week to think about it so i got myself pretty worked up.
the day came and i got to the bar around nine, set up my guitar with eli and then just chilled out while people started trickling in. one cool thing though, eli took me down to the "green room" of the hub, i guess every venue's gotta have a place where the performers can chill out before/after the show away from the whole crowd. unfortunately the hub's green room is just the basement with a coffee table and like two crappy leather chairs and an old couch. all purchased from a thrift store most likely. so i went down with eli and bruce and another dude whose name i can't remember now and just hung out while they had a few cigg-butts. we talked through the set list a little bit but basically just decided to wing it. and we went up and played a few songs. i think our first set was about five or six songs, nothing too much. i think it was mainly to get my nerves out.
it worked too. basically the way the three of us play together is either eli or bruce takes lead vocals, the other sings harmony, eli plays the basic rhythm guitar part, bruce will dink around a little with that and i get to pretty much do whatever i want. which means adding what i can during verse chorus parts and then they usually give me a solo in songs that call for one. that was what i guess i was most nervous about; i can play chords on a stage in front of people all day and it wouldn't bother me, especially if there are two other people playing those same chords on stage with me. but soloing is a different story. when a solo happens, i'm trying express myself and the feeling of the song through strictly musical notes, and the spotlight is on me. yeesh. so the first couple songs featured a solo from me or just me playing along and it felt good to get the nerves out. especially once i realized that it was essentially like playing in my living room.
this is where i gotta give it up to my friends. all of my friends know i play guitar, and most know that i play a lot and that i'm better than the average shirtless college dude. so everybody was really supportive once they heard i was playing my first actual gig because playing with other people has always been something i've sort of wanted to do but never enough to actually pursue it aggressively. also, i've never really met anybody that has suited my musical sensibilities all that well either. i certainly hope that doesn't come off as i've never met anybody as good as me because that's not it at all, i'm not great and i've met people so much better than myself at guitar. what i mean is i haven't met anybody that's really matched what i enjoy listening to or playing to very well. eli and bruce fit that better than anybody i've ever really met.
so my friends knew i was excited and nervous about this, and they came out in droves to support me which felt great. and made me feel very much at home, literally, because with almost everybody who came, at one point or another in the last year, there have been one or two nights at least where i've played guitar in the jam shack (our garage) with all these folks around drinking. once i realized that the only difference between me playing at the hub for these people and me playing in my garage for these people was that i was standing two feet above them, i found my groove pretty quickly.
so i want to thank everybody that came out. there were new friends and old friends and super old friends, and it really meant a lot that everybody took so much out of their wednesday night to come and see us play. thanks.
so back to the actual thing. i played for about five or six songs, they let me take a break, eli and bruce duo-ed a few tunes, which is always fun to listen to them sing together, and then each of them did a solo set. so i had about an hour to hang out in the crowd and talk to friends and have a couple beers. it was great too, eli and bruce are both really great performers. they've got killer voices and they both have their own great style on guitar. and the songs they do are awesome. eli covers billy preston...enough said.
an hour goes by and eli invites bruce and i back up for another set. this is where it got fun for me. i had the jitters out and we just jammed and it was so great. set list (in no particular order):
soul scream (a bruce day original)
anywhere i go (slightly stoopid)
rivers of babylon (not sure)
wagon wheel (old crow medicine show)
2 drink minimum (chris cornell, written by john mayer)
omar bay (state radio)
arms of a woman (amos lee)
man in the hall (state radio)
always lift him up and never knock him down (old crow medicine show)
gulf coast highway (nanci griffith)
falling slowly (glen hansard)
what i got (sublime)
street corner preacher (amos lee)
that is the first list we made of songs we might potentially play. i think we did most of them, there were like maybe one or two we didn't do all together, and i know we did one or two of them twice. but you can kind of get the feeling of the music we played. folksy, acousticy, no distortion or anything like that. just music that is easy to play and fun to play well. here is the end of my solo in arms of a woman. this is nothing fantastic, and watching it again i notice how freakin' much i have to practice to get actually good or worth listening to. rather than fresh melody lines, my solos are normally just a glut of notes that fit in the chords being played cause i usually can't come up with new melody lines themselves. and from just a technical point of view, i mess up pretty obviously here and there. but again, this is my first time playing on stage ever so i was happy with how it went. and sorry about the video quality; the video function on blogger is nothing to write home about.
my favorite part of that is kevin yelling at the end, "i live with him! he's my roommate!" that's not his normal voice. devotees will remember kevin as the upside-down smile guy. anyway.
so that was it. i got to hang out with some friends and play guitar for like four hours. and on top of that, i got two free beers out of it, and on top of THAT, i got paid. like i was a legitimate working musician. this put me through the roof cause honestly, the thought of getting paid hadn't crossed my mind through these few weeks like once. i was just excited i was getting to tag along with two seasoned performers to play on a stage in front of people i liked. i felt like the kid brother who had just gotten lucky and got to hang out with the older kids. i hadn't thought once that i was gonna get compensated in any way. if anything, i was surprised i didn't have to pay the bar owner to let me up on stage with a guitar, but when the owner of the hub gave me money for the gig, forget about it. what a treat. a great way to end my night.
so right now, there has been a little talk between the three of us about playing another show soon. the next one will be at the hydrant on the 2nd (tomorrow), and it's actually just me and eli playing this one, bruce had a prior engagement. but i'm really excited because now that i have one gig under my belt, the next one will be a lot easier to be psyched for, and eli and i will have a fun time experimenting with what we can do on our own. he plays some great songs when he does solo shows and i'm excited to see what i can do with them. plus the hydrant is a super small and fun bar so i am already looking forward to it. we're going on about 10 pm. hope to see you out there.
-jon
about two weeks ago, i played at the hub with these two guys. from left to right, it's me, eli, bruce. it was a ton of fun too. i was really nervous leading up to it, mainly cause the only other time i've ever played on stage was at church like three times, and these guys have been performing forever. the other reason i was nervous was that i was a little out of my element. the gig was originally gonna be at the hydrant, a small little bar that my roommate kevin works at, which i've spent a substantial amount of time at. i thought it was gonna be a really small crowd, nothing too big of a deal or anything, but then plans changed with the venue owners and we ended up playing the hub on a wednesday night. the hub is a quite bigger bar than the hydrant and i had an extra week to think about it so i got myself pretty worked up.
the day came and i got to the bar around nine, set up my guitar with eli and then just chilled out while people started trickling in. one cool thing though, eli took me down to the "green room" of the hub, i guess every venue's gotta have a place where the performers can chill out before/after the show away from the whole crowd. unfortunately the hub's green room is just the basement with a coffee table and like two crappy leather chairs and an old couch. all purchased from a thrift store most likely. so i went down with eli and bruce and another dude whose name i can't remember now and just hung out while they had a few cigg-butts. we talked through the set list a little bit but basically just decided to wing it. and we went up and played a few songs. i think our first set was about five or six songs, nothing too much. i think it was mainly to get my nerves out.
it worked too. basically the way the three of us play together is either eli or bruce takes lead vocals, the other sings harmony, eli plays the basic rhythm guitar part, bruce will dink around a little with that and i get to pretty much do whatever i want. which means adding what i can during verse chorus parts and then they usually give me a solo in songs that call for one. that was what i guess i was most nervous about; i can play chords on a stage in front of people all day and it wouldn't bother me, especially if there are two other people playing those same chords on stage with me. but soloing is a different story. when a solo happens, i'm trying express myself and the feeling of the song through strictly musical notes, and the spotlight is on me. yeesh. so the first couple songs featured a solo from me or just me playing along and it felt good to get the nerves out. especially once i realized that it was essentially like playing in my living room.
this is where i gotta give it up to my friends. all of my friends know i play guitar, and most know that i play a lot and that i'm better than the average shirtless college dude. so everybody was really supportive once they heard i was playing my first actual gig because playing with other people has always been something i've sort of wanted to do but never enough to actually pursue it aggressively. also, i've never really met anybody that has suited my musical sensibilities all that well either. i certainly hope that doesn't come off as i've never met anybody as good as me because that's not it at all, i'm not great and i've met people so much better than myself at guitar. what i mean is i haven't met anybody that's really matched what i enjoy listening to or playing to very well. eli and bruce fit that better than anybody i've ever really met.
so my friends knew i was excited and nervous about this, and they came out in droves to support me which felt great. and made me feel very much at home, literally, because with almost everybody who came, at one point or another in the last year, there have been one or two nights at least where i've played guitar in the jam shack (our garage) with all these folks around drinking. once i realized that the only difference between me playing at the hub for these people and me playing in my garage for these people was that i was standing two feet above them, i found my groove pretty quickly.
so i want to thank everybody that came out. there were new friends and old friends and super old friends, and it really meant a lot that everybody took so much out of their wednesday night to come and see us play. thanks.
so back to the actual thing. i played for about five or six songs, they let me take a break, eli and bruce duo-ed a few tunes, which is always fun to listen to them sing together, and then each of them did a solo set. so i had about an hour to hang out in the crowd and talk to friends and have a couple beers. it was great too, eli and bruce are both really great performers. they've got killer voices and they both have their own great style on guitar. and the songs they do are awesome. eli covers billy preston...enough said.
an hour goes by and eli invites bruce and i back up for another set. this is where it got fun for me. i had the jitters out and we just jammed and it was so great. set list (in no particular order):
soul scream (a bruce day original)
anywhere i go (slightly stoopid)
rivers of babylon (not sure)
wagon wheel (old crow medicine show)
2 drink minimum (chris cornell, written by john mayer)
omar bay (state radio)
arms of a woman (amos lee)
man in the hall (state radio)
always lift him up and never knock him down (old crow medicine show)
gulf coast highway (nanci griffith)
falling slowly (glen hansard)
what i got (sublime)
street corner preacher (amos lee)
that is the first list we made of songs we might potentially play. i think we did most of them, there were like maybe one or two we didn't do all together, and i know we did one or two of them twice. but you can kind of get the feeling of the music we played. folksy, acousticy, no distortion or anything like that. just music that is easy to play and fun to play well. here is the end of my solo in arms of a woman. this is nothing fantastic, and watching it again i notice how freakin' much i have to practice to get actually good or worth listening to. rather than fresh melody lines, my solos are normally just a glut of notes that fit in the chords being played cause i usually can't come up with new melody lines themselves. and from just a technical point of view, i mess up pretty obviously here and there. but again, this is my first time playing on stage ever so i was happy with how it went. and sorry about the video quality; the video function on blogger is nothing to write home about.
my favorite part of that is kevin yelling at the end, "i live with him! he's my roommate!" that's not his normal voice. devotees will remember kevin as the upside-down smile guy. anyway.
so that was it. i got to hang out with some friends and play guitar for like four hours. and on top of that, i got two free beers out of it, and on top of THAT, i got paid. like i was a legitimate working musician. this put me through the roof cause honestly, the thought of getting paid hadn't crossed my mind through these few weeks like once. i was just excited i was getting to tag along with two seasoned performers to play on a stage in front of people i liked. i felt like the kid brother who had just gotten lucky and got to hang out with the older kids. i hadn't thought once that i was gonna get compensated in any way. if anything, i was surprised i didn't have to pay the bar owner to let me up on stage with a guitar, but when the owner of the hub gave me money for the gig, forget about it. what a treat. a great way to end my night.
so right now, there has been a little talk between the three of us about playing another show soon. the next one will be at the hydrant on the 2nd (tomorrow), and it's actually just me and eli playing this one, bruce had a prior engagement. but i'm really excited because now that i have one gig under my belt, the next one will be a lot easier to be psyched for, and eli and i will have a fun time experimenting with what we can do on our own. he plays some great songs when he does solo shows and i'm excited to see what i can do with them. plus the hydrant is a super small and fun bar so i am already looking forward to it. we're going on about 10 pm. hope to see you out there.
-jon
reptile.
eric clapton is sort of a tough case for me. he is widely acknowledged as one of the best guitar players ever to grace the stage, even prompting graffiti artists in the 70s to write the infamous phrase "clapton is god" various places around england. the problem for me is that his music and his playing is so deeply rooted in the blues. now this is absolutely not a bad thing, but instead of adding the sensibility of blues into his pop music (or vice versa) in a subtle way, he often plays lots of just straight up 12 bar blues music, like straight from the 20s. it's pretty intense bluesy music. and as much as that music is great, i usually don't just sit down and listen to an album full of it. that's why i've never really digested anything he did with cream, anything with the yardbirds, any of the derek and the dominoes, any of his first few solo albums. the only ones i've ever really gotten into are obviously unplugged (basically the album that taught me how to play real guitar) and pilgrim.
i had heard this album reptile once or twice, but really the only songs i had remembered and liked were the title track and the album closer. i first heard the album in kansas city, so sometime around 2003. fast forward to 2009, my roommates and i set up my new record player in our living room and we put on the first record i'd ever owned, stevie wonder's hotter than july. we are sitting there talking and listening to it and all of a sudden the fourth track comes on, i ain't gonna stand for it. it sounds crazy familiar but i can't exactly place where i've heard it before. it jangles around in my noggin for a day or so before i realized clapton covered it on reptile so i dust those files off on my ipod and have been listening to it consistently for about two weeks. it is a really great album. it consists of three covers and lots of originals. here's a bit more on it.
1. "Reptile" (Eric Clapton) – 3:26
title track. just a simple instrumental, but there are so many great chord patterns in this one. there are two really incredible parts to this song, the gorgeous lead guitar part and everything else. let's break the everything else down first. there is a really groovy acoustic picking the chords in the background, and whoever is playing this rhythm guitar has got some serious funk in his bones. and the chord progression is so quiet but foundational. such good rhythm playing. on top of that, you've got a really quiet fender rhodes electric piano adding gorgeous chords and riffs in the background, spicing up the tune just enough. the bass is almost impossible to make out but essential, and the drum part is so sexy. the drummer is really rocking the brush stroke perfectly. i also hear the occasional wind chimes that close out a verse, such ambience. in the end though, two words really sum up the drum part: egg shaker. 'nuff said.
now the lead guitar part. what a hawt solo. overbearing this is not. this is where clapton's playing really comes into focus and has the potential to slap you in the face if you are paying attention. he's got such beautifully bluesy little licks that sit perfectly in this completely un-bluesy tune. and it's just a catchy solo. if nothing else, it's fun to listen to because it sounds like it's fun to play. on the concert dvd one more car, one more rider, clapton's band opens with this track and it just looks like a fun tune. and if i had to play my electric guitar with only one tone for the rest of my life, this would be one of the few i would be choosing between. such a muffled, warm sound.
2. "Got You on My Mind" (Howard Biggs/Joe Thomas) – 4:30
this is one of the more traditional blues numbers on the album. tunes like this really showcase how much the blues are imprinted in clapton's dna. he's got the guitar riffs of the great bluesmen down perfectly and adds his own touch. this is also one of the songs that nails clapton's voice so well. his voice sits perfectly over a 12 bar blues progression and you can really feel the blues in his voice. it's clear when it needs to be and growls just enough to be awesome.
3. "Travelin' Light" (J. J. Cale) – 4:17
written by usual clapton collaborator j.j. cale, this one has a bit of a rockin' feel to it. clapton's guitar sounds great as ever, but i'm not crazy about this song. it just doesn't really speak to me all that much, and the solo is a little too whiny for me to really want to learn it or anything.
4. "Believe in Life" (Clapton) – 5:05
a slower track, this has a very pilgrim-ish feel to it. sounds like change the world's distant cousin or something. nice little acoustic chords behind the lead guitar. it's a great tune, but clocking in at just over five minutes, i hardly ever listen to the whole thing unless i'm listening to the whole album straight through no skips, which only happens occasionally. this isn't one i skip to ever. which doesn't mean i don't like it, but there's just not enough that captures me to hang in there for a full five minutes.
5. "Come Back Baby" (Ray Charles) – 3:55
the first cover on the album. this sounds very much like the ray charles original, just a lot more full and better quality of recording. this tune features the real gravel in clapton's voice to belt out tunes written by ray, and he really tears into his guitar solo, something not found in ray's version. great tune.
6. "Broken Down" (Simon Climie/Dennis Morgan) – 5:25
this is a really great bluesy track. it's along the same lines as old love, not thematically but musically for sure. by that i guess i mean just a really killer tune, something that sounds almost harsh, and would sound perfect with a full band or played acoustic. the album features a full band version, but this tune would fit well with just an acoustic guitar and a lead playing over it. really catchy progression, even if it is a simple two chords. leads to lots of soloing possibilities, which clapton takes advantage of. this tune features a fantastic huge mix of instruments that all add a lot to the song. super fun to play with.
7. "Find Myself" (Clapton) – 5:15
this has a very ray charles feel to it but it's a clapton original. the rhythm plunks along a cute little chord progression. worth 4 minutes, but not 5 and a quarter.
8. "I Ain't Gonna Stand for It" (Stevie Wonder) – 4:49
here's the track that reignited my whole love affair with this album. hearing the stevie wonder original made me want to hear this again and it was all over after that. this song is just too much fun. my vote goes to clapton's rendition rather than stevie's. stevie's smacks just too much of country, while clapton's pulls off this really full sound that just blows out your ears. this is one of those songs that makes me wish i could sing and play at the same time. i don't know how clapton does it but to sing the chorus with any sort of conviction while riffing like he does is incredible. it's like his guitar and his voice are trading licks.
9. "I Want a Little Girl" (Murray Mencher/Billy Moll) – 2:58
quickly becoming another of my favorites on the album. this has the plunkiness of an old ray charles tune with a splash of clapton soul. anybody that sings about the girl of his dreams being able to cook chicken...that's good lyricism right there. no other way around it. great piano on this one too, with gorgeous guitar over it.
10. "Second Nature" (Clapton/Climie/Morgan) – 4:48
haven't given this one tons of listens. but i enjoy it. not much else to say other than it's pretty generic.
11. "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" (James Taylor) – 4:47
he turns a sexy james taylor song into an even sexier eric clapton song. i always thought this was a great song but hearing it with some rippin' guitar over this hawt chord structure really takes the song where it needs to be. sexy music deserves sexy guitar and clapton provides it.
12. "Modern Girl" (Clapton) – 4:49
really cool acoustic number. it's got a gorgeous melodic structure and a weird cheek popping noise every third beat which is awesome.
13. "Superman Inside" (Doyle Bramhall/Clapton/Susannah Melvoin) – 5:07
the low point of the album for me. sounds really generic. reminds me that clapton is still capable of making music that larry the cable guy fans could potentially enjoy listening to. kind of a bummer for me.
14. "Son and Sylvia" (Clapton) – 4:43
beautiful acoustic instrumental. this and reptile were the two songs that really hooked me from the beginning with this album, like 6 years ago when i first heard it. i think i heard this right around the time i had purchased my strat, and learning this was a great exercise in terms of picking stuff up by ear and soloing too. the layering in this tune is superb; each verse just keeps adding more and more, another guitar, a harmonica, weird instruments i don't even know about. and added all up it just sounds so beautiful.
i'd recommend this album to any clapton fan, no matter how marginal. clapton spans like eighty different genres for this album so it's got something anybody can groove to. plus lots of other good stuff too. check it out.
-jon
i had heard this album reptile once or twice, but really the only songs i had remembered and liked were the title track and the album closer. i first heard the album in kansas city, so sometime around 2003. fast forward to 2009, my roommates and i set up my new record player in our living room and we put on the first record i'd ever owned, stevie wonder's hotter than july. we are sitting there talking and listening to it and all of a sudden the fourth track comes on, i ain't gonna stand for it. it sounds crazy familiar but i can't exactly place where i've heard it before. it jangles around in my noggin for a day or so before i realized clapton covered it on reptile so i dust those files off on my ipod and have been listening to it consistently for about two weeks. it is a really great album. it consists of three covers and lots of originals. here's a bit more on it.
1. "Reptile" (Eric Clapton) – 3:26
title track. just a simple instrumental, but there are so many great chord patterns in this one. there are two really incredible parts to this song, the gorgeous lead guitar part and everything else. let's break the everything else down first. there is a really groovy acoustic picking the chords in the background, and whoever is playing this rhythm guitar has got some serious funk in his bones. and the chord progression is so quiet but foundational. such good rhythm playing. on top of that, you've got a really quiet fender rhodes electric piano adding gorgeous chords and riffs in the background, spicing up the tune just enough. the bass is almost impossible to make out but essential, and the drum part is so sexy. the drummer is really rocking the brush stroke perfectly. i also hear the occasional wind chimes that close out a verse, such ambience. in the end though, two words really sum up the drum part: egg shaker. 'nuff said.
now the lead guitar part. what a hawt solo. overbearing this is not. this is where clapton's playing really comes into focus and has the potential to slap you in the face if you are paying attention. he's got such beautifully bluesy little licks that sit perfectly in this completely un-bluesy tune. and it's just a catchy solo. if nothing else, it's fun to listen to because it sounds like it's fun to play. on the concert dvd one more car, one more rider, clapton's band opens with this track and it just looks like a fun tune. and if i had to play my electric guitar with only one tone for the rest of my life, this would be one of the few i would be choosing between. such a muffled, warm sound.
2. "Got You on My Mind" (Howard Biggs/Joe Thomas) – 4:30
this is one of the more traditional blues numbers on the album. tunes like this really showcase how much the blues are imprinted in clapton's dna. he's got the guitar riffs of the great bluesmen down perfectly and adds his own touch. this is also one of the songs that nails clapton's voice so well. his voice sits perfectly over a 12 bar blues progression and you can really feel the blues in his voice. it's clear when it needs to be and growls just enough to be awesome.
3. "Travelin' Light" (J. J. Cale) – 4:17
written by usual clapton collaborator j.j. cale, this one has a bit of a rockin' feel to it. clapton's guitar sounds great as ever, but i'm not crazy about this song. it just doesn't really speak to me all that much, and the solo is a little too whiny for me to really want to learn it or anything.
4. "Believe in Life" (Clapton) – 5:05
a slower track, this has a very pilgrim-ish feel to it. sounds like change the world's distant cousin or something. nice little acoustic chords behind the lead guitar. it's a great tune, but clocking in at just over five minutes, i hardly ever listen to the whole thing unless i'm listening to the whole album straight through no skips, which only happens occasionally. this isn't one i skip to ever. which doesn't mean i don't like it, but there's just not enough that captures me to hang in there for a full five minutes.
5. "Come Back Baby" (Ray Charles) – 3:55
the first cover on the album. this sounds very much like the ray charles original, just a lot more full and better quality of recording. this tune features the real gravel in clapton's voice to belt out tunes written by ray, and he really tears into his guitar solo, something not found in ray's version. great tune.
6. "Broken Down" (Simon Climie/Dennis Morgan) – 5:25
this is a really great bluesy track. it's along the same lines as old love, not thematically but musically for sure. by that i guess i mean just a really killer tune, something that sounds almost harsh, and would sound perfect with a full band or played acoustic. the album features a full band version, but this tune would fit well with just an acoustic guitar and a lead playing over it. really catchy progression, even if it is a simple two chords. leads to lots of soloing possibilities, which clapton takes advantage of. this tune features a fantastic huge mix of instruments that all add a lot to the song. super fun to play with.
7. "Find Myself" (Clapton) – 5:15
this has a very ray charles feel to it but it's a clapton original. the rhythm plunks along a cute little chord progression. worth 4 minutes, but not 5 and a quarter.
8. "I Ain't Gonna Stand for It" (Stevie Wonder) – 4:49
here's the track that reignited my whole love affair with this album. hearing the stevie wonder original made me want to hear this again and it was all over after that. this song is just too much fun. my vote goes to clapton's rendition rather than stevie's. stevie's smacks just too much of country, while clapton's pulls off this really full sound that just blows out your ears. this is one of those songs that makes me wish i could sing and play at the same time. i don't know how clapton does it but to sing the chorus with any sort of conviction while riffing like he does is incredible. it's like his guitar and his voice are trading licks.
9. "I Want a Little Girl" (Murray Mencher/Billy Moll) – 2:58
quickly becoming another of my favorites on the album. this has the plunkiness of an old ray charles tune with a splash of clapton soul. anybody that sings about the girl of his dreams being able to cook chicken...that's good lyricism right there. no other way around it. great piano on this one too, with gorgeous guitar over it.
10. "Second Nature" (Clapton/Climie/Morgan) – 4:48
haven't given this one tons of listens. but i enjoy it. not much else to say other than it's pretty generic.
11. "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" (James Taylor) – 4:47
he turns a sexy james taylor song into an even sexier eric clapton song. i always thought this was a great song but hearing it with some rippin' guitar over this hawt chord structure really takes the song where it needs to be. sexy music deserves sexy guitar and clapton provides it.
12. "Modern Girl" (Clapton) – 4:49
really cool acoustic number. it's got a gorgeous melodic structure and a weird cheek popping noise every third beat which is awesome.
13. "Superman Inside" (Doyle Bramhall/Clapton/Susannah Melvoin) – 5:07
the low point of the album for me. sounds really generic. reminds me that clapton is still capable of making music that larry the cable guy fans could potentially enjoy listening to. kind of a bummer for me.
14. "Son and Sylvia" (Clapton) – 4:43
beautiful acoustic instrumental. this and reptile were the two songs that really hooked me from the beginning with this album, like 6 years ago when i first heard it. i think i heard this right around the time i had purchased my strat, and learning this was a great exercise in terms of picking stuff up by ear and soloing too. the layering in this tune is superb; each verse just keeps adding more and more, another guitar, a harmonica, weird instruments i don't even know about. and added all up it just sounds so beautiful.
i'd recommend this album to any clapton fan, no matter how marginal. clapton spans like eighty different genres for this album so it's got something anybody can groove to. plus lots of other good stuff too. check it out.
-jon
Friday, March 27, 2009
live from new york, it's a crappy show.
there are two "golden eras" of saturday night live that are generally recognized as the highest points of the show's history. the first was early on after the show started, when the cast consisted of john belushi, dan aakroyd, jane curtain, chevy chase, bill murray, among others, along with consistent guest spots by steve martin and andy kaufman (even though he's very often connected with the early years of the show, martin was never actually a cast member). popular sketches from this time were the blues brothers, most of what steve martin was a part of, and weekend update. weekend update really took hold around this time along with a new form of presidential parody not before seen on primetime tv.
the second golden era of the show came at the tail end of the 80s and on into the 90s. the cast consisted of, for my generation, the greats. adam sandler, chris farley, david spade, dana carvey, mike myers, and had writers such as conan o'brien and robert smigel (the man behind the tv funhouse shorts, such as ambiguously gay duo, and the voice of triumph the insult comic dog). this was absolutely one of the highest of the show's highs. the sketches the writers were coming up with were so funny and they had the strongest cast to really hit them out of the park. conan left snl to write on the simpsons while smigel went and wrote for dana carvey's next project, the dana carvey show, both of which were critically acclaimed. the seasons of the simpsons with conan as a writer are generally regarded as some of the shows best seasons, and the dana carvey show was also critically acclaimed, and even though it lasted for one season, it featured the early tv work of stephen colbert and steve carrell, along with the writing talents of smigel and stand-up louis c.k. it just goes to show how important writers are for snl, and really for any comedy show. the cast of the 80s/90s decade turn was a phenomenal cast, but without a solid set of writers they wouldn't have had anything good to work with.
and that's why snl is suffering now. if you look at the cast, it's really consistent. bill hader, jason sudeikis, seth myers, fred armisen, will forte are all extremely funny men. every interview that hader, sudeikis, myers, or forte had on late night with conan o'brien was very funny, and they are all really funny in most of the movies they show up in. and kristin wiig is possibly the funniest woman on television, at least until amy poehler premieres her new nbc comedy "parks and recreation". wiig has some of the funniest characters on snl right now, including the target lady, penelope, judy grimes, and part of the duo the a-holes. she also does hilarious impressions, which in the last few months have included bjork, barbie, and my absolute favorite, kathie lee gifford on the today show. plus she's super pretty. so the cast is strong.
here's where the show runs off the rails for me. andy samberg and his comedy group the lonely island, which is him, akiva schaffer, and jorma taccone. samberg is a regular cast member on snl, and all three of them are writers for the show, and in the last season or two the show has taken a very clear turn towards the type of humor that these three are famous for. they started by making crappy low-budget tv episodes and directing music videos for themselves and now they're doing that on snl. they do almost all of the digital shorts as far as i know, and the whole show is infested with their brand of "zany", off the wall humor. i quote zany because it's the type of humor that crappy people would call "random." my friend owen and i were talking about this the other day, that for awhile, in the last few years, the words "random" and "awkward" have become SO overused because they are now associated with humor. jr. highers started saying things like "the office is such a funny show because it's just so awkward!" no. the american version is not awkward. it's funny because of the relationships on the show and socially inappropriate behavior. the british version was absolutely awkward, and so few people in america would like it nearly as much as the american version. we can't stand subtle, and the american version is nowhere near as subtle as the british. another word that caught on fire was "random". "oh gosh how random is that that demetri martin labels all of his props!" that's the kind of "zany", or "random" humor that can be attributed to the lonely island. one perfect example of this from their pre-snl days is the "we like sportz" video. it's just schaffer and taccone in a song about how they like sports. and man is it stupid. in no way do i find it at all funny. they are good at making crappy music on like 16-track recorders and writing stupid words that rhyme. the zaniness i was talking about is the stuff like spelling words "sports" and "nuts" with z's, or "sux" instead of sucks. they play these stupid characters who look uncomfortable on camera, yeah that's how they're supposed to look but it's just not funny. i don't get why all of america thinks these guys are great.
this has only gone from bad to worse. samberg got on the map with "lazy sunday", probably the only video i've ever seen of his or the lonely island that i thought was funny at all. you can still see some of their "random" humor getting in here though, like "double true" being spelled in all different colors. how is that funny? since lazy sunday it's only gone from bad to worse. some of the worst i've seen are the digital shorts like "people getting punched", "andy popping into frame." please people. none of this is funny or original. it's brainless. it's insulting to watch because they have no respect for their audience. people getting punched is a long video of samberg running around and punching people before they bite into food with some crappy lonely island-produced song playing over it. then samberg does a stupid dance after he punches somebody. how is that humorous? andy popping into frame is almost worse, again a long video of NOTHING but empty shots of scenery around new york with samberg popping his face into the frame and smiling. not funny. pointless. comedy comes from jokes, from wit or irony or sarcasm. this is none of those things. this is an asanine waste of film.
one of the things that i dislike about samberg especially is the obvious fact that he and his comedy buddy writers seem to think that he has a funny looking face. he doesn't. the faces that he makes are NEVER funny. he just looks like one of those douchebag juniors in college who think they should be in standup because they can make their bar buddies laugh. his faces are not funny, which adds to my hatred for the andy popping into frame sketch.
ok so how about the recent, hugely popular sketches lonely island have done like "jizz in my pants" or "i'm on a boat". for some reason these are insanely popular on youtube and the like. now i will concede, i somewhat see the humor in lampooning these ridiculous genres of music. but at the same time, the lonely island guys seem to be doing it less with a sense of "this is actually ridiculous" and more with a wink/nudge "how funny are we that we are doing this, right?" it feels arrogant to me. my biggest beef with the jizz in my pants video is that so much of the comedy in this sketch is supposed to come from the faces the samberg and taccone make but again, samberg does NOT have a funny face and taccone's is nothing to write home about. also, justin timberlake WHY are you in this video? no point other than for face time. obnoxious. and the i'm on a boat video is funny, "because they actually got t-pain to do it right?!!" no. that simultaneously makes your video kind of smart but more stupid because first of all, to lampoon something as ridiculous as that kind of rap music only works if you can have someone like t-pain help you out, so it's kind of smart, but it defeats the purpose because it shows they are actually fans of t-pain and his music. so it's moot. no point to it. and t-pain sucks. and the song sucks. and just the idea isn't funny to me. i feel like so many people think it's great because "nobody has thought to do something like this yet and make fun of these self-indulgent rappers like this yet!!" but if you spend any amount of time actually analyzing the current state of rap music and realize that THIS is the kind of music that is popular with our culture, the genre is unintentionally self-parodying in its nature. to watch any music video by the yin yang twins or lil wayne (if kanye's not careful he's gonna find himself on this list too) or any of these ridiculous rappers or listen/read an interview by them or just listen to their music, it is SO ridiculous that it doesn't NEED to be parodied. it blows me away that somebody can't listen to their music and not see how incredibly absurd it is. the satire of the lonely island towards this genre is completely unnecessary and that's why it's not funny to me.
so that's why watching snl isn't fun to me right now. maybe in a few years the show will cycle through their writers but i just wish all the great talent in the cast wasn't wasted on guys like samberg, taccone, and schaffer. they are the worst.
-jon
p.s. i thought about putting up some of the lonely island videos i mentioned, but i didn't want them polluting my blog. i didn't even post any links. if you want to see them, youtube has most of the pre-snl lonely island stuff and hulu has most of the current snl lonely island stuff.
NOTE: edited to say that the movie hot rod sucks too. i turned it off at the scene where samberg is about to street luge down the hill and he starts saying all that "wwwwHy am i talking wwwwHich wwway?" cool samberg. watched family guy in the last three years?
the second golden era of the show came at the tail end of the 80s and on into the 90s. the cast consisted of, for my generation, the greats. adam sandler, chris farley, david spade, dana carvey, mike myers, and had writers such as conan o'brien and robert smigel (the man behind the tv funhouse shorts, such as ambiguously gay duo, and the voice of triumph the insult comic dog). this was absolutely one of the highest of the show's highs. the sketches the writers were coming up with were so funny and they had the strongest cast to really hit them out of the park. conan left snl to write on the simpsons while smigel went and wrote for dana carvey's next project, the dana carvey show, both of which were critically acclaimed. the seasons of the simpsons with conan as a writer are generally regarded as some of the shows best seasons, and the dana carvey show was also critically acclaimed, and even though it lasted for one season, it featured the early tv work of stephen colbert and steve carrell, along with the writing talents of smigel and stand-up louis c.k. it just goes to show how important writers are for snl, and really for any comedy show. the cast of the 80s/90s decade turn was a phenomenal cast, but without a solid set of writers they wouldn't have had anything good to work with.
and that's why snl is suffering now. if you look at the cast, it's really consistent. bill hader, jason sudeikis, seth myers, fred armisen, will forte are all extremely funny men. every interview that hader, sudeikis, myers, or forte had on late night with conan o'brien was very funny, and they are all really funny in most of the movies they show up in. and kristin wiig is possibly the funniest woman on television, at least until amy poehler premieres her new nbc comedy "parks and recreation". wiig has some of the funniest characters on snl right now, including the target lady, penelope, judy grimes, and part of the duo the a-holes. she also does hilarious impressions, which in the last few months have included bjork, barbie, and my absolute favorite, kathie lee gifford on the today show. plus she's super pretty. so the cast is strong.
here's where the show runs off the rails for me. andy samberg and his comedy group the lonely island, which is him, akiva schaffer, and jorma taccone. samberg is a regular cast member on snl, and all three of them are writers for the show, and in the last season or two the show has taken a very clear turn towards the type of humor that these three are famous for. they started by making crappy low-budget tv episodes and directing music videos for themselves and now they're doing that on snl. they do almost all of the digital shorts as far as i know, and the whole show is infested with their brand of "zany", off the wall humor. i quote zany because it's the type of humor that crappy people would call "random." my friend owen and i were talking about this the other day, that for awhile, in the last few years, the words "random" and "awkward" have become SO overused because they are now associated with humor. jr. highers started saying things like "the office is such a funny show because it's just so awkward!" no. the american version is not awkward. it's funny because of the relationships on the show and socially inappropriate behavior. the british version was absolutely awkward, and so few people in america would like it nearly as much as the american version. we can't stand subtle, and the american version is nowhere near as subtle as the british. another word that caught on fire was "random". "oh gosh how random is that that demetri martin labels all of his props!" that's the kind of "zany", or "random" humor that can be attributed to the lonely island. one perfect example of this from their pre-snl days is the "we like sportz" video. it's just schaffer and taccone in a song about how they like sports. and man is it stupid. in no way do i find it at all funny. they are good at making crappy music on like 16-track recorders and writing stupid words that rhyme. the zaniness i was talking about is the stuff like spelling words "sports" and "nuts" with z's, or "sux" instead of sucks. they play these stupid characters who look uncomfortable on camera, yeah that's how they're supposed to look but it's just not funny. i don't get why all of america thinks these guys are great.
this has only gone from bad to worse. samberg got on the map with "lazy sunday", probably the only video i've ever seen of his or the lonely island that i thought was funny at all. you can still see some of their "random" humor getting in here though, like "double true" being spelled in all different colors. how is that funny? since lazy sunday it's only gone from bad to worse. some of the worst i've seen are the digital shorts like "people getting punched", "andy popping into frame." please people. none of this is funny or original. it's brainless. it's insulting to watch because they have no respect for their audience. people getting punched is a long video of samberg running around and punching people before they bite into food with some crappy lonely island-produced song playing over it. then samberg does a stupid dance after he punches somebody. how is that humorous? andy popping into frame is almost worse, again a long video of NOTHING but empty shots of scenery around new york with samberg popping his face into the frame and smiling. not funny. pointless. comedy comes from jokes, from wit or irony or sarcasm. this is none of those things. this is an asanine waste of film.
one of the things that i dislike about samberg especially is the obvious fact that he and his comedy buddy writers seem to think that he has a funny looking face. he doesn't. the faces that he makes are NEVER funny. he just looks like one of those douchebag juniors in college who think they should be in standup because they can make their bar buddies laugh. his faces are not funny, which adds to my hatred for the andy popping into frame sketch.
ok so how about the recent, hugely popular sketches lonely island have done like "jizz in my pants" or "i'm on a boat". for some reason these are insanely popular on youtube and the like. now i will concede, i somewhat see the humor in lampooning these ridiculous genres of music. but at the same time, the lonely island guys seem to be doing it less with a sense of "this is actually ridiculous" and more with a wink/nudge "how funny are we that we are doing this, right?" it feels arrogant to me. my biggest beef with the jizz in my pants video is that so much of the comedy in this sketch is supposed to come from the faces the samberg and taccone make but again, samberg does NOT have a funny face and taccone's is nothing to write home about. also, justin timberlake WHY are you in this video? no point other than for face time. obnoxious. and the i'm on a boat video is funny, "because they actually got t-pain to do it right?!!" no. that simultaneously makes your video kind of smart but more stupid because first of all, to lampoon something as ridiculous as that kind of rap music only works if you can have someone like t-pain help you out, so it's kind of smart, but it defeats the purpose because it shows they are actually fans of t-pain and his music. so it's moot. no point to it. and t-pain sucks. and the song sucks. and just the idea isn't funny to me. i feel like so many people think it's great because "nobody has thought to do something like this yet and make fun of these self-indulgent rappers like this yet!!" but if you spend any amount of time actually analyzing the current state of rap music and realize that THIS is the kind of music that is popular with our culture, the genre is unintentionally self-parodying in its nature. to watch any music video by the yin yang twins or lil wayne (if kanye's not careful he's gonna find himself on this list too) or any of these ridiculous rappers or listen/read an interview by them or just listen to their music, it is SO ridiculous that it doesn't NEED to be parodied. it blows me away that somebody can't listen to their music and not see how incredibly absurd it is. the satire of the lonely island towards this genre is completely unnecessary and that's why it's not funny to me.
so that's why watching snl isn't fun to me right now. maybe in a few years the show will cycle through their writers but i just wish all the great talent in the cast wasn't wasted on guys like samberg, taccone, and schaffer. they are the worst.
-jon
p.s. i thought about putting up some of the lonely island videos i mentioned, but i didn't want them polluting my blog. i didn't even post any links. if you want to see them, youtube has most of the pre-snl lonely island stuff and hulu has most of the current snl lonely island stuff.
NOTE: edited to say that the movie hot rod sucks too. i turned it off at the scene where samberg is about to street luge down the hill and he starts saying all that "wwwwHy am i talking wwwwHich wwway?" cool samberg. watched family guy in the last three years?
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