myTunes 36 Most Played Songs (12.10.08)

I’ve been thinking about doing this for quite some time – revealing what my top played songs are on iTunes.  By default, the most played playlist is set at 25 or something, but since 36 is my lucky number and 36 just happens to fit perfectly in the height of laptop screen monitor (to where I didn’t have to scroll down to see the whole list), it worked out so so good.

Revealing this list, for me, feels like letting out my public tax return information to the public lol (well, it wouldn’t be big at all, but just imagine that I’m a celebrity and this is now common knowledge).  I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of, though some of my choices and rankings of some songs and artists might surprise/turn off/turn on some people, so it’s your choice on what you’ll decide to think of me from now on hahaha.  Whatever, though.  We all have our guilty pleasures/inner demons :p.

I’ll list it backwards, from #36 to #1.  It’s pretty accurate (well, these are based on plays from when I uploaded the tracks to my laptop’s iTunes in summer 2006, and from iPod plays, so it’s based from then).  You will see my varying tastes, from traditional/pop/alternative/rocking/country,bluegrass, rock, pop, and alternative rock.

These below are my stats, as of this moment, Tuesday night, December 9th. 2008 @ 11:23pm (out of about 39,000 plays):

51st GRAMMY Award Nominations / CMT Giants: Alan Jackson

I know I haven’t posted in a while (been busy and lazy and uninspired lol).  Since I did my afterthought review on the CMAs in November, I figured I’d do one for these two important items (as you can see from my glorious poster-like creation on the right side in this entry lol):

- The 51st Grammy Award Nominations

and

- CMT Giants: Alan Jackson

I decided to combine my thoughts into one post, since I’d rather not make two separate ones (I like them big posts!  Tags’R'Us).  Believe me, there are better ways of organizing these opinions, but I don’t feel like worrying about it lol.  They are placed in different sections.  Scroll down for the CMT Giants review.

The nomination for the 2009 Grammy Awards were announced a few days ago, and I’ve already commented on them already at a few sites, but here’s my more extensive analysis.

First of all, as I first read through the list, I was absolutely thrilled by their choices.  The Grammys has a respectable tendency in its history to appreciate and honor actual good music (well, in the country genre, at least.  I’m not sure about other genres.), and while they do have some questionable choices sometimes, they are definitely a lot more smarter and better judges when it comes to art and music than people are for say… country award shows (yeah, record sells always equal talent, don’t they Nashville?).  The Grammys enormously pleased me with the Dixie Chicks wins last time.  Anyway, like other people online have commented, the nominations for 2009 (or is it for 2008?  Whatever it is, for the upcoming awards) are really exciting and one of the best they’ve ever came up with.  I’m not going to list all the nominations or the categories, but I’ll give my opinion on what songs I want to.

Let’s start in the country genre (here’s an easy list to look at for country related noms from CU and here for the full noms), and let’s look at the nominations for “Best Female Country Vocal Performance”.   I thought they were pretty good, though I wouldn’t necessarily place Martina McBride‘s song in that category (it’s a decent song, but there are better choices).  I’ve never heard LeAnn Rimes‘s song until just right now: wow, very good vocals and not a bad song.  My choice (unsurprisingly) would be Lee Ann Womack‘s “Last Call”.  I wouldn’t mind if Carrie Underwood or Trisha Yearwood‘s songs won, because I love those ones too.  I’m glad Taylor Swift was left off.

Now: “Best Male Country Vocal Performance”… I’m not really blown away by any of those songs, but they’re not horrible horrible choices.  I gotta go with my man, George Strait, though.  I’ve grown quite a liking to “Troubadour”, as I heard it more as a radio single.

“Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals”.   Hmm… I’m gonna have to go with Lady Antebellum.  But wow, I just listened to The Steel Drivers‘s “Blue Side of the Mountain” and I love it… edgy mountain-sounding vocals with hard-driving bluegrass instruments.  Will definitely check them out!  Looks like Chris Stapleton sings for them… forgot about that.  I’d be fine if Sugarland‘s song or Brooks & Dunn‘s won too, but definitely don’t want Rascal Flatts to win a thing.

I really like the choices with “Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals”, except for the obvious song that stands apart from the rest: the Kenny Chesney/Strait duet (which is only saved by George, but is still not a good song).  You know I’m dig the Alison Krauss/Robert Plant song (more on them later), and the Strait/Patty Loveless duet (my two most favorite male and female artists singing and honoring Johnny and June Carter Cash?  Excellence-ness.  And I hope they win).  Oh yeah, I’m not too fond of “Life in a Northern Town”, like I mentioned in my song review months ago (I would rather hear Chesney and Strait’s tune, to be quite serious).  I enjoy Trisha Yearwood‘s (with Keith Urban‘s harmony) song, so if she won, I wouldn’t cry.  It’s very nice.

Recommendation XXXIX: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Back to the art of music and outta mainsteam-land, to a place where quality is, and what it’s always been essentially about: the alternative country world.  You know, the CMAs, for the most part, left a bitter taste in my mouth (Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler‘s bubblegum pop didn’t sweeten the night at all.  Just provided some more artificial “sugar” to the mess.)  Like I said in my CMA entry, I did enjoy parts of the show, but it really got me even more upset with how terrible mainstream country music really has become.  I’m not saying it should be 100% traditional country music, because that would be boring (though, there definitely needs more of that represented to remind artists and fans of what the music is).  I just wish it wasn’t all about the money and crossing-over and appealing to teenagers who don’t know what country is.  The format might be a business but quality and diversity of styles should be the #1 things on their mind, and radio stations aren’t innocent either.  They just contribute immensely to the destruction of the music. (Btw, speaking of destruction, I saw the midnight screening of the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, and man, I loved it!  Go see while it’s still in theaters! You should see 2006′s Casino Royale first, because both movies go hand-in-hand and Quantum is its sequel. Here’s the trailer.)

My thirty-ninth recommendation is: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss’s “Through the Morning, Through the Night” from their 2007 Raising Sand album.  I have been wanting to highlight this album and this particular song for months and months since I’ve had this album, but I never could find the right time.  I felt that, because I had recommended Alison before, I should wait until much later to use her again, because I’m all obsessed with rules and stuff, but I’m beginning not to care anymore lol.  It was time, and that time was today.  You need to see and hear country music for what it is and can be, and those award shows don’t really appreciate nor represent what the good part of the music is (the CMAs did give the win to Plant/Krauss for “Collaboration”, so I’ll give them that).  The first single, “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)”, with its Beatles-like sound, I wouldn’t consider to be country, but it’s very good.  It wasn’t until last year, during Christmas-time that I was able to finally purchase and listen to all of Raising Sand, and man I was blown away.  Led Zeppelin rock legend Robert Plant and bluegrass extraordinaire Alison Krauss are the perfect partners for a project like this.  Anybody who has heard all of the material and has trouble categorizing this as a “country album”, while at the same time, labels artists like Rascal Flatts “country”, just because they call themselves that, is seriously crazy (I won’t name names, but I’ve seen it online, and it makes no sense).  The album as a whole may not be particularly country, but its influence and sound is very evident, throughout.

42nd Annual “Country Music” Association Awards

Just read some interesting live blogs (CU & The9513) covering last night’s award show and while my opinions lined up with their’s at times, I also had disagreements.  I did actually watch the whole show last night, “live” as it came to my Mountain Time home (so, in other words, an hour behind), because I wanted it to be fresh this year for me, and I know going online would mess up any surprises.  I also actually watched the live red-carpet show on CMT.  Since I did not do a live blog, I thought I might share my opinions right here as a day-after analysis.  And I ain’t gonna hold back…

(you like my picture above?  I made it green because, you know, after all is done and said, that’s what the awards were all about.  The green… and I don’t mean the environmentally-friendly kind)

On the red-carpet pre-show.  It was decent, but I was kinda wanting to see other people than the ones they interviewed. Remember, I’m going by my memory here, so I might miss out on some details.  Two things I remember: Jack Ingram‘s wife, Amy’s, oddly short dress: wow… don’t know what she was thinking lol, but no worries (I’m a guy, yes, but I thought it was a strange choice).  And I guess Alan Jackson‘s daughters are all into the pop-country craze, which I found interesting.  So cool to see him and his family, though.

For us, the awards didn’t televise until an hour after the red-carpet show, which I always hate because I wish I could see it live live.  Brad Paisley and Keith Urban started into the show with their duet, “Start a Band”, which I thought was cool that it was the first time they performed it together live, but I wasn’t too impressed, and waited for what was next.  When Brad finally performed his own song, “Waitin’ On a Woman”, it was nice too, but I wasn’t crazy for it.  Keith’s new song is anything but country, though I found myself liking it, for some reason (like I’ve noticed and posted before, I seem to like his really pop singles lol).  Not country at all but not bad.

I thought Paisley and Carrie Underwood, overall, did a fine job as hosts.  Of course, could have been done better, but it is a tough job to do, so I give them props for that.  Carrie did an amazing execution of “Just a Dream”.  I think it was a good idea to have the war widow speak before that because it gave it more meaning.  Definitely one of the best and moving performances of the night.  Also, congrats on her “Female” win.

I was stoked that George Strait won for “Single of the Year” for his excellent song, “I Saw God Today”.  I was pretty sure that “Stay” was going to win.  While we’re on the topic of King George, I gotta say his win for “Album of the Year” was even greater because I really like Troubadour and it was even more special that Lee Ann Womack got to present it to him (with Josh Turner) because they have such admiration for one another and George is one of her biggest heroes and she had won that award for the amazing There’s More Where That Came From years before.  I bet she’ll be accepting the award next year for Call Me Crazy.  Even better that producer, Tony Brown, went up there too! (he produced Strait’s & Womack’s latest projects).  Moving further in the program, honestly, George’s performance of “River of Love” was definitely not something I was looking forward to because I don’t really care for the song (too Kenny Chesney-like) but I think his vocals and the steel guitar save the song from being a total failure (in anybody else’s hands, it would be really bad).

Kellie Pickler.  I really don’t know what people see in her, to be honest.  Her personality is really cute, but dumb blondes don’t really do anything for me, unless I know the person and can’t tease them up front.  I thought her performance was the worse of the night.  I think she tries too hard and the music was way louder than her vocals.  Just a bad performance through and through.  Horrible.

Recommendation XXIX: Loretta Lynn

Hello all. Nice to see you. It’s been a long time… (well, it sure feels like it!).  I feel bad that I haven’t been able to update this site regularly like I was in early July (trust me- if I had internet at home, I’d stick to that routine, but I don’t).   Like I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been working a lot at two jobs and I’m usually pretty busy.  Thank God one of my best friends works with me at one of the jobs, so it’s fun to just talk and hang when it’s possible.  For the most part, with my free time, I usually relax and watch TV, play video games (classic N64 lol), and rent and watch DVDs from NetFlix.  Right now, I’m stoked for the U.S. release of Crystal Shawanda‘s new album (Dawn of a New Day) out Tuesday, August 19th. Anyway, I’m typing up this entry at home, and will copy and paste it when I get to the library. So here goes…

My twenty-ninth recommendation is: Loretta Lynn’s “Miss Being Mrs.” from her 2004 Van Lear Rose album.  I dunno how it took me so long to spotlight this great legend, but I think she’s the perfect person to come back with after my 2-3 week absence.   It’s hard to know where to begin with Miss Loretta Lynn. I don’t think I really knew her too well growing up in the ’90s.  I remember reading and hearing her name when my favorite artists would list their influences or their own personal favorites, and seeing her on TV for news and countdowns and such, so I grew intrigued.  Her music is so country and has a lot of spirit and attitude, and she’s so funny and kind to everybody.  What a woman.  I remember my mom loves her video for her duet, “Portland, Oregon”, with Jack White (of The White Stripes fame) because she thinks it’s cute how their relationship is like that of a grandmother and grandson.   I’ve always enjoyed Loretta’s wit, and how it shows in her songwriting and songs.  Her heartache songs are like no other, so I was definitely pulled towards that (also, it’s pretty damn cool that she’s Patty Loveless‘s distant cousin… or the other way around ;) ).

iCF Single Reviews #1

Hey all, I thought I’d try this out! Following this, here are my short reviews of some singles, all available on iTunes. Click the title of the song to buy it:

“He Hates Me” – Sarah Johns
This is currently iTunes‘ Free Single of the Week, so you gotta check it out and download it while you can! I’m a huge fan of Sarah’s already and I’m so glad that this newcomer has arrived and is making such great, real country music. She hooked me in instantly with her debut single, “The One In the Middle” and after I heard clips of her album, Big Love In a Small Town, I had to buy it the day it came out (Aug 28th, 2007). I’m not sure what her next radio single will be, but I thought I’d comment on this one since it’s on iTunes for FREE and it’s great. 4 stars out of 5.
- Listen (30-sec clip).

“Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)” – Robert Plant w/ Alison Krauss
I heard about their to-be collaboration months ago and was interested. I do admit, though, I didn’t know who Robert Plant was but knew he was from another genre and was famous (I know…I’m bad about that). Anyway, once I heard this song, I was just amazed at how well it works so well. It is not a country song: it’s very much in the style of the Beatles, which is not surprising since it’s a remake of an Everly Bros. tune. It just rocks and I just love their vocals together with that classic rock sound. This is definitely an album to llok forward to. Their CD, Raising Sand comes out October 23rd, 2007. 5 stars out of 5.
- Listen (30-sec clip).

“Rollin’ with the Flow” – Mark Chesnutt
I just had to give a shout-out to Mark with this one. When I first he was going to release another country remake, I wasn’t entirely thrilled since I wanted new material, but this one was quite a surprise. Charlie Rich originally sang this and had a hit with it, and you can tell from the Nashville instrumentation of strings and steel guitar working together. When I saw him at the Grizzly Rose about a month and a half ago, he sang this one with a lot of heart. I know country radio didn’t touch it, but no surprise: they suck (for the most part). 3.5 stars out of 5.
- Listen (30-sec clip).

“Joy Ride” – Jennifer Hanson
Jennifer is one of my favorites from the newer generation of country artists. She’s really versatile in the styles she sings and she’s an excellent songwriter. Her latest single is very pop/rock-oriented with not much of a country sound in it, except for her somewhat-twangy voice and the banjo, but it’s really catchy and had me singing along in no time: “na, na, na…”. I really like the video with her and her friend taking their joyride through the desert (looks like Utah or Arizona to me?). 4 stars out of 5. - Listen (30-sec clip).

“Heaven, Heartache, and the Power of Love” – Trisha Yearwood
Oh man…what a song to come back with! Ah, I love uptempo Trisha! This one really showcases her bluesy vocals and proves that she can jam and rock like the best of them. It’s absolutely catchy and one of the BEST singles of 2007! It really reminds me of her older work, for some reason. If they had just added a steel guitar and fiddle, and ditched the organ and had less electric guitar, it could easily be a rockin’ honky-tonker, IMO. Can’t wait for her upcoming album of the same name, out Nov 13th! I gotta add too: she looks smokin’ hot on the video! 5 stars out of 5.
- Listen (30-sec clip).