Top Ten Rihanna Umbrella Covers

It has been a sad week for the talented Rihanna. I wanted to write something positive about her away from her current situation. Going through some of the news and links, I stumbled upon an acoustic version of her song umbrella. I heard this version a few months back, and it is really catchy.

I never really liked the song, or any of her music, but in the acoustic format I had a greater appreciation for the songwriting put into it.

During this trek, I also was bombarded with an assortment of covers of the song. This song seems to be liked by a lot of people, seeing that everyone and their mothers are creating their own versions of it. I feel this might be the most covered pop song of the 21st century ( or maybe My Immortal? )

Some people were really good, with very sweet voices, cool arrangements, or serene minimalism. Others were cursed with off-key vocals, bad recording, or saturated with mundanity.

So, here’s the top 10 list of the best Rihanna Umbrella covers gathered from the internet. If you have others, audio or video, that can beat these, email me, and I will make a revision in the future.

Tool’s Intension Riff Similar To Eon Blue Apocalypse. Correlation?

Eon Blue Apocalypse from Tool’s Lateralus

Intension From 10,000 Days

The guitar riff from the 1st track sounds very alike to their Intension melody from 10,000 Days. The motion, the timing, and the note structure are almost identical ( although Intension has a higher pitch ).

A lot of their riffs are re-immersed in their albums, but as such with Tool, you wonder how intentional it was to place the riff in the song, and if there is any relation to the two tracks.

Any thoughts?

The Killers: We’re Taking Over U2’s spot. Jesus… You’re Next

I am having a very tough time trying to understand what it is with The Killers, although I enjoy listening to them, getting themselves muddled in all this controversy every year. If it isn’t a tussle with bands in his own label, lead singer Brandon Flowers has made an effort to stir up some anger with bands that have garnered a heaping amount of success.

A couple of years back, Flowers had criticized Green Day for exploiting Anti-Americanism by playing “American Idiot” outside of the US. He felt that, the DVD taping of the song was a stunt because the recordings were all in England and Germany. Flowers felt that the meaning may not be felt the same way to non-Americans the way Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day had written it.

Last week, The Killers’ Brandon Flowers was interviewed and had called out U2, saying that they were “getting old”, and that Flowers “feels like its time” for the Killers become as popular as Bono’s band.
The interview isn’t as bad as people made it out to be. It comes off as controversial, but the quote about U2 seems to come from more of an admiration for the band than anything else.

The Killers’ new album, Day & Age, will be out in stores November 25th.

The Neptunes: Best Track Of 2008 – “I Know” By Jay-z

This is the type of song that you need time alone to yourself, put on headphones, and focus on the fine production created by the Neptunes.

The Neptunes in terms of creating top hits and mainstream booty-shakers have fallen off over the last 2-4 years ( depending on how you are counting the booty-shaking hits ). But the song  I Know by Jay-z on his American Gangster album showcases that there are rabbits in their magic hat that haven’t left the fold, and hopefully we will see some more fluffy energized classics such as this one to come in the near future.

The percussion on this track runs so smoothly and creatively that it carries the song throughout. Nothing against Jay-Z; he is amazingly lyrical, but this song’s vibe is buoyed by the heavy knick-knacks & the hand drumming along with the heavy synthesizer vibe more than Jay-Z’s flow.

The song crafts a continued ambiance that continually jolts the ear into listening to more. The Neptunes, although they don’t try this often, always seem to perfect the heavy bass sided with the ethereal cloudy melodies for the makeup of their songs. This is seen with Excuse Me Miss & Love U Better by LL Cool J, but is an evolution they seem to have overlooked the past few years.

This is an incredible song, and an incredible track. I know it is mainstream, but this only proves that the Neptunes production group is amazing and I hope they have enough juice left to be considered in the top tier of composing great beats such as this one. This can be enjoyed by anyone so take a listen.

Tired of The BubbleGum Crap? Well, Anna Yvette Answers her Own Question with BubbleGum Music!

I have received enough response from this article that I am going to cross out what I have written. I spoke to the artist herself and she was very upset that I had blasted her band and her music. I think her band is good, but I think I didn’t make my point with this article. I am not taking it down, but I am showing goodwill by admitting I may have pushed the button onto someone’s feelings who didn’t deserve it. Nonetheless, I will continue to write as I have done in the past. I got work so there won’t be too much going on for a lil’ bit.

Titties. Tame Music. You want a better Review? Give me better Music.

Never. Ever. Ever. Never. Please. No. Fucking. Way. You would call yourself the anti-thesis to bubblegum pop music and then show me this type of music. It is this type of hyping, to reason that somehow this band stands above the rest on the edge, only to fall into a pit of monotony & soft-core guitar work & vocals that has now run rampant in every Americana/ Hipster bar in the Northeast. Also, she showcases a great deal of “bosom” exposure in her fan introductory page on Facebook. She has an amazing body, but I think both the advertising and the photo permits an aura that her music may only be catchy enough only with a supplement of boobies to stand alongside her musical talents.

Things Bands Should Not Do Case #37: Do not pose as something against the mainstream marketing & production of music ( “Tired of the Bubblegum Crap”, was the gracious 1st line of the advertising to introduce this band), and then unveil yourself with partially covered bosoms and a Myspace introduction song with these intense once-in-a-lifetime lyrics:

“Maybe I should change the way I look… Maybe I should feel like everyone else”

Really bad lyrics. How many songs have started off with “Maybe” or “What if” or something about a woman following the crowd but with the essence that the singer is somehow independent and against the crowd. I am not trying to shoot down her talent, but this is the pure example of bands who are trying to stem the tide of the mainstream sweetness that gets bombarded from my drive home from work ( when I ever get a car) and replaces it with the underground tastes that is familiar with the same type of pop music they strive disassociate from their “vibe”.

Leslie Gore: I put this in because she says maybe; and its a good song:)

Her sound and production is really good. It does remind me of Dave Matthews a little bit. But it is so tame that if mainstream music needed more members for its Casey Kasem Club, Yvette will probably get a handwritten letter and a lunch date with Avril Levine.

The song “Promise” sounds like a compromise between Kansas and Jewel. When I listened to Zombie Party, I thought it was pretty good, but at points it could’ve hit me in the face, the song promptly stands rigid as a decent bar song. But if I had a dime for every song I heard from a live bar band I thought was decent, my bank would close my account because I would then be an asshole for depositing so much change.

This music is good, but how is this isn’t better than bubblegum music I have no clue. Acoustic instruments, piano interludes, Americana vocals and violins CAN a mediocre song make!

I really don’t see her music as bad. But this is NOT better than bubblegum music. It might have an edge here or there, but like a papercut, it’ll get you riled up for a minute, then you remember bands who are actually playing something different:

Esthero in 1998, when she was probably only 17-18

If anything, it only justifies that most genres, regardless of their appeal, talent pool, and marketing, presents a great deal of people who pose themselves against other genres claiming to be superior. The sad fact is a lot bands are hitting the neo-Americana and hipster music scenes to produce music that is different from mainstream. Yet these new sonic pioneers have failed to witness the deterioration of music in GENERAL is the essence that both mainstream and non-mainstream music have a lot of horrible music. A lot: I’ll go on to say that my band sucks ( but I will weep in my pillow once the post is written).

But in addendum and conclusion to all of this, my hypothesis to the bad music that has risen and permeated throughout the industry is due to too many people pretend to bend the envelope into a territory of greatness by comparing themselves to the simplicity and cookie-cutter designs of corporate music structures. For every band that goes against the grain of the 50 Cents, or invokes disdain of Jack Johnson in their ballads, or re-invents sexuality in contrast to the submissiveness of MTV Video vixens, fails to compare themselves to their own limits, their own styles, and their visions of what they can offer to music. When they pay more attention to how different they are, in some fucked up ironic way, they end up becoming just a tame & and unrecognizable as the other millions of bands that now exist in the new Myspace arena. And as I finish writing this post, I am slowly forgetting the band I was even reviewing. Whether they become famous, they are just another blip on the radar of bands trying to make a name for themselves, falling short of even writing the first letter on the wall, falling short of doing something better than what has already been done.

Flying Lotus & Gas Lamp Killer ( Live Video ).

I heard about these guys before and never looked them up until now. They sound amazing. I guess this guy posted the video so here is the link to his blog:

Flying Lotus Video

Remember This? Electric Light Orchestra – Last Train To London

For all you kids ( including myself ) who weren’t blessed with hearing this band on the radio, I bring to the band responsible for such good hit as ” Don’t Bring Me Down” & “Mr. Blue Sky,

Electric Light Orchestra!

“Almost Nobody Agreed With You…” – Ourstage & 85% of Voting Population Just Called Me a Fuckface.

  

“I picked my favorite bands, and no one fucking agrees with me. If it happens one more time, I’m gonna go Martial Law on a mothafucka quick!”

- Dick Cheney after judging on Ourstage .com

I have no qualms with the judging system on Ourstage. Like I said in my previous post(s), I really enjoy the system and think that it welcomes a great deal of competition without coercion from hype or label marketing schemes.

I only have a problem with the comments made after my voting. And the comments aren’t the problem, but it is the reason that these comments come up that bother me.

Example: I have to vote between band 1# ( I’ll keep it anonymous; I don’t feel like hurting egos) and band 2# ( I loved you more, but lets keep it objective.). I have to listen to the song for a minimum of 15 seconds each, but because it downloads quick, I have the ability to traverse through the song up to the ending if I want to ( traverse = move the thingy around to different parts of song).

At first, I thought band 2# blew chunks of shit, while band one was just plain sucking Jane. The last sentence sounded like an BDSM porn; believe me, the music initially sounded horrible enough that 2 girls 1 cup would’ve been a better waste of my time.

But upon getting into the good part of the song from Band 2#, I realized that I was the asshole who didn’t know what he was talking about, and I grew insanely fond of the song. Band 1# on the other hand got a little better, but they had this Alice-in-Chains double-vocal revival that was off the mark and boring enough that I was itching for the 15 second-limit to be over.

Case in point. Band 2# was better. Way better than Band 1#. I listened to Band 2# for 5 minutes ( it was a long song) and added it to my favorites. I picked the “by far” button for band 2# ( which means they are by far better than band 1#).

When the page refreshes for the next two bands, the website showcases a small comment on how many people were in consensus of my decision of band 2#. And when the tally came in, it said that only 15% had the same musical opinion of this song.

What gives with this bullshit? The other song was atrocious; if I were to pick that song over the better song, I would smile about how cool I am, and then blow my nuts off with a shotgun. It would be hard to point a 2-foot barrel into my crotch, but if I vote on music that bad, it probably isn’t a good intention to pass my intelligence off to my kids.

Getting away from rants and coming back to objectivity, I am not sure if the judging meant that the band is usually picked, or if it meant that the band is usually picked over the other band. Not many people use Ourstage, and I would think it is highly unlikely that there is enough judging that two bands can square off multiple times. I could easily email them and ask them this question, but I am a jackass and will stay willfully ignorant and arrogant of my own shallow existence.

Anywho, I think it could be more that I picked the highest praise for the band ( by far ) and not many other people ( the other 85%) did the same thing. Even if the last thought is a resolution explaining Ourstage’s voting habits, some of these top 10 bands make me question quality of music the voters are usually immersed in. But if you have anything to say about Ourstage or how the top bands make it, leave me something and I’ll add it.

Rehya Stevens’ ” This Time It’s Over”.

Thank god I’ve been in a Mariah Carey pop mood; I usually don’t sit down to these songs longer than 30 seconds. But this piano acoustic ballad by Rehya Stevens does hit the mark on decent songwriting and singing. I still wait for her to hit the high notes; it can be a tease since her voice sounds really strong.

Rehya Stevens’ page on Ourstage.

Ourstage College Clash: Review of the Best College Bands in New England

Quinn Strassel told me this. I didn’t say that they were the Best College Bands in New England. But Ourstage did, and have gone through heavy toil to build a really good website to democratize the value of bands in the eyes of the common people. There are small quirks and problems to how the system works, but I could say this might be the best system I can find on the net that can define what people think is good and what sucks ( My band, The History Righters, suck on here. I am FUMING ON THE OUTSIDE, but crying naked in the fetal position on the inside.)

Four Bands: I will review them, and tell you Ourstage’s winner, including my own true winner. Let’s take a look shall we.

The Zach Hillyard Band

This band is pretty slick. They have that good tight sound coordination with the organ sound and the bass. The guitar complements it all with coming in with great rhythm riffs. The lead singer has decent lyrics; they come off pretty strong although I can pretty much say they are radio pop to a beat ( I just think if Maroon 5 stole music, this band could easily be a victim, and vice-versa).

Throughout all of that, I can’t see this band being the best in all the six states of the fake-liberal federation. The sound, really reminiscent of Maroon 5, Vertical Horizon, Dave Matthews, & all of that non-controversial soft rock, doesn’t place it anywhere to define it as “amazing”. As a live band, and given their tightness with their instruments, I think they are worth seeing.

But to place this band anywhere as someone I am going to Digg or post a youtube love video about them, would give me the chance to simultaneously shave my pubes and throw pieces of them at my girl while she is showering. Because if I am going to be crazy enough to like this band, I probably will be crazy enough to shave my pubes and decide to chuck them at the people I love the most. Sorry Zach!

Brian Bergeron

Two Soft Rock Bands are vying for the title of Best college Bands in New England? Out of all the people making bands, buying synths, snorting coke, ranting about Coco Crisp vs. Jacoby, being fake-liberals and squirming over minorities moving into their neighborhoods, being fake-conservatives and whining about losing tax subsidies on business, being fake-libertarians and simultaneously condemn corporate ownership… woah, big digression. Most of it is just hateful lies:)

Ok, back to cocaine, snorting coke, ranting about sports, being around all types of crazy people, selling their guitars to survive the recession, playing music at Berklee or the Conservatory, having a record collection that is worth a two-story house, drinking and throwing stuff out of windows, starting sports riots, doing covers of Emerson, Lake, & Palmer, experimenting with a band with 5 telecasters etc. You think with all of this madness that occurs ( or could occur since the last two paragraphs were bullshit) that the band would have a little more balls and less Americana than Briano sticking his guitar in my direction ( nice pic though ).

I am not against the Country/ Americana genre. If anything, the musicians in these bands have more experience and abilities to create music than most other types of groups out there. But there is so much of it out there, and it is easily popularized with an Abercrombie background music vocal, motionless lyrics, and a cute frontman who has nice hair and puppy-dog eyes ( Can you see these types of bands with a lead singer who looks like this?).

It takes VERY LITTLE to make this genre sound good and it always is good enough to pass by other bands who were easily better, but probably not received as quickly.

Everything about this band is OK, and the lyrics are sparse ( which make the riffs even more redundant when you don’t hear much in front of it).

When they do have lyrics, some are pretty good ( ” When I ran into you in the bar by mistake/ The guy you were with I almost punched in the mouth”), but like his actions, his music halted from doing the unnatural, performing the untamed. It is tamed, it has no emotion, it didn’t punch me in the mouth, and I shake my head, wishing that it would.

Last two bands are equal to me. They lack the ummphh I need that would want me to listen to them more than once. But fans, you fucking picked them! And you wonder why Dick Cheney is an asshole and does his shit without regard to popular American thought.

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Sam R-P ( Is he in the world of Tron?)

His music is actually not that bad, and it varies from song to song. In the song Remember, he has a girl backing up vocals. It is pretty decent, but it is pretty tame. This is a song I feel I have heard in many a dorm rooms, while the dealer passes an 8th you know is .2 short of the mark. But hey, the market’s tumbling, so daddy’s money will save you at least another year of free drugs. And the dealer always has chill parties with girls and Pabst; are you complaining? I hope not.

Although his songs are nice, it reminds me nothing more than a decent jam session between roommates that knew each other for about two years, and they like Dylan, Velvet, STP, Zep, Hendrix, and maybe Pearl Jam ( Magic Sky riff is familiar).

” A shooting start knows where we are/ because its watching from above all day long.” Shooting stars are never there all day long. I know I am harping on the smallest lyric which could mean anything, but most of the lyrics aren’t really good.

“In a Dream” is actually really well done. I enjoy listening to this song; if more songs folow that emotion, I can see how this guy can go above the latter two bands.

Ameranouche

Ameranouche is a string trio instrumental, and by far the most unique band of the four. I don’t want to guarantee them as winners because I think their is a method to easily be instrumental than it is to write and produce songs. But nonetheless, I really enjoy listening to the band.

I have little to say about them because like the others, they don’t float over as something different. But they do approach that realm, and is a band I will give more a listen to in the future as I find more content.

Spike’s Blues is a really fun song to listen to. Wouldn’t be surprised if a publishing deal to place it in a movie or show would be on the way in their futures.

The Ourstage Winner for Best College Band in New England:

The Zach Hillyard Band

They won it because of music fundamentals and doing everything right. In sports, that is the equivalent to watching the New Jersey Devils trap defense. My vote for the best band by far goes to Ameranouche. But, I do understand people’s short attention span for virtuoso instrumentals ( I tune off even when my friends try to play John McLaughlin, but will go nuts over Castle Made of Sand.).

This wasn’t done to showcase great bands ( except for Ameranouche ) but to showcase the good job Ourstage.com is doing and hopefully lead more sensible people to come around and check out the talent. For now, the Americana Pop is getting a lot of high praise from this contest. Let’s hope these contest pools won’t be as diluted in the future.