You Let Go, and I Let Go Too

The best thing about a break-up is make up sex, right? Maybe that argument is misguided, but there's two groups in Hollywood who are about to have a hard time fighting that statement without being called hypocrites. The AMPTP and WGA (also known as the Academy of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the Writers' Guild of America) are about to realize the love they have for each other and share it with the world. Word on the street is the Writers' Strike is about to end, as early as this week. This will put an end to almost four months of negotiating and nitpicking between Hollywood's writers and producers.

Santa didn't come through for TV fans, but it looks like Cupid's going to pick up his slack.

There's lots of good news to come from this strike, so let's start small and let the love grow. First, a lot of great TV shows will be able to return to production in time for at least a few more shows in the 2007-2008 seasons. That means we won't have to wait until September to find out how Jan's lawsuit against Dunder Mifflin turns out!

Also, studios and writers will be able to salvage next season. One of the major concerns for networks was that the strike would throw off development season (AKA the time when pilots are shot and selected by networks as prospective series). It looks like if everyone keeps their noses to the grindstone, we could have some semblance of a normal television season, complete with debuting series, this fall.

The return of the writers means the return of the Masturbating Bear on Conan and Bill Maher's New Rules. "A Daily Show" can now be "The Daily Show," just as God intended it to be.

Finally, and most importantly, a resolution to this strike means that the Writers' Guild will finally be somewhere in the realm of fair compensation for the entertainment they provide to us, regardless of the medium. No longer will studios get a free pass on digitally downloaded movies or shows streamed on the Internet (or Interweb, as the hopefully-returning Tracy Jordan of "30 Rock" would say). I won't have to feel guilty watching (ok, or re-watching) episodes of "The Office" on nbc.com. The deal between the Writers' Guild and the AMPTP paves the way for the Screen Actors Guild (the union representing all of your favorite actors, like John "Big Tuna" Krasinski and Paul Dano, for example) to get an equally fair deal when its contract with the AMPTP runs out this summer.

Oh, and I guess it will be nice to have a star-studded audience when Juno sweeps the Oscars. Because, mark my words, NOTHING is worth losing the possibility of seeing Jason Bateman in a tuxedo. NOTHING. (Check out pictures from the Grammys if you don't believe me.)

Norma Rae has left the Arts blog (hopefully).

-Meryn, who knows no strike can resurrect "Arrested Development."

don't you ever say an unkind word about the time!

While initially I wanted to write a big scathing post about the lameness of the final 40 minutes or so of last night's Grammy Awards--the part with all the old rockers and the ridiculous Herbie Hancock win for Album of the Year--this is not that post.

Honestly, I've been so angered by a lot of the nominations (or lack thereof) this season that I almost considered not watching the show, 50th anniversary or not. Thankfully, though, I did. And I really think it was one of the most exciting Grammy nights I've seen in years.

In theory, the show wasn't really all that different than it has been--lots of performances, lots of producer-created mash-ups/collaborations. Not to be frustratingly vague about it, but everything was just better last night.

I'm more of a performance girl than listening to all the acceptance speeches (though, seriously--Kanye's was amazing, and Vince Gill's jab at 'Ye was equally so), so here are some links to my favorites of the night.

Carrie Underwood--"Before He Cheats"
I swear to god she's been playing this song for like five years, and I still have yet to tire of it. This is an especially fierce rendition, due in equal parts to the cast of Stomp! appearing behind her and that fantastic Nancy Sinatra/Barbarella look she's got going here.

The Time and Rihanna--"Jungle Love"/"Umbrella"/"Don't Stop The Music"
So, what's almost as cool as mothereffin' Prince showing up in all his fabulous, 5'2 glory to present (and win himself, in the Male R&B Vocal category)? How about THE TIME REUNITING? Hell yes. And if there's one thing I love (almost) as much as Morris Day and Jerome, it's Rihanna. This number brought a number of my favorite things together--the only way it could have been awesomer was if Michael Jackson had been lowered by crane during the sample of "Wanna Be Starting Something."

Beyoncé and Tina Turner--"What's Love Got To Do With It"/"Better Be Good To Me"/"Proud Mary"
Mmmhmm. It's like a convention of the legs. Love it.


Amy Winehouse--"You Know I'm No Good"/"Rehab"
The performance that was hyped all night actually halfway living up to it? Huh. Needless to say, being across the pond or not, the lyrics to both songs rang a little truer than before last night. The girl can barely stand (and her backup dancers only make her look even frailer in comparison), but she brought it home. Not stellar, but memorable for sure.

Feel free to look up the other performances (the lame Beatles tribute, the always-incredible gospel medley featuring Aretha, the high-energy "Pretender" show from the Foo Fighters with an unnecessary and mildly distracting orchestra, etc.) for yourself. There was hardly a letdown in the night--except for will.i.am, of course.

For me, though, this was the performance of the night:

KW-S&DP [ALi]
by Alisvideo

KW-DTMM [ALi]
by Alisvideo

Yes. Yes, Kanye, it WAS what I was waiting for. And thanks for ripping out my heart with that second song.

-Anna, whose life goals include seeing a Daft Punk show before she dies.

i slept right through the international dateline

Kris Roe is coming to The Picador in March. My high school heart is flipping out.

The lead singer of The Ataris will be performing a solo, acoustic show, rumored to be the entirety of Blue Skies, Broken Hearts. I'm not sure how to take this — perhaps a smaller, more intimate crowd, but far less dancing. Hmm... Here's the link to the video for "San Dimas High School Football Rules" — look how young they look. If that doesn't stir a little teen-angst nostalgia, nothing will. But how will that translate acoustically? I guess we'll find out.

Listening to The Ataris makes me want to destroy something. No? Watch the crowd in this video for "Takeoffs and Landings" from So Long Astoria. Does that not look like the most fun ever?



OK guys, who wants to come with me?? Yeah, yeah? There's no place I'd rather be.

— Susan

the worst trailer ever?

I have no clue what this movie is...I suspect that it's been put out by an independent, probably religious producer. It's kind of like when all my friends expected me to know anything and everything about this movie, and considered me a failure when all I could say was that the hot guy from "Popular" (and, more recently, "Ugly Betty") was in it.

Anyway:


If nothing else, let this be an inspiration to all you aspiring trailer-makers out there. With some crappy music pirated from the Hallmark channel, a bizarre emphasis on numbers (what is this, LOST?), and a whole bunch of soft-focus, you too can make a living.

-Anna, who is 20, and will be 21 in 36 days, and never wanted to stop seeing you in the first place.

Ira Glass is at it again

National Public Radio fans rejoice!

Drone-voiced host Ira Glass has announced big plans to make his weekly show, "This American Life" a cinematic event. After turning his weekly show - which featured 4 different humanity stories that either humored, depressed or enlightened fans - into a show on Showtime, him and his staff are looking to extend their mediums. In the same style as the New York Met and Garth Brooks (are you kidding me?), "This American Life" would be filmed live and them sent over satellite to thousands of movie theaters for fans to watch.

Ira says it best-

"We're planning a This American Life stage show that would be filmed and sent live—live!—via satellite to movie theaters across the country. It would include Ira performing a radio piece, never-before-seen stories and outtakes from the second season of our TV series, audience Q&A, and more."

Here's a look at a trailer for the finished 1st season




Go to http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=201671138 to get the podcast via itunes.

Go to http://feeds.thisamericanlife.org/talpodcast to get the podcast with everything else.

ALSO: 1 p.m. on Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays on WSUI 910 AM

Here is a link to tell Ira what you think of his plan (tell him hells ya for me) http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB227D9USAN8P
-Cole

i made a wish, but the match never lit

Before you begin reading, allow me to apologize for two things that likely will impact the quality and clarity of this post:
1. I am in a fragile emotional state.
2. I am unable to see the forest from the trees when it comes to loving these songs.

OK - we're now ready to embark on the emotional roller-coaster. If you haven't heard (and if you haven't heard by now, we're obviously not close friends), The Format broke up yesterday. Let's pause for a moment of silence.



I could now go into the band's background; how the duo formed in Arizona, released Interventions and Lullabies, created their own record label, Vanity, to release their second album Dog Problems, and toured with a number of high-profile bands while supposedly working on their new album (LIES, all lies). But why bother when you can head over to The Daily Iowan's website and read the article co-written by myself and the fabulous Anna Wiegenstein (shameless website plug, check!) prior to the band's last appearance in Iowa City back in September (the above picture was taken at The Picador during that show).

Now into the good stuff: The music. That's the only thing that matters anyway, right?


The Format have the ability to tap into each end the emotional spectrum — from the crazy high of falling in love (try "Janet") to the crippling regret of a break-up that you initiated ("Dead End") — without ever becoming cliche. Lyricist Nate Ruess is able to express perfectly the most complicated emotions and Sam Means was able to put those sentiments to music — often a bopping pop number accentuated with horn flares and pounding keyboard. The heartbreaking lyrics juxtaposed with joyous melody created a semblance of reality few bands ever come close to. Hiding your true feelings — that's real. Don't most people expect the response "good" when they ask someone how they're doing? What if you said, with a smile on your face, "I couldn't get out of bed this morning, and tonight I'm going to drink until I can't feel feelings." (No, only me?) But that's closer to reality — and The Format's music is able to capture that fake version of happiness most of us walk around with.

For those unfamiliar with The Format,
I've prepared a handy dandy listening guide:

Songs available on The Format's purevolume page:

• The Compromise
The song that officially led Atlantic to drop The Format. After presenting an early version of Dog Problems, the label execs felt there needed to be a surefire radio hit on the album. Ruess went back and penned "The Compromise" — it's a pretty harsh look at the music industry. Oops.

• Snails
Ruess penned Dog Problems after his relationship with his long-time girlfriend fell apart (the couple bought a dog every time they hit a rocky patch to bring them closer together. Guess it didn't work). Needless to say, it's a bit more desperate than Interventions and Lullabies. I thought this was the only bona-fide "happy" song on Dog Problems, until I read an interview Ruess did with Alternative Press about writing the album. He began writing the lyrics to get over this girl and move on — using the music as a ramshackle form of therapy, in essence. When he was almost finished, Ruess realized he was still miserable, and thought maybe writing songs about this girl actually had the opposite affect — thinking about the failed relationship all the time was actually making the pain more real. He challenged himself to write this "happy" song (while lying in bed with a bottle of whiskey, no less) in hopes it would make him feel better. No surprise, it's one of the weaker tracks.

• Janet
I challenge you to find cuter lyrics than "I love waking up to your laugh."

Songs available on The Format's myspace.com site

• Dead End
Asking me to name my favorite Format song would be like asking my mom which child is her favorite (umm, me. duh). I can't even attempt to write objectively about these lyrics; if they don't break your heart, you clearly don't have one. "She lays crossed upon the bed / We are puzzles making shapes with our hands / I take my finger, turn into a pen / Then I run my hand down your spine / You guess I wrote something profound / something like: "our love will last 'til we die" / I say "you're good at this game" / But what I really wrote is: "how I've yet to be saved""

• She Doesn't Get It
This dance-inducing little number was the second single off Dog Problems. The video is presented as a junior high musical — it's adorable, and worth checking out just to see the cute little boy that gets to play the wood block. But once again, it ends sad, with Ruess simply stating "I was the only one that got burned."

• Tune Out
Sadly, this is the only song from Interventions and Lullabies available on either website. It's not representative of the genius of that first album, which had a slightly more acoustic, alt-country bent to it than the heavily produced, instrumental Dog Problems.




If you like what you hear, I'd suggest downloading the following: "Time Bomb," "Oceans," "Sore Thumb," "Give Up," and "Dog Problems." If you don't like what you hear, don't tell me. I'm not sure we could still be friends then.

— Susan

PS - I'm currently accepting applications for a new favorite band.

Hot Chip's Staying Hot with Made in the Dark

Four Stars Out of Five Stars

The new wave of electronica dance beats combines squealing computers, synthesizers, electric guitars and distorted vocals. And British rockers Hot Chip inventive pop rock welds all of it together in their latest Made in the Dark.

But by far over any other Brit ban, Hot Chip’s musical layering has become the electro-pop foursome’s signature move along with body rocking club thumping.

Their latest record Made in the Dark hits U.S. stores tomorrow, but was leaked January 18 and has been available for listens on the Clash Magazine Website for the last week.

After having gained much stamina since their 2000 debut, and now having three studio albums including Coming on Strong, released in 2004, The Warning, in 2006 and Made in the Dark to add to the record books, *Hot Chip*’s inventive style makes them a valid listen.

Even before Made in the Dark dropped onto shelves, the 13-song album already claims UK dance music magazine Mixmag’s album of the month in their January 2008 issue.

The album focuses primarily on being dance party friendly with catchy songs like “Ready for the Floor,” which reached the UK’s #6 spot last month.Yet, the group’s greatest triumph is “One Pure Thought,” which combines their pop sensibilities with lyrics that go beyond the typical clubbin’ throw down found in lyrics like “She hit the floor, next thing ya know, shorty got low, low, low."

Instead Hot Chip sandwiches the electric guitar in between repetitive lyrics “I won’t be on my way,” keyboards and synthesizers and the tapping of what sounds like the top of a garbage can.

Without a doubt the title track, “Made in the Dark,” a close second.

The quietly whimsical ballad flows delicately with lyrics like “Since I stole this song we have made a new start/My premonition hits hard as our start is apart/Every night the motion must be fixed by glue/But babe, be careful, what's fixed as one breaks in two”

Hot Chip’s foot-tapping, shoulder-shimmying, catchy-lyric-singing Made in the Dark will have anyone humming along in no time.

-Brigid

Listen to it here!

Sheryl Crows, We Listen

Riding in the car with my father over Winter Break this year, Sheryl Crow's new single, "Love Is Free," came on the radio.

"You hear this song, and it's hard to believe it came from the woman who sang 'Leaving Las Vegas,'" he said to me.

While my dad may have a legitimate axe to grind with the lovely Miss Crow, I think he failed to realize that variety has always been essential to her career. Sheryl Crow may have a distinct sound, but she certainly doesn't stick within any genre. "Love Is Free" is just her latest experiment.



The single is a cut from Crow's new album Detours which will be released on February 5. While it may not pack the emotional punch of much of her earlier work, it's a strong single. Crow didn't outlast (and outpace) virtually all of her contemporaries by adhering to a formula.

Crow is the rare artist who can play pop, rock, and country, without seeming false. She effortlessly straddles genres and collaborates with legends while still holding her own.

Crow's pop songs are sheer fun. They're meant to be blasted in convertibles as they speed down the highway. They're hand-crafted singalongs. Maybe "Soak Up The Sun" was a little too far pop for even the most rabid Crow fans, but "All I Wanna Do" is just the right amount of pop with a splash of honky-tonk, and the tune kicked of Crow's career almost fifteen years ago.





Not only is she comfortable in the presence of music greatness (after all, she dated Eric Clapton) but she can cover a great song and do it justice. She's Keith Richards-approved, and holds her own next to Mick Jagger.



On her own, covering a great song like Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," Crow shows off her great vocal and guitar abilities.



Crow, a vocal Democrat and global warming activist, crossed both musical and political lines to duet with Kid Rock on "Picture," a hit that gave her an entirely new audience.



Nothing tops Crow's sad songs. She shepherded in a generation of female singer-songwriters who had an entirely new vocabulary about love, age, life, career and family. Crow wrote about the difficulties of being a career woman, the fear she may never get married, or have children (though she recently adopted a baby boy named Wyatt). She worried about her life passing her by. This is all personified in "Home."



Crow's strongest trait, ultimately, is not her good looks or charm. It's her songwriting. She can match music to lyrics in a way that those she's often compared to or mentioned with (Alanis Morissette, Jewel, Sarah McLachlan) never could. Her songs are nothing without the emotion she infuses with her writing. Crow showcased this gift on her debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club, and it's final song, "I Shall Believe."



Sheryl Crow has survived questions of her credibility, a slew of sound-alikes, and changes in trends. She's back with a new album, which she's called her most personal, and hopefully it won't disappoint. But even if it does, something tells me she'll be okay.

-Meryn

Miss Independent To Rock Kinnick

Those of us who like to complain about the lack of big name performers on campus were given some crow to eat (or maybe a bit of meat to appease the wolves) on Friday when the University of Iowa announced that the original American Idol, Kelly Clarkson, will be playing Kinnick Stadium on April 18. The concert is scheduled to coincide with the annual Hawkeye Football Spring Scrimmage and is part of a larger event called Gridiron Bash.

While I appreciate the presence of a Grammy Award winning multi-platinum selling artist on the UI campus, I can't help but be reminded of past heartbreaks involving U2, Kanye West and the infamous Red Hot Chili Peppers debacle. Each of these deserving acts wanted to play the UI but were denied because of various reasons (many argue the UI Athletic Department was at fault). Hopefully the Clarkson concert ushers in a new era of unity between arts entertainment and athletics here in Iowa City, if that's the case.

But it doesn't seem to be that simple. Tickets to hear classics like "Since U Been Gone" and "Because of You" live are priced at $35-$40. The cost is considerably cheaper than seats for most big-name tours, but this is still a college town. Kelly Clarkson has outlasted all of her "Idol" competitors and is one of the most successful stars to come from the show (in terms of album sales and popularity). But her last album's sales dropped off significantly from those of her previous full-length efforts, and it's fair to say that college students aren't her main audience. She's not exactly Dave Matthews, and it's hard to say that a bunch of twenty-somethings will plunk down their drinking money to hear "A Moment Like This."

The event is also being marketed to Hawkeye alumni and fans of all ages, which makes sense, it's in line with American Idol's demographics. But a family of four may not want to spend $160 for a concert, no matter how inoffensive it may be.

All of this evidence points to the UI being between a rock and a hard place, with Clarkson in the middle. She isn't a "wrong" or "poor" choice by any means, and isn't as out-of-step as Cher or Wayne Newton, but Bono she ain't. It's also easy to forget, in Hawkeye Country, how tough it is to fill Kinnick. It's a big stadium, and at $40 a pop, it won't be easy. It wouldn't be easy for even the biggest of stars. Especially with an act who isn't necessarily in her niche in Iowa City. The event is the first concert at Kinnick, so it's hard to predict just how many people will pack the stadium for something other than football.

If the event is a success, hopefully it will lead to more big names coming to the UI, names that won't be in an awkward spot trying to find an audience here. Maybe there are just enough fourteen-year-old girls willing to come from all around and belt along to "Behind These Hazel Eyes."

-Meryn

it's 3 am and i am so amused by this

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