Artist: Secondhand Serenade
Album: Awake
Release Date: January 10, 2007

I’m not going to try to suggest to you that Secondhand Serenade is anything other than a poor man’s Dashboard Confessional. In fact, Awake is overlong, hyper-melodramatic, and decidedly self-indulgent (it’s a glorified mixtape for singer-songwriter John Vesely’s wife). There’s very little socially redeeming value in the album, other than the fact that John Vesely strikes me as a really nice guy. But my show ended today (for those who don’t know me, I’m a theatre major), and the end of any show tends to put me in kind of a bummed out mood (even though this starts a two-week break until rehearsals start for my next show). As such, I feel as though I needed to hear something kind of chill. Enter: Secondhand Serenade.

Secondhand Serenade – Maybe [iTunes] (YSI)

==TJ==

Artist: Various
Album: High Fidelity: Original Soundtrack
Release Date: May 28, 2000

In my play and screenwriting class last year, I wrote a short piece that took place in a record store, and a couple of my classmates called me out, saying that it was a little too obvious that I was a fan of High Fidelity. They were right. I’ve said many times before that I would love to live the life of Rob Gordon, and at that point the closest I could come was writing a character that conveyed that love.

None of this has anything to do with the films soundtrack. Quite frankly, I’m not enough of a music snob to adore this soundtrack (or to be a carbon copy of John Cusack’s Rob Gordon), but there are a few gems. I’m cool enough to admit to being a fan of The Kinks and Elvis Costello, and then there’s the cover of “Let’s Get It On”, credited to none other than Jack Black. So basically, if you’re cool enough to be one of Gordon’s friends, you love the soundtrack, but I could take it or leave it.

Jack Black – Let’s Get It On (YSI)

==TJ==

Artist: Various
Album: A Knight’s Tale: Music From The Motion Picture
Released: May 2001

Another old favorite of mine, and another movie that never really got the respect it deserved. Granted, A Knight’s Tale is also one of those films that has its flaws, and said flaws can interfere with the enjoyment of the movie. But at the same time, A Knight’s Tale has a nostalgia quality for me that overcomes the issues. A Knight’s Tale was one of the first movies that my core group of friends at college and I watched. We tend to make a point to put it on whenever we all find ourselves in the same room for an extended length of time.

And the soundtrack? Well, any soundtrack that’s got Queen, Thin Lizzy, Clapton and David Bowie on it can’t be that bad, right?

Queen – We Will Rock You [iTunes] (YSI)

==TJ==

So, astute readers will notice a new page on the left hand side of the site (as well as up top) entitled “Albums of 2009″. This page lists every album that came out in 2009 that I’ve listened to so far. It’s a pretty healthy list (70 some odd at last count), but I know there’s more out there. Which is where you come in.

I want recommendations from YOU, my loyal readers, as to what I still need to hear.

Everything is fair game here. High profile, low profile, mainstream, indie, hipster-friendly…I’m not making any judgments here. If you think its worth hearing, that’s all that matters to me, and I’ll give it a fair spin or two. Just so we’re all clear, it was an idea similar to this one that a year ago helped me discover Kings of Leon, who are now one of my favorite bands of ever. So anything’s possible here, but it takes your contribution. So send me ideas for your must-hear song, album, or artist from this year!

==TJ==

Artist: Various
Album: Titan A.E.: Music From The Motion Picture
Released: 2000

If you’ve never heard of Titan A.E., go read the wikipedia and IMDB articles and understand that this film is a sentimental favorite from my preteen years. If you know the film, in all likelihood you join me in having very fond memories of the movie. I’m sad to say that I haven’t seen the film in years, as I only have a VHS copy of it (probably stored away in some box in my house). The movie’s soundtrack, while offering very little in substance aside from one of the last hit singles from Lit and a few other catchy gems from forgettable bands, was a must-have for 12-year-old me, and one of the earliest additions to my music collection. The film is probably most notable for being the killing blow to Fox Animation Studios, but those who remember the film fondly might consider it on the same level as Star Wars (before you cut me to pieces, understand that my generation doesn’t really have an epic sci-fi story to call its own; The Matrix was a bit too adult for us at first, and it would take years before Firefly would achieve cult status). So, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go hunting on Amazon for a DVD copy of this one. Enjoy the track below, and feel free to get nostalgic in the comments section.

Electrasy – Cosmic Castaway [iTunes] (YSI)

==TJ==

Again, apologies for the late post. The ship will be righted once more after this weekend.

Artist: Eddie Vedder
Album: Into The Wild: Music For The Motion Picture
Release Date: September 18, 2007

Honestly, I’m probably the wrong person to talk about this album, since I never saw the movie, and thus I have little or no context for how the music fits into the movie. But let’s be real here. It’s solo Eddie Vedder, and does anyone ever need a good reason to post some solo Vedder music? I think not.

Eddie Vedder – Hard Sun [iTunes] (YSI)

==TJ==

PS: For those who called me out on the Across The Universe post, I intend to post my grievances against the film in the near future, I’ve just been busy.

Artist: Bee Gees, et al
Album: Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Soundtrack
Released: November 1977

I’m pretty sure that if my roommates fully realized what it was I was listening to at the moment, I think I’d get taken out back behind the woodshed and I’d lose all right to talk music with them. Lucky for me they’re playing some strange game. Anywho.

This one comes as the result of a suggestion from my dad, to the point where I needed to go out and find the soundtrack, since I’ve taken pride in the significant lack of disco in my music collection to date. To be honest, this isn’t too much worse than some of the worst music that my generation has made popular (I’m pretty sure that in 30 years we’re going to look at folks like Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse and T-Pain and wonder what the hell we were thinking). Is it obnoxious, and so unflinchingly dancey that it gives me a bit of a headache? Oh, dear God, yes. But as embarassing ’70s bands go, I’ve had a bit of a soft spot for the Bee Gees, and their contribution to this soundtrack is damn good, if not great. I’m mildly ashamed to say I’ve never seen Saturday Night Fever, so this is my only real frame of reference, but if its good enough to get referenced in a Quentin Tarantino film, it’s good enough for me.

Bee Gees – Stayin’ Alive [iTunes] (YSI)

]]> http://vivalamainstream.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/album-a-day-saturday-night-fever-the-original-movie-soundtrack/feed/ 3 TJ http://vivalamainstream.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/album-a-day-walk-the-line-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/ http://vivalamainstream.wordpress.com/2009/11/09/album-a-day-walk-the-line-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:41:21 +0000 TJ http://vivalamainstream.wordpress.com/?p=1355 ]]>

Artist: Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, et al
Album: Walk The Line: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Release Date: November 15, 2005

Walk the Line is a rarity on two fronts; first, it is the rare musical biopic that makes it out of the rare “Hey, what if there was a movie about ____?” phase (films about Marvin Gaye, Keith Moon, and others have been “in development” for ages). Second, it is both a decent film as well as a stellar soundtrack. If you can get past the initial jolt of Joaquin Phoenix’s impersonation of the Man In Black, you’ll hear some fairly interesting, stripped-down versions of Johnny Cash classics. Rather than go the route of awkward karaoke versions of Cash’s music (as well as that of Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Waylon Jennings), Walk The Line’s soundtrack features new, albeit faithful arrangements of old favorites. I don’t know any die hard fans of Cash or any of the aforementioned artists, but if they exist, I feel like they’d have a hard time complaining about the treatment given to the source material.

Joaquin Phoenix – Folsom Prison Blues [iTunes] (YSI)

I’ve said before that I started Viva La Mainstream as an escape from the hipster snobbery that permeated much of what constituted music blogs at the time. Among the sites that inspired me and suggested that I could, in fact, write about mainstream music from a genuine fan perspective was Idolator, which at the time was beginning a slow ascent to the top of the music blog world. Well, today writer Maura Johnston, Idolator’s lead writer and primary voice of snark and insight, announced her departure from the site. I initially envisioned VLM as a sort of counterpoint to Idolator, and took several cues from Maura and the sites other (now also departed) writers, though I was and still am too small-time for that to mean much. So seeing Maura depart is kind of like when you’re a young kid who’s into sports, watching his/her favorite player retire. Even though I doubt anyone at Idolator reads these words, I want to take a few minutes and thank Maura for what she did both for her site and (unknowingly) for this one. Best of luck to Maura in her future work.

Led Zeppelin – Thank You [iTunes] (YSI)

==TJ==

Within the last hour or so, subscribers to Them Crooked Vultures’ email newsletters were met with the following image:

And a link to a YouTube playlist featuring all 13 tracks from TCV’s self titled album, in stores November 17th. Aside from the fact that the tagline on that image (Also the title of this entry) is unbelievably cool, getting to hear the album is a huge deal for the band and the thousands of people who have been anxiously awaiting it since Dave Grohl first suggested that a project featuring himself, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones “wouldn’t suck”. So click the image to quit reading this and go hear Them Crooked Vultures.

==TJ==