Lazy Sunday (Live)

As much as people may (justifiably) hate on Late Night w Jimmy Fallon, it is clear that he truly understands the cultural zeitgeist of this particular era. From his recruitment of the Roots as his house band, to his Saved by the Bell / California Dreams reunionings, I've come around full circle to supporting his show (even though I will rarely stay up late enough to watch it).

Add to the list this debut live performance of "Lazy Sunday." The set pieces were a nice touch to add narrative flow to the song.

Thinking about this song reminds me that watching Lazy Sunday was the first time that I ever watched a video on youtube. I feel... old?

-dk

SNL: Zach Galifianakis / Vampire Weekend

So there may have been a point earlier in the television season where I planned to recap and reflect upon SNL music. My plans were thwarted, however, when the show cranked out mediocre artist (Bon Jovi) after mediocre artist (Jennifer Lopez).

Compounding the disappointment was the fact that many recent shows have relied too heavily on recycling established sketch premises.

I was therefore hesitant in expecting too much from last weekend's Zach Galifianakis / Vampire Weekend episode. Zach G did not disappoint, delivering one of the funniest opening monologues in recent memory ("Hoobastank is here!"), although the rest of the actual skits were pretty run-of-the-mill.

The one thing that really grabbed my attention was the Pageant Talk sketch where Zach had shaved off his beard, only to appear during the goodnights re-bearded. It turns out that the beard was shaved during Vampire Weekend's second performance, and a fake beard was applied before the show's close.

ANYWAY, I thought Vampire Weekend sounded worlds better than they did during their first SNL appearance.

And just for kicks, here's some Jorma dancing to VW:

-dk

[SNL Music] Lady Gaga

I finally had a chance to sit down and enjoy an episode of SNL. I actually thought Ryan Reynolds would be funnier within the format of the show, but it seems like there was a lot more attention paid to big-name cameos (Madonna, ScarJo, Elijah Wood, et al.) throughout the episode.

That being said, there were some musically noteworthy moments.

The Digital Short ("On the Ground") was pretty good--or at least better than either of the two that aired during last week's season premiere. Others might disagree, however, as it's already been established that your humble authors are all pretty big TLI marks. (dk, & pd for example.) I enjoyed the parody of angry, self-righteous 'underground' hip-hop. It felt like a Def Jux b-side.

As for Gaga, I came away thinking that she was a talented and charismatic performer, but also that perhaps dame Gaga might think her music is more culturally important than it will eventually become regarded. Kanye (incidentally, who until recently was supposed to embark on a tour with Gaga) I feel may also think this same way.

The second performance was Gaga's best, involving a piano, copious amounts of stage fog and metallic, gyroscoping rings. Head writer Seth Meyers tweeted that it was a top-5 musical performance for him in all his years on the show. I'm not sure what to make of that, though.

-dk

Here's the digi short

Incredibad, Reviewed

It's no secret that I've been eagerly anticipating the release of The Lonely Island's Incredibad. Ever since hearing of their hiring at SNL (Samberg as featured player, Taccone and Schaffer as writers) I knew they would bring a new energy to the show. With the meteoric rise of their digital shorts, they have in no small part helped usher SNL into the 21st century. 

As for the album, I've already written that I was excited to hear some of the digital short musical numbers without the interference of audience laughter and network censorship, and for the most part, the songs deliver. "Natalie's Rap" is an especially nice, clean track with a kind of mellow west coast/G-funk rolling bass that contrasts humorously with Natalie Portman's hyper-aggressive girly screech. 

It's the attention to musical detail that makes Incredibad work. That is, despite the (oftentimes) trivial lyrical content, there is throughout a deep breadth of musical knowledge under the surface. Take "Natalie's Rap" again. Yes, it's entertaining to hear her say she'll kill your dog for fun (so don't push her!), but what really does it for me is that the whole song is one long homage to Eazy-E's "No More Questions" (the interview format, the west coast gangster sensibility, and of course the last line of the song). That the song is just as good with or without this knowledge is part of what makes the Lonely Island so great when they are on their game.

Initially, I felt like a lot of these great productions were being wasted when paired with such novelty, throwaway vocals. ("Ras Trent" is a Sly & Robbie production, and a pretty good one at that.) After some consideration though, a lot of music these days is just as lyrically vapid, and not even with the Dudes' winking self-awareness. Is the chorus of the hilarious "I'm on a Boat" (Everybody look at me / 'Cause I'm sailing on a boat!) really any more or less stupid than Mims' "This is Why I'm Hot," a #1 single that has, by my count, a chorus built on eleven words?

ANYWAY, despite all of these strengths there still remains a fatal flaw which precludes me from being able to recommend a purchase of this album: the glaring omission of "Iran So Far." As the song shows up neither in the album proper or the bonus DVD, I can only guess that there was some issue with the clearance of the (brilliant) Aphex Twin sample. As I commented on a previous post, this was the song I was most excited to hear on the album--it is not only an elegantly simple composition, but lyrically it also serves as high-minded political satire. In any case, the lack of "Iran" is a non-starter for me, and drops my final rating for the album from four to three stars out of five.

Bonus: the Dudes have put up a free download of the Incredibad digital booklet. It's worth a look.

Boat Trip

The Dudes are back with a full length album. Good times.

Check it, yo.

F-F-F-FootballTennisHockeyGolf

Still working on a (belated) year-in-review post. In the meantime, enjoy TLI's sequel to "Just 2 Guyz," entitled "We Like Sportz." Here's where I mention I can't wait for the release of the Incredibad album...