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Song of the Day #1,266: ‘That’s Where I Belong’ – Paul Simon

Three years after the Capeman debacle, Paul Simon released his first proper studio album in ten years, 2000’s You’re the One. This album is easily overlooked when considering the span of Simon’s career but every time I revisit it, I’m reminded how strong it is.

Frequent commenter Dana hit the nail on the head in describing this album the last time I featured it. He said it is reminiscent of Hearts and Bones but without matching that album’s highest points, and that the first half of the record is extremely good with the second half a bit on the sleepy side.

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Song of the Day #1,265: ‘Teach Me How to Understand Christmas’ – Alison Brie

NBC’s Community has rapidly become one of my very favorite TV shows — right when the network decided to shelve it indefinitely.

Community is ostensibly about a group of seven wacky community college students in a study group, but it’s really a vehicle for brilliant pop culture satire. The show has lovingly parodied everything from Goodfellas and Pulp Fiction to My Dinner With Andre and the films of Charlie Kaufman.

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Song of the Day #1,264: ‘Love On Top (Live at the VMAs)’ – Beyoncé

When Beyoncé performed at MTV’s 2011 Video Music Awards shortly after announcing that she was pregnant, she turned a rousing R&B rave-up into the world’s biggest baby shower.

Watching her beam about the “love inside her” and command the stage with even more energy and star power than usual, then unbutton her jacket and run her hand over her baby bump with a wide smile… I wanted to strangle Jay-Z.

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Song of the Day #1,263: ‘Lights’ – Ellie Goulding

Today is my wife’s birthday, so I’m celebrating the occasion by featuring an artist she has recently discovered.

It’s rare that my wife seeks out music on her own… she generally listens to the same albums (or singles, more often) that she has listened to for years. Or she’ll pick up on something I’ve been listening to and adopt it as her own (Miranda Lambert, for example).

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Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol

It shouldn’t matter that it’s really Tom Cruise climbing the actual tallest building in the world, leaping out of windows and sprinting horizontally across the face of the Burj Khalifa, a half-mile above the ground in Dubai.

With today’s special effects, the filmmakers could have recreated that scene shot for shot using models and green screen and the viewer would be none the wiser. Hell, most viewers of Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol probably assume that’s how it was done anyway.

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