I don’t much like Lady Gaga as a person — or rather, I don’t much like the persona she has created. Her tiresome antics put her squarely in Madonna-wannabe territory, and I don’t much like Madonna either.
But again and again, I find myself really liking her music — from early hits ‘Just Dance,’ ‘Paparazzi’ and ‘Poker Face’ to ‘Bad Romance’ and ‘Telephone’ on her second album and the strong ballad ‘You and I’ on her less celebrated third album.
I don’t know if it says more about how old Bob Dylan is or how old I am, but today’s SOTD — the title track from Bob Dylan’s album of acoustic folk covers World Gone Wrong — is 20 years old.
World Gone Wrong was the second consecutive cover album Dylan released in the early 90s and at the time, given his wrecked vocals and seeming disinterest in recording new material, it felt a bit like the end of an era.
An 11-month wait is down to two days. The final eight episodes of my all-time favorite television series kick off this Sunday.
Breaking Bad has been less a TV show and more a religious experience for me over the past two years. Everybody I know who watches the show, from all walks of life, loves it. But it feels particularly suited to me — its Coen Brothers-esque visual style and mastery of tension, matched with dialogue worthy of Elmore Leonard, hit my creative sweet spot with bulls-eye precision.
Lately I’ve read a lot of praise of Ariana Grande’s new music, including frequent comparisons to her idol Mariah Carey. I get the sense that Grande, whom I know from her acting work on the Nickelodeon show Victorious, is on the verge of musical stardom.
I’m happy for her. She has great comic timing and delivery on the show, and has made enough of an impression to earn her own spin-off show, Sam & Cat, pairing her with iCarly alum Jennette McCurdy.
I have 7- and 11-year-old daughters, in case you’re wondering why I know any of this.
I was wondering how far into my Song of the Day series I could find an artist who I haven’t featured again until this day, so of course I had to investigate.
Turns out it was Nick Drake, whose ‘Things Behind the Sun’ was the eighth Song of the Day on Meet Me In Montauk, posted on August 1, 2008, just over five years ago today.
Meet Me In Montauk 