Video Friday! 7/22/11

Hello Gentle Viewers! How is everyone doing? Are you suffering in the heat? Fear not! Here are some fun videos to help cool you down.

And since we all know today is Captain America Day, it wouldn't be right not to include a little something for him. Enjoy!

Until next time...

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Video Friday!!! 4th of July Edition

Ah, Independence Day! This is the time we celebrate with BBQs, fireworks and most importantly, remembering and honoring the soldiers who have served our country and the ones who serve today. This is for all of you!











Thank you to all the men and women in our armed forces!

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!

Musical Friday - The Gaga Covers

Lady Gaga is one of the most talked about musicians these days. Whether it's about her behavior, political views, music, or her outrageous fashion sense, one can't deny she's a tour de force. How long she'll last is up for debate but while she's around, everyone from celebrities to the average Joe Shmoe has been having fun with her music. With so much to choose from, I decided this Friday will go to the everyday folk out there (though I might have to do one for the celebrities. Some of them are just too funny not to include.) So without further ado, I present...... Gaga!

Lady Gaga Acapella Medley Multitrack (Just Dance, Poker Face, Chillin, Paparazzi)

As the only female of the post, I chose Naya Marie because, of the many different covers I viewed, she was unique. She obviously very talented but by creating the medley, adding the beatbox, and performing all the parts herself, she gave the songs a twist that really energizes them.

Paparazzi - Metal Guitar Cover (HQ)

I love when songs are taken out of their designated genre and turned into something new. I particularly love turning pop songs into something edgier and harder. This version helps demonstrate how versatile Lady Gaga's songs are. If you click on the link in the video and watch the video with the vocal track, you'll see how great it sounds. Man, I wish I could play guitar like this guy....ah, just me on a stage, playing like a rock star...sigh...oh, sorry. Got caught up in the moment. On to the next...

 On The Rocks - Bad Romance

Part of me wishes these guys had worn outfits to go with the song but the rest of me knows the everyday clothes make this even funnier. On the Rocks is the University of Oregon's premiere all-male a capella ensemble. They have a new album out, which you can learn more about here.

Telephone - The Afghanistan Re-Make

I crack up every time I see this. Who thinks these guys might have had a little bit too much to drink one night and decided to put on a show? These guys are fighting overseas in dangerous situations and if this is what they need to do to blow off a little steam, then please, please, PLEASE keep doing this! I'd be laughing my ass off if any group of guys got together and did this, but these are soldiers and that gives it extra oomph. They are so awesome. I hope they can eventually make another re-make but as malibumelcher, the guy who filmed this, said it's hard to get them all together because they're constantly on missions. Here's hoping they are currently all safe and coming home soon.

Part of what makes Lady Gaga so great is the fun she inspires people to have. It's high energy, twisted, inventive, and, did I mention... fun? It gets people out of their shells because it's so over the top. It's ridiculous! I guarantee you there is a Lady Gaga cover for everyone. So pull up at seat, enjoy the videos, and if you have a favorite Gaga cover, let us know so we can put it in next time until then, a fond farewell!

Musical Friday - Cover Songs!

Welcome & Bienvenido to our latest rendition of Musical Friday!  My name is @Getsuyobi and I'll be rounding out the [insertgeekhere] crew as resident web-person/geek/gamer.  For my first post I'm sharing with you my strange fascination with stolen music.  I'm not talking about piracy, but the art of the cover song.

Cover songs aren't actually theft of material (usually), but meant to pay homage to the original artist and add a new dimension to a song.  Some of the best cover songs are the ones that take a song completely out of its original genre and twist it into a new composition altogether.  My first pick for this Friday is a cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It" by the awe-inspiring duo of Jack Conte & Nataly Dawn, otherwise known throughout the interweb as Pomplamoose!



Awesome, right?  Talk about taking a song in a new direction.  Pomplamoose actually released a whole cover album on iTunes that includes some more amazing covers, like Beyonce's "Single Ladies" & Lady Gaga's "Telephone".  I'm a little ashamed to say I know all the words to those songs now as a result of their covers.  Pomplamoose is one of my favorite indy/internet bands.  Their videos are always entertaining and they have so much damned talent!  I could gush over Pomplamoose for an entire post (idea!), but on the the next song...

The next cover comes from the R&B group Ahmir.  They're doing a mashup cover of Owl City's "Fireflies" & "Vanilla Twilight".  Another great example of a group making you hear familiar lyrics in a whole new context.  Enjoy the soulful harmonies (and cheesy choreography) of Ahmir.



... get it?  He fell asleep?!  So funny!  Anyway, Ahmir was actually invited to an Owl City show at the House of Blues last April to perform on stage with the band!  The video of the performance is available on their YouTube channel.  It's pretty funny to hear them side by side with the original artist because they actually blow him out of the water!

Okay, it's Friday, let's all rock out with our last cover from Italy's own Vanilla Sky.  They're covering what will forever be "the song of that Eliza Dushku danced to in that awesomely tiny dress on episode 1 of Dollhouse" or you could shorten it to Lady Gaga's  "Just Dance"  This brings me back to when I was first obsessed with cover songs.  It was the time of napster and CD burning, and every cover on the internet was some punk band covering pop hits.  Those were the days.



... ahh Echo...!  Sorry, I got a little lost there... Well I hope you enjoyed my Cover Song Musical Friday.  Please check out all of the bands mentioned on YouTube & MySpace, while all of their careers are taking off, they can use all the support we can give!  Also don't forget to give us a follow on Twitter (@IGHinsider) for more updates and sweet tunes every Friday.

Peace!

Glee (Season 2, so far)

This has spoilers so read it at your own risk.

From day one, Glee had me hooked. The way the show handles feeling like or actually being an outcast was something I related to. The show has handled tricky subjects very well while still maintaining its humor and fun and it uses music to push the stories forward. That's right, for those of you who haven't figured it out yet, Glee is musical theater on TV. Even when the writing hasn't been stellar, the actors have more than made up for it with their superior skills. It's my love of Glee that has prevented me from writing about it this season, but after this week's episode, I had to speak up.


I don't know if I like what has been going on with Glee's sophomore season. I found the premiere episode, Audition, forgettable. I remember the songs, mostly because they were so good, Charice & Lea Michele's version of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" is amazing, but also because a song like "Empire State of Mind" should never have been covered. Let's be honest here, the cast is not filled with rappers and to try and take on someone like Jay-Z is insane! When they tackled "U Can't Touch This,""Ice Ice Baby," and "Good Vibrations," it was fine because these songs were more campy so they could be played with more (I'm not even touching Shue's covers of the Thong Song & Gold Digger). If they had done the Alicia Keys version, it would've sounded good but I feel like the Jay-Z version just showcased their weaknesses.


I liked the introduction of the new characters. Coach Beiste, played by the wonderful Dot-Marie Jones, was  a welcomed surprise. She gets to be the new antagonist to Sue but instead of having her be just the badass, no nonsense, new coach (which she is), she also gets to cool. I'd much rather have a coach who makes me work my ass off but can also have some fun than someone like Sue Sylvester who believes fear is the best way to motivate people to do their best. I go back and forth on whether I liked showing her vulnerability at Sue & Shue's stupid childish pranks. I like that she's shown as being a person with feelings but I would've loved if they showed her as a woman who is certainly different but strong, confident and comfortable with herself. I hated them showing her putting on lipstick before coaching, not because she shouldn't want to feel attractive and feminine but because it doesn't fit with what she was about to do. You don't see her with noticeable makeup the whole time but because she was being picked on, she had to reach for the lipstick? That's not right. Her overreaction to Finn and Artie was far more appropriate.


On to Britney/Brittnay. Let me start by saying Heather Morris has been woefully underutilized. The character of Brittnay is one of the funniest characters on television today. Her randomness and dimwittedness bring a whole new level of humor to the show and Heather Morris plays her perfectly but Heather is also a phenomenal dancer and as seen in the episode, a decent singer. I wish they had let her sing earlier but this was a perfect introduction for her. I don't think anyone in the cast could've pulled off Britney like Heather did but I don't think they've featured her dancing as much as they could have. Harry Shum, Jr. is the dancer of the group but if you watch any of the previous episodes and look for Heather, you'll see how awesome she is. Why haven't they featured her more?


Storywise, unfortunately, Britney/Brittnay did very little to advance the overall plot. I was left wondering what the season was going to be about. It felt like it might be more of last season. Audition, at the very least, introduced us to new characters.  Oh sorry,  we were introduced to the hotness that is John Stamos, aka the anesthesia happy Dr. Carl. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Uncle Jesse and I like seeing Shue go stupid when he realizes that not only is Emma dating someone else but he's a good looking doctor who is bringing Emma out of her shell, but this was a weird way to introduce a character. He should not have given in to Santana's demands about going under, though it did bring about one of my favorite lines, "So get up in my grill, cause me and Britts wants to get our anesthesia on."


The music was amazing but other than Artie's version of "Stronger," none of the songs really did much other than pay homage to Britney Spears. I did not like Lea Michele's version of "Baby, One More Time." She raised the key in the song and I feel that not only was it unnecessary but it detracted from it. It also makes the song harder to sing along with. I liked the stripped down version of "Toxic" but singing a song like that for a school assembly with your teacher is not only strange but also wildly inappropriate. Why would someone sing a song that sexually charged to a group of teenage hormone bombs? As demonstrated by the characters, Laura Izizes and Jacob "Can he get any more disgusting and perverted?" Ben Israel, being exposed to that level of sexuality can cause craziness or as Sue Sylvester put it, "It's a Britney Spears sex riot!" If I were a parent and heard this had happened at my kid's school, I'd be concerned. I know Britney Spears has other songs that are a little less over the top and better suited for a school assembly. *Side note - I don't know if it was noticed but I loved seeing Mark Kanemura from "So You Think You Can Dance" as one of the dancers. He was one of my favorites from the show.*


From here out, I'll be tackling each episode as it airs. Comments and opinions welcomed!