Medic Media

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Chances are you haven’t heard this song yet but I imagine you’ll be hearing it a crapload of times in the coming months. It’s the first single off One Republic’s new album Waking Up, which is scheduled for release on November 17th. Don’t know who One Republic is? Well you certainly should. They were all over the radio last year with Timbaland in the smash hit “Apologize”. This latest song is catchy as hell and I expect everyone to eat it up.

Some would consider One Republic a rock group, in the mold of a Coldplay or U2. They could also be classified as pop because of their addictive hooks and the regularity with which they are played on popular radio stations. This is how frontman Ryan Tedder describes their style, “We’re no respecter of genre. If it’s a good song or a good artist whether rock, pop, indie or hip hop, they’ve probably influenced us on some level…nothing’s new under the sun, we’re a sum of a bunch of parts.” Makes sense to me. If it’s a good song it’s a good song, don’t over analyze it. If you enjoy listening to it, that’s really the only explanation you need.

Lead-singer Ryan Tedder is a musical force. Maybe outside of Timbaland, no one in the past few years has created, produced or been associated with so many hits. It’s no coincidence then that Tedder learned the trade from Timbaland himself. He wrote the song “Apologize” for One Republic and it became one of the best-selling and charting singles of the decade. It was the number-one song for 5 months until Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love” jumped it on the charts. Tedder just happened to co-write and produce that song as well. Both songs were arguably the biggest songs of 2008. Tedder has written and produced singles with countless artists including, The Backstreet Boys, Chris Cornell, Ludacris, Lupe Fiasco, Hilary Duff, Timbaland, Christina Milian, Tupac, Jennifer Hudson, Menudo, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, Jordin Sparks, Kelly Clarkson, Beyonce, Rihanna, Daughtry and Whitney Houston. Tedder’s musical touch has no genre-boundaries and has found success along all types of music.

Oh, would you look at that. Guess who wrote Kelly Clarkson’s “Already Gone”, our first Pop Song Pop-Up. Yeah it’s Ryan Tedder. Other huge hits Tedder has written and produced in 2009, Beyonce’s “Halo” and Jordin Sparks’ “Battlefield”. Unstoppable.

Heres a link to his extensive Wikipedia Discography

Incomplete sentences!

Ok, so, I’m taking a different approach to Volume II of this thing and dumping the reviews, instead going with a quick look at some bands I’ve recently discovered and wish to share with you. Even shorter and even sweeter than before…

Freelance Whales

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Sounds Like: Sufjan Stevens, The Shins
Situation: Unsigned, just played the CMJ Music Fest this past weekend in NYC and garnered some much needed attention. Could be found in subway stations playing for the hell of it. Use a harmonium.

Joe Pug

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Sounds Like: Just a dude with a guitar and a harmonica.
Situation: Gave out his EP via e-mail over the summer, which allowed him to tour the country with zero publicity and actually make some money, selling out his first two headlining shows in Chicago. Great songwriter, channels some Dylan (with a guitar and a harmonica, who doesn’t) and knows how to control a room.

Girls

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Sounds Like: Buddy Holly, Elvis Costello, the 60s.
Situation: I really disliked this album when I first gave it a try, thought the sound was too gimmicky, but then I stopped being a dickhead and just enjoyed it for what it was. Short pop songs about life. Lead singer used to be a part of a religious cult. What that has to do with the music, I have no idea.

Passion Pit

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Sounds Like: Bon Iver singing to synth pop.
Situation: From Buffalo, the most solid pop album I’ve heard in a long time; from top to bottom every song is fantastic. This band absolutely blew up after releasing their debut, with only an EP to precede it. They’ve sold out shows at Terminal 5 months in advance. Playing together since high school, started as a ska band.

Surprise Me, Mr. Davis

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Sounds Like: The Black Crowes
Situation: Formed after a jam session while they were snowed-in, the band consists of members of The Slip, headed by Nathan Moore. They carry their jam-sound over to their live performances, playing extended versions of all their songs with different elements mixed in every time.

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Alright, I know I just posted about this group 3 days ago but I’m too excited about this album.  So you know when it releases, here’s the first official single to get an idea of what it sounds like.

I don’t know about you guys, but I love it, and I absolutely can not wait until the 17th to pick this gem up.  I think this may be the first “super group” that I’ll actually enjoy listening to.  Also, a side note, Minus The Bear will be releasing their new single digitally tomorrow which will include both “Into the Mirror” and the b-side “Broken China.”  Count me in.

For those of you that don’t already know Them Crooked Vultures is a new rock super group comprised of Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), and John Paul Jones (Led Zepplin).  There are a few live videos floating around of them on YouTube, I think this one does them some justice:

Their debut album is going to be released this Novemeber 17th, which is pretty surprising since there hasn’t been much talk about it.  They’ve also released the official track listing, it is as follows:

01. No One Loves Me & Neither Do I
02. Mind Eraser, No Chaser
03. New Fang
04. Dead End Friends
05. Elephants
06. Scumbag Blues
07. Bandoliers
08. Reptiles
09. Interlude with Ludes
10. Warsaw or the first Breath You Take After You Give Up
11. Caligulove
12. Gunman
13. Spinning in Daffodils

Thirteen songs is a nice length I think, hopefully all the tracks are pretty good.  As far a studio recordings go the only things the “Vultures” have released yet are a few teasers.  This one is my favorite:

Got another hottie from across the pond this week, Kelly Brook.  She’s one of those actresses that pops up in movies and you always think “whoa, she’s hot,” but never really remember her.  You might recognize her from Smallville as the girlfriend of Lex Luthor, or possibly The Italian Job.  She dated british actor and all around bad-ass Jason Statham for about 7 years and then dumped him for Billy Zane whom she is currently engaged to.  If it means anything Mr. Statham, I still think you’re cool.  Alongside her Hollywood dabbling she’s seen some success as a model (duh) and is the face of Lynx body spray in Britain, us “Yanks” know it as Axe.

The girl is definitely classy.

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The Black Eyed Peas are not as universally loved as Kelly Clarkson. There a very few who are. Its pretty obvious however that they are hit machines. Boom Boom Pow and I Gotta Feeling were both monster hits and I’m betting that Meet Me Halfway will be as well. It’ll be a hit to a point where you’ll eventually despise hearing it. So enjoy it now before its too late. Its got a kind of sound that’s difficult to describe, almost an 80s kind of feel especially during the Fergie chorus. Trippy ass video too. Watch it, or don’t.

I’d like to take a second to examine the mysterious 4th member of the Black Eyed Peas. Everyone obviously knows Fergie, that’s a given. Will.I.Am is 2nd in popularity, hes done some solo work and been in some movies. The 3rd is the weird looking guy Taboo, who played Vega in the most recent Street Fighter movie. The 4th guy however, who is he? Does anybody know his name? Has he done anything else outside of the Black Eyed Peas? Does he actually have a role in the group? Well turns out his name is apl.de.ap….How do you even say that? This is why he’ll never be as popular as the other three.

A couple of weeks ago I posted “Into The Mirror,” a very electronic sounding song from the group venturing into to some foreign ground for them.  This week I present you with “Broken China.”  This is a down to business, dirty, rockin’ song.  I’m not sure if I like it better than “Into the Mirror,” but its definitely awesome in its own right.  Between these two songs I think we have a nice guideline of what to expect from the upcoming album and I’m sure as hell buying this one.

Hell Yeah!

In this recent interview with buzznet.com, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo revealed that he will soon enter the recording studio with the promiscuous pop-star to write some new material. Cuomo stated, “We’re writing together next week. Can’t wait!”

Since the most recent Weezer album Raditude (Novmember 3rd)  is already completed, one can assume this collaboration could possibly end up on Perry’s next album. Being that I am a big fan of Ms. Perry, and an even bigger fan of Weezer, this has got me a wee-bit excited. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of sweet music they can create. And don’t knock Katy Perry’s musical ability, she’s a pretty decent song-writer in her own right. I’m also using this entry as an excuse to post a picture of the girl who kissed another girl and liked it.

Rivers is sort of on a collaboration hot-streak. Raditude features songs with Lil Wayne and members of the All-American Rejects. Jermaine Dupri was also involved with the album. Raditude is setting up to be one of Weezer’s more interesting and diverse musical ventures. Heres the complete track list followed by a video of the humorous word-association interview with buzznet.com. Cuomo’s answer to Megan Fox really got me.

Raditude

1. “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”
2. “I’m Your Daddy”
3. “The Girl Got Hot”
4. “Can’t Stop Partying” with Lil Wayne
5. “Put Me Back Together” with All-American Rejects
6. “Trippin’ Down The Freeway”
7. “Love Is the Answer”
8. “Let It All Hang Out”
9. “In The Mall”
10. “I Don’t Want To Let You Go”
(11. “The Story Of My Life” – iTunes bonus)
(12. “Kids/Poker Face” – iTunes pre-order bonus)

Deluxe Raditude:

11. “Get Me Some”
12. “Run Over By A Truck”
13. “The Prettiest Girl In the Whole Wide World”
14. “The Underdogs”
(15. “The Story Of My Life” – iTunes bonus)
(16. “Kids/Poker Face” – iTunes pre-order bonus

There are more badasses in this movie than…I can’t really think of anything to compare it to, but expect it to blow your mind. You should just know this film has more badasses than any in history. I’ll let the names and trailer do the talkin.

Sly Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Stone Cold! Steve Austin, Eric Roberts, Mickey Rourke

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It’s no secret there are a lot of bad pop songs out there. Lady Gaga and Britney Spears im looking at you. But once you sift through all the crap there is some decent music on today’s radio. Every once in a while I’m going to post a pop song and you’re going to give it a listen. Why? Because I’m telling you to.

The queen of pop is Kelly Clarkson. Lets just make that clear right off the bat. Every song she puts out there gets stuck in your head. Don’t deny it. That’s just ignorant. Here’s her latest single titled Already Gone. Its an emotional, haunting ballad that follows you around like a sad little puppy who lost it’s way. Movie reference? The hits just keep on coming for Ms. Clarkson. Now, all we need from her is a Lady Gaga diss track.

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