The Useless Critic 2.0

Yesterday, I came across an article lamenting the lack of a true summer anthem for 2015 . Truth be told, I live in a radio-free bubble where I have the luxury to totally ignore top 40. Unless something unusually good climbs across my radar, I gleefully ignore whatever is exceedingly popular at the moment. Sometimes I have the misfortune of hearing the obnoxious opium of the masses while I'm on an Uber or when I'm out, but 9 out of 10 times I can live my life in my Internet radio-dominated bliss.  I was sort of taken aback, because the writer's totally correct: We haven't had a "Blurred Lines" or "Fancy" this year. I mean, of course Lana has the goods, but you won't hear them on the radio (unless it's that sped-up "Summertime Sadness" remix....bleh).  At first, I thought maybe the summer song was "Bad Blood?" I mean, all that hype about that video: I didn't even know that video had a plot until I read reviews

Just some quick updates before the weekend comes to a halt- 1.) Ryan Adams has announced he's covering all of Taylor Swift's "1989" album. "1989" is pretty much the best pop album of the decade. Let's not try to deny that, okay? It's a good album. It took me forever to listen to it (no offense to Taylor, I had some emotional baggage at the time) but once I did, WOW. Ryan? Ryan is one of the best singer-songwriters of his generation. And he can do a powerful cover: To add sprinkles on top of that sundae of awesomeness, he also is doing it IN THE STYLE OF THE SMITHS. Like, let that one sink in for a while. *fans self* 2.) Taylor Swift's next single off "1989" will be "Wildest Dreams." Not a bad pick, IMO, but a little too Lana-esque for me. God, I see Lana in everything. I'm like one of those people who see images of Tom Selleck in Cheetos. I'd link you to a video, but it's not out yet, so here's &qu

So, some backstory on this, because I'm really not a Lucille Ball fan. I know, that's nearly blasphemous. I appreciate her and I think she was a groundbreaking comedienne, but I just never grew up on her like some people did. All that aside, I'd definitely say I can enjoy her work.  This is like my face, right? I had this dream last week that I did a "100 Women of Comedy" series for the blog. When I woke up, I actually had a list pretty well-formulated, trying to determine where to put Margaret Cho, Amy Schumer, Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Gilda Radner, etc. I thought about this for a while - it's weird, I never get inspiration from my dreams, but now I've been getting a LOT of ideas from my dreams, thx subconscious - and I was like, "Well, I guess I can give it a shot." Then, I saw today was Lucille Ball's birthday, so what the hey, you know. The universe can be pretty persistent with its poking. Anyway, Lucille "I Love Lucy&

So there has been a new Beach House album for approximately a month, and the Useless Critic has not released statements on it. That is now about to change. So, "Sparks." It's pretty fuzzy and lo-fi-esque. Not that Beach House isn't known for being somewhat that way, but this seems like a step up from where they have previously been. It certainly has some shoegaze elements as well. I think it's a natural progression from 2012's "Bloom."  Halfway through the song, it seems to pick up and find its footing. At first, it's not the easiest song to warm up to. But, still. It left me curious as to what "Depression Cherry" (such an appropriate title!) will sound like. In short: Less dreampop, more shoegaze/lo-fi. Not a stunner, but something of a grower. Yay "Depression Cherry." Sounds like a Popsicle flavor.