The Useless Critic 2.0

Unexpected but nonetheless great, extremely underrated synthpop musician Class Actress has been gradually releasing music off her EP, "Sense Memory," this year. First came some pretty solid covers - The Smiths, Mazzy Star, and her EXCELLENT reimagining of "The Hills" by The Weeknd - and then some original songs followed.  "Airwaves" was an interesting, atmospheric, trippy track - not super similar to past efforts, but close enough that it wasn't a total detour from her earlier discography - but "Saint Patrick," her latest, is the desperate, frantic, sexy  longing I've come to love in a Class Actress song.  Take some time before the weekend completely disappears to check out this specific song: Also, I would like to call out how on point Elizabeth Harper's vocals are in "Saint Patrick." Her voice has only improved in the past decade. I'm not sure what Class Actress's future music plans are as of this moment, but I hop...

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 ...

here is something that is weird and certainly doesn't happen every day: Hungarian (!!!) indie band the Moog will be playing Erie TOMORROW night at the new place on State Street, the Crooked I, which seems like a very interesting place to me. I investigated on their Myspace and they appear to be rather big fans of the Smiths. but then again so is AFI. anyway, tickets are 3 dollars and the show begins at 8 and I would like to investigate them, because they're pretty catchy and the lead singer's voice is not bad. here you go: I personally prefer this song: I'm just astonished there's a Hungarian music scene. ignorant of me, I know. the Dandy Warhols came up in related...another good sign?

WHY DO I NOT LIVE IN A MAJOR CITY: 1. A Story of Boy Meets Girl – Mychael Danna and Rob Simonsen 2. Us – Regina Spektor 3. There Is A Light That Never Goes Out – The Smiths 4. Bad Kids – Black Lips 5. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want – The Smiths (best Smiths song, no?) 6. There Goes The Fear – Doves 7. You Make My Dreams – Hall & Oates (!!!) 8. Sweet Disposition – The Temper Trap 9. Quelqu’un M’a Dit – Carla Bruni http://www.sendspace.com/file/n2pms8 10. Mushaboom – Feist 11. Hero – Regina Spektor 12. Bookends – Simon & Garfunkel 13. Vagabond – Wolfmother 14. She’s Got You High – Mumm-Ra 15. Here Comes Your Man – Meaghan Smith 16. Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want – She & Him this couldn't have been any better if Zach Braff himself put it together. happy belated Bastille Day! happy Mandela Day! p.s...NEXT POST: INTERVIEW WITH THEORETICAL GIRL