MaestroBlog Update

Another month. Another 16 posts. Another MaestroBlog update!!

So January began 2014, which I have to say, is already shaping up to be MUCH better than 2013. I honestly could not be more excited. But anyway, let me give you what you came here for!

This month, MaestroBlog received 644 views, bringing the grand total to 9748! I'm now only 252 views away from reaching 10,000!! My views-per-post average is now 35.4, which for the first time, is the exact same number as last month. Pretty interesting, seeing as how the view increase was right in line with last month, and so were the number of posts. Maybe I'm just good at being consistent now? 

Well besides that, I'm excited that I was able to start songwriting! Even though I haven't updated you on that in awhile, I'll have you know that I do continue to write, but not as much since I now have eight classes to keep up with and 17 credits. Not easy for a music major, especially with a blog to keep up with! But I'll always post new stuff here, don't worry a bit! I still have to continue "Good...Songs", and I know just who my next topic will be!

Any other ideas you can always send to me! As of right now, I'm content with how things are going and I think I'll keep doing what I'm doing for awhile now. Oh, and it might be time to update the background... :)

I'll end this monthly update with new confirmed music releases!!
Shakira's new album, "Shakira", will be released March 25!
Sarah McLachlan's new album, "Shine On", will be released May 6!
Kylie Minogue's new album, "Kiss Me Once", will be released March 18!
Lea Michele's debut album, "Louder", will be released March 4!
Miranda Lambert's new album will be released in late 2014!

Get excited. Get VERY excited! And as always, thank for very much for reading!

Lily Allen-"Alright, Still" Review

Nobody likes a loud mouth, but that axiom just doesn't apply to Lily Allen, Britain's latest it-girl who comes to the rest of the world as a rare thing in 2006. Sure, she talks of getting back at her ex-boyfriend in her breakout hit "Smile". Yes, she often alludes to the ridiculous expectations of women in today's society in "Everything's Just Wonderful". And of course, when your demeanor is as naughty as Allen's, she can't help but take a few swipes at her family members, her hometown, and the sleazeballs who dare to pick her up at a pub using cheesy pick-up lines and lame innuendo. It's all nasty banter, but the thing is, it's fun, nasty banter that all resides in a ska-pop setting and is delivered in a bright, shiny package. Throughout "Alright, Still", Lily Allen never sounds like she's taking things too seriously, which only gives her jabs an extra punch. And let's face it, who doesn't think that it's hilarious hearing (and watching in music videos) a seemingly normal girl with a super-sized attitude taking the piss out of the dull seriousness of the pop landscape in 2006? She achieves this right out of the gate in "Alright, Still" with the marvelous open triad of "Smile", "Knock 'Em Out", and "LDN", all of which are obvious single choices with their frothy sense of humor and ironic match of stark lyrics and sunny music. This fusion is as entertaining as it seems, at least, throughout the opening set of songs anyway. The unfortunate side effect of such a high-strung sequence is that things have to come down eventually, and this is nowhere more apparent than in tracks seven through ten, from "Shame for You" to "Friend of Mine". These are all claustrophobic, mechanical songs that still retain Allen's brashness, but now they rely solely on her attitude alone, not the vivacious energy she brought on in the beginning of the record. That's not like saying that this stretch isn't worth listening to, but the experience of listening to them is quite dour when the lyrics seemed contrived, rather than a stream-of-conscious rant. It's not until the final two songs, "Alife" and "Nan You're a Window Shopper" when "Alright, Still" recovers. Swipes at her brother and grandmother respectively, Lily Allen manages to once again brighten things up with even more hysterical insults than before ("I'm just trying to help you out, so would you stop being a twat?"). It's telling that her attack on her personal relationships stand out as the best tracks here, because whenever she tries to broaden the scope and act out a character unrelated to herself, she falls flat. Also in need of attention is the glaring fact that the odds and ends of this record are its strength, which ultimately makes it worth a listen, but this whole confection doesn't have a thick, meaty center. It's mostly due to the aforementioned dead spot in the middle of the album, but what "Alright, Still" proves is that it lives up to its title: we now know that Lily Allen is a cynical brat at heart who won't offer any apologies (and she's all the better for it), but still, what does she have to say beyond this one persona? She can't quite handle a sincere ballad yet, and any attempts at documenting a relationship gone right are undermined by her determination to amplify every annoying part of her personality. True, it's this very personality that fuels her best music, but it also presents her at her worst, which turns "Alright, Still" into something actually quite common: a debut album. There's no doubt that songs like "Smile" and "LDN" are some of the best pop songs released in recent memory, but as a whole, this record doesn't escape the pitfalls of a debut. It has a handful of really great singles, a couple not-good-at-all ballads, and then there's just a bunch of other stuff thrown in to fill out a record's playing time. That's not the absolute best way to start a career, especially from an artist as bull-headed as Allen, but also consider this: out of the many new faces to arrive in the mid-2000s, they all may have a good single to make a one-hit wonder, but Lily Allen has made an album that leaves a long-lasting impression, and it suggests that she could strengthen her weaknesses, and hit even harder the next time out.

Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. Smile                                              2. Knock ‘Em Out   3. LDN

4. Everything’s Just Wonderful       5. Not Big                   6. Friday Night

7. Shame for You                   8. Littlest Things        9. Take What You Take

10. Friend of Mine                 11. Alfie          12. Nan You’re a Window Shopper

2014 Grammys-Who Should Win

Well it's once again time for music's biggest night! The performances, the awards, the endless Twitter chatter! Yup, it's the Grammys alright, and before they air tonight, I thought I'd stop by and cast my vote for who should win in their respective categories!

Record of the Year-"Get Lucky" by Daft Punk and Pharrell
Bruno Mars desperately tried to go retro, but Daft Punk actually achieved it, and the result is stunning. Pharrell adds a nice modern flare to an otherwise indelible slice of late-70s disco.

Song of the Year-"Royals" by Lorde
This was a tough one. I do agree that Macklemore & Ryan Lewis did an excellent job in writing "Same Love", but Lorde just has a unique way with words that elevate "Royals" above the rest of the nominees.

Best New Artist-Kacey Musgraves
She's not nearly as popular as the rest of the nominees, but she sure as hell makes better music than they do. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis obviously take a close second, but they didn't blow me away quite like Kacey Musgraves did.

Album of the Year-"Random Access Memories" by Daft Punk
There's just no competition here. Daft Punk are dope, fly, game-changers, you name it. "Random Access Memories" blends sentimentality with modern trends to create a thoroughly cohesive and entertaining modern pop record.

Now for the rest of the categories!

Best Pop Solo Performance-"Royals" by Lorde
Once again, her unique songwriting and idiosyncratic voice make this song a standout. Bruno Mars does a nice job in "When I Was Your Man", emoting far more than I expected, but he just lacks the flat-out weirdness of Lorde that makes her so special.

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance-"Get Lucky" by Daft Punk and Pharrell
Daft Punk+Pharrell+Nile Rogers=AMAZING song. Easily the best and most well-produced song out of the nominees, although Rihanna and Mikky Ekko also captured my attention with "Stay", enough to give it an honorable mention.

Best Pop/Vocal Album-"Pure Heroine" by Lorde
Pfft, "The 20/20 Experience" may have sold the most copies in 2013, but it wasn't as good as it was hyped up to be; "Pure Heroine", on the other hand, defied expectations and was by far one of the best albums of last year. All coming from a 17-year old? Yeah, sure deserves this one.

Best Dance Recording-"Clarity" by Zedd and Foxes
It was the most popular song out of the nominees this year, and it's simply the best. Kaskade also amazes in "Atmosphere", but he lacks the vocal prowess of Foxes and the hard-hitting prodcution of Zedd.

Best Dance/Electronica Album-"Random Access Memories" by Daft Punk
Enough said.

Best Alternative Music Album-"Hesitation Marks" by Nine Inch Nails
NIN makes a satisfying comeback with a dancefloor ready set of songs about an attempted suicide. Only Trent Reznor could make it all happen.

Best Rap Peformance-"Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Wanz
This song ushered in 2013 and stayed at the top of the pack for the rest of the year. And come on, it's just fucking awesome, as Macklemore would say!

Best Rap Album-"The Heist" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
No gimmicks, no foul imagery, no pretending to be better than they are, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis made a rare thing: an alluring, progressive, all-encompassing rap album.

Best Country Song-"Merry Go Round" by Kacey Musgraves
This is the song that introduced most to this wise and cunning artist, and it very well deserves the recognition for putting Kacey on the map. It's also very good, too.

Best Country Album-"Same Trailer Different Park" by Kacey Musgraves
This award will obviously go to Taylor Swift, but Kacey Musgraves actually deserves this award, because "Same Trailer" was by far one of the best country albums to be released in 2013, both quality and popularity wise.

Best Music Video-"Can't Hold Us" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Ray Dalton
This song was no doubt a smash, and it was accompanied with an epic music video to further its success.

Since there are 82 total awards, I can't go through them all, but these are the ones that I care the most about. As always, you can let me know who you want to win!

t.A.T.u-"Waste Management" Review

By now, all the artists who rode on the new-wave of teen pop at the turn of the century have either faded into obscurity (Michelle Branch, Mandy Moore) or successfully freed themselves from their shackles and evolved into bona-fied superstars (Britney, XTina, Justin). So where does that put t.A.T.u? Granted, they arrived at the tail-end of the teen-pop boom, but they were still as frivolous as anything else provided by the genre, so they more than qualify. Well, they eventually dumped their management which allowed their second album, 2005’s “Dangerous and Moving”, to become more ‘real’ than their debut, but their misstep came when also dumping the image of two lesbian school girls and instead just became ordinary working musicians. And let’s face it, would t.A.T.u even exist if it wasn’t for that sapphic gimmick? Well their audience didn’t think so, and “Dangerous and Moving” sold a fifth of their previous release. When faced with such a disappointment, why put out another record? Especially now that they’re literally all-grown up, they certainly can’t get brownie points for being cute anymore. Well, Julia and Lena approached their third album, “Waste Management”, pretty much the same way they approached their last album: they once again opted to work with different collaborators, they continued to improve their diction and singing voices, and while “Dangerous and Moving” was heavy on guitars and strings, this record strips all of that away, pushing the electronic quotient and taking their graceless lyrics to the dance floor. This would seemingly just make a slicker, sleeker re-make of “Dangerous and Moving”, but this time, there’s one key difference. Unlike that album, “Waste Management” dumps Trevor Horn and Martin Kierszenbaum, the two hit-makers behind “Not Gonna Get Us” and “All The Things She Said”, and instead works with Vanya Kilar, who helms five of the eleven tracks here. Also around is T.A. music and Billy Steinberg, who worked with The Veronicas in the mid-2000s. This was a wise decision, because now that Julia and Lena are fully free from the trappings on their debut, their new production team crafts songs that actually fit their voices, never straying too high or too low and always wringing power out of their slight, but now capable, vocals. Musically, this isn’t much of a departure from “Dangerous and Moving”—the dance tracks still tend to be clinical and just like last time, we have plenty of dramatics on the surface that ultimately don’t lead up to any sort of thrilling climax—but it’s also a welcome change of pace from the dogged seriousness of proving t.A.T.u to be a serious band. Of course it isn’t, it will always be a creature of pop culture, bolstered to fame through images rather than sound quality. “Waste Management” cultivates the best aspects of the band, and while it continues to remake “Not Gonna Get Us”—last time we had “All About Us”, now we have the sound-alike “You and I”—and promptly re-hashes it to diminished returns throughout the record, it’s also the first time that this band has had any remote sense of fun.

Recommended Tracks in Bold:

1. White Robe                    2. You and I            3. Sparks

4. Snowfalls                          5. Martian Eyes        6. Little People

7. Waste Management        8. Running Blind     9. Fly on the Wall

10. Time of the Moon         11. Don’t Regret

t.A.T.u-"Dangerous and Moving" Review

Since 2005 was the year where everyone was making a comeback (Fiona Apple, Mariah, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, to name a few), why not mark the return of t.A.T.u, a media sensation circa 2002? The image of two Russian lesbian school girls served them well, as “200 km/h in the Wrong Lane” sold six million copies and turned Julia and Lena into superstars. However, this was also the very same problem that led the girls to dump their old manager, especially when the world took notice that Julia had a child, so it not only ruined their bread-winning image, but it also signaled that the girls were growing up. And who likes two regular grown-up girls facing adult responsibilities? Certainly not this group, so they decided to somewhat hold on to the bi-curiosity that was woven into their debut, while expanding their sound to incorporate less Eurotrash, more precise English, and less of the cold dance-pop and more warm ballads dedicated to companionship. Julia and Lena, or rather their production team, make the right moves, hiring Sting to play bass and Richard Carpenter to supply a string arrangement for the lovely “Gomenasai”. It’s telling that the ballads wind up as the highlights here, because the dance tracks are plain and shallow, even more so than their last record. This, is turn, makes this whole enterprise less enjoyable than that album, especially when compounded with the girls’ determination to have absolutely no fun what-so-ever. The problem with an album like “Dangerous and Moving”, being neither dangerous nor moving in any sense, is that it too heavily relies on drama, nowhere more evident than in the first single “All About Us”, which crashes in with thudding eighth notes and deliberately strained vocal delivery with each passing second. No matter how dramatic the surface, underneath it all are just two cute girls who have improved voices (not being altered by processors helps) but also take their talents for granted, pushing higher and higher as the record wears on—this comes into sharp relief in “Sacrifice”, when it’s decided that the girls simply cannot sing at that register anymore. “Dangerous and Moving” would like you to believe that t.A.T.u is an important, ambitious band that is at the head of Europop, but it often tires rather than inspires. Maybe if they would’ve just stuck with the gimmick, or better yet, just stuck with being faceless and happily empty dance artists, then maybe they could’ve gotten away with it. But since this album is a bold testament to the girls’ talents and their producers’ studio magic, it winds up as a middle-brow mix of derivative schmaltz and, every once in a while, a couple good songs.

Recommended Tracks in Bold:

1. Intro                       2. All About Us                  3. Cosmos (Outer Space)

4. Loves Me Not     5. Friend or Foe                   6. Gomenasai

7. Craving                  8. Sacrifice                            9. We Shout

10. Perfect Enemy   11. Obez’yanka Nol              12. Dangerous and Moving

t.A.T.u-"200 Km/H in the Wrong Lane" Review

What’s not to like about this band? They’re two impossibly cute, Russian lesbian school-girls who have girlish voices and cute Europop to match. Well, at least that’s how their Svengali manager packages them anyway. Well before this album’s official release, t.A.T.u became a somewhat inescapable worldwide phenomenon late-2002, making headlines not just with the gimmick of lesbianism, but the fact that everyone involved was so earnest in making sure everyone knew who this band was. This publicity push helped get the singles on the radio, most notably “All The Things She Said”, accompanied with a video that milks band members Lena and Julia for all their cuteness and innocence—so much so it borders on being creepy. However, cute images don’t make good records, and all that chatter surrounding the image of this band no doubt takes precedence over the music. And that’s too bad, because there are actually plenty of good songs here. To start, we have the best track, the insistent “Not Gonna Get Us”, and this leads us into “All The Things She Said”, which is suggestive enough on its own without the wet school-girl image to accompany it. We then delve into two ballads, the stunning “Show Me Love” (no doubt an anthem for the LGBT community come next year) and “30 Minutes”, which makes the most out of the listless vocals of the girls. Predictably, “How Soon Is Now?” makes an appearance, executed in the same pop- heavy style that you’d expect from producer Martin Kierzszenbaum. Past this, we have one more song worthy of attention, the surprisingly progressive “Malchik Gay”, which blends acoustic guitar with Pro-Tools and some thick dance beats for good measure. After, we encounter one final ballad “Stars”, and then the last three songs are simply Russian remixes of the beginning tracks, as well as the pretty good remix of “Show Me Love”. This last stretch of the record isn’t necessary in the slightest, and its only purpose is to fill out the disc’s running time, but all things considered, this is a sort of beguiling debut that is much better than t.A.T.u’s gauche gimmick led us to believe. It certainly has its setbacks—Julia and Lena might have cute voices, but when fed through the computer are flattened, piercing, and chipped—but as a whole, it’s an easy to enjoy set of hollow Europop. Since the only thing that “200 km/h in the Wrong Lane” tries to achieve is the gimmick of two lesbian Russian school girls, is there really anything else this album needs to be successful?

Recommended Tracks in Bold:

1. Not Gonna Get Us        2. All The Things She Said             3. Show Me Love

4. 30 Minutes                       5. How Soon is Now?                  6. Clowns

7. Malchik Gay                  8. Stars                                              9. Ya Soshla S Uma

10. NaS Ne Dagoniat           11. Show Me Love (Extended Remix)

Will They Ever Release New Music?

Some artists just have a hard time staying afloat. Either they drown in the sheer volume of their success, or they scored a few big hits, made a couple albums, and then fell by the wayside as new artists started to make headway. Then there's those pesky record labels, often times an artist has a certain vision that doesn't fit what their label wants, so this results in a conflict that can take years to resolve. Today, I bring before you a handful of artists that have been absent from the music scene a little too long (if you ask me, anyway). They've promised new music is on the way, yet have not made good on it yet. This is most likely no fault of their own (or they're just taking their sweet ass time), but still, the question remains: will these artists ever release new music?


1. JoJo
Popular: 2004-2006
Last Album Released: "The High Road" (2006)
Last Hit Single: "Too Little Too Late" (2006)
If you can remember her, JoJo was the young starlet who broke out with "Leave (Get Out)" when she was only 13 years old. From that point, she became a palpable presence on the radio, and she starred in movies such as "Aquamarine" and "RV". After "Too Little Too Late" subsided sometime in 2007, fans were anxious to see where she was headed next. Well, that hope soon turned into wishful thinking, as JoJo began a monstrous feud with her label Blackground Entertainment, mostly on the direction for her new album. She couldn't even release another single until 2011's "Disaster". It was enough to get the ball rolling, and JoJo appeared in a face wash ad soon after, but it wasn't enough to actually get another record in stores. Ever since, she has scrapped the album she was working on for over five years and has also split from her label. She promised new music was coming sometime in 2013, but it never came to pass.

2. Michelle Branch
Popular: 2001-2004
Last Album Released: "Hotel Paper" (2003)
Last Hit Single: "Breathe" (2004)
Surely you must remember the young teenager who brought you such hits as "Everywhere" and "All You Wanted". Her unique blend of singer-songwriter and pop/rock music made her a favorite with critics and the public. She was able to follow up this success with "Hotel Paper" in 2003, though its singles didn't hit as hard as her previous album. She was featured on her second Santana collaboration, "Feeling You", soon after, and then she formed a country duo with friend Jessica Harp in 2006. Known as The Wreckers, they released on album in 2006, it launched a couple singles, but soon subsided. Since then, it's as if Michelle Branch has disappeared, as The Wreckers disbanded and she has yet to release another full-length record. She too was able to release a minor hit in 2010, "Loud Music", but it didn't generate enough buzz to mark a comeback. She also promised a new record in 2013, known as "West Coast Time", and she promised a return to pop/rock, but for reasons unknown, that record hasn't made it to press.

3. Enya
Popular: 1988-2008
Last Album Released: "And Winter Came" (2008)
Last Hit Single: "Only Time" (2001)
Ah yes, the mastress of contemporary feel-good music. Now, Enya is notorious for extended gaps between albums, however, those gaps have never exceeded five years. Now that it's 2014, a full six years have elapsed since her last record, which is kind of worrisome. Like Michelle, Enya has been very quiet lately, having her management drop the hint of a new album sometime in 2010, but has since given no update on any new music what-so-ever. I think it's because I adore her music so much, that I am on the edge of my seat for when she finally does drop a new album. I mean really, no one makes music as good as she does.

4. Missy Elliot
Popular: 1997-2005
Last Album Released: "The Cookbook" (2005)
Last Hit Single: "Lose Control" (2005)
Yeah that's right, I like me some Missy Elliot, the hip-hop heavyweight that broke barriers in the late-90s. She and Timbaland produced several well-sound, well-written, and well-organized records that all went platinum in the US, and she released some ground-breaking music videos and singles. Her career was on fire until the mid-2000s, when "The Cookbook" eventually cooled down, and she was struck with the misfortune of Graves disease. Due to this, she took some time off from music to focus on her health. However, in 2011 she started to start the talk of a new record, called "Block Party". She talked about it for while actually, until 2013, then she disappeared like the rest of the artists I've mentioned. Neither she nor her management have given any tips of a new album, so we're left to wonder if it will ever materialize.

5. Shania Twain
Popular: 1995-2003
Last Album Released: "Up!" (2002)
Last Hit Single: "Forever and For Always" (2003)
Ahhhhhhhh!! I love this woman! Say what you want about her, but I think she's the bomb-diggity! And in all honesty, it's been waaaaay too damn long since she's released an album of new material, it's time for her to return with the big, country-pop that she made ubiquitous in the late-90s. She did once talk about setting up a new record, but that was all the way back in 2008 or so. Nobody in her team has commented on the possibility of a new album since July 2013, and Shania has been an obscure figure in pop culture since her greatest hits compilation in 2004. I mean, she can always come back with new music, No Doubt waited 11 years to drop another album and it was actually quite good! Please come back Shania!


Well, that's all for today, feel free to let me the know the artist you want to make a come back!