It's bad enough I broke my fifth pair of headphones this year, but it's a whole other kind of torture when so many things have sucked in music news this week. Canceled shows top the list, but lazy music videos and sheer WTF? moments also demand attention.
1) Phantogram [12] cancels their trip to Albany, NY
It came this morning when after I woke to check my morning Twitter updates, and at the top was a tweet from @Phantogram [13], saying: "ummmm... the albany show is canceled." News of Phantogram's alleged concert at Albany gave me such high hopes since Phantogram is steadily getting more hype and praise internationally--but then, like what often happens to CNY concerts, the artist bails out somehow. It's happened before and it'll happen again, like when Passion Pit [14] and Handsome Furs [15] dropped out of performing at the Wescott last semester. Are we cursed?
2) Dan Deacon [16] cancels his entire tour
Ithaca College caught a big fish when they snagged Dan Deacon to perform last Sunday, and Syracuse University felt the excitement too, but then the shocking happened--Dan Deacon canceled his entire tour days before the concert due to sever back problems [17]. If you've got a bad back, you've got a bad back--that's no fault on Dan Deacon, and we know he's pissed, because he ranted about it on Facebook [18] and Twitter [19]. It just sucks finding out right when Dan Deacon fans were mentally preparing for an epic concert. Major letdown.
3) Passion Pit flubs "Little Secrets" music video [20]
In my opinion, "Little Secrets" is the best track on Passion Pit's famed Manners, and their debut video for "The Reeling" [21] was artsy, hipster and fun to watch. That said, I was super excited to see what kind of video Passion Pit could rock for "Little Secrets," the high-powered pop bomb of the album. Turns out, it falls flat on it's face. Basically, it illustrates some random guy trapped in a crystal spaceship shooting through space like a comet---an indiscrete homage to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Not only is the band nowhere to be found, nothing happens in the video. It's just this guy staring out into space as the crystal spaceship rockets past green and yellow nebulas. It takes only three words to describe this video: lame, stupid and lazy.
4) Lady Gaga goes Anti-Gaga for Beyonce in new video, "Video Phone" [22]
I'm a Lady Gaga fan, you could say--understatement of the week. That said, I was excited to see the next cultural gem Gaga would drop on us after her legendary "Bad Romance" [23] music video for her new album coming out, The Fame Monster. The combination of Beyonce and Gaga had me skipping to class in the morning, but then something was amiss when I started watching the video. I couldn't find Lady Gaga, except for this skinny short blonde girl with big awkward nose dancing next to Beyonce. Yup, that was Lady Gaga, and she decided to drab down out of respect for Beyonce. I don't like the move because Lady Gaga has a gold mine image, and she needs to remain consistent. Also, I think the decision reflects really badly on Beyonce. If Gaga were dancing in her crazy makeup and outfits like in "Bad Romance," people would be thinking where's Beyonce?
5) Bob Dylan finally loses it
Long ago, I told myself I would never see Bob Dylan perform live. That's because I want to remember Bob Dylan for his great music in the 60s and 70s, and I don't want the sights and sounds of him playing polka in a cowboy hat ruining that. With the release of his new polka music video for "Must Be Santa," my worst nightmares have returned to haunt me once again. There's not much to say than to stare and watch what Bob Dylan has become. R.I.P., Mr. Zimmerman.
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