Current Listening: “Half of My Heart” by John Mayer ft. Taylor Swift

Happy December 1st!!  I can’t believe I’ve survived until the last month of 2009.  Typically once I get to this point I feel like the year has flown by, but this past year seemed to drag on forever.  It’s not necessarily a bad thing, I just had so much going on.

The amazing thing about brand new years are that you get to start over!  Every beginning is a chance to sort of reinvent yourself, which is pretty thrilling.  Of course reinvention is something you can do anytime if you’re willing to, but it’s nice when the universe hands you the opportunity.

2010 is looking very promising so far.  There is so much I want to do!  My plans so far?  I’m going to see John Mayer and Michael Franti in concert on March 5th, which I’m insanely excited about!  I’ve been to some amazing concerts, but I have a feeling John Mayer will top my list.  I turn 22 on June 18th, which also happens to be the day Toy Story 3 comes out so… definitely going to the movies at some point that day.  And honestly, what’s a better way to spend your 22nd birthday than by seeing a kids movie?? 

*** Random Story/Fact of the Day: On my drive to campus this morning, I played “From This Moment On” by Shaniah Twain.  I blasted it, sang my heart out, and walked to class feeling incredibly satisfied.  Shhhh, don’t tell anyone how much I love to sing. ***

In sad news, I’m quite ill at the moment.  I bought a box of tissue yesterday and I’m pretty much all the way through it already.  My throat is killing me, but I think I’m about to spray some of that throat stuff in there.  You know… the stuff that makes your throat numb for a while?  That crazy stuff works everytime.

However, I haven’t been letting my stupid cold keep me from going out and doing my thing!  Today I got up extra early and went shopping before class.  Then after class I hit up Aspen, thrift stores, and the chocolate factory with Brad (also known as Ferrrrrd).  And to end my day, I had a sushi dinner with Kara and Jenny and Nagoya and it was incredibly yummy!  Which reminds me… I’m not sure exactly what I’ve done to deserve such sweet people in my life, but I am forever grateful for them.  Everytime I run into someone who isn’t very nice to me, it makes me appreciate kindness a little more.  Rude people sort of remind me that no one HAS TO be nice to you.  People are polite and loving and accepting and thoughtful because they choose to be.  And that is just such a blessing to me.  I’m lucky to know people with such big hearts.

There’s nothing like a little gratitude to end the day, right?  It’s bed time, babies.  Peace, love, and soul, ya’ll! <3

It’s been an eerily quiet couple of months here at MayerMuse; filled with anxious anticipation awaiting the official release of John Mayer’s newest studio CD, Battle Studies.  The three-year wait since Continuum was worth it after all, whether a strategic move on John’s part or not.  Battle Studies leaves no doubt about John Mayer’s talent; there are no limits to what he is capable of achieving. 

Within a few days after the new album’s release date, Billboard (http://tinyurl.com/yk57zw9) officially announced Battle Studies as the number one Rock Album in the United States, number one on the Digital Albums chart, ditto on the Billboard 200.  Half of My Heart w/Taylor Swift is the most-downloaded track on Battle Studies.  On the iTunes charts, as of this writing, both album versions of Battle Studies are in the top 15 most downloaded albums while Half of My Heart and Who Says are in the top 100 most downloaded songs.

Battle Studies is genius, simply genius…  If my read of the album is close at all, Battle Studies is John Mayer’s return to John Mayer, pulling from his roots and taking control.  Early indications leave no doubt for me, he’s fully back in charge.  Battle Studies gives fans the best of John Mayer…. edgy, powerful, heartfelt and soulful replete with his already amazing songwriting and Guitar-god playing talent.  Not only has he won the battle; he’s won the war.

Now on his Battle Studies tour (2009-2010), John has many sold-out dates including his John Mayer Trio (3rd) Annual Holiday Revue stop in San Diego, CA on 12/29.  The new year takes John to Great Britain for the month of January, returning to his US and Canada dates in February, 2010.  For more info on the tour schedule and purchasing tickets, visit http://www.johnmayer.com/tour.

2nd Annual Interfaith Baking Contest

Yes, John is bringing his Annual Interfaith Baking Contest back for the 2nd year!  His announcement of the event’s return was recently made via Twitter: @johncmayer: The 2nd Annual Interfaith Baking Contest is soon to return!! Preheat your ovens! 7:51 PM Nov 26th from Twittelator.  Last year’s winners each received a JM Stratocaster guitar from John for their efforts and awesome holiday entries, so be sure to watch for more details on this year’s event! 

John’s ‘Live on Letterman’ Concert

If you missed John Mayer’s Live on Letterman concert on 11/19/2009, you can view the full show below.  A must see!

That’s all for today’s update, but there’s more on John Mayer, Battle Studies and his current tour! We’ll be back tomorrow!

I watch people get reeled into believing “beefs” or insults based on album sales. They quickly state how such-and-such’s album sales are not doing so great but, if you ask them what is great? They reply with some million dollar figure from an early 90’s artist. It is 2009, soon to be 2010, a year with a major car manufacturer getting a bail-out from the government, and records highs being made in unemployment. People are not buying like they used to. People are listening, downloading, and burning but, not buying. A number one position (like the blogs:

Music Industry So Weak You Only Need To Sell 83,000 To Be No. 1 &

Billboard’s Number One Is Not So Fabolous Anymore) show that for a chart-topping, talented artist to jump over 100,000 records sold the first week is a lot nowadays. There is cap to everything that gets commercialized. Music hit its peak when it became about the record label’s product more than the love of the art. It’s the only way for art to get it’s purity (or as close to it as possible) back again. The illegal download rape of album sales and financial struggles of the economy make everyone jump ship that are not completely committed to the music. Just like the captain of a ship, the true lovers of music will not jump while the money and fame chasers already have on life jackets. Those that were placed on this earth to do music because they can’t help but sing a song playing on the speakers at Walgreen’s, bang on everything with a pencil, whistle a tune during rush hour, or sweat in a recording booth can’t help but to do music. It’s like a dancer not twirling on her toes because it’s not a money maker. She does it out of natural instinct.

Times have changed. In one way, great for consumers while in others, horrible for the manufactured gimmicks. It’s back to the show…the genuine show. Before it was all about album sales, it was about longevity of people wanting to see a musician or artist perform sincerely on stage.

History repeats itself. It’s up to you to humble yourself enough to be a part of the high of it when it comes back around…

My grandmother loves this guy. He is one jazzy guy. He didn’t spin around because it would make a dollar…he just couldn’t help but to spin.

source: The Billboard 200, powered by Nielsen SoundScan

One of the most curious features of popular music is how a song can become overwhelmingly popular despite nearly indecipherable lyrics. Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” catapulted the band to world-wide success and launched an entire sub-genre of music (grunge) despite the fact that no one who listened to it only 5 or 6 times could accurately relay all of the song’s lyrics. To this day, even having looked them up, I still don’t know all the words to that particular song, and every time I find them on-line, I am more confused then I was when I was mindlessly bobbing my head along to the d-tuned rock music. Another find example is the song “Tubthumping” by one-hit wonder Chumbawamba. It caught on like wildfire and was featured as the theme song for the World Cup ‘98 video game. At its height, the song was ubiquitous, though all I ever personally got from it (other than the chorus, which had something to do with perseverance) was about drinking, drinks, and “pissing the night away”- which might have been the greatest use of backing vocals in the last 2 decades. The jury’s still out.

There are countless examples just like these, but what fascinates me more are songs with clear vocals which are easily understood by most listeners, but are still misunderstood. It might be due to the tone of the song, or the chorus (which provides a sentiment not quite in-step with the rest of the song), or that people emphasize only certain parts of the song and do not take it in as a whole. Here are a few examples:

1. “Every Breath You Take” by the Police. I remember seeing a VH1 special about 80’s music and many of the commentators remembered that an unreal amount of people back then used this as a wedding song. The pace and tone of the song certainly makes it feel like a ballad, or love song, so I suppose I can understand the sentiment since the key lines are “Every step you take, I’ll be watching you.” Taken out of context, I guess the line implies a deep intimacy. Which would work, if the rest of the song wasn’t a clear description of an obsessed stalker. They key to the song is the pre-chorus, which clearly explains that the speaker is not currently involved with the object of his desire, “Oh, can’t you see- you belong to me. How my poor heart aches with every step you take,” and the money shot “Since you’ve gone I’ve been lost without a trace. I dream at night I can only see your face. I look around but it’s you I can’t replace. I feel so cold and I long for your embrace. I keep crying ‘baby, baby, please…’.” Not so intimate now, is it? It actually set the foundation for the Killers songs “Mr. Brightside,” and “Everything Will Be Alright,” two other songs about stalking that disguise themselves with catchy guitar work (Brightside) and cool synthesizers (Everything). I know one thing, if this is the song I’m dancing to at my wedding, then my marriage is in trouble.

The Police are pretty old. But if they’ve kept their word, then they’re still watching you.

2. “To Be With You” by Mr. Big. This song is right up there with Extreme’s “More Than Words” in terms of sing-along 90’s power ballads. It possesses all of the best, more clichéd features of the genre- ringing acoustic guitars, soaring vocals, powerful backing vocals, and a simple, obvious, and easily memorized chorus. In that light, it’s almost perfect. Even the black-and-white video screamed “sensitive.” Lynnette and I heard this song over the weekend and we had a conversation. We came to two conclusions about it: 1) It was written by a 7th grader, and 2) the woman being spoken to in the song is a whore. It was Lynnette’s contention due to the sexual implications and overall simplicity of the song. She notes the lyric “deep inside I hope you feel it, too.” Given the context of the lyric, it’s implied that the antecedent of “it” is “the idea that he wants to be with her.” But that’s impossible. She can’t feel his feeling. As a result, Lynnette has come to the conclusion that the antecedent of “it” is his penis. It’s possible, but I think this speaks more to Lynnette’s mind than the song itself. While I have reservations about her argument, she’s probably right about the rudimentary lyrics. There isn’t one high-minded thought in this entire song. It’s basic in the most basic sense. It does not imply imagery or metaphor, it’s straight-forward. Simple. One might think that it’s impossible to misunderstand this song, and I suppose that’s true, but there is something egregiously overlooked- the fact that the woman is loose (probably literally and definitely figuratively). The crux of the song features the speaker’s attempt to win the girl over by saying that he’ll treat her better than the lovers she’s had before. The first hint of the girl’s promiscuity can be found in the last two lines of the chorus, “Waited on a line of greens and blues (still have no idea what that really means) just to be the next to be with you.” As romantic as that sounds initially, the single word “next” implies that the girl has been with at least one other guy, but probably more since the clincher is the word “line” a line before that clearly illustrates the queue of men anxiously awaiting their turn at this girl. The first two lines of the second verse cement this truth, “Build up your confidence so you can be on top for once.” The prepositional phrase “for once” alludes to the fact that this is the latest in a series of heartbreaks for the girl (object) in the song. You’d never describe something happening “for once” if said situation only occurred a handful of times. You’d only make that designation in the description of a trend. She’s had a lot of lovers. Mr. Big wants to be with a whore. At some point, I’m sure she’ll “feel it deep inside.” That’s how she rolls.

So… did they name the band after their penises? Or their hair?

3. “Daughters” by John Mayer. First of all, the title is misleading. The song pretends to be about women, but it’s really about their fathers. The first verse plays at this deception, “I know a girl, she puts the color inside of my world. But she’s like a maze where all of the walls continually change… now I’m beginning to see maybe it’s got nothing to do with me.” The first part of this excerpt makes two things clear: the speaker is in love and the person he is in love with is messed up, or at the very least, he can’t figure her out. The second part is the transition in which the speaker concedes that he might not have anything to do with it, and the chorus will explain exactly what the problem is: “Fathers be good to your daughters, daughters will love like you do. Girls become lovers who turn into mothers, so mothers be good to your daughters, too.” The girl is messed up because she grew up in a messed up family. Despite its portrayal as a sentimental song, it’s not. It’s John Mayer’s plea “on behalf of every man looking out for every girl you (daddy) are the god and the weight of her world.” It’s not really a ballad or a love song at all. It’s a socially conscious cautionary tale stressing the importance of women (“…but boys would be gone without the warmth from a woman’s good, good heart”) and the dangerous, sad after-effects of a horrible upbringing. Once I realized this, it made the song impossible to listen to, in the same way that it’s impossible for me to watch actual surgeries on Discovery Channel: I want to be entertained, not lectured.

Maybe John should take a little of his own advice.

I’ve had “Edge of Desire” from JM’s new album, Battle Studies, on repeat in my car for the past week. Sometimes I get hooked on a song and won’t let it go. This one in particular makes me all melancholy and wistful weird. It’s tortured, longing, desperate. It speaks to me for various personal reasons I won’t go into. It reminds me of something from my past that I can’t forget and some recent poetry I’ve written. I just like it. A lot.

Edge of Desire
John Mayer

Young and full of running. Tell me where is that taking me? Just a great figure eight, or a tiny infinity? Love is really nothing but a dream that keeps waking me. For all of my trying we still end up dying. How can it be? Don’t say a word, just come over and lie here with me. ‘Cause I’m just about to set fire to everything I see. I want you so bad I’ll go back on the things I believe. There I just said it, I’m scared you’ll forget about me. So young and full of running, all the way to the edge of desire. Steady my breathing, silently screaming, I have to have you now. Wired and I’m tired. Think I’ll sleep in my clothes on the floor. Maybe this mattress will spin on its axis and find me on yours. Don’t say a word just come over and lie here with me. ‘Cause I’m just about to set fire to everything I see. I want you so bad I’ll go back on the things I believe. There I just said it, I’m scared you’ll forget about me.

What happens to the Top 10 on a big holiday weekend… not much it turns out. Now that the Big 12 Championship has been set, it climbs from 5 to 1. No doubt this sudden surge of interest is partially attributable to the presence of our home town team, the Longhorns, in the championship game. The remainder of the top 5 is a pop tour-de-force with Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and Miley Cyrus all there to welcome this week’s chart newcomer Justin Bieber.

Justin Bieber is a 15 year old Canadian pop singer whose debut album My Word was released on November 17th. A recent autograph signing for Mr. Bieber was the cause of near-riot at the Roosevelt Field Mall where a Def Jam Recordings (really?) record exec got arrested for what the media liked to play up as “failure to tweet.” People hate on Wikipedia as a source, but I’d not be able to relate most of that information without it, as I am far outside Mr. Bieber’s target demo in both age and chromosomes.

The bottom 5 shows interest in the SEC championship remains strong, if not quite what it was over the past couple weeks. As both Big 12 and SEC championships are this weekend, it’s likely both may experience a last minute surge. The recent Texas-Texas A&M rivalry game contributed to both teams appearing in the countdown. John Mayer slips a bit and Aventura returns once more after a few weeks absence.

…Now that I look back at the title I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more crass attempt at a food metaphor. Hopefully it hasn’t put you off looking at the post itself as it contains my first forays into the glitch world! Both of these were created in Logic Pro.

Glitch attempt I: Contains a reversed sample of ‘Assassin’ by John Mayer’ and some sub bass, everything else is made out of very tiny fragments of sound to create the beat .

Glitch attempt II: Heavily sampled Björk (the vocals and Celeste). With bit-crunched beats. Song sampled: ‘Mother Heroic’.

My actual compositions for L E N S will be for more detailed and experimental in nature and will not contain any samples used without permission, I just wanted to get a feel for chopping up music and felt the easiest way would be to try out some songs that to me, sounded like they were perfect for the job.

Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated, obviously there is not a great deal to comment on but still…

This song holds a special place in my heart.  It was a timely song for the primaries in this past election, it is a great song about change and I was lucky enough to have seen it live.  I was a little horse the next day because John needed a little help singing it that night at the Fed-Ex.

Just borrowing the trending topics thingy from Twitter. It’s Music Monday! Hoorah.

wala lang.  Anyway, I decided to combine two things in this blog post, the music monday of twitter, and Tom Alvarez’ Threesome (RX 93.1).. so for this week, I’m featuring John Mayer’s amazing album: Battle Studies.  So far, i liked 7 song out of the 11 tracks in the album.  So here, I’ll share to you the three songs that topped my list.

Heartbreak Warfare

I don’t care if we don’t sleep at all tonight
Let’s just fix this whole thing now
I swear to God we’re gonna get it right
If you lay your weapon down
Red wine and ambien
You’re talking shit again, it’s heartbreak warfare
Good to know it’s all a game
Disappointment has a name, it’s heartbreak warfare.

Perfectly Lonely

Nothing to do
Nowhere to be
A simple little kind of free
Nothing to do
No one but me
And that’s all I need

I’m perfectly lonely
I’m perfectly lonely
I’m perfectly lonely (Yeah)
‘Cause I don’t belong to anyone
Nobody belongs to me

Friends, Lovers, or Nothing

Nothing to do
Nowhere to be
A simple little kind of free
Nothing to do
No one but me
And that’s all I need

Brand New, Glassjaw, The Swellers, The Casualties, Less than Jake and John Mayer.

What more could a girl ask for? Oh, and Much on Demand with the Hedley boys too.

I’ll be back with more.
Plus Protest the Hero photos and Puddle of Mudd coming up to!

Oi bebês!

Vocês sabem quem são os JM’s da minha vida? São o John Mayer e o Jason Mraz. Não é possível que algum ser nesse mundo não tenha escutado um desses nomes! hehe’ Vou começar as apresentações.

John Mayer: músico norte-americano, de 32 anos. Seu estilo musical é como um rock acústico, blues, pop-rock.. mais ou menos por ai. Ele começou a fazer sucesso mesmo, foi em 2OO3. Quem ‘me apresentou’ o John foi o Thiago Mart da banda THIMY . Me encantei com as músicas *-* Entre as minhas preferidas estão: ‘Daughters’ e ’Your Body is a Wonderland’ .  Além de cantar bem, o cara é um excelente guitarrista. Alguém mais ai arrepiou com ele tocando no Tributo ao Michael Jackson ? O John Mayer lançou há pouco tempo, o cd “Battle Studies”, tpo, muuito bom. A música ‘Assassin’ é a mais perfeita na minha opinião. Vou postar foto para vocês verem o quanto esse cara é galã, babo!  Follow @johncmayer

Jason Mraz: músico norte-americano de 32 anos. [2]  Seu estilo musical é pop, surf pop, tem um ‘q’ de reggee, acústico.. Jason, começou a fazer sucesso em 2OO3/2OO4 mas foi em 2OO8 que ele estorou no Brasil. A música ‘I’m Yours’ entrou para a sountrack da novela ‘A Favorita’ e chegou a ser uma das músicas mais tocadas na rádio na época e virou hit. Ele adora um chapeuzinho e é mó ‘paz e amor’. Gosta de natureza e seu diferencial é que ele gosta de tocar com os pés descalços. Oowwn, acho muito fofo. O Jason Mraz, não é bonito aos meus olhos, mas tem charme. Ele está no Brasiiiil \o/ em tour. E hoje ele estará fazendo shoew em Belo Horizonte, que tristeza.. está a 3OO km de mim e eu aqui :/ A mais de uma semana no país, domingo passado o ‘Domingão do Faustão fez algo que presta e o convidou para cantar lá. Quase morri *-* hihihi Em seu twitter, ele já postou várias fotos da sua estadia no Brasil. Para quem não segue o twitter dele é @jason_mraz . Fotinha:

A Colbie Caillat tem sorte viu! (por que?) Porque ela já cantou com os dois! E até gravou a música ‘Lucky’ com o Jason Mraz. Vou postar videos para compartilhar com vocês.

Beeijos, até mais!

So it’s official, 50 Cent has sold 161,ooo copies (retail & digital) in the first week for “Before I Self Destruct“. An album that was constantly pushed back and was suppose to be released in 2008. Regardless of the setbacks, the amount of marketing done by 50 Cent himself for the album was strong. Yet, it failed to leave a dent in Soundscan. The amount sold is only 3,000 copies more than what Rick Ross sold in the first week for “Deeper Than Rap”.

The former platinum artist 50 Cent may even be hard-pressed to touch gold. Toping the charts for the week “Before I Self Destruct” dropped. John Mayer sold 286k, Justin Bieber (teen sensation) did 137k, and Leona Lewis did a dismal 67k.

At the end of the day. This begs to question, is music still a business anymore? Luckily for 50 Cent, he pretty much could care less about music since he has been so successful elsewhere (ex: Vitamin Water, Movie career, etc). But for others, music doesn’t seem to be a good career choice anymore. Maybe a vessel to get you elsewhere, but definitely not a final destination.

Parents, do not mistreat your daughters or they will grow up to be crazy bitches and hassle John Mayer with mind games. (edf)

First, Heartbreak Warfare - Yes, I know.  Shut up, Mayer’s a musical genius!  Rumor has it the lyrics were written about Jennifer Aniston.

And~ If I Ever Leave This World Alive – Flogging Molly’s brogue-ish anthem was my favorite part of P.S. I Love You, which I otherwise would love to punch.

"She actually won two Academy Awards for Best Actress? Wow."

Três revistas gringas trouxeram Taylor Lauter, Robert Pattinson e John Mayer em suas capas.

Qual você mais gostou?

… says Details Magazine. True colors shining through on guitar. Like a Rainbow.

~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 11.28.09~