His style, passion, and work ethic is truly admirable!

Go Download his songs “Love Games”, “My Dream”, && “Make Her Mine” On iTunes Now!

I also had the opportunity to create a cover for his latest single “Make Her Mine”:

Check out his latest music video to this single done by Brown Brothers Production:

The Wanted, Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen…the list goes on and on.

Even Carson’s 3-year-old can’t get enough of it. Just the other night, Carson had to make a mixtape for his son and it got him thinking, why now?

Carson’s a bit of an expert, considering he was in the center of it all last time during the TRL days, so he decided to analyze why pop is making a comeback and how long it may last!

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To fully understand the situation, Carson gave us a crash course in 90s music.

“Economically we thrived in the 90s and the 90s started with alternative rock, right? The grunge era took us until 1994 when Kurt Cobain died…And then in ’95 Foo Fighters formed so you still had some rock going on, but from ’95 really until 2000 you had what we called the post-grunge movement, which really was a lot of indie rock…the introduction of ska music was starting to get popular, and then you had pop punk really make it’s explosion too.”

Carson thinks the resurgence of sugary sweet pop has something to do with the economy. Many of Britney Spears’, Backstreet Boys’, and *NSYNC’s biggest hits to date were released in the thick of the dot com bust and post-September 11th downturn.

“When the economy is good, we rock…When we experience a recession, we grasp onto escapism. We need to feel good, so we tend to gravitate towards music that just is disposable and makes us feel good in our car to escape the realities our lives.”

With unemployment high and our troops overseas, it make sense that heart throb boy bands like One Direction and The Wanted are taking the music industry by storm.

“It’s just not rock music’s time. The highest ratings at MTV were our era of TRL. That was the most buzz MTV’s ever had. Was it the most impactful time of music? Probably not. The people that pre-dated me, the Matt Pinfields of the world, the grunge explosion of the 90s [was] much more of an exciting time of music, really. Those records will live in perpetuity a lot more probably than the bulk of pop records.”

It remains to be seen how we will look back at these new pop starlets in the years to come, but for now, it looks like there’s no end in sight for the latest bubblegum era.

• Do you agree with Carson’s take on the state of pop music today? Let us know how you feel in the comments section!

-Sarah Carroll, 97.1 AMP Radio, Los Angeles

Felix the Hat,
Live Music City, high hopes!

And for summer, another Musical, from Grease – Summer Love. Ah, such innocent times!

From another musical, the epic of War of he Worlds, by Jeff Wayne. This is Forever Autumn, a gorgeous ode to lost love and changing seasons from one of the great pop voices, Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues:

And to finish, ‘Winter winds’ by Mumford & Sons, one of the bands responsible for the revival of English folk music in recent years. They always provide high energy passionate performances.

They also do a lot of collaborations with other artists, as this with the pop god Ray Davies, ex of the Kinks, doing a fusion of two of his songs, Days and This Time Tomorrow. Watch the sweat fly from the Mumfords.

Predictability isn’t necessarily a vice. Combinations of simple chord progressions are used again and again because they work – they’re pleasing, symmetrical. If I had to pick ‘perfect’ or ‘best’ songs, they’d be simple songs: La Bamba, La Mer, Mbube. These aren’t my ‘favourite’ pieces of music, but there’s almost something objectively simple and brilliant about them.

Lots of old folk songs, too, are simple and wonderful, and certainly more pleasing than much of what has come after them. Listen to something like The Parting Glass; it could never be less perfect because of its sameness, which is obviously the wrong word, but I hope you get what I mean. The naturalness is important. There’s a reason most songs are basically 4/4 or 3/4 –  it feels right.

The influence of our Western culture is important to remember here as well, e.g. it seems utterly bewildering to me that major keys haven’t always been considered happier. Obviously, there can be, and are, ‘simple’, ‘perfect’ pieces of music in unusual key and time signatures, but there are a heck of a lot less of ‘em.

The sameness of instrumentation and sound is less defendable, but many of these previous points apply. With the expectation for guitars, pianos and kit, perhaps comes as much comfort as comes with ending the piece on the root of the chord. Not sure. Familiarity is comforting, and people don’t always want to be challenged. In fact, people pretty much don’t want to be challenged, full stop. YOU don’t want to be challenged. The things that intrigue and surprise you – you enter that world through paths of familiarity. You don’t go straight through some wormhole. Familiar elements guide you through to the unfamiliar.

Perhaps, the predictability of the music is for the same reason as the predictability of the themes of pop songs. I doubt a musician has had anything significant to add to the subject of love lyrically for a long time. But it’s not about adding something new. Think about the epic poets and storytellers of ancient times. The sagas they were recounting were stories that audiences knew. The poets would add in new bits, embellishments, tell a tale in a slightly different way, but the spine of the story stayed the same, because it worked: people loved it, they were invested in it. It spoke about things they all understood: love, betrayal, hope. Perhaps pop music, ‘mainstream music’, is predictable for these same reasons.

Though, at the same time, we do have to be surprised. It’s complex. Of course it’s complex.

You should probably remember that this is mostly me playing devil’s advocate. If you asked me what sort of music I liked, my first answer would definitely not be “pop music”. It would be “good music”. Which sounds kinda patronising, but it’s true. And I have my own definition of what makes good music good, and I don’t really know what that definition is. I could say that I like elegant melodies, but that doesn’t even begin to cover it. I could list some things that other people are less likely to list, thereby defining myself against them. I like film scores, old school Broadway belters, 30s jazz, baroque brass and Beach Boys harmonies. I think a happy song might be better than a sad song of equal quality. I think Paul McCartney was easily the best songwriter in the Beatles (I do actually feel pretty strongly about that one). And I don’t understand when people don’t realise that most really good bands only ever write a couple of really good songs.

So that just lets you know where I’m coming from. And I’d like to head towards the conclusion here by pointing out that it was the rejection of the predictable, and the desire to surprise and shock that lead to the avant-garde experimentation that repelled the masses from classical music. The reaction to the uncommunicative, unknowable avant-garde, was pop music and rock ‘n’ roll. The masses wanted to connect with music, and through it, connect with each other.

In the words of George Lucas, “Don’t avoid clichés. They’re clichés because they work.” I’m not actually going to check that, but I think that’s what he said. And he made possibly the most important, course-changing piece of entertainment in the 20th Century: Howard the Duck. See? You don’t always have to be predictable. Though being right is better, hence correction: Star Wars.

In many ways popular music still operates on the same familiar principles as it did a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away). We can learn a lot from Modal Nodes.

Saying all this though, I don’t listen to mainstream pop music – because it is all rubbish and the same and I hate it. But that’s because it doesn’t value quality. Otherwise it wouldn’t involve autotune. It would have harmonies; it would use the full spectrum of vocal pitch; it would be smart, it would be funny, and it would be heartfelt. Indie music suffers many of the same problems, just without the money.

Nevertheless, musically and thematically, a certain degree of predictability is necessary for art and entertainment to succeed, to fulfil its purpose, to connect.

I don’t want to drag this out anymore, so I’ll just end with this: I like good music, and you do, too. Some people just don’t know they do. They should listen to some sometime. They’d like it.

The band itself formed very organically as lead singer Hilmarsdóttir was trying to start her act, Songbird. As the music gained complexity built she added Þórhallsson, and eventually the project evolved into Of Monsters and Men. The band got its first big break at Músiktilraunir, when they won a battle of the bands, and since then have been gaining exposure slowly but surely. In 2011 the band released the song “Little Talks”, and by summer the track hit number one in Iceland. This led to exposure throughout the U.S. and eventually their first album, My Head is an Animal was released in Iceland, and in early April it was released in the U.S.

My Head is an Animal is a carefully crafted album featuring twelve tracks, and running at a very reasonable, 56 minutes. The first track is entitled “Dirty Paws” and starts out with a very soft acoustic guitar, and dual vocals by Hilmarsdóttir and Þórhallsson. Eventually the full band kicks in at the chorus. This quiet, then loud dynamic is continued until the song then ends triumphantly and fades. This is when the next track, “King and Lionheart” starts. This song start off with a lightly strummed acoustic guitar, which then gets a beautiful vocal by Hilmarsdóttir laid over it. The band builds its momentum, and then launch into a chorus that sounds like Lissie mixed with Mumford and Sons. The next track that really caught my attention was entitled “Slow and Steady”. “Slow and Steady” is a beautiful composition featuring a well arranged accompaniment, especially the drums which are actually very musical. I was also vert impressed with the layering of guitar parts that are set perfectly back in the mix, and give it a very open and wide feel. The jovial track “Little Talks” was the next track that grabbed my interest. It starts with an upbeat horn line which is followed by a verse with just guitar that builds towards a very fulfilling chorus.  “Your Bones” is the ninth track on the album, and features a beautiful vocal performance by Þórhallsson, with only occasional vocal input from Hilmarsdóttir. “Yellow Light” is the final track on the album and it ends the collection in a very serene and peaceful manner.

Overall I believe that My Head is an Animal is a genius collection of tracks, and I hope to see more from this tremendous act in the future.

-B. Harlow

Check Out The music video for “Little Talks” below:

Second… P2 and Heejun Han’s bromance has been commenced and obviously advice is being exchanged the only way humanly possible; Twitter.

(Phillip Phillips English is on point)

Clearly, this refers to crazy cowboy kid. Remember crazy cowboy kid? Let’s reminisce:

P2′s kidney’s are deteriorating before our very eyes in this clip, and Heejun Han is just apologizing to make P2 laugh and win his heart.

Cowboy kid is like a very, very bad version of Scotty McCreery.

Anyway, I’m starting to miss P Squared already. I’m not ready to see him go. I didn’t obsess enough this season. TIME WENT TO FAST!!!

-Rocco

The boys start their US headlining tour sometime this week and I already hear the screams of girls around the country.  I also hear their bodies falling to the floor from fainting due to the smiles of these British boys (minus the brooding one below of course… he rarely shows teeth)

How cute… they carry around instruments like they play them. They really are charming.

PS I’m obviously trying to shenanigan my way into tickets for their show this Saturday in NYC…. for research purposes obviously– not for entertainment. Not at all.

-Rocco

Don’t be shocked if the world abruptly ends this evening.

-Rocco

Tim Tebow is doing the manly thing while in New York and caught Rock of Ages on Broadway (He probably bought Tom Cruise’s W Magazine cover too). He also went backstage and took pictures with the cast because he’s a Jesus loving guy and that’s what Christians do.

But, apparently they don’t allow those pictures to be tweeted. Tim Tebow was told by Jesus to  take the photo down!

Okay.. I lied. I made up the Jesus part, but Tim Tebow totally told the ladies who tweeted the picture above to remove it promptly.

And in other news; Tim Tebow has absolutely no idea how the internet works.

Neka Zang posted the pic (see above) on her Twitter account at some point last night — and even posted a photo of the whole cast Tebowing.
But the photo with Tebow was gone a short time later … which she explained by tweeting, “Well, Due to Tebow’s “image” I was asked to remove the pic of him with us half dressed ladies. He does know we arn’t real strippers right?”

I don’t really understand what the cover up here is? Can a quarterback not enjoy a Broadway show from time to time?  And is he really not trying to sleep with any of those ladies?

TIM TEBOW YOU ARE SO INTRIGUING!

Let’s look at the picture he doesn’t want us to see one more time:

-Rocco

-Rocco

Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are singing a the least melodic tune I’ve ever heard about The Amazing Spiderman and then speak in tongues at the end of it. What?

I blame the Germans on this… I’m not really sure why, but I feel like this was a hostage situation.

I think I want to see the movie less now.

PS This doesn’t count as another movie trailer… so shut your mouth.

-Rocco

1) I promise I won’t post movie trailers all morning. I actually have some photos of One Direction coming up.

2) I’ve never seen the entirety of Anchorman. I know. I’m a shameful American.

Well, that was exciting. Do I have to see the 1st one to understand this one?

-Rocco

Yes. Yes, she is.

Skyfall is obviously a masterpiece and it’s totally going to convince me I could be an international spy.

-Rocco

I mean, it looks great. And I’m not being sarcastic. I want to know about these so-called “episodes”. #goodmoviemaking

-Rocco

Don’t you feel like you probably have bugs crawling on you now?

-Rocco

I like doing stuff like this because it forces me to get my ego out of the way and just be a sideman. This is something I struggle with and has gotten me in trouble when trying to do the band thing. But it’s hard to be an obsessive prog-jazz shithead attention whore when you have such classic, simpler songs on your hands and need to avoid ruining them with self-indulgent playing.

Sara Smile is an interesting choice since the only reason I chose it was because of sentimental value. It involves being up really late. Late for me, anyway. I’m lame and don’t like staying up late. But late enough to end up seeing an infomercial for a Time Life music collection, which included that song. To be honest I wasn’t too familiar with it, but when I re-listened, it literally was one or two chords from being one of the trunk songs I have in my head that will never see the light of day because I don’t have enough time to pursue music seriously.

I may be a sarcastic, dark person but this is one of those moments in which I reveal the extreme sentimentality such sarcasm hides.

So to start off this new “Monday Night Rant” I want to talk about homework. Note to teacher… It makes kids hate your guts. Sure, I like some of my teachers, but I have to admit I get pretty pissed off when they give me some big-ass homework assignment when I actually have a life besides school. I’m probably going to get some teacher commenting “Blah blah blah, learning is important, blah blah blah, your brain should always be working”. Ok, sure I guess thats ok, but come on, most of my homework these days is just busy work kind of things. Sure I do it all but I just find most of it unnecessary.

Next rant: Nicki Manaj. First of all, she needs a wardrobe with a higher neckline, enough said. Second of all, I don’t think she actually has musical talent. All the pop lovers are like “she can sing… don’t hate!” …anyone can sit in a recording studio and have their voice auto-tuned. When I used to like *shiver* pop music, I listend to some videos of her live, and she sucked. I’m not sure if she was drunk, or what but she couldn’t hold a note for her life. Hey, at least you know she wasn’t lip sinking….

Next rant: teenage girls who think their nerds. They aren’t nerds. Most of them are idiots that are still learning what an thesis statement is (I kid you not, some girls in my grade still don’t get it). I am a nerd. I will randomly transfer over into a british accent when talking, I’m in advanced english, whenever I’m not blogging I’m usually playing minecraft, I love writing and reading, I can recite all the lines from every Harry Potter movie, I quote shakespeare, and I study pretty hard. Not to mention I’m supper awkward.

Last rant of this post: cats. I hate cats. I’m a dog person and I always have been. It all started when I was little and my cousins owned this devil cat named peanut butter cup. It literally hated me for not reason. It clawed my feet every time I walked near it, and just non-stopped hissed all the time. That god-damned cat is still alive today, and because of it I hate going to my cousins house. So now I’m afraid of cats. The one cat I actually like is my grandmas. All other cats seem to always be sarcastically smirking at me as if they know that I’m afraid of them.

So weren’t those rants lovely? I bet I’ve insulted most of my viewers in some way. Sorry about that, but hey, this is my blog. So thanks for putting up with all of my… interesting opinions. And that concludes this Monday’s rant.

▲▼▲▼▲The Indie Kid▼▲▼▲▼

Which is why we’re putting the word out that Moscow native turned Malibu girl, Marina V. will appear in a free online concert this Saturday, May 26 at 1 PM, PST.   To hear this talented singer, songwriter performing live online, RSVP to the event’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/136922369765338.  Then on Saturday at show time, join the Ustream TV event by clicking on http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thursday-songs-with-marina-v

Marina V. has been a special guest on Carolyn Fox’s Hollywood Spotlight radio show. CLICK HERE to hear her share with Carolyn about the inspiration for the her latest CD, “My Star.”

Tune in Saturday at 1 PM to hear Marina V’s live online concert at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thursday-songs-with-marina-v

And remember to follow Carolyn Fox’s Hollywood on Facebook.

Maurice, Robin and Barry Gibb