I’m pretty sure David is the one hiding from the confetti…
If it’s Christmas at You Ain’t No Picasso, that means it’s Mixmas! These twelve days give me a chance to turn You Ain’t No Picasso over to the musicians I cover and allow them to showcase some of their favorite songs through a themed mix.
MP3: BOAT - I’m a Donkey For Your Love
BOAT has been slowly clawing their way up the pop ladder for a little while now. Last year they released “I’m a Donkey For Your Love,” a song that wound up on my top 20 list for 07; this year they had an awesome EP come out and next year is shaping up to be even better. I’ve heard a few demos from their new album and it sounds great. David was nice enough to not only contribute a Mixmas mix, but solicit help as well! He asked some students of his to help him pick songs. Here’s the result…
“Five Songs My Class Waned to Hear” by David Crane of BOAT
In my class, sometimes we have quiet work times where I let the students listen to the radio, and work quietly. I had teachers who allowed us to do this growing up. For this year’s list, I polled my class of sixth graders as to what they would like to listen to if five songs came on the radio. I took the answers of the first five hands that I saw raised.
What I learned was that I am probably like many teachers before me. I don’t quite understand the pop music climate that is going on right now. While I will not call for a mass burning of records, I will share with you my thoughts.
YOUTUBE: T PAIN “Can’t Believe It”
I am not sure how T Pain has done it. He really looks like a Tracy Jordan character off 30 Rock. Adding the top hat and auto tuned vocals seem like they would sink his ship. But after listening to this song a few times worked its demented magic on me, and made me dream of mall food court. I think I actually like this…but in a weird Ras Trent carnival kind of way. Extra points for the video being ridiculous!
YT: AEROSMITH “Dream On”
This is truly an artifact of the “Guitar Hero Effect.” Very few eleven year olds have been into early Aerosmith like they are now. It is somewhat amazing. Here we see the bad clothes styles continue, but if this is a jumping off point for kids, they could do a lot worse…..I guess? I never loved Aerosmith, but I love cartoon drawings, and I like the fact that they are cartoon versions of themselves in Guitar Hero.
YT: LUDACRIS AND T PAIN “Chopped N’ Skrewed”
This song is a language arts teacher’s worst nightmare. T Pain picks up where he left off with the the awkward rhymes (see “Can’t Believe It”) and auto tuned silliness. But adds in the dreaded “n’” instead of using and! He also misspells screwed….on purpose! Kids around America are loving it! Teachers are hating it! It has actually helped open up the ever exciting “when is slang spelling appropriate?” conversation. I also have taught the kids how to spell, and use ludicrous correctly. So it is not a total lost cause. The title of the song reminds me of text messaging language….an ever growing epidemic. I have actually had to take away cell phones during class this year for text messaging. This says something about my exciting and dynamic grammar instruction, or can I blame it all on T Pain. Ridiculous!
YT: KANSAS “Carry on My Wayward Son”
This was hand number four. There is usually one of these kids in every classroom. A kid with classic rock loving parents. Like a lighthouse on a dark foggy night, this song steered us back on course. He may receive extra credit for this. I look forward to this coming on the radio! It might be in my top five! It should be noted that this kid looks almost exactly like Tom Petty.
YT: MIKE JONES AND T PAIN “Cuddy Buddy”
This song is the third on the list that features auto tuned vocals. This is scary. I am not sure why people are loving the robotic vocals. I am a sucker for real singing. It reminds me of the maid from the Jetsons. I have a soft spot for the Jetsons, and also for Mike Jones ever since I received a copy of Built to Spill’s last album that had his name pasted into the songs to aggravate file sharers and illegal downloaders. I would take any song off of You in Reverse over “Cuddy Buddy.” T PAIN does his best to compete with the robotic voice, but I believe he never overcomes it.
You Ain’t No Picasso Mixmas 2008
Ivana XL | Henry Clay People | These United States | Cotton Jones | The Bicycles | Pas/Cal | Parenthetical Girls
