So, Scarlett Johansson covered "Last Goodbye" by Jeff Buckley, one of my favorite songs of all time.
WHO LET THIS HAPPEN??? WHO??? I WANT TO KNOW!!!! GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Okay, okay, I'm breathing, I'm calming down. I got a little out of control there, and I apologize. But, really, why? It's her vocals and a piano, the song length is almost cut in half, and it seems to have a rather lounge-y feel to it (which in that particular case, my favorite lounged-up version of a song is Ben Folds Five covering "She Don't Use Jelly" by The Flaming Lips, and I hold that as my high standard).
The original version of the song evoked so much emotion--it wouldn't be uncommon for me to well up a little bit when Buckley starts belting "Kiss me, please kiss me. Kiss me out of desire, babe, and not consolation." She barely emotes at all there. It's almost like she's yawning when she sings those lines. Oh, sure, she brings it up a notch or two in emotion with the following line, but it's unconvincing. Maybe she didn't even try with those lines because she doesn't quite have the vocal chops to carry it off without her voice cracking in an unflattering way. I'm only speculating, of course, but I heard a song or two when she tried covering Tom Waits, and it seems like, for all she's tried, she's either picking the wrong songs for her range, or, well, she just shouldn't be trying to record and sell music. However, if she tried to write and record some of her own material sometime, I'd probably give it a whirl, just to see what she could come up with.
For the time being, I'm going to pass judgment and say that her interpretation of this great song is far inferior to the original, and it makes me wonder why she made the attempt in the first place.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
One thing I want to see out of my current technology
I got to wondering today...why hasn't Apple developed an iPod with an SD slot?
Let's think about this for a few seconds, shall we?
Yes, the iPod memory is flash technology, and SD cards are also flash-based--wouldn't that be like doubling up on the same technology in one device? Well, yeah, but what's so wrong about that?
Think about it in this sense: You purchase an album on an SD card (some people out there think that might be a good route to go), and you want to put it on your iPod without having to go through the middle man of your computer and iTunes. Well, right now, it doesn't seem like you'd be able to do it (I welcome comments from anyone telling me I can, and how to accomplish that without cracking open my iPod). How awesome would it be to take that SD card you just bought and put it right into your iPod to give the new songs a (metaphorical) spin? Yes, at some point, if you want to transfer the album to your iPod for good, you can go through your computer and have it now in two spots. It could also offer the opportunity to "share" the music with someone else and possibly avoid all the copyright infringing--much like lending a CD to a friend (and, you know, assuming they aren't borrowing it to rip it). The same would work for videos, and would allow a person the chance to pop a card in and watch a video on their iPod and not have to worry about taking up precious space usually reserved for music (I know I try to keep my iPod for mostly music, maybe I'm an anomaly in that sense--I just don't know).
All I'm saying is that I think that this is a missed opportunity right now, and if Apple put an SD slot on an iPod, it could make the machines even more versatile, and could very possibly make my life even a little easier.
What are your thoughts? And what would you like to seen done to the iPod?
Let's think about this for a few seconds, shall we?
Yes, the iPod memory is flash technology, and SD cards are also flash-based--wouldn't that be like doubling up on the same technology in one device? Well, yeah, but what's so wrong about that?
Think about it in this sense: You purchase an album on an SD card (some people out there think that might be a good route to go), and you want to put it on your iPod without having to go through the middle man of your computer and iTunes. Well, right now, it doesn't seem like you'd be able to do it (I welcome comments from anyone telling me I can, and how to accomplish that without cracking open my iPod). How awesome would it be to take that SD card you just bought and put it right into your iPod to give the new songs a (metaphorical) spin? Yes, at some point, if you want to transfer the album to your iPod for good, you can go through your computer and have it now in two spots. It could also offer the opportunity to "share" the music with someone else and possibly avoid all the copyright infringing--much like lending a CD to a friend (and, you know, assuming they aren't borrowing it to rip it). The same would work for videos, and would allow a person the chance to pop a card in and watch a video on their iPod and not have to worry about taking up precious space usually reserved for music (I know I try to keep my iPod for mostly music, maybe I'm an anomaly in that sense--I just don't know).
All I'm saying is that I think that this is a missed opportunity right now, and if Apple put an SD slot on an iPod, it could make the machines even more versatile, and could very possibly make my life even a little easier.
What are your thoughts? And what would you like to seen done to the iPod?
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