The 5 Movie Musicals I Will Watch Over and Over Happily.

A close friend of mine recently asked me what items I would bring if I was to be stranded on a desert island. In the top 10 was a portable media player with movie musicals on it. It's no secret to those who know me that I have a strange affinity for movie musicals. Whether they're from the dawn of the movie era, or simple indie films, I love them for reasons even I don't understand.

However, there comes a time when I just cannot watch a movie again. Certain movies are impossible to watch over and over. Whether it's for the emotional drain it causes, or simply the length of time, I can't watch movies like The King & I repeatedly. But, there are 5 that I can and will watch for days at a time. Here, in no particular order:

1. Across The Universe

Across the Universe is based entirely on the music of the Beatles. It's definitely got some dark, dreary moments, but overall, it's a sunny, gorgeous musical about life in the '60s.

2. Were The World Mine

I sing music from this movie at basically every moment of my life. My bird's name is Timmy, so he is constantly serenaded with "Oh Timothy." The movie basically revolves around a gay boy's homophobic school putting on a production of "A Midsummer's Night Dream," and his accidental transformation of the town. It's just pure silly, happy, musical fun.

3. Hairspray

I think every girl wants to be a little bit like Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 remake of "Hairspray," the sassy, self-confident, and totally awesome star of the movie. With pure camp cheesiness, a classic soundtrack, and actual substance, this is one of those great movies, no matter the time.

4. Spiceworld

This is my gratuitous Spice Girls post. I love them. They are awesome. My childhood revolved around them. I watch this movie at any opportunity, and I have it on all of my computers, plus 2 DVD copies, and a VHS. I have no shame about this. In fact, after I finish writing this blog, I will probably go watch it.

5. Top Hat

I still remember the first time I saw this movie, I was young and terribly uninterested in the old black & white movie my aunt wanted me to watch. But, I watched, and I was entranced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in this classic film. I still love it to this day.

There's something special about these musicals, if only for their ability to make me smile like a fool every time I watch them. And for that, I salute them.

Soundtracks?

It's commonly known in the movie world that music can make or break a movie. A low-key, artsy film will not benefit from a flashy Top 40 soundtrack. But, a movie that could come off as too ploying can be changed into a quaint and loveable film with the perfect soundtrack.

For the majority of my life, I never even knew there was such a thing as a soundtrack in movies. Raised on a diet of movie musicals and Lifetime movies, my perception of music in movies was that it was either background music, or the star. Now, I've come to realize that a great song can be more than just filler, it can be a supporting character that pushes the scene to greatness.

My favorite popular examples of a great soundtrack are Juno and (500) Days of Summer. Juno, with her laid-back attitude and carefully-constructed vocabulary, could easily come off as a character with the wrong elements in place. But, the homemade feel of the soundtrack, largely due to Kimya Dawson's great songs, give an air of credibility and depth to Juno's character. In (500), the soundtrack is integral to the plot, with the main characters bonding over The Smiths and karaoke nights. Carla Bruni is played from car stereos, and a fantasy song-and dance routine takes place mid-movie.

It's easy to ruin a movie. In fact, it's almost guaranteed that a movie will have some strange flaw in it. But, sometimes, all that's needed is the perfect song to fix the moment.

Review: Hellogoodbye - Would It Kill You?

There is nothing I love more than when bands grow up. With their second album, Hellogoodbye has done just that. In 2006, Hellogoodbye were signed to Drive Through Records, and bright-eyed, they released their first album, "Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!," an auto-tuned, synth pop opus.

I was 14 at the time, and I immediately fell in love with the dorky band and upbeat songs. For two years, that CD was one of my favorites. And then, just as quickly as I had fallen in love, I fell out. I was sick of power pop, auto-tune, and cheesy lyrics. I was 16! Practically an adult! I couldn't be seen listening to this childish music! Hellogoodbye and I parted our ways.

But the split was not to last, as they released a three song EP, the Ukelele Recordings, with two new songs, and one Buddy Holly cover. Along with the EP, they announced a show at the Stone Pony, one of my favorite hangouts, with PlayRadioPlay, one of my favorite bands of the moment. The love affair was back on. So, excluding a few Hellogoodbye-deprived weeks, that band and I have grown up together. With their new release, "Would It Kill You?," the band has grown into a pure indie pop sound. In the past four years, the band has gone through a total lineup change, with Forrest, the lead singer, as the only original member left. And, Forrest got married to his longtime girlfriend.

That shows in all of the songs, the majority of which are about his wife in some capacity. The CD spills forth songs that, to me, sound like sitting on a beach in California in winter watching a meteor shower and then the sunrise. The opening song, "Finding Something To Do" is a fast-paced song about figuring out something to do when you've spent so much time with a person, and knowing you'll be spending the rest of your lives together. "When We First Met" is retrospective and just a very pretty song. "You Sleep Alone" is probably the most similar to their early works, which makes sense as it was the first written on the CD. An angry sing-along song, it's slowly becoming one of the most played on my iPod. My favorite song currently is "Coppertone," which was primarily written by the guitarist, and is this gorgeous song about doubt and love. Finally, the title song, "Would It Kill You?" explains the sound of the album better than any other explanation. A love song, but more to his art, Forrest asks himself if it would kill him just to let it all work out instead of obsessing and tweaking.

To be honest, this is one of my favorite albums of the year. There's no low point. It's just a special piece of music, and I know I won't be ashamed to listen to it in two years.

November!

November always seems to be such a great month for music. Winter tours begin, and tons of CDs are unleashed to the masses. This month, I'm really excited about a few things. On the ninth, Hellogoodbye's second album, "Would It Kill You?" is finally being released. So far, it has recieved high praise, and is toted as being a possibility for the best release of the year.

On the eighth, if my sources are correct, OK Go will be premiering a music video for "Last Leaf." The video will involve lasers, bread, animation, Samsung cameras, and other magical elements. This has not been officially announced, though, so it might be put off for a while. Speaking of OK Go, they recently released "Of The Blue Colour of the Sky: Extra Nice Edition," and it has a ton of really cool extras on it.

The twenty-second brings the much-anticipated fourth album from New Jersey natives My Chemical Romance. "Danger Days: True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys" departs from the last album's melancholy feel to a more futuristic, pop sound.

I also recently stumbled upon the Raveonettes, a Danish band that I've really been enjoying lately. Hopefully, this November will live up to my expectations.

Music Boxes

In a world where auto-tuned pop music and lyrics written by strangers reigns supreme, artists who write their own music are some of today's most creative and influential people. In nusic, it has become commonplace to see singers who can't sing, dance, play an instrument, or really do much besides standing around and looking pretty. Because of this, truly talented people are pushed to the bottom and forced to work even harder to create works of art.

"Artists" like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera have been around for quite a while. They sing, they dance, and they look pretty; but at the core, they are just music boxes for record companies to renovate and play their music through. There is no heart or soul in pop music. Artists like Lady Gaga have challenged the status quo of the genre, but really, is Lady Gaga anything more than an extravagantly decorated music box? Yes, she's different, but is there anything behind the almost contrived uniqueness?

Young singers and singwriters seem to be the only hope left for true art today. Bands like Kiss Kiss, with an electric violin and an orchestra-gone-mad sound, or This Is My Suitcase, with sad lyrics and happy melodies, challenge what is expected from music, and from art.

Bands and singers that write their own music as a sort of challenge to the music industry are the most creative artists we have today. With new sounds, new ideas, and new beliefs in what sounds good, these artists take what the listener is used to hearing and turns it on its head. In essence, these artists are redefining music as we know it.

Is Album Artwork Important?

In this digital age, where everyone has access to Photoshop and stock photos, it seems the quality of album covers has gone down. Bands tend to throw quality to the wayside, instead preferring to make their own cheap covers. While this is expected for newer, struggling bands, it kills me a little inside when established bands decide to release a mediocre album cover.

Children are raised with the mantra of "don't judge a book by its cover," but as consumers, we are instantly drawn to pretty packaging. Nice packaging tells the consumer's subconscious that the contents will be just as pleasing, and encourage the individual to make a purchase. Because of this, it's important that bands realize when they are designing their packaging that they are not just creating an icon to symbolize their music on an iPod. Album artwork is marketing material, and it should be treated as such.

One of my favorite examples of artwork gone wrong is the cover of Cobra Starship's "Hot Mess."

Without knowing anything about the band, most consumers would be put off by this cover, mostly for the reasons that the band picked it. The girl is supposed to be a "hot mess," but to the average viewer, it comes across as sloppy and almost gross.

Conceptual album art is another way of encouraging purchases, but it is very often a hit or miss situation.

A few of my favorite covers:

This is two album covers. The one on the left is PlayRadioPlay!'s last album before a name change (and change in style) to Analog Rebellion, whose debut album is on the right. They were released at the same time.

courtesy of psfk.com

The original release of OK Go's "Of The Blue Colour of the Sky" had this abstract artwork as the booklet.

Although it shouldn't be left in the hands of just anyone, handmade album covers can be adorable, gorgeous, and altogether perfect for sale.

Album covers can often become very cliched, very fast, however. The one thing I always see, and can't stand, is the closeup on a woman's face. This usually happens with solo (female) artists, bands with a female singer, etc. Some examples:

The covers quickly begin to blend into each other, and just become background noise among other, more original covers.

As you can see from just the few examples here, album covers are more than just a place for bands to thank their moms and slap their name onto paper. As prime marketing space, covers have to be treated as the precious real estate they are - the first thing the customer sees. 

The Music Business Ruins Music.

The music business is primarily a business. As counterintuitive as it seems, music labels are more concerned with producing money than with producing quality music.

This drive to sell to the masses leads to a decline in quality. And even with quality bands, interaction with fans is lessened or even lost, because time spent with fans is time losing money. When this kind of distance between fans and musicians becomes the standard, fans lose part of the joy of music. In this sense, the music business is losing everything that it relies on - music.

Recently, a band that I discovered back before they were signed to a label was released from their contract after a few years with the company. Before they had signed with the label, they were heavily fan-oriented, giving away music for free, having barbecues after concerts, and hanging out with fans wherever they went. On the label, they were not allowed to give away music, and their heavy touring schedule forbade them from spending any time with fans, except for in harshly scheduled meet and greets. After some fighting, presumably about monetary issues, as well as their lack of control over their own future, they left the label.

In a few months, everything changed. A house tour with inexpensive tickets was scheduled, singles were released on vinyl, and pre-order packages came with hand-written letters and homemade presents. When a band decides to send me handmade presents for pre-ordering their album, it practically guarantees that I will be a fan, no matter how bad the album is.

Music labels need to realize that they need to adapt to audience's needs in order to survive. With music available freely online, the personal touch can be exactly the draw needed to bring customers back to buying from the artist. Beyond that, the majority of money made by bands is through touring and merchandise sales. When a fan is guaranteed to meet the band because of a small venue, he or she will be more willing to fork over more money for the show.

In the end, the music business will always be about money. But, CEOs must realize that with changing times comes a need for a change in the way bands are operated.