Country Universe: 2011 countdowns and personality test fun

New staff in tow, we counted down the 40 best singles and 20 best albums of the year over at Country Universe, ending with Taylor Swift”s freshly produced “Mean” and the Pistol Annies” searing Hell on Heels, respectively.

My personal favorite single of the year –which came in at #5– feels more like a country song than it sounds like one. Check out my write-up for “Colder Weather”below, as well as a video of the Zac Brown Band performing a powerful acoustic version with some famous pals a few months ago.

“Colder Weather,” Zac Brown Band
A piano, a wanderer’s tale and killer vocals are the bones of this song– none of which are unique to country music. And yet, “Colder Weather” pleads like the best country songs, hurts like the loneliest of country stories. It serves as an elegant reminder that while casinotives country music is sometimes marked by a fiddly sparkle, it can also turn up in the form of pure emotion – and how Brown emotes. His performance is both soulful and skillful, embodying the rambler’s spectrum of emotions with chilling accuracy – longing, regret, defeat, hunger –, right down to the final line that rings hauntingly hollow: “It’s a shame about the weather / But I know soon we’ll be together / And I can’t wait til then.” 

We also did something slightly unconventional for a country music blog – we started a discussion based on personality tests results. Care to join?

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Tara Seetharam and filed under Music, Writing and tagged Zac Brown Band.

Sound Bite: Aim at the heart, not the wallet

“I just know what I like to listen to. I just know I want something aimed at the heart, not the wallet. How dare anyone in power determine for the listener what he or she wants to hear? Yet, this is country radio’s business model. The ‘failure’ of Ronnie Dunn’s “Cost of Livin’” is a microcosm of what’s wrong with commercial radio and I’m done.

I know traditional country won’t be played on mainstream country radio anytime soon. I’ve come to accept that. What I can’t accept is that they won’t even play something that makes the listener feel any feeling other than happy or blissfully ignorant.”

-Farce the Music in a post titled “The Final Straw”

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Tara Seetharam and filed under Sound Bites.

Ten things 90s kids will have to explain to their children

How hilarious (and accurate) is this Thought Catalogue blog post, written by Chelsea Fagan? Some of my favorite quotes are below, but do yourself a favor and read the entire post.

On the sacredness of “Boy Meets World”:

“Topanga (pronounced Tah-payne-ga, for those who will have only ever seen in it written down) is the name of the quintessential girl-next-door who will live, along with Feeney, in our hearts forever.”

On the power of Will Smith:

“The Men In Black rap song, at the time, was created and received by the public without the slightest trace of irony. Really. He was that good.”

On choosing between N*SYNC and The Backstreet Boys:

“Though on the surface, they are the exact same thing in every conceivable way, whether you liked The Backstreet Boys or N*SYNC said more about your character than all of the terrible macaroni art you could ever make for your child psychologist.”

On the Spice Girls phenomenon: 

““I wanna really really really wanna zig a zig ahh,” has a meaning, and all true nineties kids know it, but we must never share it. Like the Illuminati, it must remain between us, the keyholders. With great power comes great responsibility.”

On Lisa Frank:

“It is a theory, a concept, a belief in something greater than yourself. It is the belief that all girls are entitled to dolphins covered with rainbows, jewel-encrusted frogs, and unicorns in acid-trip colors hugging each other.”
Posted on December 17, 2011 by Tara Seetharam and filed under Sound Bites.

Holiday round-up: In between giving thanks

Thanksgiving week has always been my favorite week of the year – and this year I took the entire week off from work to fully enjoy it. Between friends, family, food and celebrating my (sigh) 26th birthday, I squeezed in:

Blazing through a pile of these on my coffee table:

Belatedly reviewing this single:

Discovering this gem from a few months ago:

Quoting this:

“Quick, what’s my favorite hospital food? Jellooo.”

Drinking too many of these:

And obsessing over anything and everything Christmas. Join me?

Posted on November 28, 2011 by Tara Seetharam and filed under Round-Ups and tagged Keith Urban Carrie Underwood Stevie Wonder Modern Family Lady Gaga.