Brett Farrey

I’ve been working on putting a new band together for about a year now, and it’s finally coming together! Mike Cammilleri and I started trying out guitarists and drummers this past December, and then eventually singers. I think we’ve ended up with a really nice group of musicians….

Alexis – Vocals
Mike Cammilleri – Keyboards/Organ
Joe Niesen – Guitar
Chris Sandoval – Drums
Me – Bass

We’ve all played in a bands, except for maybe Alexis. She and Mike know each other from playing the UW marching band. She would sometimes sing at Badger games, so Mike already knew she had some good vocal chords. I met Mike when I was playing with Marcus King and Thee Royalty, but he’s also played with The Kissers and has his own organ trio called King Cruiser. I met Chris last Summer jamming at Madison Music Foundry, and he has a ton of experience playing with groups like Tommy Castro, Cold Blood, The Tubes, and the list goes on forever. Joe used to play guitar in Adam Isaac and the People, but I’ve know him since the early SWS days….funky as hell!

For now, we’ve been learning a bunch of funky covers, but the plan is to switch gears and start writing originals. We’re hoping to be playing out in a couple of months. Oh, if you have any ideas for a band name, post a comment!

It’s really hard to believe I used to like the Black Eyed Peas. I would recommend them to friends and bought at least two of their albums, but that was before they sold out. I first got turned onto them after Smokin’ with Superman played a show in Chicago and someone in the crowd told me that we reminded him of the Black Eyed Peas. I ended up going out and buying their album, “Bridging the Gap”. Loved it! I nice crossover album that mixed hip hop, funk, jazz, and other genres.

I liked this album, but the irony of this song today is hilarious….

I liked enough that I bought their new album, Elephunk, a few years later. I enjoyed it, and I was kind of digging on their new female singer, but they were starting to scare me with some of the radio friendly songs; like Hey Mama and Let’s Get Retarded, which ended up being renamed so they could sell the crap out of it.

I actually liked this song…

I still liked them since I couldn’t blame them for making radio friendly songs, yet, for the most part, stuck to their roots. They would play shows with an actual band, and from what I’ve heard, put on a good show.

Their next album, “Monkey Business”, was total garbage. I thankfully hadn’t bought the album yet when I friend of mine warned me not to buy it. He told me to check out the song, “My Humps“, which happens to be one of the worst songs ever created. First, Fergie should never ever rap. I was embarrassed for her and the rest of the band. Second, their genre just went from a crossover hip hop band to dance music you’d hear in a dirty small town dance club. It was official, the Black Eyed Peas had officially sold out to the record industry. I’m guessing they liked the money they made from Elephunk, and were willing to do anything to make more.

Total suck….

Over the next few years, their suckdom continued to grow, which included a horrific solo effort by Fergie. I just found out they played on American Idol, and they stunk it up pretty good. They keep saying, “I wanna rock right now”, but they don’t do anything but suck.

I wanna suck right now…

Who keeps buying their crappy auto-tuned albums? You need to stop!

Related:
The Black Eyed Peas “Give Back” with Embarrassing Idol Performance
Black Eyed Peas Have Officially Written The Worst Song Ever
The Black Eyed Peas Suck!

I watched Cadillac Records the other night and I absolutely love it. It was great to see them do a movie about that Chicago blues scene. It was truly a magical time.

In this tale of sex, violence, race, and rock and roll in 1950s Chicago, “Cadillac Records” follows the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America’s musical legends, including Muddy Waters, Leonard Chess, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, Etta James and Chuck Berry.

It was a great movie except one little thing. Beyonce. I think she did a decent job at acting, but her singing was awful compared to Etta James. When Beyonce started singing “At Last”, I just couldn’t stand it. Once she entered the movie, I had a hard time concentrating because I was so irritated with her awful singing. Beyonce may have a decent voice for pop/r&b songs for the MTV crowd, but people who actually love music realize she is no Etta James.

Etta James

Beyonce

Beyonce didn’t sing out of key or anything horribly bad, but her voice has no soul. She’s an average R&B singer trying to mimic the great Etta James. It doesn’t surprise me Etta doesn’t like Beyonce.

Related Links:
Cadillac Records Trailer
Etta James to Beyonce: I’ll Whoop Your Ass!

I saw a forum thread on Harmony Central about undeserving pop stars, and it got me thinking. A deserving pop star is first and foremost a talented singer. If they can’t sing, they are worthless. End of story. I don’t care if they write their own crappy pop songs, which are probably co-written or molded by their producer, who’s probably also a songwriter.

Anyway, here it goes…..

5. Ke$ha

I wouldn’t consider this girl to be popular yet, but wow does she suck. If she gains any popularity at all, she’ll probably move up a few spots.

If that isn’t proof enough, she does the EXACT same moves for every performance.

I’m pretty sure her 15 minutes are just about up. Hey Ke$ha, I suggest you save your money and go to community college. Otherwise, I see the word “stripper” in your future.

4. Taylor Swift

Taylor is HUGE right now. I’ve listened to her music, and it’s catchy pop songs for little kids. My niece loves her. But, is she deserving? She supposedly writes her own songs, which I have to give her some credit, but pop stars aren’t created because of good songwriting. Taylor is an extremely cute girl with a unique look to her. The young boys love her! Unfortunately, the world that isn’t tone deaf and doesn’t want to sleep with her, simply can’t stand her.

Here’s a few more examples:

Performance at Grammy Live concert 2008
there are no words for how much taylor swift CAN’T sing

There are a thousands of singers of more talented singers out there, yet Taylor is the one making millions and winning awards. If it wasn’t for great marketing, she’d be nothing but an average karoake singer aspiring to someday perform in a cover band.

3. Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee’s career should have never started. If it wasn’t for her sister, Jessica, she’d be a nobody. On top of being a horrible singer, she completely sold out by trading in her rocker look for the blonde barbie girl look, which included plastic surgery. Yay….she now looks like everyone else. It’s not surprising to see she’s doing a lot of lip syncing these days.

2. Rihanna

Rihanna is probably one of the absolute worst singers in pop music today. To begin with, she has a very limited range to her voice, but she also can’t sing in tune. I’m sure the producers even had a hard time getting the recording software to fix her voice….

I’m guessing we’ll never see Rihanna sing live ever again.

1. Britney Spears

Britney Spears is the #1 most undeserving pop star. Britney is an entertainer, not a singer, but she still performs live, or at least pretends to perform live. She occasionally attempts to sing live, only if she’s not dancing and if the part is easy enough for her tone deaf vocal chords. You’d think after all of these years of lip syncing, she’d eventually get good at that, but I guess not. Aside from being a mediocre dancer, what is she good at?

This might not be fair to post, since she’s singing along with the pre-recorded vocals, and it wasn’t meant to be heard by the public, but it gives you a sense how tone deaf she really is…..

Britney is nothing but a softcore porn star lip syncing her way through her choreographed dance numbers, but if it sells, her record label could care less. The only thing more pathetic is the millions of fans who aren’t smart enough to realize she’s a fraud.

I got a text from my wife last Friday, and it said, ” Smart Studios is closing.” I was immediately overwhelmed with emotions. Smart Studios was founded by Butch Vig and Steve Marker, both members of Garbage. I’ve recorded at Smart a couple of times with Smokin’ with Superman, and the experience alone was worth it. When you walk into the studio, you quickly see reminders of who’s recorded in that building. It was knowing that bands like Garbage and Nirvana recorded there that made that place so special. There used to be a wall of CDs upstairs, that gave you list of just some of the acts, and it was overwhelming. Smart Studios has been an icon in Madison, something all the locals could use to legitimize the quality of their music scene. It’s sad to see it go.

Related:
Madison’s Smart Studios closing, engineer confirms
Smart Studios closing March 1
Madison’s Historic Smart Studios to Close
Smart Studios is Closing
Recording Studios Face Uncertain Future

I just love this song, so I had to post it. Jason will be playing at the High Noon Saloon on November 21st.

I used to think many moons ago that Rolling Stone was a read-worthy magazine that had a true and honest love for music. Now, they’re nothing more than a rag that wouldn’t know good music if it slapped them in the face. For example, the new Muse review. I listened to this album, and it was one of the better albums I’ve heard in quite some time, and they get snubbed by RS for three stars? Really? I’ve heard nothing but positive reviews from anyone that has listened to this album, and I find it amusing that their average user rating for this album is 4.5 stars.

So, I thought I’d see how Muse held up against their other recent reviews, and it’s shocking some of the artists who have albums with more than three start. Mariah Carey? Yoko Ono? Whitney Houston? Madonna? Britney Spears??? Are you kidding me? I’m sorry, but these artists have very little to no talent in comparison to Muse. RS should bow their heads in shame.

A friend of mine:

I think R.S. may have been relevant like back in the 70′s and 80′s before electronic media, but I don’t know a single person who gives two shits about what they think or say. It’s just become a pseudo-politico piece of shit nowadays anyhow.

Rolling Stone Sucks
Brittle Bones at Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone Magazine is Sucking Ass & Taking Names
40 Albums That Rolling Stone Got Wrong
Global Superstars Muse Explode in America

This documentary explores the reason why so few companies currently control the music played on the radio and for sale at retail stores, and whether corporations really have the power to silence musical innovation.

I’ve been debating whether I should post something about this for a while now. I hate to come off as being mean, especially since Taylor Swift seems like a sweet person, but seriously, how can someone be this popular, and sing so badly? She is so out of key, her voice made my border collie tuck tail and run into the other room. Can’t say I didn’t warn you….

I thought I’d update this since she just sucked horrible at the Grammys….

NOTE: I originally posted her Grammy performance here, but the Grammys took it offline after one day. I’m sure Taylor Swift’s management wanted that performance erased from history.

Taylor Swift and the Grammys: Is that all there is?

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences would like to leave its television audience with the impression that Taylor Swift made the best album of the last year, “Fearless,” by awarding her its most prestigious prize. But what many people who watched the show are talking about Monday is not the “artistic achievement” of that album, to use the academy hyperbole, but the inability of Taylor Swift to sing on key. She was flatter than a pancake in her frankly embarrassing duet with Stevie Nicks.

http://taylorswift.com/
Taylor Swift Sucks Facebook Group
Taylor Swift SUCKS (and here’s why)