The Hunger Games
If you haven’t already, read these page turners. You’ll be ready for Catching Fire as soon as you finish The Hunger Games. You can knock ‘em out in a weekend.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
—Come Home
Ryan Adams - “Come Home”
The prolific Ryan Adams does his best James Taylor in this folk ballad from his new album Ashes & Fire.
Damien Rice - “One” (U2 Cover)
Damien Rice’s O still holds the number one spot on my list of favorite albums, all these years later, so I’m always excited to see something new from him. Here he’s covering my favorite U2 song for an album of covers of the Irishmen. Something about the combination of Damien Rice and Alison Hannigan’s voices with his guitar and that cello is always magic.
Dubstep doesn’t really lend itself to dancing, unless you’re this guy. Check out dude’s moves to a dubstep version of “Pumped Up Kicks” by Foster the People.
North Carolina native J. Cole’s album is dropping in two weeks and it is set to be a huge debut for the Roc-a-Fella rapper. Check out his new video for his single “Can’t Get Enough,” featuring Trey Songz. It’s like a less extravagant “Big Pimpin’” and has a special guest near the end.
New Fall Premiers: FOX
Alcatraz - Hurley is back on the island!!! Well, not really, but Alcatraz IS backed by the creator of the smoke monster himself, J.J. Abrams (Alias, LOST, Fringe). The pilot for this mid-season 2012 drama focuses on a detective hunting down a suspect for the murder of a man who once worked in the Alcatraz prison, which is now a tourist destination. The plot thickens as we discover that this time-travelling fugitive is not committing these murders under his own volition and that he in fact has not aged a day (once again, Richard Alpert!) since he—and many other prisoners—mysteriously disappeared from the prison decades ago. (cue trombone noise) This show carries a lot of themes we have come to expect from an Abrams show, including mysterious organizations, flashback story-lines, disjointed plot points that keep you guessing, Jorge Garcia, etc. I think the show has potential to get picked up, especially if the other FOX shows are struggling at this point in the season. I’ll probably hop on board with this one and hope that the story can build into a larger arc, instead of one-off episodes with each featuring a different mysterious and dangerous criminal. We have to go back!!
New Girl - This new comedy features the almost obnoxiously quirky and cute Zooey Deschanel (Elf) as Jess who is coming off of a painfully awkward break-up with her ex and looking for a new place to live. She ends up finding three bros looking for a roommate, including Max Greenfeld (Happy Endings, Veronica Mars) and Damon Wayans Jr. (Happy Endings). [Wayans will only be appearing in the pilot and will be replaced in the show, as his (much funnier) Happy Endings will be picked up for a second season.] The pilot had me laughing throughout and was unexpectedly geared towards guys as well as girls. The humor was sometimes corny (the guys are a bit too bro at times) and sometimes smart. If you like How I Met Your Mother or Happy Endings, definitely check it out!
I Hate My Teenage Daughter - Although I love Jamie Pressly (she stole the show on My Name Is Earl and is from Kinston, NC), this show was awful. I could only make it through about 12 minutes. Between the obnoxious/stereotypical characters and the ridiculous laugh track, I would say this show will only air two or three episodes at most before FOX pulls the plug.
Note: I didn’t watch The Finder because I have never seen Bones and it looked pretty terrible.
New Fall Premiers: The CW
Ringer - Buffy is back and this time she is trading in her stake for a handgun. Definitely the most anticipated of the CW’s new lineup, the show lives up to its hype. Although there are some iffy special effects (Sarah Michelle Gellar plays identical twins and those conversation scenes aren’t exactly Hollywood caliber), the plot moves the pilot along and the twists keep coming. I’ve always liked SMG and this is no different—she does a great job of creating the two separate characters. I’ll definitely be checking Ringer out this season to see what develops (and to see if SMG can escape Richard Alpert!).
Hart of Dixie - Aside from very brief use of the Avett Brothers, there was nothing really good about this pilot (even that was balanced out by T-Pain later in the episode). It might have been better if they had made it an OC spin off with Summer Roberts, instead of Rachel Bilson playing a character just like Summer Roberts (albeit less funny). There is an alligator whisperer. I’ll say no more.
The Secret Circle - Although I haven’t seen either, it seems like a mash-up of Vampire Diaries and Twilight. The premiere wastes no time in getting to the point: a circle of angsty teen witches with all kinds of powers that they use to get their way. Imagine the possibilities!! Anyway, the pilot sets up some interesting story lines, including evil warlock dads, mysterious & magical family books and a main character who may be more powerful than all the other witches, unbeknownst to her. I’ll probably give it a few watches and see what ends up brewing (yeah…went there).
NOTE: I didn’t bother watching H8R
Terius Nash (aka The-Dream) - 1977
The-Dream’s latest effort is mixtape/album that he is releasing to fans for free via his website while his The Love, IV: Diary of a Madman album is still set to come out later in 2011. In typical The-Dream fashion, the production is top-notch and the subject matter is bravado. There are no multi-song, story-line songs that have become a staple of his albums, I suppose he’s saving for the real thing. Standouts include “Ghetto (feat. Big Sean),” which sounds like a typical single from the A-town singer, “Wedding Crasher” and a nice verse from Pharrell. The title song is a rare tender moment from Nash where the true meaning of the song isn’t revealed until later in the song. One of my favorite parts of The-Dream’s music is his self-reverential nods to his older songs throughout newer music, so listen out for those on this album.
Jay-Z - “Public Service Announcement (Paul Nice Remix)”
Check out this old-school remix to the Black Album classic.
Spotted over at 2DB
