Semisonic "Chemistry"

Here's another Weekend Post:
After yesterday's horror, it's good to return to the more understated late 90s/2000s, where stripes and glasses and choker-things were the wild accessories.

"All About Chemistry" ended up being Semisonic's final record, which was disappointing, because I think, like Fountains Of Wayne, there was a breakthrough hit somewhere in their future, that would have opened up an audience to a treasure trove of great catalogue songs.



Hear the song on Youtube.

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are fun to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.

Trip Shakespeare "Bachelorette"

Here's another Weekend Post:
After writing about Dan Wilson earlier this week, I thought I'd make the weekend posts about his two former bands.

As the kids would say, OMG!

I had never seen this video before.

With the hair and the "rocking out lip-syncing" this is such an 80s video.  And it totally reminds me of that movie with Hugh Grant where he's the songwriter and they flash back to his 80s hits.  Except I'm not sure they were joking in this video.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Weekend posts are a chance to revisit songs that have happy memories, not of anything in particular, other than just hearing the tunes.

Many of these songs were tracks that I played during my 90s stint as an Alternative/Modern Rock radio show.  They're tunes that I hardly hear these days, but are fun to revisit.

Click on the "Weekend Posts" label below, to see other posts like this.

Dan Wilson "Disappearing"

Sometimes it is such a relief to hear a good song.

Dan Wilson is one of those artists that I personally love.  But none of his work has ever really fit on MVY.  Or fit snugly, anyway.

His 80s and 90s bands---Trip Shakespeare and Semisonic---were a little too pop for the MVY world.

And when Semisonic's  early-2000s "All About Chemistry" album didn't really break through, commercially, the band went on hold and it seemed like maybe Wilson's considerable song-crafting talents could have slide into obscurity.

Thankfully, he developed into an incredible co-writer and producer, reaching the highest highs in the last decade while co-writing and producing Grammy winning smash hits for The Dixie Chicks and Adele.

He's also worked with Jason Mraz, Mike Doughty, Taylor Swift and Rachel Yamagata, among other artists who can deliver a strong song with a pop sheen.

But listening to a song like Adele's "Someone Like You," even if you feel like that song is too much of a "pop hit," your ears would have to be broken to miss the fact that it is an incredibly well-constructed song, with an instantly memorable melody, with lyrics that pack an emotional wallop.

He could make a song that would fit on MVY.

And he did.

I haven't even dug into what "Disappearing" might be about, or plumbed the details of the melody and the arrangement.  I have the feeling that the depth of the song will unfold for me in the coming weeks of listening.  But I didn't have to think too hard about adding it to MVY's rotation.

I only had to hear the song once, to love it.

And that, if anything, is the mark of a Dan Wilson tune.   


Hear the song on Youtube.

Adele "Someone Like You"

Well, we didn't really shock the world here, announcing that mvyradio's listeners voted Adele's "21" record to be our #1 Album Of 2011. I mean, she topped about a hundred other "Best Of" lists, too, including the telling Billboard list, which isn't necessarily a mark of quality, but in this case denotes that LOTS of people loved this record.

This is the last song on the record, and leaves the door wide open for what might come next . . .

She could go in a fully Pop direction, and cement herself as an icon of Gaga proportions.

There is the rumored Country record that she has mentioned in interviews. Seems her tour bus driver introduced her to Patsy Cline and other classic twangsters.

Or, as she as also mentioned in interviews, she could more directly emulate her biggest influence and become an Etta James for a new generation.

It just another thing to look forward to for 2012.

(added bonus on this song . . . it was co-written by Dan Wilson of Semisonic. So nice to see a great songwriter find collaborators who can take his gifts for melody, and hit a home run with it)


Hear the song on Youtube.