Blog Note: This used to be housed on my non-Collegian blog, but like migratory birds, spring brings change. And so, the Venues:Music blog will now be the home of Twofer Tuesday, a weekly series in which I direct you all to two songs I'm digging right now.

JOSH RITTER

For a non-superfan, Josh Ritter's Saturday night show at the State Theatre was a bit of a letdown. I only knew three songs - "Angels on Her Shoulders," "Snow is Gone," and "Kathleen" - and just one was played. Hyped up on ... something, Ritter was kind of a smiley mess, too reliant on lame sight-gag jokes. I'm glad I loved his opener -- Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers -- so much, because otherwise it would have been a wasted $23. All that being said, though, I fell head over heels in love with Ritter's "Harrisburg," a lovely, mellow song off one of his earliest albums. It's got an old sort of quaintness to it, like you're just discovering some antique classic for the very first time. Check it out for yourself:

PAULINE

I love songs sung in foreign languages. I'm a sucker for terrible French pop, Israeli reggae, Italian techno, freakin' weird Scandinavian folk ditties. Parisian-born chanteuse Pauline falls into that first category; she's like a totally sweet, charming French version of Colbie Caillat or Sara Bareilles. "Allo Le Monde" is pleasant folk-pop, but it also packs a protest punch, shaming the world for basically ignoring scores of natural disasters that take place in countries other than our own. I first heard this song in Israel last summer, and it's stuck with me rather tremendously. What do you lot think of it?

See you next week. :)

- Alex Weisler

Kudos to HypeLG.com for posting this great video that shows just how
out of touch the McDonalds staff in Paris are when it comes to
Pharrell's hunger for McDonalds. Apparently, Pharrell wanted a Quarter
Pounder so bad, he resorted to singing and dancing in hopes that the
Mickey D's would open up a bit early for the man with the mad beats.

For all you angst-lovers out there, the hype around New Found Glory's new release called Not Without a Fight is that it returns to the band's former punk rock glory and shies away from the softer side of previous releases like Catalyst and Coming Home. This album supposedly shows that they are "back to their roots" after a long hiatus from which fans were not quite sure they would ever come back. So I'm reading all of these reviews and I'm thinking about how there must be something wrong with me because I actually liked Coming Home. I mean, does everyone think if Jordan's not screaming and spitting into the microphone (for all of you who don't know, this is definitely what he does live), that it's not the real NFG? Can't punk rockers show their sensitive side at times too? No one had a problem with Blink's "I Miss You."

I mean sure I love the old stuff from Self-Titled and Sticks and Stones, but when you listen to a song like "Boulders" off of Coming Home, with its slow, steady guitar lines and choir vocal breakdown, how can you not give them credit for doing something different? When you think about hearing an album for the first time, songs like that are the ones that are going to stick out right away. For me, nothing really sticks out yet on Not Without a Fight. I'm not saying I like it or dislike it, it's just I usually appreciate an album with more depth over one with more drum-beating and more lyrics that make you want to start a riot or break up with your girlfriend (or boyfriend).

-- Beth Ann

There's something that's been bothering me about some of the reviews of Neko Case's recent album, Middle Cyclone (also reviewed in today's Collegian). The album's last track, "Marais La Nuit," is 32 minutes of a field recording Case made on her property. It's a cacophony of summer peepers - swamp frogs - singing uninterrupted for a good half hour. The problem is that I've read at least three different reviews of the album that refer to sounds of the track as "the chirping of crickets." Those ain't crickets. That the review on PopMatters makes this mistake annoys me the most, because it also gave the album (which is very good) a 5/10. Please, reviewers, get your facts straight.

- Andy

Jack White has unveiled yet another "side project" band. Already a member of musical heavyweights The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, White's new band is named The Dead Weather. The announcement of the band accompanied the grand opening of White's Third Man Records in Nashville.

The Dead Weather is a supergroup of sorts, featuring members from other bands: Alison Mosshart (The Kills) sings, Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) plays guitar, and Jack Lawrence (most recently The Raconteurs) plays bass. Perhaps most interesting is White's role in the band: he plays the drums. "Tonight was the first time I played drums on stage since I was a teenager," White told The New York Times.
-Andy

Apparently, Miley Cyrus is a Radiohead fan.

The "Hannah Montana" star had a dressing room near Thom Yorke and company at the Grammys. When she tried to use her own star power to set up a meeting, Radiohead declined. Cyrus threw a temper tantrum and vowed to "ruin" the band. The day a corporate creation like Miley Cyrus can ruin Radiohead is the day the American music officially dies.

- Andy

If you're bored over the break and trolling iTunes sounds like a better alternative to watching daytime television, be sure to check out the newest installment of the Punk Goes series, which drops on March 10th. Punk Goes Pop 2 is the latest release on this series by Fearless Records, which also includes such compilations as Punk Goes Crunk, Punk Goes '80s and Punk Goes Acoustic. Punk Goes Pop 2 features such popular rock, punk, and screamo bands as Silverstein covering "Apologize" by One Republic and Mayday Parade putting their own unique spin on "When I Grow Up" by Pussycat Dolls. Even if you're not into punk, these variations of popular radio hits provide, if nothing else, an unparalleled form of musical entertainment. The album allows listeners to bask in the irony of the long-haired members of Attack Attack!, some of whom could be mistaken for girls, singing "I Kissed A Girl," as well as listeners getting a laugh out of hearing any self-respecting punk band singing a Miley Cyrus song. Check out the album's Myspace for links to where you can listen to the entire album streaming, or pre-order the album and have the opportunity to receive and free copy of Punk Goes Pop 1.

-- Beth Ann

If you are:

A. A State College resident

B. Under 21 years of age

C. Not into paying cover charges

D. Not living under a cultural rock and enjoy live music from time to time

Then have no fear, Hot Topic is here to provide you with your acoustic fill of free performances from local and big label artists. Just a simple car or bus ride down to the Nittany Mall can provide you with early evening entertainment that will end early enough for you to study afterward.

These Hot Topic sponsored concerts include past performances from national band Sing it Loud, as well as multiple local artists. Events to look forward to in the future can be found here, and will even include a release party for the Twilight DVD on March 21.

I just recently experienced my first acoustic set in the store, and I was blown away by how the intimate setting enhanced the one-man-with-a-guitar performance by local artist, Joel Dobbins. To experience it for yourself, you can check out the video taken at the performance under the multimedia of the Collegian Web site, or you could head out the mall for the next acoustic set.

-- Beth Ann

http://www.blink182reunion.com/

Blink- 182 is reunited, and it feels so good.

Well at least for me, a 19-year-old college student who still mainly listens to the pop-punk genre that usually pertains to screaming, crying high school girls who are too cool for the Jonas Brothers. I remember being one of these girls, but I was ridiculed by my friends for straying towards the alt rock section of Best Buy instead of buying the newest installment of Britney's discography. My first encounter with blink-182 came when I stayed up passed my bedtime on night in grade school watching a documentary about blink on MTV. It gave an inside look into the production of their self-titled album, which was the last before the big break-up. I remember Tom and Mark talking about the process of writing the lyrics for the major single from that album, "Feeling This." They said they each went into separate rooms where one wrote the verses and one wrote the chorus, and ironically, they both ended up writing about sex. My 12-year-old self was fascinated. I guess I'm glad that I took an interest in bands who actually wrote their own music at such a young age. I bought this album, and was made fun of by my grade school cheerleader friends for being "gothic." I perservered through the ridicule, and went on to buy Catalyst from New Found Glory and Hangover You Don't Deserve from Bowling for Soup. Pretty soon, those same friends who had made fun of me were accompanying me to shows at the Electric Factory and letting me burn their SoCo cds. One actually even introduced me to Boxcar Racer. From then on I was hooked, and now I interview punk bands every other week for Punk Nights and the Brewery, and I love every minute of it.

The members of blink released a message to the public that stated they were "picking up where they left off and then some," including recording a new album. So I hope all critics saying the summer 2009 tour is just a gimmick can be silenced when blink-182 gives us a whole new batch of tracks to add to their list of iconic anthems. If and when this new album comes out, I hope there are a few more 12-year-old girls who reach for it in the record store and share the same experiences I have had as a fan of this.

-- Beth Ann

There've been plenty of Valentine's Day playlists compiled in the past, and it's hard to try to improve on the formula. Instead, this mix tries to mine the pop music catalog for examples of more offbeat romance, which turns out to be a surprisingly common theme. Even Eric Clapton's "Layla" was a musical love letter to his best friend George Harrison's current wife... and that's a tame example. Some of these might not be appropriate for the easily offended.

"867-5309/Jenny" - Tommy Tutone: This 1982 hit is a famous example of slight perversion in pop lyrics, with lead singer Tommy Heath proclaiming his love for a girl whose number he found written, ostensibly, in a bathroom stall.

"Necromancer" - Gnarls Barkley: You might be able to tell from the pun in this song's title what it's about (nec-romancer, get it?) but its twist ending redeems it slightly from the extremely taboo subject matter.

"How Dare You Call This Love" - The Darkness: Songs about jailbait have been disturbingly prevalent in pop music, from The Beatles' "I Saw Here Standing There" to The Police's "Don't Stand So Close To Me." This song, by defunct British group The Darkness, sounds like a standard love song until the line "I can't wait for the day when you finally turn 16" gives it away.

"Stacy's Mom" - Fountains of Wayne: This novelty hit is essentially the opposite of the previous song and should be self-explanatory.

"Little Ghost" - The White Stripes: Jack White's written several songs about unrequited love for the late Rita Hayworth, so lyrics in which he wines and dines a phantom don't come as a surprise.

"Double Team" - Tenacious D: This song suggests the possibilities of a ménage à trois with the members of joke rock duo Tenacious D. What girl could resist?

"If You're Into It" - Flight of the Conchords: The dudes in Flight of the Conchords are another comedy duo possibly interested in a threesome, but they're a lot more polite about it.

"I'm in Love With My Car" - Queen: Freddie Mercury wrote quite a few famous songs about love, but drummer Roger Taylor's contribution to 1975's seminal A Night at the Opera album is by far the most offbeat example in Queen's catalog.

"Big Bottom" - Spinal Tap: "Tush," "My Humps" and "Fat Bottomed Girls" are perhaps more well-known odes to the derriere, but the bone-headed double entendres in this anthem by fake hard rock group Spinal Tap help it rise to the top.

-Andy