Well, Meryl Streep hits another one out of the ballpark with her latest performance in “Ricki and the Flash,” directed by Jonathan Demme. Streep plays an aging rock musician, named Ricki Rendazzo, who never quite made it big, but continues to perform in a small club at night while working at a grocery store by day to make ends meet. Her real name is Linda, but years earlier she abandoned that persona, along with her husband Pete, played by Kevin Kline, and three young children, to pursue her dream of being a rock star in California. When ex-husband Pete calls to inform her that their daughter Julie, played by Streep’s real-life daughter Mamie Gummer in a convincing performance, has had a nervous breakdown after her husband leaves her for another woman, Linda flies to Indianapolis to try and help her estranged daughter. Julie doesn’t exactly welcome her mother with open arms, nor do Linda’s two sons Joshua and Daniel. There’s a cringeworthy scene when Linda, Pete, their three children and Joshua’s fiance Emily gather for an extremely awkward dinner at an upscale restaurant. In due course, Linda has a confrontation with Pete’s current wife Maureen, beautifully played by the talented broadway star Audra McDonald. The film has a somewhat predictible but totally satisfying ending at the marriage of Joshua and Emily.
Throughout the film are several scenes of Ricki and her band The Flash performing in a small nightclub, mostly singing covers of other bands’ songs. Streep does all her own singing and even plays guitar, and singer Rick Springfield turns in a rather good and authentic performance as her bandmate and sometime love interest Greg. There is real chemistry between them, onstage and off. There are a few moments when the film could have become bogged down by cliche, but the strong acting performances by the entire cast keep it credible. Streep’s and Springfield’s musical performances are pretty enjoyable to watch too.
1. DREAMS – Beck
2. CAN’T FEEL MY FACE – The Weeknd
3. EX’S AND OH’S – Elle King
4. FIRST – Cold War Kids
5. RENEGADES – X Ambassadors
6. BLAME IT ON ME – George Ezra
7. TEAR IN MY HEART – twenty one pilots
8. SHIP TO WRECK – Florence + the Machine
9. COULD HAVE BEEN ME – The Struts
10. ELECTRIC LOVE – BORNS
I absolutely love this song by KONGOS, a South African rock band consisting of four brothers – Dylan (vocals, bass, guitar), Johnny (accordion, keyboards, vocals), Jesse (drums, percussion, vocals) and Daniel Kongos (guitar, vocals) – that’s been around for several years, but finally gained recognition in the U.S. in 2014. “Hey I Don’t Know” is one of the best songs from their album Lunatic, which also featured their hit “Come With Me Now”, and a great video of a live performance, with interesting perspectives displayed in split screens.
2012 was an exciting year for music, with more great songs from Adele, The Black Keys, Maroon 5, Kelly Clarkson, P!nk and Coldplay. A number of new artists, including fun., Ed Sheeran and Walk the Moon emerged on the music scene with songs that became instant classics. Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” was a huge crossover hit, and ended up being the #1 Song of the Year on Billboard’s Hot 100, Rock, Adult Pop and Alternative Charts. It also was awarded a Grammy for Record of the Year, and is my favorite song of 2012. Here are my 50 favorite songs of 2012.
1. SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW – Gotye featuring Kimbra
2. TONGUE TIED – Grouplove
3. WE ARE YOUNG – fun. Featuring Janelle Monae
4. LONELY BOY – The Black Keys
5. SET FIRE TO THE RAIN – Adele
6. SOME NIGHTS – fun.
7. COUGH SYRUP – Young the Giant
8. CALL ME MAYBE – Carly Rae Jepsen
9. ONE MORE NIGHT – Maroon 5
10. STRONGER (WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU) – Kelly Clarkson
11. PARADISE – Coldplay
12. BLOW ME (ONE LAST KISS) – P!nk
13. BURN IT DOWN – Linkin Park
14. THE A TEAM – Ed Sheeran
15. PAYPHONE – Maroon 5
16. PRINCESS OF CHINA – Coldplay featuring Rihanna
17. WE FOUND LOVE – Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna
18. GLAD YOU CAME – The Wanted
19. DON’T STOP (COLOR ON THE WALLS) – Foster the People
20. HOME – Phillip Phillips
21. EVERYBODY TALKS – Neon Trees
22. GOLD ON THE CEILING – The Black Keys
23. TAKE A WALK – Passion Pit
24. RUMOUR HAS IT – Adele
25. LIGHTS – Ellie Goulding
26. WIDE AWAKE – Katy Perry
27. IT WILL RAIN – Bruno Mars
28. MIDNIGHT CITY – M83
29. TITANIUM – David Guetta featuring Sia
30. GOOD FEELING – Flo Rida
31. ANNA SUN – Walk the Moon
32. GIVE YOUR HEART A BREAK – Demi Lovato
33. WHAT MAKES YOU BEAUTIFUL – One Direction
34. TOO CLOSE – Alex Clare
35. DRIVE BY – Train
36. LITTLE BLACK SUBMARINES – The Black Keys
37. RUNAWAYS – The Killers
38. THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY – Katy Perry
39. LET ME LOVE YOU – Ne-Yo
40. HALL OF FAME – The Script featuring will.i.am
41. THESE DAYS – Foo Fighters
42. FINE BY ME – Andy Grammer
43. I WON’T GIVE UP – Jason Mraz
44. WILD ONES – Flo Rida featuring Sia
45. CHARLIE BROWN – Coldplay
46. HOLD ON – Alabama Shakes
47. NOT OVER YOU – Gavin DeGraw
48. NOT YOUR FAULT – Awolnation
49. DAYS GO BY – The Offspring
50. MR. KNOW IT ALL – Kelly Clarkson
The song – if it could even be referred to as such – “Booty” by Jennifer Lopez and Iggy Azalea is hands down one of the worst singles of 2014, and the accompanying video is unbelievably repulsive. The song is a stupid repetitive piece of crap, and the video is nothing more than soft-core porn. Jennifer Lopez at 46 still has a great body and desperately wants to remain relevant to Millenials, but this is embarrassingly bad, and Iggy Azalea is a no-talent twit.
1. DREAMS – Beck
2. CAN’T FEEL MY FACE – The Weeknd
3. EX’S AND OH’S – Elle King
4. RENEGADES – X Ambassadors
5. TEAR IN MY HEART – twenty one pilots
6. FIRST – Cold War Kids
7. THE WOLF – Mumford & Sons
8. BLAME IT ON ME – George Ezra
9. SHIP TO WRECK – Florence + the Machine
10. COULD HAVE BEEN ME – The Struts
A number of talented alternative, indie rock and hip hop bands and artists emerged on the music scene in 2013, including Lorde, The Neighbourhood, Capital Cities, Bastille, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, and Lana Del Rey. Other established artists such as P!nk, OneRepublic, Bruno Mars, Muse, Fitz & the Tantrums, Rihanna and Fall Out Boy also produced some memorable songs. My pick for the best song of 2013 is “Sweater Weather,” the achingly beautiful song of young love and lust by The Neighbourhood.
1. SWEATER WEATHER – The Neighbourhood
2. CAN’T HOLD US – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Ray Dalton
3. RADIOACTIVE – Imagine Dragons
4. SAFE AND SOUND – Capital Cities
5. OUT OF MY LEAGUE – Fitz & the Tantrums
6. JUST GIVE ME A REASON – P!nk featuring Nate Ruess
7. LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN – Bruno Mars
8. COUNTING STARS – OneRepublic
9. MADNESS – Muse
10. ROYALS – Lorde
11. THRIFT SHOP – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz
12. BLURRED LINES – Robin Thicke + Pharrell + T.I.
13. HO HEY – The Lumineers
14. WAKE ME UP! – Avicii
15. STAY – Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko
16. GET LUCKY -Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams
17. LITTLE TALKS – Of Monsters and Men
18. DON’T YOU WORRY CHILD – Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin
19. IT’S TIME – Imagine Dragons
20. ELEPHANT – Tame Impala
21. CARRY ON – fun.
22. WHEN I WAS YOUR MAN – Bruno Mars
23. WAYS TO GO – Grouplove
24. POMPEII – Bastille
25. I WILL WAIT – Mumford & Sons
26. SUMMERTIME SADNESS – Lana Del Rey
27. CATCH MY BREATH – Kelly Clarkson
28. MY SONGS KNOW WHAT YOU DID IN THE DARK – Fall Out Boy
29. DAYLIGHT – Maroon 5
30. MIRRORS – Justin Timberlake
31. DEMONS – Imagine Dragons
32. TROJANS – Atlas Genius
33. ROAR – Katy Perry
34. MISS JACKSON – Panic! At the Disco
35. TREASURE – Bruno Mars
36. CLARITY – Zedd featuring Foxes
37. HOLD ON, WE’RE GOING HOME – Drake
38. THE MONSTER – Rihanna + Eminem
39. TAKE BACK THE NIGHT – Justin Timberlake
40. HARLEM – New Politics
41. SAIL – AWOLNATION
42. LEADER OF THE BROKEN HEARTS – Papa Roach
43. I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE – Taylor Swift
44. LOVE SOMEBODY – Maroon 5
45. A LIGHT THAT NEVER COMES – Linkin Park
46. SAME LOVE – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Mary Lambert
47. BRAVE – Sara Bareilles
48. SWEET NOTHING – Calvin Harris featuring Florence Welch
49. DIAMONDS – Rihanna
50. TRY – P!nk
2014 was an incredible year for music, especially alternative and indie rock. In my opinion, it was the best year for music since 1990, and I was actually hard-pressed to limit my list to only 100 songs. A number of great new albums were released, including “Ghost Stories” from Coldplay, “Supermodel” from Foster the People, “Turn Blue” from The Black Keys, “X” from Ed Sheeran, “Morning Phase” from Beck, and “In the Lonely Hour” from Sam Smith.
My favorite song is “Love Me Again” from John Newman, an amazingly talented soulful-voiced singer from Britain who has one of the best and most unique voices around today. He sings of the hurt he caused his lover, then passionately pleads for forgiveness to a driving breakbeat with powerful organ, drums and piano. The song is a musical masterpiece that was underrated in the U.S. It was released in 2013, but peaked on the charts during the first few months of 2014, so ends up on my list for that year.
Here is my list of the 100 best songs of 2014:
1. LOVE ME AGAIN – John Newman
2. DO I WANNA KNOW? – Arctic Monkeys
3. COME A LITTLE CLOSER – Cage the Elephant
4. TAKE ME TO CHURCH – Hozier
5. HAPPY – Pharrell Williams
6. SEASONS (WAITING ON YOU) – Future Islands
7. POMPEII – Bastille
8. A SKY FULL OF STARS – Coldplay
9. FEVER – The Black Keys
10. COMING OF AGE – Foster the People
11. RIPTIDE – Vance Joy
12. THE WALKER – Fitz & the Tantrums
13. MAGIC – Coldplay
14. CHANDELIER – Sia
15. RED EYES – The War on Drugs
16. BLAME – Calvin Harris featuring John Newman
17. PSEUDOLOGIA FANTASTICA – Foster the People
18. COME WITH ME NOW – KONGOS
19. STOLEN DANCE – Milky Chance
20. BEST FRIEND – Foster the People
21. TEAM – Lorde
22. SING – Ed Sheeran
23. BAD BLOOD – Bastille
24. I WANNA GET BETTER – Bleachers
25. SLEEPING WITH A FRIEND – Neon Trees
26. LOVE RUNS OUT – OneRepublic
27. WHY’D YOU ONLY CALL ME WHEN YOU’RE HIGH – Arctic Monkeys
28. GIANTS – Bear Hands
29. AFRAID – The Neighbourhood
30. STAY WITH ME – Sam Smith
31. BEST DAY OF MY LIFE – American Authors
32. SOMETHING FROM NOTHING – Foo Fighters
33. DON’T – Ed Sheeran
34. COUNTING STARS – OneRepublic
35. MY SWEET SUMMER – Dirty Heads
36. IT’S ABOUT TIME – Young the Giant
37. SOUTHERN SUN – Boy and Bear
38. DANGEROUS – Big Data featuring Joywave
39. LEFT HAND FREE – Alt-J
40. CAR RADIO – twenty one pilots
41. FALL IN LOVE – Phantogram
42. BLUE MOON – Beck
43. LATCH – Disclosure featuring Sam Smith
44. HABITS (STAY HIGH) – Tove Lo
45. WHO NEEDS YOU – The Orwells
46. RATHER BE – Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne
47. BACK TO THE SHACK – Weezer
48. SUMMER – Calvin Harris
49. CENTURIES – Fall Out Boy
50. ALL OF ME – John Legend
51. THUNDER CLATTER – Wild Cub
52. LAZARETTO – Jack White
53. GIRLS/BOYS/GIRLS – Panic! At the Disco
54. I’M ONLY JOKING – KONGOS
55. LA LA LA – Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith
56. FOOLS GOLD – Fitz & the Tantrums
57. CARDIAC ARREST – Big Suns
58. MIDNIGHT – Coldplay
59. TRUE LOVE – Coldplay
60. THIS IS GOSPEL – Panic! At the Disco
61. WAIT FOR ME – Kings of Leon
62. UNBELIEVERS – Vampire Weekend
63. DIGITAL WITNESS – St. Vincent
64. STORY OF MY LIFE – One Direction
65. RUDE – Magic!
66. AM I WRONG? – Nico & Vinz
67. TIMBER – Pitbull featuring Ke$ha
68. GOTTA GET AWAY – The Black Keys
69. CHOCOLATE – The 1975
70. MAPS – Maroon 5
71. COOL KIDS – Echosmith
72. LOVE DON’T DIE – The Fray
73. SAY SOMETHING – Great Big World with Christina Aguilera
74. AFTERLIFE – Arcade Fire
75. WEST COAST – Lana Del Rey
76. GIMME SOMETHING GOOD – Ryan Adams
77. TALK DIRTY – Jason Derulo
78. ALL THE RAGE BACK HOME – Interpol
79. NOT A BAD THING – Justin Timberlake
80. BOOM CLAP – Charlie XCX
81. DO OR DIE – 30 Seconds to Mars
82. SUPERHEROES – The Script
83. DO YOU – Spoon
84. ALL ABOUT THAT BASS – Meghan Trainor
84. ANIMALS – Maroon 5
86. BURN – Ellie Goulding
87. ONE MINUTE MORE – Capital Cities
88. GIRLS CHASE BOYS – Ingrid Michaelson
89. FLAWS – Bastille
90. LET HER GO – Passenger
91. WEEKEND – Priory
92. HEY BROTHER – Avicii
93. MIND OVER MATTER – Young the Giant
94. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT – Cage the Elephant
95. SIRENS – Pearl Jam
96. I DON’T WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE – Rise Against
97. ANGEL IN BLUE JEANS – Train
98. YOUNG GIRLS – Bruno Mars
99. AIN’T IT FUN – Paramore
100. JUST ONE OF THE GUYS – Jenny Lewis
I really love the song “My Type” by SAINT MOTEL, and the fun and stylish video for the retro-sounding track is fantastic. It’s especially interesting for me, as it was filmed in a mid-century modern home. a very iconic type of house in Palm Springs.
ECLECTIC MUSIC LOVER 