A Music Channel that Actually Plays Music - Seriously!

Maybe everyone has heard of Palladia and I'm just seriously late to the party. It's happened before. But since it's new to me, I had to share. I "discovered" Palladia few months ago. It's an HD channel grouped with MTV AND VH1 in the channel listing in my cable system. As we all know, MTV and VH1 stopped caring about music a long time ago, so I'm ecstatic that Palladia exists.

All those MTV Unplugged and VH1 Storytellers episodes? They've found a home on Palladia.* Since I figured out the channel was there and what it was, I've watched concerts featuring Lady Gaga, Adele, Usher, Sara Bareilles, Kanye West, and Cee-lo Green. And those are just the ones that immediately popped into my head. There are more.

I watched a documentary chronicling the lead-up to the release of Beyonce's latest album 4. It was fascinating to watch if only to hear her talk about why she decided to relieve her father of his managerial duties. She said she wanted to gain more control over her career. Is that spin? I'm sure to a certain extent it is, but as Beyonce is very private and doesn't publicly address issues like this often, it was nice to get an explanation directly from her.

A few weeks ago, I watched Madonna's Truth or Dare. Although it's twenty years old, I'd never seen it. I was fascinated.

Madonna seems remarkably unaffected by her fame. I kept wondering if she did a sequel today would she still come across that way. She did a show in Michigan and said she loved being home, which is funny because she basically makes England home now and people make fun of her for faking a British accent.

Also, I loved how she said she found it weird that celebrities assumed a level of friendship with her and other celebrities just because they happened to be famous.

Anywho, I make it a point to stop by Palladia to see what they're showing when I'm channel surfing. For those who don't care about the pop and R&B scene, they show a lot of other stuff like country, classic rock (there was a ZZ Top concert on a few days ago), and indie rock music. I'm not into bands like Mumford & Sons, but if you are, know Palladia isn't ignoring them.

And they show videos, too. As someone who was raised on BET, this makes my heart happy.

Basically, Palladia has something for everybody. Yay for its existence! It's totally epic and awesome.

*Funny enough when I went to Palladia's website, I saw that it was owned by MTV and VH1. Guess that explains why the channel has the rights to air all those old concerts. And maybe why MTV and VH1 are fine with airing so little music these days.

Jam of the Week

I love music, especially pop(ular) music, e.g. true pop music, R&B, hip hop, rock or country. If it's playing on the Top 40 radio station, I can generally at least stand it. I thought about what my first Jam of the Week would be. I know there will be a lot of songs from the 80s and the 90s featured because that's how I roll, but I decided to go with a current song because it allows me to discuss the pop scene and what it takes (and doesn't take) to have a hit. So without further ado, the inaugural Jam of the Week is... E.T  by Katy Perry.

Yes, I'm serious. I love this song. I don't love Katy.

To be perfectly honest, she rubbed me the wrong way a few seasons ago on American Idol when she acted as a guest judge. I thought she came across as bitchy and I found it laughable that she was judging other people's vocal ability when hers is less than stellar.

But back to the point. I love this song for several reasons. It has a great beat. The chorus gets stuck in your head. It makes me want to dance. Kanye West adds a nice touch and gives the song some street cred.

Basically, it has all the trademarks of a great pop song. It's a formula that has stood the test of time and will continue to do so, regardless of the singer. Sometimes this annoys me and I find it very hard to overlook the singer's shortcomings (i.e. anything by Miley Cyrus), but if the production is great and the singer's role is limited, sometimes I don't mind as much.

Katy Perry herself is almost incidental in the song's success. Her vocals are the least important part of the song. The producers made a great decision when they replaced her sung bridge in with a Kanye rap in the radio edit because she sounds strained and it's unpleasant to my ear.

What do you think? Do you like the song? Do singers with limited vocal ability annoy you or don't you care as long as the song is catchy?