Artists Writing For Each Other Makes For Great Music

British pop star Jessie J co-wrote Miley Cyrus’s infectious classic “Party in the USA.” One Republic frontman Ryan Tedder is also a prominent songwriter and producer, crafting tracks for the likes of Beyonce, Kelly Clarkson, and Adele. Even Ke$amp;ha has gotten into the writing-music-for-others game, taking a co-writer credit on Britney Spears’s “Till the World Ends.”

Sometimes just knowing that an already-famous artist wrote a song for someone else is enough to deepen your appreciation for that song. That applies specifically to my renewed love for Beyonce’s “I Miss You,” a track off the recently-released 4 and written by up-and-coming R&B star, Frank Ocean.

A pretty simple track, for sure, but BEAUTIFUL. I randomly read that Frank Ocean wrote it a week or so ago and it made me become randomly obsessed with it. He even performed his own version of it at a show he did in New Orleans last week.

So…yeah. One awesome track performed by two incredibly talented musicians.

Y’all have a great week, yeah?

Josh

A Slight Change in Direction

Hey readers!
Happy Wednesday!

So instead of writing TWO Low Anthem posts, I figured I’d condense it all into one long holy-shit-that-was-in-fucking-credible rant (there’s a sliver of what’s to come).  Also, it’s midterms/the week before break and I figure we all need some upbeat what-the-fuckery in our lives.  Ready? Good.

I didn’t know this existed until last week when I was hanging out with some friends having a snack and, well, let’s face it, now my life is complete.  It’s too good. Too bad they can’t perform together at the Grammys next year, they could’ve been the next Cee Lo/Gwyneth Paltrow combo.

Also:

Maybe her neck got tired of whipping all that hair back and forth so much.  Errybody’s favorite eight-year-old is dressed like a mummy and ready to come into the 21st century.  If Rihanna in S&M and Ke$ha had a kid, it’d be Willow Smith in this video.  Or rather, Willow Fenty-Sebert*?

If you find yourself in need of an impromptu dance party over break, you know where to turn.
Have a great vacation!

Reese

*Rihanna’s real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty and Ke$ha is Kesha Rose Sebert.  Interestingly, Ke$ha is not recognized as a typo, but Rihanna Fenty is.  Hm.

Birds of a Feather*

Hey all!

So for this week’s culturally relevant media snippet: it’s Kanye! “Runaway” came out this week, and it’s pretty badass…all 35 MINUTES OF IT.  Luckily, he doesn’t have to spell anything  at all in the entire video (he can’t spell.  At all. Go check his Twitter…it’s terrible).  However, he totally just knocked Willow Smith out of the top spot for Video of the Week (see previous post).  Good job, Kanye! He also beat Miley out for “Bird-Woman Video of the Year” (see title of post)*.

Okay, so here’s the lovely Ms. Cyrus:

And Kanye–be sure to watch all 34:33.

Oh, Kanye.

So something kind of cute is that 5 years ago Saturday I went to my first EVER concert–Thrice at (now closed) Avalon, near Fenway.  It was awesome.  Back then they’d just released Vheissu, and they played a superawesome show (opened by Underoath,the Bled, and Veda [who had just had their tour bus stolen or something like that if I remember correctly...they had no instruments! They borrowed from one of the other bands.]).  Anyways, their next album set, The Alchemy Index, also has a song about bird-people! Which is why I’m posting it.  Although, technically, Daedalus wasn’t a bird-person.  Just listen to the song.  Also, it’s one of my favorite Greek Myths.

“Daedalus”

And, just for kicks:

“Silver Wings”

That’s it!

Happy Thursday!

Reese

PS: Who would win in a spelling bee? Kanye, Miley, or Willow? Tweet your vote at @thelastlstein with the tag #KMWspelling!

*So much irony it could be hemoglobin.