Labors of Love

So, I've heard Frankie Munoz's band sucks. And I've seen Russell Crowe's band, and it's awful. Gwyneth Paltrow recently made an appearance on Glee (verdict: "meh"), as well as releasing an incredibly important film about the struggles of an aging country star coping with the trauma of becoming less famous(oh, my!). There is a lot of crossover from the movies to music - Rick Moranis, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Meatloaf, the list goes on - which is fine by me. People should be able to play music if they want. Does it sicken me how many albums Paris Hilton can sell while she can't sing her way out of a flaming paper bag of dog crap? Sure. But what I'm interested in is the music that is made among the stars who are truly interested in playing music. The people who don't use their prior notoriety to turn their musical ventures into cash cows. These are labors of love. Artists who are not starving, who don't have to be doing what they're doing, but do it anyways.

Ryan Gosling was always a little bit kitschy to me, but he's turning out to be one of those John Mayer-esque "cool-or-douche?" mysteries. While his group Dead Man's Bones is a great listening experience (as well as having an awesome website), I'm not quite certain I need them in my life as long as Murder By Death is around. At any rate, this is a pretty cool song, and Gosling's proves to everyone he's not the teeny-bopper weiner The Notebook made him out to be.

I was just re-watching Three Amigos the other night (again) and I was reminiscing about how much showmanship used to be involved in being a comedian. Comedy and music have always been closely linked (music often being a vehicle for comedy), but now that Steve Martin has long-since made a name for himself in comedy, in recent years he's been getting into the core of his artistic self by writing novels (Shopgirl, adapted to film in 2005), scripts, and, apparently, banjo albums.

Okay, the case of Chuck Ragan is a little different. This man is no celebrity, and he surely is no millionaire. Chuck is a working class man who has made his living playing in an underground punk/emo/hardcore group since the early 90s, called Hot Water Music. The band took a break in 2006 while Chuck spent time with his family and friends, writing and recording a solo album called Feast or Famine. I was always a fan of HWM so I had grown accustomed to Chuck's gritty, raspy growl. But in his solo material, it was a whole new world for me to hear the grit in contrast with clean, strong acoustic guitar work. While he probably isn't monetarily set for life, Chuck is a good example of giving up the sure thing to pursue the important thing. And you can hear his restlessness and desperation for expression come through in his music. **tightens scarf and rides away on mo-ped**


I chose to go with Scarlett Johansson over Zooey Deschanel. As good as She & Him is, they don't have any songs quite as good as this one. While Scarlett's got a pleasant voice, it's nothing spectacular (which could be said for Zooey as well). But it fits the role of the song and I admire Scarlett for this, as it seems more daring for her in the context of her own image and career. While I do prefer M. Ward over Pete Yorn as counterparts, Zooey's already been getting plenty of attention with comparatively underwhelming material.