adamandkev » Apologies From A Nation

Apologies from a Nation #5 – Jason Derulo / US of A.

Kev — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:36:01 +0000

Back in the mid-nineties Britpop era, a lot of people were saying that while Oasis were destined to crack America, Blur never would. They put it down to the mainstream American music industry’s lack of appreciation of irony.

Turns out neither really broke The Land Of The Free, but that comment always stuck in my head as a broad generalisation. Surely our good friends across the Atlantic couldn’t be so different, right? A few years later I endured an entire episode of Seinfeld on a friend’s recommendation, and realised that there must be something in the water. I don’t care how many people watched it, it’s not funny. See Two-and-half Men for further evidence as to why popular doesn’t mean good.

Back to irony – this one’s a corker. Not only does Jason Derulo manage to rip off two different songs in the first thirty seconds of his own unique offering, he also follows it up immediately with the lyric “check that out, what they playing – that’s my song, that’s my song”.

Except it isn’t. It’s Day-O and Robyn S’s Show Me Love. And some auto-tune.

Nice try though.

This:

This video was embedded using the YouTuber plugin by Roy Tanck. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the video.

Apologies from a Nation #4 – Jenna Rose / US of A.

Kev — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 23:55:36 +0000

Every nation has it’s shame. The British had Ringo. The Dutch gave the world The Vengaboys. Canada spawned Nickelback. But it doesn’t stop there.

This one’s unpleasant.

Rubber-faced 12 year-old lip-syncing unconvincingly to song about Hannah Montana wearing her jeans = bad.

But age appropriate.

Parents and/or management deciding to broaden her target market to pedophiles everywhere = worthy of Child Services investigation.

People of Long Island, please do something.

Apologies from a Nation #3 – Bangs/Australia & Sudan.

Kev — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:45:39 +0000

Every nation has it’s shame. The British had Ringo. The Dutch gave the world The Vengaboys. Canada spawned Nickelback. But it doesn’t stop there.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmJbJs-9ST0

Another internet sensation is born. Great.

Bangs is a Sudanese-born, Melbourne-based rapper who not only owns pictures of nice cars and a selection of dollar store jewelry, but also has the funds to make a trip to the movies (complete with popcorn and drink) happen for one lucky lady. Which to be fair makes him wealthier than me.

Bangs is available for bookings and interviews -- contact bangs_bookings@hotmail.com. Or don’t.

Apologies from a Nation #2 – Dizzee Rascal & James Corden/UK.

Kev — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:45:50 +0000

Every nation has it’s shame. The British had Ringo. The Dutch gave the world The Vengaboys. Canada spawned Nickelback. But it doesn’t stop there.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=07K_kHV7BXk

There are two things that the English embrace. Football, and undeniably crap-but-patriotic music. So when something comes a long that links both so well, it’s bound to be a hit on the Queen’s home soil.

The FIFA World Cup is literally hours away, and if Manchester United’s twinkle-toed pit bull can pull something out of the bag then we’re in with a shot. We usually have an embarrassing “official song”, but this year the powers that be canned the idea. Did that stop the production of steaming aural turds? Of course not.

Now Dizzee Rascal has teamed up with former Hollyoaks benchwarmer James Corden to cover Tears for Fears forgettable 80′s hit Shout. Dizzee did add the line “come and ‘ave a go if you think you’re hard enough” into the chorus, so thus gets one mark for creativity, and 3,000 marks deducted for making me shiver with shame.

Apologies from a Nation #1 – Die Antwoord/South Africa.

Kev — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 04:02:44 +0000

Every nation has it’s shame. The British had Ringo. The Dutch gave the world The Vengaboys. Canada spawned Nickelback. But it doesn’t stop there.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc3f4xU_FfQ

The main thing Die Antwoord have to apologize for is the lost man hours. Everybody who’s seen the video for The Ninja goes looking for more.

I don’t know what the deal is. I don’t really get why I’m still reading the interviews and looking for new videos. Someone described it as less Bruno, more Lady Gaga. But a lot more interesting than both. Even Die Antwoord call what they do “car crash music”.

Either way, over four million hits on Youtube in as many months tells it’s own story. Reports of a record deal with Interscope and a video to be directed by Neill Blomkamp are premature, but either way, chances are you’ll soon be trying to figure out Die Antwoord.