All About Carson

The morons at NBC have been spoken of a lot in the past few days with all the talk of The Jay Leno Show being cancelled and their odd devotion to this silver haired sea monster of late night, taking it so far as to push back the late night shows people care about in order to accomodate his seemingly always changing wishes. I'm not an expert on precisely what's going down but I can tell you one thing: my favorite show of them all is Last Call with Carson Daly.

It's not that I don't apperciate the wit of Conan O'Brien (lately I've actually been slightly in love with him) or the goofiness of Jimmy Fallon, it's just that Carson brings that extra oomph in the form of some of my favorite musicians who get little screen time elsewhere. In the past several months he's had guests ranging from Grizzly Bear to Paolo Nutini to Metric to a fantastically candid interview with David Gray. Unlike some other hosts who seem either too forced or too egocentric, Daly really seems to get something special from his interviewees. He seems like more of a friend to these people than a guy getting paid a lot of money to ask them questions that he doesn't care about to begin with. I admire his laid back approach and the new "documentary style" of the show. Actually at first I was a little apprehensive about the latter because way back when he used to have a desk and a normal late night format he also employed a nice guy and very good musician by the name of Joe Firstman who doesn't seem to do much else these days after getting fired I suppose. NBC has been causing trouble and adding to the recession for a lot longer than just the past few weeks.

My personal feelings for Carson Daly have been mixed since the first day I saw him on TRL back in the days when MTV had music programming. You could sense his intense passion for music (maybe even on the level of the great music maven Matt Pinfield) but there was something a little off. Maybe the black nail polish on only one finger per hand? The bright blue overly bulging eyes? Who knows. But even back then he had that natural commraderie with musicians of all genres that few television personalities seem to master. I was about to say "for some reason" I always root for him but the reason is his professionalism. He comes across as the kind of guy that would be out late drinking and blasting music with his buddies and still get to work on time in the morning looking as fresh as an argyle sweater.

I didn't intend on using this post to gush about Carson Daly of all people but the more I think about his show the more I realize how refreshing it is to see someone with no pretenses and no caked-on fakeness on broadcast television. There are subtle things I would really miss about Carson if NBC decided to finally remember about him and swiftly dismiss his little show. Things like immediately thanking viewers for staying up to watch him and sincerely praising each one of his guests be they athlete, comedian, or underground musician. He brings so much attention to up and coming artists of all backgrounds and really doesn't get enough respect for it. He has a great ear for all types of music and seems like he really enjoys sharing his passions with the world. It's the same basis as this blog: bringing the music one loves to as many people as possible. It's about time someone brings some attention to Carson Daly, the underdog of late night that is chewing it up everyday in the best way he can.

Last Call with Carson Daly is on weeknights on NBC at 1:35am. If you're not awake, DVR-it.

Who Says John Mayer's a Jerk?

While he may be rather arrogant (witness this on "Fantasy Factory" this week on MTV), John Mayer delivers time and time again. His new single "Who Says" is already growing on me and it hasn't even been officially released yet. Of course for those who can't wait (like me), here is the album cover art stolen off one of the best websites I can think of, www.tryjm.com.

I think I really like this but I was hoping for something a little more Columbia Records/jazzy-throwback-style as per usual with his covers. This might be a little self indulgent but he does look good...

It still makes me uncomfortable to think of John Mayer as "attractive".

The Moving Life

As I've mentioned on this site before, I've been in the process of moving for the past few weeks. I thought things were over when all the "stuff" was moved in but unbeknownst to my naive mind, that is just when the headaches begin. I was suffering for weeks without cable or internet, relying solely on my new Playstation 2 to ease my nervous tension with Guitar Hero and SingStar. Unfortunately, SingStar ended up being the last straw in an already strained roommate relationship and forced one of our address-sharing friends to flee before the month was even complete. Whether said friend will live up to his summer promises of cash and companionship is still up in the air at this current juncture. I am disappointed and feeling quite lonely.

The biggest challenge I've had to face so far - at least in the cerebral context - is the lack of writing time this move has afforded me. Like any hobby or job, when the vacation is over, you appreciate it ten times more than before, which is happening to me now, but I'm still saddened that I don't get that space in each part of my day to scour the internet looking for interesting blog ideas or rattling my brain to create posts about some of my favorite forgotten artists. That is the biggest release for me. In the past couple weeks I've been dying to write posts about my newfound interest in hard rock bands courtesy of the peculiar music they play on Guitar Hero and how interesting it is that SingStar has created an "amped" package to bring about the Audioslave-loving, alternative-grunge crowd that secretly loves a good old fashioned round of karaoke. Gloria Gaynor, Aretha Franklin, and Nirvana - all on one game! Geez.

I wish I didn't find it so difficult to listen to music during trying times. I know for some music lovers that is the key time to listen to their favorite songs and I envy that. I imagine hearing your favorite comforting voices during bouts of loneliness is incredibly soothing but I still can't grasp it.

When news officially spread that Michael Jackson passed away yesterday, I was rendered speechless by the only gratifying, genuinely appropriate tribute I found on television - and it was on MTV. While everyone else was interested in finding the doctors that shot him up with morphine and talking to his family lawyer to gather up the latest juicy details before any other network, MTV immediately went into their lair of drama and poppiness and came out with a lovely music video tribute that sent chills down my spine. On CNN it seemed wrong to watch the Thriller video but with the MTV logo on the lower right hand side of the screen, it seemed lovingly nostalgic. This was maybe one of the first times I could listen to powerful music within a sad context and not wince. It was finally fitting.


Today I'm sort of left with this emptiness and strange eeriness. I work for AEG Live, the company that was responsible for Mr. Jackson's final 50 date concert schedule and although I'm at the way, way end of the pipeline in terms of actually contributing anything to the promotion of these shows, that is the company that pays me and who I've dedicated a lot of my time to. Seeing AEG mentioned on Perez Hilton and discussed on CNN is surreal in some strange way - even though they are the second largest concert promoter in the world so it shouldn't be. It just makes it seem all the more personal. I knew he had to be given an extensive physical before they could get an insurance contract and that he had in fact passed it with no problem. This was heresay but that made it seem even more likely that medicines of some kind were involved.

I'm not really sure what else to add but I hope anyone reading this can mourn in a way that makes them feel comforted and satisfied with the amazing gifts we received from such a treasured man. I find that even if you've heard the same song a hundred times before, there are always new ways to explore it and re-discover it through the eyes of others. All the beautiful, funky pins in a Michael Jackson song make me think of one of those weird contraptions they used to sell at places like Spencer Gifts - they were boxes full of pokey pins where you could put your hand or face and it would leave an imprint in the needles so when you turned it around you could see the outline.. they were always so weird, fun, and constantly entertaining - just like Jackson himself.

And to tie it all in, I really hope I have internet at home soon and don't go bankrupt from my lousy move. How do you meet new people with similar interests? I'm completely at a loss and my boredom is moving up the Richter scale.