The Hills Premieres With 2 Great Songs

Ah, The Hills. Some of my friends say it's everything that's wrong with TV these days, especially reality TV. Others swear by it, watching each and every episode multiple times per week. Me? I fall somewhere in the middle. Sometimes I get sucked way into it, but then sometimes a character will piss me off so much that I turn it off for a few weeks, but I always watch the season premieres and go from there. Besides, half the reason you watch a show like this is because many of the characters are such out of control drama queens that it makes you feel better about your own life. Last night kicked off another season of The Hills (can you believe we're at season 6?) so of course, I tuned in. Or rather, I recorded it and watched it later.

There are thousands of better episode reviews that you can find online, but since this is my blog, readers know the drill. I usually save postings for when I find a cool song on a TV show, and The Hills' season 6 premiere actually had 2 great tracks. The first, is "Warning" by modestComplexity favorites, Great Northern. "Warning" is off their latest album, Remind Me Where the Light Is, and if you ask me, should be the next single. It has great sing-a-long qualities, and the tune easily gets stuck in your head, without being annoying.

Great Northern on MySpace

Keri Hilson's "Turning Me On" was the second song I enjoyed. I had never heard of Keri prior to this episode, but after mistaking her song for a different artist, I stumbled upon Kari's music, which is some great, unpretentious pop with a dancey feel.

Keri Hilson on MySpace

Malbec On Drop Dead Diva

As a rule, I generally stay away from watching shows or movies on Lifetime. I'm not my mother or my aunt yet, and just the thought of all the other people watching makes me want to turn the channel off. However, at the insistence of my friend Maya, I've checked out a couple episodes of Drop Dead Diva. While I've had to have her catch me up on things that are going on in the show, I think it's a solid show that seems has a good combination of comedy, fantasy, and drama, never making one aspect of the show dominate the others. However, what sealed the deal to at least make me tune in for a few more episodes was that they ended the most recent episode with the song "Free" by Malbec, just as Fred decides he has to leave. Both lyrically and musically, the song fits the ending as if it was written specifically for the scene.

For those of you who don't know, Malbec is one of my favorite under-the-radar groups that followers of this blog should be familiar with. Their seamless mix of hip hop, electronica, and original pop is good for any mood, any time of day, any place. In fact, I like them so much that I will be making the hour-plus drive out to Olympia to see them on November 8. Fellow Washingtonians, you should go, too.

Malbec on MySpace

Earlimart on Dollhouse

Earlimart's "The World" was on the season 2 premiere of Dollhouse last night, and anybody who has spent any time at all reading this blog knows that I get super excited for all things Earlimart. The veteran duo of Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray have enjoyed a stellar career, releasing album after album of consistent, yet original material. "The World" is the perfect song to fit into the dark, mysterious world of Dollhouse. Brooding and emotive without being sad-sack, "The World" is the type of song that gets the hair to stand up on your arms, and the lyrics fit the eeriness of the scene.

Like Melrose Place, Kyle XY, and many other of my favorite shows, Dollhouse is struggling with ratings. However, if they keep on producing great episodes like last night and including great tunes like "The World," I believe people will eventually start to 'get' the show and tune in.

Earlimart on MySpace

Taryn Manning Guests On Melrose Place

The multi-talented, too-cool-to-be true Taryn Manning starred in last night's episode of Melrose Place, and I couldn't be happier. I've slowly been starting to think that the new Melrose Place is a superior show to the new 90210, and an awesome guest appearance like this is just the latest in reasons to tip the scales towards Melrose Place (but don't fear 90210, I still love you). Disturbingly enough, I read on Perez Hilton that Melrose had terrible ratings...hopefully the return of Heather Locklear can help save the show, because it's just getting better with each episode.

Kudos to the producers for using the song "Run Boy" from Taryn's band Boomkat during the scene when Taryn pulls a gun on Jonah, not believing that he is her director. Hard-hitting and oozing with cool, "Run Boy" is a track that makes me wish I was 21, so I could be dancing my brains out at some swanky club.

I also found cool video of the dance rehearsal for the episode. I wish I could dance like this...*sigh. Come to think of it, I would LOVE to see some contestant on So You Think You Can Dance put their own personal touch on "Run Boy." Can you imagine what Nathan Trasoras could do with this?

Boomkat on MySpace

Great Northern on Greek

It's no secret that I love the TV show Greek, or the band Great Northern, so you can imagine how excited I was to hear Great Northern's "Telling Lies" in Monday's episode of Greek. I've been dealing with some icky computer problems lately (hence the long space in between posts), but I've finally got a clip of the scene up (see below). After the father/fraternity football game, they all go to Dobler's. Casey gets all the fathers to make up with each other, but Ashleigh still won't forgive Rebecca for kissing Fischer...and "Telling Lies" appropriately plays in the background.

Season three of Greek is just underway, and I'd like to think this is thanks to all my fellow Greek lovers who petitioned to keep the show on the air. I know I had read rumblings about it being a possible cancellation, and am glad to see ABC Family made the right choice in keeping it on the air, and so far the first two episodes have been great. I thought it was a pretty brilliant portrayal of a Father's weekend at a sorority - anybody that's ever been around one of these knows what I'm talking about here - and I can't wait to tune in next week to see if Casey can save the "undie run." (PS, sorry for the poor video quality. My TiVo was temporarily broken so I had to capture it from an online video)

Great Northern on MySpace