Neon Musical Insight

Focusing highly on a stylized finished product, Kanye West teamed up with artist/director Marco Brambilla — creator of the video piece “Civilization” which can be viewed here – to drop this 90 second video, excuse me, I mean “painting” entitled “Portrait of Power” for his latest single “Power”. Sure it’s a step in a new direction and yes, the vibrancy of it’s rich, thematic layout is applaudable, but 90 seconds doesn’t do the cut any sort of justice. Then again, I shouldn’t be complaining too much, especially when so much effort was put into an art form — music videos, sorry Kanye, that’s what it is at the end of the day — that has slowly been on the decline over the past decades.

Check out the highly discussed piece above.

Last night, Kanye West made his first television performance in almost a year at the BET Awards. To kick off the award show, West delivered his latest single “Power,” which is set to appear on his new LP Good Ass Job dropping on September 14 via Roc-a-Fella, from the top of an exploding volcano. It also has to be one of the first videos where West isn’t all over the screen showing off his apparel, rather, never remaining more than a silhouette. Check the video below to see what I’m talking about.

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Many may have come to assume that Kanye West would go into hiding for the remaining years of his life, living comfortably in some glamorous mansion on some unreachable coastal island after the infamous incident with Taylor Swift at last year’s VMA’s. Hell, I even somehow managed to completely forget about his existence. Yet one thing is for certain, nobody can call Mr. West a quitter.

According to Billboard, West is currently penned up in his Hawaii home/recording studio putting the finishing touches on his fifth LP tentatively titled Good Ass Job that may be out as early as June.
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Spreading his artistic wings even further, Kanye West unveiled a brand new video for a song that’s over a year old. “The Coldest Winter,” featured on West’s minimalist 2008 release 808’s & Heartbreaks, retells a relationship gone south for Mr. West, questioning whether he will in fact, “ever love again” (looks like he’s had no problem recovering in the interim.)

The eery, (overdirected?) video was shot by Nabil Elderkin and looks, quite frankly, like something straight out of Lord of the Rings, taking nerdom to a whole new level.

In a blog posting earlier this morning on his official website, Mr. West used the source as an outlet (like he so often does) to digress about his future plans for the new year. West will be hitting the recording studio once again, to record his fifth full-length LP. West also went on to discuss how such artists as Maya Angelou and Nina Simone proved to be continual influences on West’s music, stating (in caps, per usual):

“I WILL BRING YOU THE BEST I HAVE TO OFFER WITH THE SAME DEDICATION THAT KOBE HAS ON THE COURT.  IT’S FUNNY HOW SO MANY RAPPERS GET WORSE AS THEIR CAREERS STRETCH OUT BUT TRUE POETS GET BETTER.  WE WILL  FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MAYA ANGELOU, GILL SCOTT HERRON AND NINA SIMONE. THEIR WORK IMPROVED WITH TIME.”

After a shaky year of disapproval from a large portion of the music world (musicians and fans alike) due to his rude interruption with Taylor Swift at last years VMA’s, West will have to work double time in ‘10.

The end of 2009 marks the end of another decade, this time, the first of the 21st century. Many fortunate and not so fortunate things occurred. We lost two of the largest towers in the world, and for some of us, family members and friends who remain irreplaceable. We as Americans had to be individually resilient, especially with a barbaric nitwit representing our country. Our economy dropped to a disastrous level, and we are still digging our ways out of the metaphorical hole.

With the bad came the good though, and in 2008, we made a CHANGE that hopefully was for the better by electing our first African-American president ever. In an effort to avoid a full-on political rant, the discussion of music’s metamorphosis is a fluid and easy transition.

The closing of thousands of music retailers over the decade was single-handedly the most heartbreaking effect of the internet for many music lovers. Artists, at first, put up worthy cries of rebellion, before eventually joining in on the support of peer-to-peer services, realizing that overall, the more ears exposed =’s higher tour revenue.

It was easy to miss the assistance of a knowledgeable sales associate and the warmth felt when being surrounded by like-minded people — yet free leaked copies months ahead of time before their official release date were hard to deny. Still, vinyl made a worthy comeback, and even managed to outsell the CD format in 2008 and 2009, with sales continuously rising. For music lovers, this proved our authenticity and support. In the age of the internet, the fan became just as important as the musician.

Trends in music took unprecedented turns this past decade as well, beginning with Garage Rock-Revival bands. New York was once again the coolest place in the world for a musician to be. Art rock was making a strong comeback in the indie world, re-intellecualizing what was considered cool. The folk-rock realm stepped up as well, creating some of the most inspiring, lush, and downright bizzarre music, with a genre being penned as “Freak Folk”.

I can safely say that music remained inventive and curious throughout the decade. Sure genericness was inescapable for many, but at the core of it, creativity persevered. Sometimes, it’s hard to not feel like there cant be a more exciting time to be a music fan than right at this very moment…

Neon Musical Insight presents to you it’s “10 Finest Albums of the Past 10 Years”

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Kanye West returns to the spotlight with the most unexpected release of the year entitled 808’s and Heartbreak. 808’s and Heartbreak chronicles the devastating loss of his mother Donda West, and a failed shot at romance with his one time fiancé Alexis Phifer, while also paying homage to one of the most rootsy, minimalist electronic instruments ever designed, the “Roland TR-808” drum machine, and believe me, the 808’s and heartbreak are sure to be found everywhere throughout the entire album.

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