Now, a move from pop music solo artists to full-sized bands. Let us head back to the days when things were simpler, when you could rollerblade through the parking lot of a grocery store and no one would say a word. This week’s band is Hanson, the original 90s boy band.

“MMMBop”

Do I even need to say anything about this song? No. It is too perfect. Too ingenious. Too wonderful. Ten points to you if you can sing the chorus correctly.

“Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’”

Fast-forward to the present, and the boys have grown up. They are making some carefully crafted pop tunes that call to the days of early soul. The video is basically a scene from the Blues Brothers, an allusion that is just brilliant. For more Hanson games, ten points if you can figure out who plays the tambourine.

Contact CU Independent Entertainment Editor Patrick Fort at Patrick.fort@colorado.edu

The second episode of Colorado Stories features stories about “firsts,” featuring interviews with CU football coach Mike MacIntyre, communication professor Jody Jahn and a story from reporter Kyle Ward.

Contact CU Independent Entertainment Editor Patrick Fort at Patrick.fort@colorado.edu

Last week we talked about Bruno Mars. This week? Taylor Swift. She is a polarizing figure to many music fans. You either hate her because all she writes about are her breakups, or you love her because all she writes about are her breakups. Pop music analysis: Commence.

“22″ by Taylor Swift

I don’t know about you, but a lot of my friends are turning 22. I turn 22 in just a few months. Although I don’t really know what Miss Swift is talking about when she is “feeling 22,” she does a pretty good job selling it. She does a really good job of making the chorus singable. Tons of gang vocals make this song simply irresistible. Who is Taylor Swift anyway? A great pop writer, that’s who.

“Mean” by Taylor Swift

Even though it is not as clean and shiny as the electronics-laced “22,” “Mean” is classic Taylor Swift sass mixed with snappy lyrics and a tinge of her country roots. About a music critic and not a boyfriend, “Mean” has a chorus that is incredibly tight and adorned with simple, effective harmonies. Although the lyrics suffer in the bridge when Taylor goes into what I call “immature mode”, the song recovers quickly with an awesome double chorus. The main hook, “someday I’ll be living in a big ol’ city, and all you’re ever gonna be is mean,” is snappy, and the wordplay is brilliant.

Next week, we talk about an oldie: Hanson.

Contact CU Independent Entertainment Editor Patrick Fort at Patrick.fort@colorado.edu

He may get a lot of hate, but Bruno Mars sure does know how to churn out the hits. He helped produce Cee Lo Green’s “F**k You” and has a successful solo career as well. So what makes Mr. Mars so damn catchy?

There is one answer. Influences.

Pop music draws from a lot, and I mean A LOT, of different musical stylings. From arena rock, the King of Pop, modern pop draws from almost everything. The first example of this in Bruno’s music comes in the song, “Treasure.”

First off, he just looks like Michael Jackson. But once the song begins, it is clear that it doesn’t just have the look, he has the sound. There are moments in “Treasure” where it is absolutely clear that this song comes from somewhere late in the 1970s. The synth fill that follows each line in the chorus is straight out of the soundtrack to any 80′s movie. The crushed, red velvet suits and disco balls help place this song in an era of its own – allowing only up to 480p resolution on YouTube helps too.

“Treasure” adds a modern touch with a touch of sampled drums and a plethora of vocoding on the harmonies. It is subtle enough as to not ruin the song, but stays to true to the influence that he is drawing from.

Next up is “Locked Out of Heaven”.

The musical references that show up in this song come from a similar era, but a completely different type of music. The guitar riff is borrowed from a song by The Police. And the Fender Stratocaster, rock’s most famous instrument, is right up front in the mix, allowing for a really driving rock groove to lay itself down. The sampled “woops” and the group grunt in the verse allow the song to be incredibly singable while adding a modern touch.

The full-on pop chorus comes back to modern times, but the song quickly goes back to its roots, and the real meat of the song.

There is a reason that pop music is so incredibly catchy. It relies on everything that you have already heard and loved to stay in your ear.

Next week? Taylor Swift.

Contact CU Independent Entertainment Editor Patrick Fort at patrick.fort@colorado.edu.

In the first episode of the CU Independent’s “Colorado Stories”, Entertainment Editor Patrick Fort heads out onto CU’s campus to see what students, employees and others are making of the recent flooding.

Contact CU Independent Entertainment Editor Patrick Fort at Patrick.fort@colorado.edu

This is just an introduction. I fully intend to walk through a new way for you to figure out what makes pop music so addictive. I will be the first to admit that I am not a Top 40 listener, but there is something intrinsically brilliant about the writing of pop music.

I studied music before I turned my eyes to writing. During my time as a music student, I had a conversation with a peer about the creation of pop music.

“There is not talent in writing modern pop,” he said. “These singers have somebody writing all of there songs for them.”

I didn’t argue with that point. True, some of today’s most famous artists don’t write their own songs. Some may see that as a detriment to the craft, but in the end, someone is still behind those catchy songs.

Even the oft-satired Taylor Swift writes nearly all of her own songs.

What does this mean? Musicians are every bit as talented as they were decades ago. Buddy Holly can write just as good of a pop song as Bruno Mars can.

Times have changed – not the music.

Next week, I will be introducing some great pop music, not because you haven’t heard it before, but because truly listening will be like hearing it for the first time.

Contact CU Independent Entertainment Editor Patrick Fort at Patrick.fort@colorado.edu.

The Milk Carton Kids, a Los Angeles-based folk duo, will be playing the Bluebird Theater Thurday.

The duo recently made a name for themselves after releasing their latest album, “The Ash and Clay,” on March 26. They’re back playing in the states after finishing the European leg of their tour.

(Photo Courtesy Michele Stephens/Milk Carton Kids)

“It was surprisingly good,” said Joey Ryan, rhythm guitarist. “We expected that it felt like it would be going back to the beginning of something, but instead, the response was overwhelming.”

Ryan said the band’s European shows were similar in capacity to what they experienced on their first tours in America.

“It’s [usually in] the smallest church or building in town, but most of them are filled to the brim,” he said.

On “The Ash and Clay,” there is a noticeable amount of harmony – more than the band’s first two records – that make it seem like more of a group effort than before. Ryan noted that being on the road and touring so much allowed for a stronger sense of companionship with his fellow Milk Carton Kid, Kenneth Pattengale.

“I think the natural result of having played so many shows [175]… allowed for the collaboration to feel that much more intense,” Ryan said. “There are only a couple of songs where we aren’t singing every syllable together.”

The Milk Carton Kids took a different route in marketing the new album. Rather than making their first records, “Retrospect” and “Prologue,” available only for purchase, fans could either download the album for free or purchase a physical copy of the album. Ryan said that it was mostly a decision about the aesthetic and accessibility of the band.

“The central thing for us is that we considered ourselves, from the beginning, a live band – we wanted to go on tour right away and we wanted to be on the road a lot,” he said. “That seemed like a good way for a small, burgeoning fan base to grow itself.”

Ryan said that the band wrote the music “for its own sake” rather than try to make something that would sell a million copies.

“The process of commoditizing it can quickly spoil, ruin or cheapen it,” he said.

One of their songs, “Charlie,” is about Pattengale’s non-existant daughter.

“I think it is a rumination on all of the fears, hopes and desires to someday be a father,” Ryan said of the song. “I think it stands as an exploration that a lot of us go through. As you come of age, you start to realize that you are going to have to play the role that your parents played. You start to consider, maybe, how you are going to play that role.”

The Milk Carton Kids blend the lonesome folk songs of yore with modern pop sensibility into what ends up sounding a sadder version of Simon & Garfunkel.

The Milk Carton Kids come to Colorado on Thursday to play at the Bluebird Theater in Denver.

Contact CU Independent Entertainment Editor Patrick Fort at Patrick.Fort@colorado.edu.

The Dear Hunter is back with its latest effort, “Migrant.” Casey Crescenzo, lead singer and guitar player for the band, took time at a tour stop in St. Louis to talk to the CU Independent about the new record.

Contact CU Independent Entertainment Editor Patrick Fort at Patrick.fort@colorado.edu

Although attendance to the panel was low, the discussion about life changing music was inspiring. All four panelists had very different stories about their musical histories and where their passions came from. Check out each panelist’s bit of life changing music as well as some great quotes below.

Contact CU Independent Entertainment Editor Patrick Fort at Patrick.fort@colorado.edu.

To be totally honest, ambient music bores me. For the most part, there isn’t much to set the genre’s songs and bands apart. On Saturday night, though, Jon Birgisson and the rest of Sigur Ros brought their beautifully crafted songs to the 1stBank Center and changed my stubborn mind.

The first thing that stuck out about the performance was not the music, but the stage layout and the atmosphere that it created. Behind the band hung a large, curved screen approximately 15 feet tall that spanned across the almost-100-foot stage. Around the band on stage were 20 microphone stands with lightbulbs atop each one. The giant screen showed images of horses, bodies and even the band as they played live. The lightbulbs flashed in time with Sigur Ros’ music.

[Show as slideshow]

Barely removing themselves from song, the Icelandic musicians spoke English only once when Birgisson informed the audience that it was bass player Georg Holm’s birthday. The ever-endearing Birgisson not only urged the crowd to join the band in singing “Happy Birthday,” but also to, “sing in only Icelandic.”

From there the band jumped into their best-known song, “Hoppípolla.”  Fireworks and colorful sparks jumped around on the screen as the serene and graceful song played out for an extended period of time.

Seeing Sigur Ros was not like going to most other shows. There was no singing along — unless you were bilingual — and there was little dancing in the near-capacity crowd. Shows like Sigur Ros’ are meant to be actively observed. The event recalled the grandiose, imaginative atmospheres created by many other big acts and essences of Coldplay, Radiohead and even Bon Iver’s memorable summer 2012 show could be felt.

Seeing Sigur Ros was not about what songs they played. I myself could recall maybe three or four specific songs. There was no distinct climax and no pinnacle of excitement. Although I left feeling like there were no real “highlights,” I soon realized that the show was intended to be that way. The event was about a collective of people who wanted to get lost in sparse soundscapes and minimalistic build-ups, which exploded into driving snare hits that landed on every down-beat.

Even though I went into the concert expecting to be less than excited as the set progressed, I had a change of heart. Birgisson’s strong audible textures and bowed guitar created a unique feeling that only the 6,000 people inside of the 1stBank Center could understand. Although Sigur Ros and other similar-sounding acts tend to bleed together, it is important to realize that Sigur Ros’ live show actually isn’t all about the music. It is about the tones and the connection that every audience member had with the person next to him.

In short, Sigur Ros at the 1stBank Center was not a concert, it was an experience.

Contact CU Independent Entertainment Editor Patrick Fort at Patrick.fort@colorado.edu