I was just listening to him in my truck today. He reminds me of a more pop version of Duncan Sheik/Dave Matthews - good stuff. His video is horrible. However, I think he hasn't caught on because he's a fairly in-between artist. His stuff isn't really electronic (no keys, no drum machines although there is a loop or two) enough to be on the pop station, not perfect enough to fit top 40 but not alt.rock enough to get on the alt station. It's good stuff but it might be a little too bland for people. Everything on there is just a little too slick. He reminds me a bit of Vertical Horizon without the distortion or Natalie Imbruglia without the, well, female-ness. Just seems a little TOO down the middle for radio or MTV.
What I think is odd is that MTV pushes pop and hip-hop/rap ALL DAMN DAY, like that's all people want to hear. But if you go to MTV2 they have a show called control freak where they give you a choice of 3 songs. One is usually rap or hip-hop, one is alternative/rock, and the third usually varies(sometimes pop, sometimes just another selection from the previous two catagories). You go online and vote and the winner gets played next. Well I watch it pretty often, and I never see a rap/hip-hop or pop song get chosen. I don't mean sometimes, I mean never....not once. Seems like if thats what people really wanted, it would get chosen at least some of the time.
mtv is nothing more than a glorified marketing tool for the record companies (both of them, LOL); they haven't broken an artist worth mentioning since madonna in 1984. mtv is completely and absolutely devoid of integrity, it spends way too much time patting itself on the back and, perhaps worst of all, it provides a forum for pretty, but otherwise talentless hacks who bring nothing to the table beyond nice asses. but enough about nsync.... If MTV had never played "Smells Like Teen Spirit", would anyone have ever known who Nirvana was? yes. mtv had very little to do with nirvana's rise; and note, i made it a point to use the term, rise, not success. initially, mtv would only air "teen spirit" after midnight. once the buzz became too intense for even them to ignore, the network rushed the video into its rotation. same thing happened 4 years earlier with guns n' roses. in other words, a musical revolution stared mtv in the face, and they blinked. twice.
Actually, Jeff, VH1 and MTV are ALL OVER his videos for some reason. And he's getting decent support at radio right now. The album has already gone gold, so he's had more success than a lot of people. The next single is supposed to be "Your Body Is A Wonderland," but I think "Love Song For No One" is a potential hit.
