Iman Lababedi

Different Sides – Leonard Cohen – No idea why, fter months of being completely indifferent to it, this song hit my musical sweet spot but I think it is the way he sings (croaks?) “frankly” on the “frankly I don’t like your tone” line and the butter gleam in Cohen’s eyes as he he tells her wants to leave the way they have sex alone – Grade: A

Uncut is to Mojo what Sounds was to NME, a sort of stroppier kid brother encrusted in the old ways. Kinda reaction to the 21st century by pretending it never happened. And this is certainly borne out by this bizarre list of weirdness.

My Friend – Disco Biscuits – This is a strangely creative art rocker using a bizarre spoken word samples and a buzzing beat in the background. It is like disco if she only ever heard disco on someone elses car radio s you went roaring down the highway – Grade: B+

Then to end it all there is this rush of sets taking me from December 7th thru December 31st with a break in the middle for an 8 day trip to Scotland. And with this I plan to cut back to no more than two shows a week, maybe less! Here is a list of the musicians I am seeing, with an assumed grade and a one liner…

Chris Owens I have dismissed live twice ina row with his band Girls, but at Le Poisson Rouge on November 14th, 2012, he performed his unreleased album from one end to another and made believers of everyone lucky enough to see him do it.

Know Till Now – Jim James – The last time I was duly impressed by Jim James was My Morning Jacket’s 2008 New Year’s Eve at MSG, but perhaps the difference is that James is at his best when he is working out his soul jones, even if he is making it above a psychedelic electronic dream track. Off next years Regions of Light and Sound of God – Grade: A-

The audience is a vision of a shared esthetics shouting down its irrelevance, its loserness, in the shared moment. If everyone is a loser, no one is a loser. That’s the point. But Sunday night it is a point that Stickles seems not to be sharing.

A lot of these albums are very very good, and the best may have some lasting power, but it doesn’t seem to peak nearly high enough and that is not to put Spider Bags down or to pull Rihanna up, it is just to state the obvious.

Killer Mike is proof that a great concert will change the way you feel about recordings and Justin Townes Earle is proof that a poor concert won’t always ruin a great recording. This hasn’t been an album year, we have lived in one track after another till it accumulated to a pretty good year.

Only Wanna Dance With You – Ke$ha – This is the one where the Strokes join her and it is a killer track. Nothing much on its mind, but it bounces in perfect elctro pop vein and when julian joins her he doesn’t do much but add background candy but candy it is. Grade: A

No I wasn’t all that thrilled over Ke$ha either, didn’t think much of “Die Young” the first single, but then I streamed in on ITunes and I must tell you that for sure: the Doctor Is In. This is a terrific mix of electro pop and rock and roll and should be a wildfire hit.

You Just May Be The One – The Monkees – If nothing else. the reunion concert on Saturdy reinforced what a terrific songwriter Nesmith is and this, off the “we played all our own instruments and wrote all our own songs” Headquarters, received an enormous outpouring affection and the reson is simple: t isn’t just a love song but a cll to Universal love and need – Grade: A

I can’t tell if K-Pop is ever gonna blow up Stateside, but Juniel will be a treat for teen girls if it does. As for Kendrick, perhaps since I’ve grown to, well, admire this track, perhaps the floodgates are open!

How bad are Girls Aloud? Listen to their cover of Chrissie’s “I’ll Stand By You”. Go on, I dare you. I loathed The War Of The Worlds prog rock atrocity in 1978 and assume the Next Generation is just as bad.

2013 will be the year Olly breaks Stateside, new album will drop in April and if he manages it right, it should break him. But I thought that in 2011 and I was wrong then. Igh, that Alicia Keys song. Ugh. Ugh , Ugh.

Scream & Shout – Will I AM, Britney Spears – Return to form for the BEP leader after years in the wilderness, and always a pleasure to hear from Brit, except that if you wanna pout your hand in the flame you’ll get burnt and Britney will be seen as the savior of this song. Because she is – Grade: B+

One of the toughest rock albums of the year and next thing you know, the perennial bridesmaids of punk rock wake up to find themselves… THE MAIDS OF HONOR!!! Tuesday at Webster Hall is the Canadian rock band Japandroids’ coming out party and in a week that finds both the Who and the Stones playing around time, it’s a blast to remind the archivists among us that rock and roll is alive and well in 2012.

I couldn’t dislike Alicia more, she is a stubbornly, arrogantly boring woman and whenever she heads for her piano I head for the nearest exit. Also, 95% of her songs are really awful and while “Empire State Of Mind” wasn’t much, she managed to make it worse. This is the same dreary AOR for people who should know better but a little more. “Tears Always Win” and the Maxwell duet are both OK. Yes, I said it, I admit it – Grade: C+

Girlfriend – Ty Segall – Garage rock with the the most minimalist piano break bang in the middle and a deep in the world of indie sense from the heart of Cali by a man who won’t stop recording – Grade: B+

More than two years after first trashing the album, I am more than happy to remind you what a morose, spiteful, miserable emotional train wreck 21 is. It seems to stand up for every bad thought you have ever had about women being emotional dysfunctional nutcases. All she does is whine and sob and rage against terrible terrible lyrics. It is horrid.

Two Little Hitlers – Elvis Costello And The Attractions – This is prime Elvis, a heart damaged manifesto of emotional fascism building to a denunciation that questions both his and the woman’s shared humanity. And no, I don’t mean “I wouldn’t cry for lost souls you might drown”but “I thought i’d let you down but you were just deflating” -the sort of pun not only he but me and no one else can write today – Grade: A+

I quite like all of the top four albums, like not luuurve but I can live with em being the soundtrack of my Christmas. The next 6 less so…

I’m a pass on around half of this and the reason is because the beats aren’t what they were in 2010, electro began to realize with great many trcks comes great many choices and one way or the other, nobody can resist using them. Unfortunately, once you strip “Diamonds” bare there is noo there there. It is a sorry state for the States when Phillip Phillips has the best song on the top ten.

Long Emotional Ride – Graham Parker – The Rumour give him a harder back bone, but hard than what? Last time I saw him was solo at Joe’s Pub, and he didn’t need much then. So consider this a nostalgia trip mostly in name, and get off on the return of Brinsley Schwartz and the sound of pub rock in transition. Killer emotional wreck rocker, by the way. Grade: A

These are old pros and how you like em will depend on how much you enjoy the power of electric guitars banging out hard riffs and a bass and drums holding em steady as they go. I like it fine, but only if I don’t pay too close attention.

The thing about Pete is that he is the most human of rock superstars, he is ALL insecurities play out to an audience of millions. He is the Kanye West of the 1960s.

I am sure I speak for every red blooded American on the planet when I state that this is the single most damaging information inflicted on the male libido since Rosie O’Donnell claimed she wanted Tom Cruise to mow her lawn.

Some Things Never Seem To Fucking Work – Solange – This is modern indie R8B with a better singer than we are used and as a big time Knowles fan, I admire it from a distance. But like so much of modern r&b, whiile the synth is subdued, and the licks are tasty enough, the song isn’t strong enough – Grade: B

But we are not here to pay tribute either, these are fine, more than fine versions, by a rejuvenated Armstrong and not a swansong, or a last gasp. The man was incomparable.

Timshel (Africa Mix) – Mumford And Sons – This works so much better than it has any right to, Mumford is almost chanting and the backing track is a xylophone playing an African melody, like the time Vampire Weekend dream of writing – Grade: A

It is like having an existential crises about risking nothing. I don’t know why Chuck is taking this nonsense seriously. I’d have told James to have a shave, lose a coupla pounds and stop fucking whining.

The Coldplay leader made the following promise in Brisbane, Australia on Wednesday: “This is the last big show for three years or so. I don’t want to stop.” And that’s why I can’t take the plank, what a tease.