A Doe To A Deer – Los campesinos – They can sound like classic rock until Garth starts singing and then they sound like Los Campesinos with his ultra wordy lyrics, and this seasonal track isn’t bad at all but it isn’t very Christmassy if you see what I mean – B
Taylor was a mentally disturbed, introverted formerly institutionalized guy barely past his teens, who hit it big and became a suicidal junkie and now? Now he is a caustic wit nostalgia MOR trip, maybe the best in the business. I’m sorry I missed it.
“We just made an introspective record and didn’t really do much around it,secretly we may have something else in mind, but I accidentally told Zane [Lowe] about it. We’re trying to make something colourful and uplifting and we’re just having quite a good time making it because we’ve spent so long not making that kind of thing.”
Not for her the rough and tumble of EDM pop, no not at all, rather she opts for the urban sophisticat classic rockism of a cubist enthralled and tied down to the great rock and soul moment. Or, if you prefer, she likes Stevie Wonder!
How about this for a stat, courtesy of Billboard, for the past fourteen weeks Meghan Trainor and Taylor Swift have been trading #1 and #2 and have now broken a record set by the Beatles and Lesley Gore in 1964! And what makes it better, all three songs, “Blank Space”, “Shake It Off” and “All About That Bass” are excellent (A+, A, A).
Wow, this has only two new albums, we’re used to six or more. The disaster here is AC/DC, 175K with zero streaming for a band this big (and an album this great) is a major disaster. Of course, they will make it all back when they take their show on the road and sell out arenas from one side of the world to the other.
Take – Sophie Jamieson – From the UK, the new face of old singer songwriters, heavy on the atmospherics, and I mean heavy, but there is something addictive about the deep feel electronic soulfulness of it own. Music to virtually slit your wrists by – B
“John Coltrane is known to many as an icon of musical and creative expression. He is also known in ways that defy music. His name and what he symbolizes is instantly recognized even by those who don’t follow his music,” says Ravi Coltrane, musician and son of the jazz legend.
Allison Moorer has had and somewhat upsetting five years, from marriage to Steve Earle, to the Dukes tour, an album, a son, sadly born autistic, and now a new album in which she details the heartbreak. Otherwise, look how quiet it is till late January! Let’s hope there are some surprises out there.
Is Bob Lefsetz as good as he thinks he is? I dunno, man, he is a bit of a twit. In the past two weeks he made demonstrably wrong claims. It is as though he makes the axiom, the axiom is right, and he ignores it when it doesn’t suit his purposes.
Hope For The Future – Paul McCartney – The soundtrack to an online game and around since April, this has a sort of refracted “Live And Let Die” punch to it. Though I guess you need to play the game to actually signify – B-
She made two declarations of desire and limitations in a theatre with one of the cleanest sounds in the city, the acoustics were tremendous and you could hear every beat, every movement of her fingers down the fret. And then she walked and I swear I didn’t exhale once
Even cooler, with the years tightening both his singing and his arrangements he sounds smarter and kinder. By the way 32 minutes and done and not a wasted song, indeed not a wasted word . Added plus? Pitchfork gave it a 6.0 – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – A
Yeah, I’m a little late but I’ve been rushing around so bear with me while we take a closer look at this years nominees. A mixed bag for sure, if by mixed bag you mean pop albums for all…
Luckily, nobody else feels that 1989 is sad in ways that Red isn’t, that 1989 closes off romantic hope to such a degree and for a woman like Taylor, from what we know and believe about her, friendship and freedom isn’t really a substitute for true loves kiss.
Who would you camp out to get tickets for, the way we did in the bad old days, a time that was still pretty corrupt as ticket scalpers (as we lovingly called em before they went legit) paid homeless people to stand in line. It was never the greatest of systems and only a band as wrong footed as Foo Fighters would believe re-inventing it for both Citifield (in a limited capacity) and in a major capacity at Irving Plaza where people got their sleeping bags and camped out.
Bros – Wolf Alice – This is a huge breakthrough track for them, the new EP doesn’t have its equal and the first written by Ellie Rowsell, soon to adorn many an alt kids bedroom wall, the Guardian call them grunge meets folk, meaning they play lo hi with the balance on hi – A-
Consider Kat an updated Diana Krall matched with Joni Mitchell US Division. Kat is from Houston, a bit of shocker given her urban sensibility, and while she can’t arrange as well Diana or write as well as Joni, she can arrange better than Joni and write better than Diana.
Manu Koch’s four song EP with Filtron M Mandatory Underground released in November blew away everyone who bothered to listen, travelling through the backroads of jazz and beats, it reminded me of all the greats, all the people who delved into rock and a whirling world of sound eccentricities
It seems to me that is an unarmed person is shot by a cop there should be no question whether to indict or not, the law should send it directly to trial by Jury. Eric Garner was selling loosies for God’s sake: there is overreacting by the police and then there are acts of baffling and repulsive fear and loathing. If you can’t handle the strain don’t become a cop, if you can play by the rules, and if you kill and unarmed man who is shouting “I can’t breath” let 12 of your peers decide your fate in open court.
On the album charts boy band rules, here it is the world of dance on the top of the charts to less telling effect. Though the Ed Sheeran is one of the years best, along with the brilliant “Even My Dad Does Sometimes” it makes X a better album that I thought it was. It lifts it.
McBusted are McFly and Busted joined together to form a brit boy band supergroup who will never make it in the States if only because they used the f word in one song, but they are really pretty good. better than aging boy band wonderkinds Take That who are never as good without Robbie Williams
Heaven/where True Love Goes – Yusuf/Cat Stevens – Cat claimed he reclaimed “The First Cut Is The Deepest” at last Thursday’s gig but, indeed, this track off An Other Cup is the true act of reclamation: fitting snuggly very next to his beloved “Foreigner Suite” , it is a beauty with a wiseness as timeless as it is true – A-
Of course, this is the biggest concert of the season, maybe the second biggest Jingle Ball ever. 2012 clips it because Taylor Swift and One Direction clip Taylor Swift and 5 Seconds Of Summer even if Tay is a bigger star than ever right now. Even so, Meghan Trainor, Calvin Harris, Iggy Azalea… geez a who’s who for pop 2014 that’s for sure. This Friday AT MSG, it is Jingle Ball time.
I like Royce but anticipating? I am sick of Ghostface and never liked Angels & Airiwaves. So it is between the Smashing Pumpkins and J. Cole. The songs off the SP album already released are uniformly excellent but J. Cole was so great on stage this year, I’m going with him.
Pussy Riot were the punk rock agitators of the gangster era Russia Putin reign, and got jailed for their efforts and then got out of jail, quit on music but got involved in the serious world of information decimation which is where they are right now.
Save The Last Dance For Me – Leonard Cohen – You have to hear this, the picture late night song sung in a rasp and a wince and a warning, the Drifters had the teenage angst, but Cohen gets there slowly – A
With a full band behind him, Cat commanded the stage with an off handed self-confidence which had the audience jumping up and down like izitsos and a seriously great set list, the show highlighted everything we loved and a couple of things we don’t love about him
“I have people who come in and say, ‘Hey, I hear you used to be a singer. I’m still a singer. But the priority is somewhere else for now. I’m working my ass off, and I’m exhausted. But I’m happy. I’m really happy. I was emotionally exhausted for years. This is different, and good.”
“Diablo Love” gave Doncker the impetus for his Howlin’ Wolf covers album and stood up as a brilliant conceptualization for the Devil at the crossroads so much the heart of the blues. But for Christmas Preisser is tackling God from the other side:
rock nyc’s resident B-52’s fanatic Michael Malone must be salivating as he reads this the great Queen Of The Beehive Kate Pierson is releasing a solo album. One of the most distinctive personalities in rock and roll, if Kate didn’t exist John Winters would have had to invent her
Ask yourself, what would you think of this kitchen sink dance track if it wasn’t Gwen? It is a mediocre dance track with a fun hook for sure, but it ain’t no hollaback girl, the “hey get off my cloud” is a nice line in patter but like many an aging zeitgeist bearer before, she seems a step behind- B
I regret missing the Getotbeds last week, their current album Poor People Are Revolting is as clever as its title. Otherwise in a quiet week, Simple Minds still bring it, the Cat Stevens was an outlier on the blues album, the new Ezra is a doozy, and the new Mary J is like finding a Sam Smith song from his new album you didn’t know existed.
Always – Willie Nelson And Sister Bobbi – Always a pleasant song no doubt, but can he take it any slower. Look, I get it Willie is an old pothead with a sweet melodious voice and he can make music via alchemy but he can’t make invigorating music by alchemy and this is really faded love – B
McLagan played keys on Every Picture Tells A Story and Never A Dull Moment (OMG: that’s him on “Los Paraguayos”), and has played with everybody from Taj Mahal to Bob Dylan -Townshend, the Stones, Chuck Berry… the list is huge and you can check it out yourself on ianmclagan.con
At the time, punk felt like the most incredible thing that had ever ever happened, it took the world, it took the entire rock world of the UK, cpsized it, and the US followed even though neither the Sex Pistols nor punk rock had the blindest chance of maintaining it.
From “Bindfolded” to “Spirited Away” this is a consistently focussed collection of songs which will give Simple Minds more than a hanger to place their hits onand when they hit it right, on the title track for instance, they are indeed alive and kicking.
Billboard claim their new mix and match has affected the placement of Ariana Grande in firmaments, because it was streaming that accounted for enough of her sales to push her onto the top ten: “It moved 72,000 units for the week, heavily powered not just by album sales (47,000), but also track equivalent albums (19,000) and streaming equivalent albums (6,000)”
There seems to be zero change here from before they were counting streams –this is exactly what you’d expect, and if every 10 sales equals 1500 streams it might be a long time before you do whatever the claim is. By the way, Bruno Mars? James Brown is so great even lame ass copies sound good.
The Dean And I (Live) – 10cc – If 10cc are the English Steely Dan, this is the 10cc “Reeling In The Years” –a great farewell to Manchester University. The live stuff is meaningless –it aint that alive and the original is where to get the humdrum out – B+
It is just bad news, it’s just nasty stuff, forcing people who can’t afford it to dig deeper is U2’s MO, they always do it and now they’ve done it again. Hell, even Taylor Swift gave the presale codes free to her fanbase, don’t U2 have enough money where they are forcing us to dig even deeper; U2 have only one thing to tell us: shut up and pay me. Innocence postponed.
It took me nine months of writing “overrated” about Lorde before catching her at Roseland and changing my mind, it was a live show which we me round on the Drums as well. These three artists I essentially dismissed, some of them for a couple of years!, but changed my mind…
As my friend, Allmusic Assistant Editor Mark Deming put it: I think the list should be called “Several of the best albums of 2014, and a few that were made by Jann Wenner’s close friends.” Yes, exactly.
However, I love both of Lana’s albums and it should be something of real interest Love opening for her. It could be the worst thing ever seen by man, or it could be better than it has any right to be. Either way, Lana and Courtney are touring next year
Mistaken Identity – Wu Tang Clan – Pushing back and pushing drugs, 20 years later and everything is where it was, nothing has changed except easily the most interesting Wu is dead – B
Rock Or Bust – AC/DC – with Malcolm Young retired and his nephew Steve Young the replacement, you’d think, you know, maybe they’d slacken a little on the rumble tumble riffs and juggernaut rhythms. Not a chance. Nobody and no worse than anything else they’ve ever recorded, more songs about rock and roll and girls – ALBUM OF THE WEEK A-
FKA Twigs – Terminal 5 – December 8th, 2014 – A ferociously gifted yet oddly mutated soul girl raised on UK trip hop and MIA, gave a dazzling performance for the ages in support of her brilliant debut album and left us all in awe.
The 80s country superstar, had the twang and the bite and a great band most of the time to be the biggest star of the decade. Although a country fella, who crossed over into punk and new wave playing the local club scene in L.A. This track is a Lefty Frizzell cover and he plays it straight with a yodel in his voice.
Soldier’s Don’t Back Down – Idris Elba – world Music via South Africa, you expect Paul Simon to interrupt any second and claim copyright infringement, but this is the way African soul should sound. great chorus: simple but it gets you there – B+
The more I hear from these Mercury Prize winning, Scottish via Africa, stunningly rich music, this song may be their best, the happier I am I picked up a ticket to catch em at MHOW next year. A haunting, very lovely electronic based but isn’t that hook just a piano note, us one of the best sounds you’ll hear this year – A
