Here is the way soul works, if millions upon millions of people love your songs, they give them soul and the songs return it. Max is such a gifted songwriter and producer he has an alchemic relationship with his audience. They hear sublimely what he hears upfront.
What is with Ed, you ask? I doubt the NBC special would have had much effect on sales, however a discount to a dollar a holla might certainly have had a rush of sales. Remember, sales doesn’t equate to money earned: that depends on price of course.
This is a terrific list of songs, the only Bryan Adams song I’ve ever loved on topped, NxWorries right after, swell EDM pop, along with Paak’s best Dre track, a terrific “ABC” remix, the return of Jess, a hot r&b singer, post punk UK 79 style and a rapper dead too soon at 42.
Suede – NxWorries – This has been out since February but completely new to me and let me tell you, I missed it then but not this beautiful soul song featuring next years The Weeknd, Anderson Paak. One of the best songs of the year – A
August 23rd was designated European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism back in 2008/2009.It is known as Black Ribbon Day and was chosen because it coincides with the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact in 1939, a non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union.
Earl himself gave a centered, unflashy performance, hard dark beats rapped over with only the occasional sample, he goes to that special place where syllogism and empathy meet and where misogyny and misanthropy give way to a deep and strange vision of life. Wordy and flowing, but tight in itself and subdued
In 2015, they are a hard rock machine, which, even with half of the band MIA – Malcolm retired and Rudd in a mountains of trouble, this band is sine quo non metal band and terrific live. With last year’s Rock Or Bust, to sell AC/DC will be filling up Metlife on Wednesday, catch the dirty deeders done cheap!
That’s the thing about this brave new pop moment, if I don’t l like “High On The Beach”. all I have to do is wait a minute and here Lana Del Rey comes around again with a song to take the nasty taste out of my mouth.
Ride (Feat Icona Pop) – Lowell – This is catchy EDM as bubblegum move helped a lot by the always pleasant Icona Pop who give the song a terrific anthem lift off and while the whole fire in your heart is a little moldy they sell it well. Completely catchy, I hope it breaks pop big time – A-
This boils down to a toss up between The Weeknd and Foals, and I am going with Foals because every song I’ve heard off their new album has been aces in my book and I am still waiting for “I Can’t Feel My Face” to click (though not “The Hills”)
“If you are here without our permission, and we have given you two months to leave, and you’re still here, and we find that you’re still here after we we’ve given you the deadline to leave, then you become property of the State of Iowa,”
A Beautiful Woman – Deradoorian – The Dirty Projector band members first track of her first album owes something to the former band, an off key strangely instrumentation but essentially pop song – B+
Easy Love – Sigala -Sure, anybody can fashion a hit out of the Jackson 5’s “ABC” but not just anybody can fashion a masterful pop moment like this one, an addictive run round the giant pop song, with the hook on repeat. The vocal is speeded it and Michael sounds like a god in chipmunk clothing – B+
Three out of five late night shows are in repeats, the fourth hasn’t premiered yet and the fifth is on TBS. So in theory, we’d have to go with the fifth but in practice I am sodded if I am gonna give the nod to Ashley Monroe on Conan or anywhere else so, instead, here is present to Best Coast because I still love California Nights.
Tay, Ed, Sam and may Florence, 40% of the charts, is stuck like glue and meanwhile everything else cuts and runs every two weeks. Fortunately both Sam and Tay are great great albums and everything else here is not. By the way, sorry about Cilla, who I loved, but listening to that greatest hits, well, it could have a lot more hits to be honest.
The Jess Glynne single is really good, her best since “Hold My Hand”, and this one is nearly as good that one. I thought Jess was gonna get the song of the summer over here and it was no go, this one should absolutely do the trick
We have a homeless problem because we live in a free society where we can’t simply shovel off people’s rights because they have no money. For all the ways the homeless problem is a major pain on the neck. there is one way it isn’t: it keeps us honest by forcing us to see what happens at the lowest rungs of society. Who has moved these people? Who has the right to?
The Awakening – P.O.D. – P. O.D. – are the “Youth Of The Nation” Christiancore standard bearers, well and above the best of the lot, this isn’t for everyone, but if you want well thought out story albums here it is. Not a dud in the lot, you might not agree with its faith but even if you don’t this is very strong, melodic and intelligent stuff. Try “This Goes Out To You”: in a week with so much dreadful CCM, God save P.O.D. – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – B+
I haven’t seen the Weeknd since… well actually since July when he performed a song at Taylor Swift’s Metlife gig. But I haven’t seen him perform a set since he opened for Justin Timberlake in 2013 and while truth be told, there is no way I am going to Jones Beach this weekend for a half hour set, these concert at MSG and Barclay Center?
I wrote this in 2009 and Allan Pepper wrote me a very nice email thanking me and telling me that Allan and business partner Stanley Snadowsky planned to reopen it. Sadly, Stanley died in 2013
Jabberywocky – Panda Bear – Since I am such a huge fan of the Animal Collective alumni I was expecting big things from this new EP and I got it, this is a salt shaker of a song, a lovely strange half beat with semi-soaring vocals -I mean they sound like they should soar and decide not to – A-
The one song we’ve heard off the What The World Needs Now… is pretty solid stuff so news Johnny is touring behind it is not such bad news after all. indeed if he is half as good as he was last time, it should make for an interesting evening.
Now we have found Nemo we are off to find the giddy and wonderful Dory. “As USA Today described, one scene showed Marlin (Nemo’s dad) telling Dory he knows a guy who can help her find her parents; in another scene, Dory interacts with Hank, who tries to convince her to give him the tag that’s on her fin.”. It will be released June 16, 2016 and I wish they’d hurry up.
One is a serious man disguised as a Frat Boy and the other is a serious man disguised as a workingclass hero. Isbell is great but not great enough, Luke just moved 390,000 Album Equivalent Units, as if he had learnt something from Jason Aldean failed to about where pop meets hip hop meets country
Die Young – Chinz – Murdered in a drive by shooting last May, here is the fine rapper on the last song of his first album, with mentor French Montana, on a haunting track and a sad farewell: the life, you know “I pray I’ll be okay when I grow up a little bigger, if I don’t tell my babies their daddy was a real nigga” – B+
Nicki Minaj: Fans (???!!!!) are taking pictures of themselves doing dirty things with her waxwork. Angel Haze said this: “Wow, they finally give nicki minaj a wax figure and it’s a statue of her bent over on all fours…… White people yo….” Word.
J Geils Band are one of the great still standing live bands around and any chance to see them is a chance worth taking. Playing the theatre size Beacon, er, Theatre, you can get pretty close here and that’s for sure, and in a rare, really rare, first in 30 years rare headlining gig in New York City and if I didn’t already have plans to go to see AC/DC I would be soooo there.
I’ve been waiting to se Vince Gill for years now, I’ve already seen his wife Amy Grant and was pleasantly surprised. But the Carnegie Hall gig October 24th is a late nighter so, meh, right? And this one is like the country songwriters round robin and I figure very expensive so I probably can’t afford it.
With Taylor Swift on my mind this morning, I’ve been listening to her 1989 live boot and I hadn’t realized at the time but the woman has gotten to the point where she simply talks too much. Being taught life lessons by Taylor Swift is the moral equivalent of learning about humility from Donald Trump. Having said that, it is Wednesday and I am ready for another set of new recordings.
House Party – Sam Hunt – Was it me who spent years dissing new country? Actually,yes it is. I don’t like the manufactured pop sound in country. I don’t like it here too much either. But if I am gonna be dragged this is the way to drag me down, catchy dribble – B
The Valley – Miguel – I could have sworn this song was going to blow up big, I don’t see why in a market with The Weeknd all over the charts, Miguel isn’t there as well. This sex song is a classic, it is as good as Justin Timberlake at his best – A
So imagine how thrilled I was to hear that Jack was indeed back, and presumably close to releasing a new album since Caleb is with him. I received an email from Jack yesterday:
Why has Miguel not hit pop yet? I like the Weeknd fine, and I’ve seen both Miguel and the Weeknd live on stage and the Weeknd was much better. However, Wild Heart is a great album and I really surprised it had no traction. I’ll take “The valley” over “The Hills” and I actually really like “The Hills”.
The first thing that jumps out here is the complete lack influence his teenage daughters have over Barack Obama.on this playlist. one of whom is pictured above in a “Pro Era” tee shirt -the rap collective which includes Joey Bada$$ and Dirty Sanchez. Perhaps we don’t expect the POTUS to be namechecking them, but this is the man who quoted Jay Z’s “Dirt Off Your Shoulders” on the Presidential trail and pals about with Queen Bey, so he must have a feel for pop but pop is resolutely invisible. .
Let’s hear it for Florida, who recently tried a 16 year old as an adult for murdering his mother and gave him 28 years in prison. OK, but how comes this sixteen year old is an adult when he is a murderer and a child when he is 17 years old and having sex with Jennifer Fichter (22 years in prison folks), oh, and a dead hoodlum in a hoodie when he meets the dangerously deranged George Zimmerman. George, the only one of the three who should absolutely be in prison, just painted a Confederate Flag in support of a Gun Shop which won’t serve Muslims. Wait a second, Zimmerman can still legally buy guns? Forget it, it’s Florida.
A purely excellent two and a half hour set. I always write exactly what I believe and I have ragged on Costello for a couple of years now, but credit where it is due. He reformed the Attractions (c’mon, that’s what he REALLY did) and played an Attractions set. Just like that. And he was so good he made iffy songs sound like masterpieces.
Why Do Fools Fall In Love – Frankie Lymon And The teenagers – I consider myself a serious music fan, not stuck in any particular decade, way on top of modern pop but I am damned if I can find anything on the charts as great as the terrific teen wonder – A+
Sure it has been the dog days of summer, and news has been kinda slow, so here comes Donald Trump (who I have met on three occasions socially and who I consider quite as slimy as Rupert Murdoch) to kill some time and space. Fine. But when the leading candidate for the GOP is seriously discussing deporting 11.3 Million people PLUS legal and documented people, well, that joke ain’t funny anymore. This guy is beyond the pale and silly season needs to come to an end now. He is dangerous
I promise you that given the choice between embracing Luke and loathing him, I’d much prefer to love the wee tyke, if only out of respect for the zeitgeist but it can’t be done. If the Spring Break stuff was Jimmy Buffet for 30 something college kids, the new one is moribund drag country for bores hitting 40 and their first divorce. It is awful and one OK song, “Strip It Down” doesn’t come close to saving it.
This is an intense and thrilling ride into the charts, with police trying to close down their shows, Suge trying to kill anybody who crosses him, and the three friends falling apart till the end, when Dre leaves Death Row to form his own label (and discover Eminem) and Eazy E calling the band members with Dre and Ice Cube agreeing to reunite the group, before E falling sick with AIDs and dying six months later
If naming a song “Live To Tell” is cheeky but good natured, naming another song on the same EP
After getting swept by the Blue Jays in Yankee Stadium last weekend, they have beaten em twice in a row in Toronto, are 2 1/2 games in first and need want more to return the favour. And then they go head to head seven more times before the end of the season. Meanwhile, the Mets just lost in 14 innings but both teams are making for a thrilling year of baseball. Meanwhile, the Jets are still the Jets and the Giants are still the Giants FYI
a terrific week, every song here is excellent and “In Time” and “Girls From Texas” is so good I regret not bothering to catch Lyle at Lincoln Center last week. As for FKA twig? A flat out masterpiece that EP -I adore the woman. Herb Eimerman has a great EP about to drop, and I’ll review it soon) but this song with its terrific Byrdsy intro is beyond great.
With news of President Obama’s recent Spotify Summer Playlist still ringing round the world, I wondered what other Presidents might have been listening to. Thanks to a mix of temperament (I can’t imagine Reagan listening to Gangsta Rap, can you?), and age and history and, well, just plain ol’ fashion imagination, I got half way through this and thought… wait a second, why not google it? So I started from the top…
Everything I’ve heard by Drinks (aka Cate Le Bon and Tim Presley) -a sort of UK DIY post-punk bedsit experimental duo make it my pick for the week. Cate Le Bon is a Florence Henderson without the pretension and while she is underselling those pipes here, “Eighteen Teenage Revenge Pair” is something else again.
A petition was started online and, after gaining 100,000 signatures, therefore warranted a response from the President. Optimism was shortlived, however, as the White House removed it from the We The People website, citing a term of participation violation.
There is a direct line, heading straight down, connecting the Buzzcocks thru Green Day to this Australian boy band. 5SOS aren’t the worst at this, “She’s So Perfect” is pretty good for one, and they are harmless live, but this one misses out as it sucks off their audience, finding good everywhere – C-
I am against the death penalty because a) only the poor will die, b) I don’t trust the legal system as far as I can throw it, c) the reason for legal punishment is prevention and rehabilitation. However, news that the repeal of the death penalty in Connecticut means that Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes won’t get it is well
Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffett – 30 years after the fact, Jimmy still is defined by this masterpiece of loneliness, lost love and Tequila, a terrific heartbreaker which also placed him in a certain time and place he never left. It aches in all the right places as he searches for his lost shaker of salt – A+
On record, Earl Sweatshirt is all dark lyricism and hard vibrating beats, he rhymes his way through life and, not unlike pal Tyler, is like a rhyming diary of problems, including his health. He rescheduled this Best Buy concert from April to this Saturday due to health problems, but who would cash in their ticket when they could see one of the primary rhymers in the country? The man is one of the best, up there with his buddy Chance The Rapper, and this is a must see.
