I could see maybe a biopic integrating documentary footage sort of what happened the day after a hard day’s night, filmed in black and white, with the four somewhere between themselves on their hard day’s night self, slowly turning to full color… something like that. But another documentary. That’s exploitation of the Beatles name -enough is enough already.
“Plainspoken, egalitarian, impatient with fools and foolishness, and admittedly fond of cigarettes, alcohol and late nights .” Sounds like my kinda gal, travelling Broadway from the 1940s to the 00s, a great personality, wonderful singer, I saw her on Broadway plenty of times. And that was just in “Showboat”.
When I listen to S&G Greatest Hits it takes me back to being a child and not just a child but a lucky child. It is not that I had discovered girls, I, like Woody Allen, don’t believe I ever had a latency period, I always dug girls, but in 1972 girls noticed me. And in 1972, I felt that weird safety that only the young can have, where death, disaster, loss –none of them are quite part of your make up. I was, if you will, innocent.
There is no better rock superstar in the world today. She is the Derek Jeter of rock and roll, she is rich, she is gifted, she is lucky, beloved, born at the right time, and she does everything so gracefully most people (I mean me) don’t resent her for it. She does it the right way.
Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I Go Mine) – Bob Dylan – This is the live 1974 version and as it heralds the finishing end of the 1960s, it also seems to strike out at… the audience? The US? Some girl who says Dylan’s kisses are not like his? The Band have never played purer pre-punk hard rock and Dylan never sounded more enraged – A
Maybe they were the picture you put on the front page of a dating service, the one where something in your expression and the way the light hits you makes you look like Brad Pitt, when most of the time you look like Jonah Hill. But CSNY 74 begs a different answer
“This city is even better than the one you were in last year, so remember to dance, dance, dance. And then sit down for a minute, knit something, then get up and run all over the place. Do it. Love on ya. More music soon. David”
Two scenes broke through my sneer. The couple sharing buds and listening to music while walking the streets of New York is very sweet, though the pay off is, again, non existent. And a scene ona rooftop where Ruffallo’s daughter adds her guitar is quite good, good enough for the song “Tell Me If You wanna Go Home” to emerge as a winner
So 1000 Forms Of Fear in at # 1 even if only 54,000 units shifted, still a good number. Maybe I was wrong? Maybe I should listen to it again? So I did and this album is so full of it self it seems to swagger along in self-regard though its only saving grace is Sia’s voice and when that’s all there is, it begins to pull you under.
Please allow me to be the last to congratulate magic! on their hit single, I hope they make lots of money and invest it wisely. This is their moment, the magic! for magic! is in the air and why not? But if you’ve heard the album, the chance of a follow up hit seems a little on the doubtful side and so they will descend like Foster The People into sophomore album hell. Till then, make the most of it boys.
Handy – “Weird Al” Yankovic – “I’ve got 99 Problems but a switch ain’t one…” Weird Al’s take on Iggy Azalea’s hit places him as the handy man and it is funny… up to a point. The problem with Al is there is nothing underneath making the rock star cool, mundane. It lacks resonance – B+
Drysdales got the classic “I Go To Pieces” and this may well be, er nepotism?, since Drysdales singer songwriter Patrick Potts is the driving force behind the Tribute album. Patrick is currently working on Volume II (and I recommend a track by track recording of Home And Away) and as always all proceeds go benefit the Del Shannon Memorial Fund
As we speak, Angela Bassett, who did such a great job as the long stemmed human God Tina Turner in “What’s Love Got To Do With It” is directing Yaya Dacosta as Whitney and Arlen Escarpata as Bobby Brown in the Lifetime Movie version of the tragic “How will I Know?” singer’s life, “Whitney”.
If Bey was a great artist, not a great person, but somebody who could delve deeply into the collective unconscious, like a Billie Holiday or an Etta James, she might deserve this regard. But she isn’t, as good as her last album was, what she is is the prancing self regard and low to the land swaggering woman who play acts a vicious robber and murderer. Is that what women want to be? I certainly hope not.
White Gardenias – Justin Townes Earle – In which Steve’s little boy completes the transformation into a major country songwriter with this slide guitar haunted melodic stroke which promises that his 2012 rock nyc album of the year was no fluke – A
Jungle – Jungle – There is a market for this UK dance duos hard rhythm disco moves and rather this than Disclosure for sure, nothing misses the beat and non of this is beats for beats sake as song after song makes itself known. The remix album is gonna blow you away – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – A-
The songs aren’t that hot. “Peace”, “Neal Cassidy Drops Dead”, “Kiss Me A Lot” –they have something incomplete about them, it is like they couldn’t quite close the door on the songs. “Mountjoy” sounds important with its martial beat and destructed depression (it is about Irish prisoners) but it isn’t a good song.
Listening to these songs I can hear both what I disliked and what I should have enjoyed. The faux opera dragged me and the harmonies really really dragged me, but Mercury was a magnetic force and the band could play rock and roll metal with the best of em.
This is a pretty good line up and I am sure expecting Smokey to be too much of a pro not to bother file sharing the duets but to have gotten the actual performers into the studio. Legend (who owes so much to Robinson), Miguel and Aloe Blacc, it could be great. Elton and Tyler from the old school, and Mayer on guitar!
I was soooo disappointed when I saw Weird Al on stage a couple of years ago because man was I up for it and the bastard went cheap on my ass and instead of putting on a huge extravaganza was very Poconos in 1954. Still, he gets the call of the wild this week!
Point of No Return – Gene McDaniels – the early 60s pop star made a sweet, masterful samba out of a little know Goffin-King new romance ode, you just can’t get out of its way, a gorgeous romantic work – A
Andy Serkis gives an Oscar winning performance in full Simian drag as Ceaser, he acts with his eyes and commands with his presence. Nobody else shines and Gary Oldham is seriously underused and Keri Russel is virtually useless. Jason Clarke doesn’t look like a hero and can’t act it
So, English rock bands, what’s the story? we haven’t gotten Kasabian yet which is bad, but we haven’t gotten one of the UK’s great rock bands Manic Street Preachers, and that’s worse. I once saw MSP from the fourth row of Jones Beach between Screaming Trees and Oasis, and of the three they came… what’s before first?
The Will I Am single has been kicking around the States for months now and not getting any traction but over there they have more of a flair for this sort of stuff and noted the young (17 years of age!!) Cody Wise is a star in the making.
American Horror – Speedy Ortiz – This is a quirked out angular wall of guitars broken into from outside by Sadie Dupuis’s off melody singing, and this time at least it works great -like Best Cast meets Pavement, and also not too much like either – B+
A couple of hours later the stoically bemused Dinosaur Jr would be wowing the crowd on the same stage, and a little earlier the angular wit of Mac Demarcos and indie classicism of Speedy Ortiz would have their moment, but for right now the day belongs to the aggravated garage bang of Those Darlins. A quintessentially New York rock and roll moment the day after Tommy Ramone died.
I have zero doubt it is difficult to do much but rub your audiences noses in the flash of funds at a Stadium extravaganza but like Bono and Bruce, Jay Z seemed capable of it and this show, not unlike the entire on the run concept, was forced.
I am not talking voice here, Earle sounds like Earle, I am talking tempo, it slows to a crawl, it pours itself like molasses, it lacks all edge, it is like earle is strangling himself. This isn’t a blanket condemnation, the three song with Harris are all magnificent oil and water, sour and sweet, scratch and soothe, especially “Goodbye” – alone it is worth the price of admission.
I am not a huge Queen fan, I like the hits but at the time all the operatic stuff dragged me and today the metal overtones make me a little shruggy. As for Adam Lambert, with gratness within his grasp he has yet to actually grap it. But together, it should be a thrilling performance this Thursday at MSG. Ad I didn’t mention Freddie Mercury once.
Well done, Yankees, Tanaka has a partial UCL tear and is out six weeks if not the year. Why? One thing is for sure, they rode his arm too hard. Whither the Yankees? They spent $500 Million, $209 Million this year alone, and aren’t getting into the post season. Enough. Fire Cashman
The Ariana song promises well for her upcoming album, at the every least there is two good songs on it, “Break Away” is poppier than the hip hop flava “Problem”. Otherwise, Doncker’s vocal has to heard to be believe and just about every single thing here has real value.
His voice had the rumbling power of a train in the still of night roaring through a small town. And while he slammed every song hard, some might claim too hard, his guitar playing could be very nimble indeed, letting a couple of smartly placed notes replace a solo before playing fast runs near the neck of the guitar.
ASCAP have to license their music to Pandora, etc, and Pandora can play the music before the deal is cut, this leaves ASCAP at a serious disadvantage and now SONY/BMG and UMG want to see if, released from the ASCAP obligation they can cut a better deal.
On January 15th, 1978, Johnny Rotten took a plane from San Francisco to New York and stayed with my friend Joe Stevens while announcing to the world he had left the Sex Pistols. Johnny spent two weeks before returning to the UK and inventing Public Image Ltd
The Moz has some lovely moments, I think, it is a little hard to settle into it, it needs concentration and the CSNY took Graham Nash used to cut and paste from a whole tours worth of music, someimes changing a single line from one version to another. CSNY 74 has everything you thought it would and plenty I for one (admittedly, not a huge fan) have no idea about, including “Goodbye Dick”, Neil Young sticking in the knife to one former President Nixon.
Anything involving my friend Karen Sundell , the VP of Entertainment for PR Firm Rogers And Cowan tends to be pretty awesome and that will include the “the crowd funding campaign for the Miles Davis film, entitled “Miles Ahead.” rock nyc interview subject Henry Rollins is a long time supporter and filmed this come on for the masses.
Harold And Maude” puts a seminal set of Cat Stevens songs (circa Tea For The Tillerman) to the story of love and freedom between a 75 year old woman and a 21 year old man. Helen Bach considers it her favorite album of all time and Helen Bach has an emotional compass worth listening to.
Whipping Post – The Allman Brothers – In feverish anticipation for the Allman Brothers last stand (I got a ticket for the penultimate night, despite all my efforts), I’ve been jamming this Duane Allman piece of roughshod blues from a 1970 gig – A
Katy and uber-producer Dr. Luke simply ruled and three years later the Katy Perry reign continued. And while sure, it wasn’t much, a mix of fair pop hits and iffy dance slams while Katy moved away from her Dorothy in Candyland 2011 persona to still embrace her inner 13 year old but through the eyes of a blasé 29 year old writing a self-help manual, it pleased those it was meant to please
What are you doing today? Me, I am heading over to Metlife to check out Jay Z and Beyonce and then heading out early to get to the Bluenote by 1230am and catch the Tomas Doncker Band for a Howlin’ at Midnight gig, TDB release party for their best blues album of the year Moanin’ At Midnight
“For a long part of the year, Thom Zimny and I have been talking about shooting a short film for Hunter Of Invisible Game. We’ve finally got the job done, and we think it’s one of our best. Thanks Thom for the hard work and brotherly collaboration. You and your crew bring it all. And to all of you out there in E St. Nation (fan club), we hope you enjoy.”
So why go to catch him at Highline Ballroom? Simple: I can’t resist the tiny environment. How often do I get the chance to see Keith in a club where everybody you see there just because it is so damn small. I’ve seen both Blondie and Brian Wilson kill it there, and thisclose to the show as well.
Lo these many years later though the question is, is Billboard, is album an single sales, irrelevant and the answer is, if viewed in a vacuum maybe so but as part of the streaming, youtube, etc etc Itunes, so on universe they are valuable. And I bet if you compared this list of most popular Spotify tracks and Billboard sales, they would be knocking on identical
Anarchy In The UK – Motley Crue – Do I buy into this being a lousy cover? Absolutely. And every attempt to switch from the UK to the US was a complete disaster. But so what? Who else is singing Sex Pistols songs in 2014? – B
Chester looks like Freddy Krueger dressed up for a meeting with the judge on his pre trial for murder, “It wasn’t me , your honor” and the Judge would take one luck at Chester and this is going to trial poste haste. Guilty of lousy rock and roll albums in the 1st degree, murdering both rock and rap.
Streaming and buying are mirror images of each others. On Spotify, “Blurred Lines” was streamed 174 Million times, Thicke’s latest song “Get her Back” 2 million times. This is eactly mirrors the UK charts break down, Thicke lost over 98% of his audience in a year and the reason is not just because he sucks
Hell, this is so weird, things take forever to move on the Singles charts, and for the second week there is precisely one new song and two changes in position with “Happy” dropping out and “Maps” dropping in and i have admitted in public before that I like Adam Levine, and this is as good a Police update as you’ll hear. But the dye job, Ada? It has to go.
Three really good albums and boatloads of whatever with at least two serious dogs in the mix. Take it or leave it, I don’t care, I mean yeah Trey is # 1 but he only sold 105K so oh well whatever, right. I wonder how many of these albums will go, forget platinum, gold.
Playing with Fire – Chelsea Grin – The problem with metalcore is it lives and dies with the lead singer and however great the rest of he band is, if the lead singer sucks, the band sucks. And Alex Koehler doesn’t suck – B+
The strength of the evening… actually, it was just a great set. Crenshaw was in fine voice, the band sounded terrific, the song selections very strong, and the wooliness of the set up allowed Crenshaw to go off on tangents. Mishearing a song request, he decided to play Five Man Electrical Band’s 1971 “Signs”.
