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Be Here Now, Recorded, Slideshow

Be Here Now: New Album Reviews 8-21-15 – 8-27-15

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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+

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10 Songs: Thursday, August 20th, 2015

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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-

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10 Songs: Wednesday, August 19th, 2015

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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

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10 Songs: Monday, August 17th, 2015

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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+

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Other Presidents Of The USA Favorite Music

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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…

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10 Songs: Wednesday, August 12th, 2015

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For The Love Of Money – Dr. Dre – This is the one, a topnotch r&b-soul track with a great rap from Black-Korean Anderson. Paak, who should see his public image go through the roof after his work on Compton, and Jill Scott who does a terrific job on the hook – B+

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10 Songs: Tuesday, August 11th, 2015

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Stand By Your Man – Tammy Wynette – Not Billy Sherrill’s greatest moment as a producer, but great enough for anybody else’s lifetime, Tammy seems to cry and hold and swear by and women can believe what they want but any woman who lives by “and if you love him, be proud of him” will be well loved in return. Love isn’t weakness jerk – A

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10 Songs: Monday, August 10th, 2015

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Mr. Harris – Aimee Mann – Aimee takes on ageism and beats it, spelling out the joys of romance with a man older than her father and Aimee handles it with so much dignity it makes you ache: “and you’ve waited so long and I’ve waited long enough for you” she claims, and a beautiful flute takes you on an instrumental. She can’t do this any more, you know – A

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10 Songs: Sunday, August 9th, 2015

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Come See About Me – The Supremes -The drum roll into this track snaps you awake and the handclaps are all there and the phrase is… who says “come see about me”? It sounds wrong and not vernacular but ageless and cool as hell and Diana sounds sort of vulnerable and in control at the same time – A+

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10 Songs: Saturday, August 8th, 2015

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I Remember You – Frank Ifield – Love the harmonica which works a hook, underlining the words, and Ifield, who could yodel like nobody’s business on this apotheosis of easy listening, and a hit in both the US and the UK in 1962. It remains a clearly beneficent idea perfectly executed – A

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Sneak Peaks: Upcoming Album Releases 8-14-15

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After all the action last week (er, I mean yesterday), this seems a little on the “when nothing happened” side of life, unless you’re in the market for play the sleeve (er, picture on the cover) and throw away the album Grace Potter side of life. Maybe , for no really good reason though “Sippy Cup” is a different type of pop song.

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10 Songs: Friday, AUgust 7th, 2015

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Genocide – Dr. Dre -“[He] wanted to hang out, eat nachos, watch ‘King Ralph,'” Stewart said. If Kendrick phoned it “Bad Blood”, this is the real deal: a heads down full frontal attack on the Compton pecking order, and the best song about Compton since, well, in the past coupla months if you don’t include Vince Staples – B+

Be Here Now, Recorded, Slideshow

Be Here Now: New Album Releases Reviewed 8-7-15 – 8-13-15

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The late Russian poet Anna Akhmatova’s words are translated, put to music, and then made to rhyme, leaving you twice removed from the originals. Though with an adopted Russian daughter, Dement has more reason than most to change though respecting Anna’s words -she could hardly do a crib sheet. Which she does, on an album that while a relative disappointment, and slow, thoughtful, and did I mention slow?, has enough songs with the brilliance of a “Broad Gold” and “Listening Is Singing”, to make it more than rewarding enough. Or would you rather listen to Luke Bryan? – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – B+

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10 Songs: Thursday, August 6th, 2015

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Growing Up (Sloane’s Song) – Macklemore – With Ryan Lewis and Ed Sheeran – It is hard to be so cynical about this song for his newborn daughter, the sadly named Sloane Ava Simone Haggerty, as he takes the poor wee thing through all the moments of her life. It is pleasant enough, absolutely, but really it is also creepy and overdone. I bet she spends a lot of her life squirming over this stuff – C

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10 Songs: Wednesday, August 5th, 2015

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Worth It – Danny Brown And Clams Casino – I love Danny’s voice and it is always great to hear him perform a new song and this one with New Jersey Producer Clams Casino is excellent, a very hot piece of self examination with a techno weird sound effects and a clipped half beat – B+

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10 Songs: Tuesday, August 4th, 2015

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Listening To Singing – Iris Dement – While I have heard mixed things about this album, dropping on Friday, this first song is absolutely lovely, with a wonderful hook, and a lovely lyric based upon the same named poem by Anna Akhmatova, comparing a woman’s voice to a ladder to heaven. Pretty excellent, actually – A

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10 Songs: Tuesday, August 4th, 2015

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Rescue Me – Amy Helm – If you are wondering whether Amy is the real deal, the lead single off her debut album is the essential components of Americana -a hint of country, a hint of jam, a spiritual component, a fine piano, and soulful singing. A very good song – B+

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10 Songs: Saturday, August 1st, 2015

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The Hook (All My Love) (Rough Mix) – Led Zeppelin – From the Zep’s last, pussy, album, this is all very Robert Plant’s Americana version of Zep, and very pretty, the brass solo is especially lovely and Jimmy is much more than brute force here, almost, dare we say it, delicate – B+

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10 Songs: Friday, July 31st, 2015

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Come And Get It – Badfinger – If we can please get past the backstory, this is the best song the Beatles never bothered with, a McCartney smash and also the theme of the Ringo Starr-Peter Sellers piece of weirdness “The Magic Christian”, sooonny – A

Be Here Now, Recorded, Slideshow

Be Here Now: New Album Reviews 7-31-15 – 8-6-15

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Two sexual adjectives and a vicious verb, invites you into Samuel’s bitter brittle state of the USA , intro-ing with a song that would have been a hit for Nine Inch Nails 20 years ago, and a body blow to the American dream, and continuing with “The Lion And The Lamb”, an acoustic Neil Young in protest mode and about a gay kid thrown out by his parents but without the whining vocal, “Hurt” you know and it is here to stake Samuel’s claim to experimental hard rocks disappeared high ground, and by the final track, a trip hop meets Marilyn Manson meets Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry (or at least Adrian Sherwood) mash up, Claiborne’s debut stakes its claim to be the most original agitprop of the year if not the decade – ALBUM OF THE WEEK – A-

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Drake’s “Charged Up” And “Back To Back” Disses Meek Mill

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Still, Drake’s response to Meek’s claim that Drake didn’t write his own raps seems a little overdone. Meek really isn’t in Drake’s league so the sneer seems a little stuck on Drake’s face, like his smiling but very very stiffly, not at all amused, you know. Why so glum, kid? You know the first rule of fight club, never punch down, why are you punching down??

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Michna’s Electronic Number For Rocks

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The track is an electronic ride through geology with a female whisper… it could be a dance number performed at festivals — although it is quite smooth and dreamy and too abstract to be totally dance oriented — but the DJ had another idea. He teamed up with Christopher Thockler for ‘Solid Gold’ a video featuring 60 rocks from 15 different countries around the world.

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Elvis Costello: Best Of The Stuff You Probably Don’t Know

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Not unlike Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, U2 and the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello is a white rock and roll superstar who has lost the knack and can only very occasionally write a killer song. Of course, occasionally isn’t never, and since I have a working knowledge of, well, everything he has ever written, I thought I’d try and find some of the better tracks you may have missed. In order of release (more or less). I passed on the opera and I passed on great great covers album called For The Stars.

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10 Songs: Monday, July 27th, 2015

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Alone Again (Naturally) – Gilbert O’Sullivan – His masterpiece of loneliness, suicide, heartbreak and the most devastating critique of god: “in my hour of need, why did he desert me?” The instrumental break, an acoustic guitar over a full orchestra, pulls you ever downwards, the flute that follows him the rest of the way will make you want to cry – A+

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rock nyc Top 10 Songs 7-24-15 – 7-31-15

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It wasn’t a bad week, not great but some good stuff there, however, oddly, there weren’t many standout songsl a lot of fair stuff very little great stuff. “Shame” made an appreance because it killed live, but the heart of the week for new tracks was 50 Cents. Alice Glass and the Yogi and Skrilelx song. Otherwise, OK but yeah, most of em wouldn’t have made it on a great week.

Be Here Now, Recorded, Slideshow

Be Here Now: New Music Reviews: 7-24-15 – 7-31-15

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#And See That’s The Thing – Djf Loaf – On the flawless side of things, this rapper, hook singer from Detroit is completely great on her five track EP debut. Dej’s Tae The Truth track was apparently no fluke, though she works closer to the same side of the street as Drake… with a difference: when she raps, she raps so close to the melody she seems to glide over it as opposed to solely play off the rhythm. She is also a great lyricist (though Big Sean sullies one song, Future comes off better). This is something of a masterpiece – ALBUM (well, EP) OF THE WEEK – A

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10 Songs: Wednesday, July 22nd, 2015

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Shrug – Chrissie Grimmie – “The Voice” third runner up last year got herself sign and dropped by Island Records, though this pure pop EDM track, whistle a major hook, is an annoyance, except the middle eight is an excellent deconstructed piece of weirdness. It could break her – B

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