No doubt at all the A$AP Rocky, Chris Owens, Yo La Tengo and Free Energy albums are all biggies, the biggest of them all is the release of the late and truly lamented Teena Marie, who died at 54 years old and whose 14th album, which was working on it at the time of her death, will be released.
What Goes Round/…Comes Around -Interlude – Justin Timberlake – Sure I was at MSG when they filmed the HBO Special, with my niece Hyam, and we were both stunned by Timberlake’s performance. Especially his dancing… nah, especially this terrific song performed at the piano – Grade: A+
This is an OK slice of disco, the horns are lovely, vocals on point, rap non offensive, and the entire enterprise is smart enough AOP -adult oriented pop. Timberlake is in great voice, he has lost nothing at all from his top end. And while the song goes nowhere it glitters in place
“You have us moving around and we’re also singing and their making noises and they’re swinging stuff around and that’s making noise and so all these things are part of a real sonic landscape that is made up of both movement and music.”
Bruce Springsteen contemplated married life and The Replacements saluted a Memphis legend and worked with The Memphis Horns. R.E.M. released their most muscular album while the Grateful Dead had a Top Ten pop hit.
Hildegard von Bingen was a 12th century German Catholic saint, who was also a writer and composer and philosopher! I wonder how Banhart got into this mystic character, but this is what happens when you have a wild imagination
From small things, baby, Bowie took three albums to get his bearings but once he did, with album # 4. it was a great ride of pop music changing sound for a decade where Bowie was the greatest rock and roll star of all time. Then two things happened, punk and a pop star superstar lull from which he never got back his bearings. In 2003 Bowie retired and early last week he released a new song. Buckle down Bowie fans, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride
The concert was broadcast live to 40 countries, including Australia, but in the USA the show was delayed until April 4 so as not to conflict with MGM’s Elvis On Tour movie that was in movie theaters at the time.
Honestly this soft empty platitude for a comeback? How are they going to energize the crowds with this? Oh I know they will probably compensate with golden high heels, cleavages the depth of a canyon and bootylicious galore but still
Spider Bags Dan McGee promised me a concert last September at MHOW… never happened. Then Songkick announced a gig at Union 251, but their basement got flooded. And then the band switched this gig from Saturday to Friday though luckily I don’t care so here, FINALLY, the makes of Shake My Head -2012’s best album, live on stage on Friday at Cameo Galley in Brooklyn.: IT’S SPIDER BAG
Sure “Next To Me” is a great song, but it aint that great but let’s forget about that and point to our buddies in Black Veil Brides, interviewed here some three years ago now, and now firmly ensconced in the Brit Top 10! Makes us feel (self) important… or at least prescient.
The Rihanna piano based ballad off the latest album “Stay”, simulates longing with the best of them and the Calvin Harris track won’t be released as a single Stateside because Tinie Tempeh can’t seem to crossover the Atlantic.
Shower The People – James Taylor – Though a hit in 1976, it’s second life as an anthem is precisely what Taylor does best: he allows time to catch up with his songs and change in a song from a mid tempo guitar based pop song to a feel good singalong – Grade: B
Look at it this way: if Mitt had won I prolly wouldn’t have just been killed in taxes, on the other hand, it is worth a coupla grand a year to have a Prez who has not only heard of Biggie Smalls but can quote him… if you don’t know now you know
The gossip mongers have stated that Beiber agreed to have ‘nothing off limits’ for his skits. That includes his recent pot smoking adventures. My question is will it also include the cut4beiber campaign?
Who would have thought that there was so much deep philosophical reasoning behind this simple alteration of an old picture? Yeah, it’s pretty deep and I needed his input. And what about the choice of ‘Heroes’?
Morrissey is the same way, he lacks any sense of proportion and everything is on this one huge level of fury: the Queen’s corgi is pregnant, the UK in Baghdad, they cancelled Emerald farm –all well over the top…
Beginning today, unsigned musicians are invited to enter the Play Crossroads contest for free at www.playcrossroads.com by completing a short informational profile and uploading one MP3.
If ‘Ready to Go’ is all bells-chiming and dreamy vocals with some epic bombast à la Arcade Fire that may make you want to run up a mountain, ‘Silver Lining’ is an infectious sunny poppy tune that could you make kiss everybody
The payout will go to settle debts Clinton accumulated between 2005 and 2008. Hendricks & Lewis successfully sued in 2010 for the money and George had managed to pay back $340,000 but that wasn’t enough so a federal judge ordered the songs to be turned over.
Yo La Tengo are gonna be roaring back with Fade when it is released later this year and the first song off the album is guitar hydraulics as folk rock and very near perfect. Fantasia ain’t bad either. The Owens album is gonna be really really big.
Released six months ago in Europe and headed late on the hels of the excellent “Vegas Girl”, this is Pharrel’s attempt to find a new Justin Bieber up to discovering Conor on Youtube. And it is not unsuccesful electronic pop music either, though the definition of nondescript. A handful of tracks, “Animal” and the hyper ballad “Glass Girl” among them, should get the job done. And the album is abpout as interesting as this review: Grade: B-
I’ll Go Home With Bobby Jean – Gene Kelly And John Gustafson – And Van Johnson, ripping up this Lerner And Lowe classic to the morning of a marriage (conceptually not a million miles away from “girls come and kiss me, tell me you’ll miss me”) from “Brigadoon”. A Vincent Minnelli disaster of epic proportions that survives as both gilded and bright and shallow and dark. The song is a blast – Grade: A-
In a ridiciously smart and cutting edge evening of music, a handful of top acts wowed an audience, mostly there to see a rapturously received funk old time Shuggie Otis. If they’d arrived on time they would have also caught Kosher Rock, Interdisciplinary Indie rock, over the edge UK soul and a leader of rap
a sweet and beautiful melody and this flute/melodica musical interlude that seemed to be escaped from some 70s movie soundtrack… And there is a lot of this in the album, a lot of melancholia and old-fashioned use of flute and saxophone
At a time when every thought on the shooting has turned political, it is amazing that these bands and these PR companies can come together and say “we are here for you, and so are these hundreds of other music lovers”.
I swear I am starting to think he is my long lost brother. As cynical and opinionated as I am only worse (as if possible) because he can go on forever with his logic (which I tend to agree with) and really rip it up.
Frank Ocean got lucky: the right sound, the right publicity, the right album. And more power to him. But that doesn’t make Channel Orange much more than a pretty good album.
According to the New York Times, Led Zeppelin is in negotiations for the right to stream ‘Whole Lotta Love’, ‘Stairway to Heaven’, and probably all the rest of their catalog.
“I am very sad to announce that Wilko has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer of the pancreas. He has chosen not to receive any chemotherapy”
To hear “Limelight” done in such a matter makes me not only want to throw the disc but throw the baby out with the bath water. Is someone enjoying this? Perhaps this is a joke-that must be it.
If you haven’t see the man on stage do treat yourself to the fine tuned sound merchant, he is so supremely confident and such a charmer on stage it is a consistent shock he is at the Iridium and not at Carnegie Hall.
Winner – David Bowie – In a move that took the world by surprise, David Bowie released a new single from an upcoming album and reclaimed his position as, at the very least, one of the greatest self promoters of all time! The song itself is depressing Bowie schtick with a powerful ending and after a little hastle with the UK charts it will be entering em at #1… unless britney beats him.
Intro – The XX – Made them stars and it is easy to see why, there is a sort of pragmatic darkness to their music, like it only lifts its head above water to nod it from time to time and still there is a still loveliness to it. Like staring at the dead sea in a sun so light it is blinding you – Grade: B+
Over the past 4 months My Chemical Romance has been steadily releasing a series of singles that, combined, make up what is essentially the band’s fifth studio album which they’ve titled Conventional Weapons.
It’s more pop than punk, it’s girlie pop à la Dum Dum Girls with a bright twist, and there is a certain subjacent punky savor below the sweet harmonies, I know, I have seen Bleached live twice
The songs lyrics are so vague that you can interpret it a thousand ways. Is it the end of our innocence or the future of brightness and hope? It the proverbial half full and half empty glass “your lorry loads pumpin petrol gas’ can’t get more Brit speak than that can you?
Despite the brains behind “Mama Mia” being involved., “Viva Forever” doesn’t seem to have worked (I would really love to see it) and is playing to empty houses while the Daily Star claim it is gonna go belly up any time now
No more prevaricating, the bet is Solange brings it on this high profile concert and later this you when the True EP becomes an album, my bet is it will be revealed as better than the shrugs I’ve been giving it.
She is a Vegas Goddess with a huge gay following. She’s basically the patron saint of gay men. Sure theres Brittany and Madonna but Cher is second only to Liza Minelli as the drag queens super hero.
I don’t know why Bad Religion is doing this, as they are usually playing large venues and headlining festivals, but if you are a fan it is an unique occasion to see the iconic punk band in an intimate venue
Five absolute must see concerts and only one me? It happens from time to time, you just get completely killed with choices and start getting out maps and timetables to see how many you can make. I think I can make two, so here are my choices for the person on the move.
Perhaps the real answer to the question of distribution, as shown by the effect of Amazons sales on the charts, is killing the price of a digital album from $12.99 to $6.99, or even an even five bucks across the board. If streaming is really encroaching on the business, perhaps that will keep em at bay, raise profiles, sales, and ticket sales.
I keep claiming Will hasn’t had a solo hit but he was behind Usher’s “OMG” and this is indeed, his third hit. Let’s say he hasn’t had a hit in awhile. Neither has Britney who just quit X Factor and probablky still doesn’t need the money.
This Is The Army, Mr. Jones – Irving Berlin – Once the US joined WW2, Irving Berlin got to work and maybe no better than he did here: it is indeed, a sort of a dream of war, a sort of changing of life priorities: “This is the army, Mr. Brown, you and your baby went to town, she had you worried butthis is war and she won’t worry you any more”. Sorta death as final solution – Grade: A+
Yorke’s lamenting falsetto, warm-going-desperate background wordless vocal chorus, the song builds a very familiar ambiance à la Radiohead, but without any crescendo or catharsis, just staying afloat with a melancholic vibe stuck between electronics and acoustic guitars… It’s not bad
Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys pushed a new rock/rap fusion into the marketplace and while punk rock and new wave had been put to bed, a new batch of college radio acts
It is pure hubris to ignore your greatest achievements because you don’t wanna be an oldies act. Nobody is saying give up on his current music to tour for three months as the Jam. He is a prolific songwriter, write some new songs, I hear no great difference between his solo work and and the Jam
Here is the fun thing, as much as I want to smash this kids piece of crap car to smithereens with a bat is as much as I admire the kids music. Without his ghetto swag I would never have discovered Don Omar
All there is on Lodger is “Boys Keep Swinging” and that is no “Always Crashing In The Same Car” now is it? Don’t let time rob you of your Bowie… when I get a minute I will review em all for you and you can judge for yourself. His best song in the past 30 years was a cover of Jonathan Richman’s “Pablo Picasso”!
