1Train – A$AP Rocky – We all need a sap in our lives and this terrific ode to newfound wealth is still so close to the poverty line it has the ring of truth gangsta yarns can miss out on. Plus if you’ve ever had a ride on the train in question you might wonder if you’d stepped back to 1975 – A
the overall brew was a mix of surf-60s rock beats, with a heavy Latino flavor in the lyrics,… well, they sang in Spanish of course. People knew all their moves, knew they could turn a nervous bass line into a cumbia dance party, and of course there was the expected song going overboard
All these points are facts, not opinions, and I know that statistics don’t always explain everything, but suicide in Elliott’s case would make him an incredibly odd statistic. After going through all this, it is difficult to understand why many people still believe it was a suicide.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Big Apple Blues – Tomas Docker Band – Yusef Komunyakaa and Tomas Doncker concern themselves with what people do and don’t do for each other, with a sidetrip to Alabama and a layover in Fun City.
In retrospect, the Governors Ball was just tremendous. Three days, but home before 1am each night, of first grade, top of line modern popular music. From Skrillex to Outkasts, from the Strokes to Grimes, from Jenny Lewis to run The Jewels, this was the one.
If I have one wish for 2015 musically, it is that David Bronson’s excellent January release Questions finds the audience it deserves. This sublime art folk rock soul album should break him, must break him. It is what I want, it is what he deserves, I wanna say I knew him before he stopped taking my phone calls.
2014 was the year of pop, the entire world, hip hop, rap, country, r&b, rock and roll was a no show, were the hand servants of pop music meets everything under the sun. Artistry will get you so far and no furthe, money talks in a consumer society and money wanted beats and bops. And got it. Not a good year, a little unexciting.
“People would always ask, “Hey play that song about the wishing well or whatever it’s called!”… I vaguely recall my wonderful aunt mentioning that we finally had written a song she liked. So if you’re in the market for a family-friendly Screaming Females song, this is your chance”
Maybe five years ago, I was at a house party where Afrobeats were performing and standing to his side, I watched him manipulate tapes, beats, volumes, and the thing about EDM is when you watch a great DJ perform it is like watching a great guitarist take a solo and it is all in the hands and when you can’t see… No wait, much like EDM this review suffers from ADD
In an odd and somewhat disturbing twist I would like to serious it up a bit and thank you for your readership. In a world filled with 40 million blogs and flash its nice to know our followers not only increase but seem to be quite the smarty’s offering positive insight in a troll filled ‘net.
Pussy Riot, or rather their two most famous members, Masha Alekhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova, have released a video for a new song called ‘The Witches of Pussy Riot Are Cleaning Manezhka’, Manezhka being the name of the square outside the Kremlin where protesters gathered this week
752 songs I like enough, say “B+” and better, to include on this list though only the top 40 is in order of preference. I know it looks like a lot but think of it this way, with an average of 12 songs on album that is the equivalent of 62 albums so not incredible.
If it wasn’t for the desperate sexism of it all, the singles charts might be dubbed the year of the woman. But really, why should we single em out? Would that then make 2015 the year of the man? So on and so forth? But let’s be honest, that’s the way society judges it. Being female has its perks, and one is they get kudos for doing stuff men take for granted
I feel about Taylor Swift in 2014 exactly how I felt about the Yanks in 1999, you knew they were unbeatable and you knew you weren’t rooting for the underdog or anything, but they are still your team and you love em!
Mathew Knowles, was selling Beyoncé’s old belongings at a garage sale. Apparently there were ‘dozens of boxes T-shirts for $10 — some dating back to Destiny’s Child’s performances at the Houston Rodeo in 2007 – as well as CDs and office furniture’.
Take U There – JackU, Kleisa – This is Skrillex and Diplo’s remix and it is strong stuff. A pretty good track becomes a towering dubstep act of delayed gratification – B+
An album about how the blues moved from the South to the North, from the plantations in Atlanta to the Church storefronts of Brooklyn, the story of how the blues came to New York City and what it did when it got here. Perfect subject matter for rock nyc’s album of the year.
a sumptuous symphonic band with layers of instrumentation and a cinematic approach to music. Their album is a lush orchestral affair, with poignant strings and Kristianne Bautista’s amazing and soulful voice. A must have. Essential tracks: ‘Forever Found’
He is a dynamic, charismatic presence, singing his recent songs, sometimes re-writing them already, with a passion that comes from knowing you aren’t finished, you aren’t a relic of the 60s, or 70s, or 80s, that in 2014 your work is better than it was in 1984
1989 is a full-fledged, biggest album of the year, huge artistic statement thing but it is also “The Empire Strikes Back” of rock. It is neither a beginning nor an ending, it is a breather from the romances that have been the essence of her life since “Tears On My Guitar”.
‘It’s an ugly look/Did you study me hard enough?/You’re never gonna be/You’re just a wannabe me/Like a sister all messed-up/who’s gonna help you out?/In your fantasy, you can try it all/But you can’t be me/You can walk the walk/Even talk the talk/But you’ll always be/Two steps behind me’
But there wasn’t anything close to a new Lamar, nothing really shook the world of rap at all, it was very lethargic, very underground rumblings of art and over head circling big records for 2014. A hugel disappointing year for rap.
Death comes to everyone and for awhile I was really paying attention and writing them down and then I got sick of it and stopped. it was too depressing. But some deaths need to be noted…
2015 Flow – YG – In the weakest year for rap in immediate memory, YG found his bearings on the final song of his current album, an oriental track under a kenrick complex rape, which speeds up suddenly and blows up dramatically – B+
Back to Living Again – Curtis Mayfield – This is it folks, the single greatest secular hymn ever, even if with Curtis, Go is always in the details. His last greatest moments off his last great album, which Eric Clapton, taking the award for best album, said “This belongs to Curtis”.
Would you buy this pair of beaten down Vans? I certainly would not, but a lot of people are willing to put down a lot of money, as they have already reached $10,000 on eBay… and I am sure I wouldn’t even consider them for a Goodwill donation. However, these red Vans belong to Mac DeMarco !!
Everything Meghan is touching nowadays is awesome, she has a terrific voice and a her modern day doo wop sound on stage she is Bette Midler meets Ariana Grande, with that big lovely voice and a brassy energetic presence. every time I see Meghan on stage I have to smile
It seems to me that the future of war will have mercenary armies supplied by Amazon to fight on behalf of the interests of big business
So do popstars and at the end of their careers, maybe before, you can take a look and see them. You see something they can never reach again. It is possible 1989 is taylor’s… and it is possible I’ll expand on the concept… For now, the obvious.
A quiet week with Christmas right smack in the middle but let’s hand it to Darlene Love who completed a 28 year run on Letterman with three performances at Bb King. I caught the middle one and it isn’t enough to say well done good performances by a 73 year old woman, a 24 year old woman would have been equally impressive. The best? The Marvin Gaye medley
So, from the seeds of a truly devastating setback which ended his retirement at the age of 75, Cohen is now one of two (Dylan) maybe three (Bennett –though I didn’t like the Gaga album) , still capable of producing world class albums and he wouldn’t have known it if it wasn’t for his business manager.
Play It Again – Luke Bryan – Bob Lefsetz’ssong of the year and really it isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever heard, no harm no foul really, just a silly frat rock country song – B
On one level you can admire the schoolyard punk hubris of Earle titling his record with a Robert Johnson reference, but his blues pastiches are so comparatively pale that it makes him seem completely blinded by his own arrogance. I’m left wondering if anyone in Earle’s camp ever tells him that he has a bad idea
We are almost at the end of 2014, and do you wonder what 2015 has in store for us? We already know about some upcoming releases and these are the ones that excite me the most:
Have you noticed that Kanye looks always kind of depressed or bored to death? Kim is always self-conscious, as trying to look good is her only objective, while the kid looks often pissed off or ready to cry
What can you do with an album whose best song is all of them An album that ends with “Most Messed Up” and starts with “Longer Than You’ve Been Alive” and has “Nashville” bang in the middle and follows it with “Wasted”? It’s fucking great, that’s what you can say.
I really like Ella despite being an X Factor contestant, and a losing X Factor contestant to boot, she has an excellent voice, soulful, moving, mainstream but good enough for EDM any time. And “Ghost” and “Yours” were fine singles. and she has a whole lotta presence on stage. wonder why she stiffed on Factor.
EDM live on stage is both interactive and almost ambient, you can dance to it or you can float by, you can pay attention or you can leave it in the background of your mind. I saw Skrillex at Governors Ball last summer and was so impressed I finally realized he wasn’t Deadmau5 and learnt to love “brostep”! I will be spending New Year’s Eve with Skrillex, Diplo and… A$AP Ferg, Rudimental and Yellowclaw!!!
The return of Mark and Mars to # 1 makes you wonder if XFactor have been spiking the ball a little. The battle for Christmas single is pretty darn vicious and you gotta think… it wouldn’t take that many downloads, certainly $50K would do it… I wonder.
Born to a full-blooded Native American mother and an African-American born to a full-blooded Native American mother and an African-American father, lead singer Delores “LA La” Brooks didn’t only sing this, she also sang “Then He Kissed Me” so down into history she goes – A+
It’s a nostalgia trip but also its a trip into what makes life worth living by one of our greatest singers. I started by saying that Darlene belts em too hard but if you could belt em too hard at 73 wouldn’t you?
Nick Cave: I saw him twice this year, and it was totally spectacular because I even met him in person! First, at the Los Angeles premiere of his fake autobiographical movie, ‘20,000 days on Earth’ at the Egyptian theater on June 10th
Paul didn’t play the nostalgia vibe too much, of course there were plenty of old songs, but some new ones too, and his dynamism on stage and simplicity while talking to the huge crowd was so comforting. From my seat, he looked like a tiny ant at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, but he ignited the sea of people, and the sing-alongs were heart warming
Repeats, nothing but repeats, except for a Kelly And Michael visitors choice show and so what to do? How about sleep? How about read… nah, that doesn’t work does it. How about Rita and Iggy on Ellen? Hot stuff and they really perform the heck out of “Black Widow” Yeah, that’s the ticket!
The difference between FKA Twigs album and D’Angelo’s is that she has songs that announce themselves and D’Angelo simply doesn’t. The debut album of the year and the sexiness thing around., it is a deep lovely different thing.; a modern day Bjork without the whimsy
Will Laura Marling have the best or the second best album of the year, can Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper live up to its name (the first single suggests not so much) or whether Justin Towne Earle’s can threepeat and papa Steve finally offer a decent album this decade. Oh look, another Ty Seagul album, how novel
“If it’s good to ya, it’s gotta be good for ya…” Jerome Aniton was the truck driver for Steely Dan during their early 70’s tours. It is June, 1974. Steely Dan is playing at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in sunny California). Jerome, intoxicated beyond the Milky Way, steps on stage to introduce the band…” – A
I painted while listening to The Animals Greatest Hits and The Band’s Music from Big Pink on vinyl. I escaped to some other plane…to some other place where the muse talks to me and guides my hand and I think Misty could have been there too, in her chair, watching and enjoying the sunshine and digging music she never listened to before
I ended up sitting at the front – well the theater was packed – and the room was filled with gay couples (surprised?) and families with children… But is it a kid movie? Yes and no, mostly no
Lee Ann, at 48 years of age, is an old fashioned country singer from a linage that includes Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton, a countrypolitan songwriter who can sell a song and a singer-songwriter who can dig down deep. A must see.
