(This is less than two weeks into rock nyc and I was still trying to simplify my writing to the very bare bones, and not finding it easy. Reading this review is a reminder as to how great Lily was, and how meh she became. I happened to be listening to Martha Wainwright earlier today and the same thing happened to her… they couldn’t sustain it
Plus she sat on a bed of hay, surrounded by backing dancers dressed as a Christmas cracker, a gift and a donkey, recreating a sort of nativity scene… I don’t get it, is she Mary or baby Jesus, or both? Well she called her last album Sheezus, so she had to act on it, after all Kanye West has brought the real Yeezus on stage.
Leave Your Lover – Sam Smith – Smith’s absolute and final and timeless masterpiece of thwarted romantic desire, plays like a gorgeous nightmare in the back of your head while Sam’s falsetto reaches forward in desire and sadness. one of the great songs of our time
Just Snap Your Fingers – Marshall Crenshaw – The best song off Jaggedland is also a view of Crenshaw the lyricist the you don’t always hear: “You can count on my love till the ultimate end” is pop poetry of the first order – A
“I’ve been asked to do a Game of Thrones cameo, they asked me if I’d be interested in playing Theon’s sister, and I felt uncomfortable because I would have had to go on a horse and he would have touched me up and shit”
A good week for concerts. I went three for three, Lady Gaga followed by Lily Allen, followed by Elbow and all three were a whole lot of fun, though I think, maybe, Elbow were best. Still, two of these will make my best of the year list and the third maybe should as well.
1. When Did I Stop Loving You, When Did You Stop Loving Me – Marvin Gaye – From one of the greatest little know albums of all time, Gaye’s contact
Lily has gone on the record as not being entirely thrilled with Sheezus, but really, enough of this fucking English self-deprecation album. What is better? Prism? Lily has made three albums the equal of You Broke My Heart In 17 Places, what more do we want? Well, I’d rather not be called a misogynist but otherwise it is great to have Allen back.
Can one star make that much difference in a musical theater production? It can when that one person is the sheer brilliance that is Jessie Mueller as Carole King, she sure can. A bravado vocal and acting tour de force that changed a mediocre jukebox musical story into what they were aiming for: the story of “Tapestry”. A great, star making performance
Anastacia has been out of the pure dance pop business for nearly six years battling breast cancer and now she is back and she still irritates the hell out of me, it’s the voice… well, the voice and the songs .
Remember how cool Harry Connick Jr used to be? So fresh faced and croonie? Now he looks as if he’s made of modeling clay and what color is he? Soy sauce colored flesh
I can’t predict Tuesday’s concert, the only one I have seen on this tour was the Itunes film and it was terrible, but maybe this will come theretofore, maybe this will work. I definitely plan to find out Tuesday. I’ve seen her three times, freat once, lousy once, okay once… let’s see what we get at Madison Square Garden.
Typical Girls – The Slits – M.I.A. mentioned the late great Ari Upp at yesterdays Webster Hall gig, and listening to this great song from back when the fractured rhythms sound so much like an ancestor of M.I.A. and in a way the entire modern House scene it is worrying, it makes you think we didn’t give the Slits their due – A
Good Kisser – Usher – excellent beat heavy, rhythm unsteady, major league return by Usher with a huge dancefloor appeal. It should be big – A
Lily has put herself up in battle with her peers and while that may well be a little silly, if you take it at face value it is a fight she has absolute won. Sheezus is a damn good album whatever Lily might think to the contrary.
Sheezus – Lily Allen – I think Lily is starting the wrong fight here, surely anything you can say about Lily Vs Katy you can say about DeRulo Vs Flo Rida –they’re all being exploited. Still, anybody who makes their hook “I’ve got my period” knows from post-pomo feminism – A-
Avant Gardener – Courtney Barnett – Quite a year for chick singer songwriter with, how you say, forth right attitudes. This has been around since last summer and she sounds like Violent Femmes meets Lou Reed -(I know, I know) – B+
This would make a fun on going column, right? Helen Bach wrote one about Chrissie Hynde yesterday Some big time rock star gives a big interview but not to rock nyc? The list is almost endless
One of the most difficult things to grasp about drug addiction is that it actually is a real disease and while it feels like a disease you have control over , that control is like cancer remission. Addicts go into remission. And sometimes they never get sick again and sometimes they do and sometimes they die.
Oh My God – Mark Ronson, Lily Allen – Her show at Highline Ballroom was an instantaneous sell out. I ended up plonking down a hundred bucks on Stubhub – A
By one of those odd twists of fate, the show is May 15th, the night before Elbow at Webster Hall. So two huge UK bands in a row. Good luck getting tickets though apparently they aren’t for sale yet any way.
‘Rihanna and Drake are just having fun at the moment. Neither of them are relationship people really. But Drake has made it clear that if things are going to get serious with them, he doesn’t want her speaking with Chris.’ That was the point young Conor Oberst was making on “Make War”, how new lovers try to wipe out old lovers.
Lily’s cheekiness will be unimpaired but a quick comparison between streams of “Air Balloon” (half a mil) and “Fuck You” (14 mill) suggests Lily better have something better in the works and that might well be “Hard Out Here” whose nasty video and general bellyaching didn’t hurt its 11 million streams
The top four are all singles which is something a little different for me. Not sure if it is a reflection of the overall weakness of album releases or just a simple chance happening. That Lana cover gives darkness whole new levels of meaning.
Everything Is Awesome – Tegan And Sara, The Lonely Island – The theme song to the hotter than July “The Lego Man” is Wiggle simple but without an ounce of condescending , this crossover nursery rhyme is really as awesome as you wish it was – A
A blip upwards this week at least because of Jason’s awesome ballad “Trumpets” and goes a long way to saving a short ripping, acrobat dancing, background taping loud mess at Jingle Ball! Looks like clear sailing for Lily’s song of Christmas
Where are the Christmas songs? Only Lily Allen constitutes one and none of the others has hit the top ten yet, where is Susan Boyle, Lucy Spraggan, the Fishwives Choirs (no really) and, er, AC/DC. Cowell is pushing SIX X factor songs, none of which are her.
An alright, Englishy, Christmasy, feel goody type of charts, with Elle, Lily, McFly, Barlow, 1D and more with English-y sweety sticky love makes me strong-y four little word-y let’s hold hands to process guitars and programmed drums
Not bad, pure pop UK 2013 style: Lily twice, Gary, Ellie, Litttle Mix, 1D, there have been much worse charts out there. No hip hop but two EDM hits as icing on the cake
This isn’t a bad top ten, 17 year old Dutch sensation Martin Garrixx has a wonderful slice of House beats here that have taken Europe by storm and Lily Allen, who I may well be congenitally incapable of saying a word against has for the second time in her career released a cover that cuts the original
Sutphin Boulevard – Blood Orange – Devonté Hynes poppiest moment from two years ago sounds as fresh today as we eagerly await Cupid Deluxe which maybe I should have made my sneak peak of the week elsewhere – A-
It is a catchy smart lyric and a catchy smart song. It will be huge in the UK and I don’t see why it shouldn’t crack the charts here. Plus Lily, you are movie star ugly. Where the actress takes off her glasses and her hair and suddenly becomes Kate Middleton.
I saw her at T5 in 2008 and thought she was really cool and Sandie Shaw of herself and if the cover of Keane’s innocuous “Somewhere Only We Know” is her second step back (she did the Pink duet last year), it isn’t a bad one at all.
Two really good songs here, “Booyah” is awesome straight up no chaser House and “Afterglow” is a very good dance track with lyrics that if they were maybe twice as good would put you in mind of Lily Allen.
Nothing Gets Crossed Out – Bright Eyes – The Conor Oberst hits an unbelievable height here, but since I just interviewed Maria, I am listening to her play Emmylou to Conor’s GP. A perfect lyric, lovely melody, and a brilliant bridge. Simply one of his greatest – A+
