Somethings rotten in England. Elvis Costellolast seen dishing out some peace, love and understanding to Hillary Clintontells MOJO magazine he could care less about playing in the U.K. Seems like BBC staffers are rude and young Brits dont care about the older generation of musicians. Also, making records is a waste of money, and theres nothing wrong with shilling for Visa.
Check it out here. The full interview appears in the next issue of MOJO, out tomorrow.
by Chris Ryan
The Red Sox did a victory lap of Boston today, celebrating their second World Series victory in four years. And if it's a party and it's in Boston, then more likely than not it involves the pub-punk sounds of the Dropkick Murphys.
The Dropkick Murphys -- Beantown's house band of sorts -- supplied the unofficial soundtrack to the Sox's playoff run. Their Celtic-punk rendition of the Woody Guthrie poem "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" (prominently featured in Martin Scorsese's The Departed) became the theme song of incredibly intense hometown-bred closer Jonathan Papelbon; inspiring him to shut down opposing offenses and, upon winning the World Series, do things like this:
You can dance if you want to. You can leave your friends behind. 'Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance, well, they're no friends of mine. Congratulations, Red Sox. What curse?
Song:
Sound System
Album: Energy
Artist: Operation Ivy
Selected By: Tim Quirk
Date: October 31, 2007
Politics, the economy or your love life got you down? This song about how
songs can make you feel better will make you feel better. Really. Try not to
bop your head joyfully to the skanking rhythm, or nod it vigorously at the
declaration that, "To resist despair in this world/ Is what it is to be
free."
by Jen Guyre
Sunday's Bon Jovi show, night three of a 10-night run that marks the opening of Newark's Prudential Center (a.k.a. "The Rock" and the new home of the NJ Devils hockey team), was categorically unreal. Not only was it safe to drive into the former car-theft capital of the United States, but while Jon, Richie, Dave and Tico rocked like it was 1983, the die-hards in attendance seemed equally frozen in time. Wading through a sea of denim jackets, puffed-up bangs, original Slippery When Wet tour T-shirts and leather pants was bizarre in its own right. Hearing housewives, mothers, daughters, grand-daughters and sorority sisters singing in unison to every classic (and current) Jovi hit was beyond inspirational -- though my poor, plugged ears suffered every time JBJ got a close-up on the big screen, inciting glass-shattering shrieking arena-wide.
(Photo: Molly Emmons)
Brooklyns Yeasayer are bringing world-music flairthink Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel and Talking Headsback to the indie scene. Their sound fuses live instruments with synthesizers and electronics, integrating moody rhythms with 21st century mysticism. Rhapsody asked the band to share a few of its inspirations and influences, from American rappers to French classical pianists. Click here for the music.
Song: "Young And Dumb"
Album: First Time In A Long Time: The Reprise Recordings
Artist: Fanny
Selected By: Rachel Devitt
Date: October 30, 2007
Could there be a band more opposite Ike Turner than all-girl, queer, feminist rock band Fanny, who shook up the folkies during the heyday of the Women's Music era? Their cover of "Young and Dumb" shifts the discourse a wee bit, but like Ike, Fanny is fluent in the language of soulful rock.
The New York Times Book Review went music-mad over the weekend, highlighting 10 new tomes about our favorite art form. You've got novelist and all-around genius Geoff Dyer on Alex Ross' The Rest Is Noise, a new release we've mentioned before in this very space. Prince of Horror Stephen King weighs in on Eric Clapton's "drunkalogue," plus tales of the Chelsea Hotel, musical psychology, Gram Parsons, John Coltrane and more. If you don't have time to read each book in its entirety -- and who does these days? -- consider this your cocktail-party cheat sheet.
FURTHER READING:
New York Times Book Review
Alex Ross' The Rest is Noise
Country music lost a legend last night. After having been diagnosed with lung cancer, Porter Wagoner was hospitalized on October 15 and then released to hospice care on October 26 before passing away on October 28 at 8:25 p.m. in Nashville's Alive Hospice.
by Chris Ryan
Maybe it's because she felt like she had enough hits to call her own (nobody likes a glutton, after all); or maybe it's because the song substituted her preferred (broken)-heart-on-sleeve with a witty meteorological metaphor. Whatever the case, according to Mtvnews.com, Mary J. Blige is walking around one hit lighter this year after passing on the track that would become Rihanna's mega hit "Umbrella."
After the jump, check out some other artists who said, "thanks, but no thanks" and may have regretted it.
Song:
I
Forgot To Be Your Lover (Single Version)
Album: The
Very Best Of William Bell
Artist: William Bell
Selected By: Nick Dedina
Date: October 29, 2007
This devastating ballad is about a workaholic husband realizing the error of
his ways. As a vocalist, Bell turns this personal lament into a universal plea of forgiveness. Nobody has
ever sang "I'm Sorry" with as much understated ache. This made it to
the R&B Top 10 in 1969 but (like so much of Bell's work) it's a wonder why it didn't
crossover.
The Guardian's Paul Tingen explores how the influence of On The Corner, the 1972 Miles Davis album once derided as repetitious crap and an insult to the intellect of the people, grew well outside the confines of jazz. It has inspired everything from Sonic Youth and Radiohead, to Brian Enos entire ambient catalog, and has been hailed as the first hip-hop/house/drumnbass/breakbeat album. Check the essay, check the original album, and then tackle the new 31-song uber-set featuring all the tracks recorded during the On The Corner sessions.
Chinas economy might have gone free market years ago, but the spirit of communist repression is still making rock music bland and boring, according to the New York Times. Based on Howard Frenchs Shanghai Memo, the role of modern Chinese rock seems like the aural equivalent of soma in Aldous Huxleys Brave New World. Anti-authoritarian youth are tired of trite lyrics (Smile while you work! Stay strong!), but the State says those misguided punks should settle down. Meanwhile, semi-controversial Chinese stars, like Cui Jian, find their work buried beneath all those feel-good harmonies.
Song: Volcano
Album: Turbo Fruits
Artist: Turbo Fruits
Selected By: Dan Shumate
Date: October 26, 2007
Be Your Own Pet offshoot Turbo Fruits -- guitarist Jonas Stein, drummer John Eatherly and non BYOP member bassist Turbo Max -- are a garage rock trio that produces Goliath results. The explosive Volcano proves the power of their minimalism.
Thanks for reading this on the Rhapsody blog -- it's been fun. I'm taking a nice long James Bond style vacation and will come up with something else for Play when I return.
I don't think I've ever written about Elvis Presley so here's one last quick entry of one of my favorite Elvis songs -- "If I Can Dream."
David Byrne is many things to many people. Not merely content with having masterminded Talking Heads, Byrne has also become a visual artist, a blogger, a writer of fake Bibles, and a prolific solo performer. Additionally, hes an avid bicyclist, as anyone whos seen him at a NYC concert, helmet in hand, can attest to. Earlier this month he gave a New Yorker Festival lecture about the way two-wheeling urbanites get around the Big Apple. In preparation, he strapped on a video camera and proceeded to give a play-by-play of a typical ride, swinging through Times Square while commenting on pedestrians edging their way, encroaching on the street, including a guy who wants to shove me out into traffic, but I dont wanna go.
by Chris Ryan
Naughty or nice, attendees of the upcoming ATP Nightmare Before Christmas--held at Butlins Holiday Centre in Minehead, England--will find some basic instructions before leaving earth in their stockings this year. So at least they've got that going for them. The Wu-Tang Clan's GZA/Genius has been added to the Portishead-curated festival, which runs from December 7-9. In addition to GZA, All Tomorrow's Party People will be treated to performances from Boris, Aphex Twin, Thurston Moore, The Horrors and, of course, Portishead.
Let's just hope the Shaolin philosopher doesn't have too hard a time with airport security. Liquid Swords--like shampoo and bottled water--probably fall under the category of banned substances.
Song: Stalin Wasn't Stallin
Album: Nothing Can Stop Us
Artist: Robert Wyatt
Selected By: Linda Ryan
Date: October 25, 2007
Although instrumentation is sparse, Wyatt and company's barbershop harmonies fill out this biting parody starring the devil, Stalin and Hitler perfect for Halloween, no? It's heavy stuff, but there's something about Wyatt's cockney accent and those spot-on harmonies that adds a bit of levity to this odd-ball classic.
While Sasha Frere-Jones handed down a stern critique of indie rock this month after being left flat-footed at an Arcade Fire show, his colleague at The New Yorker, Alex Ross, quietly released a book called The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century that charts the "sublime, decadent, violent, and astounding" century in music.
During a book-tour stop last week at UC Berkeley, Ross opened with a hilarious passage describing the premier of Igor Stravinsky's revolutionary The Rite of Spring in Paris in 1913. The "snobbery and counter-snobbery" inside the theater made it difficult to hear the ballet over what amounted to "class warfare" between enthusiasts on both sides of the artistic gauntlet. Nonetheless, Ross describes it as the watershed event for musical innovation in the 20th century.
Trey Songz thrives under pressure. On his debut album Gotta Make It, he sang with veteran grit and an old soul, even alongside the legendary Aretha Franklin, who joined him for a duet. Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun hailed him one of the most promising stars to ever sign to the label. The industry took notice and Songz has become a hook incubator, ridin with Jim Jones, Bun B, Mike Jones, Twista, and Saigon, and one of the leaders of R&Bs new school.
by Chris Ryan
One of the best parts of BET's annual Hip-Hop Awards are the annual ciphers used as promos for the shows. BET gets some of rap's biggest names to come down off the marquee and get back on the block where hip-hop began. The audio of these ciphers always becomes a hotly sought after commodity as soon as they hit the Internet and airwaves. Check out the below video from this year's awards; a freestyle session featuring Wyclef, Twista, Lil' Mama, and Dizzee Rascal, all rapping over Diz's "Fix Up, Look Sharp" beat (which , as diligent sample-spotters will remind you, is in fact Billy Squier's "The Big Beat").
Song: Amsterdam
Album: Writer's Block
Artist: Peter Bjorn and John
Selected By: Jaan Uhelszki
Date: October 24, 2007
Beneath the glassy surface of Peter Bjorn and John's austere synth pop lies a veneer of pensiveness and doubt on this lonely walk along the titular city's canals, providing a chilly setting for heartbreak and self-discovery.
By Angela Bruno
Its always Halloween for freak-folk sister act CocoRosie, but at a private performance to close out Bianca Casidys art show -- Lil Girl Slim Cosmic Willingness Pipe Dreams a Revelation and the Death of Mad Vicky Lopez -- at SoHo art space Deitch Projects last week, its safe to say they brought their A+ game. The oft-mustached Bianca channeled what could best be described as a futuro-Rastafarian tin man (or Smurf, perhaps), while Sierra Rose invoked Rainbow Brite-noir, with a Puritan streak. The entire stage was dressed in industrial fishing nets and cobweb, Blaxploitation-erotica and strobe lights.
(Photo: Molly Emmons)
Singer Sara Tavares swung into San Francisco last Sunday for the final date on a mammoth tour to promote her album Balance. The Portuguese singer of Cape Verdean descent has become something of a darling on the international music scene -- her effervescent Cape Verde rhythms and pan-African sensibility (not to mention a love for American R&B) have made for some seriously sunny pop music.
With an excellent, spare band in tow that included fellow Cape Verdean singer Boy Ge Mendes, Tavares...
Song: Hot House of Omagarashid
Album: Roger the Engineer
Artist: The Yardbirds
Selected By: Mike McGuirk
Date: October 23, 2007
Oddball instrumental from the US version of the Yardbirds 1966 tour-de-force Roger the Engineer, an album that is often cited as one of the opening salvos in the heavy metal wars. Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page are both present, but besides a particularly stinging guitar solo, there is no metal here. Thats okay, though, because the point is to get weird, which they do, and not in that embarrassingly dated 60s hippie way (see Holy Modal Rounders). Just plain weird. Really fun to play at parties.
(Photo: Pompi Gutnisky)
The stands of Buenos Aires' mammoth River Plate soccer stadium seemed made of rubber Sunday night as 70,000 Soda Stereo hinchas bounced to "De Musica Ligera," one of 29 career-spanning songs Soda played over three hours. It was the third night of an amazing weekend of sold-out shows, the furia that porteos had been waiting ten years for. I had flown South on a nostalgia trip to see the return of what I can now say for sure was the greatest rock band ever en espaol, but Soda delivered much more than memories: Gustavo Cerati, as his solo career has proved, is a total monstruo; Charly and Zeta came out of the gate with power and it was clear the three were having as good a time as everyone else was. The shows were huge but intimate, elegant and raw, old but new, visually surprising - actually, a lot like Buenos Aires itself. Soda took off for Chile Monday morning, and after Latin America they'll be playing Los Angeles and Miami. Get there New York fanticos - Cerati says a New York show is not going to happen.
If hip-hop was like t-ball and they handed out chintzy little statues, Oxnard beatsmith Oh No might be taking home most improved." But, really, Oh No has always been dope its just that it took a minute for many of us to get over the fact that he was Madlibs little brother. Being the relative of another legendary musician can be a double edged sword. Sure, itll get you access, and many times people will check for you just because of that, but it also means that you have to work that harder to get out of their shadow.
And while his 2005 debut Disrupt was a respectable foray into left coast jazzy boom bap, it wasnt until he dropped Dr. No's Oxperiment album this past summer that people started to take Oh No seriously on his own merits. The Source gave it four stars, while Nate Patrin over at Pitchfork handed out an 8.0. The praise was earned.On the instrumental album, Oh No sampled funk records from the Middle East and the Mediterranean, with a focus on Turkish and Lebanese music.
Im usually not a fan of these high concept releases they seem both arbitrary and gimmicky, and the resulting music oftentimes only works when viewed in context. But the good doctor nailed it, and the songs here are fun, funky hip-hop psychadelia. It may be the best instrumental hip-hop album Ive heard this year.
But, as I found out during our interview, the record was actually made in the beginning of 2005 and has been on ice ever since. In fact, it came damn close to never dropping at all. Here, Oh No recounts growing up with Madlib, his video game addiction, his upcoming album with Alchemist and how an almost forgotten lark became his breakout record.
Song: California (All the Way)
Album: Bewitched
Artist: Luna
Selected By: Nick Dedina
Date: October 22, 2007
Luna were the right band at the wrong time. Their dreamy guitar rock hasn't aged a day since it first appeared in 1992 but in the group's day they couldn't really battle against the growing domination of grunge and nu metal. Luna came up with many "shoulda been big" songs but this could be their greatest number. "California" is a melodic wonder that may be about getting stuck with a groupie who will read you Rod McKuen but won't go the extra step. Dean Wareham's lyrics are as funny as his detached delivery is somehow sad. The words can be found here. And whatever the song's about, the guitars just sound fantastic.
A mere fraction of Rhapsody's West Coast cadre made the trek to CMJ this year, and while I used the opportunity to stay home, catch up on some knitting, and chuckle ruefully about missing the inebriated, usually unsuccessful quest to see bands with names like Dragons of Zynth or Jay Retard, I did feel a stab of jealousy about those lucky witnesses to the Friday night show at The Delancy. After a warm-up set by multi-instrumentalist Cale Parks (who has made some pretty amazing records as a member of Aloha and on his own as a solo artist) one of my favorite Chicago bands, The Narrator, played until the wheels came off. Reading the review in Stereogum (here) or the wasted post-show interview with bassist James Barron (here) makes me think that the show alone might have been worth the the trip.
The Cure opened last night's Los Premios MTV awards show in Mexico City with "Friday I"m in Love." The song was chosen by viewers in an online vote, and the selection suprised Robert Smith, who in an interview simultaneously translated into Spanish on the red carpet admitted to being "overwhelmed" by the reception from fans in Latin America, where The Cure have been top idols since the Eighties. (At left, a Cure billboard in Buenos Aires promoting the Premios.) Twelve million people went online to vote for artists nominated for Los Premios, MTV Latin America's viewers' choice awards. Performers included audience favorite and song of the year winner Avril Lavigne, Hillary Duff, 30 Seconds to Mars, Molotov and Mexican teen sensation Belinda, who won best solo artist.
Song: Hocus Pocus
Album: Metal Jukebox
Artist: Helloween
Selected By: Garrett Kamps
Date: October 19, 2007
While you should never need a reason to look to German power metal marauders Helloween for some daily sonic inspiration, the fact that Halloween is just around the corner seals the deal. The band's cover of the Focus classic "Hocus Pocus" is the most muscular version of the tune I know of, despite the fact that it features freaky munchkin voices singing gibberish (presumable German munchkin gibberish) in the middle, plus the song's trademark yodeling. This tune will certainly scare children, but not in any way they're used to being scared.
It's a bit unfair. America doesn't have any problem with rich, old white men running our country, our economy, our wars and our world.
But if an old rich white guy tries to put a record out everyone goes nuts, grabs their pitchforks, lights their torches, grabs an angry mob and wants to kill.
That's too bad. First off, have you heard the kind of music the kids are making lately? It's like the pop charts have some sort of Special Olympics exemption nowadays. Secondly, even Old White Men who have been out of the game for years/decades/eons have been chugging the Geritol and getting back into fighting shape lately.
On the top of my list is Paul McCartney, who released his first good entire album since....well in a long, long time (that said, Macca's been in an artistic upswing since 1997). Paul's Memory Almost Full doesn't do itself any favors by starting out with "Dance Tonight" but the CD really gels on the second cut. "Ever Present Past" kicks off with the statement, "I've got too much on my plate/Don't have no time to be a decent lover" (boy, how I long for the equally aged Mick Jagger to stop strutting around and start singing lines like that).
Like most cuts on Memory Almost Full, Paul plays everything on "Ever Present Past." He keeps the age/memory/impending death thing going with AARP approved tracks like "Vintage Clothes" and other numbers.
(Photo: Thomas Shelley)
In its early manifestations, punk broke down the tiresome performer/audience barricade with muscular spite: spitting on fans, say, or la G.G. Allindousing them in all manner of nastiness. As symbolic gestures go, treating your audience like garbage gets old after a while. Its nice to see that, thanks to bands like Los Angeles No Age, the best parts of the punk spirit are alive and well: kinder, albeit ungentle.
Song: Edge Of The World
Album: Fan Dance
Artist: Sam Phillips
Selected By: Nate Cavalieri
Date: October, 18 2007
Sam Philips' recent LPs made small waves with astute boomers, but it's likely that brackish singer's biggest paycheck in some time will come from her song, "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us," on the forthcoming Alison Krauss and Robert Plant collaboration. It got me misty for her immaculate Fan Dance, a cabaret of spooky pop without a single misfire. Start with the creepy "Edge Of The World," an enchanting, surreal whodunit. If the two songs are close cousins, thank the shared production of T Bone Burnett and host of common session players.
Its been a rough week for me. Ive had to accept a couple
harsh realities of this life. Let go of some dreams. First of all, I finally
had to give up on the idea that anyone -- anyone -- in Thailand was
ever going to get it when I referred to Jimmy Buffett as Jimmy Buffet, which
I did at every opportunity in the past few months, believe me. No laughs
though. Just blank stares, more loneliness. I was also forced to abandon my
letter-writing campaign to punk-pop upstarts New Found Glory and the surviving
members of Hole urging the two bands to unite and form a single supergroup called
Perhaps youve recently noticed that certain aspects of the hip-hop/R&B sections havent been updated as regularly. My apologies. See, I was married on the 22nd to the beautiful and intelligent Nirmala Nataraj, and have spent much of the past month attending to that or on my honeymoon. What I'd like to do here (after the jump) is talk about my adventures as well as shine a little light on the music that provided a soundtrack for what was one of the most eventful months of my life.
Song: The End of History
Album: The End of History
Artist: Fionn Regan
Selected by: Jaan Uhelszki
Date: October 17, 2007
Regan's dreams are nightmarish and his characters are more alarming than anyone's since Elliot Smith, but despite the disturbed imagery there's a witty trick afoot, a series of alphabetic clues in the lyrics that might actually help you solve some of life's smaller mysteries.
By Tim Quirk
But Im also deeply suspicious of any effort to make people feel bad about the music they like, and doubly so when such efforts cloak themselves in faux-populist clothing (hipsters declaring that the really cool kids dont like hipster music is a lot like the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy family who currently runs our country dismissing his opponent in the 2004 election as elite and out of touch with middle America). And since Im in New York right now for the CMJ Music Marathon, which is pretty much a non-stop celebration of semi-popular indie rock, this stuff cant help but percolate in my beer-soaked noggin (relevant aside: at the last indie-rock-tastic festival I attended in Austin, some guy behind me in the bar line at a Ponys show ridiculed me for buying a $4 Tecate instead of a $3 Pabst Blue Ribbon; I try my best to love my fellow human beings, but sometimes they make it very, very difficult).
Okay, if you're a music critic or you follow music criticism, you've probably already heard the noise. New Yorker critic Sasha Frere Jones, anointed as the contrarian bellwether for music critics, published an article in this week's New Yorker detailing how he feels that the dialogue between white and black music has come to a stand still. I'm glad to see someone discussing race, and I don't totally disagree with everything he says...he does make some good points about how the idea of political correctness has led to an awareness of cultural appropriation and thus a fear of true integration (at least by white musicians). But I disagree that this new racial segregation started in earnest in the mid-90s with Pavement (look at the Smiths or Bauhaus). I know on his podcast (yes, I listened to his podcast), he cites Bob Dylan as a prime example of music miscegenation, but Pavement can be seen as a riff on absurdist era Dylan, and I've always liked Malkmus singing because it seemed to be more about rhythm than melody.
I got off the Pavement bandwagon pretty early, and I'm no expert on indie rock by any stretch of the imagination, but what strikes me as essentially wrong about this piece is that he doesn't really define his terms and he ignores examples that don't fit into his critique. He treats indie rock as a monolith consisting of groups such as the Decembrists, Wilco and Devendra Banhart. When I think of indie rock that hipsters currently fetishisize, I think of stuff like DFA, Justice, Girl Talk, !!!, or maybe Hot Chip.
Anyway, I'm rambling, here's a link to the article.
Remember 2003? It was a simpler, happier time. We'd banished Saddam, the Spurs were in the finals, Martha Stewart was headed to the slammer and a 19 year old kid from East London named Dizzee Rascal set the indie hearts aflutter when he introduced us all to garage/grime. We were all sure that DIzzee would be the new Pac (or at least the new Morrissey...lol) and that American pop audiences were on the cusp of accepting the jarring sounds of grime .
Anyway, the boy in the corner turned into the young adult in obscurity. His last album, Math and English, went double wood in the hipster hood and was eclipsed (at least in my judgment) by Wiley's far superior Playtime in Over. Now Dizzee has apparently resigned himself to guest spots on album cuts from H-Town rappers. His cut with UGK was one of the weakest tracks from that album, but it was still okay. This one from The Grit Boys album is hot garbage. Grit Boys are a Southern Houston group featuring Pretty Todd, Poppy, Scooby and Unique. Their single, "Fresh." made a little noise and wasn't horrible. "Cup Full," however, is burdened by overly dramatic production (with churning noize, rattling hi-hats and synth stabs that point towards Memphis Crunk) and fairly forgettable verses from the Grits and ATL's Mac Boney (who was roped into the whole T.I. bust). Dizzee's verse isn't horrible, but it does feel tacked on, and is at odds with the other verses.
Song: Love Junkie
Album: Black Diamond
Artist: Angie Stone
Selected by: Rachel Devitt
Date: October 16, 2007
Angie Stone's biggest claim to fame in the neo-soul world (well, her other claim to fame, after singing backup for D'Angelo and writing hit songs for, like, everyone) is her rich, sensuous vintage soul aesthetic. Sadly, her new release, The Art of Love and War, sort of goes in a different direction. Now, don't get us wrong -- it's still a sexy album and, of course, Angie sounds as fine as ever. But there is nothing as out-and-out smoldering as this track from her 1999 debut.
Song: Uska Dara
Album: Mink Shmink
Artist: Eartha Kitt
Selected By: Sarah Bardeen
Date: October 15, 2007
Props to Charlie Gillett, who discovered this track and played it on his vaunted BBC Radio 3 world music show. Who knew Eartha Kitt, she of "Santa Baby" fame, sang a classic Turkish song? It's just charming and weird enough to merit a few listens. The best (or worst, depending on your perspective) thing about it is Kitt's translation -- a voiceover that explains the song in her usual lascivious manner.
You probably heard the news, but Tip was arrested this weekend, just hours before he was scheduled to appear at the BET awards, for attempting to purchase three machine guns and a silencer. Details are still emerging, but apparently his bodyguard turned on him. When the po apprehended T.I., the self-proclaimed "king of the South" had three other guns in his car (including a loaded one in the center console) and a subsequent search of his home turned up three rifles, two pistols and a revolver (five of which were loaded). In addition, it seems like they have T.I. on tape talking about buying the firearms. I hope he has a real good lawyer for this.
I feel kind of ambiguous about this. I love T.I.'s music, and when I interviewed him a few months back, he seemed like a cool, reasonable dude, but c'mon...I can understand why maybe Lil Wayne, Prodigy and Ja Rule need to carry out of security reasons (though I still think those dudes, especially Prodigy, who had a previous conviction, could've hired a bodyguard , but unless T.I. was trying to pick up where the Black Mafia left off, I'm not sure why dude needed that big of an arsenal. It's just stupidity and arrogance, I guess. It also makes those of us who've spent the past year defending hip-hop look bad.
It reminds of this bit from our interview reprinted after the jump.
Song: Do Ya
Album: Message From the Country
Artist: The Move
Selected by: Mike McGuirk
Date: October 12, 2007
The ELO version of this song is the one you always hear on classic hits radio but this original take, recorded by Jeff Lynne and Roy Woods first band (ELO started out as a side project for the Move) is approximately 10 million zillion times better. The guitars are scratchy, Lynne's vocals are also scratchy and everything sounds like it was recorded in some tiny, sweaty, scratchy room. Also awesome on this album is "California Man" which comes right after "Do Ya" and was covered by Cheap Trick on Heaven Tonight.
I first met up with JT a few years back in SFs the lower Haight District. Hed been a major player in the Bay since the mid-90s when the single Game Recognize Game helped jump start the Bay Area hip-hop explosion. He hasnt had a true national hit since that time, though he has released a few albums and a thousand mixtapes, but hes always one of those dudes whove stuck around and helped mold the scene by their championing of new artists (he was the guy who first discovered the Game) and his very unique business models. He has been collaborating a lot with Snoop as of late (check out Mandatory Business) and just dropped Mr. Vice President album.
JT is always a pleasure to talk to, and transcribing this interview I cant help but think about Fiascogate (for those who dont know, the story goes a little something like this: Lupe Fiasco publicly states that he never really felt Tribe Called Quest; Lupe lands a spot on the Hip Hop Honors tribute to Tribe then he flubs a line to Electric Relaxation and afterwards claims that he was only their because Q-Tip asks him to, to which Q-Tip responds that he never personally asked Lupe, and internet rap fans explode in rage and threaten to boycott Lupe). But, back to what I was saying, JT is hardly what a backpacker MC (he is about as hard as it gets) but he's intelligent, political and uplifting. The perception that socially conscious emcees have to be backpacking nerds (or Tribe Called Quest fans) is totally bogus, but a lot of fans expect their favorites emcees to fit in a very small box.
The only thing that brightens the grim 12-hour flight (coach, middle seat of five) from London to San Francisco other than United Airline's discerning cinematic programming (Tell It To Me, Live Free Or Die Hard, Knocked Up and, last and least, License To Wed - a film nearly as vapid as my conversation with star Mandy Moore, posted here on Rhapsody) is the transatlantic 32-hour day. Compelled - nay obligated! - to scratch off something from the "if there was only more time in the day" list, I spent those four bonus hours as any card-carrying rockist would - soothing frayed nerves with a handful of Solpadeine Max and the recently reissued and expanded Traveling Wilburys catalogue.
Song: From Beyond
Album: Sleep's Holy Mountain
Artist: Sleep
Selected By: Eric Shea
Date: October 11, 2007
Nothing at all against Nirvana, but for myself and a bunch of other dudes living in San Jose, California, in the early '90s, Sleep's Holy Mountain was our Nevermind. I'm not trying to disrespect Cobain and company's seminal sophomore album (although I do prefer Bleach's darker songs and less polished production). And I'm painfully aware of how contrarian this all comes off, but bare with me! This isn't about being cool at all. In fact, the main reason why I preferred Sleep to Nirvana was because from fifth grade to eighth grade, I spent all my time and allowance money in a Saratoga shopping mall at a place called The Game Reserve playing Dungeons & Dragons. When you've rolled the 20-sided die for over three years, it's hard to identify with lyrics like, "A mulatto! An albino! A mosquito! My libido! Yeah!" Especially when this awesome song (which is about longhairs colonizing a moon and worshiping Satan in space) delivered more fantastical visions such as, "Stoner caravan from deep space arrives/ Walk with the cleric under eye of silver sun/ Damned souls gather in valley of the evil one." Be patient! The singing doesn't come in until after four minutes and 12 seconds of heavy Sabbath-inspired riffage. But imagine how much more stoked we all would have been had they waited an extra eight seconds....
So we have this little feature among the writers here at Rhapsody called Dig This! This is a monthly program where the writers nominate a cool, new release for consideration into the program; alll nominations are listened to and voted on, and the top 5 become the winners of Dig This!
One of the reasons we like this feature so much is because everyone who works here, loves music. And even though finding new music is part of our job, it never fails to amaze us how much amazing music we discover. I mean, it's insane! And we actually like to share our findings with the rest of the world. So here we go with the sharing bit. These are the winners of the October edition of Dig This!
Federico Aubele - Panamericana
Federico Aubele is a man in the grip of powerful homesickness, and his sophomore album proves it. Though the reggae and electronic influences aren't gone, Panamericana really pays homage to the romantic and emotional bolero. Natalia Clavier's gossamer voice tangos (metaphorically) with Aubele's compositions and his ubiquitous acoustic guitar. At its best, it's sultry, sensuous work. If the album suffers at all, it's perhaps from a lack of tension. Lovely as it is, Panamericana could do with a little more of tango's angst and rhythmic uncertainty. -- Sarah Bardeen
The Budos Band - The Budos Band II
Long-distance runners describe a sense of euphoria at the point of physical and mental exhaustion -- the "runner's high." Listening to The Budos Band II must be something akin. There is hardly a moment to catch one's breath while the Staten Island 11-piece pushes through the carapace of Afrobeat into a spirit world of instrumental grooves. Do not be surprised if, while playing this record, your speakers begin to spontaneously sweat. -- Nate Baker
Taken By Trees - Open Field
Taken by Trees' Victoria Bergsman is no new Swedish indie rocker on the block. Formerly of the Concretes (of Target commercial fame), she is also a Friend of Peter, Bjorn and John (two of whom assisted with this album). But boy, has the girl gotten weird on her first solo album! Strange, quasi-Chinese instrumental numbers alternate with tracks dominated by Bergsman's elderly little girl vocals and intentionally infantile instrumentation ("Chopsticks"-style pianos, erratic woodblocks, untuned ukuleles). At times alienating and overly precious, Open Field is still strangely enticing and exotic. --Rachel Devitt
Ledisi - Lost and Found
If there were a whiff of desperation about Lost and Found, it would be forgivable. After all, Ledisi's been knocking on fame's door for a long time and getting little response. But her Verve debut is as self-assured an effort as we've heard, her voice ringing out like Mary J. Blige at her jazziest or Chaka Khan at her most tender. This is sweet basement funk, in the pocket and as glowing as a Mark Rothko painting. Sure, lyrics about making love in the moonlight aren't going to win any awards for originality. But, um, that's not the point, is it? -- Sarah Bardeen
Vusi Mahlasela - Guiding Star
On the surface, Mahlasela's album (his second on Dave Matthews' label) looks like a typical genre-crossing effort: the singer duets in almost hip-hop style with everyone from Matthews to the ubiquitous Ladysmith Black Mombazo. But make no mistake, this release suffers from no identity issues. At its best, Mahlasela's second release plunges deep -- profoundly, soul-affectingly deep -- into South African life, elegizing freedom fighters and political poets and paying devestatingly tender tribute to the singer's mother, who died before the album was released. Beautiful stuff. -- Sarah Bardeen
I woke up today and went downstairs to get breakfast from
one of the vendors on my street. A table with an array of hotel pans and stock pots all with fresh, colorfully blazing curries and murky stew-type things for sale. This is real cheap food but delicious, in fact way better than what you are served in practically any restaurant with a door here. I had spicy pork with unknown fruits and
vegetables in it off-green melon (?) and this strange giant caper type thing
I have only ever seen since coming to Thailand. I dont know what it is
but its good and, unlike some street food, isn't flavored with anything that smells alarmingly like sewage canal fish
so I dont ask any questions. Thai food is really tasty but it can be like a
minefield with the fish-stank if youre not careful. Sometimes they just toss
the aforementioned fat capers in without taking them off the vine they grow on and thats
kind of not so cool unless you are a deer or perhaps a deer-monster, and into eating branches, but like I said, non-fishy
so okay...
Song: Make A Circuit With Me
Artist: The Polecats
Album: The Best of the Polecats
Selected by: Linda Ryan
Date: October 10, 2007
Of all the one-hit wonders of the '80s, "Make A Circuit With Me" still overflows with the same exuberance dare we say, electricity -- as it did 20-odd years ago. And just what are they singing? "I'll be a diode, cathode, electrode, overload, generator, oscillator.make a circuit with me." Aaah, the '80s!
Ive interviewed Talib three times, and he can be difficult. Hes either basically rehashing his talking points, and when you get him out of his box, he can seem a bit competitive. And I rarely speak with artists who have as ambiguous relationship with their fans as Talib does. Listen to how he talks about Liberation. To his defense, underground hip-hop fans can be overly possessive, and are oftentimes seemingly intent on keeping their favorite artists within these very tight stylistic parameters. Anyway, without any further ado, here's an interview I did with Talib about a month or two ago.
With Liberation, what did you intend for the projects to accomplish and did they meet those goals?
Talib Kweli: With Liberation, I had so many tracks from Madlib and I wanted to do a whole album with him, but I didnt want to deal with the politics of it as far as who was going to release it and this and that and that and this. So I decided that it would be cool to have something that would be put out for free that was called Liberation. And also I felt like that sound Madlib had...people are very critical as far as my choice of producers. I wanted to showcase that whenever I feel like it I can make music that people think like I should be making. But thats not my charge in life. My charge is to make music that I want to make.
So while Im a fan of Madlib, and while Liberation was critically acclaimed in circles by people who had written me off, it was proof to people in those circles that I could do this in my sleep and, matter of fact, Ill give it to you for free. But when it comes to my albums, Im going to experiment and have fun.
Song: Mo Money, Mo Murder
Album: Do or Die
Artist: AZ
Selected By: Sam Chennault
Date: October 9, 2007
If I could only listen to one song for the rest of my
life, this might be it. Nas' verse is classic. The emcee places himself among
"lighting and rain drops" as he's "tied up in the basement
cocaine spot." There are "latin kings, black goofies and white
jesters among us," as well as a "Vietnam type" who traffics in
"controlless torture." Nas' lines are impressionistic and more
concerned with sound than meaning. There's off-rhyme slippage ("Over"
> "Nova" > "Shoulder" > "Odor"),
concocted words ("astroby," "atonic") and references to
"mesonic atoms." It's beautiful, really, and a fine example of the
Queensbridge emcee in his mid-'90s prime. Beginning with 1994's "Life's a
Bitch," AZ and Nas have made some of the greatest rap colabs ever. This
one from AZ's 1996 album Do or Die is vintage. 
Play It Now
(Photo: Shawn Brackbill)
Control, Anton Corbijns critically-acclaimed film about the brief life and tragic suicide of Joy Division front man Ian Curtis, hits select theaters on October 10th. Shot in crisp black-and-white, the self-financed biopic stars relative newcomer Sam Riley as the tortured musical genius torn apart by love (and epilepsy.) Samantha Morton is stunning as Curtis wife, Debbie, whose memoir about her late husband (Touching From A Distance) was the films inspiration. Not everyone is ecstatic about how the band is presented, but Control is undeniably a stirring documentary of a particular time and placeimagine a drabber 24-Hour Party People thats forgotten to take its medication. Rhapsody sat down with Anton Corbijn in New York City to discuss his transition from legendary rock photographer into first-time film director.
Rhapsody returns from POP, foams at the mouth over Black Mountain, and realizes that even the abandoned factories in Montreal have their own tragic beauty.
Song: Lake Marie
Album: Live On Tour
Artist: John Prine
Selected By: Nick Dedina
Date: October 8, 2007
National treasure John Prine is beloved as a singer-songwriter but he's also one helluva showman. He plays the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival a little more often than Willie Nelson and a little less often than Emmylou Harris. There are too many priceless John Prine songs to count but "Lake Marie" is the one that always rocks the house in concert. Prine has recorded a small, personal version of "Lake Marie" but in concert it is epic in scope, taking on American myths at the same time it somehow remains personal. Here, Prine delivers the kind of unifying heartland rock that Springsteen is supposed to be the master of. This one has Hells Angels and Tour de France fans raising their arms together along with dusty truckers and Prius drivers.
One of the best things about living in San Francisco is all the free concerts you can go to.
A few years ago, we took off from work and went down to city hall to watch Devo play. I often walk my dog down to Amoeba Records and see great free shows by everyone from the Raconteurs and Badly Drawn Boy to Los Lobos and that couple from the movie Once.
I
t as such a nice, sunny day on Friday that I was thankful for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival giving me an excuse to go hang out in Golden Gate Park with the wife.
Put on by a local eccentric billionaire, the HSBF seems to get bigger every year. Friday shows used to be pretty quiet but this year it was already packed. We had unfortunately missed the indie pop band Augie March but Rhapsody's own Sassy Sarah Bardeen told us that they were tops.
We did get to see Buddy Miller, who even rocked the gospel music hard and brought up Allison Moorer (Shelby Lynne's stunning younger sister) tosing with him.
It was during Miller's set that the Blue Angels and other planes started flying over the park. For a minute there, I thought maybe the rest of the nation had decided to have all of us San Fran Freaks napalmed now that we were in one easy to find spot Don't Fear, America --we're just like you only we call rock'n'roll and country music by the name "bluegrass."
Things really started to fill up after Miller's set with Ms. Moorer. It was an uncharacteristically long wait for
In this POP Montreal edition, Rhapsody drinks deep from the spiritual juju of Yeasayer, surmises which compatriot of Spencer Krug's Wolf Parade might be the province's Next Big Thing, and gets caught in a mob of drunken teenagers.
Montreal's been on the global music radar in a fierce way over the past handful of years, thanks to a string of glowing articles that suggested it was the place for struggling artists to survive without too much of a struggle. There's a pedigree here before the Wolf Parades and Arcade Fires were ever born, of course. Hometown hero Leonard Cohen was just nominated for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, which should help allay some of the less than pleasant things that have happened to the morose bard recently. Cohen, who still keeps an apartment here, often used the bilingual metropolis as his muse. The song "Suzanne," in which Cohen spends time with a woman who feeds him "tea and oranges that come all the way from China," looks to the the waterfront of Old Montreal for inspiration. "And the sun pours down like honey/On our Lady of the Harbor" he croons, referencing the statue of Mary that sits atop Notre-Dame de Bon-Secours church. As for the "heroes in the seaweed" hidden among the "garbage and the flowers" there, it seems they've been removed during the past three decades of gentrification.
The lack of club bangers and MC guest features on J. Holidays debut, Back of My Lac, shows how serious he is about reviving classic soul. The D.C. native exudes heartfelt emotion and passion whether wooing girls on his sultry smash Bed or flinging expletives in anger towards his late father. Factor in his penchant for always rocking a fitted and sneakers, and its obvious that J. doesnt compromise his music or himself.
Song: Romeo's Tune
Album: Jackrabbit Slim
Artist: Steve Forbert
Selected by: Nate Baker
Date: October 5, 2007
It looks to have all the makings of a great day in San Francisco. And why shouldn't it have? The seventh annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival kicks off this afternoon. Staged by a wealthy financier named Warren Hellman (his family owns the Wells Fargo bank empire, not bad work if you can get it) who happens to love roots music, it's a free three-day event that attracts the creme de la creme in Americana music. While Steve Forbert isn't actually playing this year's festival he ought to be. Forbert was about to become a huge star in 1979 when less than optimal sales of this third album caused his label to panic. They wouldn't release the follow-up and wouldn't let him out of his contract, thereby effectively "disappearing" Steve Forbert. He did eventually get his career back but never had as big a hit as this, a wonderfully naive love song with an incredible hook. Warren Hellman, if you're reading this--we want Steve Forbert.
This week, Rhapsody sets off for the stellar POP Montreal music festival, the northern equivalent of our own CMJ in New York or SXSW in Austin. We cry over the fact that the US dollar is officially weaker than the Canadian, get our hands dirty with the upcoming crop of indie rock superstars, and pretend that we understand French by speaking as little as possible.
Rhapsody talks to a Southern Legend about this years honorees. Heres UGKs Bun B, on Whodini:
Houston has always been a car culture and we were into bass-heavy songs. Whodini always had that vibe. With us, the big time of the year was the Old School Fresh Fest that used to be Whodini, UTFO, and cats like that. I would be trying [to catch them every year on Fresh Fest.] I was a young cat then so I didnt make that first year, but I made Fresh Fest 2 and 3. My older brother Johnnys wifes [brother-in-law] owned a pharmacy next door to a ticket agency. He and the ticket people had a good relationship so whenever the Budweiser Super Fest used to come through back in the day, they would always get tickets. I couldnt go to Super Fest because you had to be a certain age so the Fresh Fest was the only thing. I was really into rap, so Johnny made sure to get tickets for that.
Song: (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People
Album: The Ultimate Chi-Lites
Artist: The Chi-Lites
Selected by: Tim Quirk
Date: October 4, 2007
Though most of their hits feature sweetly crooned reminiscences of lovers past, the Chi-Lites (from Chi-cago) also did well with this funk-inflected protest tune. The vocal interplay is as inspiring as the chugging groove: the group passes lines back and forth, jumping from authoritative bass through pleading soprano (and sometimes employing all of ‘em at once). The music makes you want to dance in the street, while the lyrics suggest a riot might be more in order.
Song: Diamond Sea
Album: The Destroyed Room
Artist: Sonic Youth
Selected by: Jaan Uhelszki
Date: October 3, 2007
A shimmering, reflective document from a band that's known more for their noise assaults than their mediations. Thurston Moore intones his odd philosophies that begin to make sense the more you listen, seduced both by his sing-song deadpan and the quiescent waves of sound that break then build.
Styles come and go, but good music always endures no matter what style it was originally recorded in. So, while Miles Davis' 1950s recordings may have seemed passe in 1973, today they still sound amazingly fresh and vital.
That brings me to the Great Joni Mitchell Resurgence of the 2000s.
Have you noticed that Joni Mitchell is everywhere today? Having suffered through a loss of relevance during the 1980s and '90s, Joni is once again being listened to, raved about, and name-checked by today's fresh faces. And those influenced by her cuts across all musical genres, from jazz and soul to indie pop and adult alternative to something that was called freak-folk a couple of years back. 
No kidding -- I can't tell you how many celebrity playlists I've put together that feature Joni on them. And these are from artists who weren't even born the last time Ms. Mitchell had a hit single (that would be "Help Me" from way back in 1974).
First up this year was the aptly titled Tribute to Joni Mitchell, which features such ace numbers as Sufjan Stevens' doing "Free Man in Paris" and Prince's amazing cover of "A Case of You" (this one is so special that I made it a Rhapsody Song of the Day selection a couple of weeks back).
Then, last week I interviewed the great Herbie Hancock about his new album, River: The Joni Letters. I was actually so nervous talking to Herbie that it almost ruined the interview (jeez, was that humiliating). Thankfully, Herbie was so nice and patient that I managed to get it together and talk about Joni's music with him. He put together a beautiful musical tribute to his friend's songs.
There are many guests on the album, the most surprising of which is Tina Turner, who delivers an ocean deep reading of Joni's
Song: Radio
Album: Virgo Blaktro and the Movie Disco
Artist: Felix Da Housecat
Selected by: Nicholas Baker
Date: October 2, 2007
Felix's 2007 release Virgo Blaktro & the Movie Disco is so delicious it's hard to pick just one track, but "Radio" screams hit it's pure 1980's synth 'n' drum machine heaven, and no, that's not an oxymoron. Admit it, you miss this sort of stuff. Pretty tunes made in simpler times by machines that wish they could be human. Fear not, you can love this in secret. I won't tell anyone. Honest.
Rhapsody talks to Star Traks lyrical technician about this years honorees. Heres one-half of the Clipse, Pusha T, on A Tribe Called Quest :
"I think I was at my peak [as a fan] during Midnight Marauders. That album was totally one of the most innovative albums. From the interlude lady to musically, that sh*t was crazy. 'Lyrics To Go' and 'Electric Relaxation' were some of my favorites. The Low End Theory was hot, too. Also I love 'Luck of Lucien' and 'Can I Kick It?' I didnt f*ck with ['I Left My Wallet in El Segundo'], though. I dont know. I didnt understand it. I f*ck with Tribe just on them being on some different shit. Of course Im still hardcore hip hop til I die, but they got a pass from me and my homeboys for whatever reason. I had a friend named Tracey, who used to rhyme with us back then, that was totally into Tribe. Also, Pharrell and Shay were into Tribe. So they got me into the group.
Salt (Cheryl James) and Pepa (Sandra Denton), along with DJ Spinderella (Deidra Muriel Roper), started rhyming and raising awareness in the mid-80s. Whether they were ordering fans to "push it" or suggesting that we all talk about sex, Salt-N-Pepa were pioneering females with a headstrong vision and a positive message. These sassy MCs caused a sensation in a male-dominated scene, taking on hot button topics like AIDS and abusive relationships while delivering witty put-downs to poorly-endowed lovers. They broke up in 2002, but you can catch their journey to return to the stage on VH1's Salt-n-Pepa Show. Here, they put together an exclusive mix of tracks for working out, getting ready for the club, and everything in between.
Song: The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room (Live)
Album: The Distant Future
Artist: Flight of the Conchords
Selected By: Stephanie Benson
Date: October 1, 2007
You don't need HBO to enjoy the harebrained cleverness of Kiwi duo Flight of the Conchords; just check out their recently released EP, <i>The Distant Future</i>. On this live cut of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room," they play a mad slow-burning groove that's juxtaposed with a comical mix of blunt lyrics that have all the smoothness of a beer-guzzling boy trying to pick up a girl using his best robot moves.
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