Whether you're a committed Cubaphile or just want to experience the classic Havana sound beyond the folky Buena Vista Social Club, you should be as excited as I am about the digital release of music from the Panart Records catalog.
November 2007 Archives
The National has blown up. Boxer, which features a cameo from Sufjan Stevens, has catapulted the group to the head of the indie-yuppie pack, with Paste magazine being the first to give it year-end accolades. But it is in the live arena where these literary-minded rockers shine brightest, especially when the anthemic qualities of their intricate story-songs come to the fore. In October, The National played an exclusive Rhapsody Rocks show at New York’s Highline Ballroom, and we had an opportunity to speak with singer Matt Berninger and guitarist Aaron Dessner about the band's inspirations, obsessions and how they view their own music.
Further Viewing:
The National, live at Rhapsody Rocks NYC
Song: Long Gone Lonesome Blues
Album: 40 Greatest Hits
Artist: Hank Williams
Selected By: Tim Quirk
Date: November 30, 2007
How best to express your regret over the loss of a girl? Well, you could drown yourself in the river, but if you've got Hank Williams' luck it’s probably dried up since there’s a drought on, too. Which means your only choice is to howl, stretching the words "long" and "gone" out into 10 mournful syllables (go ahead, count 'em). You will never laugh at a yodeling cowboy again.
A decade ago, the Wu-Tang Clan and Ghostface dropping new music within a week of each other would have been cause for a national hip-hop holiday. Unfortunately, in 2007, it only heightened tensions between Wu members already bickering about everything from compensation to the musical direction of the group’s upcoming album, 8 Diagrams. Rhapsody had a chance to sit down with Pretty Toney while he was promoting his seventh album, Big Doe Rehab. We got his thoughts on the inspiration for his ghetto stories, on G-Unit's Tony Yayo’s claims that Ghost may not be the author of Supreme Clientele, and on where things currently stand with the RZA and the Wu.
[WARNING: The following interview is not recommended for the kind of vegetarians who shy away from hip-hop beef or those who take offense to starred-out profanity.]
Ex-Sleater Kinney member Carrie Brownstein took some time off from her burgeoning comedy career and penned a piece for Slate about Rock Band, the new multi-player game from the creators of Guitar Hero.
By Angela Bruno
This comes as no surprise to many ladies, but the New York Times has reported on a study that finds men with deeper voices have a “reproductive edge.” (In other news, a study on longevity and little ones finds that men who have lots of kids are more likely to become centenarians.) Basically, women like manly men. Said manly men are perceived as virile, healthier mates with more desirable genes. Manly men (when free of variables like birth control and arranged marriage) may be inclined to spawn more. In even more shocking news, women like manly musicians, with whom they often yearn to procreate. Or, maybe, manly musicians have inherently triumphant spermatozoa. Either way, proof of the study's theory is manifest in this batch of Darwinian daddies – baby-making baritones and basses who’ve had the love game on lock.
Song: The Song Is the Single
Album: Summary
Artist: BARR
Selected By: Scott Indrisek
Date: November 29, 2007
Bouncing bass and drums back up a laconic rant in this surprisingly melodic oddity. Like Lee Renaldo’s younger, slightly buzzed cousin, BARR’s Brendan Fowler treads a fine line between beat poetic pretense and King Missile idiocy—less a song than performance art with incidental music.
It’s official: Mojo reports that the traditionally uptight British are letting Factory Records impresario Tony Wilson be canonized in the National Portrait Gallery.
by Chris Ryan
Superchunk will always be known for their hyperactive, breakneck-paced indie-pop-punk spazz-outs that articulate things like the crushing parts of crushes and the harder parts of working for the weekend. But scattered throughout their expansive and endlessly satisfying catalog (largely on the B-side's of their incredible singles and EP's) are a number of acoustic renditions of said spazz-outs, and they're some of the band's best cuts.
by Chris Ryan
A stunning collection of hip-hop talent is convening at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom this Thursday to honor the late Run-D.M.C. DJ, Jam Master Jay, who was murdered in Queens, New York, five years ago. The gig is part of the inaugural J.A.M. Awards, which pays tribute to people involved in social justice, the arts and music efforts in Jay's old NYC stomping grounds and beyond.
Song: Cannot Even (Break Free)
Album: What's The Time, Mr. Wolf?
Artist: The Noisettes
Selected By: Angela Bruno
Date: November 28, 2007
I shared a moment with the Noisette’s
lead singer Shingai Shoniwa in the loo at the CMJ Afro-Punk show during
which she called me “love.” I, in effect, was immediately smitten. Was
it her feathered headdress? Her neon tights? It could have been both,
but it probably was her over-the-top (in a good way) performance of
this starts-off-soulful, ends-up-noisy-and-cacophonous (in the best
way) punk masterpiece.
by Chris Ryan
Embrace are a veteran Brit band who sprung up in the twilight of Brit-Pop (1998ish), offering a kinder, gentler version of Oasis (they're even fronted by brothers!) for folks that needed that sort of thing. Over the course of 5 albums they've produced a fairly steady stream of minor hits, while in the States they're largely a used bin staple. However, in the wondrous world of Youtube montages, they are bigger than the Beatles.*
*:not really
For Juanes, musical collaborations are a way of exploring new territory. Campino, from the band Die Toten Hosen, added a German touch to "Bandera de Manos," and Juanes broke his Español-only rule for the first time when he sang a duet with Tony Bennett.
On a recent visit to MTV Tr3s Radio, Juanes created a playlist for Rhapsody -- continue reading for his favorite songs by the friends he's made in the studio.
Song: Ode to the Black Man
Album: Ultraglide In Black
Artist: Dirtbombs
Selected By: Sarah Bardeen
Date: November 27, 2007
I don't listen to straight rock 'n' roll much these days. When I do, it's usually to hear Mick Collins sing. "Ode to a Black Man" exactly what rock 'n' roll should be: music that makes you want to f**k. Or fight. Or both.
Any rapper that had to wait four years to follow up on a critically acclaimed debut -- due to circumstances beyond control -- would have right to be angry or bitter. But Philadelphia native Freeway does not show emotion as he gears up to finally unleash Free at Last, the sophomore album that was originally slated for 2005. So, what was the hold up?
by Jen Guyre
Quiet Riot frontman Kevin DuBrow, who was still rocking at the young age of 52, was found dead in his Las Vegas home on November 25. Bandmates, family members and fans are still waiting for answers; the cause of his death has yet to be determined.
Arthur Russell left behind one hell of a weird legacy. As a disco pioneer and cello virtuoso, he sessioned with Talking Heads and penned everything from a disco number entitled “Is It All Over My Face” to the achingly tender “Another Thought (Lucky Cloud).” Occasionally sounding like an androgynous, otherworldy cousin of Tracy Chapman, Russell’s influence can still be felt in odd corners — Antony and the Johnsons, for instance, or the modulating warble of Dave Longstreth from Dirty Projectors. (And if certain New Yorker critics are to be believed, Canadian orchestral-pop star Final Fantasy owes his entire livelihood to Russell). There’s a documentary on Russell’s life due out in 2008 — a boon for fans, considering the absolute dearth of video footage currently available on the web—as well as a biography. Until then, why not spend this post-Thanksgiving Monday easing into the impossibly excellent Another Thought or the posthumous collection, Calling out of Context — and then check out Jens Lekman’s cover of “A Little Lost.”
Song: Fijate Bien
Album: Fijate Bien
Artist: Juanes
Selected By: Judy Cantor-Navas
Date: November 26, 2007
Juanes’ latest single “Me Enamora” sold six million downloads in its first month of release. His sound, like his humanitarian message, has not changed a lot since his debut album. The prescient title of that 2000 album and this title track: “Fijate Bien” (“Take a Good Look”).
Photo courtesy Chris Lee
Not long ago, the idea that classical musicians would be classified as either composers OR performers would have been regarded as curious. Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms all routinely performed or conducted their own music from the keyboard. Chopin, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff were known as brilliantly virtuosic pianists whose concerts were part recital and part heroic spectacle. Gustav Mahler and Leonard Bernstein were both the principal conductors and music directors of the New York Philharmonic. But although there are notable exceptions today (Pierre Boulez, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, to a lesser extent, John Adams) the composer-performer tradition seems on the wane.
Song: And the Healing Has Begun
Album: Into the Music
Artist: Van Morrison
Selected By: Nick Dedina
Date: November 23, 2007
"And the Healing Has Begun" is only one of about 13,023 Van Morrison songs that deserve a wider airing. Helping Van achieve his state of grace are Pee Wee Ellis, Mark Isham and Ry Cooder.
Song: I'm Not There
Album: I'm Not There (Music From The Motion Picture)
Artist: Bob Dylan
Selected By: Sam Chennault
Date: November 22, 2007
Dylan conjures romance with nuggets of sublime nonsense. Clipped non sequiturs surrender to terminal escape as a bitter Bob pines for a “Christ-forsaken angel” with a “kingdom weighing so high above her.” Dylan is dreaming aloud on this majestic and brittle Basement Tapes outtake.
by Chris Ryan
With his past efforts A Gangster and a Gentleman and Time is Money still beloved by hardcore hip-hop fans who fawn over tough talk backed by gritty beats; and with his upcoming Super Gangster (Extraordinary Gentleman) garnering pre-release hosannas, Styles P has firmly established himself as a solo artist to reckon with. But for many fans, he will always be known as one-third of The Lox (the Yonkers, NY group also known as D-Block that once ran with the Notorious B.I.G. and Puffy in the Bad Boy glory days, as well as the Swizz Beats/DMX-led clique, Ruff Ryders). And many fans want to know when they're going to hear some new Lox tracks.
“To me, it’s really about how the creative process can begin through impersonation -- how you want to be almost anything other than who you are,” Todd Haynes said during the recent I’m Not There press conference at New York’s Regency Hotel. “And in this case, it’s almost a joke on passing. You know, Dylan was passing. He was pretending he wasn’t a middle class Jewish kid from Minnesota, and he wanted to be connected to the grassroots history of Americana. The amazing thing was how everybody went along with it. It was the sheer exuberance of that performance that he lived that made everyone just kind of nod.”
On the eve of the ’07 Vegoose Music Festival, Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel & Casino featured an extra level of excitement and costumed craziness. Lights were flashing, classic rock blared on the PA, hip gamblers and celebrity wannabes were living the life at the craps tables, and throngs of jam-rock enthusiasts were awaiting a late-night performance by moe., which would keep The Joint (as the venue inside the Hard Rock is known) jumping until well beyond 4 a.m. While some band members were finishing soundcheck, I was led up a winding set of stairs, and into the green room to find the guitarist Al Schnier and bassist Rob Derhak.
by Jen Guyre
Every year the Radio Rebellion Tour packs venues across the nation with kids eagerly waiting to have their hearing annihilated. On November 17, in the city of Brotherly Love, they got more: Souls were slaughtered when Polish black-metal vets Behemoth, French doom mavens Gojira and Arizona’s own death-metal massacrists Job for a Cowboy teamed up for an installment of crushing antics and unsuitable subject matter.
Song: Take It Easy
Album: Digital Ash in a Digital Urn
Artist: Bright Eyes
Selected By: Jaan Uhelszki
Date: November 21, 2007
Even Emily Dickinson couldn't have described this bitter scenario of an inappropriate coupling better. Sad, regretful and sage, this is Bright Eyes at his very best. Bed sheets flutter like hungry ghosts, while producer Mike Mogis applies a variety of found sounds to bolster the remorseful mood.
By Angela Bruno
For the film adaptation of Gabriel "Gabo" García Márquez’ Love in the Time of Cholera, a tale of an unrequited love that spans 51 years, Shakira contributes three songs to the soundtrack. There's also a score composed by City of God maestro Antonio Pinto. "Pienso En Ti," on which Shaki wails and whimpers like an Andean flute, was originally released on her breakthrough album Pies Decalzos. The new tracks, "La Despedida," a folkloric corta vena that feels like the sonic manifestation of Gabo's trademark magical realism, and is featured in the film's trailer, and "Hay Amores," a sultry bolero, were written when she was studying at UCLA last summer. (Shakira premiered the songs during a live performance in Las Vegas during the Latin Grammys weekend, at a benefit for her charity, Fundación Pies Descalzos.)
North Carolina hip-hop group Little Brother came out of the gate in 2002, with a debut called The Listening. That album paired the sunny, day-in-the-life-of-a-b-boy vignettes of rappers Big Pooh and Phonte, with the fruity-looped reinterpretations of hip-hop’s golden years by the producer 9th Wonder. It caught on instantly, the equivalent of comfort food for hip-hop purists who found modern rap’s aesthetic disorienting and its lyrics alienating.
File under: Completely obvious yet somewhat surprising. MTV News is reporting that Ghostface Killah will make a cameo appearance in next year's hotly anticipated Iron Man film.
by Piotr Orlov
No, it is not a joke. It is an idea sprung from the fertile mind of Bill Drummond, a conceptual artist once known as one-half of acid-house art-terrorists the KLF, and previously famed as a music-making (Big in Japan)/-managing (Echo & the Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes) Scotsman with a Zelig-like penchant for having his fingers in an absurd number of historically-influential musical pies. Done with burning money earned recording dance-floor ditties, and with making recordings by fake rock bands, Drummond seemed to have run out of ways of jabbing the stick in the wheel of the pop machine. Until figuring that he just wants to turn it off ... if even for a day. Not just the machine, but its hum -- and all like-minded hums -- which just happen to be very important elements in keeping large amounts of people in the world sane. His reasoning is based on modern-world patterns of musical consumption, devaluation and decontextualization, and they’re well worth exploring – whether or not you choose to press play tomorrow. Enjoy the silence!
Further Reading:
Read the No Music Day manifesto in The Observer
Check out the growing number of participants at the No Music Day website
Listen to an interview with Drummond on London’s Resonance FM
The Playlist points to a piece in the new Vanity Fair confirming that Yeah Yeah Yeahs' singer Karen O will be contributing a few songs to the soundtrack for Where the Wild Things Are. The eagerly anticipated live-action adaptation of Maurice Sendak's children's book is the handiwork of novelist Dave Eggers and director Spike Jonze, who once dated O and was responsible for the "Y Control" video. The two also worked together on a surreal Adidas spot, perhaps one of the most beautifully composed pieces of commercialism since Jose Gonzales hooked up with a million bouncing balls. Read more and watch the artsy sneaker video here.
Song: Brown Rice
Album: Brown Rice
Artist: Don Cherry
Selected By: Steven Joerg
Date: November 20, 2007
From 1975 but still sounding as if it could have been made next year, this mantric ode to what feeds a goodly portion of the world also features a strange vocal refrain that I've yet to fully make out, and a wicked tenor sax solo that racks up the frisson. The whole of it feels eternally priceless.
by Piotr Orlov
You gotta give it to J. Spaceman: Few artists have constructed such bountiful career arcs from the inspiration of just a single song and a singular passion. But then VU’s “Heroin” is a helluva drug – form, content, philosophy, fix – and guilt is more than a feeling. So regardless of whether J’s making nuclear-powered fuzz with Spacemen 3, intergalactic free-jazz epics with Spiritualized, or re-casting both into symphonic gospel miniatures, as he did Friday night at Harlem’s fabled Apollo Theater, his Catholic pop’s always been about trying for the kingdom.
(PHOTO: Scott Indrisek)
By now you may have read a lot about Todd Haynes’ experimental bio-pic of Bob Dylan's life, entitled I’m Not There, and its soundtrack. Originally conceived of as "suppositions on a film concerning Dylan," it’s a gloriously messy melange of form and content, starring Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Richard Gere and Christian Bale, among others. Each actor plays a different facet of Dylan’s psyche, resulting in a composite that is as dense and contradictory as the man himself.
Before filming, Haynes presented his actors with individual mixes that reflected their particular slice of Dylan, from the Woody Guthrie acolyte to the visionary poet. Continue reading as Haynes shares some of the tracks he picked for Robbie [Heath Ledger], Woody [Marcus Carl Harvey], Arthur [Ben Winshaw], Billy [Richard Gere] and Jack [Christian Bale], along with his personal favorites from Dylan’s catalog.
Click here for the music.
Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko enjoyed a slow burn to cult-classic status, so plenty of people were curious as to how he’d follow up his surprise hit. Five years later, he assembled a three-hour-plus film that was roundly jeered at Cannes. The trimmed-down version, Southland Tales, just arrived in theaters—and it’s the season’s best post-apocalyptic vision about the Iraq war, militant Marxists, floating ice cream trucks and porn stars-turned-pop stars yet. Oh, and it stars Justin Timberlake and The Rock.
by Jen Guyre
The slow, evil sludge of stoner-metal staples High on Fire is just as likely to induce goose bumps as it is hearing loss. Aside from laying the foundation for metal toke-fests, Matt Pike (vocals, guitar), Jeff Matz (bass) and Des Kensel (drums) are no strangers to hitting the sauce. Rhapsody caught up with a very hungover Pike, who proceeded to kick out the band’s favorite beer-guzzling jams, the ones in heavy rotation on the jukebox at the Silver Lion, Oakland, California’s toughest punk bar. “Oakland is like a big ghetto, so that’s the one [place] the punk rockers took over and stuck their flag in,” he says. “The Silver Lion is kind of our church. [There’s only] good music in the jukebox there. Its music I grew up on and consider to be classic; all of these bands are like the earliest [incarnations] of heavy music. Every band on [this] list has been a big influence on us.”.
Click here for the music.
Song: Ice Storming
Album: Some Echoes
Artist: Aloha
Selected By: Nate Cavalieri
Date: November 19, 2007
These Cleveland post rockers have made sophisticated leaps and bounds over the past few records, readily evident on this spare track. In place of the (admittedly brilliant) bombast of their early records, comes a perfectly crystallized pop song that's downright delicate.
By Tim Quirk
There’s little I enjoy more than talking about music. Well, maybe drinking and talking about music. What could be better than that? How about drinking and talking about music in Rio De Janeiro? And what if the people you’re talking and sharing caipirinhas with, as you gaze down at Copacabana Beach while the giant statue of Cristo Redentor gazes down at you, are a group of gifted musicians from six continents?
Back when Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez were in At The Drive-In, they seemed happy with freaking out on stage and screaming about one-armed scissors. But ever since they moved onto the red planet pastures of Mars Volta, they traded the emo-agitprop for a highly refined, rather geeky sound and vision that would send Coheed and Cambria running for their D&D guide books and Rush records. Come January ’08, Omar and Cedric will kick their dedication to the finer points of prog-rock nerd-dom into high gear.
by Jen Guyre
The jury will always be out as to who is the definitive heavy metal band: Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath. But it can not be denied that Zeppelin’s bludgeoning interpretation of the blues, fantasy-/myth-fueled lyrical concepts, occult fascinations, and hard-partying lifestyle have become a cornerstone of metal’s livelihood. Maybe even its foundation.
The Associated Press reports on the Hollywood Prayer Network, a coalition of concerned souls who have the best interests of troubled musicians and celebrities at heart. Of course, deadbeat mom Britney Spears, with her recent litany of fumbling tragedies, heads their list, but a few lesser known artists could use some old-fashioned divine intervention--though some pop stars might be beyond help at this point. Continue reading to find out who deserves to be touched by an angel.
Song: England
Album: Businessmen & Ghosts
Artist: Working For a Nuclear Free City
Selected By: Dan Shumate
Date: November 16, 2007
Despite a particularly unwieldy name, Working for a Nuclear Free City are leaders of the pack in the U.K.’s new-gaze movement. “England” sounds like My Blood Valentine guitarist Kevin Shields made warm, fuzzy love to Spiritualized. But it all kind of makes sense: WFANFC are from Madchester.
We've talked about the albums, but you're not talking Zeppelin unless you're talking about them live, on stage, conquering all they saw before them. One such witness to Zep's live fury was Jaan Uhelszki, a writer and editor for Creem Magazine during its '70s heyday. We're proud to call Jaan a member of our own team, and we're thrilled to present her kaleidoscopic recollection of how the (mid)west was won.
by Chris Ryan
You gotta love New York City. Some nights you wind up out until 4 a.m. talking with a fencing instructor about No Limit Hold 'Em poker ... and some nights you go see a Sugarland show in Times Square! The world is your oyster.
Over the past few years the term "freak folk" has entered the pop music lexicon -- even if it hasn't dented the general public's consciousness. Freak folk holds meaning for music critics and for a certain percentage of hairy youths and flaxen-haired maidens who enjoy riding unicycles at street fairs. If you neither review music for a living nor unashamedly ride unicycles, there is no cause for alarm. Freak folk is easy to grasp: It's basically indie folk-rock made by shirtless men with misshapen beards. Freak folk is also distilled from the air by beautiful elfin women who strum harps while singing forest hymns to flora and fauna.
by Chris Ryan
So far as I can remember, I have never been, nor am I now, a pale, sexually confused teenager who spends his weekends clutching a played-to-the-point-of-warping copy of The Queen Is Dead while pretending to read French poetry. But that didn't stop me, nor does it stop me now, from really liking Suede.
In the first part of Rhapsody's exclusive interview with Wild Style director Charlie Ahearn, we discussed how the film came to pass. Here, Mr. Ahearn talks about the movie's impact and how it has been interpreted – and occasionally misrepresented – by a generation of hip-hop fanatics across the globe.
MTV News reported that Alice in Chains are putting together a new album for ’08, which is something of a feat considering the fatal drug overdose of lead singer Layne Staley in 2002. They’re conscripting William DuVall of sludge-rockers Comes With the Fall—a man who once managed to rhyme “traumatized” with “look in my eyes”—on vocal duties. With Van Halen welcoming David Lee Roth back to the fold, the world seems agaggle with new/old singer-fronted bands refusing to quit. In honor of such relentless determination to struggle onwards, we thought we'd look back at some notable groups that soldiered bravely on despite the death and/or retirement of their mouthpiece.
Song: Pow Pow
Album: Dengue Fever
Artist: Dengue Fever
Selected By: Rachel Devitt
Date: November 15, 2007
Picture it: The '60s, Cambodia (by way of Ethiopia and Bollywood), American ex-pats hiding out in Phnom Penh form an acid-rock band with a sky-high-voiced Khmer singer, an organ, a sax and a lot of hallucinogens. Or at least that's the flashback Dengue Fever is creating in present-day L.A.
Fans of Tea Leaf Green, who have taken the jam-band festival circuit by storm, are used to bassist Ben C. dropping thick, booty-shaking bombs night in and night out. Today he dropped a little something different, announcing his departure from the band after a decade of fueling its grooves. No hard feelings; he just wants to pursue other passions. The band will now look to JFJO bassist Reed Mathis for its bottom. Ben C. gave this rock 'n' roll band some funkiness and a little hip-hop flavor. A fatigued fan could always look to him on stage, find the groove, and dance the night away. His kindness and generous, friendly attitude toward fans will be missed. We wish him luck and are excited to see Reed on stage.
Further Reading:
Ben C. announces departure from Tea Leaf Green
Casey Lowdermilk's interview with Ben C. for Rex Foundation
In 1978 Argentina won a controversial World Cup on their home turf, a moment of ecstasy amidst the agony of military dictatorship. Across the sea, it was summer, and, as Zeppelin lore has it, the boys caught the futbol fever from the telly. The Carnavalesque rhythms of the South American stadium would turn up on "Fool in the Rain," recorded that fall and included on In Through the Out Door, the band's last original studio album. Led Zeppelin's Latin-tinged hit single (the group's final charting song) features John Bonham pounding out a marching beat, punctuated by whistle calls that would have been as at home on that era's disco floors, as at a Carnaval or Mardi Gras parade. While there's a distinct sambaesque flavor to the drum breakdown, its reported Buenos Aires-based inspiration would actually have been the beating of drums and stadium chants with origins in the murga or African-rooted carnaval songs of Argentina and Uruguay, which have similarities to the samba but are not the same. There are more subtle Latin influences at play in "Fool in the Rain": a rocking piano montuno and an acoustic guitar melody that to Latin-sensitive ears echoes traditional Cuban changui.
Hip-hop impresario Irv Gotti sat down for an exclusive chat with Complex magazine's website this week. In the interview, Gotti opens up about whipping 50 Cent’s behind (his claim), how sampling the Beatles and opera got the new Ja Rule album pushed back (his bad), and offers one of the most inventive, explicit metaphors about the Internet’s effect on the music biz we’ve ever read (his perogative). Extra points for the Clintonesque “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” feint when quizzed about his lurid past with Ashanti.
by Matty Karas
One of the upsides of being the Hugest Rock Band in the World is that you and your songs will be remembered forever. One of the downsides is that the world's collective memory seems to have a 20-song-per-band limit. If you are the Rolling Stones, your "Obsession" probably doesn't make the cut. If you are Van Halen, forget about being remembered as an "Ice Cream Man." These are the songs that don't show up on any greatest-hits collection, maybe not even on the four-disc box set. Celine Dion's new single has a better chance of getting played on rock radio. Or take, say, Led Zeppelin. "Dazed and Confused" you know. "Rock and Roll" of course. But what about their foray into power-pop? Or the synthesizer epics? Or the pretty acoustic tunes that don't erupt into heavy-metal thunder?
Song: Gravity
Album: The Thirteenth Step
Artist: A Perfect Circle
Selected By: Jaan Uhelszki
Date: November 14, 2007
Maynard James Keenan is stewing in his own neurosis on the anxious song cycle of The Thirteenth Step, a troubled journey through a maze of self doubt and isolation that culminates in the final song "Gravity." But it's worth wading through Keenan's cosmic cesspool, if only to witness a bizarre twist on the Who's Tommy. Redemption rarely sounds so fretful.
Bienvenido! Mabuhay! Hos geldiniz! Welcome to the very first edition of Sound Treks, Rhapsody’s new globally minded weekly blog post. Your hosts for this little endeavor are Rhapsody’s World editors and biggest fans: Judy Cantor-Navas, Sarah Bardeen, et moi, Rachel Devitt. Every week, one of us will take you on a little aural vacation through the world of music, playing tour guide to Rhapsody’s cavernous global music holdings. If you think you don’t like world music, this is the blog post for you: Sound Treks is all about exploring the sites and sounds of the world of music, from the “world music” you think you know (including didjeridoos and drum circles) to Brazilian baile funk, Chinese indie rock, Balkan brass and Senegalese hip-hop -- and finding a bit of home even in the most distant “exotic” genre. That said, if you’re already a world music “traveler,” this is also the blog for you: Sound Treks is about expanding paradigms, not throwing them out with the bong water.
Along with Henry Chalfant’s documentary Style Wars, Charlie Ahearn’s 1982 film Wild Style is the quintessential document of hip-hop’s formative years. Ironically, the film picks up just as the culture’s first phase was coming to an end. By ’82, New York authorities were beginning to curtail the art of subway graffiti, breakdancing was going out of fashion, and the legendary two-hour park jams were in the process of being paired down to the three-minute pop songs we now recognize as rap music. But Ahearn captures the culture in its original glory -- from the subway cars traveling across five boroughs, announcing new illegal masterpieces by the city’s talented and anonymous artists, to the stoop raps of the Cold Crush Brothers and Double Trouble. His film is both a reflection of what he hoped hip-hop could accomplish, and what we now imagine it was like back in the day. If you have even a passing interest in hip-hop’s roots, this film is indispensable.
So maybe you can't afford the £2500 V.I.P. tickets for Zep's upcoming reunion -- you can always watch these classic clips and pretend you were there from the beginning.
by Chris Ryan
Amidst the admittedly awesome dalliances with Middle Earth folk, War and Peace-length epics and bass solos, it's easy to forget that Led Zeppelin were one hell of a party band. After all, these guys came from the era when one of the primary purposes of rock bands was to make you dance. And when they put their four minds to the task, Zep could make any night club, frat party, dive bar or juke joint into a house of the holy. The sound of Page's merciless riffs riding the gladiator funk of John Bonham's stomp and John Paul Jones' bump was one of the funkiest things east of the J.B.'s. And it was in the land of 1,000 dances that Plant was at his most enchanting, his most alluring, his most real. Get on the floor and let the music be your master.
Song: Bonnie and Clyde
Album: Initials BB
Artist: Serge Gainsborg
Selected By: Nick Dedina
Date: November 14, 2007
This one isn't in English but language doesn't really matter -- what's amazing are the ping-ponging vocals and Gainsbourg's swirling arrangement and tight production. Forget NYC in the late 1970s and '80s, the hip-hop aesthetic was really blueprinted by a sweaty little Frenchman.
by Piotr Orlov
The blues were a Led Zeppelin foundation before the band even formed -- partly because of Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones’ pre-Zep involvement in the blues-rock group the Yardbirds (previously home to British blues-guitar greats Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck), and partly because of young Robert Plant’s enthusiasm for R&B and old blues. Plant continually mined now-classic Delta and Chicago blues tunes for his lyrics – images from the likes of Albert King, Howlin' Wolf, Willie Dixon and Sonny Boy Williamson can be found throughout the Zep catalog. But, unlike the myriad of English blues-rock bands, he and his bandmates rarely just recreated the poses; they projected the blues onto a much wider screen than it had previously been seen on. By combining the dark and often funerary moans of the blues with the epic grandeur (and length) of psychedelia, Zeppelin turned simple tunes into two-ton dirges! Epics like “Dazed and Confused,” lifted from the British folkie Jake Holmes, were half-hour-long live excursions even before the band got around to recording their own invocations in the studio. If the purists could get over the writing credits Zeppelin took for their many appropriations, here was one original, heavy, blues groove.
The first time I saw Glen Hansard, lead singer of The Frames, and Marketa Irglova perform was over two years ago in front of a crowd of not more than 50 people. Creaky, uncomfortable folding chairs were set up lazily in rows inside the nearly 100-year-old Swedish American Hall in San Francisco; I had never heard of The Frames or Hansard or Irglova and admittedly was going to take a quick listen and get the hell out of there. Instead, I left almost three hours later, sore butt and all, completely enthralled, giddy, pensive and moved.
I'm at an afterparty in Las Vegas, where a second-rate reggaetón star is giving a dreadful performance before a room that's three-quarters empty. The woman next to me is draped over some guy in a suit who's half her height, and her microscopic red dress appears -- God forgive me if I'm slandering -- to be bursting at the seams with gluteus maximus implants. It's 2 a.m., I'm tired, and this is the culminating experience of my trip to the 2007 Latin Grammys.
by Chris Ryan
We've been dazed and confused for so long, it's true -- but all that's about to change. Led Zeppelin's back catalog is finally available on Rhapsody, and we couldn't be happier. Forget "Celebration Day," we're having Led Zeppelin Week here on on Play: Five days of posts chock-full of everything you need to know about one of the greatest bands of all time.
Song: Voodoo
Album: El Mariel
Artist: Pitbull
Selected By: Angela Bruno
Date: November 12, 2007
Need to get in the mood for an irresponsibly good time? Bump this track. Miami MC (and Luke prot�g�) Pitbull and all his male chauvinism shine on this jungle rumpshaker from the El Mariel grab bag . "Voodoo" takes To�o Rosario's "Caco E Maco, Salta Cocote" to an underground lair of club-banging hedonism, where King Koopa's the resident DJ.
Clipse are hip-hop’s Internet kings. If there was a way to track illegal downloads, their ’06 masterpiece, Hell Hath No Fury, would have gone multiplatinum long ago, as opposed to the 194,000 units SoundScan claims they’ve moved. Then again, the Internet wasn't the only bump that Virginia natives and brothers Terrence “Pusha T” and Gene “Malice” Thornton hit on the road to following up their ’02 debut, Lord Willin’. A bitter, four-year struggle fueled by label politics and maneuvering kept postponing Hell Hath No Fury's release. But those hardships spawned a pair of mixtapes -- We Got It 4 Cheap Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, recorded as the Re-Up Gang with Philadelphia’s Ab-Liva and Sandman -- that helped cement the coke-rap MCs' status as legends, and made them hipster favorites. (Hence, Internet love.)
By Tim Quirk
When I was a teenager, Rolling Stone ran a semi-notorious cover featuring a bare-chested Jim Morrison (did that guy ever wear a shirt?) with a caption that read, “He’s Hot, He’s Sexy and He’s Dead.” The Doors still seem to do pretty good business in T-shirts and dorm room posters. As do other admirable, sexy and dead rockers such as John Lennon, Bob Marley and Kurt Cobain. So how come vendors on random street corners don’t carry an equally impressive selection of Joe Strummer T-shirts?
Popular music subsists in a barely coherent, drug-addled haze, according to new research from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. We already learned that hip-hop causes good kids to take their clothes off. Now a scientific survey of 279 Billboard chart-toppers confirmed that a solid one-third of all hit songs reference drugs or alcohol, with a mere four singles advocating abstaining from self-abuse. Eighty percent of rap, 37 percent of country, 20 percent of R&B/hip-hop and 14 percent of rock tracks dropped some mention of spliffs, dope, booze, crack, smack or assorted evils.
Researcher Brian Primack now plans to test whether there is a “relationship between lyrical content and behavior”—no word as to where one can sign up for that particular study, however.
Meanwhile, a multi-genre selection that would make Nancy Reagan proud.
FURTHER READING:
Billboard charts totally high, according to Reuters and doctors
Song: What We Do
Album: Philadelphia Freeway
Artist: Freeway
Selected By: Sam Chennault
Date: November 9, 2007
Just Blaze’s closely chopped soul and Free’s nasally declarations that “this is a cold winter/ y’all n*ggas better bundle up” conjures frosty corners, while the “leader of the black gang” AKA Jay Hova quips “I move keys/ you can call me the piano man.” All of which makes Freeway’s debut single a classic.
(PHOTO: Joan Marcus)
What do Lou Reed, Syd Barrett and long-haired, record-smuggling hippies have to do with the dissolution of Communism in the Czech Republic? In the world of Tom Stoppard’s latest play Rock’n’Roll—quite a lot. The brilliant new drama follows an assortment of Czechs and Brits from the tumultuous events of 1968 through the historic Rolling Stones gig at Strahov Stadium in 1990. Along the way, we get nearly three hours of brainy chatter about ideology and love, all of it tied together by the music of the Stones, Velvet Underground, Pink Floyd and more.
by Chris Ryan
My Bloody Valentine reunion rumors are sort of the underground rock version of Elvis sightings. They're so rampant it's hard to get too worked up about them. However, this morning, The Daily Swarm is reporting that this time the rumors might be true. According to the site, MBV's Kevin Shields is promising a new album by the end of the year, with a possible appearance at next year's Coachella Festival also in the cards. Surely, this will be tremolo-drenched music to the hearing-impaired (MBV was notoriously loud, see) ears of Valentine fans everywhere.
FURTHER READING:
The Daily Swarm on My Bloody Valentine's Reunion Plans
Song: Sportif
Album: Rokku Mi Rokka
Artist: Youssou N'Dour
Selected By: Sarah Bardeen
Date: November 8, 2007
It's not easy to be Youssou N'Dour, who's been canon-fodder for critics since he started crossing over nearly 15 years ago. But you wouldn't know it from this lovely track off his new album, which is as light and easy and playful as anything he's ever done.
Did you see the 41st Annual CMA Awards? Wow, my head is totally buzzing right now from watching it! Okay, truthfully my head is buzzing from drinking so much strong coffee that it feels like I'm gonna have a brain hemorrhage. Personally, I think it was way more exciting than the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, but of course being a country music fan, I'm somewhat biased. Enough about me, let's dish!
To fans of classic country music, the past two weeks have been pretty hard. We lost Porter Wagoner on October 28, and on November 6, Western swing legend Hank Thompson passed away. He lived to be 82 before succumbing to lung cancer. Thompson was a Waco, Texas, native who studied electrical engineering at four different universities (a knowledge that helped him pioneer improved stage sound and light shows). He was the first known country star to mix honky tonk's unapologetic themes of fast loving and hard drinking with Western swing's orchestration of steel guitar, twin fiddles, piano, bass, drums and his trademark baritone. Although Thompson later flirted with slivers of the Bakersfield sound, he didn't really stray from his formula too much over his career. Here is a playlist we put together to honor the man and his music.
FURTHER READING:
CMT's coverage of Hank Thompson's career and passing
Seeing Rakim and Ghostface together in a small club in San Francisco is like catching Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson sparring in a gym. In one corner, you have one of the most celebrated rappers of the past decade, a man whose career includes a starring role in the Wu-Tang Clan and a string of solo albums that invariably find their way to the top of year-end, best-of lists. In the other, we have The God, a.k.a. Rakim Allah. Ever since he and his DJ partner Eric B. came out of Long Island with the 1986 hit “Paid in Full,” Rakim has provided the template for an entire generation of emcees. That song’s first lines helped define hip-hop for the next two decades: “Thinking of a master plan/Cuz ain’t nothing but sweat inside my hand.” It’s the age-old battle: ambition vs. poverty, with necessity proving the mother of artistic invention, and the desires and frustrations of a generation expressed through simple and effective lines. The thing about Rakim’s tracks is that they aren’t a woe-is-me vision of struggle, but rather a call for empowerment, an acknowledgment that self-determination, discipline and dedication are core, elemental values of the hip-hop generation.
Marco Benevento has announced
another month-long NYC residency. He will be experimenting with different
lineups, instruments and styles every Thursday in January 2008 to help open the newly renovated Sullivan Hall, formally the Lion’s Den. He’s
pulled together some of the finest, improvisationally inclined musicians as
scheduled guests, including The Slip guitarist Brad Barr and Billy Martin of
MMW.
Daniel Radcliffe, the Richest Teen in the U.K., is a real wizard when it comes to surprising his adoring public. Around the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, he appeared in a vaguely S&M-themed Details photo shoot. Now comes news that Radcliffe will be heading to New York with the fall 2008 production of Equus, the most famous play about horse-mutilation that you neglected to ever read in high school. We're sure it's a masterpiece of psychological depth and wrenching pathos. But more importantly, Mr. Radcliffe appears totally naked on stage! His U.K. performance of the role has already sent obsessive fans into a hormonal frenzy.
We thought this might be an opportune time to spotlight a few of his favorite songs, which Radcliffe shared with us a few months ago, back when Dumbledore was still in the closet. It seems that when Harry Potter's not busy cavorting without his shirt on, he spends his time enjoying the finest British rock.
mtvU is the college-only offshoot of MTV, and each year they reward the artists that the kids are clamoring for with the Woodie Awards. Don’t expect any drugged-out Britney performances here — there might even be a few nominees that you haven’t heard of before, especially if you're no longer an undergrad.
by Chris Ryan
Del the Funky Homosapien is a solo artist, but he rarely goes it alone. The veteran Oakland MC started his rap career behind the scenes in his cousin Ice Cube's group Da Lench Mob. While he released solo platters such as I Wish My Brother George Was Here and No Need for Alarm (lauded and loved for their offbeat humor), he continued to keep it communal, recording with his seminal Hieroglyphics crew and, most recently, with the cartoon pop-art supergroup Gorillaz.
Operating under the maxim, "You can't have too many friends," Del has signed up with yet another team. He's releasing his fifth solo album, The 11th Hour, through El-P's indie-rap imprint, Def Jux, in February.
Song: In Dark Trees
Album: Another Green World
Artist: Brian Eno
Selected By: Scott Indrisek
Date: November 7, 2007
With a sparse percussion backdrop that would feel right at home on anything from Remain in Light, this is a masterpiece of pop instrumental minimalism. The slim 2:31 sounds like exit music for a film in which the disgraced hero leaves town before dawn, stalked by the loneliest guitars imaginable.
A recent Fact Magazine post drew our attention to the, umm, fact that electronic experimentalist The Soft Pink Truth (a.k.a. Drew Daniel of Matmos) has, in his own words, “undergone a sea change into something rich and strange.” The new project, Soft Pink Tube, will interact with Web 2.0 in ways never dreamed of by Al Gore back when he invented the Internet. To get an idea of what this madness will sound like, download “Party Pills." The song’s genesis? “Every sound was gathered by typing the word party in as a search term on YouTube and sampling and sequencing and manipulating the results.” The result is as hilarious as it is creepy. Finally, all this technology has a purpose!
By Angela Bruno
Once again, hip-hop is being accused of inciting a carnal frenzy in your kid’s Rocawear jeans. The New York Times Health section reports on a three-year study researching the relationship between hip-hop’s lascivious lyrics and bumpin’ and grindin’ on the dance floor, amongst other places. The findings cite variables like peer pressure and booze (and um, raging teenage hormones?), and hip-hop as a phenomenon that (maybe) parents just don’t understand. But one thing’s for sure, while Ja Rule’s flow may lure you into a dirty, horizontal mambo, there’s scientific evidence that Nick Lachey’s crooning just can’t seal the deal.
FURTHER READING:
NY Times on Teenagers, Sex and Hip-Hop
In the past year, I've discovered there are only two albums in my collection that appease the fairly random (and fairly opinionated) assortment of characters who tend to wind up at my house for a makeshift get-togethers. The first ain't no hen's tooth: Michael Jackson's Thriller. Bored to tears? Sorry, but some 25 years after its release, that album's mix of pleasures is still palpable – whether as an ironic cultural book replete with white linen suits, Vincent Price and tiger cubs, or as a genuine double-sided testament to the peak of titans of the era's pop music: Quincy Jones, and MJ. (Macca and Eddie Van are hardly slouching either, actually.) If thinking about Thriller doesn't suit you, fine, just move the coffee table and dance.
Song: Double Six
Album: Double Seven
Artist: The Upsetters
Selected By: Steven Joerg
Date: November 6, 2007
Awesome early Lee "Scratch" Perry production featuring U-Roy the originator on a free-wheeling set of lyrics eventually espousing devotion to a partner: share and share alike! Great stereo panning with layers of rubbery keyboards and U-Roy trading verses with himself from channel to channel. Bounce!
Say what you want about Flava, but Chuck D never sold out and he never went soft. Listen to “Harder Than You Think” from Public Enemy’s most recent album. The song opens up with a Flava Flav rant that is recycled from 1996 bow “Public Enemy #1,” reminding listeners of the group’s history, before a blast of horns smothers the opening guitar figure. Chuck D comes out of the gate and dubs PE the “Rolling Stones of the rap,” and in the same breath takes aim at Mick Jagger and his sagging lips. Over the next three verses, Chuck calls out the institutions and individuals that have diluted the game: “Screamin’ gangsta 20 years later/Of course endorsed while consciousness faded/ new generations believing them fables/ gangster boogie on two turntables.” Wizened but not weak, PE still has that fire.
I got up with the man born Carlton Ridenhour as the group was wrapping up its Rock the Bells tour, and we discussed some of the stylistic chances he took on PE’s most recent album, How You Sell Soul To A Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul?, the state of hip-hop, and the recent moves by Chamillionare and Talib Kweli to clean up their lyrics.
Wired magazine gets rebellious with a guide to free music on the web, and Rhapsody's proud to be part of it. We're all about pioneering new ways to discover digital music — without driving anyone bankrupt. That’s why we’re patting ourselves on the back at our inclusion as the first "Good” option for getting your music fix in the 21st century.
Further reading:
Wired's guide to free music online
by Chris Ryan
In the most recent issue of Uncut magazine, legendary Kinks frontman Ray Davies takes a look back at the rich catalog of his seminal band The Kinks, giving special attention to their landmark 1968 album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society. Davies remembers the album and the context in which it was made as such: "I think every band goes through a phase where they sit back and think about what their future's going to be, a crossroads record."
We thought we'd put our thinking cap on (a nicely fitted one, with the words "List Maker" on it) and come up with some other "crossroads records" — eschewing the obvious giant leaps for musickind like Rubber Soul, Odelay, OK Computer and Pet Sounds — from classic rock to today, from the top of the charts to the left of the dial. Check it out:
Song: People Get Ready
Album: The Time Has Come
Artist: The Chambers Brothers
Selected By: Nate Baker
Date: November 5, 2007
Curtis Mayfield wrote this tune after the 1963 March on Washingtonwhen Martin Luther King delivered his "I have a dream" speech and it became an important song to the Civil Rights movement. This cover from 1968 is gritty compared to the silky smooth version Mayfield cut with the Impressions.
Another festival, another dolla’. In the last two months, I’ve trekked out to two of the most spit-polished and diligently organized music festivals I’ve ever been to. I was beyond impressed with the structured setting of last month's first ever Treasure Island Music Festival, just across the Bay from San Francisco, and then this past weekend with the third annual Vegoose in Las Vegas. My most unfortunate festival experience, however: overhearing a few haughty spirits at Vegoose complaining of the prosaic ennui of the weekend’s festivities. I’m sorry, but is the tedium of your pampered daily living so corrupting it actually carries over into an overstimulating weekend of some damn good music?
Namedropped by luminaries like LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Kurt Cobain, the Sonics seem to have been everywhere except on-stage for the past 35 years. The legendary Seattle garage band formed in the early '60s, taking traditional blues patterns and running them through a grimy rock and roll blender. Studio albums were recorded in a lo-fi haze that sounds refreshingly current—just listen to "The Witch." The Sonics broke up in '68, and fans have made repeated, unsuccessful attempts to reunite the group over the years. (In 2000, after the Sonics turned down a performing spot at the Seattle Music Experience Project, members of Mudhoney, Gas Huffer and other local talent formed a tribute band for the show, and also recorded an album).
This weekend, the impossible happens: the Sonics headline two nights at Brooklyn’s Cavestomp Festival, an annual celebration of all things garage rock. There are no announced plans for a larger tour, but if the equally visionary Mission of Burma can reinvent themselves after a long hiatus, why not the Sonics? Original members Gerry Roslie, Larry Parypa and Rob Lind will be joined by drummer Ricky Lee Johnson of Paul Revere & The Raiders and bassist Don Wilhelm of The Daily Flash.
Song: Cambalache
Album: Eletracústico
Artist: Gilberto Gil
Selected By: Judy Cantor-Navas
Date: November 2, 2007
Sometimes I like to listen to old songs just to know that the world was as screwed up then as it is now. Keeps me optimistic. This classic tango pays tribute to the whole stinking miasma, starting off by observing “that the world has always sucked and always will, that I know.”
Song: This
Woman's Work
Album: MTV Unplugged
Artist: Maxwell
Selected By: Rachel Devitt
Date: November 1, 2007
Who knew this track could get any more interesting, more provocative, more
rip-your-guts-out gorgeous than when Kate Bush first recorded it in 1989? And
who knew anything by that ethereal eccentric would translate into such
full-bodied, sexy soul? And, Maxwell, that falsetto? Dang. That is all.
Call it Night of the Troubled Stars. This evening's MTV Europe Music Awards in Munich boasts scheduled performances by Halloween favorite Amy Winehouse and court favorite Pete Doherty. Snoop Dogg hosts, and everyone's nervously hoping he keeps it clean and refrains from the sort of language he graced Live 8 with.
Visit the official site here, and then lay your bets as to who's going to provide the evening's fireworks -- they'll have to compete with Kanye's hissy fit in Copenhagen last year.
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