by Angela Bruno
April 2008 Archives
by Jen Guyre
The 10th anniversary of the New England Metal and Hardcore
Festival started with High on Fire's demonic doom and ended three days later with
Ministry's industrialized rage. Droves of
thrash, prog, folk, grind, death, black, crossover and straightedge fans converged on Worcester, MA's Palladium for the weekend-long assault. Headbanging, air-guitar playing,
circle-pit starting, stagediving and crowdsurfing ensued as extreme music’s talented mainstays and capable upstarts unleashed an unrelenting soundtrack. Rhapsody experienced the ferocity firsthand. Witness it for yourself on the fourth installment of Rhapsody's photo essay series, Symphony of Destruction.
More Rhapsody.com Photo-Features:
Album Cover Smackdown
Rap's Come-Up Kids
Left in the Dark: Exclusive Kanye West Concert Pictures
The Rhapsody All-Stars
Tangled Up in Hues: Excellence in Rock Portraiture
Sneaking a listen from the earphones of Gary Lucas is exciting -- among his many accomplishments, the man was the former guitarist in Captain Beefheart's Magic Band and a collaborator of Jeff Buckley. We recently solicited a playlist from Lucas, which turned out to be an eclectic genre-hopping romp though acid jazz, folk singers and Afropop. You can listen to the playlist here, but equally illuminating was Lucas' track-by-track commentary, which we've included after the jump.
by Chuck Eddy
All of the albums examined below were released in the past few months, and they all have loud guitars on them. They’re all okay, though I doubt I’ll return to most of them now that I’ve sampled them. Metal obsessives might like a few more than I do, though - the metal magazines sure seem to. Gauge your own potential use accordingly.
Song: Stronger Than Me
Album: Frank
Artist: Amy Winehouse
Selected by: Angela Bruno
Date: April 30, 2008
Before Blake and the beehive, there was once a meatier Amy that intoned like the stateside R&B divas of the ‘90s. But even way back when, matters of the heart were still to her detriment. “Stronger Than Me” looks like another love TKO for Amy, thanks to some bloke that’s made her forget “all young love’s joys.” She gets her jabs in though: “Don’t you know that you’re supposed to be the man?”
by Angela Bruno
British emcee/R&B songstress and coquettish rudegyal Estelle didn't just stumble into the spotlight. She walked very deliberately into it thanks to a tried and true method: having some serious ... chutzpah. In an interview with our friends over at RealMusic U.K., she dishes on her then-yet-undiscovered self sauntering over to Kanye in L.A. a few years back. "I just went up to him because I recognized him -- I hadn’t had an album yet, so he had no idea who I was," she says. "But I just went up to him, told him I was a big fan of his and of John Legend - I’d heard John’s voice and just thought that he was the truth. So he was like ‘You know John?’ So I told him I didn’t, but I’d heard him and just had to work with him. So we arranged for me to come to the studio and meet him.”
What’s new? What’s good? What will you find here that you won't
hear anywhere else this week? Sit back, relax and click through to the
premieres, the originals and the exclusives available only on Rhapsody!
This week:
Leona Lewis, "Bleeding Love (Shapeshifters Vocal Remix)" (Rhapsody Exclusives)
Leona Lewis' mid-tempo slow dance gets turned into a fiery dance-floor revival. The Shapeshifters cut and paste Lewis' X-Factor-winning vocals over a hot club beat.
Last Shadow Puppets, The Age of Understatement (Rhapsody Premiere)
A collaboration between Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane of the Rascals, The Last Shadow Puppets make startling baroque-pop in the vein of Scott Walker, Ennio Morricone and John Barry.
Song: Brown Bike
Album: Tijuana Sound Machine
Artist: Nortec Collective
Selected by: Sarah Bardeen
Date: April 29, 2008
A slice of post-modern hipster-pop from Mexico's premier electronic act. This song goes down so easy, it's tempting to forget what a revolution Nortec inaugurated: they made accordions cool and mariachi horns mainstream. Plus, they sing about bikes! Click here to download a free MP3 of the song!
You may not have heard of the Last Shadow Puppets, but you're likely familiar with a few of the artists pulling their strings. Predominantly the work of Arctic Monkeys singer/guitarist Alex Turner and his counterpart in the Rascals, Miles Kane, their album, The Age of Understatement, is full of dense, dark and driven baroque pop, recorded with the help of producer James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco), with string arrangements handled by Owen Pallet (Final Fantasy), and made under the influence of classic Scott Walker albums and John Barry scores. In the latest episode of the John Norris Interviews ..., our intrepid MTV News reporter braved his way through the lads' Northern accents to find out how this puppet show took shape.
Further Viewing:
More "John Norris Interviews..." (PLAY)
by Chuck Eddy
Random thoughts on several current and recent country hits, after a week in Texas with a radio in the car and CMT in hotel rooms ...
Song: Big Black Hole
Album: Soul Food
Artist: Oblivians
Selected by: Mike McGuirk
Date: April 28, 2008
The Oblivians’ weird combination of punk-damaged rockabilly and existentialism is in full force on this third track from Soul Food, their first record. Whoever is singing this one -- Jack, Greg or Eric -- sounds really, really bummed here, like he might actually be going insane. But who can blame him? He’s living in a big black hole -- and let’s face it, living in a big black hole sucks.
by Piotr Orlov
It was inevitable that Four Tet would find the dance floor. Since he began recording in the mid-'90s, you could hear the man born Kieran Hebden admiring the beat, at home with rhythms as different as Dilla's, Pole's and Badly Drawn Boy's. He's hinted at grooves inside the post-rock made as a member of Fridge, built them in the Kosmiche techno-jazz duets with drummer Steve Reid, explored them in Four Tet's laptop sampledelia. And since mid-'07, there's been explicit evidence of his embrace of the club-beat -- in a remix for Battles' "Tonto," and, now, in a four-song Four Tet EP entitled Ringer. Hearing Hebden talk about it, the spirit of the techno-house internationale has brought a charge of inspiration to his creative process, in the form of a DJ residency in London, and in a renewed vigor to make solo electronic recordings. Which is exactly what our Rhap Session, conducted in mid-April was about.
by Angela Bruno
A little bit Homer's Odyssey (i.e., the sirens), Gabriel García Márquez's Love in the Time of Cholera (i.e., nautical love affairs) and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (i.e., weird, mystical stuff happening on a river). Calle 13's Residente puts his 1001 not-so-subtle-yet-always-clever sexual euphemisms aside to whisper sweet somethings in your ear on this new video for "Un Beso de Desayuno," which translates into "A Breakfast Kiss." Dig in and buen provecho.
by Chuck Eddy
In this installment: Alcoholics of sundry economic and musical stripes, Latin rap groups and Southern rock bands who both like reptiles, white '20s country-blues crossovers, and more.
Song: On Your Way Down
Album: The Complete Warner Brothers Recordings
Artist: Allen Toussaint
Selected by: Nick Dedina
Date: April 25, 2008
Allen Toussaint is a national treasure. He's still more known as a songwriter, producer and session man than as a solo artist, but if you want that special New Orleans mix of rough and smooth, look no further than Toussaint. Now 70, he is still as suave as he is funky. The message and feel of this one are as relevant as ever.
by Chris Ryan
Frightened Rabbit's name is ironic considering the subtle bravery of this Glasgow three-piece. You might expect some hushed folk, some whispered, timid vocals (possibly songs about bunnies). But their sound is a lively mix of indie-guitar racket, confessional lyrics and some lush arrangements (think a less volatile Neutral Milk Hotel).
Largely the work of singer-guitarist Scott Hutchinson (who writes and records the bulk of the material, aided by his drumming brother Grant and additional members Billy Kennedy and Andy Monaghan), the group recently released its second album, The Midnight Organ Fight. It's full of songs that throw caution to the wind, adventurous sonic layering, dynamic shifts (check out the Velvets-go-clubbing cut "The Twist") and vulnerable lyrical declarations ("Just because I want him dead/ Doesn't mean I want you back"). Rhapsody talked to Scott about life in Scotland, their creative process and using art to make sense of life.
by Chris Ryan
Check out this video of Vampire Weekend performing "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" with the drumline from south-central LA's Crenshaw High School (Daryl Strawberry's alma mater!) on April 23rd episode of Jimmy Kimmel Show. Hard to tell what to focus on: the snazzy moves of the percussionists, or VW singer Ezra Koenig's brighter-than-a-hundred-flaming-suns yellow sweater. Either way, your move, Nick Cannon.
P.S. Gluttons for Vampires can catch a truncated version of "A Punk" at the end of the above video.
Song: Cheers
Album: Gangsta Grillz the Album
Artist: DJ Drama
Selected by: Toshi Kondo
Date: April 24, 2008
Over triumphant horns and clashing cymbals, Pharrell and the Clipse’s Malice and Pusha T toast their success and generally being flyer than the rest. Surprisingly, Pharrell lyrically stands out, wittingly bragging about riding around Miami in that Suzy Loves Ricky (that’s a Mercedes SLR).
For the last decade, Julieta Venegas has remained one of Latin pop's most independent and creative stars -- without ever even seeming to break a sweat. "El Presente," the premier single from her first and highly anticipated forthcoming Unplugged album, dropped today. Venegas stopped by the MTV Tr3s studios to dish on some of her favorite songs. Wanna know what floats this singer's boat? Keep reading to check out her picks -- in English and Spanish -- and peep her live MTV Unplugged performance of "El Presente" after the jump.
What’s new? What’s good? What will you find here that you won't
hear anywhere else this week? Sit back, relax and click through to the
premieres, the originals and the exclusives available only on Rhapsody!
This week:
Kid Sister, Pro Nails-Super High Shine (Rhapsody Exclusive)
With Kid Sister, tacky is the new cool. An ecstatic electro-hip-hop paean to the ecstasy of a well-done manicure with no less than Kanye West, the Lee Press-On Don, on the hook.
Estelle, Shine (Rhapsody Premiere + Exclusive Track)
The British singer/rapper gets by with a little help from the States; Swizz Beats, Wycleff and Will.I.Am add some Yankee flavor to this confident sophomore album
Julieta Venegas, El Presente (Rhapsody Exclusive)
This accordion-wielding Latin-pop dynamo offers up a live, acoustic take on her song "El Presente," culled directly from her forthcoming Unplugged album. Soulful, eccentric and real.
Song: Soul of Fire
Album: Witch
Artist: Witch
Selected by: Jen Guyre
Date: April 23, 2008
You might know J Mascis as the singer-songwriter of ‘90s alt-masters Dinosaur Jr. But what you might not know is that the drums were his first love, and he is the worthy skinsman for monolithic stoner-metal riffers Witch.
by Justin Farrar
These days, many music scribes and Hollywood starlets such as Natalie Portman toss around the word “indie” to describe just about any band that’s not OneRepublic. The Shins are "indie." So is Interpol, Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, The National, Bright Eyes and Rilo Kiley. Even alt-blah groups like the Killers and Silversun Pickups are sometimes thrown into the kettle. And while several of these groups have their roots in mid-’90s indie America, the big-time pop tunes they produce in 2008 have been washed clean of the music’s original idiosyncrasies. The National, for example, share more in common with Pat Monahan and James Blunt than they do with Pavement and Sebadoh (circa 1992). Back then, when Papa Bush passed the reigns of the enslaved world over to Clinton 1.0, an indie band could sound like anything, from fey bubblegum to virile acid-punk, just so long as they were unprofessional, exquisitely damaged and lo-fi.
by Chuck Eddy
Once upon a time - like, back in the ‘50s - the music that people now call "rockabilly" and the music that people now call “lounge music” were probably diametrically opposed. But somewhere along the way - at least for such nostalgifying recent lady-led outfits as Devil Doll, Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles, Little Rachel and the Lazy Jumpers and Britt Savage & Twang Deluxe - they became more or less one and the same.
Song: Nothin' to Lose
Album: Josh Gracin
Artist: Josh Gracin
Selected by: Linda Ryan
Date: April 22, 2008
When this American Idol Season 2 contestant blew audiences away on "Country Night," Gracin knew he needed to follow his heart down the country path. With a nimble fiddle and Gracin’s smooth, fast-talking delivery, "Nothin' to Lose" is a fun, infectious romp that hits home on the first listen.
by Chuck Eddy
Not that I should talk - I’m kind of OCD in the hand=hygiene department, truth be told - but one problem with most stuff that passes as “rock” in the post-emo age is that it never sounds like it wants to get any dirt under its nails. Whatever you think of your Panic at the Discos or Fall Out Boys, you gotta admit it’s hard to imagine them properly rocking a good mud festival. Which makes bands like Dirty Sweet and the Dirty Birds all the more welcome.
Song: I Almost Forgot
Album: 100% Fun
Artist: Matthew Sweet
Selected by: Nate Cavalieri
Date: April 21, 2008
Dripping with pedal steel and driven by piano, this might be the most crushingly beautiful ballad to ever come from the hands of Matthew Sweet. Square in the middle of 100% Fun, it sounds like he's having none at all.
by Chris Ryan
In light of their being added to the 2008 Coachella festival lineup, we thought we'd revisit this fabulous in-office performance by primitive-blues masters Black Lips. We recorded this casual hootenanny last year, but anyone familiar with albums like Good Bad Not Evil know that these jams are priceless. Above, the boys perform "Bad Kids." After the jump, they play the jump-blues numbers "Lock and Key" and "How Do You Tell a Child Someone Has Died."
by Chuck Eddy
"Every great band should be shot before they make their Combat Rock," future Rhapsody VP of music programming Tim Quirk facetiously declared in his band Too Much Joy 20 long years ago -- a theory I was reminded of again the other day, when The Onion's AV Club posted "20 Respectable Rock and Rap Acts That Peaked With Debut Albums," a rundown that begins with Rage Against Machine and 50 Cent and works down from there. It's a pretty silly list -- not so much because any of the selections are wrong, per sé, but because, well, what rock and rap acts don't peak with debut albums? I mean, sure it happens once in a while, but it's certainly more the exception than the rule. So I'm somewhat stumped that It took nine critics to come up with a list that pretends the Sundays and Taking Back Sunday are actually respected somewhere. Wow, that's really going out on a limb there, guys! But enough bitching -- I decided to construct a couple far more interesting lists, along similar thematic lines.
Anyone who thought 50 Cent would wilt away after losing his September 2007 Soundscan battle with Kanye West has a short memory. Although the image seared into the public’s mind is that of an indestructible, sh*t-talking, multi-platinum icon, Curtis Jackson has no problem being counted out. Before the New York native became a legendary hip-hop brand, on the back of his first two albums (‘03’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and ‘05’s The Massacre), and before he created a business empire of clothing (G Unit), video games (Bulletproof and the new Blood in the Sand) and bottled water (Glacéau Vitamin Water, which reportedly netted him hundreds of millions of dollars when Coca-Cola purchased the company), he was a barely-known rapper. In fact, 50 was more famous for being shot nine times and for beefing with Ja Rule and the hugely successful Murder Inc. label, than for his music. So, to think that a lukewarm reception to his third album, Curtis, and being outsold by Kanye could deter him, is almost blasphemous.
Proving his mettle after the setback, 50’s re-grouped his G Unit crew, grabbing Tony Yayo (a.k.a. Marvin Bernard) and Lloyd Banks (a.k.a. Christopher Charles Lloyd) to create two excellent mixtapes, Return of the Body Snatchers and the Fat Joe diss, Elephant in the Sand, setting the streets on fire and whetting appetites for their June release, T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight). However, drama never strays too far. 50 has stayed in the headlines since dismissing Young Buck (a.k.a. David Brown) from G Unit at the beginning of April. When Rhapsody caught up with G Unit a couple of weeks later, Banks and Yayo chose to let 50 do most of the talking -- and that he did -- expounding on Young Buck, the state of the music business and Alicia Keys’ recent comments about “gangsta rap.”
Song: The 10 Plagues (feat. Bless and Killah Priest)
Album: The So Called Seder: A Hip-Hop Haggadah
Artist: Socalled
Selected by: Rachel Devitt
Date: April 18, 2008
So, a Jewish-Canadian DJ and two American emcees walk into a Passover Seder. ... No, it's not the setup for a really awful joke, it's the scene Montreal-based producer Socalled sets with this Yiddish-theater-sampling, bridge-building, paradigm-shifting track from his debut album.
by Piotr Orlov
God bless Architecture in Helsinki! The Aussie indie-pop collective is completely unafraid to go into sonic k-holes most of its peers actively avoid. And, boy, did they stumble into one with this El Guincho remix of "Like It or Not," a track from AIH's '07 album Places Like This. Originally a baroque fanfare that mutates into one of those Aztec Camera/Talking Heads '77-type pop moments that make you jump around in your pajamas, the tune gets chopped, screwed and shipped to the Bahia-meets-Morocco polyglot beatscape that the Barcelona producer is increasingly a master of. From bedroom twee to the global market. If you like Animal Collective, Ricardo Villalobos and/or post-modern Braziliana, you can't do better than that. And for free no less.
Oh, and if you're in the market for more free music, check out Rhapsody's Free Weekly MP3s page for tracks by The Sword, Tapes 'n Tapes and others.
Further Listening:
Architecture in Helsinki, "Like It or Not (El Guincho Remix)"
Rhapsody Free Weekly MP3s
by Jen Guyre
Former Cro-Mags and current Bloodclot! frontman John Joseph has overcome more hardship in his 45 years than most people know in their lifetime. After a childhood spent in an abusive foster home and, later, as a homeless teen on the streets of New York City's Lower East Side during the crime-ridden '70s, Joseph discovered salvation through punk rock (by way of Bad Brains) and spirituality, as an ardent follower of the Hare Krishna movement. His autobiography The Evolution of a Cro-Magnon tells the gripping tale of where he came from and how he turned his life around.
Behold the second installment of Rhapsody's photo-feature series. An elite team of our editorialistas mind-melded and put in some serious elbow grease to bestow ye faithful Rhapsody aficionados with the ultimate list of artists that shine brighter than Orion's Belt within our galaxy. The Rhapsody All-Stars takes a look at the twinkling, shimmering, shining top 25 artists -- based on total plays/streams since ye olde Rhapsody launched in December 2001. Which No. 1 artist reigns supreme with a total of 25,715,829 streams and counting?! Click here to find out.
Further Reading:
Rhapsody.com Presents: Tangled Up in Hues: Excellence in Rock Portraiture
by Chuck Eddy
Personally, I’ve never been very good at understanding concept albums. I mean, it’s hard not to notice a thread running through, say, a Frank Sinatra album where all the songs are set in the wee small hours, or a Dave Dudley one all about driving trucks, or a Hold Steady one about being Catholic. But make your overriding concept much more esoteric or convoluted than that - I’m looking at you, Pink Floyd and Queensryche - and I toss up my hands. Really, an album is just a bunch of songs, right?
Song: oxygene 2
Album: Aero
Artist: Jean-Michel Jarre
Selected by: Dan Shumate
Date: April 17, 2008
Nothing spells a new dawn has come, and I am going to take over the freaking universe more than Jarre’s mind-bending “oxygene 2."
by Matty Karas
It's hard to find the right Bruce
Springsteen pun/link with which to introduce his just-announced presidential endorsement. The
Boss was keenly averse to any kind of electioneering in the '80s, when he was
at the peak of his popularity and his thoughts and intentions were being
mangled by Republicans and Democrats alike. In recent years, he started to come around, but would he finally find a candidate who has the right magic? No, wrong kind
of magic in that song. Does he know which one can return us to glory days? Um,
no, them glory days will just pass you by in the wink of a young girl's eye
anyway.
In a little more than three years, Paramore have gone from underage emo new jacks to honest to goodness bigtime rock band. They're four-single monster of a sophomore album, Riot, has propelled them beyond the club circuit and into rarefied territory just below the likes of the Foo Fighters. In this exclusive Rhap Session, singer Hayley Williams tells us all about where it all began and how they got here.
Song: Freaks
Album: Destination Brooklyn
Artist: Vicious
Selected by: Angela Bruno
Date: April 16, 2008
In 1994, Vicious, also known as Lil Vicious, was definitely very young and most definitely not supposed to be anywhere near the ... naughty ... subject matter on “Freaks.” Morals schmorals! This was the jam. Big it up!
by Piotr Orlov
Warning -- mild historical revisionism follows: for soul music aficionados in the 21st century, the Rev. Al Green and Chicago do not belong in the same sentence (much less YouTube clip). And after all those Peter Cetera ballads in the '80s, they may have a point. But there was a time, when the Chicago Transit Authority (as they were once known) was a powerful funk-jazz-rock locomotive (check out the engine on "25 or 6 to 4"), good enough to make War and Rare Earth stop playing with their hair picks and listen to the chug. They certainly must have made an impression on the good Reverend Green, or else he would not have participated in this staged-to-within-an-inch-of-a-bellbottom pairing for an early '70s Chicago TV special. Hear "Tired of Being Alone" in a whole new way on what my friend Sean dubbed "the night Chicago earned its ghetto pass."
What’s new? What’s good? What will you find here that you won't
hear anywhere else this week? Sit back, relax and click through to the
premieres, the originals and the exclusives available only on Rhapsody!
This week:
Lyrics Born, Everywhere at Once (Rhapsody Premiere)
Welcome to an album where all your friends drive low-riders. Lyrics Born's latest solo salvo outside the walls of Blackalicious is situated deep in the bucket seats of some Bay Area funk. A fantastic hybrid of modern rap and classic R&B.
by Angela Bruno
People en Español reports that reggaetón's Don Omar is backing Barack Obama and will be participating in a as yet unidentified documentary in support of the candidate. The Puerto Rico Democratic primary, one of the last before Montana and South Dakota, will take place on June 1 -- even though residents of Puerto Rico are barred from voting during general presidential elections. (Factoid: Puerto Ricans who live on the island statistically participate in elections at much higher rates than mainland voters.)
Song: I Think I’ve Had It
Album: I Know You Fine But How You Doin’
Artist: The Gories
Selected by: Mike McGuirk
Date: April 15, 2008
If you’ve never heard The Gories, “I Think I’ve Had It” well illustrates why they were just one of the best rock and roll bands ever. The song has two chords, one drum and three notes in the solo … and Mick Collins. Garage-rock bands always sound like they’re imitating something that doesn’t exist anymore -- “retro” is the whole point of everything with them. The difference here is The Gories were actually playing the same music as Bo Diddley and The Sonics.
Hot on the heels of releasing their critically lauded "comeback" album, Accelerate, John Norris sits down with Athens, GA alternative rock pioneers, R.E.M. The three-part interview conducted in Austin, Texas, at the SxSW Music Conference touches upon their new album, about how their rich back-catalog of songs winds up in their live shows, and about Hillary, Obama and the election of 2008. (Click on the fast forward icon to skip to parts two and three.)
Further Viewing:
John Norris Interviews...Bradford Cox
John Norris Interviews...White Williams
by Chuck Eddy
Ross Johnson, unbeknownst to me before this year, is a Memphis underground legend (he’s worked with everyone from Jon Spencer to Peter Buck, Alex Chilton to Tav Falco) and also a musical laugh riot - at least if you think shuffling up drunken standup routines with crazed '60s soul-garage-punk and rockabilly is a smart mix, which you damn well better. Make It Stop! The Most of Ross Johnson is easily one of the best new albums I’ve heard in 2008.
Song: I Want You
Album: I Want You
Artist: Marvin Gaye
Selected by: Sam Chennault
Date: April 14, 2008
Marvin Gaye’s 1976 hit “I Want You” does a brilliant job balancing its impulses. The guitar and string orchestration that snake through the composition nod at lush, Philly schmaltz, while the drum break and hand percussion point toward proto-disco. Marvin’s phrasing, meanwhile, and the refrain’s simple pleas are both lascivious and ghostly.
by Matty Karas
When not exercising her dazzling Whitney-Mariah vocal cords, British pop sensation Leona Lewis bleeds love for the cinema. The winner of the 2006 edition of The X Factor, the British equivalent of American Idol, has found a lot of her favorite love songs on the soundtracks to movies ranging from the blockbuster Titanic to cult favorite Labyrinth.
In this exclusive Rhap Session, Elvis Costello, the new wave anti-hero, genre-hopping songwriting genius, amateur classical composer, avid music listener and husband to jazz vocalist Diana Krall, talks about a few of his favorite things ("songs" category).
With their new In Ghost Colours album full of, ironically enough, lively electronic pop, Cut Copy is bringing back the robot-love of the early '80s and giving it a haircut. In this exclusive Rhap Session, learn how the Australian act went from a one-man band (Dan Whitford being that "man") to full-fledged trio, and how they navigate the choppy surf of the dance-rock sea.
Song: Sampson
Album: Being to Hope
Artist: Regina Spektor
Selected by: Nate Cavalieri
Date: April 11, 2008
The chirpy, sassy charm of "Fidelity" put Regina Spektor on the map, but this ballad, a few tracks deep on her breakout, demonstrates her depth as a songwriter. As she calls her "sweetest downfall" back to bed, it’s hard to imagine anyone who could resist the request.
Every style of music has its seminal labels: soul had Stax, jazz had Capitol, the blues had Chess. In the U.K., African music had Sterns Music. When Sterns went live on Rhapsody early in 2008, we decided to talk to world music producer -- and longtime Sterns consultant and friend -- Iain Scott to get a better handle on just why Sterns has been so significant to world music. We got that. .. and a lot more: ruminations on African independence, struggles within world music and stories about sassy African pop stars taking on bootleggers single-handedly. Fasten your seatbelt!
by Chuck Eddy
This post marks the first installment of what I hope to be a regular Chuck It All In feature, where -- using records on my own living room shelves as a guide -- I troll alphabetically through Rhapsody's archives looking for lesser-known acts who might not be on your radar, but maybe should be. A genuine public service! This time out: acid crazies from Japan, lady truckers from the '60s, gay-friendly New Wave of British Heavy Metal from Germany and more.
Song: Cry Me a River
Album: Snakehouse
Artist: The Cliks
Selected by: Rachel Devitt
Date: April 10, 2008
You might think the Cliks, a queer indie band whose frontman (Lucas Silveira) is transgendered (female-to-male), were being ironic when they covered megastar ladies' man Justin Timberlake. But LS and JT actually have a lot more in common than meets the eye: dapper fashion sense, killer falsettos and histories of getting their hearts broken result in earnest performances like this.
by Tim Quirk
As a founding member of both The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite and a producer responsible for records by The Libertines and Babyshambles, Mick Jones has had an illustrious and consistently relevant career that has spanned the course of three decades. Jones talks about these phases and stages in this Rhap Session.
by Chuck Eddy
Word is that Akon - already an unclassifiable man of many genres and vices and wives -- says he’s about to make a country move. He claims it will make him the first black person ever to score on the country charts. This is a gross misconception, as others have already pointed out, but it does give me an excellent excuse to recommend some notable country music by African Americans, starting with the late, great Big Al Downing.
Song: Slaughter of the Soul
Album: Slaughter of the Soul
Artist: At the Gates
Selected by: Jen Guyre
Date: April 9, 2008
Swedish melodic death metal pioneers At the Gates are the prolific forefathers of the Gothenburg sound. These innovative G-burg natives sparked a movement and penned a whole chapter in the modern metalcore handbook by adding ear-shattering guitar solos and harmonious riffage to death-metal basics.
What’s new? What’s good? What will you find here that you won't hear anywhere else this week? Sit back, relax and click through to the premieres, the originals and the exclusives available only on Rhapsody! This week:
M83, Saturdays = Youth (Rhapsody Premiere)
What happens when a synthesizer-wielding Frenchman with a proclivity for shoegazing noises and ambient beats decides to create a paean to a cinematic ‘80s he never lived? And make it a pop album no less? Strap in as M83 is joined by Romanovs’ singer Morgan Kirby and electro-pop producer Ewan Pearson for a ride both Molly Ringwald and an average Berlin raver could appreciate.
The Long Blondes, Couples (Rhapsody Premiere)
There's no doubt that the world would be a better place if we had more women rocking. And that if they flashed the garage/pop/new wave hooks of this Sheffield, U.K. quartet (+ funny-named dude drummer), we could end global climate change, cure cancer and find lost puppies. What we would not be able to do is figure out romantic relationships, because the women would be singing about ‘em all the time. Like they do here. Which, come to think of it, only makes it more fun.
Got a webcam and a YouTube account? Then you're already well
on your way to becoming a star according to the Marie Digby model of music career-making.
All right, so Digby (who's being called the new Colbie Caillat) already had a contract with
Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Van Gogh’s Self-portrait With a Bandaged Ear. Whistler’s Mother. Sure these masterpieces rule – but, the question is, do they ROCK?! Rhapsody’s very own Nate Cavalieri took on the arduous and scholarly task of breaking down the 411 on some of the most brilliant/bewildering rock album covers – e.g. David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs or Journey’s Trial By Fire – with some witty 101 on their origins in a piece entitled "Tangled Up in Hues: Excellence in Rock Portraiture." An endeavor even the gruffest of philistines would admire and the first of many Rhapsody.com experiments to come.
Song: Can I Change My Mind
Album: The Ultimate Tyrone Davis
Artist: Tyrone Davis
Selected by: Linda Ryan
Date: April 8, 2008
Forged from Tyrone Davis' golden baritone and a soulful brass section, this classic tale of regret raises the bar on breakup songs almost beyond reach. When Davis plaintively sings, "Baby, can I change my mind," his regret feels from the heart -- you just know she lets him come back.
by Chuck Eddy
So I caught 17-year-old New Orleans fiddle prodigy and redheaded potential pop star Amanda Shaw at B.B. King Blues Club in Manhattan last week, playing for a bar full of bridge-and-tunnel Bo Bice fans, more than a few of them wearing mullets, mostly middle-aged couples seated at tables. Weird for me -- the last concert I saw there, by Swedish gloom-metal band Katatonia, sure wasn't a sit-down show -- and weird for Amanda. She and her backing trio the Cute Guys (all of whom clearly have a few decades on her, much of those years spent playing all the rootswise-and-otherwise genres they're now incorporating into her music) are used to people dancing -- doing cajun two-steps, Amanda and her longtime drummer Mike Barras told me backstage after their set, even when they cover the Clash.
Song: Impossible Germany
Album: Sky Blue Sky
Artist: Wilco
Selected by: Sarah Bardeen
Date: April 7, 2008
I can't get enough of this song. Yes, there's a song here -- but it's really just an excuse for the sublime three-minute guitar solo. There's an alternative history of rock in there too, if you care to listen. Or else, just revel in Jeff Tweedy's passionately restrained playing.
According to a report by Reuters, the results of a survey taken by Jacobs Media found that "if you are male and a Led Zeppelin fan, chances are you may be leaning toward voting Republican in the U.S. presidential election." Certainly curious inbox fodder for those about to rock, but a close look finds that summary to be a bit misleading, and the fine print analysis to be downright alarming.
For most of his decade-long career, the public’s interest in Ray J has drawn much focus – just not on his music. They’ve fixated on him being Brandy’s little brother; his alleged (or confirmed – you decide) relationships with Kim Kardashian, Whitney Houston and Lil Kim; and especially on his infamous sex tape with Los Angeles socialite Kardashian. Meanwhile, Ray J (born William Ray Norwood, Jr.) has quietly developed into a legitimate pop and R&B hitmaker, with a discography wherein each of his three albums has outsold the prior, and now (as of this writing), hit #3, “Sexy Can I.” Rhapsody caught up with the singer when he came through MTV's TRL studios. While he meticulously combed his own hair, Ray discussed, among other things, Lil Kim’s influence on his new album, All I Feel, T-Pain’s comments about his um, meat, and his relationship with The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac.
by Chris Ryan
You know what MSTRKRFT's midnight-express-disco could use? Some dude from LeFrak City, Queens, shouting "Whatwhat!?" over it. So it was hypothetically mashed-up, so it shall be done. Behold "Bounce" a product of the union between MSTRKRFT and N.O.R.E., available, free of charge, from the benevolent folks over at RCRD LBL and Dim Mak.
Song: Nothin' but the Taillights
Album: Nothin' but the Taillights
Artist: Clint Black
Selected by: Linda Ryan
Date: April 4, 2008
Clint Black's "Nothin' but the Taillights" is an anthem-for-the-ladies barnburner that proves the adage “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
by Chris Ryan
Rolling Stones fans and Martin Scorsese fans (of which there's considerable overlap, believe it or not) are in luck this week, what with the release of Shine A Light, the Stones concert film directed by the good fella, himself. But a Stones fan can learn just as much about the band by checking out this revealing, hilarious interview with Keith Richards in the most recent issue of GQ. It's a sort of off-the-cuff chat, eschewing the typical, "How did you think of the riff to 'Satisfaction,'" type of questions for more esoteric inquisition. Which Richards answers in his own inimitable style. For instance, when asked what it was like to work with the acclaimed French New Wave director Jean-Luc Godard on the film Sympathy For The Devil, Richards responds, "Like working with a French bank clerk." He's still got it.
Further Reading:
The GQ&A: Keith Richards (Men.Style.com)
by Chuck Eddy
The Eat only put out a couple of 7" singles of their giddy pre-hardcore punk rock during their 1979-1985 lifespan, and since South Florida was a long way from where I lived, and the Internets didn’t exist yet, I never heard of them at the time. But once the friendly folks at Jello Biafra's record label Alternative Tentacles unleashed a two-disc, 59-track retrospective called It’s Not the Eat, It’s the Humidity, all that changed. I liked what I heard and you should too!
Song: One Day
Album: Ridin’ Dirty
Artist: UGK
Selected by: Sam Chennault
Date: April 3, 2008
Culled from UGK’s 1996 masterpiece of d-boy fatalism, Ridin’ Dirty, “One Day” recycles Isley’s opening refrain from “Ain’t I Been Good to You.” Ron’s supple voice is a nice counterpoint to Pimp C and Bun B’s hardboiled tale of lives cut short. The vulnerability and despair at the track’s core are heartbreaking, and the themes take on extra gravitas following Pimp’s untimely passing.
by Chris Ryan
Hot off of a very successful night at the Grammys, Herbie Hancock recently took the time to record a live session with the lady who helped get him there. For the first time anywhere, Hancock performed with Joni Mitchell, whose music inspired his much-lauded album River: The Joni Letters, as part of the Nissan Live Sets concert series (which you can see over at Yahoo!). Check out the performance of "The River" above, then go to Yahoo! Music to see Herbie and Joni collaborate on "Tea Leaf" and "Hanna." There's also a rare live version of Hancock's hip-hop jazz classic "Rockit." No joke!
Further Viewing:
Herbie Hancock & Joni Mitchell Live
By day, you might find ambient-electro shaman Moby sipping on a vanilla berry hibiscus infusion of sorts, but, after sunset, it's a whole different ball game. Moby's latest effort, Last Night, is what the DJ's idea of "a perfect eight-hour night out" might sound like and a celebration of New York hedonism, which he speaks of at length on this playlist of Big Apple-inspired tunes. So what would such an excursion entail? "I can describe it in a relatively innocuous way that won't get me into any trouble," says Moby, "or I could be completely honest, but that involves all sorts of things that I know I'd get in trouble for."
by Piotr Orlov
This is the year I hit a wall at the Winter Music Conference! The house beat loop finally ran out, there really was such a thing as a ‘last drink,’ and the morning sun drowned the deadeye gaze behind the sunglasses. Is it the onset of age or a half-full tank, I asked myself? Or is it that the attraction’s worth was finally overtaken by its toll? Had techno heaven turned into a hell?
No, never. Admit that, and Miami will never let you live it down.
Song: Cop Shoot Cop...
Album: Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
Artist: Spiritualized
Selected by: Stephanie Benson
Date: April 2, 2008
This is no 17-minute stoned-out snoozefest. “Cop Shoot Cop..." keeps your ears perked in anticipation of the unexpected. A cacophonous mix of six-string shredding and fizzling feedback gather around an underlying jazzy and jovial bounce that's both playful and ominous.
by Chris Ryan
What’s new? What’s good? What will you find here that you won't hear anywhere else this week? Sit back, relax and click through to the premieres, the originals and the exclusives available only on Rhapsody! This week:
Marie Digby, Unfold (Rhapsody Premiere)
And you will know her by the trail of her YouTube clips. The Internet sensation makes her official debut with this set of beguiling pop songs.
Van Morrison, Keep It Simple
Morrison goes into the mystic once again on his 33rd studio album. Keep It Simple does just that; sticking to blues vamps and hushed Celtic Soul ballads, with live-sounding production that suits Morrison's.expressive, legendary pipes.
In Joan Didion's '87 mediation on Miami (still the best book about the city, in my estimation), the famed author portrays the city as an intercontinental way-station everyone flocks to but no one really belongs in. In her eyes, Miami is illusion, more of a costume than a city, which explains why it's a fun place to visit but a difficult one to live in. For the first few days, thereâ??s a sweaty, chemically induced fever rush of skin, liquor, sun and music; but after that, the mirage fades and you're left with littered street corners, greasy pizza shacks and the woozy after-effects of the libertine lifestyle. The heat becomes oppressive, the hard-bodies appear devilish, and the city's intense yet unfocused energy starts to singe. Still, for those first few sleepless nights and listless days, there's nothing as exciting as being in the
by Chuck Eddy 
Song: Let Your Love Flow
Album: Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (Curb)
Artist: The Bellamy Brothers
Selected by: Mike McGuirk
Date: April 1, 2008
The Bellamy Brothers became more famous for “If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me," which may stand as the lamest pickup line ever, but this, the Brothers’ very first single (no. 1 on the pop charts in 1976), is way, way, way better. Wonderful lyrics, written by one of Neil Diamond’s roadies.
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