July 2008 Archives

by Linda Ryan

Atlanta's Sugarland, vocalist Jennifer Nettles and multi-instrumentalist dynamo Kristian Bush, has taken country music by a storm unlike any Nashville's seen since the Dixie Chicks. Similarly, Sugarland mixes heartfelt twang with a Fleetwood Mac-esque pop-rock sensibility. Their album Love on the Inside shot to the top of the pop charts, powered by the lead single, "All I Want to Do." Rhapsody recently sat down with Bush to discuss the new record, the state of country music, and his plans for future collaborations.

by Chuck Eddy

In this latest rundown of unjustly neglected talents, you'll find Californians who wish they were New Yorkers, New Yorkers who wish they were British, and Britishers who wish they were American pioneers capable of engaging in hand-to-hand combat with grizzly bears. Wishful thinking, in all cases, but please don't hold that against them.

Song: 2 Sides
Album: I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II
Artist: Killer Mike 
Selected by: Toshi Kondo
Date: July 31, 2008

Rappers lying about where they’re from? It never even crossed our minds. (We kid, we kid.) Killer Mike and Shawty Lo have obviously given it some thought, calling out fake representers on this banger.

Play It Now

by Chris Ryan

Killer Mike has always had the megawatt talent and personality to hold his own. In the early stages of his career, the Atlanta rapper had the good fortune to apprentice with Outkast, appearing on many of the Atliens' albums and singles, and featuring the duo on a grip of his early solo work. But this good luck was a double-edged sword; for all the exposure it helped him acquire, it also made it difficult for him to tell his own story and determine his own sound. Now, after a relatively amicable departure from the Dungeon Family dungeon and the shoring up of his own decidedly talented crew, Grind Time Rap Gang, and a personal style described as Rider Music, Killer Mike is ready for his moment in the Dirty South sun. In this exclusive Rhap Session, he talks about his new album, Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II, his past recordings -- both with Outkast and on his own, including the mixtape masterpiece The Killer -- and what the future has in store for this underrated master of rhyme.

by Chuck Eddy

A couple months ago, I filed a dispatch in which I stated that Australian bands who sound like AC/DC are always welcome in these dire times. And while I won’t go back on that claim, I will yield to those who argue that (1) I sort of exaggerated, since young turks Airbourne don’t really have much in the way of songs and - though they’ve spent a couple weeks in the lower reaches of certain charts - acting like they’ve set the world on fire is wishful thinking; plus (2) why limit things to Down Under, anyway? So, this time, I won’t.

Song: I'm Not Like Everybody Else
Album: Camper Vantiquities
Artist: Camper Van Beethoven
Selected by: Tim Quirk
Date: July 30, 2008

David Lowery didn’t write this song -- originally by the Kinks -- but he might as well have. It could’ve served as a mission statement for Camper and presaged the types of misanthropic singles he’d pen later on in Cracker (“Teen Angst,” “I Hate My Generation”). Anyway, we’re glad CVB took a crack at it.

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by Toshitaka Kondo

Interestingly, when Rhapsody interviewed Bangladesh, who produced "A Milli," for our Tha Carter III feature in June, he was pretty vague about where the repetitive vocal driving the hit came from. After the jump, check out what Bangladesh had to say regarding "A Milli" and some audio/video that alleges to have evidence to the contrary. 

by Piotr Orlov

The Boss!
The E Street Band!
Somewhere in the swamps of Jersey!
Sunday night (July 27)!
First tune of the U.S. tour!
AWESOME!
(Thanks NJ Star-Ledger!)

Further Viewing:
"Radio Nowhere" and "Lonesome Day," Giants Stadium, 7.27.08 (NJ.com)

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:

Lil' Wayne, FNMTV Live (Rhapsody Exclusive)
Weezy, the Robitussin-fueled mystic of New Orleans and super of the Carter, brought his particular brand of wildly popular gibberish/genius to the FNTMV stage. And we have the raw evidence to prove it happened: two exclusive live tracks ("A Milli" and "Lollipop") recorded under Pete Wentz's adoring gaze and accompanied by the screams of America's youth.

Sugarland, The Rhapsody Interview (Rhapsody Exclusive)
They're like Fleetwood Mac without the substance and spousal abuse. They're like the Dixie Chicks with a more varied gender breakdown. They're country. They're rock. They're pop. They're Sugarland. Get the inside scoop on the biggest band of the summer in this exclusive Rhapsody Interview. It's information for your ears.

G. Love, Superhero Brother (Rhapsody Exclusive Bonus Track)
The drinking man's Beck is back with another summer breeze to make you feel fine. Our exclusive version of Superhero Brother includes the bonus track "Dreamz."

Kidz Bop Kidz, Vol. 14 (Rhapsody Exclusive Bonus Track)
What's that sound? It's the usually inspirational (but occasionally creepy/Omen-esque) sound of of children belting out your favorite pop hits! It's Kidz Bop Kids! Nothing spells "W-H-A-T?!" like innocent future leaders of America giving their take on not-that-innocent tracks like Danity Kane's "Damaged."

Song: Sooner or Later
Album: Seeing Sounds
Artist: N.E.R.D.
Selected by: Sarah Bardeen
Date: July 29, 2008

These guys have made some of the most wonderfully filthy tracks in the history of hip-hop, but they reveal their soul-jazz-indie side on "Sooner or Later." Yes, it's a ridiculous guitar solo -- but sometimes that's a good thing.

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by Toshitaka Kondo

(left, Immortal Technique; right, DJ Green Lantern)

When a rapper goes on a long hiatus between releases, it’s usually due to a creative block, troubles with their label or with the law. But for Peru-born, Harlem-raised Felipe “Immortal Technique” Coronel, he simply took a break from the game to live out his beliefs. After independently pushing over 120,000 copies of his first two releases Revolutionary Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, and establishing himself as a sharp-witted, politically-minded underground king, Immortal Technique became involved with various charities and organizations, and began buidling an orphanage in Afghanistan. Thankfully for thirsty fans, he and New York native James “DJ Green Lantern” D’Agostino (they met at a High Times conference in 2004) have teamed up on The 3rd World, a collaboration that’s also Immortal Technique’s first album in five years. While on the Rock the Bells tour, Immortal Technique and Green Lantern checked in with Rhapsody to discuss working together, issues facing the old neighborhood, and the Rick Ross-corrections officer controversy.

by Chuck Eddy

The funniest albums of 2008 - Ross Johnson’s Make It Stop!, which I blogged about here, and the Boxmasters’ self-titled record, which I blogged about here - have so far been country albums, or at least albums located somewhere on country’s lunatic fringe. That’s also where you’ll find Woodbox Gang’s Drunk as Dragons and Trailer Choir’s Trailer Choir EP, which are both quite the laugh riots themselves. That the former act is signed to Jello Biafra’s Alternative Tentacles label, and the latter to Toby Keith’s Show Dog Nashville (how’s that for two political extremes?) only adds to the confusion.

Song: Empty Ring
Album: 22 Dreams
Artist: Paul Weller
Selected by: Nick Dedina
Date: July 28, 2008

Paul Weller usually records everything live-in-the-studio with no overdubs. Here, Weller brings in Noonday Underground's Simon Dine to spin some studio magic into this psychedelic soul number. The dark lyrics mesh with an upbeat, almost utopian vibe in a way that, while sounding like pure Paul Weller, brings to mind protest-era Motown and the early solo work of Curtis Mayfield.

Play It Now

by Chris Ryan

by Piotr Orlov

(photo by Kate Glicksberg)

If you want to deconstruct the territory that Jason Pierce probes with his music, look no further than his sometime-sobriquet: J. Spaceman. Exploring the starry, simple, ancient and mysterious has always been his calling -- whether as co-founder with Peter “Sonic Boom” Kember of influential drone-gazers Spacemen 3, or as the principal player in the outward-bound Britpop group Spiritualized. That he’s turned free-jazz-influenced experimental leanings into relatively popular rock is a testament to the breadth of his vision. This vision became physically impaired during the prolonged recording of Spiritualized's eighth album, Songs in A&E, first when Pierce developed a creative block, and then when he was struck by pneumonia which almost killed him in 2006. When he emerged from this experience, he had not only found a new, traditional side of Spiritualized, but had also created music for the Harmony Korine film Mr. Lonely. When Rhapsody spoke to him in May 2008, Pierce was less interested in discussing the specifics of his sickness (full details in another interview here), and more about the creative process that bookended it. Though we, of course, forced the obligatory “Spacemen 3 reunion” question on him as well.

by Philip Sherburne

Concentric Pleasures is a blog column dedicated to the best in electronic singles: house, techno, their cousins and offspring. Named in honor of vinyl's grooves, it's a weekly roundup of new releases and back-catalog finds.

Matchbox, U Can Get Sonar (Kindisch)
Gavin Herlihy, Opium Haze (Kindisch)

Of Kindisch's recent releases, Matchbox's "U Can Get Sonar" comes the closest in spirit to Get Physical's output. The track's well-tempered structure and mood both follow from the sultry, slightly sinister music of M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade (and the same goes for the B-side's velvety "Persuasion"). Not so Gavin Herlihy's "Opium Haze," one of the label's bigger hits so far: scaly and not particularly smooth, it's one lumbering beast of a tune, and while it may be possessed of a nicely economical bassline, whatever it saves there it spends on ragged percussion, drunken flutes and animal howls. It's gloriously excessive in its range, and yet it still sounds somehow tidy.

Song: Permitame
Album: La Melodia de la Calle
Artist: Tony Dize
Selected by: Angela Bruno
Date: July 25, 2008

The Wisin y Yandel-groomed former Christian music singer (who would have known?) Tony Dize succumbs to the little devil on his shoulder on "Permitame" – which is just a polite way of saying "Sexy Can I."  The romantic reggaetonero departs from ballad-driven melancholia to score with this Arabesque percolator. Yandel gets the assist.

Play It Now

by Chuck Eddy

So, okay, I admittedly did my best to ignore the hype last year when people were pretending they'd become social-networking superstars (as if there is such a thing), but I am totally perplexed by the suddenly shifting opinions about these Florida youngsters who annoyingly call themselves Black Kids. From what I gather, last summer they self-released an EP and lots of eager young nerd-rock bandwagon-jumpers (including ones at Pitchfork, who gave the EP a 8.4) loved them. And now, this week, they put out an entire album on Columbia, and those same fickle nerd-rock fans (including the ones at Pitchfork, who gave the album a 3.3. and ran a "review" consisting of only an adorable pug puppy photo) suddenly can't stand them -- Even though the full-length includes all four songs from the EP! WTF? Also, everybody keeps calling the band "twee." Except they use "twee" as a noun, not an adjective! Sorry, that makes no sense.

by Toshitaka Kondo and Chris Ryan

Where is the music production game headed? The recording industry's assorted crises and upheavals have undoubtedly affected the careers of many artists, and the musicians working behind the scenes have felt the changes too. Shrinking budgets! Technological breakthroughs! The increasing perception of music as a commodity! Producers have had to adapt to the times, dealing with some issues as old as the business, and others that have no precedents. And what exactly do these times look like? Rhapsody interviewed some of the most accomplished hip-hop, pop and R&B producers working in 2008 to get their take on these developments. The result: a state of the musical union, from behind the boards.

Song: Shattered (Turn the Car Around)
Album: All Sides
Artist: O.A.R. 
Selected by: Linda Ryan
Date: July 24, 2008

Sure, this one sounds a bit like James Blunt. And yes, you will hate yourself for liking it, but don't hold that against them. "Shattered (Turn the Car Around)" is a somber pop song that shuffles along and suddenly bursts into a resolute, anthemic and super catchy chorus. Perfect for the likes of One Tree Hill and Grey's Anatomy.

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by Angela Bruno

Back in the day, long ago enough that my memory betrays me on the what-why-how, I stumbled upon tabla player, composer and producer Suphala. In this past lifetime, a younger, more by-the-books me-and-my-friends dared not ever go out on a school night -- which is when she would perform. So, we never went to see her. A few months ago, Suphala crept out from my subconscious, prompting a Google search that yielded exactly what I wanted. So X-years and X-months later, after a early-bird Indian dinner at the luminescent Panna II and undeterred by the two-drink minimum at Drom (WTH), I recruited the willing (and/or a tad bit coerced) to accompany me to watch the show -- "watch" being the operative word here. (After the jump, check out bizarro/brilliant footage of Suphala and Yoko Ono -- not in attendance last night ... bummer -- jamming out.)

by Chuck Eddy

One of last year's less depressing music biz stories was how an upstart little Tennessee pop-rock foursome called Paramore parlayed a Warped Tour gig into decent sales and a potentially viable career. The story was so encouraging that, since I spent 2007 editing Billboard, I still tend to consider Paramore more a “brand” than a “band.” But I’m definitely on their side regardless. “Misery Business”, for one, strikes me as a fine single, and any development that can get girl singers - especially ones who know hooks from holes in the ground - onto rock radio is worth supporting. Now, if only other bands who do Paramore-type music even catchier than Paramore's could follow in their footsteps.

by Chris Ryan

You gotta feel for the Jonas Brothers -- they're probably running pretty low on self-esteem, right? They probably look out every night at the thousands of tween girls banshee-screaming the words to "Burnin' Up" and think, "None of you know the real Nick/Joe/Kevin." When they see that 9 million people tuned in to watch their Disney Channel TV movie, Camp Rock, they think to themselves, "CSI must've been a re-run." So, thank God the benevolent folks at Rolling Stone dug deep and put the boys on their cover this week.

Hopefully it will scream, "Cheer up, Saddoes! You're still young! Things will turn around!" Check out an excerpt from the article (detailing their inter-band/family dynamic and affection for Johnny Cash) after the jump. Read the entire article over at Rollingstone.com by clicking your ruby slippers together and clicking here.

by Angela Bruno

It's safe to say that Devendra's baduizms on girlfriend Natalie Portman are in full effect. In the crackly retro-Bollywood-inspired video for "Carmensita" -- which with its whimsy, chants and fuzzy psychedelic euphoria would sound pretty perfect on The Darjeeling Ltd. soundtrack -- Portman plays the damsel in distress, Devendra the quixotic hero. Clearly dreamt up in a patchouli-induced state while perpetually summering in yonder Topanga (a place immune to the fallout of the Love Guru  -- we hope), the melodrama flows like mango lassi. "Where are you my ratty assed compadre?" she pines (via subtitles). "Fear not my sweet flower, for I have obtained the powers of the Enochian ninth circuit," he answers. But that's probably just pillow talk for those two anyway. 

Song: Sly Fox 
Album: [Untitled]
Artist: Nas 
Selected by: Sam Chennault
Date: July 23, 2008

Revising the agitprop of late '80s Public Enemy, Nas churns out a searing diss of Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News. It’s the “slave culture” of “overstimulation” as “Fox keeps feeding us toxins,” and Nas threatens to tie up O’Reilly and “invest in PBS” over producer stic.man’s spaceship-metal. (Not surprising, given how Fox went after Nas following his appearance at a Virginia Tech charity event.)

Play It Now

It's not that he's not Bright Eyes anymore -- it's that ... this one's different. There's a lot about Conor Oberst's new "solo" album that's out of the norm: first off, there's the label (the good people of Merge, rather than his going-steady friends at Saddle Creek), there's the musicians (the newly-honored Mystic Valley Band are here while longtime friends are nowhere in sight), and most significantly, there's the nom d'artiste. But when Conor sat down with John Norris for the latest episode of "JNI..." all was made clear. Or at least, clearer. And after you watch the interview, check out Conor Oberst's self-titled solo album; it may not be available 'til August 5th, but it's streaming exclusively on Rhapsody.

Further Listening:
Conor Oberst, "Conor Oberst" (Rhapsody Premiere)

Further Viewing:
More "John Norris Interviews..." (PLAY)

by Piotr Orlov

Dance music's 21st century rhythmic globetrotting is simply a new-destination update of past travels. There is, for instance, the trip that New York’s Fania label took ‘70s dance-music on, the one that began with a variety of Afro-Cuban- and Caribbean-influenced styles (rumba, mambo and boogaloo, among many); and after mutating into salsa, injected Latin tinges into disco and much of what followed. As is the norm nowadays, anything that was once great is ripe for a remake, and so too is the Fania catalog, on I Like It Like That. But if you want a quick taste, here’s an unreleased remix by Ashley Beedle, adding some bottom to the smooth disco-salsa come-on of Ricardo Marrero’s “Feel Like Making Love.” It’s a late-night thing, once perfect only for the Bronx, but now accepted 'round the world.

Further Downloading:
Ricardo Marrero, "Feel Like Making Love (Ashley Beedle Remix)"
Rhapsody Free MP3s

by Philip Sherburne

Dance music, endlessly self-replicating, invariably breeds exhaustion. So, it's no wonder that recent years have seen American and European audiences looking to forms like Rio's funk carioca (aka baile funk) and Angola's kuduru for new rhythmic thrills. South African kwaito may be next on the list of "outsider" genres to conquer the hearts and minds of first-world clubbers (and, quite possibly, get colonized by global A&Rs). Exhibit A: Mujava's "Township Funk." The work of a 20-something artist from Pretoria's Attredgeville township, it sounds massive whatever the context: great slabs of Hoover bass, relentless martial snares, a wobbly melody recalling Benga and Coki's "Night." The tune will almost certainly find Mujava a larger audience than he has so far—via South African taxi drivers, community radio and of course YouTube.

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:

Conor Oberst, Conor Oberst (Rhapsody Premiere)
In the cowboy dramedy Rio Bravo, alcoholic gunslinger Dean Martin sang that a cowboy's three good companions were his rifle, his pony and himself. Well, two outta three ain't bad, and Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) is at his best when he's all by his lonesome. This is his first official solo album, and it's packed with tales of sad-eyed ladies and desolation row.

Neil Halstead, Oh! Mighty Engine (Rhapsody Premiere)
The man behind the stoned-country bliss of Mojave 3 and the shoegazer cacophony of Slowdive. His new solo effort (the follow-up to 2002's Sleeping on Roads) is about as heavy as a summer breeze and just as pleasant. The song "Elevenses" might be about hobbits, so ... at least he's got that going for him.

The Wombats, Ones to Watch Playlist
These Scousers, whose indie hit "Let's Dance to Joy Division" has delivered them into a strata of celebrity somewhere between the average United States postal worker and Queen Elizabeth, are using their new-found fame to spread the word about an important issue: their favorite songs. Check out their playlist, featuring tracks by Animal Collective, the Refused, Band of Horses and (yes, gold star for you) Joy Division.

Song: I Found Happiness
Album: Skin Deep
Artist: Buddy Guy
Selected by: Sarah Bardeen
Date: July 22, 2008

There are too many good songs on Buddy Guy's new album to choose one representative. For a haunting guitar solo, check out "Everytime I Sing the Blues." For a rundown of blues history, listen to "Who's Gonna Fill Those Shoes." And for real old-fashioned blues, wrap your ears around "Out in the Woods." But to hear the rarest of all rarities -- a blues song celebrating happiness -- check out the sensual roll of "I Found Happiness" and exult with the uxorious singer.

Play It Now

by Chuck Eddy

Hey, galangalang. We've got something to make your Monday magical. Direct your eyes yonder to the VH1 You Oughta Know page and familiarize yourselves with Thriving Ivory's new video for their single "Angels of the Moon." After you've caught your breath and firmly established that you have not died and gone to heaven, head over here to enter Thriving Ivory's trivia contest giveaway. The winner will be the proud legal guardian of a Rhapsody Media on the Go package: a Haier Ibiza Rhapsody player, a portable DVD player and a six-month subscription. Booyakasha!

Song: Bunny Boots
Album: The Ruiner
Artist: Made Out of Babies
Selected by: Jen Guyre
Date: July 21, 2008

Brooklyn's female-fronted, punk-infused doom-metal outfit Made Out of Babies are making waves with their complex third full-length, The Ruiner. Vocalist Julie Christmas’ maniacal delivery makes “Bunny Boots" ultra intense and intriguing.

Play It Now

by Philip Sherburne

Concentric Pleasures is a blog column dedicated to the best in electronic singles: house, techno, their cousins and offspring. Named in honor of vinyl's grooves, it's a weekly roundup of new releases and back-catalog finds.

In underground house and techno, 2008's defining trope is the one-chord chug: a bouncing, syncopated pattern that recasts rave stabs as cotton swabs. That it's being done to death is evident from the current beef between Aril Brikha and Shlomi Aber. (The former accuses the latter of copying his own "Groove La Chord" for Aber's "Efrat," and while there are troubling similarities, in a larger sense, it's hard to say what separates either of them significantly from the dozens of pumping, neo-Detroit house tracks of the season.) Fortunately, as in all of dance music's enduring tropes, canny artists have found ways to use the constraint in a way that doesn't limit possibility. Three recent singles take the one-chord form in radically different directions.

Ane Brun, "Headphone Silence" Remixes (Objektivity)

Dennis Ferrer's New York-based Objektivity label regularly keeps the sound fresh, though, passing the post-disco pump of Ron Trent and Chez Damier through Basic Channel's dubbed-out filters before anchoring the gauzy swirl with Afro-Latin percussion and crisp, stomping drum machines. The Martinez Brothers' trance-inducing "My Repetition" might be Objektivity's definitive statement on the style—or at least it was until May, when Objektivity released these two remixes of the Norwegian singer Ane Brun's "Headphone Silence." Part of what makes both mixes—by Ferrer himself and Berliners Henrik Schwartz and Dixon—stand out is the interplay between ground and figure: in each version, bubbling chords pitter-patter like rain on a lake while Brun, sounding a bit like Lamb's Louise Rhodes, sings long, improvisatory phrases that bob and weave around the (virtually unchanging) changes. It's hard to say which is more hypnotic: the background's ceaseless churn or Brun's spellbinding delivery, which filters a snake charmer's wiles through English folk song.

by Chris Ryan

VH1 aired its latest bout of honoring last night: Rock Honors 2: The Who. Incubus, the Flaming Lips, Pearl Jam and Adam Sandler (sure!) all stepped to the stage to pay homage to the legendary Godfathers of Mod/Champions of Special Needs Pinball Savants. Check out footage of the remaining members of The Who performing their classic stadium-shaker "Baba O'Riley" from last night's telecast. And check out our Rock Honors 2: The Who playlist at Rhapsody.com.

Further Listening:
Rock Honors 2: The Who playlist

Further Viewing:
Rock Honors 2: The Who performance videos

Song: Leave Out All the Rest 
Album: Leave Out All the Rest (Single)
Artist: Linkin Park 
Selected by: Nate Cavalieri
Date: July 18, 2008

The ranging peaks and pensive valleys of "Leave Out All the Rest" make it the band's best ballad to date, delivered here in a spot-on live version recorded in Detroit. Chester's big delivery is matched only by the arena's roar.

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by Chuck Eddy

Below you'll find six acts you may not be familiar with whose names start with "Black," and only one act whose name starts with "Blue." Weird! Plus two acts with offensively pornographic lyrics. And none of the above played on Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult's legendary Black & Blue Tour. (Or with the Backstreet Boys' either, for that matter.)

Song: Take Your Time (feat. Corinne Bailey Rae)
Album: Lay It Down
Artist: Al Green 
Selected by: Nick Dedina
Date: July 17, 2008

Not long ago, the music industry would’ve tried to update a class act like Al Green by drowning him in a swamp of big beats, big egos and big production. But, the neo-soul movement proves that true quality will always come back into fashion. The production is gorgeous, Al and Corinne mesh perfectly, and the lilting horn charts and quiet strings move this into “instant classic” status.

Play It Now

by Chris Ryan

(Photo: Marc Evan @ Flickr)

There is a terrible danger in learning about life through the movie The Blues Brothers. For one thing, you might have a totally distorted concept of Princess Leia, for another, you might think that it's okay to drive your car through a shopping mall. But most dangerous of all, you might come away from the 782-hour long cinematic Bataan Death March thinking that soul music has something to do with funeral suits, horn sections featuring someone named "Blue Lou" and sub-par covers of "Soul Man." Luckily, I don't think the guys in Spoon have fallen victim to any of these traps.

by Chris Ryan

It's always nice to see artists give back to the community. For their part, the boys (men, really, though it's hard to think of them as such) in Weezer charitably donate some stage space to a bunch of fans. Prying themselves away from making the latest installment of their vlog, wherein they finally master the opening acoustic part of "My Name Is Jonas," these supporters were given the chance to instrumentally (ahem) participate in a special Weezer Nissan Live Set for Yahoo! Music. Check out the campfire sing-along version of Pinkerton's "El Scorcho" above.

Further Viewing:
Weezer's Entire Nissan Live Set for Yahoo! Music

by Chuck Eddy

Me having spent most of my childhood in Catholic schools, and they still not having established much in the way of a rhythm section or especially memorable riffs, my preferred Hold Steady songs automatically tend to be the ones that concentrate most on ye olde Baltimore catechism. Like Dennis Leary on Rescue Me, Craig Finn knows how to make me feel I’m part of their culture’s club, and I’d prefer he indulge me in that delusion, thank you very much. So, my Hold Steady album of choice is 2005's Separation Sunday, the one that spends the most time at Mass. Their new Stay Positive, sadly, is easily my least favorite of their four so far, but when it gets religious (especially in “Both Crosses”), I’m a believer.

Song: Boby Cheri 
Album: L'Autre Bout du Monde
Artist: Emily Loizeau
Selected by: Sarah Bardeen
Date: July 16, 2008

Yes, another girlish French singer who writes her own (charming) songs and plays her own piano. Stop getting intimidated. Is it France's fault they produce so many talents?

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This week, on the Days of Our John Norris Interviews ... we have the the purveyors of uptight, outta-sight wiry indie rock, Titus Andronicus. Coming straight out of Glen Rock, New Jersey, and sporting one awesome new album on their list of feats and accomplishments (that would be The Airing of Grievances), the band talks to Jon about the way their sound has changed over their three-year existence, various influences and what life is like in the Garden State. After the jump, check out our exclusive lo-fi video of TA performing two songs ("My Time Outside the Womb" and "Titus Andronicus") live in their Jersey batcave.

by Chuck Eddy

Though admittedly awarded a mere “8” out of “10” in Decibel, The Ruiner - the third album from Brooklyn’s three-guy, one-grrrl Made Out of Babies - seems destined to wind up the '08 metal album of choice for, at very least, self-consciously hip young people who don’t listen to metal a whole lot. Some of them, predictably enough, even deny it’s a metal album at all. Which is ridiculous: it’s got metal guitar progressions and metal screams; it’s on metal label The End; it gets lead reviews in, uh, Decibel. It’s also a chore and a half to listen to, though I’m not at all surprised that people respect the band that made it.

Song: Use Me
Album: Use Me
Artist: Hinder
Selected by: Nate Cavalieri
Date: July 15, 2008

Those long-sought "Lips of an Angel" seem frozen in a bad-girl snarl on the lead single from Hinder's sophomore LP. It opens with a throat-clearing grunt, channels the big rock of late-day Def Leppard and rages about passionless booty calls. Prepare the extremely grungy goatheads!

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by Chris Ryan

Rollingstone.com has a grunged-to-the-gills write-up of this past weekend's big 20th anniversary celebration of Sub Pop Records in Seattle. Most noteworthy of the many attractions -- including performances by Mudhoney, Fleet Foxes and Wolf Parade, along with the possibility of seeing the moving trucks transporting the Seattle Supersonics out of town to Oklahoma City -- was the reunion of flannel 'n' fuzzbox pioneers Green River. The band, featuring members of Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone and Mudhoney, were on stage together for the first time in 20 years, cranking out golden oldies such as "This Town" and "P.C.C." Head over to Rollingstone.com for a complete review and setlist.

Further Reading:
Live Review of Green River @ the Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Party (Rollingstone.com)

Further Viewing:
Sub Pop 20th Anniversary Video (MTV.com)

by Lauren Tabak

Arkansas Heat saved my life. My most miserable summer ever happened back in 2002 in a place called Tempe, Arizona. It was hot. We were bored and isolated. Dancing in our underwear in the un-airconditioned apartment we called “it” and “there” but never “home,” screaming along with Beth Ditto belting, “Gotta get yourself out of this hell,” was our only reprieve.

Song:   Love Cry Blues
Album: Blue Roots 
Artist: Bassholes
Selected by: Mike McGuirk
Date: July 14, 2008

Don Howland gets real creepy on this last track from Blue Roots. A cross between “Rumble” by Link Wray and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, “Love Cry Blues” is something you definitely do not want to listen to on a daily basis.

Play It Now

by Chuck Eddy

Daniel DiMaggio, whose musical alter ego is the no-fi Princeton, New Jersey sort-of-a-band Home Blitz, used to work as an intern for me at the Village Voice six years ago, when he was 16; after that, he wrote a few record reviews that I edited. So, consider this intro a disclaimer, and feel free to doubt my judgment accordingly. But that said, I should note that Home Blitz still ranks among the more songful garage-punk-scuzz-pop albums I’ve heard in a dog's age. And for whatever it’s worth, I’m not alone in the opinion.

Which isn’t to say I love all of it. Especially when Home Blitz veer toward the avant-noise-blurp side of the equation - for instance, in the track “Yard,” if I’m associating the correct titles with the correct music, which I think I am - I definitely get a bit impatient. (For the album by DiMaggio’s other recent project Car Commercials, which is pretty much all avant-noise-blurp until they cover the Boomtown Rats’ “I Don’t Like Mondays” at the end, I get real impatient.)

Song:   Little Bit 
Album: Little Bit EP
Artist: Lykke Li 
Selected by: Stephanie Benson
Date: July 11, 2008

Lykke Li is the latest Swede to follow in the footsteps of Peter Bjorn and John and the Shout Out Louds. With Bjorn (of PB&J) adding pops of mandolin and subtle electronic beats, Lykke Li coos with such innocence here that even a lyric like "And for you I keep my legs apart" sounds pure and sweet.

Play It Now

Check out this brand new commercial for our brand new MP3 store featuring the music of the brand new (in tree years) band Death Cab for Cutie and hundreds of (presumably) brand new balloons! Behold!

by Chuck Eddy

There are great songs about baseball (Warren Zevon’s “Bill Lee,” for instance) and great songs about art (The Modern Lovers’ “Pablo Picasso,” for example), but how often do they end up on the same album - especially an album that also has a Mott the Hoople cover on it? If you’re not already interested, we clearly don’t live on the same planet, but the album in question is The Boxmasters. And the singer, weirdly, is Billy Bob Thornton.

Song:   Always Love
Album: Here and Now
Artist: America
Selected by: Nick Dedina
Date: July 10, 2008

The fabled soft-rock band America has always been an undeclared power-pop pioneer. On their comeback album, America cover the fantastic Nada Surf number “Always Love” and prove that, in less corporate times, either version would've been a huge summer radio hit. America's backing harmonies give this version the edge.

Play It Now

by Chris Ryan

The Woodward and Bernsteins over at New York magazine's Vulture blog have unearthed the above trailer for 50 Cent's new video game, Blood on the Sand. Without actually consulting any official literature on the game itself (that would be like getting the cheat code to give yourself eternal life in Max Payne just so you can go running into warehouses full of mafia hitmen, while also providing an umbrella metaphor for Payne's dracula/damned to eternal life extistence in the wake of his family's demise ... sorry, did I just say that out loud?), what I can gather about the game's plot is that it somehow involves G-Unit getting into a tussle with anono-rists in the anono-Middle-East (hence the "sand" part of the title). I recommend you jam G-Unit's "Let It Go," which features the charmingly jaundiced Mavado on the hook, while watching this. Trust me, the voice-over on the game trailer doesn't make any more sense than the visuals.

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:

Albert Hammond Jr., ¿Cómo Te Llama? (Rhapsody Exclusive)
"Vacation" is not a word in the vocabulary of the Strokes' rhythm guitarist. ¿Cómo Te Llama? is Hammond Jr.'s second solo album, and it's filled with wiry psychedelic pop.

Thriving Ivory, Rhapsody Originals (Rhapsody Exclusive)
Thriving Ivory's widescreen rock 'n' roll comes to life on this Rhapsody Original. Your favorite tracks from their self-titled debut full-length, like "Runaway" and "Angels of the Moon," rendered perfectly.

The Raconteurs, "Salute Your Solution" (Rhapsody Exclusive)
The latest single from the Raconteurs uncovers the snarling hard-rock skeleton underneath the power-pop of their new album Consolers of the Lonely.

Delta Goodrem, Delta (Rhapsody Premiere)
The Australian piano-pop chanteuse makes her U.S. debut with this confident, assured self-titled album. Often reminiscent of Tori Amos and Sarah McLachlan.

by Chris Ryan

Albert Hammond Jr. could teach his Strokes bandmates a thing or two about pumping out product for the skinny jeans set to savor. In the two years since the last Strokes album (2006's First Impressions of Earth), Hammond Jr. has made two solo albums: 2007's Yours to Keep and this year's ¿Cómo Te Llama?. The new full-length shows the maturation of the Strokes rhythm guitarist, both as a songwriter and a producer (Hammond Jr. handled production duties for the album). In this Rhap Session, Hammond Jr. talks about psychedelic pop, flexible songs and making lyrics fit his music.

Song:  I Was Stabbed By Satan
Album: The Dusty Foot Philosopher 
Artist: K'Naan 
Selected by: Sarah Bardeen
Date: July 9, 2008

K'naan's not your ordinary rapper: he's a Somali-Canadian hip-hop fanatic whose biggest influences include Dr. Dre and Eminem. The guy sings as well -- as on this ridiculously catchy send-up of rap's hard-luck tales.

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Song:  Southern Discomfort
Album: Southern Discomfort 
Artist: Eyehategod 
Selected by: Mike McGuirk
Date: July 8, 2008

One of the many, many riffs that have inspired fans to speak the names of Eyehategod guitarists Jimmy Bower and Brian Patton in reverential tones. This simply enchanting wall of New Orleans murk and incomprehensibly screeched inner pain is an all-out exercise in sludge-metal brutality. Enjoy!

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by Chuck Eddy

Dance music is whatever makes people dance -- and good stuff can come from anywhere -- but am I the only one suspicious that the act now seemingly being proclaimed as disco's savior, Hercules and Love Affair, are clearly an indie-rock band? Or at least that what their back story suggests: vocals from the previously unbearable (to me anyway) cabaret hype Antony; more vocals from a woman named Nomi who rode in on the coattails of New York Times-approved novelty sham CocoRosie; production help from DFA's Tim Goldsworthy. H&LA's other principals, especially mastermind Andrew Butler, boast less tarnished resumés, but I'm just saying. Bloggerwise, I have more use for these people than George Smith does, but I for sure don't have as much use for them as Nick Sylvester does. Their album has some nifty sounds on it. Though then again, so does the new Donna Summer album.

Song:  In Every Dream Home a Heartache
Album: For Your Pleasure
Artist: Roxy Music 
Selected by: Dan Shumate
Date: July 7, 2008

Leave it to Bryan Ferry to write about converging themes of man’s excesses and then turn it into a love song involving a blow-up doll. Ferry utters, “But you blew my mind," which is then followed by one of Roxy Music’s most shattering breakdowns ever.

Play It Now

by Chuck Eddy

This column's collection of unjustly forgotten music includes country from Russia, mambo from Germany, atmospheric extreme metal from Sweden, doo-wop from the Bronx, free jazz from Syracuse ... and all sorts of stuff from jolly old England.

Song:  Children of the Revolution
Album: Classic Hits 
Artist: T.Rex 
Selected by: Nick Dedina
Date: July 3, 2008

Mark Bolan can be faulted for sticking to his glam-rock formula (strong, stripped-down guitar riff, catchy drum part, dandified vocals), but you have to admit that it was a heck of a formula. Dig those stabbing strings that come swooping down between the guitars – it’s like Led Zep getting a Philly-soul makeover.

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by Angela Bruno

Allá – multi-instrumentalist and mastermind Jorge Ledezma, brother, found-soundsmith and master drummer Angel and chanteuse Lupe Martinez – are kraut-centric Latin psych-poppers bent on a musical and cultural revolution. Jorge, a longtime kraut aficionado who cut his teeth with the now-defunct Chicago band Defender, became a part of legendary Can frontman Damo Suzuki's network of jam-session fiends after meeting in 2001, fanning Jorge's creative fire.

Allá's debut labor of love, Es Tiempo, took four and half years, an ever-evolving troupe of musicians, studio time in Sweden and about $50K out of Jorge's own pocket (!!!) to complete. Pointing to inspirations as varied as Café Tacuba, Beatles-esque experimentation and Marvin Gaye's message, Allá's hypnotic blend of kraut and Os Mutantes-brand tropicalia is anchored by an anvil of an agenda. Under the pastiche and stardust, the ethereal Es Tiempo honors the band's Mexican roots. With song titles like “El Movimiento” ["The Movement"] and lyrics like “no duermas mas” ["stop sleeping"], Allá’s message is subtle yet palpable.

“‘El Movimiento,’ that’s the old rally cry from the Chicano movement," says Jorge. "We wrap it in a cool psychedelic package and it’s poppy and it’s cute and a little scary at times – but it’s there.” Here, Jorge talks about Allá's evolution, his meticulous-meets-mayhem production tactics, and what the hell really happened in all those years between conception and fruition.

Song:  Hook It Up
Album: Identified
Artist: Vanessa Hudgens
Selected by: Rachel Devitt
Date: July 2, 2008

The latest Disney star to prove that a tweentastic TV gig and controversy over some not-so-PG photos do not a career define, Vanessa Hudgens expands her demographic with this sexy, fun-loving track off her sophomore album Identified.

Play It Now

by Chuck Eddy

So the latest “foxy-librarian coffeehouse folk” hopeful, as Rob Harvilla dubbed the recent spate of Ingrid/Feist/Yael/Colbie/Sara snooze in the Village Voice recently, would seem to be one Charlotte Sometimes—a sing-songy, frequently vibrato-dependent, Jersey-born lounge-shemo chick who shares her name with a 1969 children’s book, a 1981 Cure dirge, and a 2002 indie film, all of which fans enjoy describing as “haunting fantasies.” She’s Vans-Warped-Touring this summer, and her single “How I Could Just Kill A Man” comes complete with a look-ma-I’m-quoting-Cypress-Hill chorus. “Sounds like Twisted Sister Meets Mister Mister,” her MySpace page claims; sadly, a lie. Waves & The Both of Us, assisted by a low list price, is bubbling under some or other chart as we speak. If a licensing deal didn’t happen yet, it should soon. Good for Charlotte (no pop-punk pun intended); I just wish it was happening to Megan McCauley instead.

Song:  Grapevine Fires
Album: Narrow Stairs
Artist: Death Cab For Cutie
Selected by: Nick Dedina
Date: July 1, 2008

This little beauty from the latest Death Cab album matches scenes from a consuming North Western fire with the wonder of watching the world fall apart with your loved ones by your side. It’s strange how pop music can sync up with current events -- while the Midwest is plagued by too much water, the West Coast is in a serious draught. Through it all, Death Cab’s Ben Gibbard comfortingly sings even as you get the feeling that the entire world may be engulfed in flames.   

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