June 2009 Archives

Welcome to Frank's World, where I get to bore complete strangers by waxing rhapsodic about the vast Sinatra universe.

That means you'll get to hear acres of superalitve tunes and dig into the work of some of Frank's favorite vocalists, songwriters and jazz musicians.

And, just so you don't confuse me with the great, sadly departed Bruno Kirby in Spinal Tap, I can say negative things about Sinatra, too.

For instance, like my mother, I prefer the skinny Democrat to the fat, bald Republican. 

Also, I can safely live another 1,000 years and never hear either "Strangers in the Night" or "My Way" again.

But take "Strangers." At least Sinatra built a nifty little jazz album around what was just a cheesy hit. Here's my Rhapsody album review of Strangers in the Night:

The title track was an era-defining description of how the sexual revolution was actually started by confused, recently divorced parents rather than their hippie offspring. Sinatra tired of the tune quickly, so he grabbed Nelson Riddle and built a quality album around the hit. Here, Riddle and Sinatra are in Count Basie mode, with a jazzy organ fronting a sleek big band. "Summer Wind" and "All or Nothing At All" are heralded classics, though the wondrous "On a Clear Day" may be the single most underrated tune in the entire Sinatra songbook.

"On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)" clues you in to the fact that adults were taking their shoes off, walking on the grass (and perhaps smoking it too) way before rock music came of age or the hippies showed up and stopped taking showers.

The tension created by Sinatra's voice and the band in this one is incredible.

It reminds me of the dreamy way that Count Basie handled a ballad like "Li'l' Darlin'." "Summer Wind" takes this approach, too. Sinatra was always listening and learning even as he was loving and losing. 

To listen to these Sinatra songs and literally thousands more like them check out my Rhapsody radio station Frank's World.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

To celebrate Rhapsody’s two-week premiere of Rob Thomas’ cradlesong, we sat down and interviewed Rob as a part of our new Rhapsody Five program. The formula is easy: we ask rock stars five provocative questions to learn their deepest, darkest secrets. Stay tuned to blog.rhapsody.com/rob-thomas for more exhilarating coverage of the release, and the rest of Rob’s answers, all sharpened with the singer’s rapier wit.

ARTIST: Rob Thomas

They may have covered Katy Perry's ubiquitous "I Kissed a Girl," but the Ohio synth-core band is not just another pop culture-fueled blur in the metal/post-hardcore scene. Attack Attack mix heavy guitars and technical drums with electronics and Auto-Tune into an unorthodox clashing of styles that works so well it's being heralded as the next big thing in Warped Tour circles. Check out what drummer Andrew Wetzel cites as "stuff I've listened to that's changed the way I've played from middle school up until now." That "stuff" includes heavy bands Necrophagist and Job for a Cowboy, along with rock acts like Muse and Saosin.

On the Record is a video series where rockstars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Peaches' I Feel Cream (ewww!) was released on May 5th, 2009.

ARTIST: Peaches RECORD: 4-Track Demos

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Lemmy on the Beatles and more in the rest of our On the Record series.

Diplo

Ladytron

Tricky

Tori Amos

Read the review and listen to the Jonas Brothers' new album, Lines, Vines and Trying Times below.

There are at least two qualities necessary for success in Disney's magic star-making kingdom: wholesomeness and versatility -- and the ability to balance both so that kids adore you and parents approve and can stand to hear your album 5,000 times in the minivan. The Jonas Brothers display both qualities in spades on their fourth album. Lines, Vines and Trying Times is a genre-jumping melange of puberty-voiced pop-rock, country balladeering (some of it featuring Miley!), a pinch of '80s pop (that'd be oldies to them, friends) and a lot of this new sort of Chicago-meets-Stevie-Wonder's-harmonica-oeuvre adult-contemporary. The pop-rock is less pop-punk-oriented than it's been on their earlier albums, though the boys still maintain their G-rated edge on '90s alt-style tracks like the enticingly unsettled "Paranoid" (which has an oddly Oasis-esque vibe) and the Weezeriffic "Poison Ivy," which pulls the old "almost say a bad word but instead replace it with a flamboyant guitar strum" gag (the tweens will totally heart it). (Both of those tracks, by the way, also offer slightly warped and/or jaded takes on relationships, no doubt a nod to Joe Jonas's breakup with Taylor Swift. Joe also takes a rather nasty swipe at Swift on "Much Better," a mellow bit of horn-driven '80s pop that explains how "much better" his new lady friend is than the one with "all the tears on her guitar." Ouch. Where's your Disney spirit, boys?) It's all pretty compelling stuff, if at times so eclectic it lacks focus, as if the Jonases were just trying on every pop hat they could get their hands on, rather than really honing any of the styles they experiment with. The track that will totally blow minds (in the surreal, "did I just unwittingly jump into a parallel universe" kind of way) is "Don't Charge Me for the Crime," a collaboration with Common. Yes, Common. Musically, the track is surprisingly not horrible (although it's definitely weird). But for a very "whaaaa?" moment, take a closer listen to the lyrics, which feature a dark rhyme from Common about the state's role in the perpetuation of criminality and greed, followed by a Jonas singing about a friend with bags of cash making him scream so loud "like the females in the crowd." (Wow, what, did that friend mug him for his purity ring or something?)

It’s not entirely accurate to say that DJ Quik is underrated. Ask any hip-hop head who are the best producers off the West Coast, and Quik usually occupies the second slot (behind the good Doctor, of course). But the Compton producer had the misfortune of emerging before the era of the superstar producer, and thus he’s not exactly a household name outside hip-hop circles, though he's not without his commercial accomplishments. He produced for Pac, Snoop, Dre and Jay-Z. And his own '91 debut, Quik Is the Name, is a seminal G-funk album and went platinum.

Despite waking up to torrential rain, crackling thunder and tornado warnings for the greater Nashville area, the first official day of the 2009 CMA Music Festival -- Thursday, June 11 -- turned out to be a great one. At least the day stages were great. As of this writing, the nighttime shows haven't happened yet.

Gretchen Wilson started off the day playing to a sea of plastic yellow ponchos in a packed Riverfront area. Within minutes, the inclement weather gave way -- first to some haze and then actual blue sky. And I know the crowd appreciated it! It wasn't long before they were downing Coors Light and Mike's Hard Lemonade -- no matter the clock hadn't struck 11:30 a.m. yet. Gretchen herself took a hefty swig of Jack Daniel's during "All Jacked Up." Perfect.

Phil Vassar was a crowd pleaser for sure. He sang all his hits, and he has plenty of them. My personal favorite is "That's When I Love You," but "Just Another Day in Paradise" is a charmer, too. And country's official piano man did them both, and a lot more.

Chuck Wicks was a surprise to me -- in a good way. He was affable and self-deprecating about his time on Dancing With the Stars, which I thoroughly enjoyed and respected. He even apologized for wearing a leotard. Ok, not really. But he did say he found a whole new appreciation for satin and lace. His high moment came when he sang "Stealing Cinderella." I think you could hear a pin drop; very impressive.

Another impressive surprise was the Randy Rogers Band. They seemed visibly uncomfortable onstage, but didn't miss the opportunity to beg the crowd to "keep country real." And they came to the side after their show to sign autographs, which always scores points.

Ashton Shepherd is just so frickin' cool, and she doesn't even try. Her effortless grace just amazes me -- as does her Alabama twang. Even though fake tans obviously surpassed fanny packs as the accessory of choice for CMA Music Fest 2009, Ashton graciously acknowledged the "girls sunning themselves in their bikinis." She is a much better person than I. And oh man, did the crowd love "Takin' Off This Pain."

James Otto is one sexy muther, let's just put that out there. And he really heated things up when he sang, "Just Got Started Lovin' You." Oooooh lordy!

I figured that was as good a time as any to leave. The sun was starting to get to me, and it was either go back to the hotel and write this down, or tuck into the Mike's Hard Lemonade. There's still along day ahead, and who likes lemonade, anyway?

Click on the playlist below to hear a few of the songs today's group of artists sang at the Riverfront in Nashville.

SoundTreks: A regular feature on the music the other 97 percent of the globe is listening to.

"A long-oppressed people historically forced into ghettos rhyme about the sometimes violent conflict they are embroiled in over issues of ethnicity, economics, or turf." Sound familiar? Well, contrary to what it might sound like, this is something I wrote in my review of Celebrate Hip-Hop, a 2004 compilation of Jewish hip-hop from around the globe. With the glaring exception of the Beastie Boys, "Jewish hip-hop" sure seems like an oxymoron in the American public imagination. Add a globally minded touch of world music to that combo and things get even wackier.

Hip-hop is a powerful medium, however -- one that's become known for its ability to zigzag across the globe and speak to the socio-political concerns and aesthetic needs of activist-musicians in many places and cultures. In the last several years, Jewish emcees and producers from around the world have been making some important contributions to the genre. This week's SoundTreks explores several very distinct albums that demonstrate the breadth and depth of the Jewish hip-hop niche.

It's on! To celebrate Rhapsody's two-week long exclusive of Rob Thomas's new LP, cradlesong, we'll be hosting a contest via our twitter feed, where answering dead simple questions will win fans awesome digital gear from Logitech and a poster signed by the man himself.

The contest will start on Monday June 15 and run through Friday June 19th. Pay attention to @Rhapsody on Twitter each day for questions and how to enter!

May the best tweets win!

Rules:
Daily from June 15, June 19, 2009 contestants can enter to win. Contestants must follow @Rhapsody on Twitter for the daily question. Each day at 10am Pacific Time @Rhapsody will ask a (super easy) Rob Thomas-related question. To enter the contest, contestants must tweet their answer to @Rhapsody prior to the closing of that day’s question. The contest ends at 1pm PST each day. The winners will be randomly selected from all eligible entries. Winners will be announced by 2pm PST daily. Winners will be notified via direct message on Twitter. Summation: follow us on twitter, win Rob Thomas stuff! What kind of stuff you ask? Why, Logitech stuff! All of the Logitech devices given away in our Rob Thomas contest are Rhapsody compatible. That means, not only can you listen to Rob’s entire catalogue, but also over 7 million other songs too! Click on the links below to read more about these devices.

Monday we’re giving away the Logitech Squeezebox Boom!

Tuesday we’re giving away the Logitech Squeezebox Classic.

Wednesday we’re giving away the Logitech Squeezebox Duet

Thursday we’re giving away another Logitech Squeezebox Boom!

Friday we’re giving away the Logitech Transporter.

Fine Print:

Contestants must be 18 years or older.

Contest is only open to residents of the United States.

Contest winners must provide a mailing and email address and phone number to Rhapsody upon notification of their win. The mailing and email address and phone number will not be shared with anyone. Should winner choose to forfeit their prize they must contact @Rhapsody by 5pm PT the day of their win.

On the Record is a video series where rockstars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Trio B.C. was released on June 10th.

ARTIST: Girl In A Coma RECORD: Grace

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Lemmy on the Beatles and more in the rest of our On the Record series.

Ladytron

Tricky

Tori Amos

James Yuill

Now would be as good a time as any to jot down Kate Simko's name in your mental playlist. The Chicago musician has been slowly building a name for herself over the past couple of years with a handful of singles and compilation tracks for Ghostly's dance-oriented Spectral Sound sublabel. She's gradually sculpted an austere, minimalist template to fit a personal style that becomes more apparent with every release. Her grooves are hypnotic but never stifling, her melodic and harmonic sensibilities supple but never overbearing -- a sensual economy. Her upcoming Take You There EP, featuring a remix from Berlin-based former Seattlite Bruno Pronsato, is the best thing she's done yet: tough, confident, dark minded. While you wait for that, though, experience a very different side of Simko with Music from the Atom Smashers, her full-length soundtrack to a documentary about the physicists behind Fermilab's particle collider. Even if the search for top quarks and the Higgs boson sounds to you more like a hungover hunt for unidentifiable but inexplicably compelling fried foods, Simko's score makes plenty of sense on its own, punctuating rich, glitch-infused synth swells -- echoes of Steve Reich and Brian Eno, as processed by Oval -- with the occasional foray into terse, brooding tech-house.

"Terse" and "brooding" could equally describe The Paranormal by Voodeux, a duo signed to Claude Von Stroke's Mothership label. But there's nothing hushed about their debut longplayer. Influenced by Matthew Dear's sickly undulations as Audion, their music is unremittingly dark, but they lavish their attention on flickering points of light. On "Enter the Voo," hi-hats and hand claps and buzzy, high-tension vibrations light up like fireworks against an inky backdrop of bass. "Frank the Janitor" is jacking house as horror-film score; "Deadend Motel" uses reverb like Silly Putty, imprinting finely detailed percussive patterns and stretching them into absurd, even comic shapes. You do begin to wish for more; the B-movie kitsch ("The End") and "spooky" effect ("The Paranormal") don't always compensate for grooves that tangle up in needless fills and frills. But on a track like "Just a Spoonful," which updates the pumping chords of deep house with playful sound design and one twisted rabbit hole of a breakdown, they easily rise to meet widescreen proportions.

Electronic music doesn't seem to generate as many polarizing records as rock and pop do. Maybe that's because of electronic music's peculiar tendency to splinter into new subgenres whenever a potentially polarizing element presents itself. But Damian Lazarus' Smoke the Monster Out is likely to spark conversation and maybe raise hackles. Lazarus (pictured above) is best known as a purveyor of dark, lean house and techno, both via his DJ sets and his label, Crosstown Rebels, home to underground club favorites like Jamie Jones, Dinky and Butane. Smoke the Monster Out veers at a 45-degree angle away from that baseline, wrapping oddball pop experiments around house-inspired grooves. That's not without precedent, of course. Michael Mayer and Superpitcher's Supermayer project evinced a similarly madcap vibe, tweaking techno convention (and purists' noses) with a left-field, slightly unhinged pop sensibility. (A year or two ago, Lazarus partnered with Mayer to promote Stink, a short-lived Ibiza party whose crosswise, rebel spirit apparently wasn't a good fit for the island's megaclub marketplace.) I'm not sure that all of Smoke the Monster Out, Lazarus' full-length studio debut, entirely works; the short sketches feel like they want to become longer tracks, while some of the longer tracks are too stuffed with ideas. The tone feels off, as well. The subtle grandeur of "Moment" is let down by "Memory Box," a plodding electro-house number assembled around a spoken-word vocal: "I don't like this game/ Trying to remember your name/ I don't recall what you said/ My memory box is dead." Most likely conceived upon returning to the studio after a long, lost weekend behind the decks somewhere, it probably seemed like a good idea that Monday. Still, for a kind of happily addled merrymaking, the record shows ample charm.

Few figures in the last decade of pop music have captured the audience of Rob Thomas, whose band, Matchbox Twenty, tore the charts to shreds in the late '90s, selling some 45 million records (one record for every man, woman and child in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Florida, South Carolina and American Samoa!). As if that wasn't enough, Thomas' solo career, which began with ...Something To Be in 2005, continued to pile on the platinum. No kidding: dude is a big deal, which means it's a really big deal that Rhapsody's teaming up with VH1's The Leak to offer a two-week exclusive premiere of Rob's new rekkid, Cadlesong. Ya-huh, you read that right: for two weeks, starting Tuesday, June 16, you'll be able to hear Cradlesong right here.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, we're rolling out a whole lot of goodies. For starters, we recently sojourned to L.A. and talked to Rob for our On The Record series. Watch that here. He's so charming. Plus, this week, we're pulling the big, red silk curtain off a Rhapsody commercial featuring Rob (kinda like the one we did for Green Day), and we're going to be doing a contest via the Rhapsody Twitter feed, where we're going to give away some cool gadgets and signed posters (more on that tomorrow). We're also going to be selling Matchbox Twenty LPs mad cheap in our MP3 store, and rolling out new exclusive videos of Rob, as well as playlists and radio stations and who knows what else. Exciting? We think so. Stay tuned to the blog and twitter for the latest.

Song: Cheater, Cheater

Album: The Life Of A Song
Artist: Joey +Rory

CMT's Can You Duet duo Joey + Rory are not fans of the unfaithful, but at least it has gotten them a spot on the country charts! Get their hit single here.  

Pretty much half of the creative staff at Rhapsody has descended upon Nashville for this year’s CMA Music Fest and the CMT Awards that follow. But guess what? We’re also there to throw a great big party and we’d like you to be there. Best of all - it’s free! Holla!

Playing at our “little” party is Jack Ingram, whose latest single, “Barefoot and Crazy” just may be THE summer single for 2009! He’ll be joined by another hottie Luke Bryan (is “Do I” his best single yet? We think so!), the newest foursome in Country music, Gloriana, whose “Wild At Heart” is burning up the charts and CMT’s Can You Duet? winners Caitlin and Will -- who are also setting radios ablaze with their heartfelt, “Address in the Stars.”

We told you this was going to be a rockin’ good time! And we really want you in the audience on Monday, June 15. But nothing in this life comes easy, so we’re going to make you earn your way into this exclusive party. We’re going to send you on a little scavenger hunt around Nashville to look for tickets. It will be easy-peasy, we promise! And who knows, you just might learn a few things about Music City and have fun in the process. 

Starting tomorrow, we'll be giving out tickets to this event to people following our @rhapsody twitter account, and there will be some video clues right here on this blog on Monday.

It's been nearly three decades in Sonic Youth's saga, yet the band's art-rock blitz sounds as vital as ever on their 15th studio album, The Eternal. With DIY on the rise and a new wave of lo-fi making indie circles swoon, their influence is undeniable. The band itself has even ditched the major labels, releasing the record on Matador. The album reveals a wise maturity; while the cacophony of grinding, oddly tuned guitars remains a central element, there's a patient, poignant melodicism that lingers. Spacey drones and vocals slither around dead-on drums for a sound that remains as fresh as their name suggests.

Members Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon, Steve Shelley and Lee Ranaldo took some time out of their busy schedules promoting the album to give us individual playlists of their favorite songs. It's an interesting look inside the minds of each of them, from Moore's obscure punk picks and Gordon's My Bloody Valentine crush to Shelley's diverse oldie loves and Ranaldo's fondness for folk.

Play here, and follow along with their comments for each song, after the jump.

single-phile: The latest singles, dissected and discussed

If there's one thing Black Eyed Peas do brilliantly, it's make what often seem to be (let's face it) incredibly dumb songs -- and then make those apparently nonsensical ruminations on humps and such incredibly fun and culturally prominent. (In fact, they're so good at it that Rolling Stone's review of B.E.P.'s new album, The E.N.D., for instance, focuses almost entirely on this talent and even situates it in the context of a pop history of great dumb songs.) Dumb songs serve some important functions: they allow you an opportunity to stop thinking, of course, but at the same time, they let you shift into a more sensory, visceral mode of listening where you just, you know, experience the music, man (that was supposed to be like a tripped-out hippie voice. I don't know why). And, of course, they're usually great for dancing.

But what if there's more to a dumb song than meets the ear? In this week's single-phile, we take another listen to some of most inane singles by Black Eyed Peas (aka the Kings of Dumb Songs), focusing especially on their latest offerings, and offer an alternate, "smart" reading. You may or may not buy it (hell, I'm not even sure I buy some of these), but therein lies another pleasure of the dumb song: the opportunity to pull it apart and search for deeper meaning in its innards -- and the opportunity to debate whether said surgery is even worth performing.

Sure, touring is a vigorous part of being in a band, but for unconventional metal gods Iron Maiden, it's their livelihood. So when they realized commercial airlines couldn't accommodate their world-tour schedule, they went out and customized their own jet to fit the band, the crew and their stage production, then called on famed metal documentarians Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen (Metal: A Headbanger's Journey) to film the historical Somewhere Back in Time world tour. The result is Flight 666, where we watch Maiden playing greatest hits from their first seven albums (see: every fan's dream set list) while continent-hopping between Europe, Australia, Asia, North America and South America, for a total of 23 shows in 45 days aboard Ed Force One. And if that's not enough to make your head explode, how about the fact that the plane was flown by none other than effervescent frontman Bruce Dickinson? To learn more about this astonishing moment in music history, we caught up with drummer Nicko McBrain to hear about the groundbreaking experience from his perspective, and to see what's next in store for these 30-year-running metal vets.

The Malaysian singer-songwriter has gotten the attention of Jack Johnson, who signed her to the Brushfire Records label.  Get her sweet, laidback single here.

On the Record is a video series where rockstars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. St. Vincent's totally radical Annie Clark gives big ups to the Dirty Projectors' latest, which rules.

ARTIST: St. Vincent RECORD: Bitte Orca

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Lemmy on the Beatles and more in the rest of our On the Record series.

Alice In Chains

Tricky

Tori Amos

James Yuill

This week Verve Records cleans up a sublime batch of bop, big band, crossover jazz and freaky funk. Top honors go to Quincy Jones doing Henry Mancini, Oscar Peterson playing Jerome Kern and Max Roach laying out some bop. Meanwhile, Wes Montgomery, Grover Washington, the Crusaders and Roy Ayers remind us of a time when '70s "sell-out" jazz was better than today's outsider music. Ain't that always the way it goes?

Black Meteoric Star is the debut long player from Gavin Russom in his overtly dancefloor guise. You may remember Russom and Delia Gonzalez's cosmically minded Days of Mars from 2005; a starry-eyed jumble reminiscent of the best bits of Brian Eno, Steve Reich, Klaus Schulze and Carl Craig, it's still the spaciest thing DFA has ever released.

Maybe Russom felt jealous of the hard, marbled remixes that Craig and Baby Ford sculpted out of the duo's psychedelic lump of clay, a throbbing mixture of gray matter and anti-matter. Now, as Black Meteoric Star, he has returned with his own shot across the techno bow, a six-track album of starkly funky synth and drum-machine workouts.

Russom hasn't toned down his titles any -- "Death Tunnel," "World Eater" and "Dreamcatcher" are just three examples of an imagination clearly attuned to the wormhole connecting inner and outer space. The music, however, is far more conventional -- that is, bound by very specific conventions. Utilizing vintage analog synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines, it's unapologetically indebted to first-wave Detroit techno and Chicago house. And from the burbling acid lines to tightly programmed 909 rhythms, it's clear that the anxiety of influence is not uppermost among Russom's concerns.

But this isn't just a genre exercise. Russom's peculiar stamp is all over this thing. While their 4/4 rhythms and endless arpeggios may have been inspired by the dancefloor at clubs like Berghain in Russom's adopted city of Berlin, the irony is that you'd be hard-pressed to encounter any of these long cuts -- four tracks exceed 10 minutes, with one running to almost 19 -- on any actual dancefloor, anywhere. Almost certainly recorded live in single takes (and from the sound of things, recorded on grotty analog tape stock), the album offers the antithesis of contemporary techno's clinical, mastered-to-within-an-inch-of-its-life vibe. Russom rescues techno from professionalism, hijacking its salient features as the vehicle for his own highly personal, even mystical, trip. The only real difference between Black Meteoric Star and Days of Mars, in some ways, is the absence of drum machines on the latter.

One caveat: the opening "Death Tunnel" may bear the album's best title, but it's the weakest track here, with demo-quality ideas to match the demo-quality sound. Start instead with "World Eater," which wraps canny arpeggios and genuine funk in the warm, sluggish sound of a tenth-generation cassette dub. Starting from a point of almost uncomfortable familiarity -- haven't you heard this track before? -- it proceeds to turn itself inside out several times over the course of 11 minutes, like an Ouroboros snaking through scorched circuits.

Holly Williams Invites You to the CMA Music Fest Fan Social!

Good genes only count for so much. I mean, just because you are the offspring of someone famous, doesn't mean you can follow in their footsteps. Could Nancy Sinatra really sing, or did she just look great in those white go-go boots?

In Holly Williams' case, the fact that she's Hank Jr's daughter shouldn't impress you nearly as much as her gorgeous voice! And guess what? You will have a chance to see her - live and in person - at the Fan Social on June 13th in Nashville.

Rhapsody has partenered up with CMT and the CMA Music Fest to bring you one heck of an afternoon in Nashville. Our party starts at 3pm on June 13, but we can't tell you where. But Holly has left you a clue to the location, so hit Play and hear the lady out.

If you put your thinking cap on, we're sure you'll figure it out. We hope so, cuz we'd sure like to see you in Nashville!

Hip-hop seems poised for a sea change. Its heavyweights have gotten older and less compelling, and the genre has declined in popularity, causing artists to begin to push the margins in search of the next big thing. Kanye found the auto-tune, while Weezy discovered rock (and the Auto-Tune), but most agree that hip-hop doesn’t just need a stylistic diversion - it needs a facelift. And though there will always be room for the hustler in the hip-hop game, the members of the next generation of hopefuls apply a kinder, gentler approach to the genre. Some of them have been around for years, but are just now beginning to break through, while others were just introduced last week. The big question, though, is whether they’ll be around next week. Judge for yourself.

Album: Abnormally Attracted To Sin
Artist: Tori Amos

Get the gorgeous orchestral ballad from Tori Amos' new album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin.

Something nostalgia for the '70s and '80s tends to forget is how nostalgic those decades were in turn for the '50s -- from Sha Na Na to American Graffiti to Happy Days, the era of greasers and poodle skirts was more inescapable throughout the era of quaaludes and smiley faces than youngsters today might guess. And one natural byproduct -- especially when Elvis died in 1977 -- was an often covert seeping of rockabilly sounds into hard rock, glam, new wave, country, even funk. The playlist below delves beyond the Cramps and Stray Cats to explore how, and where, the '70s and '80s lit late great balls of rockabilly fire.

Joey + Rory Want to See You in Nashville!

Husband and wife duo Joey and Rory may not have won Can You Duet but they sure won some hearts while in the competition! And on Saturday June 13, you can see the dynamic duo live at the CMA Music Fest Fan Social.

Rhapsody and CMT are partnering up with the CMA Music Fest to bring you an afternoon of great music and nice company at this year's event. Also joining Joey and Rory are Emerson Drive, the Eli Young Band, Gloriana, Holly Williams and the Carter Twins. CMT's Lance Smith will also be on hand to make sure you get your autographs and keep the show moving!

We've already told you to the time and date, but you will have to guess the location to this double-secret party! Click on the video above to hear Joey and Rory give you yet another clue to the location of our exclusive party.

Joey and Rory will be making the rounds during the CMA Music Fest. Aside from our party, here's a few of the places where you can stalk - er, we mean find - Joey and Rory during Music Fest.

Wednesday June 10

Noon - Country Weekly Fashion Show (Wild Horse Saloon)

Thursday June 11

1:15 - Cooking with Chef Jon Ashton (Family Zone)
3:00 - CMT Booth Signing (Can You Duet time slot)

Friday June 12

11:30 - K9 Sports Presented by Waggin Train (Family Zone)
2:00 - Barnes & Noble Signing

Saturday June 13

11:30 - Country Music Hall of Fame
1:45 - YWCA Auction (Outside Hilton Hotel)
3:30 - CMA Music Fest Fan Social

Sunday June 14

4:00 - Riverstages Show

The Black Eyed Peas seem to be in the throes of an identity crisis. Their fifth album (the third with Fergie) is a sleek, minimalist and rather dark affair that sounds more like the wasted, exhausted wee hours of the morning after than the big, over-the-top, glam party they usually throw. Don't get us wrong, though. There are still plenty of party-oriented anthems on here; this is the Black Eyed Peas, after all. Their rhymes are often overly simplistic and their flow can be a little rough, but that is not the point. The point is to have fun -- to make hip-hop and pop a big, old, sometimes silly but always jumping good time.

With a new record and a national tour ahead of them, Philadelphia experimental rockers mewithoutYou are geared up to take the college indie scene by storm this summer. Their fourth release, It’s All Crazy! It’s All False! It’s All a Dream! It’s Alright, showcases lyricist Aaron Weiss’ softer side. The choral chants and Dylan-esque acoustic rhythms present an ideal backdrop for Weiss to channel God’s messages through his lyrics. Weiss stepped away from prepping the band’s eco-friendly tour bus and shared some words with me regarding his deep connection to God and what exactly defines his deeply spiritual lifestyle.

When Baltimore's Rye Rye guested on Blaqstarr's "Shake It to the Ground," it wasn't what she sang but how she sang it that grabbed people's attention. High-pitched invocations to "Shake it to the ground/ Move it, move it, move it, move it" bobbed in the air like helium balloons weighted by lead ballast, imbued with the curious energy of the Chipmunks sucking on sizzurp. (It didn't hurt that Blaqstarr's woozy production served the weirdest aspects of the adolescent rapper's gangsta hiccup.) Rye Rye's distinctive delivery found its match on "Bang," a match-up with M.I.A. in which Blaqstarr's samba-school breaks spread like a nest around the singers' nasal birdcalls, and now Buraka Som Sistema and DJ Sega have remixed the track to sound even loonier. The "Buraka Carnival Remix" offers an explosive mix of soca-inspired drums, carnival whistles and gleefully cheesy rave stabs, while their "WTF I Asked for a Kuduro Remix" is a rave-y slab of breakbeat hardcore mayhem. Sega, meanwhile, strips back the backing track to nothing but rough-cut snares, the better to isolate Rye Rye and M.I.A.'s a cappella face-off.

Bloc Party's Intimacy Remixed shows how hard it is to give an entire album the remix treatment. For a band whose albums hew to the classic longplayer format, the piecemeal approach to different sounds — melancholy IDM, adrenaline-heavy electro, tech-y drum 'n' bass — is too disjointed. Face it: in the age of playlists, no one is going to listen to this thing all the way through.

Franz Ferdinand (pictured above) take a different approach with Blood: rather than recruiting a dozen buzz names to sex up Tonight, the band invited album producer Dan Carey to give selected tracks the dub treatment. If the resulting kaleidoscope of free-floating guitars, vocal fragments and echo-chamber drums recalls Mad Professor's elegantly convoluted rework of Massive Attack's Protection, No Protection, that's not entirely coincidence: Carey apprenticed with the respected dub figurehead. Eschewing teenage kicks, Blood invites a less frenetic engagement with the music, extending even to cryptic titles offering little hint as to the versions' respective sources. From the opening squalls to the final, fading echo, it's a surprisingly immersing listen, even (or especially?) for those who aren't necessarily fans of the Glaswegan dandies' jagged guitar sound.

Mark Templeton's Inland similarly gathers its full head of steam from the combustion of rock instrumentation meeting bewildering studio treatments. Electric and acoustic guitars and keening vocal harmonies turn to a fine mist when poured through the Canadian producer's software sieve; it's easy to hear references to Fennesz and Grizzly Bear in the songs' psychedelic high-tide lines, marked by a foamy trail of droning harmonies and glitched artifacts. It's just the latest in a line of excellent releases from New York's Anticipate label, which is responsible for albums from Nicola Ratti, Morgan Packard, Klimek and Ezekiel Honig. From this kind of digitally degraded freak folk to explorations of the Rhodes keyboard at its most liquid, all those releases are well worth your time.

Over their long, schizophrenic career, Black Eyed Peas have been breakdancers, socially conscious indie-hoppers and ebullient, Fergie-fied hip-pop mega-stars. And now they're trendsetting robots from the future! Or something like that. We track their crazy, phunky journey to The E.N.D with an assortment of tunes and views.

READ: Get the final verdict in the Rhapsody Review of The E.N.D

Chuck Eddy says "Boom Boom Pow" is the sound of the future!

LISTEN: Hear to Peas' mastermind Will.i.am work with John Legend, Estelle and more.

FAMILY: Dig our playlist of BEP side projects and collaborations.

RADIO: With the Peas and more our Pop Hits station is off the chain! CELEBRITY PICKS: The Temptations and Tribe make the cut.

We are all fallible. Remember that.

A week back, I wrote about the old synth-pop hit "Safety Dance." I may even have said that the song is "basically retarded."

Then, I returned to my ancestral home of San Diego, CA. The family ventured from Imperial Beach up north to the luxurious city of La Jolla for a seaside picnic. Towards the end of the day, I was standing on a cliff with my 11-year old nephew watching his older brother body surf over treacherous rocks. Yes, I was much too cowardly to go in and tempt death on those rocks. This timid nature helps explain my chosen profession of rock critic. We are a meek, bespectacled bunch.

In general,  I don't know what you do when confronted with a relative defying death amidst a setting sun. Cry for help? Pray? Perhaps conquor by demons and dive in and drag the child out of the sea and suggest a game of cards instead? 

That day, I discovered what I would do. It turns out, in times of crisis, I start to sing "We can dance if we want to/ We can leave your friends behind..." -- Yes,  the opening lyrics to "Safety Dance."

I have no idea why I broke into robo-song, but here is the beautiful part. My nephew didn't miss a beat, he picked it up with "Cause your friends don't dance/And if they don't dance/Well, they're no friends of mine."

I looked at him and asked how in the world he knew the song. He told me EVERYBODY knows "Safety Dance."

Later that night, they broke out their laptop and should me a video of Jimmy Carlin shredding to the Men Without Hats robo-classic. Then, the two boys fired Rhapsody up and put "Safety Dance" on "repeat" while my baby boy laughed and popped-and-locked to it for about 15 minutes (and by "pop-and-lock" what I really mean is that he kicked his legs around in an insane Riverdance style frenzy).

So, thank you Men Without Hats!

You and your "Safety Dance" are helping to bridge generations and to unite families. 

"Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas has now been the most popular song in the country for nine weeks and counting with no end in sight, making it the weirdest and most outlandish song to work up that kind of batting streak since ... what? "Hey Ya!" (nine weeks, 2003-2004)? "Macarena" (14 weeks, 1996)?? "Bette Davis Eyes" (nine weeks, 1981)??? Mighty impressive, either way, and what cannot be denied is that it is also the most shamelessly ridiculous and unabashedly catchy confection to hit the radio this year (only competition: "Poker Face"), and it's inescapable for primarily that reason.

So you know what? If you're not among the millions (if not billions) of human beings who've already surrendered to the song, you might as well. Otherwise, you'll certainly regret it 99 years from now (2108!), when you hear it on the intergalactic oldies station wired into the computer chip in your brain and it reminds you how life felt in the summer of 2009 the way no other song possibly could. And if that's not enough of a reason to embrace "Boom Boom Pow," here are 10 more.

This week we check out a long-lost cut from Frank Sinatra, listen to Kyle Eastwood's latest (its hit No. 1 on the jazz charts across Europe) and see if Sophie Milman's latest continues her trajectory to overtake Diana Krall. We also introduce Soul Note & Black Saint Records to Rhapsody and checkout Andrea Mann, a beguiling songbird from Old Blighty.

Song: Hush Hush; Hush Hush
Album: Hush Hush; Hush Hush
Artist: Pussycat Dolls

The Dolls up the sass with a nod to the great Gloria Gaynor. They will survive.

La Roux

single-phile: The latest singles, dissected and discussed

The American pop charts are notoriously difficult to crack, even for artists with major celebrity cachet in other parts of the world. Just ask Kylie Minogue, who's never been able to match the success she's had in the U.K. and Australia stateside (in fact, if you can believe it, she's mounting her first ever U.S. tour this September). A lot of factors contribute to this impenetrability, not the least of which is a rather narrow definition of what kinds of sounds constitute a hit -- and what kind of artist is capable of making them. In this week's single-phile, we take a look at some of pop's outsiders: singles by artists who are making waves elsewhere, and who might even stand a chance on our turf.

Song: All I Want to Do
Album: Love on the Inside
Artist: Sugarland

Get the country-pop duo's fun-loving, chart-topping single.

Gloriana Take Time Off Taylor Swift Tour to Meet Their Fans! Gloriana is riding high with their catchy, foot-stomping Top 20 radio hit, "Wild at Heart." Currently on the road with Taylor Swift, Gloriana is eagerly awaiting their return to Nashville to spend time with fans at this year's CMA Music Fest -- and we've got the perfect opportunity for you to meet them one-on-one!

Rhapsody has partnered with CMT and the CMA Music Fest folks to bring you a free fan social event, which features Gloriana playing live and in person! Click on the video above for clues as to the location of the Fan Social on June 13 at 3pm.

Here are a few quick things you might need to know about Gloriana if you happen to be at our party and get stuck for things to say as you're meeting the band!

1. Cheyenne Kimball was on an MTV reality show titled Cheyenne
2. Singer/guitarists Tom and Mike Gossin really are brothers
3. Cheyenne Kimball is a huge fan of the Twilight books and movies
4. Like many co-ed bands, Gloriana has their fair share of "toilet-seat-left-up" issues
5. Gloriana will be on the Taylor Swift tour until October

Free Party in Nashville! By now you've probably heard we have joined in with CMT and the CMA Music Fest to bring you a fan social like no other. Well, this is our first time participating in this, so it's literally like no other, but I digress.

Just to recap the deatils: Emerson Drive, Gloriana, Joey + Rory, the Eli Young Band, the Carter Twins and Holly Williams will be playing live and signing autographs at this fan social, which will happen Saturday, June 13, 3pm in an undisclosed venue in Nashville.

We've been littering this blog and tweeting with clues for the better part of two weeks now, and we'll continue to do so until the day of our show. All you have to do is guess the location of the venue and show up! We know how well country artists treat their fans, so we're excited to bring you an opportunity to get close to your favorite stras.

If you life in Nashville or have been there before, you know these clues are painfully easy. We definitely want you there. So without further ado, here's your bonus clue: "Conway Twitty's chartreuse Fender Stratocaster hangs up by the front door of this place."

Hopefully that will jog some brain cells and you'll know exactly where to show up at 3pm on Saturday June 13th. If not, keep checking back every few days for another clue that will get you in to our FREE fan social!

Song: Rehab (Timbaland Remix)
Album: Rehab
Artist: Rihanna

Timbaland puts his midas touch on yet another hit track from the unstoppable Barbados R&B princess.

Rhapsody recently sat down with Tori Amos to discuss her new album, Abnormally Attracted to Sin. The conversation quickly turned into a candid reveal of the singer's family: the highs and lows of working with her husband (key quote: "You usually want to have an affair with your engineer anyway!") and parenting an 8-year-old daughter who finds embarrassing YouTube clips of her mother. Amos also discusses her discontent with the music biz and her evolution as an artist before the chat comes back full circle to the impetus behind the new album -- what she believes to be the greatest sin of all.

We also convinced Amos to participate in our burgeoning On the Record program, in which artists speak about records they love in exactly 45 seconds. Click the link to hear her pick and see plenty of others.

Parts 2 & 3 after the jump.

With Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, the Dave Matthews Band pays tribute to departed member and saxophonist LeRoi Moore with a celebratory collection that our reviewer calls the "hardest rock set of his group's 18-year career." We've decided to zoom out to take a look at the long, soaring trajectory of the band's career, with playlists, and album guide and an exclusive photo gallery. If you haven't heard the record yet, listen to it now to get the GrooGrux party started.

READ: Check out the Rhapsody Review of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.

LIVE: Check out a playlist of Dave Matthews Band's hits live!

LOOK: Browse through Rhapsody and Rolling Stone's photo gallery of DMB through the years.

LEARN: Flip through the great LPs in our Dave Matthew's album guide.

ROCK THE RADIO! Listen to Dave and more on Jam And Beyond channel.

PLAYLIST! Hear the hits and only the hits on the Best of Dave Matthews playlist.

On the Record is a video series where rockstars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Rob Thomas' Cradlesongs is available exclusively on Rhapsody starting June 15.

ARTIST: Rob Thomas RECORD: Greatest Hits...& Some That Will Be

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Lemmy on the Beatles and more in the rest of our On the Record series.

Alice In Chains

Tricky

Tori Amos

James Yuill

On the Record is a video series where rockstars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds.

ARTIST: Tricky RECORD: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

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Lemmy on the Beatles and more in the rest of our On the Record series.

Ladytron

Ben Harper

Tori Amos

James Yuill

Song: Just a Girl
Album: Tragic Kingdom
Artist: No Doubt

To celebrate the Orange County ska-pop band's return to the tour circuit, we're giving away their first big single and one of their finest tracks.

Dave Matthews' extensive live recordings have proved that he is among the most accomplished live performers in the rock world. We've put together some of our favorites, from the collection, as we look forward to the release of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, the Dave Matthews Band's first album in nearly four years, had the potential to be their darkest to date, easily surpassing the brooding "Lillywhite Sessions" (which saw the light of day in the form of 2002's Busted Stuff). The primary reason for this is the tragic death of sax guru LeRoi Moore in August 2008, when the group was in the initial stages of recording Big Whiskey. Moore was more than just Matthews' bandmate. A dear friend, as well as a talented songwriter and arranger, Moore was the band's heart and soul. But instead of mourning his passing with a set of moody adult contemporary pop, Matthews decided to celebrate his fallen pal with what might just be the hardest rock set of his group's 18-year career.

All this is evident right from the get-go. Big Whiskey's cover, created by Matthews himself, depicts an exotic, Mardi Gras-like celebration -- half funeral procession, half joyous parade. The centerpiece is a banner containing the saxophonist's visage. With his gaping mouth and a crown perched atop his gnarled dreads, Moore is the celebrated GrooGrux King. He is the man, goddammit.

Then there's the music itself. Big Whiskey opens with the sound of Moore's wailing horn. It's not at all sentimental, but sassy, smoky and utterly robust. After the instrument climbs to its upper register, the sound gives way to a demented cackle from Moore (a fine slice of studio gimmickry) and the twin axes of Matthews and one of his other old-school friends, collaborator Tim Reynolds, who was last heard on 1998's Before These Crowded Streets. Here, on the second track, "Shake Me Like a Monkey," the group sounds totally amped up, particularly when Matthews shrieks, "I like my coffee with toast and jelly, but I'd rather be licking you from your back to your belly."

Whoa, Dave.

Those big guitars are one of Big Whiskey's big heroes. Recording with modern rock whiz Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Alanis Morissette) inspired Matthews to set aside his trusty acoustic. This gave the band some much-needed heft and could win them a few more supporters, namely those who have always thought the D.M.B. were a bit soft. The tune "Why I Am" even boasts a peppy riff reminiscent of the Knack's power pop classic "My Sharona."

But even though this tune contains some killer guitar work, it's Matthews' words that are most important, as he reveals exactly why Big Whiskey is more celebration than mourning. It's because, you see, he's "still dancing here with the GrooGrux King." In other words, though Moore has left us, he lives on in Matthews' heart. And that's what needs to be embraced.

Now I don't want to imply that Big Whiskey lacks pain or the ability to reflect upon loss. It definitely has its fair share of tender moments, most of which come during the album's middle stretch, from "Lying in the Hands of God" to "Squirm" (excluding, of course, "Why I Am"). But ultimately, Matthews understands that from death emerges life. And so Big Whiskey is a heartfelt sendoff to a fallen comrade wrapped inside the beginnings of a brand-new sound for the Dave Matthews Band.

We can argue 'til the heifers come home about whether this is a good or bad thing (correct answer: very very very good), but it can not be denied that the soon-to-over '00s have been the butt-rockingest decade in the entire history of country music since the beginning of time. In fact, it could easily be argued that country music rocked a whole lot harder in the '00s than rock did. Below are 25 magnificently loud and heavy reasons why. If you're a purist who gets nervous when country goes places it isn't supposed to, feel free to sit this one out. Otherwise, turn it up!

Song: Lights Out
Album: Santogold
Artist: Santigold

Santigold (formerly Santogold) knocks us out with a captivating mix of attitude and style. Get her hit (and beer commercial track), "Lights Out."