September 2009 Archives

On the Record is a video series where rock stars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Check out Unmap, the new release from Justin Vernon's side project Volcano Choir.

ARTIST: Bon Iver RECORD: The Lost Paramount Tapes

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

Wavves

La Roux

Jay-Z

Animal Collective

With the release of Paramore's new album, Twilight's Kristen Stewart rocking her best Joan Jett for an upcoming bio-pic and Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O leading an all-star cast of indie rockers on the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack, it's really not a bad time to be a chick in a rock band. But of course, all chicks fronting rock bands face the age-old question at some point: To go solo or not to go solo? It's a question Paramore's Hayley Williams had to quash when rumors swirled this summer over a possible solo move when she contributed a track to the Jennifer's Body soundtrack. She's stayed adamant that Paramore is going nowhere, but this got us thinking -- as tempting as it is to reach for the brass ring, is going solo always a good idea? We lined up a few examples Ms. Williams might want to consider for future reference. (And please to be remembering: if you dig Paramore, solo projects, Wild Things, or all of the above, then get on the jet with a Rhapsody subscription -- try it for free right here, right now.) 

Southern rock often gets a bad rap among folks whose "learnin' shed" isn't a car on blocks in the front yard. This is largely due to the fact that classic rock radio tends to play only the most hillbilliest of Skynyrd songs ("Sweet Home Alabama," "Gimme Three Steps"), and it's just impossible for a normal person to see the unfortunate choice of a Confederate flag as part of a band's aesthetic and not feel weird.

But there's more to Southern rock than the endless boogie of Molly Hatchet. The music has its roots in ancient blues, deep soul and even the earliest rock 'n' roll music (see Elvis' Sun Sessions). For one thing, two of the genre's main progenitors, Greg and Duane Allman, basically grew up in Muscle Shoals studio, playing with Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter and others. And Southern rock itself has evolved over the years and remains vital today.

The genre can easily be broken down to three eras, and what we've done here is offer a little primer on Southern rock with the major players of each of its periods in playlist form. This is not the last word on Southern rock, so if you have "Whiskey Rock-A-Roller" tattooed on your forehead, don't flip out that there's no Wet Willie. This here is meant to be a starter kit for newcomers and some good songs for the acolytes.

Be sure to listen to all the artist mentioned here with your Rhapsody subscription and listen to all all of your favorite high quality audio with your free trial Rhapsody membership.

single-phile: the latest singles, dissected and discussed

Mariah Carey is famous for (at least) two things: Her exquisite vocal high notes -- and her rather disastrous personal low notes. (Now, if that statement doesn't perfectly sum up the often sad complexities of pop stardom, we don't know what does!) Anyway, as we were gearing up for la diva ultima's 12th album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (which does feature a goodly number of those skyscrapers), we started wondering how (or if) these two markers of Mariah-dom correlated with each other. And so for this week's single-phile, we conducted this highly scientific study, comparing the most heavens-scraping single from each of her albums with what was going on in Mariah's personal or professional life at the time to see if her high notes suggest reaching for the top or hitting bottom.

It has been said that every movie worth watching since 1939 contains some reference to The Wizard of Oz. But what about music? This week, Wu-Tanger Ghostface Killah releases his new album, Ghostdini: The Wizard of Poetry, the cover artwork of which features a yellow brick road extended across hottie-bedecked poppy fields toward Emerald City. And on October 3, in honor of the movie's 70th anniversary, Netflix is streaming Oz free, in a new high-definition version. Last week, to commemorate the same landmark, Jennifer Hudson, Julianne Hough, and ?Uestlove of the Roots performed songs from the movie in New York. Rock and pop have been in love with the classic for years, but there's never been a better time to count down the highlights of Oz-rock history.

The era of the celebrity DJ is on the wane. These days, the real big-tent tastemakers are music supervisors: the behind-the-scenes types with the knack for administering just the right dose of Snow Patrol at the tear-jerking climax of a Grey's Anatomy episode. And no one does that better than Alex Patsavas, whose keen ears and bursting Rolodex have put their sonic stamp on Grey's Anatomy, The O.C., Gossip Girl, and a little yarn about vampires called Twilight, whose soundtrack went on to sell 2.2 million copies.

The H1N1 Influenza virus -- popularly known, to the chagrin of the Other White Meat industry, as "swine flu" -- keeps spreading. And with some estimates claiming that it could affect as many as two to three billion people, it's only natural that celebrities will be stricken, along with the rest of us schlubs. (I'm not a doctor, but I play one on this blog.) From the cases reported so far, it looks like swine flu is not immune to irony. CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta got it. Epidemiologist and Huffington Post medical blogger Larry Brilliant, M.D. got it -- just days after agreeing to write an article on the disease, at that. (In addition to all its other evil powers, swine flu also apparently rifles through your email. Maybe they should call it crazy ex-girlfriend flu?) And now, it turns out, Marilyn Manson has gotten it too.

Miranda Lambert: all the guys love her and all the girls want to be her.

Recently I had the opportunity to meet Miranda when she opened for Kenny Chesney. My legs were like jelly while I was waiting in the photo line, and I realized I would need to have something to say when my turn came. I mean, yikes! What does a girl say to Miranda Lambert? "Hi, I like your hair. What products do you use?" That might work on some of the blondes currently gracing the country chart, but I don't think it would work with Miranda.

What I would have liked to say was, "I love that you do benefits for animal charities," and then go on to talk forever about dogs and my time working at a veterinary clinic and the animals I adopted. And maybe I'd sneak in something about the Twitter war between her boyfriend, Blake Shelton, and PETA ... or not. Or I could ask her how she got to be the spokesperson for Cotton and say how envious I am of her closet! And of course I'd ask if she got a free wardrobe out of it, 'cause her closet is jam-packed with brightly colored, cool-looking clothes. Maybe I would tell her how cool it was that she and Blake came to Rhapsody's Music Fest party in Nashville to support her Texas homeboy, Jack Ingram. And maybe, if all of that went well, I would tell her how much I love her music and what a joy it is to hear her songs on the radio. But no, I didn't get to do any of that.

Instead I mumbled, "Hi, I'm Linda. I'm the country music editor at Rhapsody," and before I could say anything else, the photographer snapped our picture and I was ushered on. Sigh. But I did get a cool picture (above) out of it.

Ask much of the civilized world to name an album sequel with "blue" in its title, and the first thing out of their mouth is going to be Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3. Ask the Classic Rock Crate Digger, however, and it’s going to be John Fogerty's The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again, a new collection of vintage country and roots-rock covers that rivals Jigga’s new joint when it comes to pushing product based on the number of high-profile cameos. Check it: there’s the Boss; drummer extraordinaire and Mellencamp cohort Kenny Aronoff; media mogul/producer Lenny Waronker; Eagles Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit; Americana heavyweight Buddy Miller; and Herb "I've Played with Just About Every Major Country Rocker and Bluegrass Heavyweight of the Last Four Decades" Pedersen.*

From left: Mike Mogis, M. Ward, Jim James, Conor Oberst

The concept of the supergroup is older than fishing -- literally! Jesus and his Disciples were certainly a supergroup, and we're pretty sure Jesus invented fishing. Yes, bands of preternaturally talented brothers (and sisters) have been joining forces for millennia. With this week's debut from Monsters of Folk -- a supergroup comprised of Mike Mogis, M. Ward, My Morning Jacket's Jim James and Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst -- we thought we'd reflect upon some of our favorite supergroups of years past. Was the whole greater than the sum of the parts? Read on to find out, and don't forget: if you dig supergroups, regular groups or anything in between, Rhapsody has you covered. Take a free spin to see what unlimited, unfettered music access tastes like (surprisingly unlike chicken, we think you'll be pleased to discover).

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

ARTIST: Mika RECORD: Purple Rain

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

Bat For Lashes

La Roux

Jay-Z

Animal Collective

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Gary also gave us a list of his other top picks. Enjoy by clicking below.

You have to give DFA credit for not resting on their laurels. The label's a figurehead of this decade's indie-dance scene, with an almost unnervingly astute sense for the nuances of 21st-century cool. And yet, aside from certain hallmarks of the DFA style -- ropy bass lines, disaffected vocals, judicious use of cowbell -- they have yet to settle into a pattern. (Black Meteoric Star's psychedelic, home-soldered acid house isn't exactly par for the indie course.)

Their habit of reaching outside their own scene when commissioning remixes is equally commendable. In addition to marquis names like Soulwax and Franz Ferdinand, DFA also tap artists -- like Carl Craig, Baby Ford and Luomo -- who resonate with house and techno die-hards, but have little foothold in American indie circles. It's not just a question of credibility; the stream of new input keeps DFA's mutable sound continually refreshed.

A stellar new collection of remixes of LCD Soundsystem's 45:33, James Murphy's Nike-sponsored album from 2006, is a case in point. Theo Parrish, Prins Thomas, Runaway, Trus'Me, Prince Language, Padded Cell, Pilooski and Riley Reinhold all take the ball and run as far as they can, touching down everywhere from Detroit downbeat to Norwegian disco. Read on for a rundown of the parties involved, with recommendations for further listening from each.

 

Few boxers have been as incredible or as consistent as Floyd Mayweather. As an amatuer in the mid-'90s, he was a Golden Gloves winner and a Olympic medalist. Since going pro in 1996, he has fought 39 fights and won every one of them. He has won six different boxing championships in five different weight classes. ESPN named him one of the 50 Greatest Boxers of all time, while The Ring magazine pegged him the best boxer, pound for pound, three years straight. On September 19th, he's coming out of retirement to fight Juan Manuel Márquez in one of the most highly anticipated fights of the year.

Recently, Mayweather took time out of his rigorous schedule to discuss one of his favorite topics: the music he loves. Here, he explains the reasons for the songs he has picked for his ring walks (we've included the name of his opponent for each). Be sure to check out the fight Saturday night on HBO PPV, and also sign up for your free Rhapsody trial membership so that you can listen to all these artists as much as you want (no restrictions, and it's all perfectly legal).

I’m no Perez Hilton, or even a young Joan Rivers for that matter, but I think I’ve spotted a pop trend -- albeit a minor one. It dawned on me when I recently stumbled across the video for Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat's “Lucky.” (Nine months behind schedule, I know.) It was the same day I read about Break Up, the new album from Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson. I'm talking about this whole he/she retro-pop duo thingy. I’m calling it a trend because I can name four additional examples. There’s She & Him (M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel); Wilco and Feist; Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell; and Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs. Without sounding too reductive, all these acts are variations on a theme: take a little Lee and Nancy and some Serge and Brigitte and filter them through a modern alt-pop sensibility (with a dash of Americana thrown in for good measure, of course).

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

ARTIST: Gary Go RECORD: Dark Side Of The Moon

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

Bat For Lashes

La Roux

Jay-Z

Animal Collective

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Gary also gave us a list of his other top picks. Enjoy by clicking below.

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

ARTIST: Bat For Lashes RECORD: The Virgin Suicides

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

Wavves

La Roux

Jay-Z

Animal Collective

Google the phrase "Kanye West is an *sshole" and you get over 81,000 returns. Compare that with, say, “Hitler is an *sshole" (about 58K) or “Kanye is a genius” (around 25K), and you should get a fairly accurate -- if not exactly scientific -- picture of how the public at large now feels about Mr. West. But, you know, this is as much our fault as his. After Katrina devastated Louisiana in 2005, we all applauded West’s “courage” and “honesty” when he publicly decried the government's handling of the crisis. But his outrage has devolved from criticizing a derelict President to going after noticeably softer targets, and though the entertainer claims to always be speaking from his heart, some wonder if the impulses don’t originate somewhere inside his massively bloated, Henny-soaked head. His “performance” at the 2009 VMAs, where he bum-rushed the stage and managed to steal the glory from both Beyonce and Taylor Swift, was just the latest in a long line of outbursts, tantrums and bizarre behavior. Here we present you with Kanye West’s most embarrassing moments.

She's been "Like a Bird," Folklore-ic and a "Promiscuous" girl to Timbaland's promiscuous beats. Yes, Nelly Furtado sure likes to keep us guessing. With album No. 4, she's upped the experimental ante, expanding her already-significant advances into the Latin world with the entirely Spanish-language Mi Plan, out today. The divine Ms. F is almost as famous for her diverse collaborations and influences as she is for her own musical promiscuity -- or, perhaps more accurately, the two are overlapping for this gregarious artist/music-lover. In other words, she has great taste. So we're super-excited that she put together a fabulous playlist of her current favorite songs, many of them by artists she duets with on Mi Plan. While in New York doing press for the release of the album, she sat down with Rhapsody to discuss what it was like to work with everyone from Latin alt-rocker Julieta Venegas to bachata king Juan Luis Guerra, as well as Mi Plan and her future plans (hint: you'll never guess who she wants to work with next!).

First off, welcome to the first installment of my new column, Classic Rock Crate Digger. Like the dashboard of a vintage Saab, my mission statement is simple and to the point: dive into Rhapsody’s insanely bottomless catalog and explore all the nooks and crannies of that hairy, sweaty behemoth known as classic rock. You see, I love rock 'n' roll from the 1970s, but I’m so sick and tired of the same 40 songs my local DJ has been regurgitating for the last 35 years. Call me crazy, but there’s way more to classic rock than “Free Bird,” “More Than a Feeling” and “The Joker.” For example, just about anybody who worships riff-a-rific hard rock has cranked a little Free, those skinny, blues-rock Brits who sculpted one of the most titanic grooves ever know to man: “All Right Now.” Yet how many out there have dug into sprawling discography of The Groundhogs, who -- in my humble opinion, at least -- rock as hard as Free and Mountain and Grand Funk Railroad COMBINED? Unfortunately, the Groundhogs never scored a hit here in the States, so they're relatively unknown outside select circles. But just about any longhair between the ages of 18 and 65, regardless of his/her classic rock IQ, would absolutely flip for the band’s 1971 magnum opus, Thank Christ for the Bomb.

Basically, I want to help expand the horizons of the average classic rock fan by offering him or her sounds that feel familiar yet new. I want to take Zep fanatics and turn them on to Terry Reid (or maybe even the second Cactus record). I want to explain to Floyd freaks why I dig Obscured by Clouds more than its successor, Dark Side of the Moon.

And you know what? Rhapsody is just perfect for this kind of exploration. Sure, I sound like a corporate shill, but think about it: our service allows all of us to transcend the tyranny of America's classic rock DJs. No longer will we be beholden to their limited and antiquated playlists. We can roam as freely as we want.

Now time for the twin lead...

They've sold a million records and are 10-time Dove Award nominees. So what were the sisters best known as Barlow Girl doing the week before the release of their new album, Love & War? Babysitting. That's right, as they prepped for an appearance at Universal Studios' Rock the Universe and a fall tour with longtime friends Superchick, they spent a week looking after their brother's four children while he and his wife enjoyed a Hawaiian getaway. Fortunately, Rebecca, Lauren and Alyssa Barlow were able to take time out from their young charges long enough to talk to Rhapsody about the new record. And be sure to browse our Christian Music homepage, where you can find, listen, collect and share high-quality audio of all of your favorite Christian artist. Click here for your free trial membership!

Greetings weary Internet travelers! If you're reading this it means you've stumbled across Rhapsody's very special live-blogging of the 2009 VMAs. Yes, you read that right, live blogging, as in we watch the celebrity circus so you don't have to! So sit back, relax, put on some music -- ahem -- talk to your loved ones, and enjoy our blow-by-blow coverage this year's hullabaloo. Please to be meeting your correspondents:

Rachel Devitt: As Rhapsody's official Pop Editor, Ms. Devitt is up on the latest gossip, fashion, flubs and faux pauxs of the celebrity elite and not so elite.

Mike McGuirk: As Rhapsody's heavy rock, blues, comedy, new age and Thai-strip-club-music editor, Mr. McGuirk knows close to nothing about the MTV harem. This is gonna be great! On your marks, get set, blog!

Sometime around 8:00 P.M. Eastern...

Rachel: Hey Mike. Are you there?
Mike: hello Rachel, I'm here.
Rachel: How are you?
Mike: Ready to rock.
Rachel: Ha
Mike: I am. Just gotta get my nephew to turn off ESPN.
Rachel: Well, I am quite possibly the only person in Chicago watching this. Everyone else in town is watching the bears game.
Mike: What is this dance thing?
Rachel: America's Best Dance Crew. Anything with Mario Lopez has got to be good. I mean AC Slater. OK, I guess here we go for real.
Mike: I really can't wait to see how many awards eyehategod wins.
Rachel: And here's Green Day. Green Day just got asked what they're wearing. Haha.
Rachel: Oh such a dumb Michael Phelps pot joke. Hi, 5 months ago! Now we're going to some person named Justine. Who just said "tweet it up!" Oh no.
Mike: I wanna play a game where we do a shot every time they mention Twitter
Rachel: Too much twitter makes the baby go blind

Country music fans were shocked recently when, after 20 years of making hits together, Brooks & Dunn announced they have decided to call it a day. Dates have yet to be announced for the 2010 farewell tour, dubbed The Last Rodeo, but the two have confirmed they will part ways at the end of it.

After struggling as solo artists, Louisiana-born Kix Brooks and Texas-born Ronnie Dunn joined forces in 1990 at the behest of music-label executive Tim DuBois. To everyone's surprise, the combination worked, and in 1991 Brooks & Dunn hit the charts for the first time with their debut album, Brand New Man. It didn't take long for the two to become the biggest-selling duo in country music history. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Brooks & Dunn have sold 22.3 million albums in the United States.

The twosome have topped the U.S. country singles chart 20 times with tunes such as "Only in America," which was famously used by both the 2008 Democratic and 2004 Republican campaigns; "My Maria," which was Billboard's No. 1 Country Music Single of the Year in 1996; and "The Long Goodbye," which was later covered by Irish pop star Ronan Keating.

Brooks & Dunn's phenomenal success has set a high bar in the world of country music, and they will be sorely missed. Their new two-disc set, #1s ... and Then Some, ensures Brooks & Dunn will go out in a blaze of glory as it includes a career-encompassing 23 No. 1 singles and fan favorites, as well as current radio hits "Indian Summer" and "Honky Tonk Stomp." This expansive collection will certainly cement the duo's place in music history -- as well in the hearts of country music fans.

We couldn't let the release of the dynamic duo's swan song pass without honoring them on Rhapsody: consider this playlist a tip of the ol' ten-gallon hat to Brooks & Dunn.

El Guincho (photo: Oliver Faig)

This week's column has no explicit theme, but there might be an implicit one: all five of these albums explore what happens when you combine traditional acoustic and electric instruments with electronic processing and production. Three of them make heavy use of vocals. Four are new, another is a decade old, and one of them sounds way older -- in a good way.

El Guincho, "Antillas" remixes: EP1 and EP2

El Guincho's music is so full of energy and ideas, it's often hard to believe that it's the work of a single artist: listening to his 2008 debut, Alegranza, feels like standing on a hilltop equidistant from three or four different stages at a world music fest, with soca, Afropop, tropicalia and psychedelic rock swirling in the air and shifting with the winds. Now the Spanish musician has reissued "Antillas," one of the album's standout tracks, to a diverse crew of remixers who take his ideas even farther afield. Most of them stay true to the sunny-day spirit of the original, homing in on Highlife-inspired guitars and delirious, Animal Collective-styled chants. Spank Rock's XXXchange comes up with a dazzling slab of Technicolor exuberance in the spirit of DFA or Carl Craig. Norway's Prins Thomas, a master of hypnotic disco, seems to have come across a few of the helium-fueled balloons that once floated above the floor of David Mancuso's Loft; full of bluegrass guitar and manic hand claps, it's as unstoppable as a five-year-old's birthday party. Cee, of Germany's dub outfit Al-Haca, takes the opposite approach, layering atonal voices over quavering bass and stripped-down percussion halfway between dubstep and the bleakest techno: it's "Antillas" all right, but as heard from the other end of a black hole.

 

Song:  Poker Face
Album: The Fame
Artist:   Lady Gaga

Newcomer Lady Gaga is a VMA favorite this year with multiple nominations for "Poker Face": Best Female Video, Best New Artist, Best Pop Video and Video of the Year. Catch the show on MTV on Sept. 13.

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

ARTIST: Vivian Girls RECORD: Best Of The Wipers

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

Wavves

La Roux

Jay-Z

Animal Collective

Song:  We Made You
Album: Relapse
Artist:  Eminem

Eminem's "We Made You" is in the running for a VMA in these categories: Best Hip-Hop Video, Best Male Video, Best Special Effects and Video of the Year. See if he grabs a moonman when the show airs on Sept. 13.

Song:  Viva La Vida
Album: Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
Artist:  Coldplay

Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" is nominated for multiple VMAs: Best Rock Video, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Editing. Watch the show on Sept. 13.

The air is starting to turn crisp and cool, every store has backpacks and notebooks (and, uh, laptops. Oh, these kids!) on display and suddenly cardigan sweaters and plaid skirts are looking much more fashionable than your breezy summer dresses. Yep, it's that time of year again -- time for the VMAs! In honor of that time-honored coming-of-age ritual, this week's single-phile takes a look at this year's class of Best Pop Video nominees, analyzing their class rank and role, future plans, the upper-classmen who inspired them and the under-classmen most likely to take up their mantle after graduation. To listen to the all the nominees, check out Sam Chennault's 2009 VMAs playlist.

Song:  Love Lockdown
Album: 808s & Heartbreak
Artist:  Kanye West

Kanye West's "Love Lockdown" is up for three VMAs this year: Best Hip-Hop Video, Best Male Video and Video of the Year. Watch the show on Sept. 13.

Owl City (photo: Pamela Littky)

While Gawker reports that Michael Cera is losing his cool, there arrives a new torchbearer for gangly teenaged sincerity. Minnesota's Adam Young launched his electronic-pop project, Owl City, while passing the time in his parents' basement; his MySpace page lists "God," "optimism," "foreign accents" and "G-rated movies" as influences. Taking cues from the Postal Service's fusion of skittery digital rhythms and unabashedly emo melodies, Owl City's new album, Ocean Eyes, channels the bright-eyed rush of the teenage sublime into the sweetest -- well, bittersweetest -- sound possible. With the album casting its rosy glow over the electronic and rock charts, the daydreaming insomniac found the time to share with us an exclusive playlist: Owl City's Pajama Party Songs, complete with his own track-by-track commentary. With a surprisingly ambitious selection running from Hella through Boards of Canada and the experimental computer musician Alva Noto -- and, uh, Shaquille O'Neal -- even die-hard cynics will find it hard not to open up to Mr. Young-at-Heart.

Hella, "Welcome to the Jungle Baby, Your Gonna Live!"
"This song makes me wanna throw a huge pizza party with the Chicago Bulls."
Alva Noto, "jr: for katsushika hokusai"
"I wake up every morning and brush my teeth to this song. My pearly whites are incredibly clean."
Boards of Canada, "Dayvan Cowboy"
"Of dusk and dust and dreams."
Shaquille O'Neal, "My Dear"
"Best song in the history of recorded music. Ever."
Pelican, "Last Day of Winter"
"Indoor swimming music."
The Field, "I Have the Moon, You Have the Internet"
"Brilliant minimalist house."
Taylor Swift, "Love Story"
"Sigh."
Botch, "To Our Friends in the Great White North"
"Go-cart music."
Amon Tobin, "Get Your Snack On"
"This song makes me wanna hang out with my mailman."
Hammock, "When the Sky Pours Down Like a Fountain"
"Snuggle music."
 

Sally Shapiro

Summer's all but officially over, and boy does it feel like it. These three albums may be grounded in libidinal sounds like disco and punk, but there's nevertheless something coolly distant, even alienating about them. (That's part of their charm.) They might make for an entirely unscientific sampling of the current indie dance landscape, but from their heightened affect to their stylistic feints, I think all three speak to a creeping sense of anxiety in the pop underground, both explicit and unconscious.

Sally Shapiro, My Guilty Pleasure

If the term "ice princess" wasn't invented for Sally Shapiro, it's entirely possible she was invented for it. (And she is, let's not forget, an invention: Sally Shapiro is only the nom de microfon of a Swedish shrinking violet whose real name, she demurs, is "something else.") Even singing songs like "Love in July," she sounds about as summery as a steel-blue shock of glacier: her breathy, oddly translucent voice rises up from the mix like the vapors from a frostbitten kiss. Of course, much of the credit for My Guilty Pleasure's deep-freeze aesthetic goes to producer Johan Agebjörn, whose Italo-disco-inspired arpeggios feel as sharply limned as the edges of a snowflake. All the gleaming surfaces can get a bit dizzying after a while -- Royksopp's Junior, a similar attempt at cryogenic disco, sounds positively tropical in comparison -- but there's a thawing respite in the trance-tossed "Dying in Africa," which summons visions of the Field's disappearing horizons.

YACHT, See Mystery Lights

YACHT's full-length DFA debut sounds almost like the work of a different band than the one responsible for I Believe in You. Your Magic Is Real. On the Portland, Ore., band's new album Psychic City, the skittery electronic touches of earlier albums cede the center ground to more muscular guitar-drums-and-bass arrangements. Instead of sketching around the outlines of pop, Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans now home in on the shape of their songs in bold strokes. YACHT aren't shy about their magpie tendencies: "Pyschic City" and "It's Boring" take cues from the Pixies and Pylon, while more futuristic joints like "I'm in Love with a Ripper" open their arms wide to encompass '80s synth-pop and '00s R&B, via ZTT-inspired sampling and delirious flights of Auto-Tune. (There's even a trace of the Durutti Column in the limpid guitars of the opening "Ring the Bell.") It's far more engaging than fellow Portlanders Glass Candy, whose No Wave disco wants for YACHT's irreverent, inquisitive spirit. From the low-slung bass to Evans' slouchy delivery, the album's a no-brainer fit for DFA, currently running this corner of the indie dance scene. But despite the obligatory grounding in the punkier side of disco, it still sounds unlike anything else on the label.

Health, Get Color

Health's machinic rhythms and queasy oscillators, laced with digital tics and freaky effects, draw an imaginary line from Sonic Youth's swollen amplifiers to the nether space of the motherboard. Like Liars, Animal Collective and Battles, the L.A. band pulls at rock's ragged edges in both style and sonics. The new album, Get Color, is both heavier and trickier than their debut: songs like "Death+" sound like a cross between Helmet and Aphex Twin -- part death march, part angels' chorus. The band's tendency to lock into a trance-inducing churn sometimes leaves you wishing for more in the way of songwriting; maybe that last, as-yet-untaken leap is what gives the music such a palpable sense of struggle -- witness the fiery permutations of "We Are Water," where the band wrestles with the ghosts of prog rock, hardcore and techno; the song's imbued with a sense of almost incendiary frustration as it twists and turns.

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

ARTIST: Jay-Z RECORD: Off The Wall

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

Wavves

La Roux

Passion Pit

Animal Collective

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

Frank Sinatra blazed a lot of trails in his career, including being the first star to break away from the majors and start his own label, Reprise Records.

At heart, Sinatra was a keen listener who was obsessed with music -- all kinds of music. In Will Friedwald's definitive Sinatra! The Song Is You, jazz and classical musicians recall looking at Sinatra's vast record collection and talking with him about big band recordings, jazz cuts and modern symphonic music.

With Reprise Records, Sinatra got to record not only friends like Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., but also jazz artists such as Duke Ellington and Shorty Rogers. As a matter of fact, the very first Reprise release was The Warm Moods by Ben Webster, the saxophone giant who more than earned his status as King of the Tenors. Webster even played on a Sinatra date, getting some solo space on the classic "I'm Beginning to See the Light."    

Though Reprise Records is still with us, Sinatra only ran the label for a few years before it was bought out by a larger concern. Since Rhapsody is such an easy portal to music discovery, it's a snap to click on the playlist below and catch the initial blast of music that Sinatra put out on Reprise.

Play Sinatra & Friends Start Reprise Records
 

You can also listen to all of these songs and more on my superlative Frank's World Rhapsody Radio Station, which now has "just-click" links for your Facebook and Twitter pages.
 


 

So what's there to celebrate this Labor Day, anyway? That the unemployment rate is still going up, just not quite as fast as it was going up a few months ago? The songs on the playlist below are split between how hard it can be to find work, and how demoralizing jobs can be once you finally find one. Maybe a few will even make you hope unions aren’t dead. But here's hoping they all help you enjoy your day off.

• The Silhouettes, "Get a Job" (1958): Philly gospel singers turned doo-woppers, with the most topical song of rock 'n' roll's first decade. Their girlfriends nag them and claim they're lying, but no gigs can be found in the want ads.

• Tennessee Ernie Ford, "Sixteen Tons" (1955): Country-boogie dirge about digging your way toward hell for the straw boss, only to die owing your soul to the company store.

• John Rich, "Shuttin' Detroit Down" (2009): A great city approaches the breaking point -- bosses collect bonuses, calloused assembly-liners lose pensions. The singer's confused politics come off as sincere for once.

• Bachman-Turner Overdrive, "Takin' Care of Business" (1974): Canuck buffalo rock about racing to catch the 8:15 into the daily grind again and wondering if self-employment is a way out.

• Martha & the Muffins, "Echo Beach" (1980): "My job is very boring, I'm an office clerk." So Martha takes a New Wave holiday, or at least dreams of one.

• Patti Smith, "Piss Factory" (1974): Another dirge (not to mention the artist's first and best single) about monotony and deadening heat and contemptible toothless co-workers telling you to slow down, when speeding up is the only way you know to escape.

• The Roches, "Mr. Sellack" (1979): The politics of groveling to get your crummy job back -- getting down on your hands and knees, literally, to scrub behind the steam table.

• Dolly Parton, "9 to 5" (1980): Karl Marx's favorite No. 1 single of the rock era. "It's a rich man's game, no matter what they call it, and you spend your life putting money in his wallet."

• Utah Phillips, "Joe Hill" (1984): A legendary labor organizer recites the Wobblies' union anthem, but first tells even better stories about his own life of work.

• Johnny Paycheck, "Take This Job and Shove It" (1977): A longhaired country outlaw walks out of the factory after 15 years, paycheck or no.

Jay-Z is a Goliath. Since the '90s, he has ruled hip-hop with a succession of hot singles, classic albums and sizzling guest appearances. The Blueprint 3 is the latest chapter and is available for streaming only on Rhapsody. But we're about more than just great exclusives from your favorite artists. Below, you'll find exclusive Jay-Z material as well as customized Jay-Z radio stations, professionally built playlists in high-def audio, and views, news and more tunes than you could play in a lifetime. Enjoy this on us, and be sure to sign up for the ultimate music experience on the web.

	Watch an exclusive video of Jay-Z discussing his admiration of Michael Jackson		PLAY: 50 Greatest Jay-Z tracks and more playlists
	Review: Our critics discuss whether The Blueprint III meets the Jay-Z standard		Radio: Listen to our wide range of Jay-Z Radio Stations
	DISCOVER: Go deep with Jay-Z's 10 Greatest Verses		LISTEN: The Blueprint 3 exclusively on Rhapsody

One thing that we pride ourselves on at Rhapsody is the variety of radio channels we have. We have professionally programmed radio stations for nearly every genre and micro-genre you can imagine. They're constantly updated, and we're always adding more. We also have artist stations for everyone in the system. And we have custom radio stations that you build yourself based on your favorite artists. All these stations offer nonstop music, making them a perfect fit for throwing on while chilling at your crib, toiling away at the office or working out at the gym. Sign up for your trial Rhapsody account today (you know it's free, right?) to access the artist and custom radio stations. Meanwhile, here are some of the radio stations that we're offering for a free sampling.

When you put nearly 20 years in the game, release nine studio albums and drop dozens of guest appearances, you're going to have some peaks and valleys. We've sorted through the clutter, separated the wheat from the chaff, and isolated 50 absolute classics from Hov. Click through the links to listen to the full playlists, or get a little sample at the bottom of this page.

And be sure to take advantage and sign up for your free trial Rhapsody membership so that you can create and save your own playlists using our high-quality audio, and share them with your friends via Twitter/Facebook or embed them on your blog.

At this point in his career, Jay-Z has zero problems. His president is black, his wife is Beyonce, and his bank account is bulging. He pals around with Natalie Portman and Chris Martin. He’s a philanthropist and former CEO. When he rapped in 2006 that he wasn’t “a businessman, I’m a business, man,” it was a viewed as a clever piece of braggadocio. Now, it seems a rather mundane detail -- a depressing fact of life about one of hip-hop’s most legendary lyricists. Like that of 2006’s comeback album, Kingdom Come, the theme of The Blueprint 3 seems to be, “I’m doing just fine, thank you.”

We try to keep up with the times here at ye olde Rhapsody, so during our 10 day premiere of Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 (which you can also download exclusively at Rhapsody beginning Sept. 9), we will be having a "Twitter contest." The rules for entry are simple -- let us show you how:

  Listen to a Jay-Z song on Rhapsody.com.

Use our new “tweet” feature and tweet the song you’re listening to with a short review of the song.

 Enter as often as you like. We’ll also be having random pop quizzes throughout the promotion giving away special Jay-Z prizes.

During our 3 day exclusive retail promotion we will be giving away free albums to random lucky winners.

It goes without saying that Jay-Z is one of the most accomplished rappers in the history of hip-hop. Whether he's the greatest rapper alive remains a topic of debate, but few rappers have been able to marry voice, lyrics and rhythm as adeptly as Brooklyn's finest. His career spans multiple eras and styles: from early '90s fast rap to mid-'90s N.Y.C. ghetto noir to late '90s party rap to the more confessional, grown-man raps of this decade. And, of course, we have it all, in high-quality audio, on Rhapsody, where you can listen to any song, anytime with no restrictions (click here for your free trial membership).

We decided to compile a list of his most memorable verses. Check out our picks, peep the playlist at the bottom and be sure to check out The Blueprint 3.