Recently in Nick Dedina Category

Just when I was getting the feeling that we should abolish the U.S. Congress, their fabled book wing, the Library of Congress, has awarded Paul McCartney the third Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (the first two recipients were Paul Simon and Stevie Wonder).

I didn't even know that the Library of Congress has a Librarian of Congress, but it does and his name is James H. Billington. He stated, about Macca, "It's hard to think of another performer and composer who has had a more indelible and transformative effect on popular song and music of several different genres than Paul McCartney." On a side note, I would say that John Lennon and Bob Dylan have had as indelible an effect as Macca. I'd add that like Stevie Wonder, Macca has also revolutionized how artists now use the studio and how trippy pop music can actually sound. 

Of course, the 150 or so Beatles tunes that Macca either penned ("I've Just Seen a Face," "Drive My Car," "Black Bird") or co-wrote are a big part of this award. But, let's use this as an opportunity to look at some solid McCartney albums from his solo years (a mix of quite wonderful, sublime, neat-sounding but empty-headed, and just bloody awful).

Both Lennon and McCartney have stated that they didn't write for the public -- they wrote to impress each other. They also complemented each other's strengths and weaknesses. When that partnership dissolved, McCartney decided that the only way he could work against the legacy of the Beatles would be if he decided that anything he did would be OK. If something wasn't that good it wouldn't be the end of the world. He was right -- the world didn't end but some of his stuff wasn't any good.

This has led to so much misplaced aging rocker hostility that Macca's creative rebirth during the 2000s has pretty much gone unnoticed. Recent songs like "She's Given Up Talking" keep things sonically interesting (which, face it, is all that acclaimed hip-hop producers do) while combining his old, decidedly weird mix of bad vibes and aloof positivity. Stranded on an island of fame, expectation, adulation and disappointment, the Paul McCartney mantra is summed up on his 2008 tune "Don't Stop Running."

Here are some Macca solo discs to check out on Rhapsody, starting with his new live set. And, of course, you can listen to all these, right now and forevermore, with your Rhapsody membership. We have over 8 million songs, available anytime and (with the Rhapsody iPhone app) anywhere. Click here to get on board with a free trial.

Freaky, cheeky and chic, Lady Gaga is one of those pop sensations that somehow manages to delight the masses without losing any cool points with the fashion-making elite. On one level the multitalented Gaga has bucked the dance-pop trend by being completely in charge of all aspects of her career (her musical abilities are old world, while her marketing acumen is cutting-edge). It's as if Britney suddenly developed Regina Spektor's musical pedigree and Madonna's stylish pop smarts. Not a bad way to build a career.

Yet while the accurately titled The Fame Monster adds eight new tracks to Gaga's debut, where do you go when you want more Gaga-style pop thrills?

That is where Rhapsody comes in. The simplest things to do is listen to our radio stations that feature Gaga, like Pop Hits and Dance Crossover Hits.


As usual with Rhapsody Radio, if you hear something you especially like, simply click on the artist or album in the Rhap player, and you can jump off the radio station and start digging the new tunes immediately. Or, you can keep listening to the station and just go down the saved radio song list and either replay it, save it for later, or delete it and go on to something else. It's music discovery made easy.

On Rhapsody, Lady Gaga even gets her own artist station, where you hear plenty of her music mixed in with material from other hitmakers like Gwen Stefani and Katy Perry, as well as artsier influences such as Goldfrapp and Scissor Sisters. Of course, we also include Lady Gaga's guest appearances on other albums. She is one busy lady.

At Rhapsody, we even have a feature where you can create and name your own unique radio station with the music of up to 10 artists. There are no limits or restrictions. You can combine Lady Gaga with whatever you want. If you feel like slotting Fergie, Black Sabbath, Creed and the Osmonds next to the Lady on your own personal Rhapsody Radio Station you go right ahead -- she seems pretty open-minded.   

 

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

Frank Sinatra never really considered himself a singles artist. He felt that most singles were disposable snapshots, while his albums were monuments that would last forever. Sinatra loved recording extended concept albums better than doing pretty much anything else, though every once in awhile he'd handpick a special tune and put out a magical single like "Witchcraft."

In the mid-1960s, Sinatra continued to craft superb albums, but he had no idea (or real interest) in what singles the kids were buying. He'd just show up at the studio and cut whatever his producers gave him and save his creative juices for his album work. Most of his singles from this period (which, face it, is probably the greatest singles era in pop history) are forgettable ... and forgotten.

But Lee Hazlewood, an eccentric psychedelic cowboy type, was doing fine production and songwriting work with Sinatra's daughter Nancy. Their groovy, often weird recordings were laughed at by the blues-rock throngs at the time because that audience mainly seemed to care if something was "authentic" or not. Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra's music was not "authentic" -- it was good. This concept is still with us today; it is what Weird Al satires every time he does another surprisingly funny, dead-accurate hip-hop rewrite.

When the Old Man gave the nod to Hazlewood for a rock 'n' roll tune, he knew authenticity wasn't in the cards. The single they cut together, "This Town," is inauthentic as hell. But the tune is also a complete gas, with country harmonica, sweeping cinematic strings and stabbing jazz organ fills splashing around a commanding, rebellious vocal performance from a guy who wasn't supposed to know how to rock 'n' roll but obviously did. He usually just chose not to.

For more Sinatra, you can listen to my superlative Frank's World Rhapsody Radio Station, which now has "just-click" links for your Facebook and Twitter pages.

One of the things I love about working for Rhapsody is that I get to listen to things all day (and night) and then help our subscribers explore a vast ocean of music. The problem of having access to 9 million Rhapsody tracks is figuring out what exactly you are going to listen to. It's actually a good problem to have.

The easiest -- and most rewarding -- thing to do is just to relax and let the music take you away.

The catalog of the fabled ECM record label offers up a sea of music all by itself. The label was started in 1969 by German music scholar Manfred Eicher and is a couple of weeks away from celebrating its 40th anniversary.

ECM has put out more than 1,000 albums and specializes in the dreamy, often otherworldly music that Eicher loves. The label has long since proven that avant-garde music can be accessible to the public. The vast ECM universe connects the dots between modern jazz, European art music, the classical world and what is now identified as ambient, New Age and electronic music.

Keith Jarrett was the label's breakout recording star back in the 1970s after he released a series of surprise best sellers. These were quiet albums that somehow appealed to rock and jazz fans. Star guitarists Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny also originally found audiences with ECM. These days, all the indie rock and electronic types are suddenly name-dropping the composer Steve Reich. Guess which label Reich used to record for?

ECM has many other "big names" on its current roster (Dave Holland and Paul Motian are two personal favorites), though part of the pleasure of the label is discovering sublime music by European artists you don't hear much on this side of the pond. A case in point is Enrico Rava, who has a style that combines Chet Baker's lyrical tone and melodic interest with Miles Davis' diffuse, wandering late 1960s sound.

Here is a playlist I culled from only a couple dozen ECM albums that I've been drawn to in the past year or two. These may not be the "best" ECM albums or the most important; who knows, as there are more than 1,000 albums to get through. But that's one of the luxuries with Rhapsody: you don't have to sweat the little stuff ... just forget about it all and drift away on waves of music.

Play Dream Time -- 40 Years of ECM Beauty now