I got sumpin brand new fo dat ass (The Coolio appreciation post)

Posted by Scott

Coolio performed the other day at Diesel, a rock club on the South Side of Pittsburgh. The Gangsta's Paradise era is back! Sadly, I did not get to attend.

Coolio is a joke now, but he ruled the late '90s. I've always loved rappers who have a sense of humor. It's rare to see in that genre (I'm a fan of Ludacris and Snoop Dogg for the same reason.) My favorite Coolio moment is the video for "1,2,3,4," when he rides the tricycle. Either that, or his unintentionally hilarious Grammy acceptance speech, when he thanked "my fiance Josephha, and my 7 kids."

Of course, "Gangsta's Paradise" is Coolio's signature song. It was insanely overplayed at the time, but it's one of the most important rap songs of the past 20 years. And I always liked "C U When U Get There," although it strikes me as schmaltzy now.

Fun fact: Coolio famously got mad at Weird Al for parodying him, but they've buried the hatchet.

I wrap up this meandering post with two videos: "1,2,3,4," and a bizarre performance of "Gangsta's Paradise" from 1995 with Simply Red. For reals?

YouTube: Coolio - "1,2,3,4 (Sumpin' New)"



YouTube: Coolio & Simply Red - "Gangsta's Paradise"

The notion of a David Gray Greatest Hits album

I was strolling through Barnes & Noble tonight when I happened upon a new Greatest Hits collection from British singer/songwriter David Gray. This perplexed me, because how many hits can David Gray rightfully claim? Certainly Babylon, possibly Please Forgive Me, and maybe Be Mine, if we're really getting creative with the definition of "hit." But that's it. It should be a 3-song sampler, not a full-length release. It should be given away for free at CoGo's with the purchase of a coffee, not sold for $15.99 at legitimate music stores.

I hate when artists do this - you'll see a band like Kajagoogoo put out a Greatest Hits collection, which always makes me scream. Come on, you had ONE HIT IN YOUR ENTIRE CAREERS! Country singers are the biggest offenders. A lot of them release Greatest Hits CDs after a mere two studio albums. I guarantee Taylor Swift puts out a Greatest Hits before she turns 20, in an effort to beat Leann Rimes's record for youngest artist with a hits collection (21).

Now, Gray actually does have enough good material to put together a satisfying compilation. I just object to calling it Greatest Hits. "The Best of David Gray" - I'd be fine with that title. Am I being too much of a semantics nut? Is this the equivalent of quarreling about the difference between "denounce" and "reject?"

Anyway, Gray's 2000 album White Ladder is a classic, easily one of my top five albums of this decade. The aforementioned Babylon and Please Forgive Me are terrific. This Year's Love and Nightblindness are both beautiful, gutwrenching ballads. And the cover of Soft Cell's Say Hello, Wave Goodbye is so good I didn't realize at the time that it was a cover.

Unfortunately, everything Gray has done since then has sucked. Those who would be interested in checking out David Gray should eschew the hits package and go with White Ladder.

YouTube: David Gray - This Year's Love

White Rabbits interview

With their acclaimed debut Fort Nightly and an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, White Rabbits were one of the breakout indie bands of 2007. What’s up for 2008? We checked in with pianist/singer Steve Patterson about the new album, the upcoming tour with the Walkmen, and finally moving out of that Brooklyn loft



MP3: White Rabbits - Kid On My Shoulders

I got hooked on the band after seeing you last year at Lollapalooza. What was that experience like?
That was a really early show, as I’m sure you remember. I think half of us hadn’t slept at all. A few of us had slept for a couple hours. Playing Lollapalooza at like 8 in the morning isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be. But it was a good time and it was cool to be part of the whole festival.

Tracks like “Kid On My Shoulders” and “While We Go Dancing” are pretty lively. Do you think Fort Nightly captures the energy of your live performances?
Honestly, we were pretty wet behind the ears whenever we were recording the record, and we feel like we became a fully-formed band after this recording. This happens with a lot of bands - they release their record and then like 5 months later they wish they could go back and re-record a few things or do some things differently. And I suppose I feel pretty much the same way, but I’m proud of it. I think the live shows are definitely a little bit more raucous than the record, but there’s things I love that are on the record that you just can’t do live. There are moments that capture the way it is live, but they both feel pretty separate to me.

How did you end up with two lead singers?
I used to play drums for the band, that’s how it started when we were in Columbia (Missouri). I did harmonies with Greg (Roberts). We moved to Brooklyn and things were kind of going slowly, so we decided to shake things up. Matt (Clark) moved to drums and I moved to keys and sang, so we just decided to switch things up and see if things could move a little bit faster, and it turned out to work really well.

How is the new album shaping up?
Slowly… we’ve been on the road pretty much constantly since before the record even came out. I think we started touring in April. We stopped touring this past year in November, and we were right into the holidays and so everybody’s going home and seeing family. So, we’re writing stuff now… hopefully we’re gonna play a few new things on this tour with the Walkmen, then we’ll get back and we’ll really knuckle down and write and record stuff.

Can you tell us about some of the new songs?
We’ve been playing a couple of the new ones live for a while. One’s called “Sea of Rum.” The other one doesn’t have a name yet. They’re not too much of a departure from the Fort Nightly stuff. There’s some dark elements and some calypso elements to it. I think they’re both more mature and developed.

I enjoy when people admit to liking bands that aren’t cool. You’ve cited the Everly Brothers as an influence. Can you elaborate on that?
You don’t think the Everly Brothers are cool? (laughs) I guess they’re not. Yeah, (they’re an influence) because of their harmonies. They had a lot of really cool drum stuff going on too. That’s stuff that only we notice, maybe. It’s definitely an inspiration for me and Greg.

I read that you thought you were the smallest (least-known) band ever to play Letterman.
Yeah, I stand by that (laughs). We got in on the front end of them starting to book smaller bands, so we lucked out.

Are there any interesting stories from your Letterman appearance, aside from how cold it was in the studio?
We were getting calls from our landlord five minutes before we went on, asking us where our rent payment was. That’s probably the most ironic story. It was pretty unreal. Our parents were able to fly out, so it was nice to be able to give them that.

Do the six of you still live together in a loft in Brooklyn?
No, we just moved out of that loft last month. A few of us still live together but we’re not in that loft anymore. We’re still in Brooklyn though. (See a tour of the old loft here).

It seems like that would’ve been the perfect setup for a reality show, if you’d thrown some cameras in there.
Funny that you mention that, I’ve had a couple people asking if we’d want to do one, but no, we’re not the Monkees (laughs).

www.whiterabbitsmusic.com
www.myspace.com/whiterabbits
Purchase Fort Nightly at Amazon

White Rabbits tour dates (with The Walkmen)
1.16 Pittsburgh - Diesel
1.17 Detroit – The Crofoot Ballroom
1.18 Milwaukee – Turner Hall
1.19 Madison – High Noon
1.20 Chicago - Schubas
1.21 St. Louis – Blueberry Hill
1.22 Columbus – The Basement
1.23 Philadelphia – Johnny Brenda’s
1.24 Baltimore - Ottobar

YouTube: White Rabbits - “The Plot” on The Late Show with David Letterman:


Photo credits: D. Yee

So I can fall asleep tonight

How's this for a cheery, upbeat, first-post-of-2008: I'm writing about the musicians who've recently dropped dead.

Quiet Riot singer Kevin Dubrow died. This happened a few months ago, but I haven't had a chance to address it. A while back I wrote about how I had his cell phone number and was going to prank call him. So much for that. Kevin was still out there on the road, playing small club shows for tiny audiences to earn a living. You have to respect that.

Other deaths in recent months that troubled me included Boston's Brad Delp, whose "More Than a Feeling" is my favorite classic rock song of all-time, and Dan Fogelberg, the adult contemporary snoozer from the '70s. I have a soft spot in my heart for Dan because he was one of my mom's favorite singers, and "Longer" used to be "our song." I once bought an ironic Dan Fogelberg t-shirt, but I didn't wear it much because it was too ironic - nobody had any idea who he was.

A more surprising recent death was that of Hawthorne Heights guitarist Casey Calvert. He was found unconscious on his tour bus last month. In addition to being their guitarist, Calvert served as the "designated screamer" for the band, and his screaming is what made "Ohio is for Lovers" the emo/screamo classic that it is.

When the story of post-2000 emo music is written, "Ohio is for Lovers" may end up being the song that most typifies the genre, with whiny vocals and lyrics about wrist-cutting and dying. It's absurd, but it's also one of my biggest guilty pleasures of this decade.

YouTube: Hawthorne Heights - Ohio is for Lovers

My favorites of '07

I've read a ton of "best of 2007" lists on blogs, so rather than subject everyone to another top 10 or top 50 list, I decided to recap my favorites from 2007 in a slightly different way, with some serious and not-so-serious categories. Here's my list, with YouTube links for each.


Favorite album of the year
Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position

Favorite Track of 2007
Rihanna - Umbrella (featuring Jay-Z)

Albums that grew on me after some initial disappointment
Architecture in Helsinki - Places Like This
Junior Senior - Hey Hey My My Yo Yo

Albums that, regrettably, never grew on me
New Pornographers - Challengers
The Go! Team - Proof of Youth


Most Tragically Overlooked Pop Single
Natasha Bedingfield - I Wanna Have Your Babies

Favorite Rock Album
The National - Boxer

Best Rock Song
Against Me! - White People for Peace

Best Rock Song That Makes Use of Church Organ
The Arcade Fire - Intervention

Best Country Song
Rodney Atkins - These Are My People

Best Chorus
M.I.A. - Paper Planes

Best Foreign-Language Dance-Pop song Featuring Bouncing Ping Pong Balls
Enrique Iglesias - Dimelo

Most Overrated Album
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Come on people, the emperor has no clothes! I'm perplexed as to how people are calling this a return to Radiohead's earlier sound. It sounds nothing like The Bends or OK Computer. What it sounds like is Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief, with fewer weird sound effects. It's as if the band started recording it, then quit halfway through the process and said, 'Good enough.' By far the band's weakest effort since their debut.

Most Underrated Album
Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High
Scoff if you like, but this is a CD I couldn't stop playing. Other albums may have been greater artistic achievements, but this one had the most catchy tracks. And that's what I value most. Listen to "Bang the Doldrums" or "Thks fr Th Mmrs" and an hour later you'll be humming the chorus, whether you like it or not.

Artist I'm ready to give up on after three straight subpar albums
Rufus Wainwright

Best album from someone I'd given up on
Sondre Lerche - Dan In Real Life (soundtrack)

Most Impressive Job of Staying Relevant by Someone Who Shouldn't Still be Relevant
Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend

Best Album from 2006 I couldn't stop listening to in 2007
The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America

Best televised performance
Feist - 1,2,3,4 on Letterman (with New Pornographers, Grizzly Bear, The National, and Broken Social Scene)



Best live performance by a Mexican instrumental guitar duo
Rodrigo y Gabriela - Diablo Rojo on Letterman



Best use of the 'Shoes' girl in a video
Dresden Dolls - Shores of California

Best Use of Furries in a Video
Gym Class Heroes - Clothes Off!

Gayest Song of the Year
Mika - Lollipop

Catchiest Rock Song That Somehow Got Largely Overlooked
My Chemical Romance - Teenagers


Best Concert I witnessed
Daft Punk - Lollapalooza

Most Memorable Song Performance I witnessed
Pearl Jam with Ben Harper - Rockin' in the Free World (at Lollapalooza)

Most captivating dancer
Aaron Behrens of Ghostland Observatory

Best Nirvana cover
Polyphonic Spree - Lithium (at Lollapalooza)

Best attempt by a goth band to sound like Franz Ferdinand
Marilyn Manson - Heart Shaped Glasses


Best Song in the "Gypsy Pirate Rock" genre
HUMANWINE - Rivolta Silenziosa

Most Bizarre Pop Song That Still Rocks
Fiery Furnaces - Clear Signal From Cairo

Most Ubiquitous Song of the Summer Which Turned Out to be a Fluke from an Awful Group
Peter Bjorn & John - Young Folks

Artist I love even though I admit he has little talent
Mickey Avalon

Best Hip Hop Song
Kanye West - Stronger

Best Summer Jam
Justin Timberlake - Summer Love

Best Music Video
Justice - D.A.N.C.E.

Everything's gonna be alright...

Alicia Keys blew onto the scene in 2001 with "Fallin'," and proceeded to win boatloads of Grammys and critical acclaim, but the funny thing is, she didn't have another really good song on that first record. In fact, since then, she's had a handful of hits, but nothing that could even come close to the perfection of her first single. I was starting to toss her into the "overrated" category.

Now, finally, she's released a worthy successor to "Fallin'" - the R&B/pop song "No One." I love the lyrics, I love the vocal, and I especially love the way she sings "Everything's gonna be alright." I don't know why, but that just does it for me. It's such a joyful, optimistic song, and I guess after listening to stuff like Radiohead and The National lately, I'm in the mood for something upbeat.

Video: Alicia Keys - No One

Colbie Caillat and India.Arie - have you ever seen them together?

For a few weeks now I've been hearing this "Bubbly" song on the radio and thinking, Cool, India.Arie has a new song! Turns out it's by some broad named Colbie Caillat. I don't know who she is, but I've already decided I don't like her. We don't need another India.Arie. We already have one. Their voices sound exactly the same. It's too bad they can't combine themselves into one person, then together they might have a decent discography.

You know, in the same way that if all the hair metal bands became one, they'd be great. Like, Dokken and Winger and Cinderella and Ratt and Slaughter sucked, but if they were all one band, they'd have one hell of a catalogue!

Anyway, both Caillat and Arie are on Universal, a label which won't allow its YouTube videos to be embedded. So, I'm providing links to the videos in case anyone wants to check them out. Now that I watch them again, I'm not as convinced about the resemblance...

YouTube links:
Colbie Caillat - Bubbly
India.Arie - Video

Interview with Nicole Atkins

If you’re not yet familiar with Nicole Atkins, you will be soon. Last year Rolling Stone named her one of its Ten Artists to Watch, and she recently made her national TV debut on The Late Show with David Letterman to promote her full-length major-label debut, Neptune City, which has been earning positive reviews for its lush arrangements and her seductive vocal delivery.

Nicole called in from the road in Vermont to discuss the album, the tour, dinner invites from Letterman, and being the new DeNiro (sort of).

You’re on tour right now, opening for the Pipettes. How is that going?
It’s going good, the shows have been really great.

How are the Pipettes' fans responding to your performance?
Surprisingly well. There’s a lot of younger fans in the crowd, younger girls with polka-dot dresses on, and they seem to really like us. They’ve been buying our CDs after our set, which is good. A lot of people were saying they were surprised they liked the opening act!

Neptune City is based on life in your hometown. Can you elaborate on the story behind the songs?
I was living in Brooklyn for four or five years, and I just got to this point where I was really sick of the city. I moved back down to Charlotte for a few months just to get my head together, and I decided to move back to New Jersey for awhile, and it was basically about me coming to deal with all that, and being ok with living in my hometown again, because I always wanted to get as far as I could away from it, and I ended up really liking it.

There are conflicting emotions in some of the songs – a sense of pride in your town, but also disappointment in the changes that had taken place.
Yeah, you got it. It was hard because I didn’t know anybody that lived there anymore, but I ended up meeting some of the best friends I’ve ever had. It became easier for me to live there and write songs and commute to New York a couple days a week to practice, than it was for me to actually live in New York.

“Brooklyn’s on Fire” stands out as a song that paints a vivid picture. What was the inspiration for that song?
That was actually the first time I met my best friend Susan, who was my old roommate. We met on the fourth of July in Brooklyn at a rooftop party, and it was about that time, you know, just being young and living in Brooklyn, hanging out in New York and making the best memories of your youth in that time. It was a tribute song to her.

I understand that Rick Rubin made some last-minute changes to the record. How did he get involved?
Yeah, well he became the president of Columbia and he got my record and he really liked it but he thought that the vocals were being too squashed. So he actually ended up taking the mastering off completely, and it really made all of the arrangements and vocals really crisp, and you’re able to hear the nuances of every sound. My voice ended up sounding like it was leading the track rather than just being a part of the track, so I was really thankful. At first I was apprehensive about it because I didn’t know what he wanted to do. I thought I was gonna get my record back with all this shit all over it, and in the end he just enhanced it, he didn’t change anything.

I imagine it felt good to have someone of his stature helping out with your album.
It was pretty neat. It was weird because he would call me all time. I’d be out for drinks with my friends in New Jersey and be like, 'Hold on,' and they're like, 'Who's that?' 'Oh, Rick Rubin.' (laughs). He’s a really cool guy.

You’ve cited people like Roy Orbison and Patsy Cline as inspirations, with that kind of old fashioned sound. What is it that draws you to that kind of music?
It’s more the vocal style. Most of my musical influences are from the late ‘60s on, but they are inspirations to me because, that old country style of crooning, it feels really good for me to sing that way. And also the way I write songs, I like to start them out really low and build it until it’s like pow! at the end. And that’s something they were really good at doing with their songs as well.

I have to ask you about playing Letterman a couple weeks ago. What was that experience like?
Really fun! It was completely nerve-wracking at the beginning but then after a couple glasses of wine we went on stage and had a blast (laughs). It was one of the coolest days of my life so far. It was weird because when we actually got on stage, it was almost like I blacked out for three minutes and just got so into the song I didn’t notice how nervous I was.

It seemed like Dave was quite smitten with you.
Yeah, he asked me if I wanted to go get a steak! I thought that was pretty funny.

You and your band also did an American Express commercial. How did you get that opportunity?
It was so random. An intern at Columbia, their friend worked at the ad agency. She wanted to get an up-and-coming female singer/songwriter to do the ad and they asked me to do it. I wasn’t sure about it at first, but I weighed the pros and the cons and was like, wow, I can pay off my credit card bill finally, move out of my mom’s house, and people actually get to hear my song that wouldn’t otherwise be on the radio, so I couldn’t understand any reason not to do it.

You mentioned the pros and cons - there will always be some people who see doing advertising as selling out.
Yeah, but you’ve gotta think about how the music industry is today. The only songs that make it on the radio are Britney Spears... to the few radio stations that even still exist. Musicians need to make their money somehow, and I just figured all the American Express ads that I’ve seen were really cool, and they always had cool people in them, and I figured if it was good enough for DeNiro, it was good enough for me!

The only thing that was misportrayed was we don’t really lounge around in bathrobes and offer to fly our friends out to our shows (laughs). I asked them about that too. I was like, 'We usually stay at the Econolodge.' 'Uh, that doesn’t look too good on tv.' Ok, whatever.

You’re playing here in Pittsburgh on Monday. What can people expect from your live show?
They can expect to probably dance a lot, and it’s more of a rock show than people would expect from hearing the recording. It’s pretty much a full-on rock show.

Video clip: Nicole Atkins & The Sea perform “The Way It Is” on The Late Show with David Letterman.



Nicole Atkins & The Sea perform at Diesel with the Pipettes tonight at 8 pm. Check out her website and her MySpace.

They can't stop messing with their danger zones

I ran across this tonight and had to share: Cyndi Lauper's She Bop video. Although I own this 45 I hadn't seen the video in ages.

It's very arresting visually. From the bizarre burger drive-in, to the bizarre cartoon segment, to the bizarre tap dance sequence, I can't take my eyes off it. Plus, it has Captain Lou Albano in curlers.

The best & worst of Diane Warren

Diane Warren has written more pop hits over the past 20 years than anyone, much to the dismay of those with actual taste in music. Her bland, formulaic ballads have been giving mainstream music a bad name since 1985. But no one is all bad. So here are my choices for the best and worst Diane Warren songs.

BEST:
1. "If I Could Turn Back Time," Cher, 1989
This song transcends its Diane Warren-ness to become a pop music classic, thanks to a great performance (and greater music video) from Cher.



2. "Everything Changes," Kathy Troccoli, 1992
This one makes the list because it's so completely inoffensive. It's like the lesser of several evils. While the song doesn't make me jump up and down and cheer, there is nothing to dislike about it. It's a catchy little dance-pop number performed by a singer with a great voice. Kathy Troccoli has gone on to become a hugely successful Christian artist, which makes me like this song even more - it's almost like enjoying the song is kind of a taboo thing because she's an artist in a genre that we are supposed to dislike. (I like Michael W. Smith's "Place in This World" for the same reason.)



3. "When I See You Smile," Bad English, 1989
One of my favorite power ballads ever. In another band's hands, maybe it wouldn't have been so impressive, but big-haired vocalist John Waite nails it. It's sweet and simple, which are the two most desirable elements in a love song, in my estimation.



4. "Rhythm Of the Night," DeBarge, 1985
A classic fun '80s pop song, it was also one of Diane's first hits. Perhaps she should have stopped while she was ahead?



5. "Don't Turn Around," Ace of Base, 1994
I had no idea that the Ace of Base recording was the fifth different version of this song. Tina Turner actually sang it back in 1986, and Bonnie Tyler and Neil Diamond were among the others who gave it a shot before Ace of Base's quirky Tetris-like rendition became a smash hit.



WORST:
1. "Music Of My Heart," *N Sync & Gloria Estefan, 1999
This one gets the nod because it’s not only a horrible song, the actual performance is just as bad. Gloria appears in the second verse and gives hope that maybe she can save the song, but then Justin and JC sing all over her verse and ruin it. I dare you to sit through the entire song/video.



2. "I Could Not Ask For More," Edwin McCain (also by Sara Evans), 1999
Sometimes a song comes along that you absolutely despise, even if you can't put your finger on why you despise it. This is such a song for me. I just can't stand Edwin McCain's voice on the song, which is odd because I liked Edwin's previous hit, "I'll Be." The fact that Sara Evans remade it the very same year and it became a country hit too just infuriated me more, because it got double the airplay.



3. "Completely," Michael Bolton, 1994
Michael Bolton has recorded a ton of Diane Warren songs, and I actually like a few ("How Can We Be Lovers," "Missing You Now.") But this one is the worst. It never really attempts to have any melody whatsoever, and the chorus is just Michael wailing away without any direction.

Video unavailable, dammit!

4. "Nothing Broken But My Heart," Celine Dion, 1992
Diane has always been Celine's go-to songwriter. They've had several hits together but this was one of the most unremarkable, a middling ballad that is almost exactly the same in melody and structure as one of Diane's previous songs, "If You Asked Me To." Some of Diane's songs at least have a catchy hook or an interesting lyric, but this one has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.



5. "I'd Lie for You (And That's the Truth)," Meat Loaf, 1996
This isn't the worst song Diane wrote for Meat Loaf - that distinction goes to "Cry Over Me," a horrifying ballad from this Year's Bat Out Of Hell III. But "I'd Lie for You" is on the list because of the shameless way in which Diane wrote it to emulate the style of Meat Loaf's regular songwriter, Jim Steinman. It has signature Steinman elements, like the lead piano, male/female lead vocals, operatic background vocals, and even has a guitar solo - since when do Diane Warren songs have guitar solos? It's sorry that someone as accomplished as Diane would feel the need to ripoff someone else.

And I'm so, whoa oh oh ooh oh ooh oh

"The guy in the flannel shirt is the pianist!" I'm pretty sure tonight was the first time I ever uttered that sentence. I just saw the White Rabbits, one of my favorites from Lollapalooza, at Club Cafe. I like this band and their catchy, punchy rock songs. They are unique in that they have two drummers, sometimes three, depending on the song, and they do a lot of freelancing - sometimes the bassist will play drums, sometimes a drummer helps out on keyboards.

They have some shows lined up with Tokyo Police Club - that would be an awesome pairing - but tonight they headlined alone. It was a quality performance, and the single The Plot sounded great. I love the group sing along at the end of Kid on my Shoulders too.

They seemed pretty accessible and stayed afterwards to chat with people. I wanted to join in but when I go to shows by myself I feel a little silly talking to the bands, don't ask me why. I guess that's just another reason for me to launch this Pittsburgh music website that I've been kicking around in my head for years, so that I can actually interview bands before they get to town...

I'm not feeling very verbose tonight so I'll leave it at that, and link to their recent performance of The Plot on Letterman:

September 5: Thumbs up/ Thumbs down

THUMBS UP:
Brad Paisley. It took me a LONG time to warm up to this guy. He's a traditionalist, and I remember hearing some quotes from him early in his career that ticked me off. Specifically, while onstage at an awards ceremony, he said, "I have no desire to be played anywhere other than country radio," which was a slap in the face to artists like Faith, Shania and the Dixie Chicks who had branched out into pop. It made me think he was full of himself. That feeling started to wear off with 2002's "I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song)," which revealed a side of Paisley I hadn't seen - the funny side. Now, with the humorous single "Online" and his acclaimed new album 5th Gear, I'm firmly in the Paisley camp - he's a breath of fresh air from the other men ruling the genre. Toby Keith's a pompous ass, Kenny Chesney's a fraud-committing wacko, but Paisley is genuine.

Kanye West. By moving up the release date of his album, Kanye created a September 11 showdown with 50 Cent, and in turn got people talking about rap music again. His new song Stronger samples Daft Punk and shows that he is still trying to break new ground and provide something fresh. Like Brad Paisley, I used to hate Kanye, but eventually I had to give in and accept his brilliance.

THUMBS DOWN:
Backstreet Boys. Please give it up guys! They've lost Kevin, but the other four Boys are carrying on, and their new single Inconsolable sucks. Just like everything they've done since 2001. Except for "Just Want You to Know" - the video for that was excellent. A fluke, I must say...

The MTV Video Music Awards. I give them thumbs down because they actually did something right - they included an obscure song among the nominations for Video of the Year - Justice's "D.A.N.C.E." I was disappointed because now the whole friggin' world knows about an awesome band that I was hoping would stay a small, little-known indie act. See, even when they do something right, there's reason to be mad at MTV. (It'll probably lose to Beyonce, anyway...)

FBI Discontinues Surveillance of Rockwell

I ran across this the other day, I think it's an old article from the Onion, and I'm going to reprint it without permission:

FBI Discontinues Surveillance Of Rockwell
October 14, 1998 | Issue 34•11


WASHINGTON, DC–After 15 years of undercover work, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Monday that it is discontinuing its surveillance of mid-'80s pop star Rockwell.

FBI director Louis Freeh announces the end of the agency's longtime Rockwell-surveillance program.

"We have finally determined to our satisfaction that Rockwell poses no significant threat to national security," FBI director Louis Freeh told reporters at a press conference Monday. "As a result, we are confident that he no longer needs watching."

Rockwell, who since 1983 has endured hidden-camera observations, phone-tappings and stakeouts at the hands of FBI agents, said he is "not mollified" by the announcement.

"All I ever wanted was to be left alone, in my average home," the former Motown recording artist told reporters. "But for a decade and a half, the FBI made me feel like I was in the twilight zone. Nothing can ever give me back those years."

Rockwell, long derided for what was widely seen as paranoid delusion on his part, said he is owed an apology from "a great many individuals."

"People laughed at me when I told them I was being watched. They laughed when I told them I was afraid to wash my hair because I might open my eyes and find someone standing there," said Rockwell, speaking in his trademark dandified, British-accented, quasi-rap style. "But now, the world finally knows that my fears were justified all along."

The FBI's Rockwell-surveillance program reached its peak in 1986, when $22 million in federal funds was allocated for the observation of the singer. In total, more than $150 million has been spent on Rockwell-observation since 1983.

Despite his lingering resentment and anger over the years spent under observation, Rockwell said he is excited about the future and looking forward to finally enjoying a normal existence.

"I'm just an average man with an average life," said Rockwell, backed by a pulsating synthesizer track. "But for years, I felt like I had no privacy. I felt like people were playing tricks on me. Thankfully, though, I am finally vindicated. My suspicions were correct all along."

YouTube: Rockwell "Somebody's Watching Me"

Lollapalooza Day 3: Invisible drummers, power outages, and meeting the bearded guy

The final installment of my journal from Lollapalooza, with still more photos and videos taken with my crappy camera…

11:40 White Rabbits

Upon walking in I was stunned that there were huge mud puddles all over the place from last night’s modest rain. It seemed that Lolla was completely unprepared for even the slightest bit of precipitation. As the day went on, things got better - puddles were filled in with sand and covered up with cardboard sheets. The fields were still a bit muddy but not too bad.

The first band I took in was White Rabbits, and I enjoyed them a great deal – catchy rock songs, and 2 drummers, which is an oddity I always enjoy. “The Plot,” in particular, is a song worth tracking down.

12:10 1900’s

I saw almost 50 bands this weekend, and this is the one I remember the least. My notes tell me they had at least 3 girls in the band, including keyboard and violin players. That’s all I can say about them…

12:30 The Cribs
Generic indie rock that didn’t grab my attention. Man, this day started off slow.

1:15 Rodrigo y Gabriela

A Mexican instrumental acoustic guitar duo. Yeah, sounds sucky, but it was incredible. This girl’s fingers are impossibly fast. For the first few songs, I was craning my neck to search around for a drummer, because I kept hearing drums but I couldn’t see anyone playing them. I eventually realized it was Gabriela, slapping her guitar in between playing the notes. I wish there were some better video clips of this performance on YouTube, because the world needs to see how phenomenal this duo is.

1:50 Smoosh

My favorite preteen girl group! And I was excited to hear that their younger sister, age 8, has now been added to the group as a bass player! Unfortunately I couldn’t stay long, and the songs they played in my presence weren’t all that impressive. Oh well.

2:15 Amy Winehouse

There was no energy or enthusiasm coming from the stage during her performance. One reviewer said she seemed “disinterested,” which was true, but that’s her style. She is just very distant on stage, her singing very clinical. No crowd interaction whatsoever, except to shyly say “Thank you” after a couple (not all) of the songs. It got better towards the end as she played the hits, including, of course, “Rehab,” and the show closer, my favorite, “Valerie.”

Video clip: “Valerie”

3:15 Paolo Nutini

I like this guy’s record, and I wanted to like his performance. I guess it was ok, but he needs to learn to speak better English. He sounds better on the record than he does live (thank you, studio wizardry.) On stage, he still sings with a heavy accent that is so bad it detracts from his singing. I did enjoy “Jenny Don’t Be Hasty” a lot.

4:15 Iggy Pop and the Stooges

This is one everyone is still talking about, but I left before it got good. I witnessed the one Stooges song I knew, “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” but I missed the part later where Iggy invited people to rush the stage, to the horror of security personnel. This may very well have been one of the weekend's better shows, but I didn't see enough to deem it so.

5:00 Peter Bjorn and John

Everyone’s favorite Swedish pop trio had problems just 10 minutes in when the sound blew out, before they even had a chance to play “Young Folks.” I was pissed but took advantage of the break to see another band. I returned 30 minutes later when power was restored, and got to see “Young Folks.” This band seemed to offer little substance beyond that one song.

5:20 !!!
I arrived at the MySpace stage to see !!! singer Nic Offer gyrating around like an escaped mental patient. His dancing was worse than mine, but it was so uncool that it was cool. This band had the crowd going ballistic. The vocals sounded just as bad as they do on CD, especially on “Me & Giuliani (Down By the Schoolyard),” but no one cared. This was total energy. If it hadn’t been for Daft Punk, this might’ve been the best show of the festival.

Video clip: Unknown song (this is one of my best videos ever, showing the singer, video screen, crowd, and skyline… it's too bad YouTube quality sucks…)

6:15 My Morning Jacket

When the schedule was originally released, I had planned to see Modest Mouse in this time slot. Then, I thought, since MMJ is such a popular live band, maybe I’ll at least see a small piece of their show, and then finish with Modest Mouse. Then, I heard that MMJ was performing with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, and realizing that history might be made, I decided to spend most of this time slot here. Finally, when it actually got to be 6:15 on Sunday night, I was too tired to walk to the other end of the park, so I skipped Modest Mouse entirely and stay here. Turns out, this performance was nothing special. But at least I got a good spot for TV on the Radio.

7:15 TV On the Radio
I was looking forward to this all weekend. They did a nice job of turning their textured, experimental sounds into a blistering live show. “I Was a Lover” in particular caught me off guard, because without the freaky keyboard intro, I didn’t realize they were playing it at first. “Wolf Like Me” rocked hard as always. When their criminally short set concluded, fans chanted for one more song, which never works in a festival setting where all the time slots are pre-determined down to the minute, but I thought it might work here, because the band went on 5 minutes late due to MMJ overplaying, so they were due some time, and because Pearl Jam, the next band, was the final band of the night, so it wouldn’t hurt anyone to allow TVOtR to do a quick encore, right? But it didn’t happen. And once fans realized it wasn’t going to happen, the chant hilariously went from “One more song!” to “Fuck Pearl Jam!”

Video clip: “Wolf Like Me”

8:10
Pearl Jam came on 10 minutes late (leaving plenty of time for that nonexistent TVOtR encore), but I wasn’t paying much attention for the first hour, because I was hanging around the MySpace stage hoping TV On the Radio might come out and meet fans. Two members eventually did (the bearded guitarist and the singer), and I got autographs. It was cool hearing them chat with fans (“How come you’re not over at Pearl Jam? You guys are young – is Pearl Jam classic rock to you?”) I haven’t met any singers in a while, so this was a great capper to my weekend.

9:00 Pearl Jam


An hour late, I turned my attention to Pearl Jam. I figured it was no big deal because they’d probably play for 3 hours anyway – this was the first performance in Lolla history that did not have a specified end time, and fans speculated PJ might offer a legendary show that went past 11:00. Imagine my shock when, after a raucous “Alive,” the band went offstage at precisely 9:23 p.m. Seriously. They came back out for another 40 minutes, but the fact they ended at 10 stunned pretty much everyone.

It was good while it lasted – “Even Flow” was particularly impressive, with long guitar solos and fireworks. “Worldwide Suicide” and “Daughter” were additional highlights in a hits-heavy set. Ben Harper came out for an anti-war acoustic ballad “No More War,” and then Harper played with the band on “Rockin’ in the Free World,” which ended up being a stunning closer, as Eddie Vedder invited the fans on stage – those in the VIP seats, anyway (that explains why Vedder ended up on Dennis Rodman’s shoulders). The energy and significance of the moment helped make that song one of the best performances I’ve ever witnessed. As a whole, I thought the set was good but not great. I was happy to have some diehard PJ fans confirm this later – they said it was average by Pearl Jam standards, which is still very good.

Bands seen today: 13

Best of today:
1. !!!
2. Rodrigo y Gabriela
3. TV On the Radio
4. Pearl Jam

Bands seen this weekend: 47 (including 40 I had never seen before)

Best performances of the festival:
1. Daft Punk
2. !!!
3. Ghostland Observatory
4. Rodrigo y Gabriela
5. The Hold Steady
6. TV On the Radio
7. Pearl Jam
8. Polyphonic Spree
9. Patti Smith
10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
11. High Class Elite
12. White Rabbits
13. Mickey Avalon
14. Tokyo Police Club
15. Paolo Nutini

Bands I most regret missing:
1. Spoon
2. Modest Mouse
3. Regina Spektor

On Lollapalooza, part 1

We're finally just one month away from Lollapalooza. I've been looking forward to it forever. I'm going alone, which is actually great because when you go to these kinds of festivals with friends, you end up splitting up anyway to go see the bands you want to see. Being unfettered means I'll more easily be able to worm my way through crowds and get closer to the stage.

My biggest beef with Lolla is that they don't stagger the headlining acts, they have them performing at the same time. Which means that for much of the festival, I'm going to be catching 25 minutes of one band, racing to the other side of the park, and catching the last 25 minutes of the other band. That is not ideal, but I'd still rather do that than stay with one band for the full hour and miss the other band entirely. My biggest conflicts are Patti Smith vs. Spoon, Interpol vs. Muse, and Lupe Fiasco vs. Amy Winehouse.

I'm all about seeing as many bands as possible. I'd rather see 20 half-sets than 10 full sets. I've never quite understood the opposite mindset, but I guess to each his own...

Another criticism of Lolla is there are no WOW acts playing. Bonnaroo last year featured 2 of my 3 favorite bands, the Dresden Dolls and Radiohead. At Lolla, there will be a ton of very good acts, but none that are in my personal top ten.


CSS

Top 5 bands I'm looking forward to:
1. TV On the Radio -myspace
2. CSS -myspace
3. Tokyo Police Club -myspace
4. M.I.A. -myspace
5. Patti Smith -myspace
Honorable mention: Silverchair, Iggy Pop & the Stooges, Smoosh, Amy Winehouse, Pearl Jam, Mickey Avalon

TV On the Radio are playing late Sunday night, right before Pearl Jam, and right after !!! and Modest Mouse, so that's going to be a memorable way to end the festival. They blew the roof off Letterman when they played last year:

Uh-huh, uh-huh, yo, guys - Smoosh make me happy

I've been looking forward to this year's Lollapalooza all summer... can't wait to see Tokyo Police Club, TV On the Radio, Amy Winehouse, Silverchair, etc. But I was psyched recently when Smoosh was added to the lineup.

Smoosh is a band comprised of two teenage sisters from Seattle. They make silly happy pop music. Yet, somehow, they've connected with the hipster crowd, playing SXSW and other events they should have no business playing.

The most obvious band to compare Smoosh to would be Hanson, but that's not really accurate because Hanson were making legitimately cutting-edge pop with big-name co-writers and producers, while Smoosh just make silly songs that are almost more appropriate for kids.

My favorite song of theirs is "Rad," an actual rap song that is so ridiculously stupid that it's brilliant. "Everyone, are you feeling bad today? Cause maybe you should be a little happier!" You have to love youth and naivete. See ya, everyone.

Make yourself happy, then kill yourself

A week or so ago, I was lamenting the fact that there hadn't been any good albums released this year. If I was to choose an Album of the Year, it probably would've been Fall Out Boy's Infinity on High, by default. But now, I have two excellent candidates.

Mika's Life in Cartoon Motion is a glorious ball of fun, with some of the poppiest songs and energetic falsetto I've heard in a while. This actually came out a couple months ago but I just got around to obtaining it. I highly recommend three of the crazy happy tracks: Lollipop, Grace Kelly, and Big Girl (You are Beautiful), plus two of the slower ones: Any Other World and Happy Ending.

This album now goes on my list of happiest pop albums of all time, with:
D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat, Junior Senior
Middle of Nowhere, Hanson
In Case We Die, Architecture in Helsinki
She Like Electric, Smoosh

In stark contrast is the lyrically depressing but musically interesting Eat Me, Drink Me by Marilyn Manson. It's his most accessible album ever. One of the tracks is pure dance-rock. The others are still dark and creepy but the guitars are catchy. Heart-Shaped Glasses and Putting Holes in Happiness are stellar. I've always been a big fan of Manson, because I love anything that subverts the mainstream. Wait a second - *checks title of blog...* Well, it's true, although I enjoy the mainstream, I also enjoy anything that challenges the status quo. I was on the fence about attending his Manson's upcoming concert in Cleveland, but now I'm sold.


YouTube videos:
Mika, Lollipop (live)


Marilyn Manson, Heart Shaped Glasses (music video, short version)

The long, lost voice of Steelheart

I've been a YouTube fanatic for a couple of years, and I still keep discovering hidden treasures. I just found this bitchin' clip of Steelheart performing their one and only hit, "I'll Never Let You Go (Angel Eyes)," from 1991. It's one of the best power ballads of all-time. What made it amazing were the vocals of Michael Matijevic. This guy was on a completely different plane than everyone else. Only Mariah Carey could possibly rival him for overall vocal range.

It's odd that nothing's been heard from Michael for the past 15 years. I read that he tried out for Velvet Revolver, but the band went with Weiland instead, those bitches.

Here's the link. If you're not familiar with the song, make sure you watch the whole way through. And hide any glass objects like vases or mirrors.

My dirty little secret - I don't do mix tapes

As my last entry waxed romantic on the joys of the mix tape (or at least described someone who does), I should come clean: I've never been a mix tape guy.

I've got plenty of old cassettes lying around the house, containing hundreds of songs that I taped off the radio in the '90s, but I don't consider those true mix tapes, as I did not record those with a specific track listing or mood in mind; I just taped whatever was on the radio.

I could never be a mix tape guy, because sometimes I'm JUST NOT IN THE MOOD for a song that comes on, and I need the ability to skip immediately to the next track. Mix tapes require a level of patience that I shall never possess.

Despite that, I thought it would be fun, as Rob Sheffield does in his book, to analyze one of my old quasi-mix tapes, featuring songs I taped off the radio, circa 1991. I dare say this is a stellar cassette.


Side A:
Good Vibrations, Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch
Broken Arrow, Rod Stewart
The Promise of a New Day, Paula Abdul
Fading Like a Flower (dance version), Roxette
I Can't Wait Another Minute, Hi Five
Love On a Rooftop, Desmond Child
Crazy, Seal

Side B:
Emotions, Mariah Carey
Do Anything, Natural Selection
I Can't Wait, Nu Shooz
Red Red Wine (with rap), UB40
Running Back to You, Vanessa Williams
The Power, Snap

This is one of the few tapes I have that I really can listen to all the way through because it has a lot of happy dance songs, with no filler. "Good Vibrations" is a classic. "Love on a Rooftop" is a little-known song I've always loved - until I just found it on YouTube and realized that it actually sucks. Oh well. Ditto for "Do Anything," except that song still holds up for me.

Obscure YouTube links:
Good Vibrations - Marky Mark
Do Anything - Natural Selection
Love On a Rooftop - Desmond Child
The Promise Of a New Day - Paula Abdul