Music
Section by Jeb D.
THE BEGINNING
Black Eyed Peas
Let’s face it, plenty of great pop music relies on the annoyance factor; in a way, that’s what a pop hook often is. Sometimes, it’s a melody you want to bathe in over and over; other times it’s an aural itch that you have to keep scratching, even when it does no good. So here we are, with the latest from the band that seems to annoy more people than any other working today. While I’d never call them subtle, I do like the fact that, once past the opening invocation of “I’ve Had The Time Of My Life” (which is truly enough to make you want to turn the damn thing off and throw it out the window right there), there’s less of a sense that they’re pushing for a hit; given the more relaxed tone, I won’t be surprised if “Whenever” or “Someday” deliver. I’ll admit that an entire album of auto-tune is usually enough to defeat me, and by the time we get to the assortment of “bonus tracks” that Amazon provides, my mind truly began to wander. But taken in small doses, stuff like “Love You Long Time” and “Don’t Stop The Party” are first-rate floor fodder.
THE WEIGHT’S ON THE WHEELS
The Russian Futurists
It opens with a catchy duet between songwriter/bandleader Matthew Hart and Ruth Minnikin that helps set the tone: adult, slighly twee pop, with light dance grooves and tunes that will lodge oh-so-immovably in your cortex; “I’m feeling good about my chances tonight,” indeed. “100 Shopping Days Till Christmas” is a down-to-earth bit of timeliness, “Register My Firearms? No Way!” is ironic Tea Party romance at its finest, and “To Be Honest” is a sly bit of self-examination. The production is nicely jam-packed and effectively layered, with the odd guitar or keyboard part peeking its head out now and again, before sinking back into the plush mix. If Crowded House had come up today instead of twenty years ago, they might have sounded something like this. Not-so-pure pop for us no-longer-so-“now”-people.
NORTHERN AGGRESSION
Steve Wynn And The Miracle 3
Steve Wynn may be trying to set some kind of record, having now led something like a half-dozen different bands, with no sign of stopping: given the relative obscurity in which they labor, I admire his persistence. This latest outing (the fourth) from The Miracle 3 might be his most effective slice of rock and roll since the glory days of The Dream Syndicate. Lacking a Karl Precoda or Paul Cutler to lean on, Wynn concentrates on a tighter, more focused approach to the clash of guitars, from the Stones-y shuffle of “The Other Side,” to the chunk-a-chunk funk of “We Don’t Talk About It;” from the churning psychedelia of “Colored Lights” to the oddly affecting “The Death of Donny B,” an uncredited song that Wynn found on an old anti-drug film, The Miracle 3 (guitarist Jason Victor, drummer Linda Pitmon, and bassist Dave DeCastro) provide Wynn with what might be the tightest backing he’s ever had. If they lack the expansiveness of The Dream Syndicate, there’s as much punch and variety as Wynn’s Baseball Project at its best (is it an in-joke that the album even leads off with the words “When I slide, I slide“?). The album closes out on the strong one-two punch of “On The Mend”‘s screaming guitars, and “Ribbons and Chains,” which genially revisits Wynn’s Lou Reed obsession.
THE FABULOUS MISS D: THE KEYNOTE, DECCA, & MERCURY SINGLES 1943-1953
Dinah Washington
Washington’s importance lies in her ability to move from the world of jazz standards where Ella and Sarah held court, into the burgeoning field of R & B, where she became a jukebox staple in the black communities in the south and major urban areas during the 40’s and 50’s. Though she would go on, after this period, to have crossover hits and become an even bigger star, the sides on this set (beautifully remastered) give a picture of the downhome grit and humor that the youthful Washington (barely twenty when the first of these records was cut) brought to a jazz vocal scene that was (is) often too willing to smooth out its rough edges: from “Salty Papa Blues” to “My Man’s An Undertaker,” the sly Miss D pulls no punches.
Other Noteworthy 11/30 Releases
Black Swan Soundtrack. Darren Aronofsky, hot ballet babes and cold, cruel death… clearly a job for Clint Mansell.
Soulja Boy, The DeAndre Way. Dude says he deserves a Grammy. And why not? Look at the people that are already winning the damn thing.
Christette Michele, Let Freedom Reign. The dance grooves are fine, the diva pipes in place, and you know it’s a proper “album,” not just a random collection of singles, because it’s got Part 1’s and Part 2’s, and a couple of “skits.” Useful line of the week: “I suck at doing anything right.”
Ronald Isley, Mr. I. One of the original soul men meets L.A. Reid, T.I., and Aretha Franklin (among others) for a funky fiftieth anniversary.
Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath. It’s a cross– the box is a cross, a black cross–get it? Cuz it’s all about “eeeevillll.” Anyway, it’s 13 CD’s, all nine of the albums Ozzy did with Sab, with a couple of radio shows about him and the band, a poster, a 100 page book, and some guitar picks. Of course, you could just buy the version that comes in a plain old coffin-shaped container… but that box!
Fugs, Tenderness Junction / It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest. Digital remastering on one CD of the two groundbreaking albums by the group that transitioned from the beats to the hippies, lampooning both and scorning the fools they allowed themselves to be governed by. Pick to click: “Out Demons Out,” recorded live during the 1967 attempt to levitate the Pentagon.
Burlesque Soundtrack. Eight new Aguilera tracks, some new Cher, not enough Stanley Tucci.
Bryan Adams, Bare Bones. Says here that Adams decided to record a new live acoustic collection of his best known songs because the fans coming to his shows demanded it! Of course, touring without a band is cheaper, too.
Sandy Denny, Deluxe Box Set. Is Jimmy Page just being an asshole again? Here we have one of the great female vocalists in the history of English music, gathering together every regular studio recording she ever made (including Strawbs, Fairport, Fotheringay, and the solo albums), live material, and even several hours of previously unreleased rehearsal and demo tapes. And after all that, we can’t get the track for which she’s best-known, her duet with Plant on “Battle of Evermore”? Ah, well. This thing’s too pricey for any but the most fanatic collector; on the flip side, there’s loads of stuff on here that not EVEN the most fanatic Denny collector would already own.
Swans, My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky. Been out for a while, but I’m just now getting round to it. Anyway, it’s clear that Gira and his re-formed, re-constituted Swans are as dark and doom-laden as ever, brutal and unforgiving (who else would title a song “You Fucking People Make Me Sick”?), but with a more open perspective: on a song like “Jim” you sense something approaching empathy, and “Eden Prison” could almost be mistaken for rock and roll. Too gloomy to be taken seriously (they’re like an American reduction of Joy Division mixed with Gang of Four, with even less of a sense of humor), but too serious to just dismiss out of hand.