Some Things of General Import
I can has ACL injury?
Dear Joe,
Sorry, man… Just one of those weird hits. I was trying to get the pass off, and he was wrapped up at my feet. Just one of those things. I think we both knew it would happen sometime this season — but I, for one, really didn’t expect week one.
I realize this throws off [...]
CD Reviews
Q-Tip: The Rennaisance»
Upon first listen: garbage.
Sorry, Tip. Hiding behind that 808 won’t do any good.
Diggin’ in the crates, I tossed this disc on the iPod for the trip last week. I kept meaning to revisit it after hearing Fatlip on the Chemical Brothers single all over the radio over the last six months. The disc holds up: one of those transitional records, between the basic, end-rhyming hip hop of the late 80’s - early 90’s to the darker, warbled-jazz production of guys like Rockwilder and Jay Dee. The skits aren’t annoying; great all the way through.
One part Elvis Costello, one part Paul Simon’s Graceland and one part Wes Anderson soundtrack. I loved (read: LOVED) this record in June.
Now, eh…
It suffers from a chronic, Weezer-esque, pop purity; it’s too perfect for it’s own good. Dig those double-octave, overdubbed guitars on “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa.” Groove to that driving baseline of “The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance.” Pop your lime-green polo collar to the harpsichord-thing in “M79” and just know that for the next three minutes, you’re cooler than everyone else at your girlfriend’s Hamptons cottage.
Wynton Marsalis & Willie Nelson: Two Men With The Blues»
Don’t know why this didn’t happen sooner. Ever hear Willie try to sing with one of Today’s Fresh New Things like Sheryl Crow or Rob Thomas? Unless your name begins with a “J”, ends with an “H” and there’s a “ohnny Cas” in the middle, Willie’s gonna sound terrible on your record.
Why? Cause he sings like a jazz vocalist, always changing, meandering through a melody line. You’re dropping your studio-brewed hook, and Willie’s walking all over it. Replace interminable pop talent with a legitimate jazz backing, and you’ve got a damn-good record.
Technorati Tags: Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis
The Hold Steady: Stay Positive»
The Hold Steady, on each previous effort, has never been immediately accessible. Stay Positive is no exception, though it’s not as rewarding as Separation Sunday nor Boys & Girls In America.
The trick to cozying up to the Hold Steady is to listen to their entire catalog at once. Just put it all into a playlist, throw it on shuffle, and go to town. Aside from all the blah-blah-blah-Springsteen-E-Street sound-alike similarities that the music press drools over, they also share the Boss’s relatively contextual independence. That’s a lot of words to say: I can’t tell which album (or which time in their career) any one song is from. They’re exceedingly good at making the type of music they make; you’ll never hear an Hold Steady album and figure out that Craig Finn took up the harmonium in the off-season.
Stay Positive, though, leans a little less directly on the band’s own catalog. Where Separation Sunday and Boys & Girls created a cast of repeating characters (almost flirting with “concept album” status) and dealt with universal themes of love and faith and drugs and death, this record steps a bit apart. References to those characters (by name, at least) is less frequent. And, though, thematically they’re still mining familiar territory, Craig’s exploring the subtleties of those areas a bit more.
You Should Own These
Redman: Doc’s Da Name 2000»
There aren’t a lot of rap records holding up after 8 years, especially those without a Snoop, Doctor, or skinny white kid in sight. Red’s 2000 release is still solid — still a great party record. Even though those types of parties might be a little less frequent.
