October 26, 2009
This week, we're listening in on music from The Cramps, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Thalía, Tito El Bambino, Gloria Estefan, Mika, and Michael Bublé.
Where we were extolling the many virtues of this new album "The Boy Who Knew Too Much" we took a shot at describing Mika's sound by referencing Queen, George Michael, Elton John, and ABBA, but we weren't being precise enough. Each of these artists has lengthy careers and the accompanying artistic growth that comes with the territory. So we'll be more specific.
When we mention Queen, we're talking about the early glitter-era Queen (the first four albums) that brought you "Killer Queen" (as opposed to the arena rock Queen of "We Will Rock You").We'll use our George Michael reference as an excuse to talk up the virtues of Wham!, unfairly denigrated as another teen bubblegum band (and what's wrong with that, by the way?) and call attention to their follow-up to "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go": the mid-sized (but mostly forgotten) hit "Freedom," the best song that Holland-Dozier-Holland never wrote that the Four Tops never recorded. Our Elton John reference is meant to point you to his first rush of mass popularity when he was also flirtatious with glitter ala "Bennie And The Jets". Finally, our ABBA reference shouldn't imply the Euro-disco of "Dancing Queen" or the chipper "Take A Chance On Me" but instead point you to their early rock-inspired sides like "Waterloo" or, more specifically, their first single, "Ring Ring."
Put them all together and you have the sound of Mika's first two albums. Well, not exactly. . . He's much more than an amalgamation of his predecessors. But this is something you need to find out for yourselves by catching his current tour in support of The Boy Who Knew Too Much, possibly the best pure/pop celebratory album of the year.
October 19, 2009
This week, we're listening in on music from Blaxploitation films, the Yacht Rock genre, Toby Keith, and Gustafer Yellowgold.
If your eyes started rolling when we referred to Steely Dan as one of the "roots of punk" artists -- in context of the our yacht rock discussion this week of all things-- you're not alone. It was only after hearing an appreciation of their early/mid-'70s work from people as diverse as Elvis Costello and Steve Wynn (of college rock staple The Dream Syndicate) that many of the knowing fans started to feel validated. Not convinced? Still focused on Steely Dan's jazz licks and smooth harmonies that come first and foremost to mind? Start by taking a look at the lyrics to "Kid Charlemagne", a cynical, unforgiving take on a '60s drug dealer who's fallen on hard times. The song itself works as a pretty savage dismissal of the '60s counterculture (or at least the more naive parts of it), which is an underlying theme in most of the early formative punk sides from the late '70s. Then there's "Black Friday", sung from the point of view of a ruined investor sharing his survival-of-the-fittest strategy after being caught in a mid-19th century stock market crash, or the title cut from The Royal Scam, a dark and disappointing story focusing on the disparity between the truth and the reality of the American immigrant experience in the late '50s. If you step away from the smooth grooves and sing-a-long choruses you'll hear that same wonderful disparity in "Black Cow", "Show Biz Kids", "Hey Nineteen", and, well, a large majority of their entire output. Really, how much more subversive can you get than hiding a bitter pill in a radio-friendly, oh-so-mellow package. But then what did you expect from a band that took their name from an object in a William Burroughs novel?
October 13, 2009
This week, we're listening in on music from Rosanne Cash, Ziggy Marley, Sonic Youth, Gary Glitter, Billy Idol, and Blur.
If you're as enamored of Rosanne Cash's new album as we are (and why wouldn't you be), we'd like to point you in the direction of the original versions. On the podcast we talked/raved about Lefty Frizzell's version of "Long Black Veil", Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash's duet on "Girl From The North Country", and Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings". We also mentioned our sadness at the passing of Mary Travers, forgetting that her "500 Miles" with Peter, Paul And Mary was yet another wisely chosen song by both Cashes. Because we don't want to leave you hanging or pass up the opportunity to expose you to more music while we've got your attention, here's our version of The List (The Original Versions):
1. "Miss The Mississippi And You" - Jimmie Rodgers
2. "Motherless Children" - Son House
3. "Sea Of Heartbreak" - Don Gibson
4. "Take These Chains From My Heart" - Ray Charles
5. "I'm Movin' On" - Hank Snow
6. "She's Got You" - Patsy Cline
7. "Heartaches By The Number" - Ray Price
8. "500 Miles" - Peter, Paul And Mary
9. "Long Black Veil" - Lefty Frizzell
10. "Silver Wings" - Merle Haggard
11. "Girl From The North Country" - Bob Dylan With Johnny Cash
12. "Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow" - The Carter Family
October 6, 2009
This week, we're listening in on music from Jefferson Airplane, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and Noisettes.
While we've got your attention for the Jefferson Airplane thanks to the Coen Brothers prominent use of "Somebody To Love" (and three other Airplane songs) used to great effect in their terrific new film "A Serious Man" let's take a break from pushing our JA Essentials and instead extol the virtues of their first album, The Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, made before Grace Slick joined the band for their acknowledged masterpiece, Surrealistic Pillow.
While original singer Signe Anderson wasn't the icon Grace was, she was every bit the singer. Signe also brought a different, almost folk-inspired quality to the band, who were just finding their psychedelic bearings at the time. Although it could be heretical, it's also arguable that Takes Off is on a par with Pillow and a minor folk-rock masterpiece in a league with classic albums by The Mamas & The Papas and The Lovin' Spoonful.
Comprising the album's core are its first single, "It's No Secret," one of Marty Balin's best vocals ever, and the gorgeous "Come Up The Years," which also shows how well the Balin/Anderson/Kantner harmonies worked from the beginning. Even more revelatory are the album's bonus tracks (usually the source of more interesting than great material) that equal and in some cases exceed the best songs on the original album -- the rock-inspired-Grace-Slick-predicting "Go To Her" and three more folk-rock gems from the long deleted Early Flight rarities set: "That's Alright," "High Flyin' Bird," and "Runnin' 'Round This World-all of it adds up to one of the best debut albums becoming one of the very best.
