Showing posts with label Musings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Musings. Show all posts

Friday, July 18, 2008

Musings From the Back 9 vol. IX


Bruce Sprinsteen charity EP on iTunes- Today was the funeral of former White House press secretary Tony Snow who lost his battle with colon cancer this past weekend. This year one out of four deaths in America will be cancer related, earlier this year E Street Band member Danny Federici also lost a battle with melanoma. Bruce Springsteen was released a charity EP featuring live songs from the latest Magic tour. The set features Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine on The Ghost of Tom Joad (a song Rage has covered), Alejandro Escovedo on Always Be a Friend and Danny’s very last concert on 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy). The EP is available on Amazon MP3 (see widget below) and iTunes (see banner to the right) where you can also buy the video for each song. For this EP the artists, songwriters, and music publishers are waiving all of their royalties and Columbia Records is donating all of its net profits to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund.



- People with HD computer screens rejoice, CBS.com is offering most of their streaming episodes in HD now including The Big Bang Theory, The Late Show with David Letterman, and How I Met Your Mother (one would assume Survivor will be added to this list next fall when its first season ever in HD premieres). New summer shows Swingtown and Flashpoint are also available in the format. Now if only I had a computer that played regular definition shows. But anyways. Interesting choose in promo pictures for The Big Bang Theory (click to enlarge):

The Big Bang Theory in HD


- Some news out of FX including the return of show The Shield in its seventh and final season premiering Tuesday September 2nd at 10:00 and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia returning for it fourth season Thursday September 18th at 10:00. There is also a new show on the lineup, Sons of Anarchy which is set to premiere Wednesday September 3rd at 10:00. Check out a promo below.



- Earlier this week I implemented a new comment system where the comment form is embedded in the individual post page. This currently part of Blogger in Draft so there may be some kinks to be worked out before it becomes official. The only drawback is that you currently cannot subscribe to individual comment pages like before where it would e-mail you anyone that comments after you. But if you look at the sidebar on the right, you can subscribe to all my comments. Hopefully this new method will encourage some of you to comment more. (hint, hint)

Friday, July 11, 2008

Musings From the Back 9: Music Edition VII


Two Men with the Blues - Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis

Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis may seem like a weird pairing because, well, it is. But after Willie hooked up with Snoop Dogg on his country song My Medicine, every other pairing just seems a little less odd in comparison. Recorded live at Lincoln Center with Marsalis’ backing band, the two blend the jazzy songs with the country vocals seamlessly with Willie knowing just when to step back and let Marsalis and his band go on extended solos. And if the two genres weren’t enough, Two Men with the Blues live up to the title, because really, who better that Willie Nelson to sing the blues, and even a little New Orleans flavor seeping into a couple track. Most novice music fans will most likely only recognize Ray CharlesGeorgia on My Mind on the album, but that just means more for them to discover on the album.

Two Men with the Blues gets a Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE] on my Terror Alert Scale.


Forgiven - Los Lonely Boys

It is pretty safe to call the Los Lonely Boys a one hit wonder. Heaven was just one of those songs that just doesn’t go away and is hard to top. There was nothing close as good on their second album Sacred, and same for their third outing, Forgiven. And if you heard Sacred, you have already Sacred then you have already heard Forgiven as the band doesn’t deviate from the brand of south of the border blues. There are some great riffs like on the album opener Heart Won’t Tell a Lie, and current single Staying with Me is somewhat catchy, that suggest that they could go on to be this generation’s Santana without the revolving door of singers, and maybe even get a second hit, but that hit won’t be coming off this album.

Forgiven gets a Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW] on my Terror Alert Scale.


Have Another Ball! - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes

You really have to try to dislike Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. They take pop, R&B, and country songs and turn them into punk anthems. Their seventh album Have Another Ball! is a bunch of outtakes from their first album covering songs from the sixties and seventies from artists like Hall and Oates and Diana Ross. Yeah that can get old quick and the entertainment value decreases exponentially with each listen, but for that first listen these songs are thoroughly entertaining especially the Blitzkrieg Pop-ified version of Carol King’s You’ve Got a Friend. Too bad the band did not bring in a George Michael to help them out with the Elton John classic Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.

Have Another Ball! gets a Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW] on my Terror Alert Scale.




Thursday, March 13, 2008

Musings From the Back 9: 90's Rock Edition


Just how predictable have you become when a magazine gives you a negative review without actually listening to your album? In The Black Crowes defenses, how can you take a music review from Maxim seriously when they are best know for bringing you pictures of a half named Avril Lavigne? Still, you are not going to be too surprised with what you hear on Warpaint, the first album from the brothers Robinson is seven year, first since Kate Hudson tried to Yoko Ono the band. The band gets you right back into the fold with Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution which could have been created out of the same template of Jealous Again which itself pulls from classic southern rock of the seventies. The band does stretch its boundaries a bit like on the spacey Movin’ on Down the Line, the old time blues stomp of God’s Got It, and the eastern influences that creep into Whoa Mule but there isn’t here that will bring in any new listeners, but it won’t disappoint those that have waited on a new album from the band.

Warpaint gets a Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW] on my Terror Alert Scale.

The Black Crowes on iTunes



When you hear the phrase These Are Good Times People spoken by someone under the name The Presidents of the United States of America you may think it is another George Bush spin job as purported by Fox News. But it is just those Seattle goofballs who brought us such nineties classics as Lump and Peaches. Instead of silly songs about Boll Weevils and Dune Buggies we get to be entertained by songs about Ladybugs and French Girls. The highlights include Mixed Up S.O.B. which puts the pop in power-pop, the instantly catchy Sharpen Up Those Fangs, and More Bad Times, the happiest song about not being sad enough you will ever hear. Knowing that their sound can get old quick, the Presidents knew to keep the album at as listenable forty minutes with only two of the fourteen songs going over 3:15 mark.

These Are Good Times People gets a Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW] on my Terror Alert Scale.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Musings From the Back 9 vol. XIII


- Yesterday after writing about the Hall and Oates Christmas album, I thought I’d hunt down the Jingle Bell Rock video to see if it was cheesy as I remember (it was, click the link to see for yourself) but on the sidebar I noticed another video that caught my eye: Do They Know its Christmas - Band Aid 20. How did this get released in 2004 and I’m just finding it now? And the video is disturbing on so many levels. There is the cringeworth guitar solo from the dude from The Darkness, who has already fallen into obscurity. The weird Thom York sighting. I think I could name more people in the orginal than this one. And most importantly, how could Bono ruin the most iconic line ever, one that he created? But this begs the question, where’s an updated version of USA for Africa? Can we start on that right away so we can have something ready for the twenty-fifth anniversary in 2010?



- The Mitchell Report came out today (click on it view it in its entirety in a PDF file) and conspicuously ran against the Democratic Iowa debate which was announced much earlier than the report. Someone apparently didn’t want the new coverage to be as big with the news channels carrying the debate instead. The report itself was pretty anticlimactic because the names came from two people and previous court cases and nothing will come out of it because Mitchell himself said none of the players should be punished. They should be punished in that none should be allowed in the Baseball Hall of Fame and sports writer who votes for any of them should be fired by their newspaper or magazine. And what is really odd, and somewhat telling, was that Miguel Tejada, who was on the list, goy traded just yesterday as well as Eric Gangé got $10 Million from the Brewers a couple days ago which goes to show how much owners and general managers cared about the report knowing there was going to be a good chance both would be on it.

- Also announced today were next year’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and disturbingly Madonna got in on her first try and no Beastie Boys. Also making the list are John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen, The Ventures, and the Dave Clark Five. I’ll have more on them when the ceremony goes down I think in March.

- With no end in sight to the writer’s strike, there will be very little scripted shows at the start of next year, but one of them will be Kyle XY and I have a press release for its return. Also I may be getting my hands on another Kyle XY prize package, though the contest most likely will not start until sometime in the New Year. But that is something to look out for in 2008. Here’s the press release:

THE TRUTH IS REVEALED!

THE MYSTERY CONTINUES ON ABC FAMILY’S
HIT ORIGINAL SERIES ‘KYLE XY’ WITH TEN ALL NEW EPISODES BEGINNING JANUARY 14TH


Kyle looks towards the future while the Tragers finally learn his secrets in the first of ten all new episodes of ABC Family’s original hit series KYLE XY set to premiere on Monday, January 14 (8:00 – 9:00 PM ET/PT). Matt Dallas (“Wannabe”), Marguerite MacIntyre (“The Days”), Bruce Thomas (“Legally Blonde”), April Matson (“Quintuplets”), Jean-Luc Bilodeau (“Ill Fated”), Chris Olivero (“24”), Kirsten Prout (“Elektra”) and new comer Jaimie Alexander (“Rest Stop”) all star in the hit drama.

After his journey with Jessi ends, Kyle returns home and is ready to tell the Trager family the whole truth. With every sordid detail out on the table he wonders if they will be so willing to take him back. Once they hear everything the Tragers only support him more and rally around Kyle to take on Madacorp. With a plan in hand, the family heads to the company picnic to help Kyle take down the corporation’s secret machine.

Meanwhile, torn between her instructions from Madacorp and growing affection for Kyle, Jessi was last seen leaping from a cliff into a raging river…but was it a fatal leap? And if she lived, will she help Kyle, or is she more dangerous than ever?


- Another interesting e-mail I got recently was from an anonymous source about a scene from the upcoming Judd Apatow flick Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story that was recently leaked to the internet, but not in its entirety. Well here is that full scene. Check it out while you can before the powers that be remove it (and if it doesn’t get removed I guess we know who “leaked” it in the first place)



- Just in time for Christmas, the price for Veronica Mars 3.x dropped below $30 and I’m sure you can find someone who would enjoy finding that underneath their Christmas tree in two weeks (i.e. me) and the first two seasons are still dirt cheap (see below for ads):



Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Musings from the Back 9: 90’s Disposable Pop Edition


Back in 1999 there were no two bigger acts than Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys. They had the top two selling albums that year along with two of the top five biggest singles. Britney was eventually showed up by Christina Aguilera who could actually sing while the Backstreet Boys were forgotten during the crappy pseudo-punk era of this decade. While most of the rest of their ilk have moved on to movies, Broadway, reality shows, or just obscurity, both Britney and the Boys are still trying to hang on to those late nineties hey-day by dropping albums today.


Blackout - Britney Spears

On a remix of Jadakiss’ Why, Common pondered, “Why they hype Britney up, they know she cant sing?” The simple answer was she could sell albums. Back when she was the number one pop princess she got the best songwriters, producers, and chorographer and elaborate stage shows. But all those people a currently working with the likes of Rihanna and the Pussycat Dolls. So instead of working with someone like Timbaland, Britney had to settle for a Timbaland lackey Nate Hills to help write and produce half of the songs on Blackout which come out sounding just a step above the Paris Hilton album. What’s worse if he starts speaking over Gimme More talking about how amazing Britney is. Who does he think he is, Puff Daddy? At least Diddy had a few actually hit under his belt before he pulled that stuff.

Without Max Martin or Diane Warren around, the lyrics are even worse than stale beats. E-Mail My Heart seems Dylanesque compared to some of the songs on Blackout. Piece of Me is Britney’s backlash at the press and paparazzi which would have been a little more meaningful had she actually had a hand in writing it. Hot as Ice, co-written by T-Pain, is just one cheesy metaphor after another. And yes she also mentions in the song that she is also “Cold as fire.” Then Get Naked (I Got a Plan) and Freakshow, where Britney inexplicably raps, will most likely be Exhibit U and V in Kevin Federline’s plan to get full custody.

The songs basically are just one bad techno track bleeding into each other which may work at a rave while on mind altering drugs, but for those of you that are sober, the album is as bad as you could expect. But at least Britney can in solace that it is better than her ex-husband’s. But not by much. Here is usually where I suggest a song to download but you are better off saving your money. Unless of course you are one of those annoying semi-ironic people, then go ahead and get the “It’s Britney (expletive deleted)” ringtone so you can be the biggest tool on your block.

Blackout gets a Terror Alert Level: Low [GREEN] on my Terror Alert Scale.


Be sure to check back tomorrow to see if the Backstreet Boys were able to grow old better than Britney. Scooter Update: Check out Part 2.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Musings From the Back 9: Music Edition V


As I was busy working on my major project last week, there a couple of albums worth reviewing that were released last we, here are a quick review of those:

Indiana - Jon McLaughlin

Aw, Indiana, the great state that has given us John Mellencamp, David Letterman and, un, certainly there has to be more, oh yeah, and Dan Quayle. The latest export from the Land of the Indians is singer-songwriter Jon McLaughlin who named his debut album after his home state. Unlike his fellow Hoosier, McLaughlin’s music in not distinctively Midwestern instead focuses on more uplifting fair of love in a small town. And instead of a guitar as his instrument of choice, he instead goes with the piano listing Billy Joel and Ben Folds as influences. But McLaughlin lacks the wit of Folds and the emotion of Joel leading to songs best fit to play over the speakers in your local supermarket with songs that won’t make you run for the exit but won’t make you stop and wonder who that was. Of course with Mother’s Day this weekend, Indiana would make the perfect gift if your mother doesn’t already have the latest Norah Jones album.

Indiana gets a Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW] on my Terror Alert Scale.


The Reminder - Feist

Speaking of exports, Canada doesn’t really have the best track record. It seems for every great artist like Sarah McLachlan or Neil Young we get, they send us artists like Avril Lavigne, Shania Twain, Sum 41, and Nickelback. The latest artist to come stateside from the Great White North is Feist (Leslie Fiest to her friends and family) and quickly became an indie queen. Her latest album, The Reminder, got some early buzz thanks to a really cool video (featured here not to long ago). On the album, Feist somehow is able to sound subdued yet have a big song, thanks to multi-instrument tracks, at the same time. When listing to The Reminder, it can seem longer than its fifty minutes which can be a good or bad thing depending on your mood. So thanks Canada for finally sending down some good music again, but not all is forgiven for Celine Dion yet.

The Reminder gets a Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE] on my Terror Alert Scale.


Spider-Man 3 Soundtrack

During the nineties and before, record companies would con fans into buying movie soundtracks even though they may have only featured on artist they wanted to listen to much Ghostbusters II did so I could get the Bobby Brown song (hey I was young). But with the advent of downloading, which enables fans to pick and choosing their favorites without actually buying the whole album, has pretty much killed the movie soundtrack business. This hasn’t stopped Spider-Man from releasing a soundtrack for each of its movies full of songs that haven’t actually appeared in the movies sans the end credits. The beginning of the album is top heavy with songs from Snow Patrol, The Killers, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs with songs not as good as anything on their most recent albums. The rest of the album is filled with modern rock bands most people have never heard of except stuck in the middle of the trainwreck is Chubby Checker’s version of The Twist. The most interesting song here (keep in mind interesting is not synonymous with the best) is The Flaming LipsThe Supreme Being Teaches Spider-Man How to Be in Love, a song that follows a bout between the web slinger and Muhammad Ali of all people.

Spider-Man 3 Soundtrack gets a Terror Alert Level: Guarded [BLUE] on my Terror Alert Scale.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Musings From the Back 9 vol. XII


- Usually after November the music industry stops releasing their big name albums because they want all their potential hits on the shelves by Black Friday. But there are a few things that landed in iTunes yesterday that are worth mentioning. First up, The Killers released their first try at making a Christmas song with A Great Big Sled. The song sounds pretty much like an outtake from Sam’s Town but with lyrics about snow. Portions of the proceeds from sales of the song go to the (Red) Campaign.

Apple iTunes- Now for those that like Christmas songs but feel 99 cents is a little steep for you than check out the Free Single of the Week with James Taylor’s take on the classic Jingle Bells (click graphic at right, if it's not James Taylor, you're too late).

- More free stuff over in the television. For those that watch any show on NBC you surely know by now of its new Thursday comedy block and that will be airing a musical episode soon. Well if you want to check out on of the musical numbers from the upcoming show you can do so for free.

- Also in the television section, The CW has finally jumped on the iTunes bandwagon. Although it looks like they are taking baby steps as the only show currently available is Supernatural and so far only the current season is available. And it's so new my iTunes link maker doesn't even have links up for it yet so you'll have to check it out on your on.

- While you are there you can always catch the latest episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Ever episode you can expect at least one great monologue and The Christmas Show was no exception with Ed Asner refusing to accept Jack’s resignation nor back down to the FCC. I’ve even seen many people say it’s the best episode of the year, personally I’d go with The Wrap Party where Chandler tries to pick up both of the Calico Girls, Jack’s drunken tirade about the UN show, and the blacklisted writer.

- Another great episode this week (although not on iTunes but you can stream at ) was Friday Night Lights mostly because of my second favorite new character this year (next to Parker on Veronica Mars), Landry. First coach Taylor gets his name wrong and then convinces Matt to buy a Member’s Only jacket for his date. Coach’s reaction to the jacket was priceless too.

- Ever want to be as cool as me and talk to Kristen Bell, if yes head over to where you can bid for a ten minute Skype call with Ronnie herself. Oh and as I write this the current bid is $730. She is currently has the highest bid of all the celebrities you can win a call, three of which are video calls) with that also includes Rob Lowe, cast members from and The OC as well of the Fonz who is a steal at $152.50. I feel bad for the cast of (whatever that is) which only reached $25 so far. Oh and 100% of the final sale goes to Young Storytellers Foundation.

- Now for some horrible television news. It will soon be announced that will move to 10:00 when it returns in February. This is a bad idea to end all bad ideas. I rarely watch anything that late in fact just three shows ever (Rescue Me, Love Monkey, Studio 60). So there is a chance that I’ll be cutting that show loose soon. ABC is moving the show so it won’t have to compete with that karaoke show. Even worth, with Lost moving, ABC is placed my second most anticipated show of the new season The Knights of Prosperity (or as I like to call it Let’s Rob Mick Jagger) up against American Karaoke which says to me that ABC wants the show canceled. It’s times like these where I swear that the networks are conspiring against me.

- I’ve mentioned it before, and surely I will again, but I am hoping to put together a 9th Green Reader’s Poll of your favorite songs of year for my Best of 2006 spectacular. So please e-mail me (ScooterKSU@aol.com) your top 10 favorite songs of the past year, in order, sometime before Christmas Eve and if I get enough responses I will post the results the day after Christmas.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Musings From the Back 9: VH1 Reality Albums Edition


Earlier this summer, MTV had two of its reality stars release albums in the same week (see and ) and now MTV for old people, VH1 tries to outdo it with the release of three albums by its reality stars in a two week period. And let’s face it, Vh1 shows some of the guiltiest of the guilty pleasures. The channel started its reality empire when it fleeced The Surreal Life from the now defunct WB in its third season. That was the season that brought us the very first reality show for the greatest hype man in the business, Flavor Flav, who would later go on to star in two spin-offs, and , whose two finales garnered VH1 its two highest ratings in the channel’s history.

And I was one of the seven million that say New York get rejected not once, but twice. The main reason why I sat there week in and week out was because I am a long time fan of and will support the group no matter how trashy the venue is. Okay so the main reason I watched Flavor of Love was I find woman degrading themselves just to get on television entertaining and will stoop so low to hook up with a midget, crack-head on the wrong side of forty just to get screen time. But anyways.

To coincide with the finale of his show, the former William Drayton has released his first solo album that has been in the works for a while. The problem though with a Flavor Flav solo album is that he as his best as the hype man and not the center of attention and just making an occasional comment to Chuck D’s political words. Yeah 911 Is a Joke is a classic, but do you really want to hear a whole album full of those types of song? Listening to Flavor Flav answers that question with a no. The bright spot on the album is the production which Flav does most of as well as play most of the instrumentation himself (young Drayton was a trained classical pianist). But really the only song of any interest would be for those that have wanted to get the Flavor of Love theme song that shows up on the album as Flavor-Man.

New to the reality game is who has been biding his time in recent years on the set of one of the Law & Order shows. But he got recruited by VH1 to turn eight middle schoolers at a prep school into a rap group. The show is surprisingly heartfelt and okay for the whole family with the Iceman actually doing a good job teaching the kids. But don’t bring the kids to listen to his latest album that definitely lives up to the title. The album is the first by Ice-T in seven years and still sounds like vintage Ice which is not necessarily a good thing. I’m sure if I was still a youngster who memorized every gangsta rap album I could get my hands on, this album would be right up my album. Unfortunately I have matured in my old age so nothing really strikes me on the album. And Ice replaces he usual tracks about various women with one about his wife Coco (whose appearance on the cover has gotten the album banned in a few stores) which show a softer side of the man that we haven’t hear on an album yet. But for any of you that love the watered down rap that finds its way to the radio, you may want to check out the album to here what real gangsta rap sounds like.

Then in a completely different musical direct there is the debut album from better known as Hulk’s daughter. The Hulkster has been quite open about the reason he signed up for a reality show and that was to advance his daughter’s music career using the VH1 connection to get tickets to various award shows. It eventually paid off when Brooke was the first artist signed to producer Scott Storch’s record label. Storch was also responsible for the production on Hogan’d debut . The album is filled with your token R&B songs over rap beats that oversaturated the market two years ago. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the voice that appears on this album sounds suspiciously like the one that appears on Paris Hilton’s album considering Storch was involved in both projects. This begs the question who’s voice is it, Brooke’s or Paris’, or could it be a third singer all, together? Either way, I smell something fishy and that fish looks strikingly like .

Flavor Flav gets a Terror Alert Level: Guarded [BLUE] on my Terror Alert Scale.

Gangsta Rap gets a Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW] on my Terror Alert Scale.

Undiscovered gets a Terror Alert Level: Low [GREEN] on my Terror Alert Scale.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Musings From the Back 9: Music Edition III


Ludacris - Release Therapy

Before dropped, declared that this would be the album that the rap game would take him seriously not just a jester who would sport five foot afros and The Hulk hands in videos and even shaved his trademarck braids in the process. Then he goes and releases Moneymaker as the first single off the album with such thought provoking lyrics, “Took yo momma nine moths to make you, might as well shake what yo momma gave ya.” Okay, so he is not. But trying to be may not have been the best idea because the Luda created a nice niche for himself in rap but with this album, without the usual wit, he just sounds like everyone else. Then when he tries to grow out his boundaries, like with his soft diss track War with God, it just falls flat. And who exactly is he dissing here? He includes the line “Just do what your song says and shut the (expletive deleted) up” which is a line from his own Get Back. Being a rap album there are plenty of guests rappers including , , , , and along with hook singers, , , and on the way too sentimental Runaway Love. Luda does save the best for last with church inspired Freedom of Preach where Luda takes the pulpit with . But it’s too little too late to save the album.

Release Therapy gets a Terror Alert Level: Guarded [BLUE] on my Terror Alert Scale.


Sister Hazel - Absolutely

Remember the musical landscape of the nineties? It started out with the dark and bleak Grunge era and end with the onslaught with the uber-fluff of boy band. But somewhere in the middle there was a few years where rock music that were reminiscent of old time rock and roll ruled the charts with bands like , and . One of the best songs from this period of music was All for You by that was pretty much their only hit. And much like other bands from that era, are releasing an album to try to get back past success. But much like all those other bands (Better Than Ezra excluded), their new album entitled sounds very nineties and is just a rehash of previous work granted with nothing as catchy as All for You. That doesn’t necessarily make it a bad album, This Kind of Love should be included on your next mixtape for a significant other, but the retro sound does it make a good one. Give it another decade before the nineties sound comes back in style.

Absolutely get a Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW] on my Terror Alert Scale.


Method Man - 4:21… the Day After

was always the breakout star of the . But to his credit, whenever the troupe reconvened for an album or tour, he was always there and would routinely recruited Clan alums to appear on his album or produce his tracks. But something seems different with his new album , name after, well, just think of what the day before 4:21 is, and if you still don’t get it, the opening starts off with a “make marijuana legal” chant. But the album sounds overproduced thanks to weak tracks from Scott Storch, the guy who brought us and . And for a guy from the dirty slums of Shaolin, his music should never sound overproduced. Bad production aside, Meth can still spit some quality although he lets his guest outshine him occasionally like the late great on Dirty Mef and running mate on Walk On, the standout track, and Red even has the best line on the album with “I’ll blow your mind like Kurt Cobain.” also makes a great appearance on Say. But some of the guests, like Morbidly Obese Joe on Ya’Meen, turns what should be a great track into a mediocre one.

4:21… the Day After gets a Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW] on my Terror Alert Scale.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Musings From the Back 9: Music Edition II


Barenaked Ladies - Barenaked Ladies Are Me

The Barenaked Ladies were always a band I was a little weary of because my sister always liked them and she really wasn’t a go to person for music with her library of Christian and country music. But those crazy Canadians won me over with their heavy dose of geek rock. The Ladies seemed to lose some steam in recent years but are now back releasing their music independently with the release of Barenaked Ladies Are Me.

The sound on the album is much more mature than previous outings as they have morphed into a folksy band with no pseudo-rapping in site. Even the more humorous song, Bank Job, is a laid back ditty. But that doesn’t mean the ladies haven’t given up rocking as heard on the closing track Wind it Up which also features the band’s best lyric since name dropping the Smoking Man with, “I was a baby when I learned to suck, but you have raised it to an art form.” Ouch. Unfortunately that intensity is lost on the rest of the album asides from the enjoyable tale from Bank Job.

Barenaked Ladies Are Me gets a Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW] on my Terror Alert Scale.


Ray LaMontagne - Till the Sun Turns Black

It may not be the best idea to get music suggestions from Kelly Clarkson, but after hearing her perform Shelter, I just had to find out more Ray LaMontagne, the guy who wrote the song. Then throw in his contribution to Zach Braff’s latest mixtape aka the soundtrack to The Last Kiss, just made me even more intrigued. So there were high hopes going into his sophomore album Till the Sun Turns Black. The album doesn’t have anything to instantly attach to like Shelter or Hold You in Your Arms, but the earthy songs on the set are each enduring in their own ways. For most of the album, it sounds as if Cat Stevens had grown up in the American wilderness giving him more of a raspy voice and Ray knows just when the right time to add some strings or horns for the best effect.

The album starts off with the sparse and airy Be Here Now where Ray barely lifts his voice above a whisper the whole song. Empty picks things up, but just a little as the acoustic guitar drives the song more. The funk starts with Three More Days as you can feel through the speakers just how much Ray wants to get back to his lady. You Can Bring Me Flowers continues along that line but with the bass guitar as the star of the song making more dirty than all the other songs here. Gone Away From Me feels like an old folk song that could have fit in with anything Pete Seeger did. The combination of the title track bleeding into Without Out is a great epilogue to the album with the latter having the simple lyrics of, “War is not the answer, the answer is within you.”

Till the Sun Turns Black gets a Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW] on my Terror Alert Scale.


Gov’t Mule - High and Mighty

Warren Haynes may be best know as a replacement guitarist for southern rock legends The Allman Brothers Band, but when he’s not cashing in on the old timer circuit or jumping onstage with the Dave Matthews Band, he has a little side project that is pumping out music as good and sometimes better than his day job did in their heyday. His other band Gov’t Mule has pumping out straight ahead rock for over a decade and continued to do so even after the death of original bassist Allen Woody. Their new album High & Mighty is more of the same, but the guitar solos, riffs, and extended songs seem crisper then ever and can only be enhanced under the stars and the band stretches the songs even longer. The album is highlighted by the first track, Mr. High & Mighty which is the best straight ahead rock song in a long time.

High & Mighty gets a Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE] on my Terror Alert Scale.


Apple iTunes

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Musings From the Back 9: Music Edition


There are a few albums that have been released lately but I either didn’t have time to give them their own post or the album didn’t inspire me enough to fill up a whole post. I’ve compiled some of those albums into one review. With the fall television season approaching leading to more posts on that leaving less for album reviews and music companies releasing more and more notable albums in time for the holiday season, this may become a new segment on the 9th Green.


This may shock my fellow fans of old school hip-hop but I never really cared for . Yeah there a few songs in their decade plus repertoire like Player’s Ball or Ms. Jackson but for the most part, the duo was a little too weird for me and I just never got their beats like on Elevators (Me and You). What’s interesting about their latest album, , is how most of the album was recorded with only one of the members present. I though that the solo double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below was just going to be a one time thing. But anyway. The album itself is basically a soundtrack to a film of the same name which itself is a movie set in prohibition which leads to half of the album having a retro feel heavy on pianos and acoustic guitars which are more entertaining then the other half that feature classic OutKast odd beats that they are known for. Hollywood Divorse combines both to great effect and even features both Andre 3000 and Big Boi as well as a standout verse by and a less than stellar one from . The big problem with the album is it is like listening to the soundtrack to a musical you have never seen in that you are left thinking you need to see the movie to full appreciate the album.

Idlewild gets a Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW] on my Terror Alert Scale.


One reason why I had no reason to give the self-titled debut of is because it seemed like I just reviewed a couple a weeks ago when Cassie (see my review - It's Not that Deep) released her self-titled debut not so ironically on the same record label Bad Boy. The same over-production over the same paint-by-number lyrics are present. The main different is where Cassie seemed to be on anti-depressants while she sings, the five members of Danity Kane spend the album trying to out each other. And there in lies the problems of vocal groups since the explosion of the boy bands, they are filled with five lead singers singing melody with no one willing to sing the harmony like in groups from the Motown era. Another thing going against Danity Kane is that they were formed out of a reality show, a cable one at that and with the exclusion of , no reality act has been able sustain a career after the cameras stop rolling. Speaking of the reality show they spanned from, Making the Band 3, like most MTV reality shows I tried to avoid it, but one scene I did catch was when Diddy chastised the girls for acting like black dudes, something I totally agree with because there is nothing more annoying than white chick acting black, but fast forward to their first single Showstopper and the song is all about riding on “22’s” and acting “like big boys do.” I guess it’s okay to act black if it sell records.

Danity Kane gets a Terror Alert Level: Low [GREEN] on my Terror Alert Scale.


and his half singing half spoken word delivery is the ultimate combination of R&B and rap music. His latest album (named after his son) leaves right off where his debut left off. That album chronicled his release from prison and his assimilation back into society. Now on the new album he goes on to sing about life since the first one’s release including the un-hip-hop anti-groupie stance on S.E.X. Lyfe would be best served to stick to R&B themes because when he goes into rap it just comes off as silly like on Biggie N****a where he suggests he’s the reincarnation of or his restyling of ’s Keep Ya Head Up. What’s cool about this album, as well as his first is that Lyfe gives a running commentary between songs connection each one, although this could get old real quick.

The Phoenix gets a Terror Alert Level: Guarded [BLUE] on my Terror Alert Scale.


Anyone with cable could watch and then wife as they started their life together on the MTV reality show Newlyweds. Then anyone with a US Magazine or an internet connection could read about it falling apart. And then could see the couple participate in a “who can hook up the most people” contest. Nick definitely won if you are counting in terms quantity (quality can be debated though). But if his album, was any indication, he still wasn’t quite over his reality show co-star. I did give it a listen when it was released and marveled at how sad the dude was. Every song was about how he couldn’t go on and they all just sounded the same blending into one uber-long excruciatingly long song.

What’s Left of Me gets a Terror Alert Level: Low [GREEN] on my Terror Alert Scale.


Two weeks ago MTV hyped that you could listen to the whole album a week before it’s release so I took advantage of that and started to get ready for a review last week when it dropped. Then while watching a special on they played some songs I hadn’t heard only to realize they only streamed the first disk of a double CD (unless I’m a complete moron and couldn’t figure out how to stream the second disk). So I scrapped the review, but here are some thoughts of the songs I heard. It’s odd that she started off the first disk (intro excluded) with Pray, featuring on keyboards, which only conjured up thoughts of the M.C. Hammer song of the same name. But don’t worry, all that praying doesn’t mean she doesn’t still have that nasty in her as she explains on Still Dirrty. Oh, Mother is touching, but nowhere as good as ’s ode to his mama. I was a little disappointed that most of the songs weren’t as retro as the title would suggest but then again I still prefer my Aguilera to sing about rubbing her the right way.

Since I didn’t hear the whole album, I won’t hand out a rating on the Terror Alert Scale unless I can hunt down the second disk, but since I’m mocked for having her first album, I don’t think that will happen. If you are interested in a review of both disks, check out Neverending Rainbow for a full review.


OutKastChristina Aguilera