One of the many reasons why the music industry is crumbling around itself is that all the record labels hold off the big name releases for the fall leaving the other nine months with albums that the labels have no faith in. To that point, the highest selling album of the year so far is the Soundtrack to High School Musical with a dismal just over two million copies (my data is a little old so it may not be totally accurate). Then when the labels get around to releasing all their big names over a three month span hoping to capitalize on the holiday season leading to a few big hits, but even more albums with disappointing sales because the consumer just can’t afford to buy them all. Then of course the record labels don’t blame the slump on their stupidity instead point to downloads as the problem. With that said here are a few albums that I am looking forward (or dreading) to this fall season, many of which you can look forward to me reviewing (click on band name to find music on iTunes, click on the album name to pre-order from Amazon and feel free to tell me what you are looking forward to in the comment section):
September
5th Audioslave - Revelations: I just review this album yesterday, scroll down to check that out.
Beyoncé - B-Day: Like I mentioned in my VMA post, it’s not a good sign when you have to rush out a second single before the album drops. Beyoncé and her group were always good for two or three great songs per album, but after the last Destiny’s Child tanked, and two poorly received singles the Beyoncé era may be over. At least her movie Dreamgirls is getting good buzz. Look for a review shortly.
12th John Mayer - Continuum: I’ve already heard the album and it features studio versions of a few songs from his live Trio album and a Hendrix cover. Where Heavier Things was his decent into the blues, Continuum is Mayer’s stab at soul music.
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds: From the two songs he performed at the VMA’s, it look like this will suck like his previous work. Although Rick Rubin produced one track, the album closer Another Song and that has me intrigued a little bit. (Okay, just heard the album, it's not Paris Hilton bad, but one of the worst I've heard lately, look for a review next week.)
Lionel Richie - Coming Home: Richie has always been better at producing hits than child rearing, and from what I’ve heard from the album, he’s back to top form except when lesser producers bring down the album.
19th Clay Aiken (A Thousand Different Ways) and Fergie (Dutchess) both release album, place your bets now on which one will suck more.
26th “Weird Al” Yankovic - Straight Outta Lynwood: Look for a “Weird Al” themed Lyric Quiz this month in honor of the album.
October
3rd The Killers - Sam’s Town: Lofty expectation considering how lead singer Brandon Flowers brought out the Bruce Springsteen comparison. For the songs I’ve heard so far it sounds like more of the same.
Evanescence - The Open Door: Word has it that the departed Ben Moody was the driving force behind the band, so it will interesting where Amy Lee takes the band. By the sound of the new single, it doesn’t sound like the band will deviate from past success.
Jet - Shine On: yet another band trying to avoid the sophomore slump after their first disk delivered some of the best rock songs of 2004.
10th Robert Randolph - Colorblind: One of the best guitarists of the current generation looks for his breakout hit. Look for guest spot from Dave Matthews and a decent guitarist in his own right Eric Clapton.
17th Sarah McLachlan - Wintersong: One of the few Christmas albums that I’m aware of that will be released this season. Look for Christmas standards like Little Town of Bethlehem and The First Noel as well as John Lennon’s Happy Xmas (War Is Over).
Diddy - Press Play: Diddy says he named the album because it is an album you can press play and never have to skip a song. But after hearing the first single with the chick from the Pussycat Dolls there will be at least one song I’d skip.
24th John Legend - Once Again: Legend put out on of the few R&B records of this decade worth listening to. But since then he won the dreaded Best New Artist Grammy. To prepare for the new album, Legend listened to a lot of The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and Sufjan Stevens and brought back Kanye West to produce the album along with Will.i.am Raphael Saadiq.
Brooke Hogan - Undiscovered: I really hope this is a joke and won’t happen. This will essentially Paris Hilton take 2.
31st Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose: You know you’ll like it even if you won’t admit it.
TBA Natalie MacMaster - Yours Truely: I really don't know much about this artist, but it comes reccomended by Russ.
November
7th Nas - Hip-Hop Is Dead: Although a legend in the rap game, Nas rarely gets the commercial respect he deserves. This may be the album that gets him back on the radar with production by Kanye West Will.i.am and Dr. Dre.
Talib Kweli - Ear Drum: An hopefully an album that will prove that rap is actually not dead. Look for for production from Kanye West and Just Blaze as well as an appearence from Grammy winner Norah Jones.
21st Snoop Dogg - Red Carpet Treatment: Snoop is always good for a club banger or two so hopefully this album will have a few
TBA - Maroon 5: The band’s first album was top-heavy with a bunch of hits but the rest was basically filler, will have to wait to see if the band can make a whole album this time.
For all you karaoke fans, this is your season for crappy music as aside from the previously mentioned Aiken, you can expect bland albums from Rubin Studdard (The Return 9/26), Fantasia (TBA 11/7), Taylor Hicks (TBA 11/14), and Katharine McPhee (late November) and even though the band hasn’t even chosen a singer yet, Supernova has a release date of 11/21. And for my readers that have yet to go through puberty yet, there is not one, but two High School Musical alums (Vanessa Ann Hudgens - V 9/26; Ashley Tisdale - TBA) that will be releasing albums in time for Christmas. Start bugging your parents now.
Also for all you music fans out there, the latest edition to my "Blogs I Read" list, Culture Bully is hold a CD giveaway for everyday in September. For those keeping track at home, that thirty CD's up for grabs (but you can only win once), so hop over there to see what albums you can choose from today and the complete rules.
Some television shows have already started but my Fall TV season doesn’t start up until the 14th. Here’s a revised look at what I’ll tentatively be watching this year since some shows have since switched times or days since I last made my schedule, including their premiere date (feel free to tell me what you're watching in the comment section).
Mondays
8:30 - How I Met Your Mother (9/18 CBS)
9:00 - Heroes (9/25 NBC)
10:00 - Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (9/18 NBC)
Tuesdays
9:00 - Veronica Mars (10/3 CW)
9:00 - Kings of Prosperity (10/17 ABC)
11:00 - Ice-T’s Rap School (10/17 VH1 - most likely will catch repeats)
Wednesdays
8:00 - Jericho (9/20 CBS)
9:00 - Lost (10/4 ABC)
Thursdays
8:00 - Survivor: Jim Crowe Cooke Islands (9/14 CBS)
8:00 - Smallville (9/28 CW)
8:00 - My Name Is Earl (9/22 NBC)
9:00 - Supernatual (9/28 CW)
Sundays
7:00 - Everybody Hates Chris (10/1 CW)
9:00 - America’s Next Top Model (9/20 CW)
Audioslave was always a band that I was hesitant about. I was a huge fan of Rage Against the Machine fan and the only rap/metal band worth listening to with Zach de la Rocha’s great delivery and Tom Morello’s eccentric guitar as a backdrop. But things reportedly fell apart when bassist Tim Commerford bum rushed the stage at the 2001 Video Music Awards after the band lost out the best rock video to Limp Bizkit embarrassing de la Rocha to the point that he quit the band to work on a yet to be released solo album. The other three members, including drummer Brad Wilk did not rest on the laurels, instead recruited Chris Cornell of Soundgarden to form an entirely new band that luckily didn’t involve Cornell rapping. Instead it sounded exactly what people expected, Soundgarden’s melodies mixed with Rage’s raucous guitars. But I was still hesitant as I still wanted more Rage.
Much of the same can be heard on Audioslave's third album Revelations, that you heard on the first two. But as the band progresses, the more it sounds like dark seventies rock with Morello’s signature guitar licks only coming out during his solos as Cornell channels his inner Robert Plant. This is prevalent right off the bat with the opening title track. Until We Fail plays very similar to I Am the Highway off their self titled debuted but loses its momentum unlike the previous song. Original Fire is an upbeat romp that can be the first song in either band member’s history that calls for you to hand-clap thought the song and has a soul music through a rock filter to it. Broken City is a bluesy song highlighted where Cummerford shines with the bass groove. When the band it at full throttle on Shape of Things to Come, it’s one of the greatest rock sounds in recent times. The album closes with Moth, a haunting song that is the closest the band has gotten to sounding like Soundgarden.
Each of the songs on the album could become a rock radio staple like previous songs but as David Fricke of Rolling Stone put it best calling the band, “a supergroup that keeps making good records that fall shy of great” and Revelations is no exception. And Revelations is the most average of their outings. But then again I’m still holding out for a Rage Against the Machine reunion.
Song to Download - Shape of Things to Come
Revelations gets a ![Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-iVFV0hXCTSYP16K_V0Rrxp3GqFrtBIJKeTUyQ2LpxZQ9XKHFj6QGtqqa7oxhLadLV8vUj8R84AftD8IKUSfN0u_u0CYDtJwhrpCPN2DBWquAIDv0jbVlhZL0mDFKlPKluGyxw/s400/small_elevated.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
There were high hopes for this year’s MTV Music Video Awards after two years of well below sub-par shows. But in the end this year’s VMA’s were just as bad as the previous one with Jack Black somehow finding a way to be unfunny (and this may be a tipping point for Black after being universally panned for Nacho Libre). What was worse was for a show that has built itself of big stage productions and surprised guest, the performances seemed extremely low-budgets compared to years past and the surprised guests this year were Montel Williams, the little kid from the movie no one but movie snobs saw, and Lou Reed and the dude from ZZ Top who were most likely only there because The Raconteurs invited them. Here are more disappointing moments from the five hours of my life that I’ll never get back:
- Just as worthless as the big show was the hour and a half pre-show this basically was a vehicle for people to promote upcoming albums. Usually they have a world premiere video or exclusive interview, but nothing but two horrible performances.
- The show starts out with the chick from Kids Incorporated performing London Bridge, a song easily a lock for the Worst Songs of 2006 list. Blatant guided vocal track here as she didn’t even bother to even lip-sync half the time.
- Kurt Loder and John Norris must have something on the higher ups at the network because as MTV tries to distance itself from what it used to be (even refusing to even acknowledge it’s 25th anniversary) these two still show up every year at the VMA’s.
- Does the world really need a rock opera from My Chemical Romance? Really the world doesn’t need another album from them let along a concept album. But with the goth Sergeant Pepper garb, the creepy skeleton children’s choir, and the lead singer actually trying to sing with a fake British accent maybe the musical version of Jumping the Shark. Oh as for the premiere of their new song, it is easily a lock for the Worst Songs of 2006 list.
- Can we please end the Diddy era? The dude is now walking around with his own spokesman because he’s too elf important to talk. Really no one has capitalized on the death of someone else. Well except for all the Elvis impersonators.
- We start off the big show with Jay-Z welcoming the show back to New York City from a top of a building. This would have been a lot cooler had they not had the My Chemical Romance performance there earlier.
- Who ever decided the show should start off with a performance of a song that no one has ever heard should be fired. Worst show opening ever. When Justin Timberlake then switched to Worst Song of 2006 nominee SexyBack and brought out Big Head Timberland and a blatant guided vocal track, things didn’t get much better. What’s worse is it seems that the phrase Sexyback is going to overtake the go to phase for the corny old dudes replacing Fiddy (as in Fiddy Cent) after corny old dudes Al Gore and Jared Leto both used it.
- I kept waiting and waiting for the opening Jack Black skit to get funny, but sadly it never did. I think that it may have been the goal with the “everything going wrong” theme, but that’s just too high brow for me. Although I like how the MTV execs were the Douches. And what was with Black kissing everyone’s butt all evening? MTV really need to bring Chris Rock back.
- The first presenter is the straight from jail Lil’ Kim. Seeing her makes me wonder should you lose all the street cred you receive for going to jail but by getting released early for good behavior?
- The first shocker of the night was James Blunt for winning Best Male Video. I have a suspicion that this was a last minute decision to give him the award just to give his girlfriend some airtime.
- The least hip-hop song nominated wins Best Hip-Hop award. And up the irony quotient one of the Black Eyed Peas talked about how there is a place for positive rap as he picks up an award for a song about a woman’s naughty bits.
- Shakira and her Indian themed performance for Hips Don't Lie was probably the best of the night, but that’s not really saying much.
- Can someone please explain the allure of Jackass to me? Am I the moron for not finding naked midgets and dudes hitting each other in the testicles funny?
- Lil’ John is up next and tells everyone to get on the feet, but as the camera scans the place, everyone is as slow to get up as if a hymn started to play at church. But I can’t blame them considering it was just for Ludacris whose set looked like it was on a lower budget than most high school plays. Not a good sign for a song called Moneymaker. And had Ludacris not namedropped them, I would have never known that it was the Pussycat Dolls that came on stage at the end of the song.
- Speaking of the Pussycat Dolls, it’s sad tat we live in a world where they actually won a music award. But it’s nice that they thanked God for winning an award that tells dudes to loosen up their buttons. Classy.
- Jessica Simpson actually used the phrase “Push My Tush” while presenting the awards. I actually can feel my IQ dropping. Oh, and to follow up a story I broke here a couple days ago about her hooking up with John Mayer, just days later, Mayer posted on his blog that he really like the Public Enemy song Don’t Believe the Hype.
- OK Go redid their Here it Goes Again video with the treadmills step for step. What a waste of time. I could see the same exact routine on YouTube whenever I want, why would I want to see it live. The least they could have done was to screw p somewhere to make this performance memorable. Complete waste of time.
- What was on Paris Hilton’s head? But something has to be said that her album has been out more than a week and she has yet to perform a song live once. Even Ashlee Simpson’s people trusted her enough to lip-sync, it’s not a good sign that Paris cannot even be trusted to do that. Luckily she didn’t try doing it tonight instead she was just relegated to present the dude from Smallville and his band.
- Did some backstage dude grab Nicole Richie’s butt as she went onstage? I wonder if Nicole realized that Pink was making fun of her during her acceptance speech. I wonder if Pink realized that no one knew she was trying to be ironic.
- Did anyone else start to feel old when Snoop Dogg was talking about how all the new rappers were in diapers when he started? He then presents the Best Rap Video to Chamillionaire who said the best advice he ever got was to stay humble. Keep in mind this is coming from a guy who then named himself Chamillionaire.
- Guided Vocal Alert! Beyoncé gets no introduction and performs her second single off her new album. It’s never a good sign when a label has to rush out a second single before the album is never a good sign. Maybe we can expect that Destiny’s Child reunion sooner than later.
- T.I. is out next to perform a medley of songs I’ve never heard before and hope to never hear again.
- How funny was it that the dude who won Ringtone of the Year actually brought a list of people to thank? Apparently he didn’t get the memo that’s this was a joke award.
- It’s official, I am now totally sick of Fall Out Boy. And what was with the dude with the cape? The band is out to present Panic! at the Disco, or as I like to call it, a bathroom break. The performance would have been much better had the lead singer would have gotten hit with a bottle early in the song. If you want to see that happen, check out YouTube. Now that was entertaining.
- What's with bringing out the ten-year-old girl to the sounds of Rick James Superfreak. That is just totally wrong.
- I know that people like to make fun of past scandals but when your scandal is that you are horrible parents, it’s not a good idea to parody that sediment like Britney and her baby daddy did. Someone please send that tape to child services.
- Christina Aguilera for some reason to performed a balled. The massive guns she was showing off didn’t help with those drag queen comparisons.
- I thought they took out Michael Jackson from the Video Vangard award. Granted they have been sporatic giving it out lately. Hype Williams wins. It's sad that the rap cliches his videos created over a decade ago are still being used today.
- So AFI wins Best Rock Video and they were the only one all night who brings up the voting. This was something I was really wondering about, in the press release for the nominees, it mentioned that there was voting on the website, but I never heard anything about it after that. Nor did anything mention what the votes meant or if they meant why there was still a Viewer’s Choice Award. This is really bugging me.
- During one of their many mini-songs The Raconteurs changed the lyrics of historic song to “internet killed the video star.” Clever. Although this is about a year after I declared Podcasts Killed the Video Star.
- Worst Dressed of the night goes to Jennifer Lopez and her gypsy outfit. Seriously, who brought her out of obscurity? Can we quickly send her back there before she makes more crappy music? She appropriately presents Video of the Year to Panic! at the Disco, a crappy song to top off the crappy year.
- The night ends with The Killers. As the song ends they go to the nosebleed camera and just when you think they are setting up for something special, they cut back to Jack Black who ends the show.
I fully believe that had Brian Wilson would have been gunned down in New York back in 1980 instead of John Lennon and Eddie Vedder had put the shotgun in his mouth instead of Kurt Cobain, The Beach Boys would have been regarded as the most influential band ever while The Beatles would be arguing over the name throughout the nineties and Vedder would have been the voice of a generation while Nirvana would be putting out it’s comeback record this year. Yes, there is no better marketing strategy than dieing before your time from James Dean to Tupac (although that doesn’t seem work anymore as Aaliyah and TLC have wondered into obscurity).
We may never know if that was is the case for this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, Sublime with their self-titled break out album that was released just weeks after lead singer’s Bradley Nowell fatal overdose. Maybe it wouldn’t have been a hit without the sob story surrounding the release, but then again, maybe the ska tinged band would have had continued success like fellow So-Cal band that made similar music, No Doubt granted I would like to think that Nowell wouldn’t have recorded a solo album featuring a song that made every girl in Middle School across the nation curse while singing along. But anyways.
The album is anchored by the three big hits from the album starting with the one that started it all for those who did have a radio station cool enough to play the Date Rape song off their previous album was the life is good anthem What I Got. There were two versions of the song on the album, and actually I’ll even take the Reprise version over the original. Then there was Santeria, a great sing-a-long for when you’re drunk. Then there was Wrong Way, which is the most similar track on the disk to Date Rape with it’s upbeat sound and sarcastic lyrics about a guy who can’t get any but in this case decides to pay for it as opposed to forcing himself on a girl.
But as great as the singles were, by no means was this album top heavy. Each song intertwines between ska, reggae, dub, and punk without watering down that genre. Even April 29, 1992 (Miami) has a twinge of hip-hop in it. Under My Voodoo is more of a straight ahead rock song with obvious shades of Jimi Hendrix. Paddle Out could have been a mosh pit anthem had it had a chance to be played live and Pawn Shop could have been a great live staple too with its jam band like groove to it.
I also had a chance to listen to the two disk tenth anniversary version of this album. The first disk is essentially the same album but it starts off with a cover of Trenchtown Rock and has a different sequencing than the orginal. Before any purist start complaining, my sources tell me that the new track list is closer to the one that Bradly Nowell wanted before his death. The second disk is just a hodgepodge of remixes (including five different ones of Doin’ Time) as well as a few other rarities. For those who enjoyed the short career of Sublime, may I suggest checking out the Long Beach Dub All-Stars comprised of the surviving members of Sublime as well as some other artists the band regularly collaborated with.
Among the reality shows, movies, variety shows, and gossip columns, it is sometimes easy to forget Jessica Simpson is first and foremost a singer. Granted when she started back in the late nineties she was a third string blond pop princess (maybe fourth depending on where you rank Mandy Moore). Now just a couple months after her ex-husband released his first post-break up album, Jessica has released her own, the appropriately titled A Public Affair. But unlike Nick Lachey, isn’t solely about dealing with the break-up, this is most likely because Jessica can’t formulate two remotely intelligent sentences in a row let along write a whole song.
The album starts off with the title track, a disco send up the catchy in a “it will get old by the time Jessica is linked to her latest beau.” (Oh, she’s been linked to John Mayer? Yeah this song has started to get stale already now that I think about it.) From there the album sinks into the absurd with the next song You Spin Me Round (Like a Record). “Oh is that a Dead or Alive cover” you may ask. Well yes and no. It’s very similar to last year’s These Boots Were Made for Walking where the chorus is the same, the music is similar, but for some inexplicable reason they changed the chorus. And lets face it, the endearing quality of the song is how every line starts “I, I, I” and at the end “I want your loooooove” which are both missing from the Simpson version
Next on the absurd train is B.O.Y. which features a misplaced sample of The Cars Just What I Needed. Granted Simpson’s fan base will probably wonder what she stole the riff from the Circuit City commercials. But anyways. While If You Were Mine isn’t a cover, it sounds like a bunch of Janet Jackson songs mixed into one. Also a complete rip-off is Between You & I which is basically Unchained Melody with different lyrics and worse singing. The Lover in Me also has the “I’ve heard it before” vibe to it. Possible trying to keep pace with Christina Aguilera’s new retro approach, Jessica has Swing with Me, but the song just comes off as cheesy while Christina did a much better job at the era. Then for some incomprehensible she tries her hand at being a rap hype-man in Fired Up, and Flavor Flav she is not. But easily the worst song on the disk is Push Your Tush. Very much in the mold of Boots but somehow worse, the song is too pop for country fans yet too country for pop fans (for a sample lyric, check the title of this post, yeah, it’s that lame).
But unlike her ex, there are some actual good songs on the album. Walkin’ Round in a Circle is a soothing romp and shows she shouldn’t try to out Christina Aguilera the dirrty girl herself because she just doesn’t have the vocal range because this laid back song is possible her best song to date. Along that same approach, Back to You (not to be confused with the John Mayer song) is equally relaxing. The album closes with an actual faithful cover of the Dixie Chicks Let Him Fly, a novel attempt, but lacks the harmonies of the original. Maybe if she would have stuck to the structure of these songs and not have been all over the place like the rest of the album, the album would be much more listenable.
Song to Download - Walkin’ Round in a Circle
A Public Affair gets a ![Terror Alert Level: Guarded [BLUE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCbHfExiuXqojow1zxkBUX6j-9BHg9IyrfzqR77jnja2Xq6dbv-7iiqMFzp_UKXGcUF9FyAHqCkNxa5uitXa5Xu2Q1OboN9-TLjsaeI1a2eoGLORU4vkTQ54l1C-_cZyn81QHyQ/s400/small_guarded.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
If there is one complaint about Rescue Me is that thirteen episodes just isn’t enough and now we have to wait nine months until fourth season after the third, and by far the best season ended last night. When we last left the boys of the firehouse, Tommy was ready to take the life of the drunk driver that killed his boy until his uncle Teddy decided he would do the deed himself, Lou got conned out of his life savings by a porn star, Franco screwed up yet another relationship, this time with fellow firefighter Laura, and the Chief said goodbye to his wife who he had to put in a home because of her advancing Alzheimer’s. Garrity and the Probie were still just happy go lucky morons, but that would soon change.
And change could be the theme of season three. Some had to hit rock bottom like Lou and Tommy, whose wife took the kids and shacked up with his brother after the death of his son. Lou was seconds away from touching the third rail until somehow a hobo talked him out of it prompting Lou to clean up and even took up yoga. Apparently amongst all the chi he realized that hooking up with a nun was a good idea. But anyways. But the biggest change went to Probie who decided all the sudden he would start playing for the other team even though he was in denial which led to hilarious exchanges with his “partner” on who was less gay.
Franco and the Chief, did have the weaker storylines that had some holes in them. It seemed odd that Franco would decide to take the Chief’s test to better provide for his daughter but then gave up pretty easily when the chick from Bull Durham took her. Of course all these changes planted seeds in each individual about moving on from Ladder 46 whether it is by transfer, promotion, or just leaving, which made Tommy consider leaving himself, because why would he want to be left with only his future brother-n-law. Then there was the Chief who decided he needed to pick up a second job in able to keep his wife at the home she was at only to quite only to not worry about money after that. But the Chief should have a much better storyline next season after what transpired in the last three episodes.
Speaking of the last three episodes, from the final scene of the eleventh episode of this season to the final seconds of the last episode were some of the best scenes in all of television history. Having two characters going down simultaneously, the opening of the twelfth episode without any speech, to the shocking final scene, heightened with the odd choice of David Gray’s The One I Love as a soundtrack (which I later realized that since the scene was seen through Sheila’s eyes, it made more sense). Now we only have to wait nine months to see the outcome. Only nine months. By that time, hopefully Denis Leary will get another well deserved Emmy nomination (and maybe a win next time) as well as supporting nomination for some of the other actors.
Rescue Me 3.x gets a ![Terror Alert Level: Severe [RED]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidjcsCV5I3jWQDVTcnVoXbArSx3kHl02FZ8FkOHBBKP2w8mQulcCF614SIw1GjuB2JtKV2YcQOKXtMlnW2ulLSOvYvvXzDwZ3JF4Mlh0Dt2nfEL1oGLh0sk7O-GRHWbCPvJmMMKg/s400/small_severe.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
If The Clash are the only band that matters, The Roots are the only rap group that matters. Such a novel approach to rap, having live instrumentation, took a while to find an audience, myself not discovering them until around Illadelph Halflife, and are now the go to band for any rapper who want to put on a great live such as Jay-Z’s legendary Unplugged, Eminem’s performance at the Grammy’s for Lose Yourself and they were the house band for last year’s Hip Hop Honors. But as good as the band is at reinterpreting other’s music, the band is at its best making their own music with Black Thought, possible the most underrated MC in the game today, handling the mike and The Roots are back to save hip-hop once again with Game Theory.
There was a lot of hoopla when The Roots signed with Def Jam with fans fearing that the group would be a watered down version of its former self. That complaint just never made sense because the group came from Geffin Records, not really an indie label. Now they move to a label deeply rooted in hip-hop with their new boss an old friend and collaborator, Jay-Z. At first listen, Game Theory is definitely a Roots album, in fact they may have went the other way from commercial success with more overtly political songs then previous album. If anything, Def Jam may have helped trim some of the fat. Let’s face it, as great as their previous albums were, the back half of many of their albums were filled with eccentricities and could have been helped by trimming down to around forty-five minutes which is what Game Theory clocks in at.
As usual, the album starts of with a short keyboard heavy intro to set the mood before going before ?uestlove, quite possible this generation’s greatest drummer, brings the sick beat as the anti-news outlets theme False Media. The song definitely sets the tone for the darker and angrier album. There are a few upbeat tracks with the party starter Don’t Feel Right and the Big Daddy Kane feeling Here I Come. There is also cool, almost bohemian track Livin’ in a New World which features a Strokes like chorus. The album is capped off with a touching tribute with sometime producer J Dilla, who produced two songs on this album, who succumbed to lupus after a three year battle. The tribute being on this album will ensure Dilla will never be forgotten.
Song to Download - Don’t Feel Right
Game Theory gets a ![Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebDZ0qqwOVKMZj7oFSUe8Hm3ax54U9Hp1fThJPgiddTyzcdwx_5SV6E3b7hkKyxbaDiym4COmUXT2YJnsKCUjBHI_a2xZtNoY7qFQRslP5AGO5gLkJwn2ZbO0wIF80ycbKrgPPA/s400/small_high.png)
on my Terror Alert Scale.
The Emmys have come and gone. Yawn. It’s never a good sign while watching an award show you start to wonder just how much weight the dude from The Love Boat has lost. The opening bit was funny, but I couldn’t help think I’ve seen it before. Well that was until Chris Hansen from Dateline NBC shows up, easily the funniest part of the opening montage although the start was a little queasy with the recent plane crash. They could have started the montage with Conan O’Brien on the beach. But it was nice that Conan got the prerequisite Mel Gibson joke out of the way early. Now we only have to wait a couple days to hear what Jack Black has to say about Mad Max. But anyways. Usually for award shows I joy down some thoughts, but considering beforehand I really didn’t care about them and I would undoubtedly be turning into Flavor of Love eventually to see if anyone did their business on Flav’s carpet this week. So here are some of the things that stood out off the top of my head:
- I guess I’ll get this out of the first because it seems that it is all that matters to award show watchers, but my award to chick from the red carpet I’d must like to have dirty, dirty sex with goes to Eva Longoria. As for the worst, that goes to the chick from Grey’s Anatomy for looking like Tommy Lee circa the Girl Don’t Go Away Mad (Girl Just Go Away) era.
- Not only did Will & Grace get more nominations than the networks that make up the new CW but they even had more presenters than them. And had Aaron Spelling not have died, the CW would have gotten no face time at all. There also something to say about how not Will nor Grace were asked to present but the two “supporting” actors did. And of course I’ve asked this the past five years but is Will & Grace seriously still on the air?
- Speaking of Spelling, after watching the montage of his shows I came to the realization that I did not watch one of his shows. Maybe the critics were right about him. Now Dick Clark, there’s a guy who deserved a tribute although they could have done better than the dude from the kareoke show and Emmy award winner Barry Manilow. Even when I went out on New Years Eve, I still tape his Rock n Eve every year.
- The Bob Newhart gag throughout the night always got a good laugh, but it was a little disappointing that they let him out before the end of the show, fake-killing Newhart would have been funnier than the telephone banter they had after they left him out.
- I’m sure the Tivo gag was funny, but when less than five percent of the population, me included, doesn’t own one, it really ended up being less funny then the Sheens. Now for a bit that was funny, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar coming out with Ernst and Young accounting team. Classic.
- It was nice to see the My Name Is Earl pilot win for Best Director and Best Script, because I really can’t remember laughing harder at any half hour on television then the first episode of that show. Plus the writer gave the best acceptance speech of the night declaring who he wasn’t going to thank. I don’t know what is more disturbing, that Two and a Half Men got nominated over Earl in the Best Comedy category or that Two and a Half Men was the most watch category last season.
- As for the funniest presenters, that easily goes to Stephan Colbert and John Stewart. Too bad the audience didn't realize that Colbert was making fun of them. And it was funny when he complained about losing to Barry Manilow; when Craig Ferguson did, not so much.
- This isn’t Emmy related but a chick on Flavor of Love just referred to Flav’s manhood as “pee-pee.” How endearing. How this show didn’t get nominated for best reality show is beyond me. And really why give out the award if you are just going to hand it to The Amazing Race every year?
- Is it wrong that I was happy that 24 won for Best Drama solely for the reason that it meant the overrated General Hospital in primetime rip-off didn’t win?
- As for the other big winner, I would really like an Emmy voter to a line up The Office and Arrested Development side by side and explain exactly how The Office is funnier. But on the bright side, at least they didn’t declared Desperate Housewives the funniest show on television (stupid foreign press).
Well that was a waste of three hours especially if the best parts end up on YouTube. Just some programming notes as it will be a busy week as a bunch of great artists (and Jessica Simpson) released albums this week, so I hope to get most of those reviewed as well as my thoughts on the upcoming Video Music Awards which should be out by Friday if not Thursday.
I usually wait to comment on a show until I give my first impressions after the first episode airs but I was taken aback on all the negative feedback with the announcement of tribe on the new season of Survivor (click to see the cast for yourself), oddly enough the thirteenth installment, that I better do it now while everyone else is talking about. For those that are unaware, this season, they are dividing the contestants into four equal tribe divided by race: Caucasians, African-Americans, Asians, and Hispanics. This change was a blatant attempt to drum up free publicity and as I peruse the internet, everyone seemed to bite on it.
What was really surprising was how negative everyone was about race change. Most everyone I read disliked the idea to full blown hatred, to downfall of the civilization bad, how they could make that claim when Paris Hilton released her album the exact same is beyond me, but I guess we all look at Revelations different ways. I just can’t see why everyone is so up in arms when the show has already divided tribal lines by sex multiple times and by age in their last installment. In fact dividing by those two lines are worse than race because it causes an unfair advantage for certain tribes.
But again the outrage is so insane, I read one person suggest that this upcoming season could be called Survivor: Jim Crowe. C’mon, it’s not like they are going to give fire to the White tribe right off the bat and not the Black tribe, or instead of a boat, they make the Hispanic tribe travel around in a low-rider. Although I wonder if they will give the Asian tribe mash potatoes mix instead of rice to avoid looking even more racist. Since, I’m assuming, all the tribes will start off exactly the same with none receiving an advantage unless they win it.
Here’s another reason not to hate the new tribal lines, all the previous were all at least seventy-five percent white, even the All-Star edition only had two non-whites, and now only twenty-five percent are this season. That leads to a record number of black contestants, and no season so far has had more than one Asian per season and now there are five, I don’t think there have been a total of five Asians in all the previous Survivors combined. Now I’m sure when all the other people have suggested it were using sarcasm, but I’m being truthful, I think next season the should divide along religious denominations: Christians, Muslims, Jews, with the fourth tribe being a hodgepodge of a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Hare Krishna, an atheist, and a Branch Davidian. And don’t tell me you wouldn’t watch that.
Now usually I give out prediction on who is going to win as well as other predictions with past First Impressions of previous Survivor shows, but that is usually after I watched the first episode. I may do another write-up after the first episode and post them there, but just a quick eyeball, I’ll go with Becky as my preseason pick (go Asians!!!). But one category I can go ahead pick now because, well, I’m shallow, is the Survivor I Would Most Like to Have Sex with even if They Hadn’t Showered in a Month. Now a quick look over the chicks, I was going to pick Candice Woodcock (no comment on her last name), but after looking at their profiles, I’m instead going to give that award to Parvati Shallow (appropriate last name for this award at right) because of her profession as a boxer/waitress, just really intrigued me, plus you can never go wrong with someone who lists Bob Marley under favorite music.
Survivor: Jim Crowe Cook Islands airs Thursday September 14 at 8:00 EST on CBS. You will also be able to stream the show on CBS's broadband player after each episode airs.
Nothing says it’s going to be a poor movie week at the McGavin house than seeing Bruce Willis’ (Moonlighting) mug on the DVD. For the last couple years, Willis has just been collecting paycheck while new action heroes half his age not only steal the roles he used to be offered but they even started to steal his women. But in this movie, 16 Block, Willis ironically plays a worn down detective for the NYPD who gave up a while ago and years of hard living has wrecked havoc on his life and left him with a limp and a massively receding hairline. Maybe because of tenure, or out of sympathy, he has been able to keep his job even though everyone know he keeps liquor bottles in his desk. He is also routinely assigned to jobs so easy, it’s an insult to give to an able-bodied colleague like watching a dead body until other authorities come to dispose of it.
Another seamlessly inane chore is to deliver a witness from lockup to the courthouse sixteen blocks away. Needless to say things don’t go as planned or this would have been the most boring movie since Napoleon Dynamite. Nope, instead we have another story of cops gone bad but luckily, this is revealed early on because crooked cop as the big plot twist has become a tired plot point (keep in mind the actual plot twist isn’t hard to guess). And in what could be a nod to 24, the movie seems to happen in real time aside from a brief prologue as Willis only has about 140 minutes to get the felon to the courthouse as the jury gets dismissed at 10:00.
The felon turned state’s evidence is portrayed by rapper Mos Def (Black Head of CIA on Chappelle’s Show) is captivating once you get past his "Mike Tyson trying to imitate an Italian" lisp. Added to the great performance is how Mos Def’s character never stops talking, but Def is able to keep him from getting extremely annoying. You also have to give it up to Willis and Def, along with director Richard Donner (Superman), who keep the unlikely duo from becoming a cinema buddy flick cliché like for instance 48 Hours Donner’s Lethal Weapon franchise. And with any movie like this you need a bad guy and David Morse plays this one perfectly as he never goes over the top most likely because he never seems as if he thinks Willis will ever make it to the courthouse. There are a few plot holes (like why is one of the cops Def fingered still on the force, shouldn’t he be in jail or at least suspended until the result of the trial?) but as long as you let these minor hiccups go, you should be thoroughly entertained.
After you watch the movie, make sure you checkout the bonus features on the DVD. There are a few deleted scenes that are commented on by Donner and screenwriter Richard Wenk that are worth watching even though they were left on the cutting room floor. Then there is an alternative ending that is actually better from a storytelling point of view, although the original ending is more satisfying. You can watch the alternative ending by itself or within the context of the movie.
16 Blocks gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.
Starsailor broke out in England and had massive success earlier this decade right around the same time as another melodic band from that country, Coldplay. But unlike Chris Martin and the boys, Starsailor’s debut single stateside, Good Souls, failed to get as much play as Yellow and their follow up Silence Is Easy wise widely ignored here two years ago as another similar band Keane gain notoriety with Somewhere Only We Know. Now Starsailor is back to see if the third time is truly the charm with the release of On the Outside.
On the new album the band takes a decided harder sound, but instead of the crunching guitars or piano that Coldplay in known for, Starsailor instead assaults you with a wall of noise. Not coincidentally the inventor of the Wall of Sound, Phil Spector helmed their previous two albums, but wasn’t around for this one. Instead the disk was produced by Rob Schnaph who has worked with the like of Beck and Elliot Smith. The one-two punch of In the Crossfire and Counterfeit Life come out you full force while lead singer James Welsh is found screaming at times which only builds the effect even more and isn’t afraid to reach for notes throughout the album. The emotion in the music and the singing never lets down on the whole album which could be attributed to the record being record live in the studio.
But it’s not all a melodic wall of noise, I Don’t Know is a straight ahead rocker filtered through American blues that is reminiscent to mid-eighties U2. Get out While You Can goes from a haunting acoustic guitar and piano verse to a more melodic chorus and back again. Jeremiah is a slow moving acoustic song with a lyric, “And every time I see the sun go down I think of you,” that can easily get stick in your head and is a great way to cap off the album (bonus track excluded). Speaking of the bonus track, Empty Streets, it is the closest song on the album that has the same melodic feel as previous works such as Good Souls.
There is anger in the lyrics that coincide with the harder sound whether it’s love, “See that poor girl with the glint in her eye, she could turn you that way” (I Don’t Know), political, “I don't see myself when I look at the flag. Thank God for that” (In the Crossfire), globalization, “A war for corporate glory re-told as a fairy story” (Counterfeit Life), and life itself, “Tired of living in this modern land, too many ideals to meet with its demands” (Faith Love Hope). On the Outside may be a step backwards in trying to get commercial success stateside, but it is a step in making better music.
Song to Download - In the Crossfire
On the Outside gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.
We are a week away from the 2006 MTV Music Awards and I have to say that I’m actually excited. Yeah the last two installments suck and many of the performers are frontrunners for my “Worst of 2006” list, but I still have a sense of optimism. First is that the show was routinely panned by everyone the last two years while exiled in Miami, you know something big will go down as the show goes back home to New York City, hopefully that surprise isn’t as big of a let down as the Guns n’ Roses comeback three years ago. Second is that the first time since the last time Chris Rock, MTV has tapped a host that will actually be entertaining in Jack Black who did a great job co-hosting the Movie Awards a couple years back and hopefully this year’s monologue is Tenacious D heavy.
When I first reported the nominees to the VMA’s oddly enough the only category you couldn’t vote on was the Viewer’s Choice Award, but that is now up including a cool game where you can get extra points for the video of your choosing, so hear over to MTV for that. I also wonder in that post what happened to the MTV2 Award. Apparently that are indeed doing that again and you can go over to MTV2 to cast your vote, but a look at the nominees, you may just want to abstain. Personally, I voted for the award much like I’ve voted for president lately going with the one that sucked the least (for those keeping track at home, that would be Taking Back Sunday) but here are the nominees:
Stay Fly - Three 6 Mafia
The Kill - 30 Seconds to Mars
Fireman - Lil’ Wayne
MakeDamnSure - Taking Back Sunday
It's Goin' Down - Yung Joc
Also since my original post, the performers and presenters list have grown. Set to hand out the Moonmen are Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey (hopefully together so they can just get that out of the way), Jennifer Lopez (crap, she’s still around), Chris Brown and Ne-Yo (aren’t these the same person, I can’t tell them apart), Missy Elliott, Fall Out Boy, Rihanna, Busta Rhymes (well unless he’s in jail at the time), Lil Jon, Amy Lee of Evanescence, Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars (actually I think people would more recognize the name is they said “of My So Called Life” instead), the cast of Jackass: Number Two (crap, their still around, who would have though out of all of them, Don Vito would be the only one currently in jail) and Shaun White. Joining this group is these artist jjust announced today including 50 Cent, Kanye West, Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton (again hopefully together, seeing them catfight may be the only why I can stomach them), LL Cool J, The Pussycat Dolls and Axl Rose (seriously?). Then there are performers who I’ll predict what they will be performing (I am under the impression that The Raconteurs are the house band as that is what they were originally booked as, but recently they have been listed under performers so who knows):
Beyoncé: This should be interesting because, as my sources tell me, she already debut her new single on the BET Awards so I’m betting she shows off her new all-female band with a medley of songs of her yet to be released album while everyone is at home is bored because they don’t recognize the song. It may be saved as the performance screams surprise guest, and I’m not talking Jay-Z.
Justin Timberlake: Speaking of yet to be released album, it’s a lock that JT will lip-syncing the cheesily named SexyBack with Big Head Timbaland doing his part. Much like when he debut the uer-horrible Like I Love You a couple years back no guest appearance can save this stinkfest, even a dude on dude kiss from Lance Bass.
Christina Aguilera: Since no other man was performed at the Movie Awards, the safe bet is that she will perform the new single Candyman next week. With the 50’s feel (in fact it blatantly steals from a song from that era I’m too lazy to look up) I wouldn’t be surprised if the turn the screen to black and white throughout the performance.
Panic! at the Disco: Since I’m not a fourteen year old white girl, I could care less but most likely will be the song that got all the nominations.
T.I.: Since I’m not a fourteen year old white girl, I could care less but will most likely be the song where he steals a line from A Tribe Called Quest (didn’t he make his career stealing a line from Jay-Z?).
The Killers: With there album not out yet, the new single, When You Were Young will get the nod. With Brandon Flowers talking about all the Bruce Springsteen influences on the new album, will The Boss pull another Wallflowers?
Ludacris with Pharrell: Yet another performer whose album has yet to be released, but since the Neptunes produced his new song, it will be that.
The All-American Rejects: Odd choice here as they really don’t have the stature of the other bands something big maybe brewing here with a guest coming onstage with them. I believe the guitarist has tattoos all of his body of band logos from various inspirations and they did do the VH1 Rock Honors performing Def Leppard’s Photograph. I don’t understand how lead nominees Red Hot Chili Peppers aren’t on the performers list, maybe they will jump onstage here and recreate their Give it Away performance from the early nineties.
Shakira: Not only will they be battling for Video of the Year crown, Shakira will most likely try to have more weird performers than P!@TD (is that the right shorthand for the band, and by asking, I just defeated the purpose of the shorthand, but anyway) as she tries to recreate the Carnival theme of Hips Don’t Lie.
OK Go: Just announce the internet phenomenon will be taking the VMA stage. Just like the R.Kelly performance from last year, this performance will disturbing and be thoroughly entertainment at the same time. This maybe the only band that can get away with lip-syncing as long as they are doing some silly dancing, but I have a feeling they will be playing while others will be performing their treadmill opera but times ten.
You can check out the whole list of nominees from my original post - We on Award Tour: 2006 MTV Video Music Awards Nominations and you can also check out my list of best VMA performances I did last year which would most likely be unchanged - Best of the VMA Performances. And you can watch the VMA’s August 29 at 8:00, with the pre-show at 6:30.
