Higher Education: The Myth Of Andre Young.

I don't write for shock value these days, making wild claims such as "well, you know...the Beatles just were not a good band" or, "Yeah, Starship was better than Jefferson Airplane", or lastly, "You know, those Nickelback guys just don't get enough credit...", I try to keep my points of view as purist and realistic as possible in regards to the music I take in, and the musical opinions I put out for others. I say that disclaimer, just so the following sentence isn't seen as some Lester Bangs type rhetoric (Bangs my be my hero of the printed word, but there's no way Metal Machine Music is one of the greatest albums of all time. I digress.)....here goes, hip hop fans.

Dr. Dre might be overrated. Just a touch. Or, a bunch. Or, completely. And off we go...

First, let me say that there are two cases in which the good Doctor is more than all he's cracked up to be. If you can get your hands on any of his World Class Wrecking Cru stuff, it's fun, and "Turn Off The Lights" is the point where you can get a feel that Dre knows what he's doing, but it's not GREAT, despite what folks will now try to put across. N.W.A. was great. N.W.A. speaks for itself. He built a wall of sound around his group, which included Ice Cube, for my money one of the greatest MC's ever, that defined their sound. It was confrontational, it was loud, it was effective. Their first two records set the framework for what west coast music would sound like for years to come. And the production he lent to D.O.C.'s first album, No One Can Do It Better, is equally as pivotal and important. And a quick aside, D.O.C. should have been Snoop. More on Snoop later, but D.O.C. was a better MC, with better lyrics, a better voice (yes....better voice), and a better delivery than Snoop. An auto accident damaged his vocal chords shortly after his debut album, and he was reduced to ghostwriting for Dre in the coming years.

I wasn't even 10 when The Chronic came out. It is a musical masterpiece that deserves every bit of credit, and more. I remember my brother got the cassette tape, and I used to sneak it and listen to it all the way through. I think the mastery of the Chronic is that it's not a short album. There's about 17 tracks, which leave a lot of room for error, but I'm not sure that ANY of the tracks come out sounding too bad. Lyrically, I could take or leave it, as I thought that some of the picking at (Ruthless records music head) Jerry Heller, as well as Eazy E was a bit petty for Dre's taste, but here we get our first taste of Snoop Doggy Dogg, who was featured in some capacity on every track. Snoop's voice, lazy, relaxed, and smooth almost fits to Dre's production style seamlessly. And at just 20, he was a young representative of a new breed of west coast MC, since Ice Cube had, since N.W.A., jumped ship, and jumped coasts to work with Public Enemy's production team, The Bomb Squad. Snoop was the West's savior, and gave them a legitimate MC, before he even released an album.

And the production! Dre made it popular....you sample George Clinton. Why? because George Clinton doesn't care. You can sample George Clinton for 15 tracks, and maybe only have to break him off....say...20, 25 thousand? And good old George went the extra mile for Dre, reportedly sending him the original recordings of the records that he was asking to sample. Who does that now?? even then, sampling was a fight. So really, George Clinton might deserve more credit for revolutionizing sampling than Dre, but that's moderately besides the point. Another thing Dre did was establish live instruments, and live backing vocals over the use of his samples. Kanye West has since mastered this art, so it's no longer seen as fresh, and/or new....but Dre's set that groundwork. It's almost like a wall of sound; the bottom register is usually the sample fleshed out by some synth bass lines, while the top end is the high whistle of a flute, piano, or vocal. And in between holds the sparse guitars, or chunky drums...it's a direct derivative of Phil Spector, but in a more urban, much more sparse sense. The best thing about The Chronic is that it's revered by both coasts. East Coast MC's are admittedly a bit snobbish. They feel as though they created the art, so they have final say. But the Chronic not only gave credibility to our friends on the left coast, but really created a healthy respect that held for at least 3 or so years.

Enough of the good.

The problem remains that since 1992's Chronic....Dre has been spotty at best, and his debut album is often used as an excuse, or reason to ignore this. Yes, he produced Snoop's 1993 debut Doggystyle, which raked in some acclaim...but did anyone REALLY listen to that record? I mean, seriously, I've talked to people who claim Doggystyle is fantastic, but can't name one track off of it. Don't get me wrong, it's decent, but the acclaim it's gotten? merely, and I would challenge anyone on this, a circumstance of people at the time salivating for an album from the kid that lit up The Chronic. Snoop's performance on Dre's album was energetically relaxed, his performance on Doggystyle was forced, almost as though he was attempting to live up to his hype. I will credit Dre for switching up his production style, and not hammering us to death with G-Funk samples any longer, and he switched to leaner, more effective sounds with Curtis Mayfield, and Issac Hayes jumping on the "I want to be sampled by Dre!!" bandwagon. But, it comes out a bit of a mess. The wall of sound becomes a pile of rubble a bit in some spaces, almost as though you can see Dre in the studio trying to cram as many instruments into a single bar as possible. Still, if you want to give Dre Doggystyle, I can give him that as well. Moving on.

How quickly do we forget the two biggest disasters of Dre's career? First off, 1996's "Dre Dre Presents The Aftermath" after his departure from Death Row Records, was poor at best. At worst, there's about two great songs on it, and the rest is unlistenable. This was a legit Dr. Dre failure, that often gets brushed off as, "Oh, well...he's just putting out stuff to test the waters for the next Chronic". It was hastily produced, poorly engineered, thanks Jimmy Iovine, and the guest spots were minimal, leaving Dre to his own devices, and like most studio rats...he's a pretty terrible vocalist. But Dre didn't run and hide, which I respect. He latched on to east coast supergroup The Firm (Consisting of Nas, Cormega, AZ, and Foxy Brown...how could this fail???), and produced their 1997 self titled debut on his label. The confusion here is simply, how? you have 2 of the greatest MC's the east had to offer in AZ and Nas, and Cormega is no slouch. Foxy Brown.....well, she was there, and God bless her, she tried. This album wasn't as bad as Aftermath, but it was never what it should have been, and I'll be the first to admit that supergroup ideas are flawed no matter the genre, especially in rap, where the egos run high. There were bright spots, but overall, the album only went gold because Dre and Nas' names were attached, and fans hated it. I mean, by the time the 2nd Chronic album dropped, 1999' s 2001, people had become so disillusioned by Dre's greatness that nothing else mattered. And 2001 is a solid record. Lyrically, it was better than the first Chronic, but it should have been, as this time around he enlisted the skills of a second discovery, a skinny white kid from Detroit, Eminem. Plus he had Snoop, Xzibit, and Kurupt....he had the help of much better MC's, which covered up for the flaws in production. Some of the beats, such as "XXXplosive" and "Forgot About Dre", have to go down as some of the better beats anyone has ever heard. They are intricate, useful, and just all together mind blowing. Others are dry, plodding, and by the end of the album, you might feel like sighing as you say "well, this is getting old".

So, now, here we sit....with Dre's final effort, 2002's Detox. Or, wait....was it 2004's?? oh, no.....
that's right, how silly of me...it's not even out yet. Dre has been Sooooo busy living off of his 1.5 great album legacy. Granted, he did discover, and guide the career of Eminem, which actually just went up in flames with the release of the horrific long awaited Relapse earlier this month (In which Dre's hit-or-miss production was widely criticized....finally....). But has he done anything REALLY memorable and worthwhile since 1994 or so? A song here and there, yes, but anything sustained? I've gotten so tired of the Detox talk, that it's become like Chinese Democracy, but worse for me. Worse because, at least with that, I knew Axl Rose was fucking insane. So, it was never a shock. I'm sure Axl thought he was recording the album for like 2 years when in actuality he was likely just getting his hair done. Dude is that crazy. Dre is a pretty sane, level-headed guy. A sane, level-headed guy that has been making an album. For the past decade or so. Dre, my man....scratch Detox. Do it, because if it ever comes out, it had better be The Chronic on HGH, or whatever has Major League Baseball all fucked up, or else it won't register. The problem with Detox? well, good old Dre just keeps giving away beats, and ghost producing. Sometimes, yielding great results (the latest is T.I.'s "Coming Back"), but since when do you hold out on a project to....ghost produce??? Even his closest collaborators are confused. Eminem, just last week announced that Detox is "Anywhere between 50% and 85% finished" oh, ummm.....thanks for the update, Marsh. 50 Cent, at one point said that he had recorded 3 finished songs for the album, and then a few months later, said he was unsure if he would be on it at all, and may possibly be booted in favor of Ice Cube (No complaints here.), it's become an industry myth, and I've got a lot of bets to live up to if it ever comes out. If I had a nickel for every time I've said, "I'll do (fill in embarrassing act, or absurd sexual act here) if Detox ever comes out", well....I'd have some nickels.

The biggest issue is, Dre's flaws are so obvious, yet so ignored. I read a piece in Time on Dre, and he's painted as this God-like figure in the studio, they discussed how (respected bassist, and Rilo Kiley producer) Mike Elizondo was confused on a bass part, and a frustrated Dre sung the part pitch perfect, and doves flew around the studio, as Elizondo was enlightened, and the bass simply played itself, through the glory of Dre. Partially true, but you get the idea. Words used to describe Dre's production are often "cinematic", or "hauntingly brilliant"....and I'm just not so sure. You watch him in the studio, and he definitely, without doubt, knows his shit. What he doesn't know, and possibly has never known, is when to tone down his sound, and in turn, let go of his creations. You know why the Chronic was amazing? because it was Dre with no pressure, not trying to impress anyone. Now that he has to live up to what he's become, he seems increasingly perfectionistic, to the point of pulling finished beats from artists and scrapping them. Dre's style has only proven to be effective on the west coast, and in Detroit. That's it. Which, to be honest, is why he has been surpassed by his peers. His Firm failure showed nothing if not the fact that he can't, I mean literally CANNOT produce tracks for east coast MC's. He couldn't hash out ANYTHING effective for Rakim, who is possibly the greatest MC of all time. The lack of a pure, dominant West Coast MC from about.....2000 until about Game in 2005, hurt Dre's sound severely. And Game worshipped the ground that Dre walked on, name dropped him in almost every song he could.. And Game is a great, GREAT west coast rapper. He is what Snoop wishes he was. And Dre contributed great work to his debut album, 2005's The Documentary, and when it was announced that 2007's Doctor's Advocate (I mean, come on...how much more of a man crush could Game have on Dre? Though, I hope he doesn't read this, and come and find me.) would be an entirely Dre produced album, The entire state of California pretty much wet itself. For years, the West had been fighting for hip hop respect, and this was to be the album that did it for good. Chronic 2007. Take that, Brooklyn. Dre, after crafting some beats for the project, inexplicably dropped out. Doctor's Advocate, without Dre, was a critical and commercial success, as Kanye West and Just Blaze picked up the production slack. The problem is becoming that the IDEA of a Dre production is amazing, but it's rarely realized, so that these grand ideas are being taken and run with in people's minds, and we're forgetting that he's actually producing very little these days. He's talked about producing a lot....but hasn't really put forth much.

See, here's the thing. Dre has done some good for music. He's by all accounts a humble, and nice guy, despite the fact that he is perceived as he is. He was one of the very few people to ever stand up to Suge Knight, and leave Death Row when it got too violent, too corrupt, and too uninspiring for his tastes, and I respect that. I only wish he could have gotten Tupac out with him, but I respect the fact that he left, and turned his back on literally MILLIONS of dollars to follow what he wanted to do, and the music he wanted to make. I'm just not sure about much else. Rolling Stone ranks him as the 54th greatest artist of all time (he appears again, with N.W.A. at 88. Again, no complaints on that one). No, seriously, they do. In his immortals write-up/lovefest, Kanye West states: "Do hip-hop producers hold Dr. Dre in high esteem? It's like asking a Christian if he believes Christ died for his sins." Now, West's flair for drama aside, this can't be fucking serious. West asked Dre to mix his second album, Late Registration, which again led to much excitement, but never came to be, as Jon Brion handled the duties, quite well. Dre has been surpassed by producers who do more with less. Why spend millions to make one beat? The Neptunes just need a drum machine. Kanye West and Just Blaze might spend a ton on sample clearances, sure, but they don't need a complete orchestra and southern Baptist choir to get the job done. Give Timbaland a keyboard and a drum machine, and welcome to the top 10. Billboard is happy to see you. All of these are Dre disciples, who have passed him up, which is hard to do when bowing at someone's feet. It's almost as though he SHOULD be relevant only through "remember those days" talk, but you would think that he's still working at a high level. Dre has become his own worst enemy. Maybe caring about what people think too much, maybe, at 44, feeling the effects of his age, and looking over his shoulder at his younger peers. But what I hope that at some point he understands, is that he's at his best when he's not trying to live up to the legend that people have made him out to be. He is a great producer. Who is very flawed, and he's been painted as this black Phil Spector, a flawless king Midas. When, in reality, Dre's had scratches in his armor since around 1995. Maybe he's accepted it, maybe he hasn't, but either way...why can't we?

On, and if Detox ever comes out and lives up to expectations, I swear I'll........

Well, I'll leave it up to you. It's like a choose your own disaster.

Clap Until Your Hands Hurt: A Tribute To Pop's Greatest Icon.

I'm going to talk about Michael Jackson, and I'm going to do it right. I'm going to separate him, and the music he made, from whatever else he did in his life. See, Mike didn't give us music, he gave us MOMENTS. Who doesn't remember the Motown 25th anniversary show, where MJ broke out the moonwalk for the first time? If you have a hard time recalling, get at your boy, I've got it on VHS. Watching a moment like that just lets you know. This is greatness, and anything below this isn't, so don't even bother.

What were you doing when you were 6? Think about what Jackson was doing, and if it measures up, let me know.

See, 'cause I grew up around Motown music, just a bit, and people need to remember....the Jacksons came along in Motown's second wave. The Temptations had suffered deaths, the Supremes were on their last leg (mostly due to Diana Ross being horrible, but I digress...), Martha hated the Vandellas. So, Berry Gordy, being one of the greatest record men of all time, stumbled upon this 6 year old kid, singing with his brothers. Much could be said about Joe Jackson, and what he put his children through to be great, and by all accounts Michael got it the hardest, but he also got it IN the best. If you're lucky enough to find some old original video of a 7 year old Michael, watch the natural ability. The movement, the swift and effortless vocal transitions...and the great thing, the thing that always makes me smile the most is that the J5 were having songs written for them, and covering songs that a pre-teen obviously shouldn't have been singing. Tell me you don't crack a smile when you hear little Mike sing "I wanna be your sugar daddy/give you honey/all my money"...and J5's version of Smokey's "Who's Lovin' You" might be the greatest example of the fact that Jackson was just as much of a crooner as Sinatra, as he stretches out each note to it's fullest emotion, and evokes hints of Otis Redding...PLEADING for you not to "worry your pretty little head" about what he's doing these days, because thanks to you, he's the most miserable 11 year old on his block. Jackson was more of a traditional soul singer than anything, which is what gets forgotten in all of the King Of Pop rhetoric. He borrowed, as all great soul singers do. He had, of course, Otis' pleading, James Brown's demanding yells, Aretha Franklin's vocal runs, and the charisma of Stevie Wonder. Of course his brothers, namely Jermaine deserve some respect for Mike's legacy during this part of his career, as do Holland-Dozier-Holland, (*sigh...) Diana Ross, And Berry Gordy.

The Jackson 5 have become like Funkadelic in some ways. Oversampled, overexposed, and therefore not appreciated. Ghostface's "All That I Got Is You" samples my favorite J5 song, "Maybe Tomorrow"...and that is one of about 4 J5 samples that I can appreciate. I was so happy when years ago, after the success of Jay-Z's "H To The Izzo", Kanye West denounced sampling the Jackson 5. If only more people would take note. I mean, how many times can we REALLY hear "I Want You Back" used?

After the brothers left Motown, and eventually parted ways, Jackson had a few of his greatest, and most under appreciated songs, "Ben" and "Music and Me", before launching into his solo career, and look...I'll say it. Thriller isn't the end all/be all. Off The Wall might be better than Thriller, because it's a youthful, excited amateurish attempt at a brilliant talent having creative control for the first time in their lives. It rings much like Kanye West's College Dropout. You get the feel that Mike just walked into the studio, looked around for his brothers, and father, and when they didn't pop out, he ran to the boards and just played with everything. It's also important that Quincy Jones gets due credit. Jones is the greatest producer of black music ever. Period. The next closest, individual (outside of Motown's "team") might be Dr. Dre, and he's got a ways to go. Detractors, even myself to a point, will say that Jackson had more help than any other artist in the 80's, so towering over the 80's in the way he did was inevitable. 2 Months ago, I was chatting with a peer who turned to me and said, "Man...what if Prince had Quincy Jones?? Prince and Q would kill!" See, I'm not so sure that they would. Prince is an incendiary talent, who when faced with the prospect of giving up complete control of his art, proves to be erratic. It's a personality. Michael Jackson is an egomaniac, don't get me wrong. But, at least for those 3 80's albums with Jones (Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad), he knew that he was an egomaniac that needed help to reign in his sound.

He's got the greatest, and let me be clear, GREATEST pop ear ever. No one appreciates that. Do you know how many hooks you could pull out of "Billie Jean"?? the entire song is like one long hook. Every instrument could be parted out, and made into it's own. From the dumdumdum-dum-dumdum-dumdum of the bass, to the light synth riff. No one else can even TOUCH that. Jones might have refined it, and reigned it in, but that's natural. The greatest musical part of Jackson's career comes at the end of "She's Out Of My Life" off of Off The Wall. Towards the end, you actually hear him breaking down and slightly crying. I would kill to hear a musician putting that much emotion into their music today. I'm not talking about the contrived middle aged guys screaming on stage about heartbreak, when they're happily married (I'm looking at you, Chris Carraba), I'm talking about writing, and singing a song that says "Well, shit...I liked this girl more than I ever knew, and now she's gone, and I want to be sad, so here's REAL sad." Jackson covered so many different spectrums of music, even his disco was good. And NO disco is good, but "Burn This Disco Out"??? yeah, you know that's hot.

Something (Something ELSE....remember, we're sticking to music here) happened to MJ in the 90's. Obviously he had his scandals, and maybe that took a toll on him, but I think the musical landscape just changed, and he lost his way. Bands like Weezer and Nirvana changed what pop music meant, and he wasn't Blues enough for R&B, but seemingly too black for pop, no matter how much he tried to lighten himself up physically. His critics became harsher, citing his inability to write lyrics, and his reliance on superior studio wizardry to flesh out his sound, detractors even complained about his spectacle videos. But still, through it all, you just got the sense that he was larger than life. I got his last studio effort, Invincible , the one with "You Rock My World" on it, and there were flashes there, flashes of what made him great, and still relevant.

A few years ago, my friend John and I went into a store, and bought these DVDs of Jackson's music videos. THOSE were events. Regular scheduled programming would be interrupted for a Jackson video. I remember, in 1991, the NBA playoffs were interrupted for the video premiere of "Remember The Time", and I bugged the fuck out, not 'cause I was made about the game, just because that was pop, at it's peak, and I knew it. Even at that young age, I knew it. No one can shut it down like that anymore. His videos MEANT something, whether you're watching him lean all the way forward in "Smooth Criminal", and then lose it like "How did he DO that???", or watching possibly the greatest dance move ever, the "card dealing" move in "Beat It" (again, if you don't know what I'm talking about....get at me.), his creative control always yielded great results. I miss that, even in his final big video, the aforementioned "You Rock My World" Chris Tucker, and various other stars came out.

Jackson may inspire a lot. But there can never be another. Pop's climate isn't ready for another one of him. Justin Timberlake may be the closest we get. I've had moments watching Timberlake where I feel like 15 years from now, I'll be telling some kid, "Look, I saw THAT guy when he was in his 20's, and he fucking KILLED"....but it's just not the same.

And it never will be.

Rest in Peace, MJ.

And everyone do me a favor, put aside his personal life, and find, download, or borrow a copy of "Maybe Tomorrow" for me....and move yourself to feel something. Anything.

9 Lives: Why Chan Marshall Still Matters.

"I've lived in Bars, and danced on tables/Hotels, trains, and ships that sail...."

What do you do if you burn out AND fade away....and survive? Visualize with me.

Around 4 years ago, I was in a small, smoke filled club in Arizona, anxiously awaiting singer/songwriter Chan (Pronounced "Shawn") Marshall, who performs as Cat Power, to take the stage. A known erratic performer, her behavior had intensified for the worse as her alcohol abuse became greater. So, on this night, it was to no surprise that she was about 45 minutes late. She eventually stumbled out on stage, with her tiny band (Which at the time included Doug Easley of the Memphis Rhythm Band), and a guitar that only had two strings. Her band seemed a bit irritated by all of this, but they still struggled with an obviously drunk Marshall through 3 songs. Midway through the 4th song, "He War", one of the two strings on the guitar broke, and Easley attempted to take it from her. Possibly to re-string, possibly to save her from herself. Marshall angrily lashed out at Easley, and began crying hysterically, as her band awkwardly struggled to make music loud enough to cover up the sound of their leader falling apart.

The show ended abruptly, and as I was only one of about 5 remaining people left, I walked outside, where Marshall and a few choice members of her band sat around and smoked. I walked out in time to hear her say, "I wish I knew how to put on a better show" through tears. Ever so briefly, she caught the eye of me and my friends, smiled through smeared makeup, and nodded.

Marshall's decline was well documented through most of 2006, as she frequented rehab, found, and somehow lost, God on numerous occasions, and had a brush with death. A friend of mine even had a shirt that read, simply "Cat Power is Dead". Somehow, through all of this, she decided to get on the phone with Al Green, and ask for his blessing to record with his old band, and recorded 2006's, The Greatest with Teenie Hodges, and co. But, on the eve of it's release, Marshall suffered yet another alcohol induced breakdown, cancelled all touring behind the album, and locked herself away in a Florida rehab center.

In the meantime, The Greatest soaked up critical and commercial acclaim, as she became the first female solo act to win the Shortlist Music Prize, and the album became the best selling album in the Matador catalog. Almost as though success was sobering, Marshall resurfaced timidly in mid 2007, looking healthier, and performing better.

It's not this alone that makes her a unique talent. This made her better, but She had been in the industry since 1995, and it took her about 11 years to break down, which in some ways is an accomplishment. But she has it all. She's about as complete of a package now as you can get in an indie performer. She's beautiful (The opinion of this writer is that she is possibly the MOST beautiful....but I won't be biased.), but doesn't serve as an indie rock wet dream in the same way that (Rilo Kiley's) Jenny Lewis and Feist do. Not that I'm begrudging wet dreams of any variety, especially not those of a musical kind, and I like both Feist and Lewis, both are very talented...though Feist is now only tolerable for me in Broken Social Scene form, I'm not sure she's gotten all of the egg off of her face from her terrible Grammy showing a couple of years ago (Though, she can hardly be blamed, but I digress...). And Rilo Kiley is an indie staple, who makes good...no, GREAT music, and who deserves respect, yet in a band of beautiful child stars, Jenny Lewis towers above all, and is constantly shoved to the front of the stage. Chan Marshall kind of lost her chance, back when Feist, Lewis, and even Ani DiFranco were climbing to the top of female indie heartthrobdom, Marshall was drinking herself to death. Marshall's beauty, and I hate nothing more than discussing beauty for the sake of talent, is so understated, yet so striking that Chanel's head designer (the ONLY reason I didn't have to look this up is because I have friends involved in fashion. Don't make fun.) Karl Lagerfeld saw her smoking after a performance, and demanded that she become the spokesperson for their jewelry line. But enough about that.

When Bob Dylan sits down to write, stories unfold, and thoughts are provoked. When Bruce Springsteen sits down to write, wars between right and wrong are waged over the course of anywhere between 3 to 12 minutes, and the pure struggle of just existing purely in an impure world is set forth. When Pete Wentz sits down to write, hearts are up for grabs to be won and lost by the pure power of words alone, without exception.

When Chan Marshall sits down to write, all Hell breaks loose. I've never shared more than the aforementioned awkward nod and smile with Chan, so none of this is exclusive information, but you get the sense that every time she sits down to write, she tries to think of which demon to purge next. Women have used lyrics as confessionals for years, but never like this. I mean, maybe Joni Mitchell, but she's a Goddess, so she doesn't count. Not enough artists take personal responsibility with their lyrics....With Marshall, it's not about love, or heartbreak, or just misery alone. It's about how fucked up SHE is....you're just the poorly built house of sticks in the way of Chan's self created tornado. And it's in a really unapologetic way, not like the old soul singers that she grew up listening to, like Al Green or Otis Redding, who would sing about how they screwed up, but please....PLEASE....justcomebackthisonelasttimeandIpromise thingswillbebetter andifnotatleast wegotasongoutofitsoI'llbuyyousomethingpretty. There's a place for that, trust me, and as I've stated on this blog before...for my money, Redding is the greatest soul singer of all time. But there's a place for what he does, and when you've lived like Chan Marshall has, you don't have the time, and probably not the will to plead for anyone to accept anything from you, except for how much of a disaster you are. In "Love & Communication" (From The Greatest) She sings, "Hated to see you sad when I left/there's no good in that, but the good part was that I came out at all"...it's a very nonchalant lyrical way of saying, "well, I'm sorry that you're sad, but I'm screwed up, and you should have known that." I'm drawn to her writing, not as a spectacle, as some critics would suggest, but because writers like her are so rare anymore.

Musically, she's interesting. She's got this intense Bob Dylan fixation. Which, like most Dylan fixations, I don't understand. She's almost always performed with a 'Bob Dylan Fan Club' badge on. Dylan, of course, can't be bothered with anyone liking him these days, and she expressed some frustration when last year, despite her pleading, Dylan chose Kings Of Leon over her as his final supporting act for his Modern Times tour. Yet, she's not so much Dylan, no matter how much she wants to be or thinks she is. She comes out as a hybrid of Billie Holiday, Tina Turner, Janis Jopin, and Elvis Costello. At the core, she's a blues singer...I mean, she has to be. No great blues singer starts out as a blues singer. Life takes it's toll on all of them, and before you know it, they are singing all that they know, which is misery. My friend, Marissa, a talented singer in her own right insists that Marshall simply can't sing, a common gripe with Marshall as of late. Her voice, ravaged by years of intense smoking, isn't of a conventional beauty. She has limited range, and tends to struggle outside of it, and has a tendency to strain her vocals when she could pull herself back and sound better. But, that wouldn't be REAL. I am....ahem....quite the Mariah Carey fan. No bullshit. But, with all of her vocal acrobatics, it's hard for me to FEEL anything from them. I'd rather listen to Chan Marshall struggling to sing about struggling, than Mariah Carey breezing through singing about nothing. Tina Turner, Janis Joplin...I mean, they can't "sing" in the traditional defining way, but I'll take them as well. Chan became better when she came back in 2007, and could take her guard down, step from behind the guitar, and just sit at a microphone, free, and just sing. There's just something more honest about that.

Chan is 37 now, but you wouldn't tell by watching her. In interviews, her eyes constantly dart around, as though she's waiting for the next sky to fall, as she talks in her painfully intense southern drawl (Marshall hails from Georgia, and has the oddest transition from "singing" voice to "speaking" voice of any artist I've ever heard.), leaving out no details of her falling apart, and you can't help but wonder, how much longer? No one can live this hard, this fast, this long, and make it to 40....right? she released the covers album Jukebox last year, where she played with some of the Memphis band again, using the southern musicians to flesh out her sound, and garnered even more awards, and critical acclaim....even taking the risk of covering one of her own songs, from an earlier album. Her detractors whisper the all common phrase "sell out" when they see her in a Chanel ad, or on a cooking show, but they miss the point. They don't make women like Chan Marshall too often. The fact that she's lived through no doubt her version of hell, and didn't come out of it a total disaster, well....she's earned the right to sell out a little bit, right?

I've made 4 mix CDs for various people this summer, and they've all included "Lived In Bars", the opening track off of The Greatest, in which Marshall sings, "There's nothing like living in a bottle/nothing like ending it all for the world"....the song tears you down, with melancholy vocals, and droning horns. But, right when you think that hope is lost, Teenie Hodges and the boys from Memphis pick up the pace, and the song turns into a celebration. Of what? Of the fact that Marshall might not be plastered on the walls of indie rock romantics, like Jenny Lewis....she might not be revered by her peers as much as Ani Difranco, and she'll likely never get Grammy nods like Feist. But she's alive, and creating. And somehow, that's a bigger accomplishment than anything else.

What do you do if you burn out AND fade away?? You live to tell about it, and do it all over again.

(And Chan, if you somehow stumble upon RHT, listen. I will probably marry you. I mean, I would need some time to make sure that you won't have a meltdown and kill me in my sleep. I could take waking up to you attempting to kill me, that would be pretty hot. I mostly just want to live with you and write, and stare into each other's eyes. Or, whatever. Think about it, and shoot me an email.)

The Curious Case Of Lupe Fiasco. (Or, Do Your Part To Save The Scene, And Stop Wearing Backpacks.)

I think of myself as a hip-hop fan in the truest sense of the word. Be it mainstream, or underground, old school or new school, the importance of all of the genre represents a big part of who I am, for better or worse.

Around two years ago, I was honored to be asked to contribute to respected hip-hop blog Nah Right, and at the time, there was the "Hip-Hop is Dead" campaign going on, spearheaded by respected MC Nas' album which proclaimed it as such. Ever the optimist, and ever the apologist, I wrote an impassioned piece on a young Chicago MC who already had considerable buzz, but was poised to be the savior to drag hip-hop out of it's darkest period since 1997, after of violence and death left us depleted.

Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, or Lupe Fiasco, at one time, was a fresh breath of air for hip-hop heads such as myself who knew that yeah, artists like 50 Cent will always have their place, and are moderately important for the survival of the genre....but also knew that the beefed up, gun-toting side of the genre was killing mainstream perceptions, and was becoming, quite frankly, cartoonish. There needed to be an MC with creativity enough to shy away from that angle, and still not be brash enough to shun the masses, or force their quirkiness on us. Kanye West succeeded on the former count, but has moments of failure on the former. In short, there needed to be a link between the "backpacking" underground fans, and the mainstream hip-hop world. Lupe's first album, 2005's "Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor", didn't have a parental advisory sticker, covered topics ranging from Lupe's Muslim faith, to skateboarding, to obscure fashion, to robots. It wasn't forced, or different just for the sake of being different. He, to most of his peers, fans, and critics, represented the next wave of hip hop dominance.

So, how is it that now, 4 years later, just mere days after the (supposed) first single ("Shining Down") from his (supposed) final album, Fiasco has gone from universal savior, to polarizing figure, who is dying to get out of music? Find a set of hip hop fans, and the mere mention of his name either illicits sighs and eye rolls or fist pounds and head nods. I breached this topic with a good peer of mine who writes for the aforementioned Nah Right, and he simply sighed into the phone and said "It's those cats on that "pure" hip hop bullshit again..."

Let's explore this, shall we?

First off, it's not as though there was a drop off between records. 2007's "The Cool" may have even been better than Fiasco's first effort, garnering 4 Grammy nods, and I've got one dude that will fight to the death swearing that it's the greatest rap album ever made. What did happen in between the period from 2006 until now, however, could answer some questions...the case against Mr. Fiasco seems to include the following:

1.) In 2007, Lupe was asked to perform a tribute to underground hip hop pioneers A Tribe Called Quest, at VH1's Hip Hop Honors. Lupe didn't decline, because, well....as he said..."Q-Tip asked me. I couldn't say no". Lupe probably should have declined, simply because he hit the stage, and forgot the words to the song, "Electric Relaxation". It was an embarrassing moment for the genre, mostly because Fiasco is, and should have been carrying on Tribe's legacy. His sound is a direct derivative of Q-Tip and co. So, the following week, when he was interviewed about the screw up, and mentioned that he had never "really" listened to Tribe's classic album, 1993's Midnight Marauders, it sent shockwaves through the ever fragile underground community. Almost in one sentence, he alienated all of the backpackers who clung to him. And, to be honest, I was a little disappointed musically as well. Midnight Marauders is one of the sacred cows of hip hop music. A blending of jazz, pop, and rap, with lyrical wit, it's easily one of the greatest musical masterpieces ever, and one of the most influential pieces of hip hop history that we have. Put it like this. It would be like Jack White getting on stage, fucking up a tribute to Eric Clapton, and saying "Well, you know...I just never got into that album 'Slowhand....and what the hell is Cream??'". Fiasco didn't help his cause by further flying into a rage over the issue, after it was well dead, demanding hip hop heads to "Get off of your high horses, and let go of your sacred cows". Ouch.

2.) Early last year, in the heat of the Democratic Primaries, Fiasco, who is from Chicago, denounced Barack Obama and said that he would love to see Hilary Clinton win. Which was, by me, all well and good. Chicago, and the ever important streets, disagreed. Fellow Chicago MC's Rhymefest and Common lit into Fiasco on their respective blogs, and in magazines. The slight alienation of his more street fans began. Shortly thereafter, Fiasco announced that his third album would be his final, and he would be departing from rap, which alienated a handful from both sides of the aisle.

3.) Finally, and most recently. Sometime Tuesday morning, as it was announced by Fiasco himself, a finished version of his new single, the much anticipated "Shining Down" hit the streets. The single's reception can only be described as mixed, mostly due to the fact that Fiasco utilizes autotune, ever so briefly, in the first 6 bars of the second verse. Using autotune at a time when the backlash against the cartoonish overuse of autotune in hip hop is under fire. The elder statesman of rap, Jay-Z, just 2 weeks ago recorded and released the vicious, brutally confronting "D.O.A. (Death Of Autotune)" which effectively stood as a call to arms against the vocal tool. Jay went a step further, by pushing back his album, just so that any autotune used on the album could be removed and re-recorded, and as usual, the genre followed lock step with him. You would think Autotune usage was akin to treason in the past two weeks. So, jaws, hearts, and minds dropped alike when Lupe, rap's future, seemingly didn't get the memo. Making it worse, after the single gained mixed reviews, and hip hop bloggers tore into it, Fiasco became, well....sort of petulant. At some point last night, he put up a blog expressing his anger with the "leak" of this "unfinished" song, and that it wasn't intended for public ears yet. No one has mentioned that the single release date was a mere few hours before it actually dropped, nor that it SOUNDS about as finished as it can get. Not to mention that fellow Chicagoan, and frequent Collaborator Kanye West put the track up on his blog as well. Oh, boy. Does he have egg on his face, or what? To compound things, Lupe went on to seemingly blame his fans for his debut album not going platinum, stating, ""I DON'T LEAK MY OWN RECORDS!!! I'M NOT A FAN OF LEAKING RECORDS OR OF DOWNLOADING!!! My entire first album leaked and possibly cost me from going platinum my first time out as the final estimates of how many people actually downloaded that album illegally was well over half a million."

See, here's the point, though. All of that looks bad on paper. But hip hop fans did this. You all eat your own, and now Lupe is one meltdown away from being the next artist to be killed by his own scene. Remember what the indie scene (ahem...CHICAGO'S indie scene, see a pattern?) did to Liz Phair? what Seattle's grunge scene did to Kurt Cobain? What teenage girls in black eyeliner did to Pete Wentz? What Gotham City did to Batman?

I'm no where near saying that everything Fiasco has done is flawless. He should have probably declined the Tribe Called Quest tribute, and let's face it, it's not to much to ask to be affiliated with the classics of your respective genre, but....BUT....maybe it IS time for us, as responsible hip hop heads to loosen the grip we have on our sacred cows. Not forget them, but also not lampoon someone for a lack of familiarity. What does Lupe's ignorance of Tribe Called Quest REALLY say? That he's not as influenced by them as everyone ELSE painted him to be? I can live with that. He never claimed to be anything more than what he was, and Tribe never played into any of that. After the Fugees broke up, I listened to "The Score" for 9 months. 9 months STRAIGHT. And I dissed all mention of Lauryn Hill's solo career. I say that to say that as hip hop fans, we get so caught up in our classics, our immortals, and we shun anyone who doesn't fit into our circle of that as "not worthy". Second, I mean, not getting on a political soapbox...but when did it become cool to lampoon rap cats for having a strong political opinion? Now, had he shown up to a concert in a Sarah Palin tee, I'd have a differing opinion. No matter what's said....Republican and rap are two R's that just don't mix. No matter how many times I see the pic of Jeezy snuggling up to John McCain on SNL, it just doesn't seem right. Music that's about rebellion, whether it be metal, rap, punk....is just anti-political, to some extent. Yes, Barack Obama is (partially) black. Yes, Barack Obama is from Lupe's hometown. But, shouldn't that give him more of a right to have a differing opinion? And why do we cheer for Kanye West, who states "Oh, well....I don't know much about politics....", but blindly rallies for Obama? look, make no mistake. I'm Obama through and through, but I had valid reasons for that stance. We take one artist from the Chi with no reason for that stance, and cheer him, and the other with valid reasons against that stance, and ostracize him. And in the end, when it came down to Obama vs. McCain, Lupe fell in line, and supported Obama. Why was that not good enough? Yeah, Obama is more hip hop than Hilary, but dissenting from popular choices just for the sake of popularity is more hip hop than anything.

Lastly, Fiasco's single is great. It's fantastic, and it's everything that true rap fans should want. Instead you all picked it apart, tore it down, and within a matter of days, had it's main creator backtracking. Look, no one buys the fact that this was some "unfinished" version of the song, more that Lupe wants to re-record it so that it can live up to whatever unreachable expectations that are to be had of it. Who really gives a fuck if Lupe spits 6 bars of autotune?? Jay-Z?? How does the rap world benefit, if it asks "how high?" every time Jay commands "jump"?? I appreciated "D.O.A.", because of the rampant poor use of autotune in mainstream hip-hop. I also appreciate that Jay made the effort to never use it, even though his closest collaborator, and probably biggest fan, Kanye West was autotune's chief catalyst. It's like when Jay came out with the song "Change Clothes" in 2004, and changed the face of rap fashion, commanding that artists need to start dressing "more grown"...that worked out well, but if Lupe, or anyone is altering creative choices for fear of Jay-Z influenced backlash, well, then that's a problem, do we not agree?

Lupe's disdain for the industry brings us to this. He claimed that he was going to make one last album, and call it quits. Alantic's brain trust, Julie Greenwald and Lyor Cohen (Who some might remember from the bonus footage in Jay-Z's "Fade To Black" standing on the table and shouting, "I'M A GREEDY JEWISH BASTARD!!!"....ahhh, memories...) refused to let him out of his contract, stating that he had 3 albums to fulfill. Fiasco then intended to release a triple album, entitled "LupE.N.D." consisting of "Everywhere", "Nowhere", and "Down Here". This was postponed, and eventually nixed. Now, just one album, entitled "Lasers" is slated for release this winter. Fiasco claims still, that it will be his final effort, that he has no more to say, and that rap no longer needs him. Whether this is true remains to be seen, but I would argue that rap needs him now more than ever. He's the purest mainstream MC since Nas, who by the way, was torn down in similar fashion through the middle of his career. There's not a lot of new, young talent in rap that inspires much hope in me. I mean, Wale and B.o.B. seem promising, but anyone else? I like Asher Roth as much as the next guy who actually didn't go to college and has to live it out in a series of misleading, overused cliches...but I wasn't under the influence of enough Natty Light to enjoy "Asleep In The Bread Aisle" (And "Greenhouse Effect" wasn't much better...), and Drake? I refuse to hail the dude from Degrassi as hip-hop's White Knight, no matter how much Lil Wayne, who has become a shell of himself, endorses him.

Lupe Fiasco is still the future, the great hope, of this genre. At 27, with two universally acclaimed albums, and not even peaking yet, you have to ask what more people want. So what....so, he's not "Street" enough, for the hardcore rap, and he's not "backpack" enough for the underground crowd? If we can't accept Lupe's individuality, we might as well stop listening to rap music all together. So, I beg the rap community to ease off of Lupe. Don't eat this one alive. Once Kanye West loses it for good (should be here in the next two years or so, yeah?), he's our only link to positive mainstream influence.

Now that I'm done here, I'm going to catch some Degrassi reruns to remind myself why I can't take Drake seriously.

Toasting To Pop's Latest Catastrophe: Lady Gaga, The Madonna Complex, And Brilliant Career Moves 101.

Look, I'm not an idol killer. I'm simply not. I'm an idol apologist. I stand up for Stevie Wonder's now borderline laughable career (I even publicly big upped the fucking JONAS BROTHERS in an effort to do this. Stevie, you owe me at least one more good album before you die.), I act like the 90's didn't exist for Springsteen, I cover up for Prince's erratic behavior, and even more erratic albums, and I act like Jay-Z never swore he was retiring after the Black Album. The generation prior to me made a living out of killing their idols, so the way I see it, I at least owe it to musical karma to make up for it.

That said, I guest wrote a piece for a friend's zine recently where I took aim at Lady Gaga, and the frustrating state of solo female pop music. Gaga is typical fare, and does nothing new. Which, in and of itself, isn't terribly bad. It's when the PUBLIC acts as though it's new that draws my ire a bit. It seems as though Gaga (it pains me to continually type this. All the good names must be taken, eh guys?) is the new go-to girl with urban/pop appeal, as she appeared on rapper Wale's lead single, "Chillin'", released this month. This event is what irked me to the point where writing was necessary. This was an obvious forced collaboration, not that UMG's label head Sylvia Rhone tried to hide the fact, which made the song unlistenable, basically. Here's the main gripe. Gaga is a mediocre vocalist, by almost every and any way you measure vocal ability, she doesn't craft her own music, or write her own lyrics, as it has the mass produced sound of much mainstream pop, and other then light tickling of a synth here and there, she's not much for instruments. What she does have, however, is sex appeal, and lots of it. Shortly after her first single, the somewhat infectious (I'll admit) "Just Dance" dropped, she was in Rolling Stone telling every lewd and sexual story she could. Now, first let me say, objective as I may be, and contrary to popular belief and general insults...I am a heterosexual male. And there are worse looking women on this earth than Ms. Gaga. That said, I have long railed against the "Why have talent when you can have sex appeal?" line of musical thought. And then, it hit me. I can't blame Gaga. Or even Spears, Aguilera (who actually does have talent, as we all know), Jessica, Rihanna, or any other host of barely post-teen popettes. It traces back to one person.

This is all Madonna's fault.

And, again, Madonna is very much entitled to the throne of pop music. No other female solo pop act has been able to compete, with the exception of maybe Janet Jackson, who we'll tackle later (sadly, not in the literal sense...), but Madonna set a precedent for changing the perception of sex, and even gender roles, from a mainstream musical standpoint. She took control of her own career, created her own image, stood up to firestorms of criticism, and until recently, made really, really good music. And we look at Madonna, as fans, critics, and enjoyers of music, and we wonder what makes her great. Like almost all of the aforementioned, she's a decent, but not brilliant vocalist, not an instrumentalist by any means, yes, she has a much better ear, and has greater pop craftsmanship than average, but she was, and to some extent still is, driven by her sex appeal. It's sold her albums, books, and...well.....probably not movies so much. But, she took "sex sells", and ran with it from a musical standpoint. Sex follows controversy follows units being moved. But, at least for a while, Madonna did it RIGHT. How great was the "Like A Prayer" video? I mean, even if you were offended, you had to be a little bit like, "shit....that was cool...", and she grew appropriately. In the 90's it's like every album, she used a new style, and even if it missed, you had to admire her for trying.

And then, something happened. All of those girls that were in the Mickey Mouse Club by day, but snuck off to watch Madonna videos at night? well....they grew up. And suddenly, at around 1999 or so, Right after "Ray Of Light" got showered with acclaim, and awards, Madonna found herself competing with 18 year old clones of herself. One might say that it rings unfair, and I can't disagree, that at over 40 years old, and coming off of your biggest critical success, you have to be faced with sexier, younger talent...who can dance better than you ever could. Chief among those, of course, was Ms. Britney Spears. In the Rolling Stone Immortals tribute to Madonna (who was ranked the 36th greatest artist of all time, by the way...), Spears opened her gushing, run-on sentence of a tribute with the line, "I'm sorry, but I'd rather meet Madonna than the president of the United States." Which, though she got flak for it, I appreciated. Spears, Willa Ford, Jessica Simpson, etc, represented the wave of girls who grew into women through Madonna's music....yet, it just turned out that Madonna created a misguided monster. These girls-now-women missed the point, and just draped everything in as much sex as possible, so that people didn't notice their lack of talent. I exclude Christina Aguilera at this point, because she has thankfully departed from the stigma that was attached to her through her first two records, and now we know she's got one of the best voices in modern music.

But, damn, Jessica Simpson?? Oh, sweet....we get it. You're all soaped up and washing the General Lee. That's hot. Nothing gets me going more than bikinis and confederate flags. Gee, it sure is good that Willie Nelson is here to help you through that fit of seizures that you call dancing. Willa Ford, and a handful of others simply fizzled out, although I do have "I Wanna Be Bad" on a mix CD somewhere (Again, I AM a heterosexual male. I know what you're thinking...), so we for a time were left with Spears, and Spears alone. And I'll say this, I'm not a Britney fan. But, for that brief time, lets call it....1998 until about 2002 or so...I saw why she worked, I saw some of the creativity and brightness that Madonna had hoped to inspire . The Spears/Madonna collaboration, "Me Against The Music", to me, stands as one of about 3 tolerable Britney songs. And then, and even MORE odd thing happened....when N'Sync collapsed, and that type of pop just kind of fizzled out, not only did Britney start grasping for any reason to stay relevant, but Madonna joined her. The saddest moment in Madonna's career, aside from the "American Life" album that was released shortly before this incident, was the infamous kiss at the VMA's. First off, how awkward was Aguilera at the time? like, did she really NEED to be there? I never got the media's insistence on making us feel like Spears and Aguilera could stand each other. Second, Britney and Madonna kissing wasn't sexy. Or edgy. Or even the least bit attractive (Hetero Male. Hetero Male.)...if I want to watch two people fake affection as their careers go up in flames, I'll just look for a picture of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. As I watched Spears and Madonna tasting each other's desperation replayed on every station ad nauseum, I turned to my girlfriend at the time, and simply exclaimed, "This is fucking MADONNA!! why is she doing this?? she doesn't need this!!"....and she wisely agreed.

I blame that sole moment, and not the whole of Madonna's career for the brand of female pop we have now. Spears' decline is well documented. Yeah, can she still pack a house? sure. But so does Monday Night Raw. Somewhere, Spears tried to re-invent herself, and forgot that musically, she's so limited, that she needs to exist in moments like "Gimme More", which is a simple, infectious beat, long, repetitive chorus, and as few lyrics as possible. Which, in itself speaks to a sad state of music. And Madonna is flailing right along with her. Reinventing yourself a few times here and there is cool. Beyond that, it just gets annoying. She's released nothing since 2000's "Music" that's been good, despite winning a few awards here and there because, well....she's Madonna. All this has shown girls who have traced her career trajectory, or more importantly, label executives that have traced along, is that sex sells. They don't get the creativity behind it. Yeah, Seymour Stein was, and is, a label head. But he gave Madonna so much creative freedom to express herself when she was young, and never reeled her in when she crossed lines, which he knew would be important for women in the future. But, Spears should have been reeled in, and when she wasn't, she fell apart. Artists like Lady Gaga and Rihanna are so label, and industry created that it gets seen right through.

Janet Jackson, Super Bowl incident aside, has kind of been the antithesis of Madonna. Yes, both are sex symbols that have used sex as power, and controversy as record sales. Difference is, Janet Jackson is so comfortable in her legacy, and so secure in her career, a career which is brilliant, and has far surpassed her more popular brother's (Yes, I said it.), that she doesn't feel the need to grovel. Beyonce picked up her torch, and has carried it nicely, with little to no interference from Janet, which to me, speaks a lot to Janet's legacy. I won't ramble on about women empowering themselves, because I'd likely embarrass myself. But, until more creativity gets pushed WITH sex appeal, that side of pop music may always leave something to be desired.
At the end of Spears' Immortals write up on Madonna, she states, "As part of the generation that's coming up, you look at Madonna and you don't want to let her down."

How do you think she thinks that she's doing on that one these days?

In the meantime, I'm stickin' with Karen O, Katie White, M.I.A., and Chan Marshall.

DJ's Required Listening: Random Randomness

Well, we made it. 12:01, June 12th, 2009 was predicted to be The End Of Times. Television switched from analog to digital, and the world kept on spinning. $2.25 billion was invested by our government, billions more were squandered by TV stations that had to keep both signals on the air for 4 more months...but by God we're here. Thousands of calls were made when the elderly tried to tune in Regis & Kelly the next morning I'm sure. Rednecks from the sticks might have had to do without Springer for a day or two...but you all were warned !!! I was fearing a scene from a George Romero movie, with people coming out of the hills, trudging up my driveway, led by that beacon of blue-light coming from my living room window. But they never came. I was all stocked up on shotgun shells, Budweiser, & Twinkies too. Dammit. This could have been a perfect ruse to "thin the herd" if you will, but the government didn't take advantage of it. As every dumbass who didn't buy a converter box, sign up for cable or satellite, called a special hotline for their "free" box...the CIA (Cooter Intelligence Agency) could have made a "special delivery." Oh well...missed opportunities.

Anyway...I've been too busy to coherently put together a decent blog. I'm in full "fixer'up" mode around the house, single-handedly stimulating the economy each weekend at a time. Washing, staining, painting, mulching, mowing, trimming, buying, buying, buying. The only thing I've not improved on around the house is my golf game, which while never much above mediocre at best has found new levels of sucktitude. You gotta play to get better...right? Right? Kiss my ass...I know I suck.

OK...last time we talked about Eric Clapton and The Supergroup. I've got a few more supergroups here to to share...some you know, some you may not. But they're definitely worth checking out.

1. Chickenfoot - the world's newest supergoup. Sammy Hagar & Michael Anthony give Van Halen & Assoc. a big, double-fisted middle finger here. "What about drums," you ask? How 'bout Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. "OK, fair nuff...what can you do to top Eddie Van Halen on guitar?" Uh, ....try Joe Satriani, bitch. "Oh, snap!" BTW...are they just like borrowing Ryan Adams & The Cardinals logo since they're like, not using right now or what? You decide.

2. The Gutter Twins. Ever wonder what happened to former Screaming Trees & Queens Of The Stone Age lead singer Mark Lanegan, and/or Greg Dulli from Cincinnati's own Afghan Wigs? Sure you have. Well they are The Gutter Twins now, and sound nothing like anything else...which is what makes this collaboration cool as hell. Lanegan is a frickin' awesome vocalist...

3. Golden Smog. Hard to pin down a consistent lineup on these guys, but if you like Wilco (Jeff Tweedy), The Jayhawks (Gary Louris), or Soul Asylum (Dan Murphy) you'll dig these guys. I discovered it on Pandora...which JMLifeandTimes. has educated everyone on I hope. Can't listen at work now though, since our server is now located in Canada...which sucks...a lot.

Paul Westerberg: Man Without Ties

I first laid ears on Paul Westerberg back in 1982. Somebody, I don’t remember who, had given me a mix-tape (ah, the mix-tape. I miss them terribly) and one of the songs on the mix was called Kids Don’t Follow by The Replacements (The Mats to hardcore fans). It was a full bore slice of rock insanity, Westerberg was the lead singer, and I was hooked. I went out and bought the album the song was on, called Stink. By going “out” I mean I drove to Columbus where they actually had record stores that carried such non-mainstream rebelliousness. Hell, in 1982 you couldn’t find an R.E.M. tape in Ross County. I know, I’m old, but so is Rock ‘n’ Roll. Anyway, I loved the album. It’s hard to describe how different the sound was to me now, since “alternative” music was really in its infant stages and there have been a million imitators in years hence. The Goo Goo Dolls, Meat Puppets, and Ryan Adams are just a few artists admitting to a strong Westerberg influence. Of course, every band has their own influences, and The Mats can pay homage to The Clash, Big Star, and The Jam as well.

If you want to hear a slice of pure Mats, give a listen to Color Me Impressed, a full blown rock guitar orgy of noise on 1983’s Hootenanny album. Then I think you’ll know precisely what I’m talkin’ about. Westerberg’s voice has been called a “raw-throated adolescent howl” and this song illustrates why. They had some brilliant stuff on many of those early albums, songs like Fuck School and Dope Smokin’ Moron were classics. Wait. Now I know why I couldn’t find their albums at Woolworth’s in Chillicothe. Damn.

The Replacements broke up in 1991 for reasons well documented - in-fighting, addictions, you’ve heard it all before. Westerberg has been a notoriously moody cat, and one can certainly imagine how tough he’d be to work with. The night I saw him he almost took a roadie’s head off, but more on that later.

Next up was Westerberg’s solo career, and he did not disappoint. 1993’s “14 Songs” was a great album containing the Westerberg classics Knockin’ on Mine and Mannequin Shop. Ah, Mannequin Shop. Who can resist lyrics like these?

You’re lookin’ fine, a little strange, Been working out? Losing weight?
You got that hunger, and I can see
You’re looking younger than your supposed to be.
One little nip, one little tuck, ooh, you’re lookin’ hip
You never ever stop, chop-chop.

You look bitchin’, you look taut,
I’m itchin’ to know what was bought
Are those yours? Are those mine? Are they paid for?
It’s a lie.

You’re looking great
You’re losing face
You’re looking fine
My little Frankenstein.

Oh yeah, that familiar sounding voice you hear in the background on 14 Songs is Miss Joan Marie Larkin, or Joan Jett to you neophytes.

By the way, if you're watching the video links you'll see that most of them are grainy and unfocused. That's kind of perfect, isn't it?

Westerberg has released several albums since then, and I’ve enjoyed them all. Specific songs that stand out for me are MommaDaddyDid and Dyslexic Heart, although my faves are way too numerous to mention here. He has a killer acoustic version of The Beatle’s Nowhere Man that is amazing.

Paul has had his critics over the years, and I usually disagree with them. The criticisms are usually along the lines of, “Oh, he’s gone soft” or “He’s sold out.” I say bullshit on both counts. Anyone who thinks 1999’s “Sunrise Always Listens” is a too-soft tune should listen to “If Only You Were Lonely” from the mid-80’s or 1990’s “Sadly Beautiful.” Both were hauntingly beautiful ballads, shot straight from the heart, not much different than what he’s doing now. Sure, he wrote songs for the soundtrack to “Open Season” a couple years ago, but a guys gotta make a buck, right? I hear these criticisms all the time with guys like Westerberg or bands like Green Day, and I think it’s has something to do with maturity. Just because you’re stuck in 1995 doesn’t mean Billy Joe Armstrong is. Same with Paul.

I finally got a chance to see Westerberg at The Newport in C-Bus a couple years back, and it was an unreal experience. Along with his solo stuff, he sang some old Replacements songs and even threw in some surprise covers like “If I Had a Hammer” and “Daydream Believer.” At one point he sang while lying flat on his back on the floor. Another time a roadie came out to help with a guitar strap and Paul yelled, “Get the fuck out of here!”and proceeded to lunge at the guy with an uncontrolled rage as the dude ran for his life. Of course, he had a cigarette dangling from his mouth most of the show. Helluva night. A friend who was with our group told me afterwards, “It’s the first time I felt like I was watching a real rock star.”

Amen.

Paul Westerberg is obviously a troubled, complex guy, just like a lot of creative people are. There’s a story of him jumping off stage in Chicago and nearly choking the life out of a heckler before they stopped him. Good times.

Sometimes he touches on this through his music or during interviews. I recently read one where he spoke of receiving a book from a fan after one of his shows. Inside the book there was an inscription that read, “To Paul, who saved my life.” Westerberg said that he shook his head when he read it aloud. “It’s a horrible feeling,” he said. “I almost think ‘God, I saved you? Can you save me?”


Note. For more Paul Westerberg, click here for some great videos.