Hummel didn’t write a lot for Big Star, but he did contribute one of their best–the glorious “Way Out West.”

Rest in peace, Andy. I hope you are enjoying the reunion with Alex and Chris and working on some material I can check out when my time comes.

Big Star – “Way Out West”

Maybe not so many panties thrown onstage next tour, but the single is excellent. I’m curious to know if roots-music fans and AAA radio will pick it up.

I suppose this is similar to what Johnny Cash did with his American Recordings series, but Tom doesn’t try to be Johnny Cash (at least not on this number). It sounds like a natural evolution–the bombast is still there, but in service of a song appropriately sung by a man late in life.

I like it.

Tom Jones – “Did Trouble Me”

For old time’s sake…

Tom Jones – “Without Love”

After three straight masterpieces and some excellent contributions to the soundtrack of his movie 8 Mile, Eminem tanked on Encore and Relapse. He’s far too talented for those albums to have been completely worthless, but they were a pale shadow of his previous accomplishments. Exhibit A that something was wrong: Not only did he think “Ass Like That” was worth recording, he thought it was a worthy single.

He knows he let us down: “Them last two albums didn’t count. Encore I was on drugs, Relapse I was flushing ‘em out.”

Clean, sober, and determined to get his groove back, Eminem gets so back to basics that Recovery is more stripped down than his major-label debut, The Slip Shady LP. Gone are the stupid skits (the bane of far too many rap albums) and even the traditional album closer first line, “A lot of people ask me…” Recovery is all music, no gimmicks.

And fine music it is. While Recovery doesn’t quite reach the heights of the holy trinity of The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP, and The Eminem Show, it comes damn close. The one bit of filler, the lame sex rap “Seduction,” is almost necessary to give the listener a chance to catch his breath before a furious second half that opens with an absolutely menacing cameo by Lil Wayne on “No Love” and never lets up for a second.

Along the way, Eminem notches what will probably be the single of the year, “Love the Way You Lie,” where an aching chorus from Rihanna (not content with only having 2007′s single of the year, apparently) anchors a wonderfully-strummed guitar bed for Marshall’s heartbroken rhymes. It’s a tremendous song, and it will seal his comeback the moment it hits radio.

Shady’s back. Tell a friend.

Eminem – “Not Afraid”

Eminem (with Rihanna) – “Love the Way You Lie”

- Wendy Dio

Well, that sucks.

Dio was responsible for Rainbow’s great “Man on the Silver Mountain” before doing something almost no one has ever done–successfully joining a popular existing band that had lost a charismatic frontman. Heaven and Hell is acknowledged by metal-lovers as standing proudly side-by-side with the classic early Black Sabbath albums with Ozzy Osbourne.

His solo career produced at least three classics: “Holy Diver,” “Rainbow in the Dark,” and my favorite metal song of all time, “The Last in Line.”

In my imagination, I picture the Mighty Dio going to hell with his broadsword and slaying numerous devils and demons before his final confrontation with Satan himself. Slay, Dio, slay. Rock, Dio, rock.

Rainbow — “Man on the Silver Mountain”

Black Sabbath – “Neon Knights”

Dio – “The Last in Line”

Oh my goodness, do I love this song.

And I suppose this obituary wouldn’t be proper without acknowledging the greatest video in the history of videos.

Dio – “Holy Diver”

Did you know that Dio is largely responsible for popularizing the “devil horns” hand of rock? Is there anything awesome Dio didn’t do?

Via Reason.

With songs like “Ilahiya Khinzir! (All Hail Allah the Swine),” the band does not play down its opposition to the religion of peace. In a merrily dyspeptic interview with MetalStorm.net, frontman Reverend Filthy Fuck takes issue with popular “First Anti-Islamic Black Metal” descriptor only because he wants other anti-Islamists to get some credit:

We received this reputation because we are against Islam as individuals. Yet we are not the first and we are not only that. In any case, this is the only thing people talk about when they mention Ayat and we’re sick of it. So here it is again: AYAT IS AGAINST THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT IN ALL ITS FORMS.

Is Ayat, to Americans (or at least me), a novelty act? Yes. But given the threats against the South Park guys following their spot-on episodes on how too many Muslims lack a sense of humor, I think a Lebanese “Anti-Islamic Black Metal Band” is worth noting.

I’m a somewhat religious person myself, so I don’t think I have it in me to pen an anti-Christian, anti-Muslim, or anti-Judaism song or writing. But I reserve my God-given right to do so.

I don’t like Cookie Monster music, so I’m not embedding Ayat’s video. (You can follow the Reason link if you’re curious.) Instead I’ll give you these two rap gems.

Ice-T – “Freedom of Speech”

(I wish my term papers in college were that easy! …Well, maybe not.)

Eminem – “Square Dance”

“Don’t think I won’t go there. Go to Beirut and do a show there.”

Would I really? I have no show to do, so it’s not like the issue is going to come up. But I like to think I would. I’m certainly considering joining “Everybody Draw Muhammed Day.” My drawing would be a stick figure, because that’s about all I’m capable of, but it would be a respectful attempt that would not offend Muslims not offended by images of the Prophet (many of them).

But if it does offend? Well, it’s my God-given right to offend and no one can take that away from me.

I’m saddened and pleased to present examples of all three genres. Rest in peace, Malcolm!

Sex Pistols – “Holiday in the Sun”

Bow Wow Wow – “C-30, C-60, C-90, Go!”

Malcolm McLaren and the World’s Famous Supreme Team – “Buffalo Gals”

• They are a profitable business in my beloved home state of Michigan. In fact, the list of profitable businesses in Michigan is as follows:
  • Ford
  • Jack White
  • Eminem
  • Insane Clown Posse

Unfortunately for Michigan, the list of profitable businesses ends there.

• I am an eternal juvenile, and have to confess to snickering to a handful of their rhymes in the past.
• Stranglemania 2 is a longstanding post-imbibement ritual at Casa de Winslow.

But I’m sorry. Sentimental thoughts, guilty confessions, and the entire economy of my home state must sometimes be put aside. I am, after all, a big-time music critic, so I must dismiss such trifles as the childish things they are in service of the larger task of telling the truth.

So it must be said–the first nominee for the Justin Moore Award for Worst Song of the Year has arrived. That nominee is “Miracles,” by the Insane Clown Posse.

I shall write no more on the topic. Instead, I’ll just quote a few lyrics.

We don’t have to be high to look in the sky,
And know that’s a miracle opened wide,
Look at the mountains, trees, the seven seas,
And everything chilling underwater, please,
Hot lava, snow, rain and fog,
Long neck giraffes, and pet cats and dogs.

Niagara falls and the pyramids,
Everything you believed in as kids,
Fucking rainbows after it rains,
There’s enough miracles here to blow your brains.

I fed a fish to a pelican at Frisco bay,
It tried to eat my cell phone, he ran away.

I see miracles all around me,
Stop and look around, it’s all astounding,
Water, fire, air and dirt,
Fucking magnets, how do they work?

Magic everywhere in this bitch.

I think the answer is no, but here’s why I ask.

I finally got around to listening to A Friend of a Friend, the recent album by the Dave Rawlings Machine. Track four is a double cover of Bright Eyes’ “Method Acting” and Neil Young’s “Cortez the Killer.”

Listening to Rawlings perform “Method Acting,” I was struck by how much it resembled a different, and somewhat obscure, Neil Young song, “Distant Camera.” I’d heard “Method Acting” before, but did not notice the similarity in Bright Eyes’ raucous original version.

So I’m 95% sure that Conor Oberst is innocent, and even if he’s guilty, it’s entirely excusable plagiarism. The arrangement makes “Method Acting” and “Distant Camera” very different songs.

So the next question is, coincidence or not?

No idea on this one. Rawlings is a pretty clever guy. Was Rawlings saying, “You think this is Bright Eyes and Neil Young, but it’s actually Neil Young and Neil Young”?

Am I the first to get the joke?

Listen for yourself.

Bright Eyes – “Method Acting”

Neil Young – “Distant Camera”

Dave Rawlings Machine – “Method Acting/Cortez the Killer”

Bonus Track

Neil Young – “Cortez the Killer”

You might think that makes me biased, but it really doesn’t. I’m a critic even when it comes to my own brother, and I tell him honestly what I think of his band’s music, performances, lyrics, whatever.

So you can trust me when I tell you that this song rocks.

Album to follow in July!

squint – “Goodnight, Bad Intentions”

If you’re reading this, it’s likely I don’t have to tell you who Alex Chilton was and why his death on March 17, 2010 is being mourned by lovers of music everywhere. So I’ll just jot down a few thoughts.

I have no idea how I first heard of Big Star. I think I just sort of absorbed the knowledge that there was this hugely influential band in the 1970s that didn’t sell all that many records. This was just the sort of thing that music lovers, particularly fans of what used to be called college rock, knew, like they knew about the Velvet Underground.

I picked up Big Star’s three albums when they were reissued on CD in 1992. I remember the awe they put me in, particularly their astonishing third album, alternately known as Third and Sister Lovers.

Sister Lovers is a stunning musical achievement. I don’t think another album exists that is so majestic and yet so heartbreakingly human. From the rousing opening, “Kizza Me,” to the depths of despair of “Holocaust,” to the joy of “O, Dana” and “Stroke it, Noel,” to the delicate closing admonition to “Take Care,” Sister Lovers takes its listeners through the panoply of human emotion. It is an exhausting but hugely rewarding experience. It is also at the absolute pinnacle of rock and roll music, standing right up there next to works as towering as Exile on Main St. and London Calling.

My singling out of Sister Lovers should not be read in any way as denigrating Big Star’s first two albums, #1 Record and Radio City, which are classics as well (how did “September Gurls” not set the world on fire?). Big Star put out an amazing body of work, and it’s Hall of Fame worthy.

I made a decision not to seek out Chilton’s subsequent solo work. The reviews were, at best, mixed and I didn’t want to tarnish Chilton’s legacy in my mind. It must be said that seeing Chilton live sometime in the 1993-1994 area did not increase my desire to explore further. Now that he’s gone, I think I’ll dig around a bit in his solo stuff and the Big Star revival partially staffed by members of Big Star disciples the Posies. I’m sure there are some gems buried in there, and now I want to find them.

God bless you, Alex. Your music means the world to me and will so long as I live.

Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) eulogizes Alex Chilton on the floor of the House of Representatives

Big Star – “Nightime”

Big Star – “My Life is Right”

The Box Tops – “The Letter”

In news that almost made me regret slamming her performance of Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” earlier this week, I have learned that American Idol season 9 contestant Siobhan Magnus’ uncle used to be in Stryper! This makes me so happy, it’s unbelievable. No, I’m not joking. To Hell With the Devil was one of my first three or four rock cassettes. (Sing “Calling on You,” Siobhan!)

My investigative journalism on this subject turned up another factoid or two. Did you know that…

…everybody’s favorite Season 4 contestant, Constantine Maroulis, once sang with Twisted Sister at the NYSE’s Christmas tree lighting celebration?

Also on the bill for what must have been an awesome Christmas concert…Stryper!

Do the connections end there? They do not.

Did you know that…

Randy Jackson once played bass on a cover of Earth, Wind, and Fire’s classic, “Shining Star?”

It was on a 1990 metal album called Against the Law.

An album by…Stryper!

I do not yet know what all of this means. In an effort to figure it out, I assembled this handy diagram to show the connections between Idol and Stryper. Whatever it is that’s going on here, I think it’s reasonably safe to conclude that Randy “The Emperor” Jackson is the epicenter–the Stryper Svengali. For good or for ill, I know not.

I shall investigate further.

Figure 1: The Idol-Stryper connection

And, yes. This is the sort of hard-hitting investigative journalism you’ve come to expect from Idolpundit On Deaf Ears.

–30–

Stryper – “Shining Star” (featuring an invisible Randy Jackson)

Twisted Sister with Constantine “Constantine” Maroulis – “I Wanna Rock”

[Note that Constantine, ever the class act, takes a cheap shot at Stryper at about 3:45.

Dear Constantine: You're not fit to polish Stryper's boots.

♥ ♥ ♥,

Gordon Winslow]

[Update: I have been assured by commenters that my interpretation of Constantine's remarks was incorrect, and that no swipe at Stryper was intended. I regret the error.]

Stryper – “Calling on You”

Stryper – “To Hell With the Devil”

I discovered this over at No Depression. How it eluded me until now, I have no idea.

Here’s all I know about “The Chicken in Black.” From Wikipedia:

Cash’s recording career and his general relationship with the Nashville establishment were at an all-time low in the 1980s. He realized that his record label of nearly 30 years, Columbia, was growing indifferent to him and wasn’t properly marketing him (he was “invisible” during that time, as he said in his autobiography). Cash recorded an intentionally awful song to protest, a self-parody. “Chicken in Black” was about Cash’s brain being transplanted into a chicken. Ironically, the song turned out to be a larger commercial success than any of his other recent material. Nevertheless, he was hoping to kill the relationship with the label before they did, and it was not long after “Chicken in Black” that Columbia and Cash parted ways.

It was released as a single only. It peaked at #45 on the country chart in 1984.

Johnny Cash – “The Chicken in Black”

Happy birthday, Johnny Cash!

But music and politics do intersect sometimes, and we’ve occasionally had coverage from the perspective of both our liberal writers and our conservative, uh, writer (who happens to be me).

This one I had to share.

Older readers, counterculture types, and music geeks are likely familiar with Gil Scott-Heron’s “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” Scott-Heron’s compelling proto-hip-hop blend of beat poetry and jazz has been a leftist anthem for decades now, even lending its name to the title of a documentary generally viewed as pro-Hugo Chavez.

Gil Scott-Heron – “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”

Enter conservative musician, comedian, and guerrilla filmmaker, AlfonZo Rachel.

Zo (as he is affectionately known) serves up a brilliant parody, mocking President Obama’s repeated and transparently false claims that the congressional debates on the planned government takeover of health care, which is one-sixth of the economy and affects the lives of every American, would be aired on C-SPAN. Instead, we got shady backroom deals that handed out privileges to labor unions that the rest of us won’t enjoy and bought the votes of Ben Nelson (D-Nebraska) and Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana). It finally reached the point where even a liberal like Jack Cafferty was calling the president a liar on national television and even a deep-blue state like Massachusetts was willing to elect a Republican to the Senate in an effort to stop the bill.

Healthcare reform was not televised. If it was, maybe the bill wouldn’t be hanging by a rapidly-fraying thread.

AlfonZo Rachel – “Healthcare Reform Will Not Be Televised”

The parody is so perfectly executed, I have to think that even that ol’ lefty Gil Scott-Heron got a kick out of it.

(Wikipedia has a good guide to the references made by Scott-Heron in “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”)

No matter who wins the Cowboys-Vikings game tomorrow, next week will be the ultimate battle of good versus evil. And evil better look out, because…

The Saints Are Coming.

At the same time, the posts didn’t really fit. This is a record-geek sort of place, and the mass injection of pop culture that these posts delivered made for an odd and not entirely appropriate combination.

Because of this, we have elected not to cover American Idol here this year, even though those posts were among our most popular.

Instead, I am pleased to announce the launch of our sister site, Idolpundit!

If you’re an Idol viewer visiting because you liked our coverage last year, you’ll find all of our old Idol posts there. Jason and I will provide the same sort of coverage this season. We’ve also got two new writers who I think you’ll like a lot.

So drop on by and spread the word! Idolpundit.com.

Below is just a small taste of the awesomeness you’ll get at Idolpundit.

Nikki McKibbin – “Cry Little Sister”

The reviews are out for Allison Iraheta’s debut, Just Like You, and they aren’t exactly raves.

Barry Walters at Rolling Stone complains that Allison sounds too much like Pink in spots, which is no surprise–while I was hoping her collaborators would try to draw out her original side, this is pop music we’re talking about where the goal often seems to be to do the same thing over and over until it’s deader than dead.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine at All Music Guide is a bit more kind:

Allison may strongly resemble her idols here, but chalk that up to youth: she’s still in the stage where she’s emulating, not innovating, but that doesn’t prevent her from conveying considerable charisma.

Both critics have kind words for album opener and first single, “Friday I’ll Be Over U,” a cross between Joan Jett and co-writer Max Martin’s usual Swedish pop. It’s a good, not great, number, but it does show some potential. I think what I like about it the most is that Allison’s braces haven’t been airbrushed out of the video–that touch shows a glimpse of the genuineness and edginess that I loved about Allison on American Idol.

Allison was my favorite American Idol contestant ever, so I hope she gets the chance to develop.

Allison Iraheta – “Friday I’ll Be Over U”

Cross-posted at Idolpundit.

I was saddened to learn that Vic Chesnutt died yesterday. He had been in a coma for a week after an apparently intentional overdose of muscle relaxants.

I’m no expert on Vic Chesnutt, but I’ll write about my limited experiences.

I saw Vic when I was an undergrad in either late 1992 or early 1993. He was the first opener for Soul Asylum, at the peak of their popularity during the Grave Dancers Union tour. (Second on the bill was the Goo Goo Dolls, back when they were a pretty good rock band and not making shit-tons of money writing made-for-prom ballads.)

Vic was an odd choice for the bill. On a night of rock, out rolls this crippled dude in a wheelchair, accompanied by a female singer (I think his wife) and another musician, and they play some acoustic folky singer-songwriter stuff. I know the crowd thought it was strange, and I don’t think they liked it much. I, on the other hand, was intrigued.

A semester or two later, I received a promo of his album West of Rome. I was taken by its wry lyrics, and bon mots like “someday I will transcend / Just like Jane’s Addiction.” (Somehow he made it rhyme.)

Somewhere along the way, I lost my copy of West of Rome. I always meant to replace it, and further explore Vic Chesnutt’s catalog, but I never quite got around to it. I suppose that now that he’s gone, I’ll do the usual thing and gruesomely dig in. Better when Vic is late than never.

My favorite Vic Chesnutt song isn’t performed by Vic Chesnutt. It’s a cover by the obscure alt-country band Jolene, from their gem of a debut, Hell’s Half Acre (which I really ought to get around to reviewing). Without further ado, here’s “Isadora Duncan.”

Jolene – “Isadora Duncan”

Rest in peace.

Sonny Bono wrote at least three killer songs. I prefer “I Got You Babe” and “Needles and Pins” in cover versions, but when it comes to “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” I’ll take the original, by his then-wife Cher.

Cher’s melodramaticism is both the reason for her success and the reason she’s never really gotten respect. I understand both, but maintain that the world is a better place because “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves” exists. Your opinion may differ, and I’m not inclined to put my reputation as a big-shot music critic on the line to argue. Regardless, she certainly had her moments, and “Bang Bang” may be the greatest of them.

(“He didn’t take the time to lie.” Now, that, my friends, is a lyric.)

Quentin Tarantino clearly loves the song as much as I do, but let’s face it, in hipster world, admitting you like Cher is not cool, not cool at all. So he used the then-obscure Nancy Sinatra version, released the same year as Cher’s, for Kill Bill. It works brilliantly in the context of the movie, but absent the anticipation of the beginning of a violent film, it’s a bit boring despite a nice vocal.

It’s OK, though. Now you have an excuse to admit you like a Sonny and Cher song.

This brings us to cult musician Terry Reid. I will probably write more on Terry Reid later, but for now I’ll briefly recap the legend. Terry Reid was asked by Jimmy Page to take vocals in Page’s new project. Reid declined, and suggested Page check out a fellow named Robert Plant instead. Page clearly knew exactly what he was looking for, because Reid is without question the proto-Plant.

Terry Reid’s version of “Bang Bang” is from his first long player, Bang, Bang, You’re Terry Reid. It has lots of guitar.

Jack White performs the song as well, in his Raconteurs guise. This take is more likely than not informed by the Terry Reid version. Unfortunately, Mr. White can’t stop himself from a cheap, obvious, and easy tweaking of the lyrics, and so turns the song into interracial homo cowboy kind of love, as the Reverend Horton Heat put it. This somewhat spoils an otherwise good interpretation, which is too damn bad. Playing it straight (no pun intended) would have been a much better call. Jack–when Cher is more subtle than you, there’s a problem.

On Deaf Ears™ is always delighted to tell you more than you ever really needed to know.

The above image was Pitchfork’s review of the Black Kids’ debut, Partie Traumatic.

That about sums it up.

The second side of Partie Traumatic is entirely comprised of songs with “I” or “me” in the title. It’s a narcissistic suite, which is appropriate, because the Black Kids think they’re the shit.

That’s just one reason why this album is so supremely irritating. The Black Kids are obviously talented, but their Robert Smith and Jarvis Cocker meet Disco Stu schtick gets old in a hurry. “Listen to your body tonight / it’s going to treat you right.” Good Lord. Hipster hell.

On the occasions when the Black Kids get serious (“I’ve Underestimated My Charm (Again)”) the results aren’t bad, but those songs sound out of place and are overwhelmed by more propulsive numbers with crappier lyrics.

So that’s what you get with Partie Traumatic–respectable Pulp impersonations surrounded by overly self-conscious tunes that are too cute by at least half. Their eyelids must be sore from all that winking.

As I said, the Black Kids are talented. There are folks out there who will really enjoy this album; I’m just not one of them. I suppose there’s the possibility that they could develop into a good band, but I suspect their case of hip may be terminal.

Black Kids – “I’m Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You”

Black Kids – “Hurricane Jane”

Posted in Album Reviews Tagged: Black Kids, Partie Traumatic ]]> http://ondeafears.com/2009/12/17/album-review-black-kids-partie-traumatic/feed/ 0 Gordon Winslow black kids Two and a Half Stars http://ondeafears.com/2009/09/30/who-will-save-your-soul/ http://ondeafears.com/2009/09/30/who-will-save-your-soul/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:57:29 +0000 Gordon Winslow http://ondeafears.com/?p=7137 ]]>

I have long advocated for separating an artist from his work. I listen to Michael Jackson without the slightest twinge of guilt, and I watch Roman Polanksi’s movies without the slightest twinge of guilt.

But “separate” is key. Had Michael Jackson been convicted of child molestation, I would have supported his punishment. Being a talented artist should not give you a pass for repellent and criminal behavior.

The case of Roman Polanski is especially disturbing. His guilt is not in question. He gave a thirteen-year old girl alcohol and drugs, and then anally raped her. He knew her age. He also knew what the word “no” meant.

For normal people, the fact that it was a long time ago is irrelavant–Catholic priests are routinely prosecuted for decades-old crimes. However, the “arts community” seems to believe that their elite members deserve a pass for such trifles as sodomizing an unwilling minor. Sadly, the list of people rallying to the defense of this creepy rapist includes many whose works I admire.

So far as I know, there has been only one American artist of prominence who has stated the obvious. That is Jewel, who posted to her Twitter page:

Polanski-admitted raping a 13 yr old-whys every1 in the arts upset hes facing jail? cause hes a gifted director? what am i missing?

Thank you, Jewel, for bringing the common sense and decency that seem to elude so many of your fellow artists, causing them to support someone who drugged and anally raped a thirteen-year old girl.

Jewel asked in her first hit, “Who Will Save Your Soul?” Who indeed? Who will save Polanski’s soul? Who will save the souls of his defenders? I know this statement is contradictory: They better pray that there is no God.