CD REVIEW: Kid Cudi, "Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager"

(G.O.O.D./Dream On/Universal Records) Kid Cudi is one of hip-hop’s most curious cases. Snapped up by Kanye West soon after releasing his first mixtape, Cudi’s debut album MAN ON THE MOON: THE END OF THE DAY sounded like an inspired spin-off of West’s own paradigm-pushing 808S & HEARTBREAK. All maudlin melodies, moody atmosphere and Cudi’s introspective lyrics made for a murky brew that played like Pink Floyd for indie hip-hop stoners. But it was Cudi’s real-life antics that thrust him into pop consciousness at large; from getting thrown off of Lady Gaga’s tour for punching a fan to his arrest in Manhattan over drug and disturbances charges, his bad behavior has become constant tabloid fodder. Cudi addresses all of that and more on his dense, confessional sequel MAN ON THE MOON II: THE LEGEND OF MR. RAGER. Completely opening the floodgates of his sound, this album is even more self-indulgent than his debut — but it’s also a much better record for it. Spreading 17 tracks over four “acts,” the album veers from an obvious Weezer homage (“Erase Me,” featuring Kanye West) to inspired collaborations like the aptly titled “MANIAC” featuring the distinctive guitar playing of alt-rock hero St. Vincent and a guest rap from underground rapper Cage. It’s a dark and nuanced collection that solidifies Cudi’s position as rap’s new reigning tortured soul and reluctant emo king.

(originally published on Shockhound.com)

CD REVIEW: N*E*R*D, "NOTHING"

(Star Trak/Interscope) The line on NOTHING is that Pharrell Williams and N.E.R.D scrapped a finished album and simply started over. In any case, the stark militaristic cover and blatant political overtones of the album make it clear that there’s a message to be found in the music. The juxtaposition of simple party jams like “Party People” (featuring a verse from rapper T.I.) next to “The Man,” a cynical observation on how to opiate the masses, speaks volumes, as do the spacey acid-blues rants (“It’s in the Air,” “Help Me”) and bouncy, Ben Folds-styled piano-pop meditations on success (“Victory”). The dreamily melodic but too brief “Inside the Clouds” is a “hidden” track on the end of “I’ve Seen the Light” (there is full-length version worth tracking down). Somehow, the collaboration with electronic pioneers Daft Punk (the plodding “Hypnotize You”) ends up sounding like a missed opportunity. But it’s album highlight “Life As a Fish” that brings it all together into a blissfully sublime moment that invokes classic ‘60s pop acts like the Association and Classics IV. NOTHING is ample proof that N.E.R.D are fully capable of delivering music with the same quirky inventiveness that made their 2001 debut IN SEARCH OF such an instant classic.

(Originally published on Shockhound.com)

Die Antwoord, "$O$"

Is it real? Or is it a very elaborate hipster joke? Those are the questions that lingered around South African outfit Die Antwoord when they first crashed the scene. From their manic mélange of old-school rave rhythms to the colloquialism-filled rhymes of rappers Ninja and Yo-Landi Vi$$er, their sound and aesthetic is insistently unusual. Still, the band’s culture collision runs surprisingly deep. Alluding to such obscure sounds as hip-house beats, South African “zef” culture and the ruthless machismo of gangster rap, Die Antwoord is so anti-cool it veers perilously close to parody. Blending lyrics English with lyrics sung in the Afrikaans language, songs like “Evil Boy” could fill most underground dance floors, even though it’s about forced male circumcision on pubescent boys in certain South African tribes. This major label version of $O$ is an update on a free album the band distributed digitally in 2009. New songs like “In Your Face” find the band’s production style maturing without losing their signature lawless energy. While only time will tell if their appeal can transcend their current of-the-moment buzz, it’s safe to say that Die Antwoord is definitely no joke.

(Originally published on Shockhound.com)

No Age, "Everything in Between"

In 2010, the term “punk rock” has evolved into myriad meanings, each one depending on who’s doing the defining. For LA noise-punk duo No Age, it represents a fiercely independent DIY ethos that permeates everything they do. On their third full-length (and second for indie giant Sub Pop), the duo continue to steadily expand their sonic palette while creating more of their emo-tinged slabs of deceptively melodic mayhem. From the sunny Beach Boys aesthetics of “Life Prowler” to the college-radio-at-4am whirr of “Glitter,” it would be easy to say this is the band’s most accessible release to date. But it would also be true: Glossier production values don’t detract from the songs’ sneering defiance, which is never too far from the music’s surface. No Age even flirt with getting downright pretty on tunes like the dreamy, My Bloody Valentine homage “Positive Amputation” and “Chem Trails,” which is reminiscent of classic Sonic Youth. Evolving without losing sight of their roots in now-famous all-ages LA club the Smell, No Age are rightful heroes for a new generation of emerging indie rockers eager to really go their own way.

(Originally published on shockhound.com)

Soundgarden, "Telephantasm"

Soundgarden was always among the more intriguing outfits of the early ‘90s rock generation. Their dichotomy of being cool, brainy guys that could rock you as hard as any mob of meatheads put them in an exclusive class. Frontman Chris Cornell was blessed with a testosterone-charged yowl comparable to Robert Plant, and just as pretty. Kim Thayill’s textured guitar playing leaned toward the sublime and substantive over flash. But it Soundgarden's ability to craft tight, explosive songs that made them famous. This comprehensive retrospective concentrates on the big hits like “Black Hole Sun,” but mixes in a few fan favorites to keep it interesting — like “Hunted Down,” a caustic down-tuned roar from their early Sub Pop era, which already hints at their expansive potential. The draw here for fans both old and new is “Black Rain,” a monstrous, previously unreleased song from their fertile BADMOTORFINGER era. But track for track, TELEPHANTASM is a fitting testament to the legacy of these rock legends.

(Originally published on Shockhound.com)

Philip Selway, "Familial"

It’s easy for the casual Radiohead listener to get lost in the cult of Thom Yorke. Of course, a band so potent is going to consist of more than just one musical prodigy, and Radiohead is no exception — but a solo record from the drummer of any band is still going elicit more than its fair share of groans and rolling eyes. All of which makes Phil Selway’s achingly graceful solo debut that much more surprising. Granted, opening tracks “By Some Miracle” and “Beyond Reason” both boast a subtle swing and ghostly vocals that will feel familiar to fans of Selway’s day job. But it’s not long before the production flourishes and implied beats give way to good old-fashioned singer-songwriter lamentations, highlighted by Selway's elegant singing style. Tastefully understated contributions from Lisa Germano and members of Selway’s most recent tour-mates Wilco blend right into the melancholy, occasionally heartbreaking collection. Songs like “Falling” even invoke images of classic Simon & Garfunkel. It’s somehow fitting that it turns out to be the drummer who provides the softer side of Radiohead. — Scott T. Sterling

(Originally published on Shockhound.com)

M.I.A., "/\/\/\Y/\"

(N.E.E.T./Interscope) It’s impossible to talk about M.I.A.’s music without discussing her drama; she’s made sure of that. But Maya Arulpragasam has always swaggered around the music world like the most braggadocios of rappers. Where she once applied an artistic stroke to her propaganda-laden dance-pop, M.I.A.’s latest finds her crudely flying two middle fingers in the face of the same fashionable media that made her a culture star. Less songs and more dense blasts of digital noise designed for maximum impact, /\/\/\Y/\ is beyond reactionary. Like Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine Music,” /\/\/\Y/\ challenges you to like it. Couching what few melodies she grudgingly tosses out in swaths of effects and bass, M.I.A. makes it clear that she’s not here for your love or your money (“Cuz I got it,” she brags on “XXXO”). Given the corrosive crunch of tracks like “Meds and Feds” down to the eye-taxing cover art and stylized album title, it seems like she’d rather annoy you anyway. Even the lovers’ rock of “It Takes A Muscle” and 22nd century girl-group pop of “Tell Me Why” are pointy enough to go down hard. /\/\/\Y/\ is also among the most genuinely entertaining major label releases of 2010. Go figure. (Originally published on Shockhound.com)

Kelis, "Flesh Tone" (A&M)

What a long, strange trip it’s been for Kelis. She broke onto the music scene like a black Alanis Morissette with 1999 single “Caught Out There,” armed with an endless supply of Neptunes beats. After finally breaking through with 2003 smash hit “Milkshake,” Kelis’s profile became more about her tabloid-baiting personal life than musical impact. Possibly realizing just how little fan base she had left in the States, her complete reinvention into modern dance diva is a savvy if cynical move. Working with DJ mega-stars like Benny Benassi and Dave Guetta alongside electro heroes Boys Noize, Kelis has crafted a quick-fix soundtrack for her shiny new persona. Clocking in at under 38 minutes, “Flesh Tone” explodes with bombastic club beats and hands-in-the-air euphoria designed for maximum summer impact. Tracks like“4th of July/Fireworks” exude an Ibiza-at-4AM energy ideal for any dance floor—but little else. Which in this case, is pretty much the point. Much like the sonic equivalent of a perfectly trashy summer beach novel, “Flesh Tone,” is just for fun.

(Originally published on Shockhound.com)

Kylie Minogue, Aphrodite (Parlaphone)

Aspiring divas, take note: THIS is how an icon gets made. Kylie Minogue has been running game on the music industry since the tender age of 19 with her 1987 debut single, “Locomotion.” Often saddled with the tag of “the Madonna of Europe,” Ms. Minogue could actually teach Ms. Ciccone quite a bit about maintaining credibility and sales numbers over a long musical career. Never afraid to tackle new sounds, Kylie’s secret weapon is that she’s never compromised good songs for a fleeting trend. Like contemporaries the Pet Shop Boys, quality songs have always kept her lifted above the fray of your garden-variety dance act. With Stuart Price as her executive producer, Kylie Minogue has crafted one of the finest full-lengths of her illustrious career, if not her magnum opus. Fully stocked with an arsenal of top-flight dance-pop anthems, APHRODITE doesn’t flag for a moment. From the emo-disco one-two punch of “All The Lovers” and “Get Outta My Way” through the Daft Punk-like power of “Can’t Beat the Feeling,” APHRODITE is the party-positive summer dance album that will stay hot well into the winter months and beyond.

(Originally published on Shockhound.com)

The XX for 944 Magazine: Summer 2010

Massive Attack live @ Wiltern Theatre, L.A.. CA 5/19/2010

Massive Attack played L.A. for three sold-out nights last week.

I went on the "middle" night, Wednesday. The show was awesome. Massive Attack is still one of my favorite bands of all-time, and they did not disappoint in the least.

Here is my video of them performing "Karmacoma" that night (from the pit, thank you very much!). Good times.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, "This is Happening (DFA/Virgin)

Like many great modern artists, James Murphy is a master emulator. He has built LCD Soundsystem from a well-studied pastiche between “indie” nonchalance and “underground” dance aesthetics — and, for the most part, it works. “This is Happening” is a meticulously crafted album of New York cool meets Pitchfork-informed self-consciousness, all the right moves made with a nudge and wink. Opening with the almost nine-minute-long epic “Dance Yrself Clean,” the third LCD Soundsystem full-length is only a couple of curious retreads away from being a 5-star achievement like 2007's SOUND OF SILVER. The single “Drunk Girls” lurches about like “Daft Punk is Playing at My House” remixed with zing-heavy lyrics that read more like Aziz Ansari than James Murphy. But when referencing Berlin-period Bowie and classic Psychedelic Furs in one song (“All I Want”), crafting heartfelt dance-floor love songs (“I Can Change”) and signature DFA grooves (“You Wanted A Hit”), THIS IS HAPPENING is ample evidence of how much sonic goodness can be wrung from only a handful of the right references.

(Originally published by Shockhound.com. Photo by Rachel Carr)

Last song of the night: Tel Aviv, "I Have Met A Writer" (Teen Beat, 1997)

My Definition of House Music

Photo of the Day: Emily Gail makes the new Runaways movie

I can't shut up about the fact that Kristen Stewart rocks a classic Emily Gail "Detroit" logo t-shirt in the new Runaways movie.

Emily Gail is a serious Detroit legend. She was the original pro-Detroiter back in the 1970s, even opening a store in downtown that sold all sorts of cool stuff. She would also organize "fun runs" around the city (my dad ran in many of them). I was recently thinking how much I wanted to either track down some of those classic designs (which is all but impossible--so far, anyway).

So when "Joan Jett" breaks this baby out in the Runaways movie, I almost choked on my popcorn. Where in the HELL the movie's stylist found that baby is beyond me. All I know is that it's AWESOME.

Detroit writer Neil Rubin explains Emily Gail perfectly in this excerpt from a July 2,2009 story from the Detroit News:

"For more than two decades now, Emily Gail has been saying nice things about Kailua Kona, Hawaii. But the woman who believed in downtown when nobody else did is still saying nice things about Detroit, too.

That was her slogan in the '70s and '80s: "Say Nice Things About Detroit." She put it on T-shirts and bumper stickers and the occasional banner trailing behind an airplane, and now it's embedded in the history of an era.

Gail is 62, not that she looks it, and her naivete and trademark braids are long gone.

A quick word about downtown Detroit back when Gail began to make herself known:

Ugh.

Hudson's was still around, but dreariness had descended. Then the Renaissance Center opened in 1977, sucking tenants out of the old office buildings and into the glass fortress on the river.

'People walked with their heads down,' she says. The streets were so empty that Gail and beau Herb (Pooh) Squires would bring out her old baseball gloves and play catch on the asphalt.

Her family owned Gail's Office Supply in the Penobscot Building. She opened a tiny gift shop in the skyscraper, then a larger one at Congress and Shelby called Emily's Across the Street. She sold jewelry and T-shirts, often using one day's receipts to buy the next day's merchandise, and branched out into hot dogs, ice cream and cookies.

Profit margins were minimal, but the fun factor was high. She sponsored bike days and a fun run that grew from 100 pairs of feet to more than 20,000. Emily became the first name in civic boosterism.

Then she lost her lease, married Pooh and moved to Hawaii. No more stickers, no more fun run, no more Detroit, except in her heart."

Cherie Currie "Neon Angel" book signing @ Book Soup

I can honestly say I was nervous walking up to this one. I've had a crazy pre-teen crush on this woman since, well, I was a crazy pre-teen. Not just from the Runaways, either. her shoulda-been star-making turn in the 1980 movie "Foxes" is my jam forever. It's all about Annie, baby. Even though today was all about "The Runaways," the movie you might have heard something about recently.


I got to the spot early enough to see her show up in a chauffeured town car with her mom.


The line behind me quickly got really thick. Soon, we were all crammed into Book Soup to listen to Cherie talk and answer questions, including the Mayor of the Sunset Strip, Rodney Bingenheimer.


I stuck my hand up and she picked me. So I asked her what really happened between the Runaways and Rush. I had no idea that the drama went down in DETROIT, and at Cobo Hall. Here's what she had to say. Sorry for the shaky picture. I told you I was nervous! ; )



Another good question was the whereabouts of the infamous corset. Cherie said that after a tour, she took it to a shop on Sunset Blvd to get repaired. The shop was owned by Billy Squier's then-girlfriend. When she came back a couple of weeks later to pick it up, the shop was gone. As was the piece of rock history.


Cherie was really sweet when I went up to get my book signed. The woman a few people in front of me totally starting crying, which seemed to kind of unnerve Cherie a little, but she handled it like a pro.

This dude wearing the "Britney Spears is God" pin was awesome. He had lots of great stories about seeing everyone from the Runaways to the Currie Sisters to the last Sex Pistols show at Winterland in SF. He also LOVEs teen pop music. He even gave me a "Britney is God" pin. Score.

On the way out, I spied Cherie's twin sister, Marie Currie, hanging out in front of the store with friends and fans. Good times.

Cherie Currie is doing a handful of dates this summer, including a gig with JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS at the OC Pacific during the Fair on August 11.

Jackie Fox of the Runaways remembers Detroit 1976

Early 1976: "Driving across country with the Runaways was always an experience. I always wore a skimpy little t-shirt, no matter how cold it was, and Joan always wore her leather jacket, no matter how hot it was. We never had enough money for food and, somehow, our travel agency always managed to find us a hotel in the most inappropriate part of town.

I will never forget staying at the Holiday Inn on Trumbull Avenue in Detroit, supposedly the only hotel in the country at the time in which the night clerk's window had bullet-proof glass. Creem magazine was located in Detroit, and whenever we would tell the writers we were staying at the Holiday Inn, they would always get a look of panic on their faces and say not the one on Trumball Avenue?

Detroit was one of our first stops on tour, and the night we got there we decided to go to a movie at a theater nearby. It was a Clint Eastwood movie (one of the Dirty Harry series), and that night was the first time in my life that I really realized I was white, since we were staying in a totally black neighborhood and we were the only white people in a fully packed theater. And there we were, five teenage girls, with no chaperone. Don't ask me where our manager was, I don't remember. But he wasn't there. Lucky for us, the people in Detroit were really nice (although they did seem a bit surprised to see five 16 year old white girls running around their neighborhood at night)."

— via Jackie Fox's "The Runaways Remembered" blog

J Rocc @ Stussy L.A. for DILLA DAY 2010

When David Bowie played Saturday Night Live

David Bowie & Klaus Nomi - TVC15 & Boys Keep Swinging [1978]
Uploaded by ZapMan69. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

People are always complaining that SNL just isn't funny anymore. Whaaaatever. While the days of "The Bass-O-Matic" and Roseanne Rosanna Dana are long gone, I still find at least one thing that makes me laugh whenever I watch new episodes.

What bums me out is the glaring lack of quality in terms of musical guests over the past, oh, ten years or so. I don't know what happened. Back in the day, SNL was at the cutting-edge of music. UK imports like Elvis Costello and the Specials made big American debuts on the show.

But one of the best SNL musical guests of all-time is easily David Bowie. In December of 1979, Bowie showed up with the inimitable Klaus Nomi in tow, and they proceeded to shut that mother down with all kinds of sonic insanity. First, he rips through one of my favorite songs by him ever, "TVC 15." The part where they do "Boys Keep Swinging" with Bowie as a puppet is just about the coolest thing ever shown on national American TV.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GREATEST TO EVER DO IT*

It's time for a MOTOR BOOTY AFFAIR...

I got a good mind, so why don't you tell me why?

Beach House, "Teen Dream"

(Sub Pop) Woozy, bluesy and bruised, Maryland duo Beach House conjures a dreamy romanticism akin to the melancholy mood of classic Spiritualized and movie “The Virgin Suicides.” Maudlin organ melodies drift over purposefully stiff drum machine beats, only adding to the stark atmosphere. This is Beach House’s third album, and they display a subtle new arsenal of sonic abilities. Opening song “Zebra” features Alex Scally on vocals, his mannered, British-sounding enunciation giving the song an almost Coldplay feel. But it’s the rich, soaring voice of Victoria Legrand that powers “Teen Dream.” Her, raw, husky delivery is a welcome relief from the usual ethereal whispers far too many acts fall back on in similar situations. Beach House also reveals the ability to craft a killer modern pop song in “Norway.” Thick with swirling synthesizer strings and Legrand’s lush vocals, it’s an obvious standout track from a cohesive album that’s full of sweet little surprises.

(Originally published on Shockhound.com) 

Another band I cannot WAIT to see @ Coachella 2010: PiL

This still stands as the single greatest "American Bandstand" performance of all-time. John Lydon, you are a genius. And Dick Clark, you are forever the coolest man in the business.

Happy birthday, CAPTAIN BEEFHEART

One of my favorite songs of all-time. Yes, I'm being serious. It kind of explains a lot, really.