web analytics

Pop Rock Nation

Category: People

all-about-musicians-and-the-people-who-help-them-make-music

  • Not Necessarily the News: Diddy, Broken Bells & Adam Lambert

    Piddycombs (my new, all-purpose name for Sean “Puffy” P. Diddy Daddy Combs) has transferred from Atlantic to Interscope Records, and he’s taken his Bad Boy brand with him. One tiny problem, though…he wasn’t allowed to take any of his Bad Boy ARTISTS with him. Day26, Janelle Monae and Cassie all remain with Atlantic. I find this a little weird…not that Bad Boy was anything but a shell of what it was in it’s heyday, when not only was Combs more viable as an artist (it’s really hard for me to type that without quotation marks), but he had B.I.G., Faith, 112 and Ma$e. It’s doubtful that Combs can rebuild his empire (he’s been trying that for the last decade or so), so my gut feeling is that Bad Boy will now exist purely as a vanity label. Combs’ new album, “Last Train to Paris”, is scheduled for a March 2010 release. Interestingly enough, Interscope is the original home of Death Row Records, once helmed by Combs’ nemesis, Suge Knight.

    Ever heard of Broken Bells? Well, if you haven’t heard of the band itself, you’ve certainly heard of the members. Broken Bells consists of super-producer and 1/2 of Gnarls Barkley Danger Mouse, joining forces with James Mercer, the lead singer of The Shins. According to various reports, the music these two have cooked up sounds NOTHING like either Danger Mouse or The Shins’ previous work, which I guess could be a good or bad thing. As one of the folks who got swept up in the awesomeness of The Shins via “Garden State” and also as a huge fan of Danger Mouse’s work as a musician and a producer, I’ve gotta say that I’m very much looking forward to this release…which unfortunately won’t arrive until next year.

    “American Idol” fans…Adam Lambert’s new album doesn’t come out until the end of November, but his debut has already garnered the #2 spot on Amazon.com’s music chart, by virtue of preorders. The only album that ranks above it is the new Barbra Streisand. The weird thing is, a pre-order hasn’t even been ANNOUNCED for Lambert’s album yet. It achieved its’ ranking strictly by virtue of word of mouth. This could mean two things: either Lambert’s album is gonna be a HUGE hit (it will certainly outsell, if not be WAY more interesting than Kris Allen’s) or he has one of the most rabid fanbases in “Idol” history…and that’s saying a LOT.

  • Pearl Jam’s “Backspacer”: Goodbye Experimentation, Hello Rock ‘n Roll!!

    After exploding onto the scene at the height of the grunge era, Eddie Vedder and his band Pearl Jam seemed to have lost the plot at the start of this decade with albums like “Binaural” and “Riot Act”-two sets that found their way into my collection…and very quickly found their way out. There was just too much noise and not enough melody for me.

    2006’s self-titled offering showed a ray of hope, even if I haven’t been enticed to listen to it lately, and Vedder’s solo “Into the Wild” soundtrack was quite good-but it was an Eddie Vedder album, not a Pearl Jam album. With the arrival of “Backspacer”, the band’s ninth studio album, the million dollar question in my eyes was: does Pearl Jam still have it?

    Well, folks-the answer appears to be “yes”. “Backspacer” is a concise (11 songs in 36 1/2 minutes), tight, well-written and well-played album. Musically speaking, the band has never sounded as eclectic while operating within a mainstream pop framework. The songs here aren’t deliberately obtuse like some of the band’s more experimental work. The hooks are strong as hell, and for the first time in a while (ever?), the band sounds joyful. I mean, let’s face it: PJ’s last two albums were very political and downcast as far as lyrical content. It’s nice to hear them lighten up and sound loose and relaxed.

    “Backspacer” gets off to a running start with the uptempo 1-2-3 combination of “Gonna See My Friend”, “Got Some” and first single “The Fixer”. Particularly on the second of those three songs, Vedder sounds as intense as he did on PJ classics like “Go”, speed-singing the lyrics atop caffeinated guitar licks from Stone Gossard and Mike McCready. “Supersonic” is another speedy, punk-inspired rave-up (well, except for the tempo-shifting instrumental midsection). These songs aren’t totally dissimilar from the work PJ has done on their last few albums-just…tighter and more polished. You can credit the band for sharper songwriting and playing, but you’ve also gotta give props to producer Brendan O’Brien, who is back in the fold for the first time since ’98’s “Yield”.

    For my money, though, the album’s best tracks are the mellower ones. “Just Breathe” is a slowly unwinding semi-acoustic ditty that would have been right at home on “Into the Wild”. The anthemic “Amongst the Waves” has one of those triumphant, fist-waving choruses that have become a Pearl Jam trademark, even though it doesn’t rock *quite* as hard as the album’s more uptempo offerings. “The End” is another pretty piece featuring Eddie’s soulful wail backed by a delicate acoustic guitar and a string section.

    “Backspacer” is pretty much the encapsulation of everything good about Pearl Jam. There are hard rockin’ anthems, as well as songs like the thoughtful “Speed of Sound”, which is sure to follow in the footsteps of mellower smashes like “Better Man” and “Daughter”. Vedder is in fine voice throughout, the songs are immediate and not ponderous, and the end result is quite possibly the most consistently enjoyable album from the ’90s rock titans since their initial heyday.

  • New Release of the Week 9/29/09: Divas and Rockers

    If I’m not gonna focus on one release, I guess I should change the name of the column. Again. Any suggestions?

    While you guys ponder that, here are some of this week’s key new releases. The 4th quarter is in effect, innit?

    If you are a fan of the diva, today is a very good day for you. After numerous delays, Mariah Carey’s “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” finally hits stores (actually, if you were using Amazon MP3, it hit stores yesterday, but that’s neither here nor there). This album was almost completely written and produced with R&B music’s current “it” man, Terius “The-Dream” Nash, and it’s spawned two hits in the Eminem kiss-off “Obsessed” and the cover of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is”. In a move that’s virtually guaranteed to score her a #1 album, she is also appearing on Oprah. Or has she done that already?

    Wrapping up 27 years on Warner Brothers, Madonna’s releasing a hits package called “Celebration”. This will be available in single and double-CD versions. “Celebration” does its’ best to collect Madge’s hits over the years, while still leaving a fair amount out (“Dress You Up”, “Angel”, “Causing a Commotion”, “Keep it Together”) and features two new songs, including one with Lil’ Wayne. Sigh. The final diva competing for your dollars today is Barbra (Yawn) Streisand. The Schnozz That Roared hits stores with “Love is the Answer”, which was produced by jazz/pop starlet Diana Krall.

    On the harder side of things, Alice in Chains returns with a new lead singer (‘cuz, you know, propping Layne Staley’s corpse on stage just wouldn’t be cool) on their first record in a decade, “Black Gives Way to Blue”. I call this as one of the year’s surprise hits-AIC has gotten some serious love at rock radio, and a fair amount of press as well. Also in stores today is the sophomore release from Grammy winners Paramore (AKA the junior-league Evanescence), “Brand New Eyes”. The “Twilight”-lovin’ Paramore fans might also want to take a gander at the new AFI release, “Crash Love”.

    Now, welcome to the potpourri round! Attitudinal country singer Miranda Lambert is back with her new album, “Revolution”, and Wu-Tang’s shining star Ghostface Killah, fresh from co-star duties on Raekwon’s “Only Built for Cuban Linx…2” is returning with an R&B-centric new album called “Ghostdini…Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City” (weird title). Laid back electronic/chillout duo Zero 7 have “Yeah Ghost” in stores today, jazz legends The Manhattan Transfer are releasing an album of Chick Corea covers (say that 5 times fast), Foreigner returns with a TRIPLE album set called “Can’t Slow Down” (unfortunately, this album is not a song-by-song cover of Lionel Richie’s 1983 album of the same name), and, finally, there’s an album I just know you’ve been waiting for…the return of Green Jelly. Remember them from their hit song and video “Three Little Pigs” back in ’93? Well, they’re still around!! And still making albums!! Woo hoo! I know you’re gonna pick up two copies!

    One release I would like to bring attention to is an album entitled “The Sun Came Out” by a collective called 7 Worlds Collide. If the band name sounds familiar, you might remember it as a lyric to Crowded House’s “Distant Sun”. That band’s mastermind, Neil Finn, is the driving force behind this album, which features appearances from Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, members of Radiohead, K.T. Tunstall, Bic Runga, and Neil’s son Liam and wife Sharon, among others. Proceeds from this album benefit Amfar, it’s two CDs of new material for the price of one, and it’s really, really good stuff. Treat yourself to a copy and do a good deed as well.

    Get the full list of this week’s new releases here.