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  • Friday Throwback – Ex-Factor

    When I think of what some of the most emotional songs I’ve heard are, I always come back to a song by Lauryn Hill from her solo album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. Though I’ve never been in quite the relationship that she describes, I think to anyone who has been in a really powerful relationship, some of this probably resonates.

    It could all be so simple
    But you’d rather make it hard
    Loving you is like a battle
    And we both end up with scars

    – Wyclef thought this song was about him. I wonder if Lauryn should’ve redone You’re So Vain. But then again, maybe it is about Wyclef.

    – The video is simple, but so is the song. There’s no need to show anything other than Lauryn.

    – The line is, “To get some reciprocity” but the way she says it, I always wondered if there was a word ciprocity.

    – Sing it Lauryn; “No one loves you more than me, and no one ever will.”

    – The “care for me, there for me, cry for me, give to me” part of the song is just awesome.

    – The video is nearly ruined by the light show at the end, but we can forgive.

    While Lauryn may be as crazy as Michael Jackson nowadays, she created one of the more emotional relationship songs of our time. I blame the Marley dude.

  • Maroon 5 Gets the Cut & Paste Treatment on “Call & Response”

    Remember, like, 20 years ago, when remix albums were cool? Starting with Madonna’s You Can Dance in 1987, just about every major pop artist put out an album of dance remixes of their biggest hits. There was Phil Collins’ 12″ers, Bobby Brown’s Dance…Ya Know It!, Paula Abdul’s Shut Up and…OK, I think you get the picture.

    While most of the aforementioned albums are listenable, there’s not much in the way of lasting value. However, Maroon 5 is setting out to change that long-standing perception of remix albums with Call & Response. The pop/rock/soul hybrid (fronted by nasally-voiced seductor Adam Levine) collected a team of producers as eclectic as the band itself, spanning the genres from hip-hop to indie rock to dance music, and asked them to tackle selections from the band’s two studio albums. The results are varied, but there definitely more interesting experiments here than there are failures.

    The sleazy If I Never See Your Face Again (which is great in it’s original Prince/Talking Heads-esque original version) gets a double makeover. Paul Oakenfold turns the song into a twirling house anthem that retains the sexual tension between Levine and guest vocalist Rihanna (also proving to me that I can deal with modern dance music as long as there’s vocals and melody involved) while Swizz Beatz turns it into a hip-hop party anthem, sampling (and keeping fresh) the well-worn Take Me to the Mardi Gras beat (which you may recognize as Run-DMC’s Peter Piper). Both versions work, as does Mark Ronson’s sinister remix of Wake Up Call. The Amy Winehouse producer gives the original version some extra tension by adding a guest vocal from Mary J. Blige. ?uestlove smooths out Sunday Morning so that it sounds like Sunday Morning. You can picture yourself taking a lazy drive to nowhere with this song in the background.

    Strangely for a remix album, the slower songs work best in their new versions. Deerhoof turns the arena ballad Goodnight Goodnight into a weird indie rock/electro hybrid-kinda like The Postal Service meets Death Cab for Cutie (obviously with Levine standing in for Ben Gibbard). DJ Premier handles the slinky Secret, and even with turntable scratches and a typically thumping hip-hop beat, the song loses none of its’ seductive quality. Even songs I didn’t like originally (or grew to dislike after extensive plays) regain their flavor. DJ Quik turns Shiver into a greasy funk workout, while The Neptunes’ (who have restored some goodwill to their name over the past two days) turn the pedestrian pop ballad She Will Be Loved into another one of their hazy synthesizer jams they’ve become famous for.

    Certain matchups, however, just don’t work. The funky Makes Me Wonder gets slowed down dramatically by Just Blaze (whose work is usually flawless) and the lowered tempo and piano intro (which sounds like the theme from “The Young and the Restless”) just doesn’t work against the song’s cocky lyrics. Another one you might wanna skip is the Cool Kids’ remix of Harder to Breathe, which sports a plodding, murky musical background. I’m still on the fence about David Banner’s 808-heavy remix of Wake Up Call, but the more I listen, the more I like-well, except for Banner’s unnecessary guest verse.

    I dig this album quite a bit, but then again I’m a Maroon 5 fan. If you’re just discovering the band, this is obviously not the place you wanna start. However, if you’re one of those folks with eclectic musical tastes and don’t mind a little hip-hop mixed in with your pop/rock, with a little hi-NRG dance thrown in (and a little sprinkling of indie goodness), then you might want to give Call & Response a shot.

  • Holiday Music That Won’t Kill You – Part 1: Christmas Present

    Holiday music sucks!  No, actually it’s only sappy overplayed Christmas music that gets annoying.  The listening environment counts too.  Anything played at Christmas Tree Shops while you are waiting for your mom to decide what size glass beads to buy will torture you.  Jimi Hendrix and John Coltrane could be jamming right in front of you but the stink of scented candles and the puddle of sweat inside your jacket will ruin everything.

    Relax.  The truth is there are some really great Christmas CDs available.  Here is a guide to some holiday music that won’t kill you.

    Part One:  Christmas Present

    Various Artists – We Wish You a Metal Christmas and a Headbanging New Year

    The obvious comparison is to Twisted Sister’s 2006 release Twisted Christmas. This is way better.
    The CD was produced by Ronnie James Dio’s wife/manager and one of the Kulick brothers.  (I can never remember which one is the producer and which was in Kiss, but it doesn’t matter for this review.)  It contains twelve very well-known Christmas songs performed by very well-known 70s and 80s metal and hard rock guys.  Here are just a few of the bands they were in:  Kiss, Motorhead, David Lee Roth (not him, thankfully), Alice Cooper (yes, him), ZZ Top, Foo Fighters, Black Sabbath, Dokken, Dio, Styx, Judas Priest, and Deep Purple.

    The lineup is what makes this CD so successful.  All the musicians are really good (much better than anybody in Twisted Sister), but it’s really the variety that makes this work.  The concept could get boring very quickly (Beatallica, anyone?).  A different lineup and singer on every track keeps things fresh.

    If you think you might like it, you probably will.  If not, read on…

    Enya – And Winter Came…

    Like the previous selection, this is exactly what you would expect.  Remember the song that goes “Sail away, sail away, sail away?”  No, not Randy Newman.  I mean the one that sounds like the music Jet Blue plays when it’s time to get off the plane.

    This CD sounds just like everything else Enya has done. If you like her ethereal vocals, orchestral synth playing and new agey Celticness, you will dig this.  Holiday CDs can frequently disappoint, but I think this one works because Enya put a lot into it.  She wrote ten of the twelve songs and came up with interesting arrangements for the other two.

    Many songs are not specifically about Christmas.  Some just refer to winter or the Star of Bethlehem.  Two songs are about time passing, which makes them really more appropriate for the Winter Solstice or New Years.

    James Taylor – At Christmas

    Smarm Sandwich.

    Various Artists – The Hotel Cafe Presents Winter Songs

    This new compilation showcases the new generation of female singer-songwriters. It’s mostly very good, but I find myself skipping some of the standards.  That’s to be expected from a holiday comp and I don’t think it’s a big problem, especially for people who really like this kind of music.  Many of these women are good songwriters and it’s the original songs that I find most compelling.  Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson, Brandi Carlisle, Lenka, Meiko, and Colbie Caillat all contributed very interesting songs.  Priscilla Ahn’s version of “Silent Night” is really cool and a couple lesser names handle their standards well.  KT Tunstall, Alice Smith, Katy Perry, and Nicole Atkins are among those who decided to turn their chestnuts into torch songs.

    Like the metal CD, if you think you’ll like this, you probably will.

    I’ll be back soon with Christmas Past and Future.  Shine on.

    Rock Dad is hoping whoever brings presents for the winter solstice brings him the Genesis 1970-75 box set and a good rock and mineral field guide.