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Pop Rock Nation

Tag: Paul Simon

  • The Sunday Seven: Talkin’ Loud & Saying Nothing

    Hey Mikey. Sorry I deleted your comment. Oops!! (he mentioned “I Can’t Drive 55” by Sammy Hagar as one of the other courtroom videos from the mid-Eighties. See, man? I’m giving you your props.)

    It’s been…hmmm…about two weeks since I last bought a CD, which is fairly major stuff for me. I went record shopping in Cambridge yesterday, though, although I was tempted to break my streak and buy Eddie Murphy’s “So Happy” on CD (which would actually give me the entire Eddie Murphy non-comedy collection on compact disc…yes, I’m lame), I ended up picking up a few records, including Talking Heads’ “Fear of Music” (which only cost $1 and I already own on CD, but the dualdisc won’t burn onto my computer), LaBelle’s “Chameleon”, Spandau Ballet’s “Greatest Hits” (because I misplaced the CD), and this little gem.

    I’ve seen pictures of Mike Sembello performing “Maniac” on TV, and he looks like this burly, heavy-set dude. So why the hell did he decide to come out with what might be the gayest album cover in history? Beats me.

    Anyway, the current tally on the iPod is currently over 17K. Let’s get right down to bidness.

    Track One: “Say You Want it All” by Amel Larrieux

    Those of you not familiar with the name may remember Amel Larrieux as the voice behind the R&B duo Groove Theory, who had a Top 10 hit in 1995 with “Tell Me”. I’m surprised it wasn’t a bigger national hit because they played the shit out of it in New York City. Anyhow, she only made that one album with GT partner Bryce Wilson before going solo. To date, she’s released three pretty good albums of new material in addition to one collection of standards that I really haven’t devoted a lot of time to. This song is pretty standard midtempo neo-soul, with the addition of a peppy horn section, and it comes from her second solo album “Bravebird”. If you cross Sade with Erykah Badu, you’d have a pretty good idea of what Amel sounds like. Good stuff.

    Track 2: “Talkin’ Loud and Sayin’ Nothing” by James Brown

    Can’t go wrong with The Godfather, who was also the master of catchprases. “Say it Loud-I’m Black & I’m Proud”, “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag”, that line “I don’t know karate, but I know ka-razy!!” from “The Payback”. We miss you JB. Hmmm…I wonder if we can find that Eddie Murphy “singers” skit on YouTube. Well, I’ll be…

    Track Three: “Better Days” by JOE

    R&B singer Joe Thomas, who until recently used only his first name professionally, has actually been in the news recently. Apparently, he’s been accusing his former labelmate R. Kelly of sabotaging his career by calling radio stations and telling him not to play Joe’s songs for fear that Joe would take some shine away from him. While I wouldn’t put that past Kells, didn’t he give Joe two of his “Loveland” leftovers for one of his albums? Wouldn’t that almost be self-sabotage, then? Regardless, Joe, despite being somewhat inconsistent, overall is a much better listen than Kelly, capable of writing songs that are nuanced and melodic. This is the title track from his somber 2001 album, which took some inspiration from the 9/11 tragedies. It’s a pleasant midtempo song with an uplifting message, and it also starts with a quote from The Five Stairsteps’ “Ooh Child”, adding to the song’s optimistic feel.

    Track 4: “Territorial Pissings” by Nirvana

    And now for a COMPLETE change of pace, let’s go with one of the most frenetic offerings from “Nevermind”. Two things come to mind when playing this song. One is, did Nirvana really kick-start the whole alterna-rock changing of the guard, or did R.E.M. do it six months earlier with “Out of Time”? Second, this song opens with a sarcastically sung snatch (ooh! alliteration) of The Youngbloods’ “Get Together”, making it the second straight song (ooh! alliteration) played that references another song in it.


    Track 5: “Selena” by Wyclef Jean feat. Melissa Jimenez

    True story: Wyclef Jean’s “Carnival 2: Memoirs of an Immigrant” is actually good (much better than you’d expect from ‘Clef after a trio of solo records that went from OK to terrible to OMIGOD this sucks!). Unfortunately, this belated tribute to the Tejano superstar is…oh, about 13 years too late and is one of the weaker songs on the album. I think I’ll be unchecking this. Actually, there’s a pretty neat breakdown in the middle of the song that elevates it to average status. I won’t be unchecking it, but it’s still one of the weaker tracks. Still, check the album out. You might be surprised. Who else can get Paul Simon on a rap record?

    Track 6: “Tell Me What You See” by The Beatles

    This is definitely one of the more incidental songs on the “Help!” soundtrack, although even incidental Beatles songs are pretty good. Some interesting organ playing on this (shades of “Louie Louie”!) and some pretty harmonies too.

    Track 7: “Sulky Guy” by Elvis Costello

    The man who was originally Declan MacManus ranks as my favorite Elvis (hell, if I had that name, I’d change it too), and while I can’t place what album this song may have originally come from (I burned it from a compilation), it sounds late Eighties/early Nineties, right in line with songs like “Handle With Care” by Traveling Wilburys (only slightly messier and garage-y) or “My Brave Face” by Paul McCartney (a song that Costello co-wrote). My two questions of the evening to close this edition of the Sunday Seven out.

    1) How in the name of Jeebus did Elvis Costello snag Diana Krall? That’s almost as bad as Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri!

    2) If Lenny Kravitz and Elvis Costello did a duet, would you be able to tell who was singing what??

    …and that’s all folks! Till next week!!

  • More Than Jordin Beats Blake, Music In May

    Paul Simon with guitarJordin beat Blake. You should know that. Melinda will cut a great R&B (or gospel, if she feels so inclined album). Jordin will sing some big AC ballads. Blake will have a 10-20 year run on the charts. But there was much more to music this month than American Idol, even if Fox would hae you believe otherwise.

    Here are some quick hits on music news that happened in May that you should know:

    Here come The Police! Fans of the British trio that made Sting a household name opened up their world tour in Vancouver — their first show in 20 years. Speaking of 20, that’s about how many dates there are in North America, so get your tickets now! Remember, they’ve not only broken up once, but guitarist Andy Summers is 64 years old. At some point, he is just as likely to decide he doesn’t want to tour after collecting this tour’s bazillion.

    Lindsay Lohan hit a curb, then got hit with an arrest when Beverly Hill Cops who looked nothing like Judge Reinhold or Eddie Murphy popped her for various charges. Looking especially bad for the rehabbing Lohan was a substance media reports identified as cocaine in the vehicle.

    From young diva to old diva: Barbara Streisand bailed on a concert in Rome, citing tour production delays. The fact that Italian consumer groups were protesting ticket prices in the hundreds of dollars had nothing to do with anything according to Babs’ spokespeople. You won’t find her in Rome, however. Good going, Italian muckrakers. The Streisand opens in Zurich. And like Andy Summers, she is no spring chicken, so if you haven’t seen Streisand live, one of these days is going to be the last possible day.

    Paul Simon (above) has been honored as the first ever winner of The Gershwin Prize, an award from the United States Library of Congress to celebrate “popular song”. DC saw his concert live last week while the rest of the country can tune in to the special, including duets with ambivalent partner Art Garfunkel, later this summer.

    And finally, if your name isn’t Akon, JT or you’re not from American Idol, you’re just not happening on the charts right now. A couple of exceptions: Maroon 5 (who still enjoyed their AI connection through Blake Lewis and a performance on the show), Avril Lavigne and new releases from Fall Out Boy and Ne-Yo. You read it here first: Ne-Yo is going to win Grammy hardware in February.

    Spinning In The CD:
    I’m like Maroon 5’s new single, Makes Me Wonder. Adam Levine has grown by leaps and bounds since his Kara’s Flowers days.

  • Pre- Labor Day Releases pt. 2

    I present to you a continuation of the list of some of the most anticipated pre-summer releases slated to his stores in the next 50 days.

    Paul Simon – Surprise

    Surprise, Paul Simon is coming out with another studio album this year called what else but “Surprise”. The legendary singer/songwriter turns senior citizen this year, which has to be a scary thought for all those baby boomers who are still curious as to what happened to Garfunkel. Simon’s last album, 2000’s “You’re the One” fetched Simon a Grammy nomination for album of the year. That album was a “Bridge over Troubled Waters” for Simon who spent many years investing in a failed Broadway musical previous to the album’s release. The famed singer teams up with eclectic Talking Heads producer Brian Eno for this newest album on which Simon hopes to prove he is as his 1975 album professes “Still Crazy After All These Years”. In a last cheesy attempt to hype up this album: Simon hopes you won’t be unpleasantly “Surprise(d)” when you hear his latest on May 9th. I apologize to Paul Simon for this over-the-top album blurb.

    Paris Hilton – Turn It Up

    I know I am losing any journalistic integrity with this statement but here goes nothing: If you think about buying this absurd album upon its release on May 9th, please consult the nearest tough guy and ask him to give you a concussion.

    The Red Hot Chili Peppers – Stadium Arcadia

    The Red Hot Chili Peppers or for space saving reasons, TRHCP, release their 9th studio album, “Stadium Arcadia” on May 9th. This album is the third since the return of guitarist John Frusciante and the third featuring a “drug-free” line-up. Both previous albums, 1999’s “Californiacation” and 2002’s “By The Way” continued what has been a very successful run of albums both critically and economically. The band is now considered by most to be cagey veterans of the rock world and it won’t be too many years before we see TRHCP in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. This latest release is a 2-CD set that features twenty-four brand new tracks from the future hall-of-famers.

    Ashley Parker Angel – Soundtrack to Your Life

    It’s been a whirlwind past few years for Ashley Parker Angel that have found him doing a complete circle. He started off on MTV with fellow O-Towners on the show “Making the Band”. He then released a couple albums with the all boy band and they had a couple of monster hits including “Liquid Dreams”. After O-town’s twenty minutes of fame were up, Ashley found himself unemployed, living off boy band money. When that ran out, he turned once again to MTV and in return we got the show “There and Back: Ashley Parker Angel”. The show detailed Angel’s post-boy band life that included having a baby, being rejected on a marriage proposal (well at least delayed) and struggling to make it on his own as an artist. His first solo album “Soundtrack to Your Life” drops on May 16th and the appeal stretches from former boy band fans, to MTV fans, to people who are just interested to see if this album turns into a complete train wreck. If his first single off the album “Let Me Go” is any indication, we may be hearing a lot more from APA in the near future.

    Cam’Ron – Killa Season

    If you’re thinking of taking the date of rapper Cam’Ron’s latest release “Killa Season” and using permanent marker to write it down on your calendar, think again. This album has been anticipated to come out for months, being pushed back time and again for different reasons. Cam’Ron’s previous release “Purple Haze” got pushed back over a year from its original release date. However, don’t let the tardiness of this album confuse you, this could be one of the biggest studio albums of the year from any rapper. Cam’Ron on recent mixtapes has been bold enough to take shots at industry heavyweight Jay-Z, including a track where Cam’Ron took clips of some of Jigga’s songs and showed how they copied off other rappers songs. The beef between Cam’Ron and Jay-Z go back to when Jay-Z became President of Island/Def Jam records last year and took most of the talent from the former Rocafella Records label with him. Since that time, Cam’Ron was shot in a carjacking and in mixtapes has made reference to the fact that he thinks Jay-Z was behind the shooting. If and when this album is finally released, it may be the breakthrough album that makes Cam’Ron what he has truly been on the verge of being in the past few years, a mainstream crossover success. The album could possibly drop on May 16th.

    That’s a look at just some of the most anticipated albums of the days that lead up to Labor Day and the unofficial start of the summer. As it goes with all these albums, the release dates are subject to change, so if your really thinking about picking one of this albums up, check up on it first.