Random Notes: The 2009 Grammy Awards

Okay, the awards don’t really matter much…who remembers them two days later?...with the Grammys the show’s the thing. I only watch two awards shows a year…the Grammys and the Oscars…and so I’m always hopeful they’ll be worth the 3+ hour investment of time they usually require of me.

Thumbs up: U2 (you usually can’t go wrong with Bono and the boys kicking off your show), Al Green and Justin Timberlake (a last minute sub for Chris Brown who was having legal problems to do with domestic assault) with Boyz 2 Men and Keith Urban, Jennifer Hudson (the performance was stirring), Stevie Wonder and the Jonas Brothers (the kids were a bit hyperactive…but hey they’re kids…and the combination was a bit weird but, strangely enough, it worked), Radiohead and the USC Marching Band (very cool), Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (the big winners in a year when the Grammy show was jam packed with hip hop), Kanye West and Estelle, Sugarland and Adele (the Best New Artist winner), Timberlake and T.I. (my favorite hip hop performance of the night), Paul McCartney with Dave Grohl (a wonderful time was had by all…though of all of the Beatles songs he could have picked, it was a bit strange that Sir Paul decided to use the one that starts with the line “…well she was just 17 if you know what I mean…” :-), Carrie Underwood, Kid Rock, and Kenny Chesney (who knew he was pals with Morgan Freeman?)

The tribute to the Four Tops…with Smokey Robinson, Jamie Foxx, Ne-Yo, and the last surviving Top Duke Fakir…was very sweet (though Foxx seemed to flummox the director by going one way while the other three guys went the other way.)

The tribute to New Orleans was fine but it could have been better if Lil’ Wayne could have shut up (after finishing his part with Robin Thicke) while Allen Toussaint and Terence Blanchard were playing.

The Bo Diddley tribute…with B.B. King, John Mayer, Buddy Guy, and Keith Urban…was also fine (though you might have hoped that a tribute to Bo would have been a bit more animated…)

There was something oddly cool about both Green Day and Blink-182 coming out to present awards.

Special props to M.I.A. for enthusiastically singing the hooks for the “Rap Pack”…Kanye West, Jay-Z, T.I., and Lil’ Wayne…even while it looked like her water could break at any moment. The song itself…”Swagga Like Us”…was lively enough but, as these rap collaborations too often tend to go, it ended up with the four rappers seemingly trying to out-shout each other.

The appeal of Coldplay continues to elude me (please spare me your barbs, Coldplay fans…which are, of course, legion…your mileage may vary…so just let it go), Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus have had better nights (ibid.), Whitney Houston seemed a bit…spaced out (but hopefully she is still on an upward trajectory), and Neil Diamond was…well…Neil Diamond (and I guess somebody has to be so there’s that…and hey Jay-Z really liked it…)

And I’m completely over “I Kissed a Girl” and Katy Perry should be too if she doesn’t want to end up a one-hit wonder/novelty act.

All in all, not a bad show…too long, of course (they cut off Stevie Wonder’s closing song) but most of the winners kept their acceptance remarks short (well until the end when Robert Plant seemed like he was going to go on for a while) and things kept moving a fairly good clip most of the night. Like I said, it was not a bad show.

The 2007 Twenty

Neverending Rainbow's 3rd annual rundown of our 20 favorite reasons to have owned a CD player. These are the best CDs of 2007...or more to the point, given the daunting number of recordings released each year...the best CDs that we heard over the course of the year. Your mileage may (and doubtlessly will) vary. In any case, the picks (in alphabetical order by album title):

Back to Black – Amy Winehouse
(At once retro and utterly modern, as fine a soul record as you could ever hope for)

Children Running Through – Patti Griffin
(Passionate, evocative, utterly compelling, an amazing collection of songs and performances)

Finding Forever – Common
(Sly and sassy, romantic and randy, acerbic and hopeful, a seamless album featuring stellar guest turns by Lily Allen and Kanye West and held together by Common’s smooth, peerless flow)

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga – Spoon
(Urbane pop-rock…delightfully melodic with tight playing and solid vocals…that soars and shimmers from beginning to end)

High Steppin’ – The Pimps of Joytime
(A really fine…really funky, really soulful, really rockin’, really jammin’, enormously entertaining…CD.

In Rainbows – Radiohead
(Challenging and accessible in the same moment, an utterly remarkable rock and roll record)

Live in Dublin – Bruce Springsteen with the Sessions Band
(A grand, accomplished, enormously entertaining 2-disc live set combining traditional songs with reworked Springsteen tunes)

Magic – Bruce Springsteen
(The Boss and the E Street Band on a set of rock solid, earnest, cranky, and soaring rock and roll ruminations)

Neon Bible – Arcade Fire
(Ominously haunting and undeniably rousing at the same time, the full bodied baroque rock and roll of this CD effortlessly gets under your skin and into your head and stays in both places and man is that a cool thing)

100 Days, 100 Nights – Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
(As gritty and old school funky as it wants to be, this CD grooves, growls, and bites with soulful fury as the righteous, gutbucket beauty of Ms. Jones’ voice is ably supported by the sterling musicianship of the Kings)

Raising Sand – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

(What seemed a strange match on paper became a magical, compelling, and heartfelt collaboration when they came together in song trading stunning leads and sharing remarkable harmonies)

River: The Joni Letters – Herbie Hancock
(A graceful and tasty tribute to Joni Mitchell featuring an excellent band and some nice guest vocal turns)

Teknochek Collision – Slavic Soul Party!
(This 9-member ensemble claims to be the “#1 brass band for Balkan-soul-gypsy-funk” and the music…joyous, worldly, full-bodied and, yes, brassy, soulful, and funky…proves the point with potent, irresistible charm)

The Hottest State – Movie Soundtrack
(Judging by critical response, the movie wasn’t so hot but the soundtrack…with songs by Jesse Harris and sublime performances by, among others, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Cat Power, Feist, and Norah Jones…is a cool, evocative gem)

The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster – Ruthie Foster
(An evocative, rocking, soulful CD that more than lives up to its grandiose title)

The Reminder – Feist
(A smart, sparkling collection of slightly offbeat pop tunes)

The Spiritual Kind – Terri Hendrix
(Witty, whimsical, insightful, heartfelt, delightful…a grand country record with all of the soul and twang and none of the glossy pop that too often passes for country music these days)

Under the Blacklight – Rilo Kiley
(Jenny Lewis and the guys embrace their funky edge to very fine effect)

Version – Mark Ronson
(The celebrated DJ and producer serves up a groovy party record filled with covers of British hits sung with gusto by, among others, Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, and Robbie Williams)

We’ll Never Turn Back – Mavis Staples

(Righteously soulful and soulfully righteous, a collection of compelling standards delivered by one of the most incomparable voices in pop, soul, and spiritual music)

2007 : The "Singles"

In these days of music downloading "singles" are kind of an anachronistic concept but that doesn't deter us here at the Rainbow from once again presenting our favorite tracks of the year. We make no claims that these are the "best" tracks that came out during year but they are the ones that that greatly entertained and/or inspired us (why am I using the imperial "we/us" when it's just me here? I dunno...just be a pal and indulge the hubris and let it go :-)

ANYWAY (he do go on sometimes, don't he? Sheesh...) here are Neverending Rainbow's 10 favorite tracks of 2007 (links to video and/or audio on each track...make with the clickety-click on the titles):

1) "Silver Lining" Rilo Kiley
(A rueful tale of love lost told with an irresistible catchy beat and a great Jenny Lewis vocal)

2) "You Know I'm No Good" Amy Winehouse
(Backed by the mighty Dap-Kings, the redoubtable Ms. Winehouse...who seems likely to actually survive '07 despite herself...throws down an soul jam as sweaty and funky as can be..."Rehab" [see below] was also mighty fine but her antics this year turned that song from being cheekily defiant to being creepily self-destructive.)

3) "Are You Alright?" Lucinda Williams
(A haunting, bittersweet plea for reconnection)

4) "Hey Eugene" Pink Martini
(A witty, sultry shout out to a guy who didn't call after a seemingly great time had at a party)

5) "Jigsaw Falling into Place" Radiohead
(A throbbing, utterly engaging rock and roll song)

6) "Heal Yourself" Ruthie Foster
(A wonderfully soulful tune of self-affirmation set to a driving beat)

7) "1234" Feist
(Yeah, the iPod commercial was ubiquitous but the song is still very cool)

8) "The People" Common
(While Kanye and 50 were having their over-hyped pissing contest, Common was quietly presenting the most engaging and inspirational hip hop of the year)

9) "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" Miranda Lambert
(The Nashville Star 1st season runner-up makes a solid case for being one of the more interesting stars to come from a TV competition with this feisty and funny warning to her ex and his new love.)

10) "Radio Nowhere" Bruce Springsteen
(The Boss rants about the woeful state of pop radio over a tight, propulsive rock groove.)

In Rainbows

The methods by which we obtain music are…and have for a long time been…changing (something the major labels and the large record store chains have been loathe to acknowledge or quick to adjust to.) As CD sales continue to plummet and record stores (one of the great joys of my younger days) continue to disappear…as sites for legally downloading music multiply (iTunes is the undisputed leader, of course, but Amazon. com recently joined in the fray, and there are many other outlets…my personal favorite is eMusic, a site that specializes in “indie” labels) music fans have a multitude of ways to get their musical fixes.

Artists too are redefining the ways they get their music out to the public. Prince caused a stir earlier this year by giving away copies of Planet Earth with a British newspaper and Madonna recently jumped ship from a major label for a multi-tiered, multi-million dollar deal with a concert promoter.

Radiohead, the amazing, creatively restless and adventurous British band, has upped the ante by offering their new record, the gorgeous and beguiling In Rainbows, as a download on their website where the listener can choose how much (if anything) they want to pay for it. Fans can decide to pay nothing (according to one report more than half of them are opting to do just that) for the record and they can still download the ten tracks that make up In Rainbows (a standard CD will be issued next year and there is also a pricey box set consisting of the CD, two vinyl LPs, a 2^nd CD with bonus tracks and digital photos, lyric booklets and other artwork that will begin shipping in December.)

The audacious marketing experiment aside, In Rainbows is a remarkable rock and roll record (and for the record, I paid $10 for it…$1 a track…and it was money well spent.) From the funky “15 Step” to the all-out rocker “Bodysnatchers”…from the lush, shimmering “Nude” to the soaring, electronic washes of “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”…to the love songs, grandly ruminative (“All I Need”) and gently flowing (“Faust Arp”)…from the pulsating, rock solid “Reckoner” (hear below) to soothing, mid-tempo groove (accented by haunting electronic accents) of “House of Cards”…from the throbbing rock and roll of “Jigsaw Falling into Place” to somber and almost ethereal (save for the commanding drumbeat) closer “Videotape”…the tracks are uniformly intriguing, involving, and compelling. It is, quite simply, a wonderful album.