Shine

We won’t call it a comeback…she didn’t go anywhere she just decided to stop making new records for a spell…but it’s very cool to have some new music from the wondrous Joni Mitchell. Her first collection of (mostly) new material in a while starts off with a curve ball: a ruminative instrumental, “One Week Last Summer”, featuring Joni on piano and Bob Sheppard on alto sax. It’s a soothing and intriguing way to start Shine.

Joni’s burnished voice comes into play afterwards, of course, beginning with the acerbic “This Place” and the bittersweet, rueful “If I Had a Heart”. Mitchell is looking at the world around her and while she doesn’t much like what she sees, she seems to be holding on to hope that things can change…that people can change.

The vibe on Shine invokes the jazzier Mitchell offerings (think The Hissing of Summer Lawns) with keyboards and saxophone accents dominating the mix alongside the poetic rush of words and images. Joni’s voice is in that deeper, smoky range we’ve come to know from her later recordings and it is quite effective.

Things kick up a bit more up-tempo with “Hana”, a portrait of a proud woman taking on life on her own terms, with steady beat and electronic flourishes. “Bad Dreams” is a stately, wistful piano-dominated ballad that was borne out of a phrase that Mitchell’s young grandson said to her: “bad dreams are good in the great plan”.

A jaunty guitar line informs the resurrection of “Big Yellow Taxi” to nice effect. The older tune fits into the overall tone (with all of its spiritual, emotional, and ecologic overtones) of the disc and the new version is significantly different from the original. The rocking yet atmospheric “Night of the Iguana” is, Joni says, based on the old film of the same name and its propelled nicely with some sweet bass playing (by Larry Klein) and some rock solid drumming (by Brian Blade).

“Strong and Wrong” is an angry denunciation that takes to task when Mitchell sees as the hypocrisy of ego-driven fundamentalism (as well as President Bush personally) while “Shine” is almost a languid prayer…hopeful and acerbic and ruefully witty all at once…that encourages us to “let your little light shine”.

The closing “If” (which you can hear in full on the Tune Feed widget...just below "I Power Blogger"...in the column to the right; the little picture says John Williams for some reason but it's Joni), a hopeful, reassuring song based on a poem by Rudyard Kipling, cruises along on a pleasing samba-like beat and it brings the disc to a grand little finish.

I have no idea if Shine will enter the pantheon of what I consider to be great Joni Mitchell records…though on first blush I would guess not, but I’ll have to live with it for a while, explore its nuances and textures on repeated plays, before I can make really decide one way or the other…but, that said, it is nice to have new music from the lady and that’s more than good enough for me.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

20 years ago it began…and the Trekkers were skeptical. I am, of course, talking about Star Trek: The Next Generation. When STNG (as it shall be abbreviated from here on in) debuted those of us who had been fans of the original Star Trek series (of which I was one from the very beginning) were dubious that another series…with another Enterprise and a bald Captain…would fly (see what I did there? :-)

We were wrong.

Granted STNG didn’t really hit its stride until the 3^rd season but right from the beginning you could see that there was real potential. And when the first episode featured an aged (VERY aged) Bones McCoy passing the proverbial torch to the…well…next generation, it seemed to promise that our hopes for something special could possibly be met.

And so they were.

We came to appreciate the wondrous cast of characters: the gently-imperial Captain Picard, the puckish Commander Riker, the noble Klingon Worf, the inquisitive android Data, the beautiful empathy Deanna Troi, the enterprising (pun intended) engineer Geordi LaForge, the learned Doctors Crusher and Pulaski, the precocious Wesley Crusher, the impish all-powerful scoundrel Q, the enigmatic Guinan, the feisty Tasha Yar.

STNG turned into a wonderful science fiction TV show. Was each episode a gem? Nah…but when they were on their game, the actors, writers, and directors made some sweet sci-fi magic.

Entertainment Weekly has a special 20^th anniversary insert (a cool little 26-page booklet) in their September 28^th issue which lists their picks for the 10 best STNG episodes of the 7 year run. Their picks:

1) “Yesterday’s Enterprise” (Season 3)

(Time is warped and the Enterprise comes into contact with the long-lost Enterprise C)

2) “The Best of Both Worlds (Parts 1 & 2)” (Seasons 3 & 4)

(The action-packed 2-parter in which Captain Picard is captured by the Borg and transformed into Locutus)

3) “The Inner Light” (Season 5)

(Picard lives an entire alternate life in less than an hour after being hit with a beam from an mysterious probe)

4) “Tapestry” (Season 6)

(Q takes Picard back to relive the events that lead to him needing a heart-replacement)

5) “All Good Things…” (Season 7 – the series finale)

(The past, the present, and a possible future come together thanks to Q and the end of the series.)

6) “The Measure of a Man” (Season 2)

(Picard has to defend Data from a Starfleet officer who wants to dismantle the android for study.)

7) “Sins of the Father” (Season 3)

(Worf must battle Klingon politics in order to try to clear his father’s name)

8) “First Contact” (Season 4)

(Riker goes undercover to find out if a developing world is ready for full-fledged Federation interaction)

9) “The First Duty” (Season 5)

(Wesley Crusher and the other members of his Starfleet cadet squadron face an inquiry into the accidental death of one of their teammates.)

10) “Chain of Command (Part 2)” (Season 6)

(Picard, captured while on an undercover mission, is tortured by a Cardassian interrogator)

Interesting choices…though I’m sure every STNG could list favorites of their own which aren’t on this list.

Kid Nation

After all of the controversy and finger pointing, Kid Nation is just another “reality” show. It’s Survivor in an Old West ghost town with a cast of 40 kids (8-15 years old), no tribal councils, and no million-buck prize at the end (though each week one of the campers will be given a literal gold star worth $20,000.) It’s Survivor with a more emotionally mature cast :-)

The thing about the kids building a new society alone is, of course, nonsense. They’re surrounded by an army of cameramen, sound men, producers, medics, technicians, etc., etc. (and that’s not to mention the host who shows up several times an hour) That aside, the show is mildly engaging (the kids often seem like they’re vamping for the camera but that’s to be expected…and when one little miss says in all earnestness that she doesn’t do dishes because she’s a “beauty queen” you wonder how many of these “ordinary” kids are looking towards a career in showbiz with this show as a stepping stone.)

The editing of the show will not show any danger or exploitation, of course…the kids seem to be having an adventure that is at turns fun, challenging, and instructive on the matter of social interaction (one boy, the youngest of the group, opts out at the end due to homesickness…a very understandable reaction, of course.)

It’s not, as some have opined, Lord of the Flies, it’s just a “reality” show whose purpose escapes me.

I was wondering if CBS was going to put Kid Nation on after the firestorm of protests but they did (“controversy” makes for great pre-broadcast advertising) and the end result seems hardly worth all of the sanctimonious hand-wringing. Any ire about the inappropriateness of putting children in a potentially dangerous situation…apparently a couple of the kids got hurt during the filming of the series but not, insofar as I’ve heard, really seriously hurt…should be directed not only at the producers and the network but also…and especially… at the 40 sets of parents who signed the onerous contracts required for participation and gave their children over to the tender mercies of “reality” TV stardom.

The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory, a new sitcom that debuts on CBS on September 24, is unassuming and occasionally quite amusing (though not nearly as funny as the annoying laugh track tries to make you think it is.) They’re not trying to reinvent the sitcom wheel with this show, it’s an old-fashioned comedy show with characters rattling off one-liners in a way that nobody talks in real life but the easy chemistry between the two leads helps makes it work…to an extent.

Leonard (a perky…in a geeky but endearing way…Johnny Galecki) and Sheldon (a droll Jim Parsons) are socially inept geniuses who share an apartment (complete with big white boards covered with arcane equations and hair products in bottles shaped like Star Wars characters) whose world is changed when an attractive blonde moves into the apartment across the hall from them. That’s the plot…nothing more, nothing less.

As Penny, the new neighbor, a waitress just out of a bad relationship with a brutish lout that she still has feelings for, Kaley Cuoco is not asked to do much besides be pretty and affably sweet and she does that quite well. Though surrounded by eager beaver nerds (besides the roommates, we also have Simon Helberg as Wolowitz, a clueless would-be Casanova and Kunal Nayyar as Koothrappal whose fear of women is so great that he is unable to utter a single word to Penny) who act like they have never talked to a pretty girl before, Cuoco’s Penny doesn’t seem to look down on her new neighbors. Instead she is at turns patiently amused and guilelessly amazed (and completely unthreatened) by them.

But it is Galecki and Parsons who give this show what juice it has. Galecki’s wide-eyed enthusiasm is leavened by Parson’s mordant dry wit. They make a good team.

Judging by the pilot (available as a free download on iTunes as of this writing) The Big Bang Theory will be mildly diverting while it’s on and quickly forgotten once the episode is over. Though, that said, it could blossom into something more if the writing is strong...time will tell.

Kanye West and Rainn Wilson at the Emmys

Kanye West showing that he does indeed have a sense of humor (and the ability not to take himself so seriously) in this cute Emmy bit with The Office's Rainn Wilson and Don't Forget the Lyrics host Wayne Brady.

K-Ville

The new network television is starting to roll out slowly but surely (the debuts and season premieres stretch well into October) and I’m not really excited about much. But I’ll approach it with as open a mind as possible.

K-Ville, Fox’s new cop show, uses post-Katrina (hence, the “K” in K-Ville) New Orleans as a background. The lead character, Marlin Boulet (the always amazing Anthony Anderson), is a cop who lives in the devastated upper Ninth Ward and who is trying to get his wife and daughter to return to what he still considers home. Boulet’s new partner, Trevor Cobb (a very fine Cole Hauser), is an Army vet with a dark secret who’s joined the New Orleans Police Department seeking a kind of redemption. Boulet and Cobb are, as a matter of course, opposites…one black, one white, one hot-headed and hard-drinking, one calm and adverse to drinking while on duty, one with his passionate heart on his sleeve and one close-mouthed and guarded…and, of course, you know that they will become trusting partners as the series continues.

And that’s the problem. When all is said and done K-Ville is, New Orleans location aside, just another cop show that hits a lot of the familiar cop show beats. A cop show complete with a squad of colorful cops, a gruff Captain with a heart of gold (John Carroll Lynch), frenetic car chases and shootouts, and tired plots with “shocking” twists that are neatly tied up by the end of the hour. New Orleans is, in the end, mostly just window dressing for an otherwise ordinary police procedural with soap opera touches that carry most of the character development.

Andrews and Hauser do, however, raise the bar with their strong performances (even as they deal with the melodrama of their characters: Boulet’s family problems and drinking and Cobb’s dark secret which is revealed at the end of the first episode.)

K-Ville is okay…and it may grow into something better but it’s not enough to sway my attention from the return of Heroes in the same timeslot on September 24th.

Smells Like Teen Spirit (The Ukulele Remix)

All the Grooviest Online Video in One Place, GroovyGrooves.com

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain throws down on Nirvana's most famous song. I think Cobain would have gotten a kick out of this.

Guilt by Association

It is probably safe to assume that some amount of irony underscores this CD…a compilation of “indie” artists covering “guilty pleasure” pop songs…but the artists understood that to make this work they were going to have to play it straight (smirking through their performances would just make them come off as smug) and that’s what they did.

The net cast here is pretty wide…Paula Abdul (with Luna finding a understated soulful groove in “Straight Up”) to Fall Out Boy (Goat slipping into a grand, heartfelt, mid-tempo reading of “Sugar We’re Going Down”), Blue Oyster Cult (Mike Watt’s beefy spin through “Burning for You”), to High School Musical (Porter Block turns “Breaking Free” into a soaring, credible rock and roll song), the Spice Girls (Jim O’Rourke finding the heart of “Viva Forever” with some great guitar work included in the melodic mix) to System of a Down (Casey Shea’s lush take on “Chop Suey”), Shania Twain (Mark Mulcahy’s sweetly, passionately ragged cover of “From This Moment On”) to Oasis (Devendra Banhart’s dreamy, acoustic version of “Don’t Look Back in Anger”)…but the songs are stripped down, recast, and re-imagined to sometimes very engaging effect (stripped of their pop gloss and over-produced vocals, some of the songs emerge surprisingly poignant in their new incarnations.)

Petra Haden’s glorious, multi-tracked a cappella (including the guitar solos) version of the Journey chestnut “Don’t Stop Believin’”, for example, kicks off the disc with a shimmering burst of invention while Will Oldham (aka “Bonnie Prince Billy”) strips the melodrama away from Mariah Carey’s “Can’t Take That Away” and discovers an affecting song (Geoff Farina pulls off the same cool trick with a cool acoustic take on Eddie Money’s “Two Tickets to Paradise”.) The Concretes cover Take That's "Back for Good" with great vocals and a tasty horn-driven chorus.

The Woody Jackson Orchestra and Money Mark update “Love’s Theme”, the syrupy instrumental hit from the 70’s by Barry White’s Love Unlimited Orchestra, with a nice 21^st Century groove while hanging on to a sweetly nostalgic feel while The Mooney Suzuki attacks Cher’s cheesy (I admit that it’s cheesy while also admitting that I rather like it) “Just Like Jesse James” with fierce relish and comes out with a winner even as it hews close to original arrangement. Superchunk turns “Say My Name” into a snarling, pulsating rocker…something that Destiny’s Child couldn’t have ever imagined that it could be.

If someone is going to cover a well-known song, they should (to coin a cliché) “make it their own”…and that’s exactly what these fine folks do on these “guilty pleasures” to fine effect indeed. Guilt by Association is fun and engaging and what more could you ask from a compilation like this?

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Engine Room Recordings, which released the CD, held a contest for fans to create videos for some of the songs. Below is one made for Petra Haden's version of "Don't Stop Believin'" (other videos available for viewing at the link in the previous sentence.)

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin will reunite for one night to headline a tribute to Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Etregun. The show will take place at the 02 arena (next to the Thames River in London) on November 26.

Etregun, a legendary music executive and producer, died late last year. He signed Zeppelin to Atlantic in 1968 and the band recorded for them for the entirety of its existence.

Founding members Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones will be joined by Jason Bonham, the son of the band’s late, undeniably great drummer John Bonham at the gig; this lineup last played together at the concert celebrating Atlantic Records’ 40^th anniversary back in 1988.

The show will also feature Pete Townshend, Foreigner, and former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman (with rumors that Mick Jagger might also show up.)

Joe Zawinul 1932-2007

Joe Zawinul, the incredibly talented composer and keyboardist who played with, among others, Miles Davis and Cannonball Adderley (for whom he wrote the classic "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy") died today. He was 75.

Zawinul greatest fame came as co-leader (with saxophonist Wayne Shorter) of the seminal jazz fusion band Weather Report. His most popular composition was probably "Birdland", a Weather Report tune celebrating the legendary jazz club that was named for the immortal Charlie "Yardbird" Parker.

Here is Zawinul performing "Birdland" with Weather Report...featuring Shorter and the late, great Jaco Pastorius.

Bruce Springsteen - My City Of Ruin (9-11 Tribute) NYC

From the smoldering rubble, we rise,
From the well of bitter tears, we rise,
From the night that seemed without end,
From the day blackened with blood and fire,
We rise…

We give thanks for the light,
Prayers for the souls gone abruptly to God,
Thanks for all the magic and majesty
That lingers even in the face of madness.

From the storied cities, we rise,
From the bountiful fields, we rise,
From the crucible of peace and justice,
From the land of the free and the freedmen,
We rise…

(MKW - 2001)

Britney Spears

It was almost painful to watch Britney Spears stumble through the terrified-deer-caught-in-the-headlights performance that opened MTV’s VMAs (Video Music Awards) on Sunday night (I didn’t watch the VMAs…I’m well past the age of their target demographic and well past the point where I think MTV is relevant to anything I’m interested in…but I did catch Britney’s sad bump and grind on MTV.com.) And I’m not even a Spears fan by any stretch of the imagination. The uncomfortable looks on the faces of audience members (including P. Diddy and 50 Cent) and the tepid applause afterwards showed that I wasn’t alone in feeling like I was watching the continuation of a very long train wreck.

If this was her “comeback” she really needs to rethink the direction she going in…and her management…and, most importantly, her priorities. Once you’ve been at the top of the pop culture world I guess it’s hard to accept that no one gets to stay up that high forever and that climbing back up after a precipitous fall is possible but extremely rare (are you listening, Michael Jackson?)

Britney Spears is going to do what she wants to do…and that’s her right, of course… but unless she needs the money really badly (and reports are that she does not) she might want to think about getting her personal world in some kind of order before she tries to re-conquer the pop world. It’s just a thought.

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My other little corners of the interweb:

Creative Writing: Bread and Roses

Comic Books: Suspending Disbelief

Interesting Sites and Images: StumbleUpon

Play it as it Lays

One hopes and expects that Patti Scialfa enjoys her life. She’s a member of the mighty E Street Band (and the Sessions Band as well, she had a couple of cool solo turns on the Live in Dublin set.) She’s the wife of Bruce Springsteen and the mother of their three children. She is a fine songwriter and she has a sweetly husky, smoky singing voice that is reminiscent of the great Ronnie Spector. And every once in a while she gets into the studio and delivers up a delightful little gem of a CD.

Her first CD, 1993's Rumble Doll, was a fine collection and her second, 2004's 23^rd Street Lullaby, was even better. Play it as it Lays, a bluesy affair with a tight band (anchored by The “Whack Brothers Rhythm Section” featuring E Street Band guitarist Nils Lofgren, bassist Willie Weeks, drummer Steve Jordan, keyboardist Clifford Carter, and some guy named Bruce on guitars and organ) and soulful backup singers, continues that trajectory with a funky, affecting set of evocative songs.

Scialfa hits the ground running with the grand “Looking for Elvis”, a bluesy country number (see video below) and follows that with, “Like Any Woman Would”, a soulful paean to womanhood that name-checks Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo and Sylvia Plath’s novel The Bell Jar and incorporates elements of the Chiffons classic “He’s So Fine”.

The disc…clocking in at just under 40 minutes…continues on a bluesy (there’s that word again), sometimes swampy, sometimes rockin’ “Run, Run, Run”, a tribute to drag racer Shirley Muldowney is a fun, foot-tapper from beginning to end), mid-tempo groove that fits Scialfa like a glove.

The title song is a bittersweet…emphasis on the sweet and the positive…celebration of love and life that lopes and shimmers along and keeps you engaged as does the understated (it almost sounds like a lullaby), love-affirming finale, “Black Ladder”.

Play it as it Lays is a CD that will deliver up new nuances and little surprises every time you play it. It won’t sell zillions of copies…more’s the pity for that…but hopefully it will sell enough to allow Patti Scialfa to…every once in a while at least…give us more delightful little gems in the future. I can only hope.

Songbirds - The Weatherman

Under the Blacklight

Rilo Kiley has gotten their groove on…and they’re not afraid to let it have free reign on their new album (all these years later I’m still using that term…go figure :-) There are no ballads on this record (another archaic term I refuse to let go for some reason)

Under the Blacklight, a song arc about lost love and hard life on the streets of the city, kicks off with a sparkling (if decidedly bittersweet) pop song, “Silver Lining”, that deftly sets the tone for the disc. The rocker “Close Call” (about ladies of negotiable affection and the dangers of their chosen profession) slips into the credible funk of “The Moneymaker” (also about the aforementioned ladies...it's not my favorite track on the disc but it's okay) and then into the irresistible dance groove of “Breakin’ Up” and the soaring power pop of the title track.

Jenny Lewis is in fine, soulful voice throughout these cuts…nothing like the more ethereal vocals on Rabbit Fur Coat, her great 2006 album with the Watson Twins… and she ably aided and abetted by the band’s stellar playing and by backing vocals from The Waters.

Blake Sennett takes the lead vocal on “Dreamworld”, the best Fleetwood Mac song that Lindsey Buckingham never wrote …and that’s not a slam, it’s a great track.

Lewis, who wrote or co-wrote most of the album, takes the mike for the jagged (and quite effective) funk of “Dejalo” and the horn-driven “15” (about a man’s apparently unknowing assignation with a girl of that age.”

The guitars are infectiously crunchy on the acerbic, poppy rocker “Smoke Detector”.

Under the Blacklight closes with two mid-tempo gems: the rueful, wistful “The Angels Hung Around” and the hopeful coda, “Give a Little Love”, which locks its gentle but insistent groove in a tight pocket.

From what I can see online, I guess a lot of longtime Rilo Kiley fans are not pleased with this disc…their major label debut…and its new direction. I don’t get it myself. It’s great record by a band willing to continue challenging itself. Yeah, they could keep remaking “I Never” or “It’s a Hit” but what would be the point of that?

Under the Blacklight rocks…and grooves…and intrigues…and stays with you long after it’s stopped playing. It’s all good to me.

Rilo Kiley - Silver Lining

Very cool tune from a very cool band. This song is from their new CD, Under the Blacklight (full review of which is coming before week's end.)

Lucinda Williams - Are You Alright

I love this song. It's from Lucinda Williams' wonderful CD, West.

A Random Pop Culture List

Spinner.com has come up with their list of the Best Opening Lyrics (to a song from the rock and roll era one has to presume given the interesting...and decidedly random...results.) Their top 10:

10) Tommy used to work on the docks – Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer”

9) Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine – Patti Smith’s “Gloria”

8) Well it’s one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, now go, cat, go! – Carl Perkins’ “Blue Suede Shoes”

7) In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey – Beck’s “Loser”

6) Why do birds suddenly appear every time you’re near? – The Carpenters’ “Close to You”

5) Don’t call it a comeback – LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out”

4) Well she was just 17, you know what I mean – The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There”

3) Hey ho, let’s go! – The Ramones' “Blitzkrieg Bop”

2) I was born in a crossfire hurricane – The Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”

1) She’s a very kinky girl – Rick James’ “Super Freak”


Um, okay… :-)

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MKW Creative Writing Blogstuff: Bread and Roses

MKW Comic Book Blogstuff: Suspending Disbelief

Britain's Got Talent- Connie

A heartbreakingly sweet and guileless performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by a shy and utterly charming 6-year-old on Britain's Got Talent.

Even the often-curmudgeonly Simon Cowell was impressed :-)

The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster

Man, when you give your CD a title like The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster you’re really asking for people to give you that extra bit of scrutiny. I understand that the title wasn’t Ms. Foster’s idea…but whoever had the idea they were right on the money because Ruthie Foster is indeed phenomenal and this record is mighty fine proof of that fact.

Her voice is strong, vibrant, and utterly soulful (think Joan Armatrading with Sam Cooke’s impeccable phrasing and Mavis Staples’ slow burning passion but wholly original just the same) all at once and she puts those amazing pipes to excellent use on this collection of original songs and canny covers that seamlessly blends soul, blues, and folk music into a very tasty musical gumbo.

The CD comes out strong with the 1-2-3 punch of “’Cuz I’m Here”, a righteous mid-tempo blues, her self-penned “Heal Yourself”, a joyful up-tempo, life-affirming R&B, and a truly remarkable…yearning and blues-drenched…cover of Lucinda Williams’ wonderful “Fruits of my Labor”.

And by the time she follows that up by taking you to church with a sterling a cappella take on Son House’s “People Grinnin’ in Your Face” and a sweet and sure version of Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “Up Above my Head (I Hear Music in the Air)” you know that you might as surrender because the...yes...phenomenal Ms. Foster has hooked you already…at least that was my experience.

Her original songs more than hold their own with the covers. “Harder Than the Fall”, a gently loping blues ballad, manages to be rueful and hopeful at the same time while the jumping “Beaver Creek Blues” thumps along on an irresistible beat and “Mama Said” is a sultry and supple slice of Delta blues.

“Phenomenal Woman”, with words written by Maya Angelou, is a righteous celebration of womanhood that features one of the more urgent and compelling vocals on the disc. “A Friend Like You”, a sweet love song, finds Foster’s effectively understated vocal bolstered by some lovely organ and guitar work.

The disc ends on a lovely grace note with Foster’s own bittersweet “I Don’t Know What to Do with my Heart” which features the compelling honesty of the lyrics underscored to grand effect by piano, guitar, drums, and a string quartet.

What a delightful and engaging record …yeah, it is downright phenomenal indeed.

Sounds Eclectic: The Covers Project

I’m not sure why but I’ve had a fondness for cover songs…not just any cover songs, of course, but the good ones that bring out new nuances in songs that are already familiar. The newest CD from KCRW, a leading public radio station with a great reputation for breaking and encouraging new music and musicians, is an interesting collection of cover tunes (mostly) recorded in their studios by an eclectic lineup of performers for their show Morning Becomes Eclectic. Sounds Eclectic: The Covers Project is 15-track collection with several sparkling gems.

Girls in Hawaii (a 6-member group from Belgium with no girls in the band at all :-) lead off the proceedings with a fine reading of Neil Young’s “Out on the Weekend”. The Kinks’ “I Go to Sleep” is covered by Sia but the rendition is too similar to the wonderful version done by Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders to be really satisfying.

The acoustic version of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” by the Magic Numbers is fun and Damien Rice slips into the alienated vibe of Radiohead’s “Creep” quite effectively accompanied only by his guitar. Nikka Costa gets sultry and soulful with her steamy version of Nina Simone’s classic “I Want a Little Sugar in my Bowl” (which includes her vocalizing a trumpet solo in a charming and cool way.)

Dido’s cover is a sweet and crystalline take on James Taylor’s breakthrough hit “Fire and Rain”. Paul Weller strips down the R&B classic (perhaps best remembered from the version by Rose Royce) to an acoustic, two-guitar ballad to very nice effect.

Rufus Wainwright and Chris Stills (son of Stephen) dip into Neil Young’s songbook for their plaintive stroll through “Harvest” while R.E.M. offer up a relaxed version of Glen Campbell’s first hit “Gentle on my Mind”. Tears for Fears’ “Mad World” is stripped down to a very effective piano ballad by Gary Jules while the Flaming Lips take on Radiohead’s “Knives Out” is typically both lush and laconic.

Robert Plant rocks out a throbbing version of Led Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” (and yes I guess it still counts as cover even though he sang lead vocals on the original :-) with throaty vocal phrasing that sounds very Bob Dylan-ish and some very crunchy guitar riffs.

Missy Higgins is passionate and compelling on her cover of Patty Griffin’s “Moses” while M. Ward makes the most radical revision here as he strips David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” down from a funky dance tune to a mournful ballad featuring acoustic guitar and a nice harmonica solo.

k.d. lang closes the disc with a glorious version of Leonard Cohen’s classic “Hallelujah”; her vocal is so sublime that you’d think the song had been written for her to sing (and maybe, after a fashion, it was.)

Sounds Eclectic: The Covers Project, put out by Starbucks’ Hear Music, is a fine, soothing, engaging CD indeed.

So You Think You Can Dance

It hasn’t been a good summer for “reality” TV.

Big Brother was sabotaged, once again, by bad casting (when the most noteworthy characters are a self-absorbed Paris Hilton wannabe…Jen…and a belligerent over-aged wannabe rocker who goes out of his way to live up to his name…Dick…you’re definitely in trouble…especially when the rest of the cast is uniformly bland, seemingly dim-witted, and whiny.) CBS should have called a “do-over” because nobody in this house deserves half a million bucks.

Usually reliable Top Chef has also suffered due to poor casting (Hung fancies himself the discerning badass bon vivant but he just comes off as an arrogant, big talking twit who often can’t deliver when push comes to shove. And Howie doesn’t seem to understand that there’s a difference between being a plain spoken competitor and just being a mean-spirited ass...he falls squarely into the latter category.)

Age of Love could have saved itself the trouble since anybody with half a lick of sense knew that the 30-something guy was going to pick a 20-something “kitten” over a 40-something “cougar” from the word go. The woeful Pirate Master got shanghaied off the air (and onto CBS.com) before it could finish its run. Hell’s Kitchen stacked the deck with as many sadsacks as it could find so that Gordon Ramsay could go nuclear on them every few minutes. Welcome to the Parker has a certain voyeuristic appeal, I guess, but it certainly doesn’t make the hotel seem like someplace I would want to go to. And Flipping Out might just have the creepiest, most anal retentive (I guess that's supposed to be the charmingly quirky part of the show), and completely unlikeable central character in the “reality” TV genre.

But then there’s So You Think You Can Dance. In its third…and undeniably best…season the dance competition was a brilliant ray of sunshine blazing across our summer television airwaves. With the effervescent Cat Deeley as host and with its judges’ panel anchored by the dapper Nigel Lithgow, both a stern taskmaster unafraid to tell the dancers when they’ve gone off-track and a gracious, enthusiastic fan equally unafraid to lavish praise when praise is due, and the irrepressible Mary Murphy, both delightfully daffy and learnedly insightful, the show rarely hits on a wrong note on this front (unlike American Idol, where the host and the judges spent so much of the time trying to make that show about them rather than the contestants.)

The choreographers…a number of whom rotated through the third judge’s chair to great effect…were on their game this season challenging both themselves and the young dancers. I give special kudos to Mia Michaels, Shane Sparks, and Wade Robson for their often inventive, entertaining, and moving routines.

And the dancers…my goodness, what an enormously talented group they were this season….even some of the folks who didn’t make the final cut were amazing. The top 20…with a quibble here and there…were all game and eager to learn. The top 10 was great top to bottom.

And the top 4…well they kept saying on the show that it would have been fine if any of them had come out on top and that is indeed true. While I am an unabashed Sabra (above with Danny) fan…she is such a charming and engaging little dynamo who handled almost every style of dance she given to do with style, verve, and bright energy…and I’m thrilled that she won, but I would have not been overly disappointed if any of the other 3…vivacious Lacey, affable and athletic Neil, and elegant, often astonishing Danny…had taken the crown.

The final show could have been tightened up a bit…at the end Cat barely got through announcing Sabra as the winner before the final credits started rolling…but that’s not that important after all of the wonderful weeks of entertainment So You Think You Can Dance offered up this season. Bravo.

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Creative Writing MKW Blogstuff: Bread and Roses

Comic Book Geek MKW Blogstuff: Suspending Disbelief

The Hottest State

Jesse Harris is a talented songwriter and musician whose greatest claim to fame is writing and playing on Norah Jones’ breakthrough hit, “Don’t Know Why”. Called to provide songs for Ethan Hawke’s new movie, The Hottest State, Harris put out to call to some of his friends to provide vocals for those songs (drawn from the 50 or so tunes offered to Hawke). Among those who answered the call are Jones, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Cat Power, Bright Eyes, and Feist.

Harris’ songs here are, for the most part, soothingly languid, mid-tempo affairs but the singers inhabit them with their own unique voices and energies.

Harris steps into the spotlight for three vocals: the delicate “It Will Stay with Us” (backed only by his own guitar work), the rootsy countrypolitan groove of “One Day the Dam Will Break”, and the pure pop/jazz swing of the hopeful “Dear Dorothy”. Harris doesn’t have the greatest voice but his unabashed earnestness carries the day on all three cuts.

Harris also plays guitar on 2 of the 3 instrumental tracks: the lilting “Morning in a Strange City” (which includes some nice trumpet, accordion, and marimba playing) and the gentle dual guitar closer “There Are No Second Chances”, a duet with Tony Scherr (who also sings “You, the Queen”, a spare ballad that is the only track on the disc that doesn’t quite click.) The 3^rd instrumental track is a lovely solo piano version of “Never See You” by Brad Mehldau.

In the movie, Sarah (played in the movie by Catalina Sandino Moreno), the female lead, is a singer and songwriter and on the soundtrack Rocha, a newcomer from Argentina, is her voice and she sings lead on 3 of the 18 tracks including two versions, one in Spanish (for which Rocha provided the lyrical translation) and one in English, of the bittersweet recurring theme “Never See You” and the gently-swinging “No More”. Rocha’s voice is sweetly vulnerable and, at the same time, plaintively engaging.

Willie Nelson, old pro that he is, slips comfortably into the amiable lilt of “Always Seem to Get Things Wrong” with tasty backing of his own signature guitar picking and the sweet piano work of Norah Jones (who also takes a typically fine lead vocal turn on the wry “World of Trouble” as well playing piano and singing backing vocals on M. Ward’s elegiac take on “Crooked Lines”.)

The ever-remarkable Emmylou Harris brings grace and understated intensity to the haunting ballad “The Speed of Sound” (accented with lovely, ethereal, harmonica playing by Mickey Raphael, a mainstay of Willie’s band, and equally lovely backing vocals.) Cat Power, backed only by Jesse Harris playing guitar and banjo, delivers a sweet and soulful vocal on “It’s All Right to Fail” and Feist is equally fine on the simply grand “Somewhere Down the Road” (which features horns, organ, and guitars blended to sublime effect.)

Bright Eyes offers up the atmospheric rocker “Big Old House” (complete with thick swirls of keyboards and horns) while the Black Keys plays a more straight ahead bluesy rocker with “If You Ever Slip”.

I have no idea how these songs fit into the movie (director and star Hawke says they fit perfectly) but as a CD they make up a delightfully coherent and entertaining collection indeed.

Macy Gray - Everybody

Macy Gray calls us all to action in a video for a song from her CD, Big.

Elvis

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the day that Elvis Presley died (and I think it’s time that everyone just accepted the fact that he is indeed singing in the choir eternal in whatever you think Heaven is and let him rest in peace.)

And yes I remember where I was when I first heard the news (fresh out of college, I was toiling away in the administrative bowels of Max Factor & Co. and the ladies in the accounting department were buzzing about it. At first I thought it was just a silly rumor but, of course, it turned out to be true.)

My first exposure to Elvis was through those (mostly) dreadful movies he made (thanks a bunch, Colonel Parker) so I didn’t really get the “king of rock and roll” thing when I was boy. But I came to understand it better as I got older and got exposed to the music not cranked out for those movies.

However strange the man’s life might have gotten in his latter days, Elvis could flat out sing and work a crowd like no one’s business. From the plaintive balladry of “Are You Lonesome Tonight” to the potent soul of “Suspicious Minds” to the rock and roll joy of “Burning Love” (see live video below), Presley was in a class all his own when he was on his game.

30 years…it seems amazing that it’s been that long…but, of course, thanks to the music and the impersonators and, most importantly, the memories of everyone who ever enjoyed his music or loved him, Elvis is never going to be truly gone.

Planet Earth

There isn’t much that’s very…ahem!...revolutionary (heh, see what I did there?) about Prince’s newest album, Planet Earth. Even with contributions from stalwarts like Wendy & Lisa and Sheila E., there isn’t any new ground broken with this disc. This is not to say that it’s bad…it’s not but, like his last couple of discs, it feels like the artist who is once again known as Prince is content to stay in a holding pattern with his music. It seems strange to finish hearing a CD from Prince and find yourself saying something like “well, it’s okay…”

But then perhaps it’s time to stop waiting for him to come up with something on the artistic level of 1999, Purple Rain, or Sign o’ the Times and just enjoy the music he’s making these days without judging it against his past achievements. That is, of course, easier said than done, but I’ll give it a shot.

The opening track, the title song, has the epic sweep of “Purple Rain”, complete with soaring vocals and guitar runs, with a “save the planet” message (a subject revisited later on the rocker “Lion of Judah”.) “Guitar”, the first single, is a mildly engaging mid-tempo rocker that proclaims love for the titular instrument. And that is followed with a sweet, jazzy ballad “Somewhere Here on Earth”.

The disc sort of ambles along amiably from there: there’s some sly rapping on the gently-bawdy “Mr. Goodnight”, a potent slice of funk with “Chelsea Rodgers”, and the lovely pop balladry of “All the Midnights in the World”. All in all, the 10 tracks entertain well enough but they don't really linger long once they've stopped playing.

It’s not a great CD but…well…it’s okay…

Version

Mark Ronson is a celebrated British DJ and producer…he produced tracks on Lily Allen’s delightful Alright, Still and half of the tracks on Amy Winehouse’s wondrous Back to Black…and here he steps into the spotlight with Version, the second CD released under his own name.

But Ronson doesn’t hog that spotlight, even though he plays a variety of roles on Version (guitar, bass, keyboards, percussion, beats) he invites many of his friends to the party and is a very generous host. The disc is full of covers of songs (along with three short but punchy instrumental originals…“Inversion”, “Diversion”, and “Outversion”…interspersed along the way) remade into a dazzling, enormously entertaining, party-ready suite of R&B and dance-tinged hard pop.

The Daptone Horns kick things off on the right foot by guest-starring on the opening instrumental version of Coldplay’s “God Put a Smile Upon Your Face” and the cool vibe continues into the playful take on the Kaiser Chiefs’ “Oh My God” with vocals by Lily Allen.

Daniel Merriweather takes the lead vocals on “Stop Me”, a medley of the Smiths’ “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before” and the Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”, which is fine enough while the only track that kind of drags in a cover of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” featuring Tiggers and the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard.

The mighty Ms. Winehouse steps up and knocks the old school R&B jam version of “Valerie” (originally done by the Zutons) right out of the park. Paul Smith of Maximo Park comes on to remake the jagged rocker “Pressure” (originally by Maximo Park) as a percussive, horn-driven raver.

Santo Gold is featured on a version of The Jam’s “Pretty Green” that sounds like a long-lost cut from the days when the Talking Heads had recast themselves as a big funk band while Phantom Planet kicks into a sweet groove with their guest spot on the cover of Radiohead’s “Just”. Kenna is featured on a version of Ryan Adams’ “Amy” that sounds like a dance remix of a George Harrison song (and still it works :-)

Robbie Williams is the featured vocalist on a throbbing cover of the Charlatans’ “The Only One I Know” while Kasabian brings the party to funky close with a new mix of their own “L.S.F.”

With the horns sizzling, the singers giving their best shots, and the beats consistently strong and compelling, Ronson delivers a fun album that could keep any party jumping.

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More MKW Blogstuff: Bread and Roses