Living with War

I'm living with war in my heart
I'm living with war in my heart and my mind
I'm living with war right now

Don't take no tidal wave
Don't take no mass grave
Don't take no smokin' gun
To show how the west was won
But when the curtain falls, I pray for peace
Try to remember peace

There’s nothing ambiguous about Neil Young’s feelings about the war in Iraq, the Bush Administration, and the United States…he hates the first, he deplores the second, and he loves the third but thinks it (that is to say, we) could do better than we’re doing when it comes to decrying the first two.

Living with War (as of this writing, it’s only available for streaming from the major online services) is a nakedly political, scathing firebomb thrown into the mix of the ongoing discussion about the war and its consequences. This is a record designed to incite passions all along the political spectrum.

Musically, this 10-track set…recorded quickly and very recently (the first session was in late March)…is a great rock and roll record. In places it flat out rocks with the grunge-y kick of some of Young’s better electric records (as opposed to the somber mood of records like last year’s Prairie Wind.) The sound is created by a compelling combination of guitar, bass, and drums along with trumpet and a 100-voice choir.

The title song has lovely choral vocals over a solid mid-tempo rocker (featuring some grand fuzzy guitar licks.) “Shock and Awe”, which features both a solid guitar riff and some sterling trumpet solos, feels like an acerbic companion piece to “Rockin’ in the Free World”, Young’s fierce broadside against the first President Bush back in the late 80’s while the compact “Families” hits the ground running and never lets up. The current President Bush is taken to task in the less-than-subtle “Let’s Impeach the President” (which features sound clips of the President talking about war, Saddam Hussein, the Patriot Act, WMDs, and other things Young labels as “lies”):

Let’s impeach the president for lying
And leading our country into war
Abusing all the power that we gave him
And shipping all our money out the door

He’s the man who hired all the criminals
The White House shadows who hide behind closed doors
And bend the facts to fit with their new stories
Of why we have to send our men to war

The President is targeted less directly on “Looking for a Leader”, which talks about looking for someone to “re-unite the red, white, and blue before it turns to stone” (Young wonders if that new leader might be a woman or a black man…name-checking Barack Obama and Colin Powell along the way as possible candidates.)

“Flags of Freedom” is a clever, audacious update of Bob Dylan’s “Chimes of Freedom” (Dylan is name-checked in the lyrics) with an insistent backbeat and a tasty harmonica solo.

The set ends with the choir offering up a gorgeous, wistful, un-ironic version of “America the Beautiful” as its shimmering grace note.

This is a passionate, heartfelt, angry, hopeful, defiant record and that remains true whether you agree with Young’s politics or not.

“Living with War” and “Let’s Impeach the President”
words and music by Neil Young
©2006 Silver Fiddle Music (ASCAP)

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

I have to admit that when I heard that Bruce was making an album of folk song covers my first reaction was that we were in for something along the somber lines of the wondrous Nebraska or the less-enthralling The Ghost of Tom Joad. But Springsteen and his cohorts on We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions are not in a somber mood…quite the contrary they are in a mood to make a joyful noise and by golly that’s exactly what they do.

For the most part, Springsteen eschews the political songs associated with Pete Seeger (the anti-war track “Mrs. McGrath” being an exception) in favor of engaging, high-steppin’ versions of some of the folk songs Seeger recorded over the year…including traditional chestnuts such as the classic “John Henry”, the charming “Froggie Went A-Courtin’”, the inspirational “Eyes on the Prize”, “Jesse James”, and the rollicking gospel burner “O Mary Don’t You Weep”.

Springsteen (who brings a playful, almost Tom Waits-like growl to some of the tunes) sounds like he’s having a ball as he leads a crack band of 13 players (on violins, horns, guitars, keyboards, and vocals) through 13 songs associated with Seeger. The only members of the E Street Band involved here are violinist Soozie Terrell (who plays on all cuts) and Patti Scialfa (who sings background vocals on 9 tracks.)

The album was recorded “live” during three one-day sessions with no rehearsals (Bruce can be heard calling out changes and solos throughout the record); they worked out the arrangements as they played and the music sounds vital and all the more compelling for that off-the-cuff energy. The title track was recorded in 1997 for a Seeger tribute album, the others were recorded in 2005 and 2oo6.

This is an enormously entertaining disc that will set your toes to tappin' and your soul to hummin'…or as Bruce himself says in the liner notes, “turn it up, put on your dancin’ and singin’ shoes, and have fun”. ‘Nuff said.

Under the Covers, Volume 1

Years ago, Nick Lowe put out an album called Pure Pop for Now People (actually that was just the US title because the record company didn’t think the original title, Jesus of Cool, would go over well in the American market.) This disc, filled with buoyant covers of tunes from the 60’s and 70’s, embodies the title…it’s pure pop for now people of the 21^st Century and it’s perfectly groovy indeed.

Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet make a great team. Sweet plays most of the guitars here (and quite well indeed) and if his earnest voice is not in the same league with Hoffs’ creamy, soulful, beguiling vocals the blending of their voices works well just the same. Hoffs’ voice is more upfront in the mix most often and that was an excellent decision (Hoffs takes the lion’s share of the lead vocals here.) Van Dyke Parks plays keyboards and contributes string arrangements.

Recorded in Sweet’s home studio, this disc is filled with covers of interesting, intriguing songs…some better known than others. If their version of Bob Dylan’s world-weary “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” is probably too sweet for its own good they hit the hail on the head with other songs such as their sprightly take on the Beatles’ Revolver gem “And Your Bird Can Sing” and their luminous reading of Fairport Convention’s “Who Knows Where the Time Goes?”.

They dip into Neil Young’s songbook twice with “Cinnamon Girl” (which lacks the crunch and bite of the original but is enjoyable in its own right thanks mostly to Sweet’s tasty fretwork) and a jaunty “Everyone Knows This is Nowhere”.

Special kudos for them for their simply-grand acoustic version of “Alone Again Or” by the criminally underappreciated band Love.

There are 15 tracks in all including covers of The Beach Boys (a game “Warmth of the Sun”), The Bee Gees (the sweetly soaring “Run to Me”), The Who (the pure power pop goodness of “The Kids are Alright”), Linda Ronstadt (a note-perfect re-creation of “Different Drum”), Marmalade (the rollicking “I Can See the Sun”), The Velvet Underground (a lovely “Sunday Morning”), The Mamas and the Papas (a credible version of the oft-covered “Monday, Monday”), The Zombies (the sparkling “Care of Cell #44”), and The Left Banke (the bright pop of “She May Call You Up Tonight”).

This is a marvelous pop record and I hope the “Volume 1” in the title means that there’s a possibly of an encore because I would certainly welcome “Volume 2” with open arms.

Britain's Favorite Lyrics

U2 topped the list of Favorite Lyrics as voted by a poll of 13,000 British music fans conducted by VH1. The winning line came from the band’s oft-covered hit “One” (the most recent hit was a version released by Mary J. Blige and U2 at the end of last year.)

The #1 lyric (according to the poll): One life, with each other, sisters, brothers.

Following in the top 5 are:

The Smiths’ “How Soon is Now?”: So you go, and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home, and you cry, and you want to die.

Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”: I feel stupid and contagious, here we are now, entertain us.

Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”: Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds, have no fear for atomic energy, 'cause none of them can stop the time.

Coldplay’s “Yellow”: Look at the stars, look how they shine for you.

The rest of the top 20 did NOT feature anything by The Beatles (either as a group or as solo artists), Joni Mitchell, Brian Wilson, or Stevie Wonder (among many others.)

Included in the top 20 are: Eminem’s "Lose Yourself", Robbie Williams’ "Angels", The Who’s "My Generation", Radiohead’s "Creep", Marvin Gaye’s "What's Going On", U2’s "Where The Streets Have No Name", Abba’s "The Winner Takes It All", Pink Floyd’s "Another Brick in the Wall", Tupac featuring Snoop’s "California Love", Queen’s "Bohemian Rhapsody", Bob Dylan’s "Subterranean Homesick Blues", Kaiser Chiefs’ "I Predict A Riot", David Bowie’s "Heroes", and The Police’s "Every Breath You Take".

The results of the poll are…um…interesting (any list of lyrics that features Coldplay but doesn’t feature, for example, anything from John Lennon is suspect in my book…your mileage may vary…)

Pop Culture News and Notes

Due to popular demand (okay, I’m exaggerating about that) and halfway decent ratings (go figure) VH1 has announced that there will be a second season of the redoubtable Flavor of Love featuring Public Enemy mainstay Flavor Flav (see above) still looking for love from a bevy of hootchie-mamas…I mean, eager young ladies. The “love” connection made during the first season between Flav and “Hoopz” apparently didn’t work out (they’re just friends according to “Hoopz”.)

* * * * *

This summer’s edition of Big Brother will apparently be an “all-star” affair featuring former houseguests from the show’s first 6 seasons. Details on who will be participating on Big Brother: All-Stars (some of the players will be voted in by a public poll) and when the show will begin have not been released by CBS as yet (Julie Chen will still be hosting.)

* * * * *

ABC is considering moving either Desperate Housewives or Grey’s Anatomy to spread the ratings wealth of their powerhouse Sunday lineup (which also includes Extreme Home Makeover) to some of their weaker nights. One of them could be moving to Monday to fill the void left by Monday Night Football (which is moving to ESPN.)

* * * * *

Tori Spelling and her mother Candy Spelling are apparently not speaking to each other because Candy is furious about her portrayal on Tori’s faux-reality show, the often-amusing So NoTORIous. Loni Anderson plays the “Candy Spelling” character with over-the-top diva gusto on the VH1 show (Tori’s father, producer Aaron Spelling, is usually represented by a disembodied voice through a phone speaker just like Charlie on Spelling’s camp classic series, Charlie’s Angels.)

A Random Pop Culture List

The Writers Guild of America has compiled their list of the 101 Greatest Screenplays (as voted by their membership of film and television writers.) Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, and Billy Wilder each have four efforts on the overall list; Charlie Kaufman (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), John Huston (The Maltese Falcon), and William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) each have three screenplays on the list.

Their top 10 selections (all filled with wonderful, vivid and memorable, writing) are:

1) Casablanca written by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard Koch (based on the play Everybody Comes to Rick’s by Murray Burnett & Joan Alison)

2) The Godfather by Mario Puzo & Francis Ford Coppola (based on Puzo’s novel)

3) Chinatown by Robert Towne

4) Citizen Kane by Howard Mankiewicz & Orson Welles

5) All About Eve by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (based on the short story and radio play The Wisdom of Eve by Mary Orr)

6) Annie Hall by Woody Allen & Marshall Brickman

7) Sunset Boulevard by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder, and D.M. Marshman, Jr.

8) Network by Paddy Chayefsky

9) Some Like it Hot by Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond (based on the German film Fanfare of Love written by Robert Thoeren & M. Logan)

10) The Godfather, Part 2 by Puzo & Coppola (based on Puzo’s novel The Godfather)

Other screenplays on the list include: Dr. Strangelove, Fargo, The Usual Suspects, The Graduate, Do the Right Thing, Star Wars, 8 ½, Goodfellas, The Philadelphia Story, The Sixth Sense, High Noon, and Momento.

Disney to Offer 4 ABC shows free on the Internet

Disney has announced that they will be offering episodes of four of their ABC shows free on the internet in an experimental 2-month trial program during May and June. The trial will include episodes of the shows Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Commander-in-Chief (all available starting the day after they are broadcast on the network) as well as the entire current season of Alias.

Viewers will be able to pause and rewind the shows and to skip between “chapters” but they won’t be able to skip ads (Universal Pictures, Proctor & Gamble, Ford and AT&T are among the advertisers signed up for the trial) due to technical embedding (watching commercials is the trade-off for free downloads it seems.)

Thunderbird

I’m more than a little bit biased when it comes to Cassandra Wilson…I make no bones about that (see here for more about that.)

That disclaimer aside, I have no problem with proclaiming that Thunderbird is a stunner from start to finish. As always, the amazing Ms. Wilson defies being easily categorized; this disc finds her offering up a tasty, intoxicating gumbo of swampy delta blues, jazz, rock, pop, funk, and Americana to wondrous effect with her sensuously husky voice and her ability to find unique colors in songs both new and old as the vital ingredients holding it all together.

T-Bone Burnett, the Grammy winning producer of (among many other things) the glorious Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, helms this disc bringing his rich, authentic sonic palette to the party on a collection of original songs and, as always, surprising and delightful covers (among them a wistful take on Jakob Dylan’s “Closer to You”, a mournful then swaggering romp through Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “Easy Rider”, and a spare, haunting version of the cowboy classic “Red River Valley”.)

Thunderbird is one of those CDs that grabs you on the first listen and then continues to reward the listener with each and every subsequent listen.

A Random Pop Culture List

CMT’s Top 10 Greatest "Done Me Wrong" Songs

1. “Your Cheatin’ Heart” Hank Williams


2. “Jolene” Dolly Parton


3. “Fist City” Loretta Lynn


4. “How Do You Like Me Now?” Toby Keith


5. “Harper Valley P.T.A.” Jeannie C. Reilly


6. “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town” Kenny Rogers


7. “Seven Year Ache” Rosanne Cash


8. “Here’s a Quarter (Call Someone Who Cares)” Travis Tritt


9. “Independence Day” Martina McBride


10. “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song” B.J. Thomas

Nothing encapsulates the down home blues quite like a good old fashioned country song :-) Hank Williams at the top was a no-brainer, of course.

Katie Couric

After 15 years of being so delightfully (or, perhaps depending on your mood, insufferably) perky early in the morning on NBC’s Today Show, Katie Couric (seen above with co-anchor Matt Lauer) is going to be able to sleep in by jumping over to CBS to become the first woman to anchor a network news show solo (the less we remember the disastrous stint Connie Chung spent co-anchoring with Dan Rather the better) when she takes over the CBS Evening News later this year. Couric will also be managing editor of the show as well as become a contributor to the venerable 60 Minutes.

Couric’s stint on Today, which ends in May, is the longest of any anchor in the show’s 50+ year history.

Reports have it that Couric turned down more money (perhaps as much as $5 Million a year) offered by NBC in order to take on the challenge at CBS (where the news show has been trailing the other networks’ evening news shows for years.)

Bob Schieffer, moderator of Face the Nation, has been filling the anchor chair since Dan Rather stepped down a year or so ago.

NBC is apparently trying to raid ABC’s roster to replace Couric on the morning show as there are reports that they are negotiating to lure Meredith Viera from The View (how will she ever tear herself away from Star Jones and Joy Behar???) to co-host Today. (Failing that, NBC Nightly News substitute anchor Campbell Brown and Today Show news reader (and Dateline co-host) Ann Curry are among the in-house ladies at NBC who are being considered for the job.)

Movie Downloads

Five Hollywood studios are joining the digital revolution as they start selling digital downloads of movies for the first time. Hits like King Kong and Brokeback Mountain are among the titles that are available to be bought and downloaded to computers.

Movielink…a site co-owned by Sony, Warner Brothers, MGM, Universal, and 20^th Century Fox…will make some releases available at the same time the movies go on sale on DVD and others will be available for download sale within 45 days of DVD release. (FYI: the Movielink site does not support the Firefox or Netscape browsers.)

Recent releases will be sold for $20-$30 and older movies will be available for download for $10-$20. (These prices seem a bit high given discounts available for DVDs at places like Amazon.com but perhaps a lot of people will be willing to pay those prices in order to have immediate access to movies. We shall see.)

Customers will not be able to burn the movies onto discs to be played on DVDs but they will be able to be stored on computers indefinitely. The movies will also be able to be transferred to two other computers. (Transfers of movies to handheld devices are not available yet but that capability is in the offing.)

Sony and Lionsgate will also be selling movie downloads through another site, CinemaNow (which appears to accessible to Firefox and Netscape as well as Internet Explorer.)

Of the major studios only Disney is shying away from digital downloads of their films for the time being. This is likely to change though.

Personally I’m not that excited about watching movies on my computer but I have to give the major studios credit for, however reluctantly, acknowledging that the ways movies are being viewed, rented, and purchased are indeed changing.

Quote of the Week

"I'm so over me."
Blow Out's Jonathan Antin

Welcome to the club, "bro". We have "So Over Jonathan" t-shirts for sale at all the meetings. :-)

Pop Culture News and Notes

American Idol’s Little Miss Sunshine will be gushing, dancing, poking Simon Cowell, and babbling incoherently on air for at least 3 more years as Paula Abdul has signed a contract extension with the show (I guess this shoots down the internet rumor that the producers were thinking about dumping the former pop star and bringing on someone like Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson to take her seat at the judges’ table.)

* * *

Academy Award winners Three 6 Mafia have been working with the annoyingly ubiquitous Paris Hilton on her upcoming CD. (Man, I was feeling you guys…”It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” is one of the coolest Oscar-winning songs ever [alongside “Lose Yourself” and “Theme from Shaft” among a very few others]…but I’m not feeling this even a little bit. Couldn’t you fellas have waited for Lil’ Kim to get out of jail instead??)

* * *

Prince nails the first #1 debut of his long career this week as his new 3121 disc tops the Billboard chart (with 183,000 copies sold during its first week on sale.) This is only the 4th Prince album to top Billboard’s Album chart (following 1984’s Purple Rain, 1985’s Around the World in a Day, and 1989’s Batman soundtrack.)

A Random Pop Culture List

FHM’s Top 10 Sexiest Women in the World 2006

1. Scarlett Johansson



2. Angelina Jolie



3. Jessica Alba



4. Jessica Simpson



5. Keira Knightley



6. Halle Berry



7. Jenny McCarthy



8. Maria Sharapova



9. Carmen Electra



10. Teri Hatcher

As voted by the readers of FHM (For Him Magazine.)

I'm not sure if I've ever read an issue of FHM so I'm not sure what the readership is exactly but judging by their picks it's a pretty sure thing that they're predominantly young (though Ms. Hatcher did make the list as someone who is not twenty-something) and they spend a fair amount of time watching movies and TV.

Scarlett Johansson was apparently ranked #9 in last year's poll but I'm not sure what she did that had her vault to the top this year (Ms. Jolie...who has been relatively camera-shy since she's been carrying the golden Pitt-Jolie child...was last year's #1.)

A Random Pop Culture List

Entertainment Weekly’s Top 10 TV Dramas

1. 24


2. The Sopranos


3. CSI


4. Battlestar Galactica


5. Lost


6. Everwood


7. Gilmore Girls


8. Law & Order franchise


9. Veronica Mars


10. The Shield

I am a faithful viewer of #’s 3 and 5 and a faithful wait-for-the-DVD-set buyer for #’s 1, 2, and 10. I catch up on sporadic episodes of #8 in reruns and syndication. I’ve never seen episodes of #’s 4, 6, 7, or 9 so I guess I’ve got some catching up to do :-)

American Idol

So far this American Idol season: Simon Cowell seems more bored than ever, Paula Abdul seems more incoherent than ever (sometimes to the point of seeming downright inebriated on some shows…I’m not saying that she is but she does seem awfully heavy-lidded and slurry sometimes), Randy Jackson’s hipster routine seems more tired and rote than ever, and Ryan Seacrest’s attempts at wit (especially when trying to slam Cowell) are more lame and annoying than ever.

On the upside, the contestants are as strong a group of singers as American Idol has ever had. As of this writing, Chris Daughtry seems to be the one to beat…he has a great voice, an appealing back story, and a strong sense of who he is and what he does; he’s also not afraid to take chances and, more often than not, he pulls them off. As the judges have said several times I can easily imagine buying CDs by Chris right now.

The rest of the field is filled with some potential stars…Taylor Hicks, Mandisa, Ace Young, and Katherine McPhee among them…and none of the contestants are without some measure of real talent (I could do with less of the “Chicken Little” kid’s smugness but I guess we can attribute that to his youth…and I think that Miss Pickler is overplaying the “ditzy country gal” routine.)

The American Idol juggernaut doesn’t seem to be losing steam yet (as the gold and platinum selling records by Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken, Fantasia, Carrie Underwood, Ruben Studdard, and Bo Bice prove so surely) and it will interesting to see who comes out on top during this very competitive season.

* * * * *

3/23 addendum: Kevin "Chicken Little" Covais' fanbase failed him as he got the boot last night. It was a mild surprise since his performance this week was, in my opinion, one of his better ones...but that's the way it goes sometimes on Idol.

You Don't Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker

Cindy Walker, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, has written or co-written dozens of classic country, cowboy, and western swing songs in her long lifetime. One of her most famous tunes, the title track to this affectionate tribute disc, was most famously a big hit for the late, great Ray Charles.

You Don’t Know Me: The Songs of Cindy Walker finds Willie, backed by a crack band, putting his distinctive spin on 14 of Walker’s great songs. From the sprightly swing of venerable chestnuts like “Don’t Be Ashamed of Your Age” and “It’s All Your Fault”…from bittersweet saloon songs like “Warm Red Wine” and “Bubbles in my Beer”…from sly cowboy songs like “Dusty Skies” and “Cherokee Maiden”…from wistful lost-love songs like “Just Walking Out the Door” and the title song…Willie is relaxed and playful and completely engaged (I love Willie…I’ve been down with him for decades…but even I can’t deny when he’s off his records can have a maddening indifference to them…as if he went into the studio, dashed off the first take and then got the hell out of the studio again.)

And if Willie’s voice is a bit ragged around the edges from time to time (he can’t sustain notes the way he might have in younger days), that’s okay because it just adds a beguilingly authentic touch of raggedness to the proceedings. It’s a sweet little record indeed.

Pop Culture News and Notes

The Donald has another Apprentice. Third wife Melania Trump (see above) gave birth to a boy, Donald Trump’s fifth child, this morning. The child, unnamed as of this writing, is reportedly well. Trump had three children with his first wife Ivana (Donald, Jr., Eric, and Apprentice sidekick, Ivanka, whom he rather creepily said was the kind of woman he might date were she not his daughter) and one daughter, Tiffani, with his second wife Marla.

* * * * *

A judge has banned the continued sale of The Notorious B.I.G.’s album Ready to Die after a jury found that it contained an illegally used sample from a 1992 song (“Singing in the Morning”) by The Ohio Players. The jury also awarded the two companies which won the rights to the Players’ songs more than four million dollars in damages. Sean “Diddy” Combs, the sample-happy producer of the CD, and his Bad Boy Entertainment will doubtlessly appeal.

* * * * *

A company (World Wide Red Light District) which obtained a sex tape featuring Kid Rock, former Creed frontman Scott Stapp, and four women has reached an agreement with Rock which will keep the temporary injunction against releasing the tape in effect until the matter is fully adjudicated. I don’t care if celebrities feel the need to document their sexual adventures for posterity (or for whatever reason they do so), I just wish they would learn to keep the recordings under better lock and key if they’re so concerned about keeping them out of the public view.

Top Chef

I watched and enjoyed both editions of Bravo’s Project Runway even though I haven’t the slightest interest in “high fashion” and so far I’m digging their new show, Top Chef, even though I have little patience for the kind of fussy gourmet cuisine the folks on the show aspire to master.

Top Chef is less manic and stagy than the similar Hell’s Kitchen (the Fox show from last year which starred the always-apoplectic Chef Ramsey) and more interesting than the sedate Next Big Food Network Star (a second edition of which debuts soon on the Food Network.)

As always these kinds of “reality” shows rise or fall on the quality of their casting process…put together an interest bunch of folks and put them in odd situations and it can be escapist TV magic (take a bow, current edition of The Amazing Race.) On the other hand, if your cast is dull and irritating (that’s right, Survivor: Panama- Exile Island, we’re looking at you), it can make getting through episodes slow, mind-numbing slogs.

Top Chef seems to have brought in enough interesting people to make it work. We already have people to root against (the smug, pretentious Stephen and the whiny, crabby Tiffani) and underdogs to root for (the ditzy, profane Cynthia, who is competing even while her father is dying of cancer and the fun-loving Miguel) and competitive infighting already brewing. (Kenneth, the cocky, acerbic Irish guy, got the boot in the first episode when his food failed to live up to what his ego had promised it would be.)

Katie Lee Joel, the host, is no Heidi Klum (Joel’s kiss-off phrase…”pack your knives and leave the kitchen”…doesn’t hold a candle to Klum’s gloriously abrupt “You’re out”) but she doesn’t get in the way too much. Neither do the judges (whose names escape me and I’m really don’t care enough about them to go look them up.)

Top Chef is not great TV…but it’s fun and engaging and that’s cool by me.

(As an aside: I do wish though that Bravo didn’t run so many promos during Top Chef for Blow Out 3…featuring the self-absorbed wonder that is Jonathan, the gayest self-proclaimed [over and over and over again…we get it, “bro”, you “dig the chicks.” Right. Whatever works for you, dude] “straight” guy in TV history. I like a lot of “reality” TV but nothing on heaven or Earth could get me to watch the show and endure yet another one of Jonathan’s endless prissy/pissy tantrums.)

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

It’s the voice that captures your attention first…it’s the voice that captures your attention and holds it fast. Neko Case…indie darling, remarkable singer-songwriter, New Pornographer…has a voice filled with passion and power, confidence and heartbreak, the soaring and beguiling mixture of “absolute torch and twang” that K.D. Lang once championed before she gave up the twang.

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (no, I’m not sure what that means even after hearing the song of the same name but that doesn’t matter even a little bit) is a shimmering, utterly gorgeous collection of 12 melodic, poetic songs that are neither country nor pop but rather an intoxicating blend of the two (with the stellar musicianship defying any facile pop sheen to take hold.

From the opening acoustic lilt of “Margaret vs. Pauline” to the gospel swagger of “John Saw That Number”…from the wondrous harmonies of “That Teenage Feeling” (an updated version of one of those plaintive girl-group ballads from the 60’s) and the bittersweet “A Widow’s Toast”…from the ominous, yet strangely beautiful, murder ballad “Dirty Knife” to the gently-propulsive pop lilt of the closing “The Needle Has Landed”, this record never takes a wrong turn. And Case’s voice…which, oddly and engagingly enough, often seems to be booming and soothing in the same instant…shines brightly and wonderfully from beginning to end.

Fox Confessor is a grand record indeed.