Beloved virtual-band Gorillaz return this week with their first album since 2005’s Demon Days. Having previously relegated production duties to top-shelf talents like Dan the Automater and Danger Mouse, Gorillaz boldly do it for themselves this go-round. Frightened? Fear not. With Plastic Beach, the band demonstrate they are fully capable of producing the kinds of diverse, eclectic and infectious soundscapes they are known for.
Gorillaz are also known for their collaborations with guest musicians. In this respect, Plastic Beach does not come up short. There’s a little something for everybody here; from high-profile MC’s like Snoop Dogg and Mos Def to icons like Bobby Womack and Lou Reed. By and large, everyone’s bringing their A-game. On “Some Kind of Nature,” it’s thrilling to hear Reed sing with a bit of youthful energy for the first time in decades. Grime MC’s Kano and Bashy are delightful on “White Flag.” “Superfast Jellyfish” offers the head-scratching pairing of De La Soul with The Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys in an album highpoint. A handful of so-so performances aside (Mark E. Smith, I’m looking at you), Plastic Beach’s guests deliver on the promise of their pedigree.
Damon Albarn, the band’s mastermind, is in fine form as well. One need only listen to the sublime “Rhinestone Eyes” for evidence that Albarn is up to the task of carrying a song without assistance. It’s difficult to offer praise for the rest of the band because I’m not entirely clear on who’s doing what for Gorillaz these days. Whoever these unsung heroes may be, they do nice work.
Plastic Beach has a few faltering tracks, and the band’s sound is a little less striking than it was ten years ago when their genre-hopping style was less commonplace. Nonetheless, Plastic Beach is a worthy successor to Demon Days and one of 2010’s best releases so far. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the video for the album’s first single, “Stylo.” It’s fantastic. (Unfortunately we can’t embed it.)
This month sees the reissuing of the Buzzcocks’ first three albums in comprehensive two-disc sets from Mute Records. Even though I’ve yet to hear the quality of their mastering, I’m going to call this good news on faith. All three albums are wonderful. The Buzzcocks legacy may be dwarfed by some of their peers like The Clash or The Sex Pistols, but their output is as good as anything in the 70’s British Punk canon.
Another Music in a Different Kitchen, their debut, is also their third best. This is only in light of the excellence of the subsequent albums and is not to say Another Music isn’t worthy of your time. Tracks like “Fast Cars” and “Autonomy” are among the band’s greatest. This is a brisk and consistent collection of quality punk songs.
Love Bites, my favorite Buzzcocks record, came out six months later. The band didn’t revolutionize their approach with this album, but they sure refined it. The music on Love Bites is fantastic and the lyrics are inspired, anti-love tirades. One of the catalysts for the punk rock movement was the need for an antidote to the glutenous, over-wrought popular music of the time. The way Love Bites subverts the cliched sentiments of conventional pop music is delightful and just a bit devilish.
The Buzzcocks third album (which would be followed by an extended hiatus and irregular appearances of forgettable albums) was A Different Kind of Tension, released a mere year and a half after their debut. A Different Kind of Tension, though a bit uneven, finds the Buzzcocks in an ambitious and exploratory mood. Tracks like “Paradise” and “I Don’t Know What To Do With My Life” wouldn’t be out of place on either of the previous albums, but others, like the deceptively sweet “You Say You Don’t Love Me” and the sprawling, album-highlight “I Believe,” push the boundaries of the band’s sound in exciting directions.
These two-disc sets retail at $16.97, which is a heck of a price. Anyone with the slightest interest in punk owes it to his or herself to look into these seminal albums.
When two or more creative personalities dissolve a partnership, the inevitable disparity of accomplishment between the former collaborators can be anything from slight to a gaping chasm. Consider Cheech & Chong. When the comedy duo parted ways, Cheech Marin’s success eclipsed Tommy Chong’s considerably.
Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari, a Famous Chonger
In the world of music, this phenomenon is all too common. Here are some unfortunate people who “Chonged” it.
Grant Hart
Hart was a vocalist and drummer for Husker Du. Hart composed about a third of the band’s songs, including many of their best. (Just listen to “Terms of Psychic Warfare.”) When the they split, the band’s other principle songwriter, Bob Mould, went on to achieve his greatest success with a new project, Sugar. These days, Mould’s a respected solo artist who released his ninth solo album to acclaim last year. Hart, on the other hand, has not fared as well. He was misdiagnosed as HIV positive following Husker Du’s break-up. He lived under that misapprehension for six months. His solo career, while producing some memorable and worthwhile albums, hasn’t come close to Mould’s prosperity.
Pete Wylie
Undoubtedly, many of those fortunate enough to have seen The Clash in their heyday were inspired to form bands of their own. The Crucial Three was one such band. They wouldn’t last long enough to record anything, but two of their members would go on to achieve fame and glory. Ian McCulloch formed Echo & The Bunnymen. Julian Cope would find his niche with Teardrop Explodes and as a solo artist. The other guy? Well, Pete Wylie was in a number of bands and, to be fair, he enjoyed a small degree of success. On the other hand, ever hear of Wah!? No? Didn’t think so.
Einar Örn Benediktsson
The Sugar Cubes were a sort of Icelandic B-52s, and their Fred Schneider was Einar Örn Benediktsson, an eccentric and charismatic co-frontman. The other singing Sugar Cube, Bjork, would go on to achieve massive international success and icon status. Benediktsson kept a much lower profile following his band’s break-up, writing a bit here and there and releasing the occasional, obscure album.
Johnny Marr
Perhaps the most famous musician to Chong on this list, Johnny Marr was one-half of The Smiths songwriting team, a group that influenced and inspired generations. To this day they are one of the 80’s most beloved bands. Unfortunately,they fell apart after four albums. Morrissey went solo and had no trouble maintaining his legions of fans. As integral as Marr was, writing all the band’s music, he has not been able to parlay his credentials to nearly the same degree. As Morrissey continues to release high-profile albums and embark on prestigious tours, Marr’s greatest successes have been sporadic appearances on other artists albums and the occasional stint as a sideman in groups like Modest Mouse.
Andrew Ridgely
They may be nothing more than a punchline today, but Wham! were quite popular when they first hit the scene. The duo put out three multi-platinum albums in four years, no small feat. Frustrated with the teen-baiting corner they’d painted themselves into, George Michael dissolved the group and went solo, releasing one of the best-selling albums of all-time and cementing his status as pop-star-for-life. Ridgely tried his hand at racing before unsuccessfully attempting to relaunch his music career. These days, he golfs.
Rodan
KMD were no great triumph. The endearing hip-hop trio were beset by some terrible luck. For one thing, one of their members, Subroc, was killed during the production of their second album. Subsequently, their label deemed that album too offensive for release and shelved it. It would not see the light of day for another eight years, in an attempt to capitalize on the momentum of former-KMD member (and Subroc’s brother) Zev Love X’s success under his new alias, MF Doom. KMD’s other founding member, Rodan, hasn’t done anything more notable than a couple of under-the-radar releases and a handful of appearances on MF Doom albums.
You may know Eric Olsen from his various musical endeavors. He is a member of a number of beloved Burlington-based outfits, including Swale, Led Loco and James Kochalka Superstar. He’s also a web and graphic design guru, a husband and, most recently, a father.
Tanner: Hey Eric -- what are you shopping for today?
Eric: I’m looking for the Spoon album -
Tanner: Find what you’re looking for?
Herb: boxes havn’t arrived yet cause of the holiday delay…
Eric: Because of MLK day, the shipments were delayed -- activists man, they always fuck shit up.
Tanner: What have you been listening to today?
Eric: Been going through albums in alphabetical order -- I’m up to B, so I’m up to that Art Brut album -- then there was that Basement demo’s from Elliot Smiths post suicide album… something else, can’t remember…
Tanner: What are your preferred mediums -- vinyl, mp3, cd, cassette, 8-track, a-dat etc?
Eric: That would depend on the setting -
Herb: What if you were being held prisoner?
Eric: That would depend on the size of the prison…
I’ve slacked on vinyl -- i like to get my albums, and rip them to MP3 for my Ipod. I have alot of vinyl, but i wouldn’t call it a collection, i’m mainly CD though. Usually my record player is in disarray.
Tanner: Conan or Leno?
Eric: I’m with CoCo. Actually in my opinion, Leno is like a red state thing, they’re gonna win -- it’s like the decline of western civilization.
Tanner: Read anything good lately?
Eric: Murakami - What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, or is it “what i think when i talk about thinking”? … no wait. I’ve also been reading Bill Bryson’s, A Short History of Nearly Everything -- basically cliff notes of the history of science and all things. Also since I’ve been coming here last week, i’ve been constantly checking out Gawker.com pretty religiously, we’ve been having alot of laughs at the house about Conan’s list of possible porno names if he starred….
Tanner: If you could be one person in music history who would it be?
Eric: Fela (kuti) I’d have a sovereign nation. Not every musician has that.
Herb: You’d be dead.
Eric: he had alot of sex.
Herb: Not like, Warren Beatty levels of sex.
Tanner: ZZ-Top or DeeDee Ramone?
Eric: Ooooh tough one…. It’s a toss up, ZZ Top would be in the running before they remastered their drums, did not like that. Depends, every other day, I’d go back and forth -- shared custody.
Tanner: Your #1 album of 2009.
Eric: Umm… hmm… not sure.
Tanner: Your #1 album of 1989.
Eric: It was either Nation of Millions or Daydream nation…I’m dating myself now aren’t I?
Tanner: Shower singer or car singer? If so, what song?
Eric: Bath Singer -- You got another thing coming by Judas Priest.
(Because we’re a little soft on content this week, I’m going to wedge this in.) Steve Coogan is one of my favorite comedians thanks to shows like “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” “I’m Alan Partridge” and “Saxondale.” I recently invested in The Steve Coogan Collection, a thirteen-dvd (but not entirely comprehensive) box set of Coogan’s television work. About half the material was unfamiliar to me, including The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon, a highlight in the set.
The show is basically a variety show spoof featuring a one-off Coogan creation, Tony Ferrino, a former Eurovision winner from Portugal. Like all Coogan’s best work, the comedy comes from how well-realized and nuanced the character is. Ferrino is conceited and insecure. The program is a self-aggrandizing tour of the man and his music. Each song is a wonderful approximation of vacuous pop-music.
Why would this be of any interest to you, dear reader? Well, I’m not sure that it would be, but in doing a little research, I happened upon a charity performance that pairs Ferrino with Bjork. We all love Bjork, right? Check it out:
We’ve had plenty of people weigh in on the best music of the past year, reinforcing my conviction that 2009 was a superlative year for aural fetishists. However, let us not forget the dross, for there has also been a whole lot of crap. In recognizing some of the worst these past twelve months have had to offer, be grateful you have discriminating tastes. Some people eat this shit up.
Chickenfoot – Chickenfoot
The debut from this “supergroup” is the sonic equivalent of Roger Moore’s performance in View to a Kill, in which a 57-year-old Moore phones in an awkward farewell performance as James Bond, a role he should have given up fifteen years prior. Sammy Hagar (Van Halen), Marc Anthony (Van Halen), Joe Statriani and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) are clearly trying to carry the Led Zepplin mantle but simply come off as a terrible bar band. Even if you love Joe Satriani and Hagar-era Van Halen, this album has nothing to offer you but incompetent riffs and the death-rattle like rasps of a man who used to be able to carry a tune.
Asher Roth – Asleep in the Bread Aisle
With any other album on this list, if you were to say to me, “Herb. I know it’s not your thing, but I like it,” I’d let you have it. Lord knows I listen to plenty of stuff that other people despise. The exception is this musical abomination by Asher Roth, who’s break out single “I Love College” is lazy, derivative and repugnant. The kind of lifestyle Roth celebrates with his music is characterized by merry ignorance, lecherous sexuality and milquetoast wit. Roth is the embodiment of the worst qualities of mainstream music and the manufactured personalities it produces.
Owl City – Ocean Eyes
Tacky. Saccharine. Overly-sentimental. Garbage. Ocean Eyes is a Postal Service record filtered through a Family Circus cartoon. Every song is a polished-to-nothing and empty-headed epic-ballad that makes Captain & Tennille sound like Black Sabbath. I feel a little bad writing this, because I believe Adam Young, who is Owl City’s sole member, is a sincere songwriter. Unfortunately, he gives me a severe allergic reaction.
Various Artists – The Michael Jackson Remix Suite
The crass commercial exploitation that follows a celebrity’s death is as likely as the wetness that follows rain, but as often and inevitably as the macabre exercise occurs, it never loses its capacity to disgust. There were a number of releases in the wake of Michael Jackson’s death that exemplified this, but none more so than The Michael Jackson Remix Suite, a collection of profoundly boring remixes of Jackson’s hits that have sapped the originals of their vitality and charm. If the goal of this album was to reflect via Jackson’s songs what Jackson did to himself, mission accomplished. Like the former King of Pop, these songs are grotesque, unnatural caricatures that have been sedated to death.
Ten years ago I was enrolled at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. It doesn’t feel like a long time ago, but looking over my haphazardly-compiled best-of-the-decade list, I’m forced to consider the range and scope of the experiences that I will forever associate with these fantastic albums. It’s been a hell of a decade.
Apparently 2003 was a particularly great year in music for me. It occupies about half this list. Also, the second half of the decade only provided me with two albums. Is that a consequence of my growing cynicism? I’d like to think it’s simply a matter of these albums not having had a chance to resonate as deeply as something like Pig Lib, which was a daily source of comfort and inspiration during a tough time.
If I were to reconsider this tomorrow, I think about half the list would stay the same. Contrary to what some might say (Casey Rea, I’m looking at you), the aughts have been a fertile decade for music. (At least the first half. The second, I think, may belong to television, but I digress.)
My favorite album’s of the decade:
Deltron 3030 -- s/t (2000) – The best thing Dan The Automater, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien or Kid Koala have ever done is this early-millennium masterpiece. The production is staggering and Del is in fine-form. This is a genre-transcending hip-hop record.
Super Furry Animals - Mwng (2000) – I was pleased to see Casey The Contrarian include Rings Around The World on his list, but I’m going to have to side with its predecessor, Mwng. With their former label bankrupt, the band had a lot to prove. Rather than play it safe, SFA released an all-Welsh home-brewed triumph. They put it out on their own and managed to parlay its acclaim into a deal with a new label.
Daft Punk -- Discovery (2001) – Possibly my favorite album on this list, Discovery raised the bar. Infectious, upbeat, moving and witty, there’s not really anything that compares. It towers over the rest of the band’s catalog as well as the rest of the French House scene.
Steve Malkmus -- Pig Lib (2003) – With his solo debut, Malkmus demonstrated that he’d be just fine without Pavement. With Pig Lib, he almost made you forget about his former band. Everything about this record is seeped in excellence.
5. 2009 Has Been a Great Year for Music: Whatever your genre preference, there’s been a lot of wonderful stuff coming out in 2009. It’s impossible to be brief and concise conveying the scope of quality 2009 titles. Some of my personal favorites include Phoenix’s Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, The Fuck Button’s Tarot Sport, Fever Ray’s Fever Ray and Beirut’s March of the Zapotec/Holland. Of course, I’ve barely scratched the surface.
4. Vinyl’s Still Going Strong: The resurgence of vinyl’s popularity over the last few years has been an absolute blessing for audiophiles. We’re at a point now where it’s safe to assume any given album will see a vinyl issue, often coupled with a voucher for an mp3 download of your purchase. These days, it’s a no-brainer picking sides in the format war. (Incidentally the only new record I purchased on both cd and vinyl this year was Bad Lieutenant.)
3. Reissues Abound: The extent to which an old album can be cleaned-up, remixed and remastered is staggering. 2009 saw the best-sounding records of the 60’s, The Beatles catalog, reissued and sounding vastly improved. It’s nothing short of revelatory to listen to one of your favorite albums after a top-notch remastering. Currently, about half our staff are obsessively listening to and extolling the virtues of the magnificent sounding reissue of King Crimson’s Red.
2. A Good Showing From The Elder Statesmen: Question: What do Bob Dylan, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and Yoko Ono have in common? Answer: They’ve all been producing music for over twenty-five years and they all released great albums this year. 2009 has been kind to the old guard, or should I say the old guard has been kind to us in 2009? There’s been so much good stuff from established acts this year, one could ignore all the newer artists and still have plenty to listen to.
1. We Are Still Here: It’s been a tough decade for the music retail industry. CD burner’s, legal and illegal digital music distribution and the prevalence of mp3 players have all put a tight squeeze on our livelihood, and yet we’re still here. Truthfully, it’s a bit of a miracle we’ve managed to hang in, and for that, we are greatly thankful. It’s a lot of hard work, but we believe in it and are proud to continue to make tangible music product available to those who want it.
Way back in 2000, the world was introduced to Shad “Lil’ Bow Wow” Moss, a 13-year-old MC known for such songs as “Bounce With Me” and “Ghetto Girls”. I wish I could offer some insight into what the tot’s appeal was or what his success said about popular culture at the time, but to be honest, I can’t do anything but furrow my brow at the idea of a 13-year-old singing about ghetto girls. What does he have to say about them, and to what audience? To me it sort of evokes those pictures you see in National Geographic of prepubescents in war-torn countries, scowling at the camera and holding AK-47’s. Someone that age should be building forts, drinking Capri Sun and playing video games. Hip-hop mega-stardom and warfare can wait.
Apparently there was enough appeal for LBW’s career to continue. Sure, he released more albums, but you know how kids are. They get distracted, lose focus, and the next thing you know they’re making feature films too. 2002 saw the release of Like Mike, in which Lil’ Bow Wow played a basketball-loving orphan who obtains a pair of magic sneakers that give him the skills to be an NBA superstar. It was a sort of Magic Ballerina for the youth of ‘02. The film was successful enough to spawn a Lil’ Bow Wow-less sequel.
The same year culture was blessed with Like Mike, Lil’ Bow Wow grew up a little bit and dropped the “lil” from his moniker. He continued to rap and act. Bow Wow’s penultimate performance came in 2006. In The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, the third film in the lucrative car-porn franchise, Bow Wow played “Twinkie,” a lovable hustler who introduces the main character to Tokyo’s vast underground street-racing scene.
Tokyo Drift is as silly a movie as you could hope to see. In its strange reality, a glorious driving technique known as “drifting” is the beloved pass time of seemingly the majority of Japanese youth. Characters reminisce about the halcyon days of drifting as if it were as common as pee-wee baseball. They’re also all criminals. Seriously. Almost every character in the film is connected to a single criminal empire headed by Sonny “where’s my paycheck?” Chiba.
By this film’s rock-bottom low standard, it has to be said Bow Wow isn’t terrible as Twinkie. He is a by-the-numbers street-smart-wise-cracking side kick. (Conversely, Lucas Black’s lead performance as Sean Boswell is an offensive and inept attempt to ennoble impulsiveness and stupidity. ) Make no mistake, Bow Wow is never funny, charismatic or a believable human being. In the company of the rest of the cast, however, he’s Marlon Brando.
The characters of Tokyo Drift live by a code of ethics that allows them to jeopardize the live of strangers, racketeer and cause millions of dollars worth of property damage. At the same time, they take their loyalty to each other very seriously. This is what shapes the series of events resembling a plot that constitutes the film. Twinkie is loyal to Sean, who is loyal to Sung Kang who’s disloyal to DK. Riveting stuff. Disputes are settled by races, car chases and the occasional shoot-out. Twinkie isn’t proficient in any of these and reverts to a Lois Lane-style damsel in distress during such scenes.
Bow Wow in the Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift doesn’t add or detract to the film overall. It’s a serviceable performance in a serviceable film. I’d say it’s worth watching in an airplane, lying in a hospital bed or in the company of anti-intellectual relatives.
One can’t help but wonder what the late Ian Curtis would have thought of the music the other members of Joy Division would go on to make after his death. With each passing decade, the musical sensibilities of his former band mates seem to drift further away from Joy Division’s.
Take Bad Lieutenant. With New Order officially broken up, Bernard Sumner has moved on to this project, an unremarkable but pleasant enough New Order-esque outfit. Also featuring Phil Cunningham, who briefly replaced Gillian Gilbert as NO’s keyboardist, and Jake Evans, their debut includes contributions from such notable musicians as fellow New Order ex-pat Stephen Morris and Blur’s Alex James.
My fellow Pure Popper Tanner recently summed up Sumner’s song-writing motus operandi as succinctly as I’ve ever heard, suggesting the majority of his songs are “populist love songs.” I couldn’t put it better myself. Whereas the Joy Divisions of this world deal in the morbid and bleak, Sumner’s more inclined to fill an album with a dozen or so declarations of affection.
Should you bother with this album? Well, if you liked Get Ready and Waiting for the Siren’s call, absolutely. If you didn’t, or you never bothered to check them out, steer clear. It’s only the absence of Peter Hook’s bass sound that makes this record distinguishable from latter-day New Order.
Would Ian Curtis have liked it? One shudders to think what an Ian Curtis pushing 60 would have thought about anything. I, for one, adore it.
