Thanks for the first-hand
account of unfolding tragedy, Jason. It's good to have you back.
I've spent the weekend in
Nashville for the 2010 Stellar Awards, as gospel celebrated their big night.
Lots of inspirational,
empathetic speeches and prayers as the show began and throughout the evening
for the victims of the tragedy unfolding in Haiti. Underpinning the
words, one of the evening's presenters, Kirk Franklin put the call out
earlier last week to singers assembling for the awards, to join him in
recording a relief record.
Past midnight on Friday, the
night before the Stellars, I packed into an overflowing, nondescript studio off
Music Row, while Kirk directed a classic, wailing Mary Mary overlay. I
didn't hear the whole song, but did get a preview of some of the chorus /
backup work, which was really uplifting. I bailed just before CeCe Winans
came to contribute, but they went well past 2:00 that morning.
I don't have many details,
but I know the working title is "Song for Pain," it's in
post-production and Kirk and others are working all hours to get their contribution out soon. I will post more about the project and how they plan to funnel
contributions, when I get firm details. – Hugo Munday
Peep the cover of the most recent issue of Rolling Stone. It's nothing if not an object lesson in the powerful simplicity of graphic design done right. No surprise, I suppose, since the cover was conceptualized by Chip Kidd.
For those who don't know of Kidd, he's most highly renowned for his book-jacket designs, in which medium he reigns (among the living) absolutely unchallenged. His Work: 1986-2006 is a superlative greatest-hits collection culled from two decades' eye-popping book jackets and worth every penny.
As for what's between the sheets, well, RS's look back at the '00s is predictably loaded with slavish applause for Radiohead's Kid A ($7.99 today!) and nearly everything U2 and Bruce Springsteen did, touched, or thought since the turn of the millennium. Ho humbug...
This album was released in February, so we had almost a full year containing some excellent recordings in which to check our judgment and yes, this is the best disc in the classical canon for 2009.
Bernarda Fink as contralto soloist with Petra Müllejans directing her and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, offer three Bach cantatas "Geist und Seele wird verwirret," BWV 35, "Gott soll allein mein Herze haben," BWV 169, and "Vernugte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust" BWV 170. All are from a minor fault-line in Bach's output, coming after three years of composing, rehearsing and performing a cantata a week, they focus less on the chorale as a musical and textual pivot and more on the solo voice. Bach also elevates the organ from the traditional meat and potatoes continuo role, to full concertante instrument.
The Freiburg ensemble kept up an impressive recording schedule in 2009, what with the recent release of an exceptional "Die Schöpfung," (Haydn) under Rene Jacobs, and there is ample evidence on this record, to show why they have become the 'go to' band for authentic instruments. Freiburg's ensemble work is the best of all worlds, giving us the hearty soul of a classical orchestra, but from the authentic texture of original instruments, with breath-taking individual contributions (I'm thinking of the woodwinds, especially.) Unlike the Haydn box set, Petra Müllejans serves a unique role within the orchestra as both a Musical Director and principle violinist, so the result is light years away from a "what the conductor wants" mindset.
Seminal works, like these cantatas, don't fare well if they're loaded up with superstar brilliance. Quite often the path to the center of the work is subtractive in that the interpreter removes any and all obstacles between the author and the lucky audience. On this recording, Bernarda Fink personifies this stripping away of the unnecessary. Soaring above fine tone and consummate musicianship, she renders some of the most introspective, uncomfortable texts with utter humility and simplicity. No raised pinky, no chewed scenery, just you, Bach and words that leave you nowhere to hide. -- Hugo Munday.
Adam Lambert has broken free of his Idol chains, and last night at the American Music Awards he unleashed his new, sexed-up image during a performance of the title track from For Your Entertainment (which is out today, incidentally). Dancers on leashes, dancers getting their heads pushed into Mr Lambert's apparently not-so-private parts, Adam snogging a band member... The video is certainly turning some heads.
It's not quite Christina Aguilera debuting the "Dirrty" video, since we knew all along that Adam wasn't of the safe and sweet school of pop thought, but I'd say he did manage to pull out a bit of a shocker - particularly when he grabbed the keyboard player and somewhat forcibly made out with him (talk about band members going above and beyond the call of duty).
Unfortunately the video has already been yanked from YouTube, but The Huffington Post has close-ups of all the highlights (or worst offenses, depending on your perspective). Here's one:
What do you think -- next Madonna or next has-been?
Another year of CMA Awards has come and gone and Chordstrike is here to vilify and praise the worst and the best of "Country Music's Biggest Night." Without further ado...
Top 10 Worst Moments:
1. Taylor Swift's "mature" opening show performance replete with a stripper pole and black spandex (or was it leather?), not to mention, her voice was flat and off key. 2. Carrie Underwood does "Cowboy Casanova" looking strangely like Christina Aguilera circa 2003. The presence of synchronized dance steps and costumes proves yet again that the contemporary country genre is anything but Country. 3. Sugarland wins Duo of the Year and asks Brooks & Dunn if they want to come on stage to say anything. The awkward and uncomfortable look on B & D's faces was oh so palpable. 4. Sugarland performs another wannabe tear jerker song which leads this viewer to ask, "whaddu I gotta dooooo to keep from listening to youuuu?" 5. Kenny Chesney - another CMA Awards Show, another blue shirt and pair of gray pants. And he went way off key, saved only by Dave Matthews appearing on stage to rescue him from his own warbling. 6. Video screens flashing lyrics word for word during a few of the performances. Did I forget to turn off my close captioning? 7. Lady Antebellum win the Vocal Group of the Year award followed immediately by a TIAA CREF commercial that features a Lady Antebellum song. This makes for the quickest sellout story in Country Music history. 8. Brad & Carrie are interrupted by an Little Jimmy Dickens rambling about a Taylor Swift video. I know it was supposed to be a play on the Kanye thing, but it didn't come off quite right. 9. ABC's lame attempt to promote their new show "The Middle" by using the show's stars as award presenters, along with their painful attempt to link their show to the "common family" epitomized by Country Music. Yea, nice try. 10. Brooks & Dunn perform with ex-ZZ Top member making it the one and only geriatric retiree performance of the night.
Top 10 Best Moments: 1. Darius Rucker wins the New Artist of the Year award and is the first African American artist to do so, as well as his acceptance speech. 2. Carrie Underwood dissing Kanye West to the tune of "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Kanye." 3. Zac Brown Band's cover of "Devil Goes Down To Georgia." 4. Jamey Johnson's subtle and understated acceptance speech for Song of the Year, including the link between our grandparents and Veterans Day to "In Color." 5. On stage banter between Brad and Carrie, including the comment about "George Straight plus eight." 6. Kid Rock and Jamey Johnson perform "Somewhere Between Jennings and Jones" to thankfully feature some traditional country for the night! 7. Miranda Lambert's bass player with the white suit and mohawk. So Country Punk! 8. Lady Antebellum on-stage performance reminiscent of an old duo between Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. 9. Darius Rucker does his version of crowd surfing during his performance. We loved those lip syncing fans that couldn't quite get the lyrics right. 10. The huge psychedelic flat screen ceiling lights hung above Keith Urban during his performance.
As an incidental result of listening to a lot of Brother Ali's Us, R.E.M.'s Accelerate, and the Beatles' Revolver this week, my coffee table happened to be strewn with these three great black-and-white albums covers.
There must thousands more out there, but what are the best?
I've already got a graphic artist interested in putting together a collage of these, which is where you come in. Leave comments with your suggestions for great black-and-white album covers. I'll collect them and--eventually--post the artist's finished collage.
KRS-One weighed in on Def Jam Records' legacy (which he believes "sucks, straight up") at last week's filming of the 2009 Vh1 Hip-Hop Honors--an event honoring the legacy of Def Jam Records. Watch the video (via xxl):
While Kris somewhat confusingly flips back and forth between harsh words and claims of love and respect for Def Jam, his criticism rings much more sincere than the praise he uses to pad it. It seems everybody likes to point the finger at someone else for killing hip hip--even the man who released an album entitled "Hip-Hop Lives" in 2007 as a sort of retort to Nas' 2006 "Hip-Hop is Dead."
Jeru the Damaja handled the subject with a bit more elegance on 1996's Wrath of the Math, blaming Sean "Diddy" Combs and his Bad Boy Records imprint for the decline and commercialization of hip-hop in the 90s. In the storytelling lyrics of "One Day," hip-hop is kidnapped by the Bad Boy crew, dressed up in a Versace suit and fake alligator boots, and forced to quaff Cristal with the likes of Foxy Brown... who was actually a Def Jam artist at the time. So maybe The Teacher has a point.
Is hip-hop dead? Alive? Did Def Jam kill it? See what other hip-hop recording artists think of the label when Vh1's celebration airs on Tuesday, October 13th, at 9 pm ET/PT.
London rapper Speech Debelle is the surprise winner of the 2009 Mercury Music Prize. Her debut album Speech Therapy
won the award, which is given to the best album of the last 12 months
by a British or Irish artist according to a panel of judges. The prize
comes with a check for £20,000 ($33,000), and it will give a huge
boost to her profile. Reportedly, prior to its nomination Speech Therapy had sold only 3,000 copies. After nomination she was quoted as a 15/1 long-shot, though odds had shortened nearer the ceremony. She told the BBC after winning: "It feels so much better than I
imagined. I don't really get emotional but I'm emotional now. This
proves that if you believe in something, you can achieve it." Speech
Debelle's victory was a big surprise, with several better-known names
also in the running. Florence and the Machine were favorites, thanks to debut album Lungs, while Glasvegas, Kasabian, Bat For Lashes and Friendly Fires were also all widely tipped. Last year's award was won by Elbow's fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid.
So what do you think - do you agree with the judges' choice? Here's a few videos of the budding star to help you decide:
"The Key" is available as a free download from Amazon here, and British fans can download the entire album for £3 from here.
SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and
quirky stories which catch the eye. We'll be posting a selection of
these news stories on Chordstrike every week; for much, much more,
visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.
Today the country music duo known as Brooks & Dunn announced that they will be splitting up as a band. Among several distinctions,
the duo has had 40 different Billboard hits, 20 of which reached number
one. They also won the Country Music Awards Vocal Duo of the Year award
every year since 1992 with one exception in 2000. A brief message on their website offered the following note:
"To Our Fans:
After 20 years of making music and riding this trail together, we have
agreed as a duo that it's time call it a day. This ride has been
everything and more than we could ever have dreamed.... We owe it all
to you, the fans. If you hear rumors, don't believe them, it's just
time.
We will release our #1's and then some" on September 8th and bid
you farewell one last time in 2010, with The Last Rodeo Tour...(dates to be
announced)."
Twelve nominations have been announced for probably Britain's most prestigious annual music prize, the Mercury Music Award. The award is given along with £20,000 ($33,000) to the maker of the most impressive British or Irish album of the last 12 months, according to a panel of industry experts. Among the nominees are Bat for Lashes' Two Suns, Florence and the Machine's Lungs, Kasabian's West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, and self-titled releases by Glasvegas, La Roux and Friendly Fires. But only retro electro-pop duo La Roux have the honor of also appearing on a rival award shortlist simultaneously announced by cheeky pop blog Popjustice. Their singles-based Twenty Quid Music Prize nominees include La Roux's "In For The Kill", plus eleven more including Lily Allen and Little Boots. Both prizes will announce their winners on September 8: the Mercury after a star-studded televised ceremony, the Popjustice after a "London judging debacle." What are the chances of La Roux being £20,020 richer seven weeks from now?
Here's the full Mercury shortlist, with odds provided by bookmaker William Hill:
So what's your favorite record from that list? Or who do you think will win the prize, regardless of your personal preference? I'd love Bat for Lashes to win the prize, because not only is Two Suns one of my favorite albums of the year, but her beautiful first album Fur and Gold was nominated two years ago but lost out to Klaxons' Myths of the Near Future. So I'm cheering for Natasha Khan! Here she is on Letterman, performing recent single "Daniel":
SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and
quirky stories which catch the eye. We'll be posting a selection of
these news stories on Chordstrike every week; for much, much more,
visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
While recovering from surgery to correct gastrointestinal bleeding, Koko Taylor, the Queen of the Blues has passed away at the age of 80. I've taken this from the press-release put out by Alligator Records today.
•
Grammy Award-winning blues legend Koko Taylor, 80, died on June 3, 2009 in her hometown of Chicago, IL, as a result of complications following her May 19 surgery to correct a gastrointestinal bleed. On May 7, 2009, the critically acclaimed Taylor, known worldwide as the “Queen of the Blues,” won her 29th Blues Music Award (for Traditional Female Blues Artist Of The Year), making her the recipient of more Blues Music Awards than any other artist. In 2004 she received the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award, which is among the highest honors given to an American artist. Her most recent CD, 2007’s Old School, was nominated for a Grammy.
Born Cora Walton on a sharecropper’s farm just outside Memphis, TN, on September 28, 1928, Koko, nicknamed for her love of chocolate, fell in love with music at an early age. Inspired by gospel music and WDIA blues disc jockeys B.B. King and Rufus Thomas, Taylor began belting the blues with her five brothers and sisters, accompanying themselves on their homemade instruments. In 1952, Taylor and her soon-to-be-husband, the late Robert “Pops” Taylor, traveled to Chicago with nothing but, in Koko’s words, “thirty-five cents and a box of Ritz Crackers.”
In Chicago, “Pops” worked for a packing company, and Koko cleaned houses. Together they frequented the city’s blues clubs nightly. Encouraged by her husband, Koko began to sit in with the city’s top blues bands, and soon she was in demand as a guest artist. One evening in 1962 Koko was approached by arranger/composer Willie Dixon. Overwhelmed by Koko’s performance, Dixon landed Koko a Chess Records recording contract, where he produced her several singles, two albums and penned her million-selling 1965 hit “Wang Dang Doodle,” which would become Taylor’s signature song.
Koko Taylor was one of very few women who found success in the male-dominated blues world. She took her music from the tiny clubs of Chicago’s South Side to concert halls and major festivals all over the world. She shared stages with every major blues star, including Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, B.B. King, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy as well as rock icons Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.
Taylor’s final performance was on May 7, 2009 in Memphis at the Blues Music Awards, where she sang “Wang Dang Doodle” after receiving her award for Traditional Blues Female Artist Of The Year.
Survivors include Taylor’s husband Hays Harris, daughter Joyce Threatt, son-in-law Lee Threatt, grandchildren Lee, Jr. and Wendy, and three great-grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements will be announced.
•
The release then finishes with quotes from the press.
It's hard, even unfair to chose her best single recording. Certainly Live From Chicago: An Audience With The Queen ranks up there with the likes of B.B. King's Live at the Regal, as one of the greatest live blues albums of all time. She'll pull your emotions all over the map on this recording, with able assistance from lead guitarist Michael “Mr. Dynamite” Robinson. I'm also really partial to the 2007 "let-me-show-you-how-its-done" tour-de-force Old School cited in the release above.
Here's your chance to win a trip to see West Side Story on Broadway. One lucky winner will receive two tickets to attend a performance of West Side Story in New York City, scheduled to take place on July 18, 2009. Enter to win by June 21.
Seems Colonel Timothy L. Korpa, longtime fan and current astronaut, e-mailed the band asking if they wouldn't mind if he took their album to space, and they obliged.
Where ya gonna get a gig like that?
Said Ian McCulloch: "What an honour. Now it's official. We are the coolest band in the universe. I cannot wait to hear from Tim what it is like to listen to 'The Killing Moon' in the actual glow of the moon."
I bet it will be pretty amazing. But, I wonder: Since space itself sounds pretty strange, does music sound different in space? And, suppose you were heading to space for months. What music would bring?
The Hollywood Foreign Press dubbed Slumdog Millionaire the Best Original Score of the year at last night's Golden Globes. (The video clip below is the cast's tongue-in-cheek Bollywoood dance tribute than runs during the closing credits). The soundtrack also nabbed the same honor at the 2008 Critics' Choice Awards held just a few days ago. Here's hoping Slumdog nabs an Oscar for Best Original Score, and everything else it's nominated for. Apart from being great music in its own right, it's well integrated into the film, and provides the perfect backdrop for the rollercoaster of a story.
Bruce Springsteen took Best Original Song for "The Wrestler," which apparently he wrote at his friends Mickey Rourke's request. Springsteen also received the same honor at the Critics' Choice Award last week. I can't find an official soundtrack for The Wrestler (anyone know if one's coming out?). I am guessing that this might be due to the movie's small budget and licensing fees. I heard Mickey Rourke mention last night that Axl Rose gave permission for them to use "Sweet Child O' Mine," for free (or cheap...my short term memory is useless). "The Wrestler" single will be available on Springteen's new release, Working on a Dream, out January 27.
It's been a busy week in music. On December 18, classical music fans across the globe celebrated the would 150th birthday of Giacomo Puccini, a church organist before he embarked on a stunning stretch of composition that yielded his many operas. Puccini's sesquicentennial might best be celebrated with good headphones and the superlative Tosca. [Tosca quiz included here, at no extra charge]. If it's your first foray into this peak experience, the time-tested favorite is the remastered 1953 recording with Maria Callas. Please drop word if you can find it vinyl.
I recently had a chance to talk to Lost Highway recording artist Johnny Flynn when he came through Seattle on his tour (which also featured ingenue Laura Marling). Listen to what this Shakespearian scholar, poet, and songwriter had to say about his 2008 release, A Larum, Superman outfits, and Levon Helm.
--Renata Sadunas
P.S. Our music team granted A Larum a spot on their list of top 10 folk albums of 2008. Click here to see our complete array Best of the Year lists.
Reuters reported this morning that rock guitarist Joe Satriani is suing Coldplay for incorporating "substantial original portions" of his 2004 instrumental song "If I Could Fly" in their 2008 single "Viva La Vida." Satriani is seeking a trial, damages and "any and all profits" that might be attributable to the copyright infringement. This could all serve the 52-year-old guitar virtuoso quite well considering Coldplay were just nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals at the 2009 Grammys.
A very crafty YouTube user spent a little time weaving the two songs together so that listeners can be the judge.
What do you think? Did Coldplay rip off Joe Satriani?
Kinky is one of my favorite bands to see live for a few of reasons:
1) I love their music, which is a genre-defying meld of Mexican rock, electronica, and latin percussions. 2) Their energy is completely insane and infectious. The dance floor is usually vibrating and the crowd airborne when they're on stage doing their thing. 3) What can I say? I am a sucker for charming Latin boys.
Above is the video for their new single, "Hasta Quemarnos," from their new album Barracuda. To get a better idea of what you can expect at a live show, click here. The digital version of Barracuda is out now, in case, like me, you can't wait for the physical CD, which drops February 24.
Tour Dates as follows. And *gasp*! No Seattle show. I just might have to head to LA on the 24th. If you like music of any kind, I encourage you to catch them live:
Sat, Feb 21 San Francisco, CA @ Grand Ballroom Sun, Feb 22 Ventura, CA @ Club Soho Tue, Feb 24 Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Wed, Feb 25 Anaheim, CA @ House Of Blues Thur, Feb 26 San Diego, CA @ House Of Blues Fri, Feb 27 Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress Sat, Feb 28 El Paso, TX @ Bandoleros Wed, Mar 4 San Antonio, TX @ Club Rio Thur, Mar 5 McAllen, TX @ Las Palmas Fri, Mar 6 Laredo, TX @ Cananas Sat, Mar 7 Houston, TX @ Club 59 Sun, Mar 8 Dallas, TX @ OK Sports Bar Thur, Mar 12 New York, NY @ Irving Plaza Fri, Mar 13 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club Sat, Mar 14 Chicago, IL @ Congress
Finally, to piggyback on 
