ChordStrike

Nude Erykah Invites Character Assassination

What is the purpose of a music video? Is it just a vehicle for a song, is it to gain the artist attention, or should it be an artistic statement of its own? Erykah Badu achieved all three with her video for new single "Window Seat," which shows the soul star strolling through Dealey Plaza, Dallas, shedding her clothes, and then falling as if shot on the same spot where President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.

Some commentators have criticized the clip as distasteful, and Badu could have faced up to a year in jail if she'd been caught and arrested for public nudity. But most fans and bloggers seem to like the video, which was shot in one take a few weeks ago. "I tied it in a way that compared the assassination to the character assassination one would go through after showing his or her self completely," Badu explained to Dallas Morning News.

"She was already prepared to deal with whatever consequences because she knew she believed in what she was doing," director Chike told MTV, adding that bail money had already been collected in case the police had arrived. And amid all the talk about the rights and wrongs of the video is the news that Badu's fifth studio album, New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh), is out this week. She's a shrewd lady.

The video can also be viewed at Erykah Badu's official website here, it is censored but don't watch it if your boss is looking over your shoulder!

What do you think of the video, and of Erykah's new album?

--Ally @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

Mariah Carey: The Accidental Comedienne

 Mariah Carey is the Rainman of pop music. Focused, blank faced and sometimes capable of genius. Each toothpick lying on the diner floor is a hit song; each cheese puff is a music video featuring a greased-up, jiggling Mariah bearing an expression that translates to either a)Tabula Rasa; or b) “I’ve had too much turkey dinner.” I can’t tell. My Latin ain’t so good.
It goes without saying that Mariah Carey is an undisputed talent who has achieved greatness. She has a reported 5-octave voice and has sold something in the neighborhood of, what – like 200 million records?  Amazing! I used to get chills listening to she and Whitney Houston dominate radio in the early 90s with pop songs that showcased considerable soul and range. Like major powerhouse vocal business. It just knocked me to hear voices like that. Whitney disappeared from the scene and Mariah stole it, supplementing her vocal range with some kind of fantastical Hip Hop genie oil that, when applied directly to skin, creates MTV and radio perfection. A quick scan through music video history finds Mariah in all manner of locale (a school, a countryside hoedown, in water, in posh cars, on various silk beds, in her knickers, in bikini in front of Vuitton luggage, in mansions, etc.), jiggling awkwardly and touching herself prettily while wearing a bloated, vacant smile that reminds me a bit of Patrick Swayze’s smile in Ghost when his spirit left Oda Mae for the last time. Perhaps the smile is just a way of coping with the interminable breeze that seems to follow the poor woman around onscreen (it’s always windy in her videos, which is perplexing considering many of them take place indoors.).  A couple vids from the early years are below, but the new ones, the really gross/awesome ones ("Don't Forget About Us," "We Belong Together," "Say Somethin'," "Touch My Body"), cannot be shown here, sadly. "Embedding disabled by request." (Sigh*).

"Someday": (School):

"Dreamlover" (Countryside): 


The lips parted, peekaboo glances and self love that mark her music video performances could be almost lovable if there were something substantial -- like her shining TALENT, for example -- to anchor it. There's not. The last few albums have been produced within an inch of their digital lives, her vocals seemingly quadruple tracked and Pro-Tooled to bits, only to be ultimately sidelined by Hip Hop glitterati guest appearances. I’m all for double-tracking vocals (Dave Gilmour in Dark Side of the Moon, anyone?) and collaborating with your buddies but at some point it becomes a major bummer. 
The vocal legend’s latest (with its straight-faced title), Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, provides no reprieve on the bummer front. More breathy vocal business. More songs with barely any sung words. More tiny dresses fit to burst. More indoor breezes. More self-conscious touching of the face and hair. More lazy grins. More killer song titles like “Angels Cry” and “H.A.T.E.U.” (although to be fair, "H.A.T.E.U." is  one of the finest songs on the album). A quick aside: while Memoirs… came close to winning the award for Best Accidentally-Comedic Album Title, the trophy still stays safe in the harbors of Mariah’s 2008 release, E=MC2.
I know the new album has sold a quarter of a million and that my opinion may elicit derision from some, but folks - please be gentle. I am an imperfect angel; Don’t H.A.T.E.ME. Love me, love me…

--Leslie Beattie

The 100 Greatest Live Albums of All Time

There are plenty of live albums issued solely as afterthoughts or contract fulfillments, but there are plenty that are as transcendent as the best in-person concert experiences, only with zero lines at the bathroom. For this particular list we came up with the following criteria:

• Only one album per artist.
• Albums were been performed live in front of an audience, but don't necessarily have to be culled from a single performance.
• No EPs or singles—this list is about albums
• We decided to limit this list to music, which means no comedy. We wanted to save those records for a separate list for laffers.

Of course, we exercise their judgment regarding quality and/or historical significance. If you disagree with our choices (and there's a good chance you will), let us know in the comments.

Here goes:

1. James Brown - Live At The Apollo, 1962
2. Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
3. Frank Sinatra - Sinatra at the Sands
4. Bill Withers - Live at Carnegie Hall
5. Judy Garland - Judy At Carnegie Hall
6. Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Live, 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert
7. Ella Fitzgerald - Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert
8. Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won
9. MC5 - Kick Out the Jams
10. Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert
11. Neil Young - Live Rust
12. Otis Redding - Live in Europe
13. Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
14. Nirvana - MTV Unplugged In New York
15. Bob Marley - Live
16. The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out
17. Roy Orbison - Black and White Night
18. The Who - Live at Leeds
19. Simon and Garfunkel - The Concert in Central Park
20. Jimi Hendrix - Live at Monterey
21. Cheap Trick - At Budokan
22. John Coltrane & Thelonious Monk - At Carnegie Hall
23. Paco de Lucia, Rodrigo, and Orchestra De Cadaques - Concierto de Aranjuez
24. Maceo Parker - Life On Planet Groove
25. Portishead - Live: Roseland NYC
26. Elvis Presley - From Elvis in Memphis
27. Leonard Cohen - Live in London
28. Kiss - Alive!
29. Eric Clapton - Unplugged
30. Queen - Live Killers
31. Nina Simone - Nina Simone at Town Hall
32. Gram Parsons - Live 1973
33. Jeff Buckley - Live at Sin-é
34. U2 - Under a Blood Red Sky
35. Lucinda Williams - Live at the Fillmore
36. Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
37. Dead Can Dance - Toward the Within
38. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Live in New York City
39. BB King - Live at the Regal
40. Aretha Franklin - Live at Fillmore West
41. David Bowie - Stage
42. Miles Davis - Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live At The Fillmore East
43. Art Blakey - A Night At Birdland, Vol. 1
44. Ani Difranco - Living in Clip
45. Mavis Staples - Live: Hope at the Hideout
46. Muddy Waters - At Newport 1960
47. Depeche Mode - 101
48. Deep Purple - Made in Japan
49. Isaac Hayes - Live at Wattstax
50. Sam Cooke - At the Copa
51. Parliament - Live: P-funk Earth Tour
52. Grateful Dead - Europe '72
53. Laurie Anderson - United States Live
54. Alison Krauss and Union Station - Live
55. Velvet Underground - 1969
56. Pink Floyd - Pulse
57. The Roots - Come Alive
58. Bill Evans Trio - Sunday at the Village Vanguard
59. Sarah Vaughn - Live At The 1971 Monterey Jazz Festival
60. George Harrison - Live in Japan
61. Peter Gabriel - Plays Live
62. Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea
63. Thelonius Monk - Thelonious in Action: Live at the Five Spot Cafe
64. Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - Live at Luther College
65. Janis Joplin - Janis in Concert
66. Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive
67. Willie Nelson - Stars and Guitars
68. John Coltrane - Live at the Village Vanguard
69. The Clash - From Here To Eternity Live
70. Eartha Kitt - Live from the Café Carlyle
71. Ravi Shankar - Live: Ravi Shankar at the Monteray International Pop Festival
72. Wilco - Kicking Television: Live In Chicago
73. Neko Case - The Tigers Have Spoken
74. Judas Priest - Unleashed in the East
75. Jay-Z - Unplugged
76. The Orb - Live '93
77. The Ramones - It's Alive
78. Etta James - Rocks the House
79. Soweto Gospel Choir - Live at Nelson Mandela Theatre
80. Pearl Jam - Live on Two Legs
81. Björk - Live Box Set
82. Kraftwerk - Minimum-Maximum
83. Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings
84. Lou Reed - Rock 'n' Roll Animal
85. Jill Scott - Live in Paris
86. Carole King - Carole King The Carnegie Hall Concert June 18, 1971
87. Alice in Chains - Live
88. John Denver - The Wildlife Concert
89. Eva Cassidy - Live at Blues Alley
90. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Live at Carnegie Hall
91. Rush - Rush in Rio
92. Police - Live!
93. Daft Punk - Alive 2007
94. James Taylor - James Taylor Live
95. Neil Diamond - Hot August Night
96. Guns N' Roses - Live Era '87-'93
97. Lyle Lovett - Lyle Lovett Live In Texas
98. Blue Oyster Cult - Extraterrestrial Live
99. Aerosmith - Live! Bootleg
100. J. Geils Band - Live: Blow Your Face Out

-- Jeff Reguilon

Singles Report: Foo Fighters, Consequence, Melissa Laveaux

Foo Fighters - "Wheels"
Even though their last couple albums have been spotty enough to make me almost lose interest, I've always felt like the Foos had it in them to assemble a pretty stacked greatest hits collection, which they've VERY CONVENIENTLY done just in time for the holidays. Unfortunately for us, the band tacked on two new jams, of which, "Wheels" is one. Listening to the beginning, I felt like the MP3 was mislabled and I accidentally downloaded some Keith Urban. What followed was a generic smear of limp, slick, unfortunate, late-period Tom Petty impersonation. I'm not against the new stuff, but I'm pretty sure I would have been happier if they had clipped this from the tracklist in favor of "I'll Stick Around" or "Walking After You."

Suggested if you like: Tom Petty, an extremely competent cover band performing Tom Petty songs, "mediocre-of" material appearing on a "best-of"
Rating:  13/69 Full Moon Fevers

Consequence (feat. Kanye West and John Legend) - "Whatever U Want"
Because he has but one flow and a steadfast refusal to vary his rhyme schemes, Consequence is best taken in small doses. For a number of IMMA-LET-YOU-FINISH-related reasons, our old pal Yeezy has, as of late, also been getting his mail forwarded to an address in the best-in-small-doses zip code. As such, you'll be satisfied to know that they're each limited to four bars at a pass in this slinky Gin and Tonic of a tune. With its low-key vibe and 2:37 run time, it feels more like the suggestion of a song than an actual song. Still, I've listened to it five times in short succession, mostly because I'm left wanting more each time. When was the last time you could say that about anything involving any of these parties?

Suggested if you like: "I'm Good" by the Clipse, "Love Hangover" by Kidz in the Hall, surprise awesome
Rating: 26/30 prefunk cocktails

Melissa Laveaux - "Crazy in Love"
I have no idea who this person is and I'm generally against covers of songs I like (TWO STRIKES, LADY), but this thumpy, acoustic reinvention of the Beyonce ultrajam is-- no exaggeration-- the best new song I've heard in months. Should you decide to scoot over to her MySpace page, you can listen to, along with some of her originals, another unique cover, this time of Elliott Smith's "Needle in the Hay." Her version of "Crazy in Love," however, is so good I don't even miss the Jay-Z verse. A++++ NEW ARTIST. WOULD BUY FROM AGAIN.

Suggested if you like: Lykke Li, Emiliana Torrini, making a great thing even better
Rating: 93/100 oh-no-nos

-- Jeff Reguilon

Out This Week: Good New Music You Might Have Missed

Zero 7 - "Medicine Man"
Suggested if you like: Solange, Janelle Monae, mixology

Christina Courtin - Foreign Country
Suggested if you like: Madeleine Peyroux, Jolie Holland, sweet tea

Speech Debelle (feat. Micachu) - "Better Days"
Suggested if you like: Estelle, Roots Manuva, hip-hop from over there

Kleerup
Suggested if you like: Robyn, Lykke Li, flashing lights

Drug Rug - Paint the Fence Invisible
Suggested if you like: Apollo Sunshine, Beachwood Sparks, sweet ponchos

Los Pikadientes de Caborca - "Billie Jean"
Suggested if you like: this M.I.S. cover of "Bittersweet Symphony," unlikely tributes

-- Jeff Reguilon