Monday, May 26, 2008
CD Review: Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
The Slip
The Null Corporation
By David Chiu
A gift from Trent Reznor to all his fans, The Slip is Nine Inch Nails’ latest release, which is downloadable for free from the web site nin.com. Because of that, there is a question of how this record would stack up against? Reznor’s previous major label albums—is it just a throwaway of subpar demos Safe to say it falls in line with his best works and stands on its own as a well-crafted studio release After an omnious short introduction, titled “999,999.” The Slip launches headlong into noisy blasts of distorted guitar surrounded by haunting sonic atmospherics from the funk aggression of “1,000,000” and “Head Long” to the drum and bass feel of "Letting You" and the urgent "Demon Seed." The Slip is a tight and focused set—10 songs clocking together under 45 minutes—and there is not a single wasted moment.
To download The Slip, visit nin.com. You can hear some tracks by going to YouTube:
Read more!
# posted by NewBeats @ 3:33 PM
CD Review: Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Nine Lives
Columbia
By David Chiu
Steve Winwood’s latest album follows the direction of his previous record About Time: It tackles Afro/Latin funk and jazzy rhythms while it also at times recalls the progressive leanings of Traffic. In other words, stylistically it’s far removed from his mega-pop ‘80s successes, which is a good thing. Aside from the gritty and rock driven “Dirty City,” featuring guitar from old friend Eric Clapton, album is somewhat spiritual uplifting through tracks like “Fly,” “I’m Not Drowning,” and “Other Shore.” Winwood is still in strong soulful voice and his Hammond organ playing remains signature; the music’s sound is also dominated by the excellent musicianship of guitarist Jose Piress de Almeida Neto and percussionist Karl Van den Bossche. While the grooves tend to repeat themselves after a while, Nine Lives nevertheless is a fine introspective and wistful album.
A video of Steve Winwood on the release of Nine Lives:
Read more!
# posted by NewBeats @ 3:28 PM
CD Review: Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul (Collector’s Edition)
Rhino/Atco
By David Chiu
Otis Blue is an enduring document of Redding’s blistering Memphis soul with perfect musical backing by the great Booker T. and the MG’s and a ringing horn section. Every cut on this 1965 classic showcases Redding’s grit on the funk groove “Respect” (recorded over a year before Aretha Franklin made it her song), and the Stones’ “Satisfaction”; His delivery on slow songs “I’ve Been Loving You For So Long” and Sam Cooke’s civil rights anthem “Change is Gonna Come” is equally hard-hitting. The special Collector’s edition contains the full stereo version of Otis Blue in addition to the original mono version; alternate takes and singles; and live cuts from The Whiskey A Go-Go and Europe recorded in 1966-1967 showing what a versatile showman he was in enthusiastic performances of “My Girl” and “Shake.”
A performance by Otis Redding of "Satisfaction":
Read more!
# posted by NewBeats @ 3:25 PM
Interview: Suze Rotolo's memoir about Bob Dylan and '60s Greenwich Village
Suze Rotolo was the former girlfriend of Bob Dylan in the early '60s and who appeared with him on the cover of his 1963 album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. Rotolo just published her latest memoir A Freewheelin' Time about her time with Dylan and living in Greenwich Village during that decade. You can read my interview with Rotolo here that was just published in The Villager.
Read more!
# posted by NewBeats @ 3:21 PM
Interview: Carly Simon
Check out my recent Spinner interview with Carly Simon, who just released her latest album This Kind of Love on the Hear Music label.
Read more!
# posted by NewBeats @ 3:15 PM
Saturday, May 24, 2008
CD Review: Joy Divison
Joy Division
The Best of Joy Division
Rhino/London
By David Chiu
For those who never got around to getting the awesome double-disc reissues of Unknown Pleasures, Closer and Still from last year, The Best of Joy Division is a satisfactory introduction to the Manchester legends’ dark and gloomy post-punk rock. It draws from the best out of those albums, thus the obvious inclusion of tracks like “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” “She’s Lost Control,” and “Transmission” comes as no suprise. Collectively the tracks provide a glimpse of the late Ian Curtis’s tortured while the rest of the band’s music lend the chilling and cold backdrop to the lyrics of alienation and despair. The actual aforementioned studio albums together obiviously offer more depth than what this compilation can give, but as a standalone Best of delivers. (On an aside, read Paul Morley’s liner notes from this collection—it’s unique and different from the typical greatest hits essay).
A performance by Joy Divison on YouTube:
Read more!
# posted by NewBeats @ 7:30 PM
CD Review: Whiskeytown
Whiskeytown
Strangers Almanac (Deluxe Edition)
Geffen/Outpost/UME
By David Chiu
Before he became a major and respected artist in his own right, Ryan Adams was the driving force behind North Carolina’s Whiskeytown, one of the best alt-country bands of the ‘90s that also included Wilco, Son Volt and the Jayhawks. Whiskeytown’s music certainly was not like anything thatt was coming out of Nashville then or even now. While it embraced country influences but at the same time drew inspiration from rock, like the Rolling Stones, for example. Strangers Almanac, from 1997 and now reissued as a Deluxe Edition set, is a fine example of this where you have spirited rockers like the urgent Turn Around, "Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart" and the poppy "16 Days," and then a slow country-soul ballad in the melancholy Everything I Do. Strangers—they match with Ryan’s fatalistic lyrics (“Waiting to Derail” for examples). Almanac is a tender and lovely record that should have garnered more attention for the band, which split up a few years later. This reissue contains a wealth of additional tracks including live cuts from a 1997 radio performance and covers of Gram Parsons’ “Luxury Liner,” Johnny Cash’s “I Still Miss Someone,” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams.”
Watch Whiskeytown perform "Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart":
Read more!
# posted by NewBeats @ 7:26 PM
CD Review: Beck
Beck
Odelay (Deluxe Edition)
Geffen/UME
By David Chiu
His 1996 album, co-produced with the Dust Brothers, Beck’s Odelay has since been regarded as a classic that furthers the artist’s ‘everything-by-the-kitchen-sink’ musical approach. Odelay melds hip-hop, ‘70s funk, ‘60s pop, electronica, and country folk with Beck’s stream-of-conciousness lyrics all working together as one massive yet appealing sonic collage: from the machine funk of “Devil’s Haircut,” through the mod rock of “The New Pollution,” to the folk-hop, funk clap of “Where It’s At.” Now this great album has been further enhanced on this Deluxe Edition with two previously unreleased tracks, “Inferno” and “Gold Chains”; and a collection of B-sides including a pure cover of bluesman Skip James’ “Devil Got My Woman,” and the Tex Mex-inspired “Burro.” It also features funny liner notes by writer Dave Eggers through q+a’s with teenagers about the record.
See Beck perform "Where It's At" on YouTube:
Read more!
# posted by NewBeats @ 7:25 PM
CD Review: Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Home Before Dark
Columbia
By David Chiu
Home Before Dark, Neil Diamond’s latest and finest, showcases a pop legend looking inside himself and moving forward with hope and no regrets, as indicated on the powerful opening track “If I Don’t See You Again”: “If I don’t see you again/It was a hell of a ride,” he sings. Working again with producer Rick Rubin has brought the best out in Diamond’s music first with the 2005 album 12 Songs, and now on this set. The music on the record is very moody and atmospheric dominated by acoustic guitar and piano that lends a folk and country feel— the songs are reflections on romance (“Pretty Amazing Grace,” “One More Bite of the Apple”) and soul-searching (“Slow It Down”). Absent on Home Before Dark is that Las Vegas showbiz approach that is usually associated with Diamond’s stature as a popular entertainer, although his distinctive vocal delivery remains. Rather It’s no surprise— perhaps sweet vindication for a 67-year-old artist who has been around for so long— that this album hit already #1 on the Billboard charts. It’s Diamond’s most satisfying and reaffirming.
Watch Neil Diamond perform "Pretty Amazing Grace":
Read more!
# posted by NewBeats @ 7:23 PM
Thursday, May 22, 2008
CD Review: The Replacements
The Replacements
Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash
Stink
Hootenanny
Let It Be
Twin Tone/Ryko/Rhino
By David Chiu
Those who only know the Replacements from their major label output from the mid to late ‘80s would surely be surprised at how punkish these Minnesotans really were in the beginning—it was akin to the music coming out of New York and London in the ‘70s. That can certainly be said of the sound on their first four indie albums featuring the original legendary lineup of Paul Westerberg, Chris Mars, and Bob and Tommy Stinson. The punk aggression is certainly true of their 1981 debut Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, in which every tune was a quick, take-no-prisoners sonic blast. (The later EP Stink follows in the same vein—standouts from that collection include “White and Lazy” and “Fuck School”). While fast tracks like “Run It” and “Mr Whirly” seem like leftovers from their debut, Hootenanny showed a little bit of musical growth that quotes even the blues on the opening title track, a little funk on Within Your Reach; the rockabilly of the sexy and humorous “Lovelines”; and pop on “Color Me Impressed. “ But it was on Let It Be (1984) in which they honed down their punk tendencies to create a richly satisfying masterpiece of mature, reflective tracks like “Unsatisfied” and “Black Diamond,” in addition to he band’s signature ramshackle rock like “Gary’s Got a Boner”; it even had closest to a radio-friendly hit in “I Will Dare.” This new wonderful Rhino reissue program add a generous amount of bonus material.
Read more!
# posted by NewBeats @ 7:35 PM
DVD+CD Review: Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Buckingham
Live at the Bass Performance Hall (DVD+CD)
Reprise/WB
By David Chiu
Call me crazy but the announcement in 2006 of Lindsey Buckingham releasing a new solo album and a tour got me more excited than any new Fleetwood Mac music. It was because his music always seemed more adventurous and unpredictable than by Stevie Nicks or Christine McVie (although their songs are great in their right. Plus prior to Under the Skin. Buckingham hadn’t released a new record in about 15 years. The wonderful tour that followed is now documented on this fab DVD recorded at the Bass Hall in Fort Worth, Texas. Accompanied by a fantastic backing band, Buckingham runs through material from Under the Skin, and hits from his solo career and Fleetwood Mac (though unfortunately songs from the great Out of the Cradle album were omitted). This is one instance where the songs from a then-new album don’t seem like a chore to listen while waiting for the hits such as “Not Too Late” and “Cast Away Dreams.” The rearrangements of familiar favorites “Go Insane” and “Trouble” acoustically works, and Buckingham’s dazzling guitar solos of I’m So Afraid and “Big Love” continues to amaze. Live…is an excellent summation of the career of an underrated musical genius. Unless they get Christine McVie back into fold, I wouldn’t be that thrilled for another Fleetwood Mac reunion. Instead I will be waiting for the next Buckingham solo record.
Read more!
# posted by NewBeats @ 7:32 PM
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]