Brand new Sade!!!

Soldier of Love will be released on February 8, 2010!!! No other details yet, though. Sade's guitarist and sax player, Stuart Matthewman, apparently granted his friend, the equally as laid back and fabulous Maxwell, an exclusive listen. Maxwell raved on his Facebook fan page about what he'd heard. For those who aren't really Sade fans, or maybe those who aren't even really aware of the band, this will only be their 6th album in a career going on three decades. Anyhow, this is awesome news! I can't wait!

Billboard:
Article on Sade's new album

Open note to Adam Lambert...

Oh Mr. Lambert,

Everyone's making a big deal about your performance the other night. Apparently, it was edited for TV, which pissed you off. Yes, there is a double standard at work here. Audiences had no problem in 1971 with David Bowie, in the guise of his gay character Ziggy Stardust, simulating oral sex with his lead guitarist on stage. After all, it was well known that Bowie was straight, married, and had a kid of his own in his private life. He may have pushed a few buttons, but he was no threat because he was (and still is) heterosexual. We are making steps in society. But, generally speaking, the heterosexual masses still don't want to acknowledge that we are sexual beings. It's easier if we remain the funny neighbor next door who knows a lot about fashion, interior design, food, and wine. The twinks loved it not because of any statement you may have been (but really weren't) making. They loved it because of the idea that you, a gay man, had been sexual onstage with other men. It might have been cheap, but I'll confess I loved it as well. But let's clear up a few items of business you've mentioned since your Britney-influenced performance the other night.

First, was it the result of an adrenalin rush? Sure. Any good performer standing on the edge of controlled performance knows that adrenalin can push you over the line into spontaneity. OK, I can buy that explanation. Second, you said it wasn't meant to piss people off. Of course it was, even if you were acting on your impulses and it wasn't planned. Own it. If you hadn't intended to provoke your audience, you wouldn't have. Finally, was this really an act of "artistic expression?" That's a big fat NO. You came from American Idol--you are NOT an artist, you are an entertainer. Period. I'm really sick of entertainers claiming that every act of provocation is "artistic." I love sex as much as anyone else, but your performance was not artistic. It was, for all practical purposes, a performance.

Sincerely,

the PopMaster...


Billboard:
http://www.billboard.com/#/news/adam-lambert-s-sexually-charged-act-draws-1004047794.story

Echo & the Bunnymen, and other new stuff...

I've been wrapping my head around the latest album (The Fountain) by Echo & the Bunnymen. So far, it's pretty good. I haven't listened to it enough to give any more of a specific assessment than that. I believe Pitchfork Media recently rated it 6.4 (out of 10), which is probably less than the album deserves. I'll give it a few more spins before I post my end-of-year reviews of albums I bought in 2009.

Another one that's caught my attention is an album called 7 Worlds Collide, which was a massive group collaboration spearheaded by the frontman of Crowded House, and my hero as a pop songwriter, Neil Finn. This is a sequel of sorts to Finn's 2001 live album of the same name. This time, it's a studio recording of all new original songs. The album is a double disc affair, with contributions from members of Wilco and Radiohead, as well as KT Tunstall, Bic Runga, Finn's wife (Sharon) and sons (Elroy and Liam), among others. I haven't yet listened to much of 7 Worlds Collide, but what I have heard warrants a big thumbs up.

And I've still gotta get to Nellie McKay's Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day and Regina Spektor's Far, two albums I am incredibly excited to hear. More to come...

PopMaster's 36th birthday...

Well, I was fortunate enough to spend the night before my 36th with a really good group of friends. We drank wine, played games, and had dessert. It was an amazing night! Ultimately, where my career is concerned, if I had one birthday wish, I would love to interview Ann & Nancy Wilson about their past, present, and future as recording and performing artists with Heart, the Lovemongers, and solo artists. Maybe I could be the one to write the liner notes for that long-awaited Heart box set? Well it's a long shot, but who knows. I can dream, right? Anyhow, thank you all for the happy birthday wishes! Love to everyone!

New Peter Gabriel in 2010!

I'm a massive Peter Gabriel fan. There's very little the man has done that I haven't enjoyed. Truthfully, for as long as the dude's been around, his catalog isn't exactly large. But what he lacks in quantity, he usually makes up for in quality. And the long gaps between his album releases (8 years between So and Us, 10 years between Us and Up, 8 years since Up) make it really easy for me to get excited when he actually finishes, mixes, masters, and actually releases a new recording--even if it's just one song (like his theme from "Wall-E" a few years back). Gabriel is notorious for his perfectionism in the studio. Allegedly, the legendary producer George Martin visited Gabriel in the studio when he was in the midst of recording his last studio album, Up from 2002, and Martin left frustrated and upset by what he saw as Gabriel's far-too-fussy approach. Who knows if this is actually true, but it does make an interesting anecdote. Gabriel himself has acknowledged that he does take his time in the studio. So the Gabriel-Martin story probably isn't that far fetched.

Anyhow, Pitchfork Media posted an article today about Gabriel's upcoming album, Scratch My Back, due for release in January (at least, in the UK on Monday the 25th, so that probably means Tuesday the 26th for U.S. fans). For the album, Gabriel covered Radiohead, Neil Young, David Bowie, Magnetic Fields, Arcade Fire, Regina Spektor, among an impressive array of other great songs by other great songwriters. What's more is, Gabriel is eschewing a band in favor of full orchestra. Very intriguing indeed! The song selection is outstanding, nothing too famous, so this won't exactly be like Rod Stewart's dreadful series of pop standards albums from the mid-part of the decade. Hopefully, this will just be a stopgap (a mighty fine stopgap at that) on the way to his next album of original material. Gabriel's always been very quiet about his projects, so who knows if he's even written some original stuff. Here's hoping. But until then, Scratch My Back looks to be very promising. I've posted a link to the article below.

Pitchfork:
http://pitchfork.com/news/36940-peter-gabriel-to-cover-radiohead-arcade-fire-bon-iver-magnetic-fields/

New Singer for Aerosmith?

So, Aerosmith is looking for another lead singer? I can't say I'm terribly surprised. Joe Perry has been far too public about the troubles the band's been having with Steven Tyler. Apparently, Tyler hired a separate manager and has been working on a solo project. While he is indeed one of the most gifted and unique voices in hard rock, it sounds as if he's been largely responsible for the band's lack of output. In a Rolling Stone article yesterday, Perry said that the band's last album of original material--Just Push Play from 2001 (yes, it's really been that long)--was a dissatisfying album, unrepresentative of Aerosmith, that Tyler basically helmed.

The band followed that album with the horribly named but pretty good Honkin' on Bobo, a set of blues covers released in 2004. The only original material they've since released were two new recordings--"Sedona Sunrise" and "Devil's Got a New Disguise"--on their 2006 best-of collection Devil's Got a New Disguise, and even those songs were leftover from the sessions for their 1990 album Pump. "Sedona Sunrise" is one of the best latter day Aerosmith recordings, a gorgeous bluesy, folky, mid-tempo rock ballad that eschewed the overly polished productions for which the band had increasingly become notorious. It would've been cool if "Sedona Sunrise" had been the start of a new direction for Aerosmith.

Perry's main beef with Tyler seems to be his desire to write with hit-makers, instead of sitting in a room face-to-face writing their own material. Perry expressed his desire to get back to their roots, writing the type of blues-based rock that became Aerosmith's trademark. Besides, with the side projects Tyler has been taking part in over the last ten years, the prospect of a solo album just sounds dreadful. Who's he going to write with? Rob Thomas? Max Martin? Nate "Danja" Hills? Ugh. God help us. I'd be more interested in an Aerosmith album with a new lead singer.

Billboard:
http://www.billboard.com/#/news/feuding-aerosmith-looking-for-new-singer-1004041330.story


UPDATE 11/11: Apparently, Tyler's still in the band. Check it out:

New York Times:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/steven-tyler-says-hes-not-quitting-aerosmith/


UPDATE 11/18: This is actually a very sad saga, and reminiscent of the manner in which the drug addictions of other pop figures have been handled by those closest to them--Boy George is an example (I never thought I'd parallel the lives of Steven Tyler and Boy George, by the way). Anyhow, not every rock star who's gotten clean has stayed that way--Ike Turner died from a cocaine overdose, and he was supposedly clean and sober for years before his death. The following link is to a new article in which the rest of Aerosmith air their dirty laundry alongside Joe Perry. I don't mean for that to sound flippant--if anything, this appears as if the band is putting pressure on Tyler to get it together, whatever "it" is.

Billboard:
http://www.billboard.com/#/news/aerosmith-bandmates-fear-steven-tyler-is-1004043540.story

New Laura Veirs, Spoon, and Magnetic Fields in 2010...

Awesome! Brand new upcoming albums by Laura Veirs (January 12), Spoon (January 26) Magnetic Fields (January 26)! Laura Veirs' album will be self-released, which isn't really a surprise--about a year ago, she held a Q&A in a class my advisor taught, and she said that Nonesuch didn't really know what to do with her music. Veirs is an incredibly gifted songwriter, and her last three albums were gems through and through. Magnetic Fields, on the other hand, is still with Nonesuch. This is a little odd because MF is about as unconventional as Veirs, although they've been around a bit longer and have a fairly devout fanbase. Finally, Spoon the last three Spoon albums (Kill the Moonlight from 2002, Gimme Fiction from 2005, and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga from 2007) are three of the finest albums of the decade. Spoon are expert songwriters, with a knack for creating economical but effective arrangements. They really don't sound like anybody else right now. Overall, this is exciting news! Definitely a great way to start 2010!

Neil Young Re-Issues...

After finally releasing his Archives box set this year (shortly after releasing an album of all new material), Neil Young continues the onslaught of more product. Below is a link to the article that appeared on Pitchfork's site today, and this is awesome news. Young's first four albums have long since needed remastering--I'm tired of having to crank up both the volume AND the bass while listening to Harvest. Even better, each disc will be re-released on vinyl! These re-issues are due November 23rd, I believe. Check it out if you're interested:

Pitchfork:
http://pitchfork.com/news/37046-reissues-of-first-four-neil-young-albums-on-the-way/

Britney & lipsyncing...

A friend of mine loves Britney Spears. I don't mean that casually. He LOVES Britney--maybe a little less than Madonna, but still. I don't get it. I mean, she's fascinating because she's crazy. Britney's living proof that not every successful superstar is intelligent, a myth that's been blown to mythic proportions. She married Kevin Federline and had his babies; she stumbled around in public, talking baby talk with half her vagina out and a cigarette hanging from her lips (more white trash than bad girl); and in the aftermath of 9/11 she asserted that we should simply trust George W. Bush's plan to invade Iraq because he's the president (interesting logic coming from a so-called innovator...and by the way, who the hell christened Britney an innovator?). Hmm.

Then there's that problematic issue of lipsyncing, something Britney's hero, Madge, had to deal with in the late 80s, early 90s. The links below are to articles on how Britney is really upset with Australia (OK--maybe not the entire country, but just a few journalists down under) because they slammed her for lipsyncing at one of her recent shows--alledgedly with her back to the audience for half of the concert. And rightly so. If she's going to lipsync, then she should at least FACE the audience.

The musician in me wants to rant and rave about what a twat Britney is because she charges fans big bucks, only to ply them with recorded sound because she's too busy with choreography, and too weak of a singer to dance and sing simultaneously. But the musicologist in me is well aware that Britney's fans don't care. If she lipsyncs, fine. She's putting on a show, and if they want to throw their money at her, cool. They don't give a shit, so why do I care? Besides, Britney's not an artist--she's an entertainer, and there's a massive difference between the two. Anyhow, why did I post all of this? For the musician in me...


Billboard:
http://www.billboard.com/news#/news/britney-spears-upset-over-australian-tour-1004041018.story

Rolling Stone:
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/11/09/britney-spears-extremely-upset-by-australia-lip-synch-controversy/

Updatery II...

It's been a while since I last posted anything. Generally speaking, I haven't posted a whole lot in the last six months. I've been caught up in the process of rearranging the house that is my life--finishing up at my current institution and looking at Doctoral programs elsewhere, resuming my study of the Dhammapada, adopting a less caustic and nihilistic attitude, getting back into the swing of working out and feeling increased physical energy, and writing more songs. Also gearing up for the next round of Seattle Men's Chorus shows, with our holiday concerts beginning on the Saturday immediately following Thanksgiving. Our guest is Ms. Betty Buckley, iconic for her rendition of "Memory" from the equally iconic Broadway show "Cats" (of which she was an original cast member back in the day).

As far as my own music is concerned, I've been writing. Not a lot, but have completed a few things here and there. And I've had plenty of other ideas to keep me on my toes. The crux of the problem is, I've got three very different ideas of what I want to do musically--and sorting out those ideas has been problematic, if just for the fact that we (Western popular culture, that is) insist that artists don't stray too far from what we love of them. Audiences would probably freak out if Lady Gaga followed up her debut with a country album. But, why should she not, if that's what she feels like doing? (I don't know if she is, as that was just a "what if?" kind of statement. But hell, maybe it might be genius for her to pair up a country vibe with some of those crazy outfits. People wouldn't know whether to wind their butt or scratch their watch...) My problem is, about halfway through the process (4 songs into a 9 or 10 song album), I get way too caught up in what people may or may not think. It's proving difficult, but not impossible, to dispense with that way of thinking and just carry on making music. Anyhow, my latest stuff is much more lyrically driven, with austere arrangements that create an overall vibe. Think Daniel Lanois and you'll get the picture...

I've also got an array of blog entries I've been working on--my burners are all on and I've got some stuff coming to a rolling boil. There's more to come soon...