Ben Folds - Lonely Avenue

Thursday brings a little mood music, and specifically Ben Folds. Devotees will recall I reviewed their 'Songs For Silverman' album a LONG time ago, and it got a good final rating. This review is their current album, that just came out last week. It probably should have been part of New Music Tuesday, but alas, I went with Phil Collins that day. Getting to it today is just as good, and it will have the same impact on you guys, I promise. This record is actually a collaboration record, between Ben Folds and English novelist, Nick Hornby. Never heard of that fella before today, so I'm hoping the collabo was worth while for Ben Folds. The formula was simple, Hornby writes, Ben Folds sings. I would assume they'd want to keep it to the high standards their records normally yield, so we shall see. After listening to this a couple times now - it would almost be impossible to tell this wasn't written business as usual. Their records were always a nice blend of fun and serious, social commentary and personal happenings. This album is no different. As a whole, it's a really solid record - yet again from Ben Folds. Just when you think the album might be more poppy - it smacks you in the face with a signature Ben Folds piano ballad. Boy do I love those. Boy do I love Ben Folds. This album is no different. Check it out, it's worth your while today.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Working Day, A
2. Picture Window
3. Levi Johnston's Blues
4. Doc Pomus
5. Your Dogs
6. Practical Amanda
7. Claire's Ninth
8. Password
9. From Above
10. Saskia Hamilton
11. Belinda

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Picture Window
2. A Working Day
3. Practical Amanda

FINAL RATING:
3.75 out of 5 stars

Busta Rhymes - When Disaster Strikes

I'm going to let you guys in on a little secret. I enjoy Busta Rhymes. That's not the secret. Wait for it...okay, I'll tell you. His albums are never good. There are always one or two really solid singles off of them, but as a whole, always forgettable. Busta has the ability to straight up spit out the fire, and he shows that a lot. Anytime I let myself forget about Busta, I immediately put on 'Gimme Some More' and then I remember he has some of the best flow in the game. He also did a mixtape with 50 Cent and Em, where they dissed Ja Rule. It's a remake of the Tupac song 'Hail Mary' and Busta again comes out with something amazing. In terms of this album, there are again, a couple solid track - then a bunch of nonsense. This is the case very often with rap albums. They make albums that are 20 tracks, and only 4 of them are worth your time. I think that's why I actually own very few rap records. It's much better to buy the singles you like. Anyway, this came out in 1997 and is certified Platinum. Actually, most of his records are platinum selling. Not too shabby. This was his 2nd studio album and I think his sound back then is better than what he's dropping today. We'll soon find out though, as ELE 2 is due to drop sometime this year yet. I'll be sure to check that out right away. If you feel nostalgic about tossing on a couple old Busta tracks, check this out. Otherwise, listen to this if you want to listen to another mediocre hip hop album.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Intro
2. Whole World Lookin' At Me, The
3. Turn It Up [Remix]/Fire It Up
4. When Disaster Strikes
5. So Hardcore
6. Get High Tonight
7. Turn It Up
8. Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See
9. It's All Good
10. There's Not a Problem My Squad Can't Fix
11. We Could Take It Outside
12. Rhymes Galore
13. Things We Be Doin' For Money, Pt. 1
14. Things We Be Doin' For Money, Pt. 2
15. One
16. Dangerous
17. Body Rock, The
18. Get Off My Block
19. Outro

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Dangerous
2. Rhymes Galore
3. Put Your Hands Where Eyes Can See

FINAL RATING:
3.25 out of 5 stars

Courteeners - Falcon

Wednesday brings another review out of the Suggestion Box. Today it's Shaqwanda again, and her request for the Courteeners. Not only do I not know what a courteener is, I've never heard of them before. Turns out they are from England and formed around 2006. A relatively new band..probably one of the newest bands I've ever reviewed. Kind of a cool story, all of the band members have known each other since they were 10 years old. I like stories like that...kind of a group of kids living their dream. Falcon is the second studio album released by these gents, and it came out earlier this year - in February. Sounds like the goal of this was to be more mainstream than their first album, St. Jude. Many artists do that, the first record sounds a little sloppy in places, or the sound doesn't quite blend for something on the radio. So the second album they're more conscious of that sort of thing. I don't think there is really anything that I can compare this to. It's fairly different. But then again, I'm not really up on what's big across the pond. I think this is alright, nothing I'd rush out and buy with my hard earned money. The vocals are solid, the arrangements are neat. One of the tracks I enjoy makes use of the xylophone as well as a triangle. You don't hear that very often. Nothing super earth shattering though in terms of lyric or sound. But good enough to give a listen to. Check 'em out, let me know what you think.

TRACK LISTING:
1. Opener, The
2. Take Over the World
3. Cross My Heart & Hope to Fly
4. You Overdid It Doll
5. Lullaby
6. Good Times Are Calling
7. Rest of the World Has Gone Home, The
8. Sycophant
9. Cameo Brooch
10. Scratch Your Name Upon My Lips
11. Last of the Ladies
12. Will It Be This Way Forever?

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Take Over The World
2. Cameo Brooch
3. You Overdid It Doll

FINAL RATING:
3 out of 5 stars

Joe Satriani - Black Swans & Wormhole Wizards

New Music Tuesday jumps off with a rock legend, Joe Satriani. He's rocked with the likes of the Stones and was the guitar man in Deep Purple. If you haven't heard him whale before, you're in for a treat. This guy is flat out one of the best. This particular album is just an instrumental record of Joe jamming with a background band. Sometimes these records are just what the doctor ordered for me. As someone who really appreciates the older rock, when a band would just break into a 6 minute guitar solo - this makes me happy. Joe has the abilities to tell a story just with his guitar, which some bands can't even do correctly with vocals attached. I knew of Joe before, but when the Experience Hendrix tour came to Milwaukee back in March or whatever, Joe played there, and that really solidified my respect for him. I'm hoping some of you will pick this up today and garner that same feeling. A couple of interesting tidbits, Joe sued Coldplay for copyright infringement with their track 'Viva La Vida'. Word is, much of that track is sampled off of Satriani's 'If I Could Fly'. Coldplay ended up settling with Satriani for an undisclosed amount. He's now part of a band known as Chickenfoot, which is Joe, two former Van Halen members (Sammy Hagar being one) and then the old drummer from Red Hot Chili's, Chad Smith. Satriani is considered an advanced guitarist and has mastered some of the toughest techniques on the axe. This is very worth listening to, and is a very solid record. I don't often listen to pure instrumentals, but this is worth my time, everytime. Happy Tuesday!

TRACK LISTING:
1. Premonition
2. Dream Song
3. Pyrrhic Victoria
4. Light Years Away
5. Solitude
6. Littleworth Lane
7. Golden Room, The
8. Two Sides To Every Story
9. Wormhole Wizards
10. Wind In the Trees
11. God is Crying

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Solitude
2. Pyrrhic Victoria
3. The Golden Room

FINAL RATING:
3.5 out of 5 stars

Dirty Vegas - Self Titled

What's crazy for me today, is that it's actually Tuesday. Going to the concert Saturday and then driving up to Lambeau Field on Sunday to watch the Packers play, it was a long weekend. Thusly, I took off work yesterday. Coming back today sure feels like a Monday - but alas, it's TECHNO TUESDAY!! Today I bring you guys a band you most certainly heard one song from. 'Days Go By' was made famous by the Mitsubishi commercials back in the early 00's. Great jam. Anyway, two guys with the last name of Harris make up the beats...and they are of no relation. Another gent Steve Smith does the vocals which creates this British house trio. They ended up splitting for a few years, but as most bands to - they got back together in the 2008ish timeframe. They keep talking about dropping another album, but I cannot find anything in the works. Regardless of all that, this album is fairly sub par on my techno scale. Days Go By is obviously an outstanding track, but after that, it lacks in really beating me in the face with beats. The Acoustic version of DGB might be the 2nd best track on here, which is kind of a cop out for a dance record. It's probably worth listening to if you're a beatnut, otherwise, I'd probably move on today if I were you.

TRACK LISTING:
1. I Should Know
2. Ghosts
3. Lost Not Found
4. Days Go By
5. Throwing Shapes
6. Candles
7. All or Nothing
8. Alive
9. 7am
10. Brazilian, The
11. Simple Things, Pt. 2
12. Days Go By (Okenfold Remix)
13. I Should Know
14. Days Go By (Acoustic)

Listen To Samples

Top 3 Tracks:
1. Days Go By
2. Ghosts
3. Throwing Shapes

FINAL RATING:
2.5 out of 5 stars

Rant #12 - "I Like....Birds"

I know I've talked about this 100 times now. And some of you have made comments that you plan to, or have tried them out. And even if you have or have not, I'm here to tell you once again - the Eels are amazing.

On Saturday, they put on a show at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I won't get immediately into my concert review, I'll start from the beginning.

The seating was general admission, so we got there about an hour early. We sat down with a couple drinks and surprising got to sit super close. We even sat behind a railing for extra leg room. About 8pm the lights went out, and we knew a young lady named Jesca Hoop was opening, so that's what we were expecting. Instead - an older guy was standing on stage and asked how everyone was doing. I assumed it was some Pabst manager or something, do I didn't think much of it. Well, long story short B Siders, the guy pulls out a dummy and begins his vantriliquism act. I'll spare you the details, but the act was brutal. I'd have rather sat through 2 hours of Ke$ha playing 'Tik Tok' on loop than the 10 mins I sat through this fella. Yeah...that bad.

Finally the music kicked in, and Hoop came on stage. I'm going to try to remain even keeled in this review, and try not to go too overboard - but she was outstanding. It was almost like she was doing a smaller version of Storytellers on VH1. She had nice little stories to go along with her music, including letting the crowd know about her cancer stricken mother and helping her cope with the pain. If you listened closely to her music, you could identify that her mother passed and she devoted a song to her memory. Her vocals were in a word, mezmerizing. She had such a great voice and could play her very unique guitar very well. To show you how much I enjoyed this performance, I never buy anything from a show. Never a t shirt, poster or whatever. I bought her cd. She only played five songs, but I felt like we had some sort of connection. I was so impressed. When I get through the album, I'll review it very soon.

On to the main show. The Eels. The band I've been preaching for nearly two decades is the most underappreciated band around. The best band you're not listening to. I've set myself up for quite a let down right? Not a chance. E came out and did 3 solo tracks. All of which were Eels songs, but ones he could do with just him and a guitar. All great. He called out The Chet, which is a guitarist who plays the standard axe as well as a mechanical one similar to Robert Randolph. Those did did a couple more tracks together, then the rest of the band came out. Kool G Murder on bass, P Boo on guitar and then Knuckles on drums. They proceeded to play non-stop, and I mean it, non-stop for another hour and a half. Most artists take mini breaks here and there, you know, get water or what have you. Eels kept on one after another the whole time. I couldn't keep track, but they must have gone through nearly 30 tracks. Amazing. Some tracks I could sing along with, and some even myself weren't super familiar with. Bottom line, they were still awesome. Everyone was up and grooving and hootin' and hollerin'. They played a song most people are familiar with: 'My Beloved Monster' which is off the Beautiful Freak record, but also from the Shrek Soundtracks. They didn't play it like normal though, they sped it up and made it into something totally different. Same kind of mash up with 'I Like Birds' and then 'Mr. E's Beautiful Blues'.

The older lady sitting next to me hadn't heard of the Eels until just this month. She had only heard the newer stuff, but she had an awesome time. She was probably up and screaming more than anyone in the venue. That could be you!! Now, their music certainly isn't for everyone...I'm a realist. But at the same token, I think a lot of you would love them...and then have a blast at the shows. They put on such a unique performance - at one point even tossing out popsicles out to the crowd while covering 'Summer In The City'. If they ever came back to the great state of Wisconsin, I will be there. My concert friend who came along felt the same. Do yourself a favor, pick up 'Beautiful Freak' today. Run through that and listen to 'Hombre Lobo' too. Next time they're in town, come along with me. You'll have a great time.

Heidi Presents, "Cover Me Reaction"

Top 5 cover songs?! Tall order, my friend. This is a hard one! There are so many songs like Tina Turner's Proud Mary, Aretha Franklin's Respect and The Beatles' Twist and Shout where the cover version is so iconic and ubiquitous, that no ones cares who did it first. But, covers make me nervous. Karaoke TV phenomenons like American Idol and Glee have brought covers to the forefront of pop culture. It's getting to the point, where I have to wonder, is there any creativity left out in the mainstream?

So, I tried to make my list thinking of songs that were iconic and identifiable before they were covered. Much like American Idol, I'm giving points for groups who reimagined popular songs, but because it's me, I'm also listing songs that I think are great. (Please note 4 of these songs are in some way related to a soundtrack, what's the matter with me?!) So, in no particular order . . .

1. Against All Odds - The Postal Service
Original Artist - Phil Collins

I LOVE this cover. The Postal Service opens with the same haunting and meloncholy feel of Collins' original, but then rocks out to an almost angry and provocative feel. The best break up song of all time, just got better.

2. Live and Let Die - Guns N' Roses
Original Artist - Paul McCartney and Wings

You know I did, you know I did, you know I did. I am a sucker for a little GNR. And, there is something about the rawness of Axl's vocals in combination with Slash's rushed take on the song's identifiable lick that takes this Bond song to a different level. Epic.

3. I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
Original Artist - Dolly Parton

I love Dolly! About two seconds ago, The White Stripes' cover of Jolene was on this list, but I changed my mind, because Dolly's version is the shit. But, I feel like the little song she wrote upon the break up of her and her manager was meant for something bigger than Dolly's sweet vibrato. Enter Miss Whitney. Whitney Houston turned up the vocals, and in turn, turned up the heat and power of an otherwise charming song. You cannot tell me that you don't sing along.

4. With a Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker
Original Artist - The Beatles

I was a giant Wonder Years fan as a kid, and therefore, I think I was about 16 the first time I heard The Beatles version of this song. I remember being totally underwhelmed. Joe Cocker kills this song, he brings a feel of raw desperation to a fun and funky throw away Beatles song. It's amazing, and iconic in its own right.

5. I Wanna Hold Your Hand - TV Carpio (Across the Universe soundtrack)
Original Artist - The Beatles

I had some major attitude when I first watched Across the Universe. A whole movie of Beatles covers starring Evan Rachel Wood? Ew. But, one of the earlier moments in the film features a girl singing a stripped down version of one of my favorite bouncy Beatles tunes to another girl . . . a cheerleader. Suddenly, the lyrics to I Wanna Hold Your Hand meant something different; the entire mood was turned on its head. It was about deep longing and unrequited love. And, I was sold. Take that Glee.

Honorable Mention - My favorite blue grass band, Nickel Creek takes on Britney. Again, take that Glee.