REVIEW: VAN HALEN “Tattoo” single
“Tattoo” (single)
(Interscope)
Available on iTunes
Rating:
It takes a special band to be able to just pick up where they left off. The Stooges did it with The Weirdness (despite “meh” production from Steve Albini). Mission of Burma did it with ONoffON and kept it up for two albums straight since then. The New York Dolls did it with One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This (and then blew it with Dancing Backwards In High Heels). From the sounds of this first single, Van Halen may very well be doing the same trick next month on their new album A Different Kind of Truth – their first album since David Lee Roth made his long-overdue return to the band.
If you felt like you were left hanging after the reconstituted original lineup did “Me Wise Magic” on the Best of Van Halen album in 1996 and then left Diamond Dave behind in favor of “Gary Jabroni”, hang no more. Dave is in fine – no, excellent – voice, and Eddie is completely sober, cancer-free, and grinning from ear to ear. There’s some keyboards in the mix, but the two components important to truly classic Van Halen – David Lee Roth’s vocals and lyrics and Eddie Van Halen’s guitar – are upfront and in sync.
The proof is in the pudding. Go put in your iTunes pre-order now and tide yourself over with the single. Need more convincing, or just another glance at the video? Here you go:
BEST ALBUMS OF 2011: #1: FOO FIGHTERS “Wasting Light”
Wasting Light
(Roswell/RCA)
Available on CD, LP, iTunes, AmazonMP3, eMusic, and Spotify
While I’ve been inconsistent in my buying of Dave Grohl’s efforts since his first Foo Fighters album dropped in 1995, to be honest, listening to this album made me regret it immensely to the point where I turned around and filled in the considerable holes in my collection. And Pat Smear’s back in the band while Bob Mould and Krist Novaselic join in on the fun? Yes, please.
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BEST ALBUMS OF 2011: #2: MORNING MUSUME “Fantasy! Juuichi” and “12, Smart”
Fantasy Juuichi
(Zetima)
Available on CD, CD/DVD combo, and iTunes
12, Smart
12, Smart
(Zetima)
Available on CD, CD/DVD combo, and iTunes Japan
Looking back, both of these albums represent two parts of a transitional period for the band. Eri Kamei, Qian Lin and Li Chun were about to depart the band when Fantasy! Juuichi dropped, while Ai Takahashi had already taken her bows before 12, Smart‘s release. The next album and the singles that precede it with the tenth generation involved should prove interesting, even if that first single A-side is too much of an anime theme for most people’s likings.
By the way, this ranking isn’t any kind of slur on Morning Musume – far from it. It’s just there’s one album that seemed to get played just a little more than both of these… Which album was that? Check in after midnight…
BEST ALBUMS OF 2011: #4: SCANDAL “Baby Action”
Baby Action
(Epic/Sony Japan)
Available on CD, CD/DVD, and iTunes
The Osaka Four are still unstoppable. This album is just more proof of why that is so. And the whole SCANDAL album catalog is on US iTunes now? No more excuses, folks – pay your $9.99 apiece and see what I’ve been raving about for the past four years!
BEST ALBUMS OF 2011: #5: THE BLACK BELLES (self-titled)
(self-titled)
(Third Man)
Available on CD, DVD, and iTunes
For whatever reason, there’s a serious air of mystery – intended or not – surrounding what is apparently the current flagship act on Jack White’s Third Man label. So be it. But the attention he’s giving their collective career is justified and the album is a solid debut release. The only complaint? At 29 minutes and six seconds, you’re left wanting more.
BEST ALBUMS OF 2011: #8: JAMES DURBIN “Memories of a Beautiful Disaster”
Memories of a Beautiful Disaster
(Wind-Up)
Available on CD, iTunes, AmazonMP3 and Spotify
This guy had my attention from the moment he opened his mouth at the American Idol auditions earlier this year, and in the back of my mind I knew this kid was going to go far. While the Wal-Mart-shopping latecomers to the AI10 season picked an immature kid with Randy Travis’s voice and Alfred E. Neuman’s face (and a shameless tendency to lipsync at most of his post-Idol personal appearances) over James, the succeeding weeks after the tour ended and their respective albums dropped proceeded to prove that America fucked up back in May when they voted James out of the Top 4. No matter – there’s plenty of time for those people to repent by grabbing the debut of The Man Who Should Be Idol.
BEST ALBUMS OF 2011: #10: MEAT PUPPETS “Lollipop”
Lollipop
(Megaforce/Red Ink)
Available on CD, LP, iTunes and AmazonMP3
It took them a couple of albums and a change of drummers, but the Kirkwood Brothers really got their footing back with this album, which while occasionally nodding towards past achievements (some of this material, as I stated in my review earlier this year, could have fit nicely on past MP’s long-players), is fresh from beginning to end and is pretty much a timeless album already. At this rate, I can only imagine how the next MP’s album will sound like.
BEST ALBUMS OF 2011 – Numbers 15 to 11
Even though my personal life is getting even more fucking hectic as Christmas draws near, I settled earlier this month on a plan to post my Best Albums countdown at a more timely basis. I will be posting albums #10 through #6 between December 20 and December 24, taking a one-day break on Christmas, and resuming the countdown with #5 on the 26th.
Since I had a few albums that didn’t make the cut but didn’t see fit to pass off, I decided to throw in five more favorite albums to kick off the countdown a day early. Without further (any?) delay…
Lulu
(Warner Bros., available on CD, LP, iTunes, Amazon)
It’s not for everybody – you’d have to appreciate or at least respect what Lou has done in his solo career from New York first – but the only thing tone-deaf about this album were the armchair OMGWTFBBQ1111!!! “critics” who thought this was a mistake for both Lou and the Metallikats. It’s definitely the toughest backing band Lou has ever had in his solo career. Give it another chance.
To Hell With God
(Century Media, available on CD, iTunes, and Amazon)
Changing record labels always seems to revitalize Glen Benton and company. While their last (almost for good) album Till Death Do We Part was no black mark on the rest of the band’s catalogue (That dishonor would go to In Torment In Hell, their last album for Roadrunner ten years ago), this album would prove to be the best album they’ve done since Once Upon The Cross.
Tha Carter IV
(Cash Money/Universal, available on CD, iTunes, Amazon and Spotify)
As a pun-dropping lyricist, he hasn’t changed one goddamn bit – which is a good thing. And he doesn’t intend to sit on his ass, either, if talk of a Rebirth 2 and an I Am Not A Human Being 2 is any indication.
The People’s Key
(Saddle Creek, available on CD, LP/CD combo, iTunes, Amazon and Spotify)
Conor Oberst’s songwriting skills are still as sharp as ever musically. Lyrically, I still haven’t made up my mind about the subject matter on this album. Otherwise, it was worth the wait after two “solo” albums released in the years between Cassadaga and now.
The Boys
(SM Entertainment, available on import CD only)
The title track ended up being better in the original Korean than in the English version released here by Interscope, although the song itself turned out to be a grower. While the entire album is not perfect, it’s the best long-player out of the three original editions they’ve done.
REVIEW: SHONEN KNIFE “Sweet Christmas” single / FEAR “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” single
“Sweet Christmas” single
(Good Charamel)
Available on 7″ single, iTunes, AmazonMP3 and eMusic
Rating:
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” single
(The End Records)
Available on 7″ single, iTunes, AmazonMP3 and eMusic
Rating:
OK, Christmas season is here, and as much as you might like the holidays, there’s a good chance you might not want to put up with the same fucking Christmas songs all over again. And what’s out there for new Christmas music, anyway? Justin Bieber? Too easy of a target, and besides, he’s had a rough enough time being falsely accused of paternity – leave the little Canucklehead alone. A fourth volume of Now Christmas repeating some of the same songs as Volumes 1, 2, and 3? Blech! Where’s my Christmas mix CD with select cuts from the Punk Rock Xmas comp, Mojo Nixon’s Horny Holidays album, various Hello! Project-related Christmas songs, and of course, Spinal Tap’s “Christmas With The Devil”?
But wait! Could it be? New Christmas releases from ARTISTS I ACTUALLY WANT TO LISTEN TO ANYWAY? Yes, please.
It shouldn’t be any surprise that Shonen Knife would drop a Christmas record – the great majority of their back catalog, save for their wonderful Ramones tribute album (which had some of the darkest moments ever recorded by them), is peppy, poppy, rockin’, and puts a smile on your face instantly. The title track of their “Sweet Christmas” single is a typical punk-pop concoction in the Shonen Knife vein, with frontwoman/songwriter/J-Pop & Punk Rock MILF Naoko Yamano’s vocals and guitar leading the way. Not wanting to blast your grandmother across the room, however, the girls throw in an acoustic mix of the song for good measure, then close things out with a power trio arrangement of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” whose only flaw is the stiff 3/4-time beat from drummer Emi Moriomoto. Otherwise, all three of the SK ladies (bass cutie Ritsuko Taneda, down with the Knife since their brilliant Super Group album, rounds out the trio) share lead vocals and redeem the track.
The bigger surprise comes from the notorious punk band Fear. Yep, the same bastards that caused a few thousand dollars (so called) of damage during their national TV debut on Saturday Night Live, then went straight into the studio to record their landmark debut long-player The Record. The A-side is a major surprise – a very straight cover of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” sung very sweetly by frontman Lee Ving over clean jazz guitar and some lonesome-sounding Western harmonica. “Wait a fucking minute,” you say – “Lee Ving singing SWEETLY? The same dude who sang ‘I don’t care about you, FUCK YOU!’ on national television?” Yep. Look up his performance of “The Impossible Dream” from Fame on YouTube sometime – this isn’t new territory for him. This being a Fear record, you might expect the jazz guitar to be interrupted by a rapid shout of “1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4!” followed by a typical punk rock poleaxing of the song. But with Fear, you get what you deserve, not what you expect. And since anyone buying this single deserves at least some typical Fear thrashing, they deliver it on the B-side with the original “Another Christmas Beer”. Yeah, it’s not “Fuck Christmas”, but then again, Lee Ving has written a LOT of songs about beer. This single is a lead-in for a re-recorded version of their first album to be entitled The ReRecord, which should be at least interesting to hear.
4.5 for the Shonen girls and 5 for Lee and his crew.
REVIEW: GIRLS’ GENERATION “The Boys” single
GIRLS GENERATION (SNSD)
“The Boys” single
(SM Entertainment/Interscope)
Available on iTunes
Rating: 
Let’s be honest and brief: I am a big Girls Generation/SNSD fan. I’m glad they signed a major label deal with Interscope/Universal. But this first single under their new deal is a disappointment.
The English-language vocals are fine, save for the unnecessary rap-style vocal breaks – the girls handled themselves admirably here. But musically, this single is just not on the level of “Gee”, “Genie”, or “Hoot”. It is a shade better than much of what is overpopulating Top 40 radio currently and lately, but knowing what I know of what they’re capable of, this was a poor choice for a first American single. I would have much preferred that they cut an English language version of “Genie” or “Hoot”, which would have smoked the likes of Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus into either retirement or suicide.
Even sadder was the choice of producer Teddy Riley to handle this. What was wrong with SM’s own stable of producers and songwriters? Teddy Riley has some classics under his arm but he hasn’t had a hit single as either a producer or songwriter since Bill Clinton was president. At least it wasn’t some low-talent, overpriced, overrated chump like Timbaland that can only write one riff at a time, talk annoyingly in the background behind the featured vocalist, and call it a complete song.
The only silver lining to this is that those that hear this, if they choose to dig further, will get to hear what the band is capable of. But even that’s not a given. I hope the new album is a lot better than this!
3 out of 5 stars. Sorry, ladies.
