It’s a veritable time-line of one dude’s experiences of saying…well, “Fuck You” to the trifling women in his life (gotta love young Cee-Lo):

Click here to view the embedded video.

-Sam

The Free Speech Movement was aimed at the leaders of the university in an attempt to get them to remove the ban on on-campus political activities, and Savio’s wise, impassioned words have been remembered and recalled ever since.  He said,

“There’s a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can’t take part. You can’t even passively take part. And you’ve got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you’ve got to make it stop. And you’ve got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it that unless you’re free, the machine will be prevented from working at all.”

Now that is a quote.

For their upcoming album, A Thousand Suns, Linkin Park has made no mystery of the fact that they are thinking big.  The title itself comes from a speech by J. Robert Oppenheimer, quoting the Bhagavad Gita, in reference to the atomic bomb.  And now we see that they’ve nabbed Savio’s genius as well, using his speech as the intro and outro to their new song “Wretches and Kings.”  This song has all the elements that you associate with Linkin Park – serrated-knife guitars, hip-hop rhyming mixed with angsty screams, and DJ scratch flourishes – but it’s put together like never before (does Chester have a reggae tinge to his voice?).  Throw in the fiery context of Savio’s words and this song is nothing if not exciting – I can see it going over really well live.  Check it out:

-Sam

We get it.  You like metal and orchestral and jazz and electronic music.  Doesn’t mean they all need to get squished together.

But whatever, I’ll still give the album a fair chance.  And it doesn’t hurt that the new video for his song “Left of Center” kicks a bunch of ass.  That diamond Eye of Sauron thing is a total dick though.

Click here to view the embedded video.

-Sam

Well, you’d be wrong.

Sun Kil Moon, the solo project of singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek (formerly of Red House Painters), has as much edge as a tennis ball.

Admiral Fell Promises, the third album of original material from Kozelek under the Sun Kil Moon moniker, sees him continuing his tradition of taking a nylon-stringed guitar and little else and turning out gorgeously bare tunes that drip with loneliness and melancholy.

The guitar playing on this album has a definite classical sound.  It’s the kind of warm plucking you’d expect to hear echoing through the chambers of a torch-lit medieval castle on some quiet evening after the king ordered his bard to play something soothing to help him fall asleep.  It’s a strange metaphor, I agree, but I immediately thought of the soundtrack to those old (and awesome) Betrayal at Krondor PC games.  What I’m saying is that this music has deep roots.

Each song has plenty of room to sprawl out and breathe, with over half the tracks eclipsing the six minute mark.  The space is generally filled by starting and ending each song with extended instrumentals that sandwich the lyrics cozily in the middle.  This structure gives the whole album a very cohesive feel as each song blends into and out of one another as easily as a bird gliding on the wind.

Kozelek is known for his intimate lyrics and these are no different.  He frequently uses the California landscape (”Half Moon Bay,” “Sam Wong Hotel,” “Third and Seneca”) as his setting, painting scenes of the minute details of everyday life.  You get the impression that Kozelek has done his fair share of people watching while sitting alone on some park bench or from his apartment window high above the teeming streets below.  But you also get the sense that he’s just filling his mind with these tableaus in order to keep the thoughts of loneliness and cherished but distant memories from creeping in.  On “Sam Wong Hotel,” he creates a placid image of the bay before relenting, “Oh, Catherine drifts again into my mind / Freezing the tide, she visits me still.”

Some of his lines can be a bit too quiet or mumbled to comprehend, but in the grand scheme of things, this is a mood record.  You definitely have to be in the correct frame of mind to enjoy Admiral Fell Promises (read: melancholic), but if you are, it’s a stripped-down aural relaxant.  Next time you feel your blood pressure starting to rise, just put this on, kick back, and get lost in the warm reverb of the nylon strings.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Click here to view the embedded video.

-Sam

Well if so, then Eli “Paperboy” Reed has the solution – his major label debut album, Come And Get It!

If you were to listen to this album without any idea of who the artist was, you would certainly be forgiven if you thought it came straight out of Chicago in the Seventies.  Actually, you’d probably be expected to think that given the relative paucity of new, young soul singers keeping the tradition alive amongst today’s listeners.

But Eli “Paperboy” Reed defies stereotypes.  He’s a white, Jewish 26 year old from Massachusetts who sings the music made famous by Christian African Americans from Chicago and Detroit and Memphins at a time when he wasn’t even a twinkle in his parents’ eyes.

I suppose, in a way, he could be lumped in with the crop of retro-blue-eyed soul singers who started popping up in the past five years – names like Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Adele, and Joss Stone – but those are all female artists (not to mention they’re all British).  Reed is staking a claim as the new American male soul crooner.

Backed up by his sharp band The True Loves, Reed emotes like a wild lady-killer, offering up simple but delightful one-liners like “You went from name calling to calling my name.”  His voice is strong and has a boyish charm to it, but it comes up short and a bit thin when he tries to wail like James Brown or Prince.  And on the other end of the spectrum, his youthful pipes lack the sort of gravitas and heft required to really nail a slower, more intimate ballad.  But as long as he stays the middle course, which he does for most of the album, he sounds great.

The production, provided by Mike Elizondo (Eminem, Gwen Stefani), is crystal clear throughout.  Reed’s vocals are crisp and bright and the horns and strings of the backing band shimmer and pop in sunny bursts.  The melodies are familiar and lived-in – there’s nothing musically new here – but that’s probably because Reed has no desire to mix the present in with his thoroughly classic sound.

Winehouse and her ilk were dubbed “retro-soul” because they knowingly kept one foot planted in the present while reaching back in time for their sonic foundations.  This meant that their music was imbued not only with the soul of yesteryear but also the hip-hop and R&B influences of today.  Reed seems to have no such hangup.  This is classic blue-eyed soul that sounds as natural to the Seventies as any recording today could hope to.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Click here to view the embedded video.

-Sam

If you are at all familiar with Zakk Wylde’s work as the frontman for Black Label Society, you know exactly what I’m talking about – those shrieking, bent guitar notes that are slipped into every conceivable nook and cranny of the song.  That’s just how Zakk rolls; it’s his signature style.  Personally, I don’t have a problem with it at all, but those who simply can’t stand it should be warned up front that on BLS’ eighth studio album, nothing has changed in that regard.

In fact, Order Of The Black lacks almost any semblance of exploration from a band that is so deeply entrenched in its own sound.  But, honestly, does BLS seem all that much like a band that wants to push the boundaries of its sound?  They do a few things really well, and that’s no different here.

Some people were hoping that after losing his gig as Ozzy Osbourne’s lead guitar player, Zakk Wylde would use the extra time to focus all his abilities on BLS and take that band to a new level.  I can’t sit here and say that he didn’t devote that extra time to his band, but the resulting product is still very much in line with the back catalog.

But enough about what Order Of The Black isn’t.  What it is is heavy, traditional metal with an undeniable bluesy bent and soul-tinged singing from the metal world’s biggest teddy bear of a frontman.

Wylde makes his influences (Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads) clear on heavy-hitters like “Parade Of The Dead,” “Crazy Horse,” and “Godspeed Hellbound,” and his singing sounds as close to Ozzy’s wailing as ever.  But he wisely slows things down a handful of times during the album, lending an opportunity for him to show off his emoting skills as a power ballad practitioner.  An unabashed fan of artists like Elton John, “Time Waits For No One” would not seem out of place in the Rocket Man’s set list.  And Wylde cites Marvin Gaye as the inspiration for “Darkest Days.”  It’s stuff like that that probably irks some metal meatheads, but BLS has never tried to hide its Southern soulful influences.

There are no songs on The Order Of The Black that reach the same pure bad-assery as “Stillborn” or the same emotional depths as “In This River,” and truthfully there isn’t really a single stand-out track, but it’s a solid album nonetheless.  Zakk Wylde’s a modern guitar god and this is just another chance to hear him do what he does best – churn out classic riffs and set the fretboard on fire.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Click here to view the embedded video.

-Sam

Unfortunately, kids these days don’t have any semblance of an attention span, so they had to go with the radio edit of the song, which is a minute shorter, for the music video.  You end up losing a lot of the imaginative transitional sections, but it doesn’t obscure the fact that this is a killer song that takes the band in an entirely new direction.

I wasn’t fully on-board with the new sound the first few times I heard “The Catalyst” but it has grown on me a lot since then.  This may be high expectations, but A Thousand Suns could be a game-changer.

Joe Hahn (the band’s DJ) directed the video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

-Sam

OSTs are a curious thing. It’s rare to find a compiled movie soundtrack that is more hit than miss. Sure, we’ve had a few good ones over the years. Juno had plenty of nerdy, too-hip-for-their-own-good acoustic numbers, whereas Death Proof provided us with the perfect bar room mix. Besides those, it’s a very short list…one that you can add Scott Pilgrim to.

The interesting thing about this soundtrack is that some of the songs – performed by reputable Canadian artists – are based off the comic book series. Bands took Bryan Lee O’Malley’s fiction and made real songs from it, remaining faithful to the feel of his work. Indie kook Beck does a stellar job of interpreting the songs of Scott Pilgrim’s own band, Sex Bob-Omb; Garbage Truck  and We are Sex Bob-Omb prove to be two of the best tracks on here. Metric contribute ass-shaker Black Sheep to the mix (attributed to the mega-famous band of Pilgrim’s ex-girlfriend, The Clash at Demonhead, in the movie), adding an interesting hipster slant to compliment the raucous garage-rock of Beck’s tracks. However, the most impressive thing about this soundtrack is the eclectic work of Broken Social Scene. For over a decade this band have pushed pop boundaries, and they write the songs for Crash and the Boys, a local rival band of Sex Bob-Omb. Their barbed song titles (I am Sad, SoVery, Very Sad etc) provide some comedic heft in the movie, I am Sad… being about a second long. We Hate You Please Die is an aggressive and entertaining effort, showing a side of BSS that hasn’t really been seen before.

Broken Social Scene also contribute the best song here, their very own Anthems For A Seventeen-Year Old Girl, which provides a laid-back relief from the pounding rhythms of the other tracks. The song’s looped vocals and heavily-synthesised vibe are truly fantastic. It’s disappointing, then, that the other “real” songs are not quite up to scratch. Sure, they’re mostly fine, Plumtree’s Scott Pilgrimis a brilliant slice of Grrl Rock, but tracks by T-Rex and The Bluetones signal a dip in quality. The soundtrack’s real strength lies in its quirky catchiness, yet there are a few songs that only serve to kill the party. No matter though, because as far as movie soundtracks go, this is a winner. Check out the comics, check out the movie, then get your hands on this, because all 3 are riotously entertaining.

If The Ghetto Blaster EP is a sign of things to come from this duo, then all of us have something to be excited for. The 7 song EP features three new songs (”Ghetto Blaster”, “The New Fuck You”, and “Scars”), three covers (M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” and LL Cool J’s “Mama Said Knock You Out”, The Coup’s “Everythang”) and a remix of one of the better songs from their eponymous debut “Promenade”.

More after the jump

Now that they have had more time to work together and really gel their sound over the past year has really paid off. Their three new songs feel more like the songs that worked in their first album. Songs like “The New Fuck You” really showcase how well this duo can work together. Riley’s delivery is stronger than last time, and Morello’s incredibly catchy guitar riffs will make you ready to march and start a revolution.

I was surprised to see how many covers where on this album, I shouldn’t be too surprised since Street Sweeper did a number of them while on tour with Nine Inch Nails during the NIN|JA tour. The covers on are solid songs, and they do tend to let one of the two shine a bit more than the other. They know how to do a cover right, they take the original and they make it their own and they don’t just try to imitate the original. Hearing Morello belt out the most recognizable song of  2008 definitely lets him show off what he can do with his six-string, Riley’s delivery of the lyrics didn’t seem as on point as he is on the rest of the EP. While on “Mama Said Knock You Out” Riley takes control of the delivery much better, but the music behind it was a little boring when compared to the rest of the riffs that Morello plays (take note though that the solo’s on both songs are fantastic, which is par for the course).

This leaves us with the “remix” of  ”Promenade” from the Street Sweeper Social Club album. This is a bit of a disappointment only because I was expecting a bit more. “Promenade” is one of the strongest songs on their debut, and I had to listen to this version of it a couple of times before I heard the difference between the Guitar Fury Remix and the original. It seems that Morello did a couple of extra solo’s that got added to the song and nothing more. The song itself was great to begin with, so if you haven’t heard it then you will not be disappointed, but for those who loved the original and wanted to hear them do something a little different with it will be left wanting.

All in all I have no problem recommending this to anyone, especially if they even remotely liked their previous outing.

Here is Street Sweeper Social Club performing “Paper Planes” live during the NIN|JA tour.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Usually telling your gold-digging ex-girlfriend and her new douchebag guy to fuck off is a sore subject.  Apparently, not in Cee-Lo’s world, though, because on this absolutely appropriately titled track (”Fuck You,” natch), he sounds positively jubilant.

And no, this song isn’t a novelty, so don’t just write it off.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This track will appear on Cee-Lo’s new solo album, The Lady Killer, which should be out before the end of the year.

-Sam