Alive In Concert

Entrepreneurial Advice From Snoop

2009-12-02T18:54:00.003-05:00

Wall Street Journal

Grammys Wont Change Rules For 'New Artist' Lady GaGa

2009-12-01T08:32:00.000-05:00

LA Times

One of the breakout artists of 2009, fashion-conscious pop-star Lady Gaga showed off her ability to break glass on last night's "American Music Awards." But there are limits to her power.

Speculation that the Recording Academy would consider changing its eligibility rules for the best new artist category was shot down this morning by an official spokeswoman for the group. Ballots already have been returned for the 2010 gala, nominees for which will be announced Dec. 2, and there are no further rule changes on tap until after the Jan. 31 ceremony.

"First-round ballots were due back in early/mid-October, so it would be extremely challenging to change the rules now with nominations being announced next week," said the Recording Academy spokeswoman. "Any changes to be made will be considered after this year's show and therefore would not affect the current rule, which does disqualify her."

Lady Gaga was nominated at the 2009 awards for her single "Just Dance," which was submitted in the best dance recording field. The fine print says an artist who has previously received a nomination at a prior ceremony cannot be in the running for best new artist at future Grammys -- unless, of course, the artist was a "non-featured" performer on the previously nominated track, such as a minor guest on a song.

Sunday night, Entertainment Weekly's Music Mix blog wrote that Recording Academy chief Neil Portnow was considering changes to the best new artist category that would allow Lady Gaga to be nominated. Said the EW post: "We asked Portnow if the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences might consider a rule change to let the year’s biggest breakout act compete for the prestigious prize. 'Yes,' Portnow said. 'The awards and nominations committee meets to review the rules every year. We change the rules frequently. We recognize that situation is not perfect, and we are looking at ways to figure it out.' "

With one of the bestselling newcomers of the year shut out of the best new artist field -- Lady Gaga's Interscope release "Fame" has sold more than 1.6 million copies since its release last October -- it is entirely plausible that this year's ceremony may spur the Recording Academy to rethink its rules. Yet such changes will not be made until after this year's Grammy Awards.

Don't feel too bad for Miss Gaga. She's expected to receive multiple Grammy nominations for the 2010 gala. Her "Fame" is a favorite to receive a nomination for album of the year, and her "Poker Face" is on the ballots for record and song of the year.

There are plenty of quirks to the best new artist field. The official Grammy rules state that an artist must have released at least one album during the nominated year but no more than three. That's why, as Variety noted last week, hip-hop newcomer Kid Cudi won't be represented in the 2010 best new artist field His "Day 'n' Night" was released on Sept. 15, after the Aug. 31 cutoff for this year's eligibility period.

Though Lady Gaga is on her first album, there is a chance that veteran artists, as well as those who released records in 2008, will be nominated. Rock acts MGMT, the Ting Tings and the Silversun Pickups are all on the ballots for the 2010 ceremony. Los Angeles' Silversun Pickups have their sophomore effort in "Swoon," released this year on Dangerbird Records, and MGMT and the Ting Tings are still promoting albums that were released in 2008.

The best new artist field is generally one of the most debated of the Grammy categories. Recording Academy rules define the parameters this way: "A new artist is defined as any performing artist who releases, during the eligibility year, the recording that first establishes the public identity of that artist as a performer."

Such a definition is open to interpretation. Famously, singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne was recognized as best new artist at the 2001 awards despite having a solid decade of experience. In 2009, teen sensations the Jonas Brothers were nominated for best new artist, despite having high-charting albums in prior eligibility years.

Nominations for the 2010 awards will be announced in a live television broadcast Dec. 2 from downtown L.A.'s Club Nokia. The Grammy Awards will be broadcast live on CBS (tape delayed for Los Angeles viewers) from Staples Center on Jan. 31.

Billy Joel, Elton John Set Dates For 2010 Concert Schedule

2009-11-26T12:46:00.001-05:00

Ticket News

In the wake of a series of concert-postponing medical issues, Elton John and Billy Joel have finalized their upcoming Face 2 Face concert calendar. The co-headliners' late fall tour leg, minus one cancelled performance, has been rescheduled for early next year.

The new routing closely follows the original schedule, both in terms of location and date. The opening shows in Seattle, WA, are now booked for February 3 and 6 at KeyArena, while the tour leg's closing date is now March 11 at Times Union Center in Albany, NY.

The pair's November 28 concert at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, AR, is the only concert that has been stricken from the schedule completely. According to an initial announcement, scheduling conflicts prevented a new performance date for the Little Rock audience, leading to the concert's cancellation.

This is the second time John and Joel have been forced to reschedule their concerts in Buffalo and Albany. The shows were originally booked for the musicians' July tour leg, but were postponed until early December following reports that Joel was ill.
10% off NFL

Illness is also the cause of the latest round of concert delays for the rock pianists. The first four concerts on the November tour leg were postponed when John was briefly hospitalized with a serious case of the flu and an infection.

But once the "Rocket Man" was on the mend, his tour partner was sidelined by his own health issues. Unspecified "medical reasons" have kept Joel off the road and forced the musicians to reschedule the remaining dates on their late-year trek.

Tickets for all original performance dates will be honored at the rescheduled concerts.

Face 2 Face Tour itinerary:
(Dates are subject to change.)
February 3, 6     Seattle, WA     KeyArena
February 10     Portland, OR     Rose Garden Arena
February 13     Oakland, CA     Oracle Arena
February 16     San Jose, CA     HP Pavilion
February 19     Salt Lake City, UT     EnergySolutions Arena
February 22     Denver, CO     Pepsi Center
February 25     Oklahoma City, OK     Ford Center
February 27     Kansas City, MO     Sprint Center
March 9     Buffalo, NY     HSBC Arena
March 11     Albany, NY     Times Union Center

U2, Metallica Bring Historic Collaborations To Hall Of Fame Concert

2009-11-25T15:45:00.000-05:00

MTV

For the second night in a row, Tom Hanks walked onstage at Madison Square Garden to do the introduction for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concert, and for the second night in a row some of the greatest rock acts of all time shared the stage. Performances varied from classic hits to once-in-a-lifetime collaborations as Aretha Franklin, Jeff Beck, Metallica and U2 all brought out big-name guests.

Jerry Lee Lewis got things started again, this time performing "Great Balls Fire" and literally kicking down his seat before exiting to make way for the rest of the acts. Franklin took the stage in a red dress that was outshined only by the sound of her voice as she opened the night with "A Natural Woman." Her set included a collaboration with Annie Lennox and one with Lenny Kravitz, who added his voice to her classic hit "Think." When asked afterward how her duet with Lenny came about, she said it was due to his friendship with her son, who also happened to play lead guitar for her band that night.

Next, one of the all-time great guitar players performed as a replacement for a reportedly ailing Eric Clapton. This seemed fitting, since in the 1960s, Jeff Beck was Eric's bandmate in the Yardbirds with Jimmy Page. Jeff was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame this year, and on Friday night he reminded everyone why it was an honor that was well deserved. Sting, Buddy Guy and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top each took a shot at matching their voice to Jeff's guitar, and each felt like a an experiment in music that went terribly right, especially when Beck and Gibbons recreated Jimmy Hendrix's masterpiece "Foxy Lady." No voice was needed for Jeff's final performance of the night, as he paid tribute to the Beatles with an instrumental version of "A Day in the Life." It was one worthy of the highest allowable score on "Beatles Rock Band."

Metallica brought more than just metal when they hit the stage. Starting off with "For Whom the Bell Tolls," the boys were then joined by Lou Reed, before succumbing to the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne. Together they paid tribute to Black Sabbath by performing "Iron Man" and "Paranoid." Then things took an unexpected turn when Metallica teamed up with the Kinks frontman Ray Davies, giving a metal edge to the punk classic "You Really Got Me." Before calling it a night, the boys ended the show with one of their biggest hits of all time, "Enter Sandman." This had its own unexpected twist, as Yankee footage began to play on the monitors above them for no apparent reason. Then again, this is New York during the World Series.

The final and maybe biggest act of the second night at MSG was U2. First, they shared the stage with Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith, performing "Because the Night," a song Bono said his band only wishes they could have written. His passion for the track became even more apparent when he decided to do it a second time because it was clean on the first take. Bruce stayed on for one more song, lending his voice to the classic U2 song "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." The next collaboration was one that included a much younger act, by Hall of Fame standards, when the Black Eyed Peas came out to sing "Where is the Love." Fergie stuck around when Mick Jagger came out to perform "Gimme Shelter." Mick and Bono kept the energy high, turning "Stuck in a Moment" into a duet. And finally, U2 performed "Beautiful Day," bringing the night to a beautiful end.

Win A Copy Of New Metallica Live DVD

2009-11-25T15:36:00.001-05:00

from NME

Metallica are set to release their first ever French concert live DVD 'Francais Pour Une Nuit' (translation: French For One Night) on November 23 - and we've got one limited edition box set to give away, full of awesome goodies.

The box includes:
Live DVD (2hrs) + band interviews (37min)
Exclusive t-shirt (one size fits all)
5 deluxe prints
Official Metallica lanyard
16 page full colour booklet
A laminated show pass
CD album of Death Magnetic

Login now and answer the ridiculously easy question. NME Terms. This competition closes on December 1.

Also available to pre-order here.

When you enter this competition, your email address will be added to the newsletter. However, you will be given the opportunity to unsubscribe from the email newsletter via the unsubscribe message in the email.

Go Here To Enter.

Movie: Gogol Bordello Non Stop

2009-11-24T23:55:00.001-05:00

NY Times

“It is all sexes, all ages, all nationalities,” announces Eugene Hütz, the charismatic Ukrainian-born founder and frontman of the Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello, in Margarita Jimeno’s choppy, high-energy documentary of the band’s rise from a cult phenomenon to international acclaim. The scenes of the nine-member band, which includes two dancers, in theatrical attire cavorting with the audience in a Lower Manhattan club are beyond joyous. Anthems like “Immigrant Punk,” powered by a frantic pogo beat strung with wild, squealing accordion and violin that suggest demonically fueled klezmer music, generate an ecstatic communal anarchy.

Mr. Hütz, a skinny, baggy-eyed live wire with an earring and a waxed handlebar mustache who is partly of Roma descent and who performs shirtless, could be described as the Iggy Pop of an Eastern European sound he says was influenced by Bartok. Having appeared in two films — “Everything Is Illuminated,” with Elijah Wood, and the Madonna-directed “Filth and Wisdom” — he has become a borderline movie star as well as a postpunk guru.

In “Gogol Bordello Non-Stop” he emerges as a passionate, articulate philosopher of punk’s democratic participatory aesthetic who espouses the rejection of social hierarchies in concerts that are raucous, bacchanalian performance-art carnivals.

In the movie’s weaker segments several troupe members, who range in age roughly from 25 to 50, tell their stories. By far the most compelling is Mr. Hütz’s tale of fleeing Kiev on an odyssey that took him through Italy, Austria, Hungary and Poland, landing in Vermont in 1993 through a relocation program.

Near the end of the film he decries how media “brainwashing” and the cultivation of a “celebrity lifestyle” are the almost-too-tempting-to-resist enemies of artistic free expression. So far, it seems, he has held the line.

Directed and edited by Margarita Jimeno; director of photography, Ms. Jimeno; produced by Ms. Jimeno and Darya Zhuk; released by Lorber Films. Running time: 1 hour 27 minutes.

Dry Weather May Hamper Coffee Production In Africa

2009-11-23T11:51:00.000-05:00

Bloomberg

Dry weather and a lack of research may hinder attempts to boost coffee output in East and Central Africa, where three of the continent’s four top producers are located, the Inter-African Coffee Organization said.

Insufficient rain across East Africa has curbed the development of crops, including coffee, with growers in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya now warning of lower production.

“It will have a long-term impact, in three, four years if it continues like this,” said Josefa Sacko, Secretary General of the Abidjan-based group, which represents 25 of the continent’s largest producing nations.

In Uganda, the continent’s second-biggest coffee producer, output could drop 2 percent this year, the National Union of Coffee Agribusinesses and Farm Enterprises said on Nov. 10.

Production in Tanzania, the fourth-largest grower, may fall 19 percent in the 12 months through June, Adolph Kumburu, director general of the Tanzania Coffee Board, said in June.

Kenya, meanwhile, was forced to reduce its weekly coffee sales to twice a month from early September because of low supplies.

African coffee growers need to be more productive, increasing output from the current average of between 200 kilograms (440 pounds) per hectare (2.5 acres) and 500 kilograms, said Sacko in an interview today in the Ghanaian capital, Accra. Africa lags other producers such as Brazil and Colombia where yields can average up to 2 metric tons per hectare, she said.

Africa is also behind in terms of research into coffee production, Sacko said. The organization has asked for $500,000 from the Amsterdam-based Common Fund for Commodities to boost research centers in Uganda and Ethiopia, she said.

The two centers have already received $72,500 from the Economic Community of West African States to fund research into the rehabilitation of depleted coffee plantations in Sierra Leone and Liberia. “They used to be very important producers, but because of the war, it’s gone,” Sacko said.

Ethiopia is the continent’s top coffee grower, followed by Uganda, the Ivory Coast and Tanzania.

U2 Tickets: Gone In 2 Hours !

2009-11-22T14:20:00.002-05:00

Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune

People hoping to score tickets for U2's Twin Cities concert next summer most likely still haven't found what they're looking for.

Tickets for the concert at TCF Bank Stadium went on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday. Within minutes, only single seats were available at the websites of the merged ticket brokers Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It was sold out within two hours.

Dozens of U2 fans vented their frustrations on the Star Tribune's website, most often angry at commercial ticket brokers who routinely scoop up large numbers of tickets and resell them at a premium.

They railed about the 2007 state law that legalized ticket scalping in Minnesota, saying it keeps affordable tickets out of the hands of individual buyers.

Last year, state officials tried to come to music fans' aid by creating the "Hannah Montana" law that makes it illegal to use software that allows buyers to jump to the front of the online queue to buy up huge blocks of tickets.

Although the websites operated by Ticketmaster and Live Nation employ security measures intended to block ticket-buying robots known as "bots," it's not clear how effective they were Saturday.

Tickets ranged in price from $250 to $95, $55 and $30, plus fees.

Additional tickets were set aside by the University of Minnesota in pre-sale bundles for students and season ticket-holders to all Gophers teams.

The new stadium holds about 50,000 people for football games, and thousands more will be on the field for the June 27 concert.

The Hannah Montana law was inspired by her 2007 concert at Target Center that almost instantaneously sold out; at the same time, online resellers were offering tickets for $1,000 or more.

It was followed up this year with the "Bruce Springsteen law" that makes it a misdemeanor for a ticket seller to divert tickets from the initial public sale to a secondary seller, unless authorized by the event or venue.

Up to $75 Rebate on Concert Tickets With Purchase of $100 or more!

Is Tom Petty A Rock God, Or Merely A Mortal?

2009-11-20T18:57:00.001-05:00

from the Wall Street Journal

As Tom Petty prepares to release a career-spanning anthology next week, an attempt to determine where he falls in the music pantheon.

Tom Petty goes to work in a Van Nuys warehouse next to an auto shop and an upholsterer. His band the Heartbreakers rehearses there, still looking for ways to improve after more than 30 years together. On paper, Mr. Petty rivals other acts who have lasted for decades, such as Bruce Springsteen or Neil Young. He's sold some 60 million albums, is ubiquitous on classic rock stations and has collaborated with music legends from Bob Dylan to George Harrison. Last year, he played the Super Bowl and much of the nation knew every chorus.

But Mr. Petty is keenly aware that for some people, that's just not good enough.

"I don't know that anyone's out there waving the banner for us being the best rock and roll band there is," the singer says. "But we might be."

Where does Tom Petty fit in the rock pantheon? Musicians from Ike Turner to Aerosmith have been the subject of such debate, which rock fans conduct as if they're carving Mount Rushmores, in barroom arguments, Internet flame wars and even a Hall of Fame in Cleveland. But Mr. Petty is especially emblematic of the blurred—and highly subjective—line between skilled entertainer and timeless rock icon.

Mr. Petty's own take? While other bands are paid more lip service, he says, "we can really kick their ass, you know?"

Lately he's been examining the evidence. He spent more than a year combing the Heartbreakers' archive of concert recordings to compile his "dream gig." Exactly 169 takes of "American Girl" later, the band's "Live Anthology" box set will be released next week. Mr. Petty has looked back in other ways as he approaches his 60th birthday next year. In 2007 he reassembled Mudcrutch, the band that went belly up before the Heartbreakers formed in 1976. With Warner Bros., the singer also commissioned a retrospective film, resulting in a four-hour documentary that last year won a Grammy.

In Mr. Petty's legacy, there's much fodder for discussion.

On one hand, the laconic Florida native is a highly disciplined songsmith whose run of anthems spanned three decades, from "Breakdown" and "American Girl" in the late 1970s, to "Learning to Fly" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance" in the early 1990s. On the other hand, his commercial success was sniffed at by some critics, especially those enthralled with another earthy rocker who emerged a bit earlier: Springsteen. Mr. Petty's loyalty to the straight-ahead sound of his idols of the 1950s—Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis and other early rockers—may have deterred him from exploring experimental (and potentially fruitful) artistic territory.

"History smiles on [Iggy Pop and] the Stooges, the Ramones, Elvis Costello"—edgy acts of Mr. Petty's generation who reset the boundaries of rock, says Robert Hilburn, a veteran critic and author of the recent book "Corn Flakes With John Lennon." By contrast, the Heartbreakers first two albums "were not trailblazing in any way." Mr. Hilburn says Mr. Petty reached his peak on later albums, and ranks "Damn the Torpedoes" (1979) and "Southern Accents" (1985) among the era's strongest, but at the time most critics were too busy "genuflecting over Springsteen."

Over the course of his career, Mr. Petty has racked up at least 26 Top-10 singles, many of which still serve as the default mode of classic rock stations. Still, his knack for radio-friendly hooks may have cost him points in the long run.

"It's an inverse snobbery," says filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, who directed "Runnin' Down a Dream," the recent Heartbreakers documentary. He adds, "Tom has had so many pop hits. For some reason in America that's considered not quite chic. Too many people like him."

Mr. Petty's not complaining. Like most performers, he avoids the "over-intellectualizing" of rock, the bandying of stats and rankings. But he's adamant about the respect he feels is owed to certain artists, including those in his own band, such as longtime lead guitarist Mike Campbell.

In the band's warehouse rehearsal space in Van Nuys, over the hills from Mr. Petty's home in Malibu, racks of guitars are sorted by make and model. The Heartbreakers call it their clubhouse. Sitting at a table, Mr. Petty drinks coffee and smokes Shepheard's Hotel cigarettes from Germany. He wears a vest over a striped Western shirt.

The singer is at ease discussing his career trajectory. It was around the Heartbreakers' 20th year in music that he noticed that fans and critics were more eager to talk about his old songs than his newest ones, and the past became more marketable than the future. While that did represent "a red wagon you have to drag around," he says, he also took it as the hallmark of a substantial career, one he describes with pride and bemused awe. Still, he believes that if he's underrated, it's partly because of his distaste for self-promotion.

"We were never really Boy Scouts, you know. My vision of a rock and roll band wasn't one that cuddled up to politicians, or went down the red carpet. That kind of thing you see so much of today. I felt like once that stuff starts happening your audience doesn't know whether to trust you or not."

This avoidance of the (offstage) spotlight might seem surprising for a singer whose face was one of the most familiar on MTV. His sly music videos, including the Alice In Wonderland-inspired clip for 1985's "Don't Come Around Here No More," helped the network break into the mainstream, and remained a staple of its programming into the 1990s when "we were so old it was silly." In retrospect, he says, making videos "was just about adapting and surviving."

It's one of Mr. Petty's many apparent contradictions. He was a darling of rock radio, but he has famously tangled with the industry. In 1979 he fought a legal battle with MCA to get out of his record contract, and a couple of years later he successfully opposed a price hike for his new album to $9.98, a then-unprecedented high. In that way, he's an industry outsider who has written some of the most inclusive songs in rock.

"He has more of an everyman quality than a lot of icons do. And that makes a music nerd like me think I could have a beer with him without feeling like I'm talking to some kind of deity," says television producer Bill Lawrence. His homage: In the ABC sitcom he co-created, "Cougar Town," about a fortysomething woman's misadventures in dating young men, every episode is named after a Petty song.

Mr. Petty set himself apart in other ways. While Dylan and the Stones have licensed their music to advertisers, Mr. Petty says, what for? "We don't really need the dough that bad." The singer has sought keep his concert tickets affordable. And unlike, say, Mr. Costello, who has collaborated with string quartets, Mr. Petty says he's satisfied with being a workaday auteur: "To write a good song is enough. That was the loftiest ambition I had: to write a song that would endure."

One secret to Mr. Petty's long populist streak: women. Mr. Petty has written from a female perspective on a surprising number of songs, ranging from "American Girl" to the more recent "Orphan of the Storm." Howard Kramer, curatorial director at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, says, "Every time I go to one of his shows, I marvel that his audience is one of the most diverse in rock and roll, in terms of gender and age. And that can't be said of most of his competitors."

What at first sounded like drudgery, Mr. Petty says, digging through 30 years of concert recordings for the coming "Live Anthology," turned into an "adventure." Engineer Ryan Ulyate made the first pass through the recordings in the Heartbreakers' vault, including some old analog tapes that first needed to be baked in an oven before playing to prevent disintegration. He assembled an iTunes library of some 3,500 songs, then pulled out hundreds of potential highlight tracks for Messrs. Campbell and Petty to assess. "It's amazing how the best take really shines compared to everything else," the singer says.

While the recordings prompt memory flashes from each era, Mr. Petty says, it's tough for him to recall specific concerts. One, however, stands out as perhaps "the worst gig" his band ever played, which somehow yielded the standout version of "I Won't Back Down." In 2007, at a benefit concert for the American Museum of Natural History in New York, the Heartbreakers performed beneath the museum's giant blue whale. The posh audience ignored the band as they performed an acoustic set, capped with the defiant song which (to Mr. Petty's chagrin) has become a perennial fight song for campaigning politicians. Mr. Petty resented the indifference of the crowd of "billionaire kinds of people, many of whom you'd know," he recalls, acknowledging that this might have fired up the band. "At least I got a good track out of it," he says

By request, Mr. Petty pulled out noteworthy instruments as he ambled about the clubhouse. One, a dark brown acoustic bass guitar, he played during the sessions for Johnny Cash's 1996 album "Unchained." By the drum set was the candy-colored Rickenbacker he held on the "Damn the Torpedoes" cover. Strumming a Dove model Gibson, he showed how its slender neck allowed him to play for hours without tiring his hand. He's owned the guitar since he was 18 years old, and wrote almost all his biggest hits on it.

In his rehearsal space, Mr. Petty is surrounded by music legends. The walls are decorated with dozens of neatly clipped photos, featuring everyone from Jimi Hendrix to 1940s gospel-rocker Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Mr. Petty is a believer in the you-either-have-it-or-you-don't quality of music's enduring stars. On his radio show, "Tom Petty's Buried Treasure," now in its fifth year on Sirius XM Radio, he mixes Wilson Pickett, Slim Harpo and Jerry Lee Lewis with Steve Miller, Joe Cocker and Jakob Dylan's Wallflowers. On air, Mr. Petty goofs off with skits about a fictional petting zoo and sings the praises of lesser-known names, such as 82-year-old piano swinger Mose Allison. "I've never met him but I so admire his music. There's a purity," Mr. Petty says. "God, I'd love to attain that. It's hard to get it with pop music, so I've kind of turned my back on that."

As if to defy the critics, the Heartbreakers are at work on an album which is a departure for them, pursuing a style Mr. Petty says he probably didn't have the "maturity" to pull off in previous years. He describes it as a blues-based sound, with lots of open spaces and grooves inspired by those of J.J. Cale and Booker T. & the MGs. Fueling his excitement about the new material, the acknowledgment that he's no longer writing for radio. "Whether you wanted to admit it or not, that was always a factor," he says. "Letting that go, it's very freeing."

Music Review: Metallica -- Death Magnetic

2009-11-13T12:11:00.008-05:00

IF you're a hardcore Metallica fan from way back in the day, then you've been anticipating this album like no other. You've loved them since the classic days of Kill 'em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...and Justice for All. Then you stuck with the band through good -- but not great -- albums, and finally watched them disintegrating in front of your eyes on 'Some Kind of Monster'. The 2004 documentary gave us a long intimate look at the agonizing process the band went through to make one tortured album: St. Anger. But the overriding theme of the film turned out to be: is Metallica going to last until the end of the movie?

Well, James made it through rehab and counseling, Lars sold some paintings, a new bass player arrived in the monstrous form of Rob Trujillo, and Kirk remained centered and well-adjusted, which appears to be his emotional role in the group.

Death Magnetic represents their first real creative output since that time, and it is evident upon the first listen: this album is a return to form -- and then some.

Metallica sound confident enough here to allude to their own musical past - teasing with old licks in new ways, in new contexts - not tired, trite ways - more like Ownership - they can take command and revel in this material knowing NO one else makes music like this. No One. Shades of former tracks meld with the new in a completely satisfying way for the longtime Metallica listener.

On the surface, Death Magnetic is a return to a classic Metallica album structure - pirmarily the structure of the 3 albums forming the core of their greatest output -- Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...and Justice for All.

True to this structure, the album begins with a clean, brooding, riff in E minor, before breaking into the introductory pummeling of 'That Was Just Your Life'. Think: 'Fight Fire With Fire', 'Battery', and 'Blackened'.

In overall sound and composition -- Death Magnetic is most like ...And Justice for All. Compositions are full of intricate twisting complex parts, meters, with sudden changes lurching into new riffs and rhythm structures - some that bring themselves back around again in a track, and some that simply come, go, and are gone. The sound is very much like AJFA -- especially the percussion.

Death Magnetic feels like a new creative peak for Metallica with all of their creative freedom regained!

Hetfield impresses throughout with strength and range of voice and creativity of line. Lyrics are a highlight of Death Magnetic:

"I'll spatter color on this gray!" is the wounded cry from 'The Day That Never Comes' -- the first video release from DM. The track is remarkably similar in form to 'One' without really copying any of that songs musical material. The similarity lies more in shades, shadows and structure: The Day's intro ends with a figure nearly identical to the same moment in 'Fade to Black' - just before resolving into the arpeggiated chord progression of the verses. As in 'One' we have essentially a ballad, featuring a unique, stuttering drum pattern. After a few verses / choruses, we shift into a mid-tempo grind before James declares, "Love is a four-letter word." And finally, the track features a blistering finish with a marching band from Hell riff.

A quick note about guitar solos -- Death Magnetic has tons of great ones! If you recall, James and Lars made the ridiculous decision to have no 'old school' guitar solos on St. Anger -- thereby silencing an amazing musician in Kirk Hammet. Apparently, they have regained their senses and re-granted Kirk a lisence to TEAR.

And.... 3 cheers for Lars for being the most musical of rock drummers. Not content to simply be a speedy metronome, Lars always creates his own rhythmic compositions.

On Death Magnetic, Metallica returns in greatness and achieves something beyond my wildest hope - they finally prove again that they are the masters of a music they invented and perfected.

AND.... the boys are on Tour AGAIN!! If you have never seen Metallica Live in Concert, then you have missed an earth-shattering event. If you have - then you want to again, and again, and again. Don't miss out while they are at the peak of their form!

Get Metallica Tickets from Select a Ticket

Get Metallica Concert tickets from ABC tickets - with Free Shipping!

Title: Death Magnetic

Artist: Metallica

Released: September, 2008

Track Listing:

1. That Was Just Your Life

2. The End of the Line

3. Broken, Beat & Scarred

4. The Day that Never Comes

5. All Nightmare Long

6. Cyanide

7. The Unforgiven III

8. The Judas Kiss

9. Suicide and Redemption

10. My Apocalypse

FDA Says Liquor And Caffeine Don't Mix

2009-11-10T14:30:00.002-05:00

From the Wall Street Journal

By JANE ZHANG

The Food and Drug Administration is taking aim at caffeinated alcoholic drinks, saying it will pull them off the market unless manufacturers can prove the beverages are safe to drink.

On Friday, the FDA sent letters to nearly 30 companies, giving them 30 days to provide evidence that their drinks don't pose health or safety risks. The FDA hasn't approved the use of caffeine in alcoholic beverages, and companies might have to show that experts generally think mixing caffeine and alcohol is safe for consumers.

The fast-growing segment includes United Brands Co.'s Joose, and Phusion Projects LLC's Four Loko, both flavored malt beverages. "We are taking a look at the legal basis for the marketing of the products," Joshua Sharfstein, the FDA's principal deputy commissioner, told reporters.

A United Brands spokesman said it hadn't received the FDA letter and declined to comment. Phusion Projects didn't respond to requests for comment.

The FDA's action came after 18 state attorneys general sent a letter to the agency in September, raising concerns that the drinks appeal to young people and can foster drunk driving.

Last year, attorneys general reached settlements with Anheuser-Busch InBev NV and MillerCoors LLC, which agreed to remove caffeine, guarana -- a tropical berry that is a source of caffeine -- and other stimulants from hot-selling drinks such as Sparks and Tilt. But smaller companies gained market share, and products such as Joose have generated faster sales growth than other alcoholic beverages at convenience-store chains like 7-Eleven.

R. Scott Winters, chief executive of Prohibition Beverage Inc. in Philadelphia, maker of p.i.n.k., a caffeine-infused spirit, said he hadn't received the letter, but would comply with the request.

WANT SOME MORE RED BULL, MAN? SURE YEAH MAN!!!

2009-10-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

From the NY Times, an article concerning the abuse of caffeine, calling for accurate labeling of energy-drinks as to actual caffeine content. An excerpt:

"Dr. Griffiths notes that caffeine intoxication is a recognized clinical syndrome included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases. It is marked by nervousness, anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, gastrointestinal upset, tremors, rapid heartbeats, restlessness and pacing, and in rare cases, even death."

Get yourself a cup of coffee, then read the entire Times article.

Spirit Review - Ebulum Elderberry Black Ale

2009-10-20T20:52:00.001-04:00

Alive in Concert Rating: 5.5 / 10.0

From the Label:

"Introduced to Scotland by Welsh Druids
in the 9th Century, elderberry ale was part of
the Celtic Autumn festivals where the ale
was passed round the people of the village.
This recipe was taken from a 16th
Century record of domestic drinking in the
Scottish Highlands. In medeaval times
elderberries were used in various
concoctions and are known to be high in
fruit tannins and oils. It is a rich black ale
with fruit aroma, soft texture, roasted
grain and red wine flavour, with a gentle
finish.

Ingredients: Malted Barley bree,
elderberries, roasted oats & barley and
hops.

Brewed and bottled by Heather Ale Ltd.
Williams Bros Brewing Co.
Scotland UK.
www.heatherale.co.uk"

To that I will add that it is indeed rich in flavor, with wine and fruit overtones. I enjoyed the flavor very much. My only disappointment was that there was little to no head to speak of, and, while tasty, this brew was rather flat. What you see in the photo above was pretty much all the head there was. I cannot be certain whether this ale is meant to be this way, or if I simply received a bad bottle from a flat batch.

Ebulum Elderberry Black Ale is 6.5% alcohol by volume, and cost me $2.79 for an 11.2 fluid ounce bottle from my local ale supplier.

New Music Review: Moby -- Last Night

2009-10-17T17:35:00.002-04:00

Alive in Concert Rating: 2.0 / 10.0

If Found, Please Feed Roasted Pork
and Place in Incubator.

Moby has been one of the most popular proponents of club / electronica for several years now, although I'll admit I've never been quite sure why. Aside from a couple of excellent tracks and a handful of recognizable commercial beds, his brand of music has always struck me as particularly fey. Ecstasy will do a lot for your listening pleasure, however, and one thing's for sure -- there is nothing in his oeuvre that could in the least bit offend anyone, being utterly innocuous as it is. Like a bowl of vanilla ice cream with marshmallow topping, Moby music eases by with nary a lump or an audio double-take.

This preconception notwithstanding, I sat down to absorb "Last Night" with my ears as open as they could be. I'll offer a running commentary on a handful of tracks.

Ooh Yeah: If you have ever felt the desire to hear a classic Abba disco track with all of the interesting parts removed, and slowed down to a nearly unbearable tempo, then this will be "right up your alley." I imagine the title comes from the fact that a sampled "oohyeaH" is heard consistently, unerringly at the beginning of every four beats. Just a guess. The strongest part of the track is the female vocal harmonies, which are kept timidly buried in the mix, as if Mr. Moby is afraid to make any one part stand out too much.

Okay, that's enough of that - the above-mentioned description holds true for pretty much the rest of the album: one endlessly repeated vocal sample, buried in the mix behind limp disco beats and soft house chords. That's the formula. Nothing interesting in the way of harmony, timbre, or rhythm. Move along, people - nothing to hear here.

Ironically, Moby takes a public stance against the use of drugs. I say ironically, because I think the only way I could be brought to enjoy this music is stoned beyond my cortex. And even then. . .

Overall, after giving "Last Night" the old college try for a few listenings, I would describe it this way: tired, bland, uninspired, and frustratingly unwilling to take a musical stand at any point along the way.

In the Apollonian / Dionysian continuum, music works best at one extreme or the other, unless we're talking about that rare artistic genius who can meld both elements with equal creative aplomb. "Last Night" sits oh so comfortably in some sort of detritus filter, smack dab in the middle of Blah-ville. If it were a book, it would be a competently written plumber's manual.

My advice: save your money for the plumber's manual.

How do Penguins Tell Each Other Apart?

2009-10-15T10:29:00.000-04:00

How Animals Identify Each Other: Insights Into How The Nervous System Processes Sensory Information

ScienceDaily -- The Stowers Institute's Yu Lab has published the results of large-scale imaging experiments examining how social signals are represented in the sensory system. Working with a newly-developed line of transgenic mice that expresses the genetic calcium indicator G-CaMP2, the team monitored neural activity in the vomeronasal organ (VNO), a sensory organ found in many vertebrate animals that detects pheromones.

The findings, which shed light on how animals identify one another, were published in the April 25 issue of Science.

The team's discovery shows that neurons encode information about the identity of animals in very specific ways. Information about gender is encoded by a small population of cells dedicated to detecting sex-specific cues in the urine. Additionally, many of these pheromone cues are regulated by the hormonal status of the animals -- conveying their reproductive status.

In contrast, information about the genetic background and pedigree of an animal is encoded by the combinatorial activation of cells. Such combinatorial activation is unique for each individual, so each animal can be recognized by the signature pheromones they carry.

"We are interested in understanding how the nervous system processes sensory information to generate meaningful perception and behavioral output," said Jie He, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Associate and first author on the paper. "In order to understand the process, we examined the mouse vomeronasal system because we knew it processed pheromone information in a robust and stereotyped way. In doing so, we established that vomeronasal neurons are capable of recognizing gender, identifying individuals, and detecting the physiological status of the animal."

This is believed to be the first study of VNO activation by natural pheromones at the systems level. It reveals an extraordinary richness of pheromone cues and some striking features of pheromone representation in the VNO.

"Our study shows that a dedicated neural circuit is likely involved in processing important social information such as gender," said Ron Yu, Ph.D., Assistant Investigator and senior author on the paper. "Although the importance of pheromones in social communication has been recognized for decades, we knew little about the nature of these signals at the sensory level. This work addresses this issue and provides insight into how social information is processed in the nervous system."

Although, as a species, human beings no longer rely on pheromones in social communications, the functioning of the nervous system follows principles similar to those revealed by the Yu Lab's mouse studies. The neural circuitry in the human brain underlies complex human behaviors. Proper formation of the neural circuitry and seamless processing of sensory information are essential for mental health.

Alterations in either can lead to devastating psychiatric and neurological diseases such as schizophrenia, autism, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Using animal models to dissect the neural circuitry and to reveal the molecular and cellular mechanism behind these important functions of the brain may lead to a better understanding of how the brain works and to possible treatments for neurological diseases.

Read Entire Article from Science Daily

New Music Review - Neptune - by The Duke Spirt

2009-10-15T00:37:00.001-04:00

Alive in Concert Rating: 7.5 / 10.0

"Neptune" -- My introduction to The Duke Spirit -- was recommended to me, and I am thankful for that. After 35 years of voracious music consumption, it is still so rewarding to find something new by creative and inspired musicians - and that is certainly an apt description of the members of this pop/rock group from the U.K.

Without a doubt, the standout feature of The Duke Spirit is the singing of Liela Moss -- rich, deep and full-bodied. Sexy. She has a great instrument and she knows how to use it. I hear slight shades of Janis Joplin, Siouxie Sioux, heavier amounts of early Grace Slick, and, here and there, touches of Hope Sandoval. From the band, I hear some very early Rolling Stones and Kinks, Stax/Volt, and Motown - all well blended with a mix of the major developments in English pop music over the last 30 years. Oh - and a healthy fascination with Sonic Youth.

I hear yet another great British band that knows more about the history of American music than most Americans. This is Rock n Roll -- with a rhythm section that kicks it right on every time.

Equal parts driving and seductive, "Neptune" provides a solid listening experience with nary a clunker in the lot.

The songs are all original, and show a mature sense of song craft, featuring rich and powerful arrangements. These are musicians who know how to interpret their own material. It takes a firm grasp of the musical arts to decide where and when to use a Rock n Roll Flugelhorn.

"Neptune" is a real treat - I am very much impressed - and I recommend it whole-heartedly.

Members:
Olly Betts - Percussion, Piano, Drums, Glockenspiel, Backing Vocals
Toby Butler - Bass, Guitar, Backing Vocals, Horn Arrangements, Vox Organ
Luke Ford - Guitar, Vocals
Dan Higgins - Guitar, Autoharp, Hammond Organ, Backing Vocals, Omnichord
Liela Moss - Vocals, Organ, Harmonica, Percussion, Piano

Book Review -- I Am America (And So Can You) - Steven Colbert

2009-10-12T11:29:00.001-04:00

"I am no fan of books. And chances are, if you're reading this, you and I share a healthy skepticism about the printed word. Well, I want you to know that this is the first book I've ever written, and I hope it's the first book you've ever read. Don't make a habit of it."

And so begins, "I Am America (And So Can You)," by Stephen Colbert, of the Comedy Channel's "Colbert Report." If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Colbert's show, or if you have a difficult time processing extreme irony, then this book will be of little value to you.

On the other hand, If you are familiar - perhaps too familiar - with Mr. Colbert's week-nightly performance as a hyper-surreal Bill O'Reilly/Sean Hannity-type conservative pundit, then you will want to check out his book. Colbert uses the medium effectively, and there are bits of humor that could only work in print: graphs, charts, stickers, coupons, illustrations, photos, and marginal asides abound. In Colbert's brand of meta-humor, the very concept of the "Book" becomes a target of satire, and I will give major Kudos for the creativity involved.

But I will also point out one caveat: the persona that Stephen Colbert has developed for his "act" is ESSENTIAL for an accurate reading of this book. I do not think that this book will work for most readers who cannot see and hear Mr. Colbert performing this book in their minds as they read. In that sense, it is only for the true fan.

I have not yet heard the audio CD version, but I will go out on a limb and speculate that perhaps that may be the best way to enjoy this material. Or - you could make Stephen really happy, get the audio version, and use it to follow along with the print copy that you've also purchased.

According to the credits, the audio version is read partly by Stephen Colbert, but also contains segments which are read by the other writers involved. You could look at it as a down-side that Colbert doesn't read it all himself, until you look at the other people involved: Paul Dinello, Kevin Dorff, Greg Hollimon, Evie McGee, David Pasquesi, Amy Sedaris, Allison Silverman, Bryan Stack, and Jon Stewart. With this line-up of comedic talent, the audio book does indeed have entertainment potential.

In short, if you love the whole Colbert thing, then you should check out "I Am America." But, if you're willing to go that far with your credit card, then you might just want to go for the audio version.

In any case, I'll leave you with one final testimony:

"A great read! I laughed, I cried, I lost 15 pounds! I cannot recommend this book highly enough!" -- Stephen Colbert --

Classic Album Review - 02 - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out - The Rolling Stones Live in Concert

2009-10-11T10:26:00.002-04:00

"Everything appears to be ready - are you ready?. . . is everybody ready? . . . I think I better fasten up my trousers so they don't fall down - you don't want my trousers to fall down now do ya?. . . . . . paint it black..paint it black....paint it black you Devil. . . . . . Charlie's good tonight innit he? . . . . . . We're gonna do one more, and we gotta go. . . The Greatest Rock n Roll Band in the World -- The Rolling Stones -- The Rolling Stones !"

By the time I was 12 years old, I was a full-on believer in Rock n Roll, and I had my first guitar -- a little acoustic number that my Dad had found for sale somewhere. I don't remember the make or the model - I think it was a fairly no-name type of affair. A school friend of mine had gotten one about the same time, and we started hanging out on the weekends, trying to teach ourselves how to play. He figured out a thing here and showed me, and I figured out a thing there and showed him. We both know older kids who played and we got tips and lessons that way. In retrospect, a lot of what we thought we had "figured out" was way off in terms of melody, but we had a good sense of relative pitch and good rhythm -- I have always had a good sense of rhythm.

Mostly how we learned was to do what most every other self-taught musician does - play along with records. We each had our favorites. He was fond of Black Sabbath as I recall, and I tried to cop a lot of AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, the Who, the Beatles, and whatever was on the radio. For a period of about 2 years, the majority of my lessons came from my turntable in the form of "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out - The Rolling Stones in Concert."

Released in the fall of 1970, GYYYO has long been considered one of the best live albums ever - certainly the best live album by the Rolling Stones. It is drenched in Rhythm and Blues, features the excellent lead guitar playing of Mick Taylor, some of Jagger's best singing, and nary a beat is dropped by the duo of Watts and Wyman. This live recording represents the Stones at their absolute peak of potency -- they were coming off the "Beggar's Banquet" and "Let it Bleed" albums, and a few days after these concerts, they entered the studio at Muscle Shoals and put down the first tracks of "Sticky Fingers."

For a kid learning to play guitar, "Ya-Ya's" is a blues-inspired garden of earthly delights. Heavy riffs in the lower registers on Jumpin' Jack Flash and Live With Me. Two shots at working out "that Chuck Berry thing," on Carol and Little Queenie. A very soulful lesson in arpeggiation on the Robert Johnson classic, Love in Vain. Bo Diddley lessons from Keith himself on Sympathy for the Devil, as well as monster chord mashing on Street Fighting Man. And the creme de la creme of rhythm workouts -- the ultimate live version of Midnight Rambler. After the breakdown section in Rambler, the band locks into a 6/8 triplet groove that builds in intensity on a slow grind, until finally busting out -- up-shifting the tempo into the original riff in 4/4 meter. I didn't know how to describe that moment when I was 12, but it knocked my socks off! It still does.

And if you were lucky enough to have had an older kid teach you the magic "blues scale," then GYYYO gave you an entire album to work out your solo technique. Remember - above all else, and throughout all of their various permutations - the Stones have always been about the blues. When I got older, I arrived at the source of this - "discovering" Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and many other blues men. The Rolling Stones got this great music from America, ingested it, made it their own, and then brought it back to us. "Get Yer Ya Ya's Out" bears the finest fruits of that endeavor.

Title: Get Yer Ya Ya's Out - The Rolling Stones in Concert
Release: September, 1970

Track Listing - Side One:
1. Jumpin' Jack Flash (3:13)
2. Carol (3:35)
3. Stray Cat Blues (3:35)
4. Love in Vain (4:50)
5. Midnight Rambler (8:32)

Side Two:
1. Sympathy for the Devil (5:45)
2. Live With Me (2:58)
3. Little Queenie (4:10)
4. Honky Tonk Women (3:00)
5. Street Fighting Man (3:47)

Brain Day - Coffee good for the Noggin

2009-10-10T12:26:00.001-04:00

Well, it's Saturday -- that means Brain Day here at Alive in Concert. A weekly round-up of the top stories related to neurology, neuro- science, psychology, psychiatry, and brain studies will follow. Of course, if you're a "scient"-ologist, then you don't believe in any of this stuff, so - Tom, if you're reading this - now would be a good time to make yourself a sandwich.

First up -- as I sit here nursing my third cup of Kona blend, I feel it imperative to pass along one of this week's best stories. It confirms what we coffee imbibers have always known: that coffee really helps our heads.

Starbucks Can Save Your Brain

photo by thalamus - anno domini 2008

Go ahead, grab another cup of joe – it’s good for you! [BBC] We already knew drinking a little coffee cuts your risk of Alzheimers’. Now we may know why. According to new research, "coffee may cut the risk of dementia by blocking the damage cholesterol can inflict on the body."

Here’s how it works: There is a "blood brain barrier" surrounding the brain which protects the central nervous system, filtering harmful chemicals out of the blood. When you have high cholesterol, this barrier can get a little leaky. Scientists have found, however, that a daily dose of a little caffeine can protect that barrier from the destructive effects of cholesterol.

Go to Rest of Article

Classic Album Review - 01 - Meet the Beatles

2009-10-06T22:17:00.002-04:00

"Meet the Beatles" seems an ideal choice for our first classic album review. My introduction to rock n roll could not have been better if it had been hand-picked by God. Sure, everyone knows who the Beatles are, and everyone loves Sgt. Pepper and the White Album and Revolver. I love all of those albums too. But, MTB never fails to evoke an onrush of nostalgia that makes my big toe shoot right up in my shoe. Everything about this record is so polished. From the dark Bauhaus-ian cover shot to the four young toughs pictured on the back in their matching razor-sharp suits and square-toed, black leather, mod-kicker boots. These are not sensible shoes.

Knowing all of the history that we do, when we look at them now, we know that even though the oldest was only 23 at the time, The Beatles were already seasoned veterans, with years of relentless performing under their belts - at Liverpool's Cavern, and in der Kaiserkeller of Hamburg Germany. They had taught themselves chords and vocal harmony and here was their first album, comprised of 91.6% original material -- they were already accomplished songwriters (the exception being Meredith Wilson's "'Til There was You" - a great vehicle for the smooth croonings of young McCartney)!

Mostly, though, when I listen to this record, the one word that comes to mind is - Testosterone. The vocals are powerful - occasionally breaking into full-on banshee screams. Even the slow numbers seem to have a metronomic tightness and full force vocalization. For me the standout track is I Saw Her Standing There -- it just plain ROCKS! "One Two Three FOW-ER! Play that bass line at that tempo while singing those vocals - go ahead, I dare you. And the harmonies - on this track and the hit single I Wanna Hold Your Hand - nothing in pop music had ever sounded like that. Open fourths and fifths below the main melody - Mean. Exciting. Stimulating. Scores of teenage girls were impregnated just by listening to the thing. Seriously - look it up on Wikipedia.

Also featured is the Ringo-sung, head-pummeling I Wanna Be Your Man, which the lads had earlier given to the Rolling Stones for one of their first singles. The legend is that the two groups were hanging out and the Stones began talking about how they needed a single and they really weren't songwriters yet. So John and Paul sat down on the spot and whipped this little ditty out for Mick and the boys. If you can find the Stones' version, it's worth a listen for a piece of rock n roll history.

A big tip of my hat goes to the Smithereens who put out an album a few years back, entitled "Meet the Smithereens," wherein they cover the entire MTB album track by track. Obviously, MTB had the same effect on them that it did on me, and that makes us related somehow. They do a damn fine job with it too. Some of the fast rockin' tunes lack the same punch and tightness, but overall the Smithereens do a stand-up performance here. Plus, you gotta remember, the members of the Smithereens were probably all over twice as old as the Beatles were when they made the original - so give the old geezers a break!

Kids - do yourselves a favor - if you're not intimately familiar with this album, then go buy a copy today and give it a spin. It'll only take 26 minutes of your time and you won't be sorry. Get a CD or a set of mp3's if you must, but if you can find a vinyl recording in your mom's (or your grandmom's) record collection, then that is definitely the way to go. I can't explain this, but it just isn't the same without audible pops, crackles, and hiss. For maximum pleasure, play it as loud as possible and sing along at the top of your lungs. Maybe even give a banshee scream now and then.

Meet the Beatles
Released: January 1964
Track Listing:

Side One
1. I Want to Hold Your Hand
2. I Saw Her Standing There
3. This Boy
4. It Won't Be Long
5. All I've Got to Do
6. All my Loving

Side Two
1. Don't Bother Me
2. Little Child
3. Till There was You
4. Hold me Tight
5. I Wanna Be Your Man
6. Not a Second Time

This review is dedicated to the memory of my mother who passed away a few years ago. I miss her terribly and thank her for having hung on to a few old records from her youth. Peace.

a seminal moment in the wonder years

2009-10-05T18:50:00.001-04:00

we had a hi-fi set when i was growing up. it was one of those all in one units that they used to make - the size of a buffet table, with simulated wood-grain, and a heavy hinged top that opened to reveal a turntable and a receiver dial. i remember the tuner had a big bumpy silver knob and when you turned it a thin orange band went up and down the narrow rows of numbers - AM along one side and FM along another. It looked sort of like a thermometer where you controlled the temperature.

mostly, we listened to the radio. by "we" i mean my two older sisters who were the only people in the house truly interested in current pop music (i was just coming into my own). AM radio was king then - this would be in the years between 1971 and 1975.

i grew up along U.S. 12 in southern Michigan, and we had our choice of Jackson, Lansing, and if the weather was good, Detroit. AM radio puts out a strong clear signal and CKLW was a favorite choice from Detroit and Windsor Ontario.

a lot of my early memories are associated with music - sound always attracted me, especially the human voice. i clearly remember driving my sisters crazy one day requesting a song i wanted to hear. i was probably 6 years old and didn't know the artist or the title - i just knew it was the "water song with the crickets." I expected them to know exactly what i was talking about - they didn't. they thought i was insane. they always thought i was a weird kid, and maybe they were right.

years later, when i was able to piece this memory back together, i realized that the song had been "Uncle Albert /Admiral Halsey" by Paul McCartney. Go ahead - indulge yourself and listen to it - how long has it been? See if you can decipher the cryptic notions of a 6 year old.

Sooner or later i figured out that we had some "big" record albums stashed in a cabinet in my parent's room - the kind of records that have more than one song. i knew this because that's where i was dispatched one Christmas to get some holiday music. my mom had a collection of Christmas albums: Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Burl Ives, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and The Royal Guardsmen who sang "Snoopy and the Red Baron" which was my favorite.

going to fetch these records a few times, i noticed that there were some other albums in there - not Christmas records - something else. these were records that my mom had had since she was a teenager. inevitably i was curious enough to want to hear them, and my mom didn't see any reason why not.

most times, the power inherent in an inanimate product and the power it can have over the imagination of a child is severely underestimated. i was about to experience an awakening i have never recovered from.

Check Out My Formative Experience

Book RE:
Detroit Radio

Whatever

2008-06-04T11:58:00.003-04:00

The Science of Sarcasm (Not That You Care)

By DAN HURLEY - from the NY Times

There was nothing very interesting in Katherine P. Rankin’s study of sarcasm — at least, nothing worth your important time. All she did was use an M.R.I. to find the place in the brain where the ability to detect sarcasm resides. But then, you probably already knew it was in the right parahippocampal gyrus.

What you may not have realized is that perceiving sarcasm, the smirking put-down that buries its barb by stating the opposite, requires a nifty mental trick that lies at the heart of social relations: figuring out what others are thinking. Those who lose the ability, whether through a head injury or the frontotemporal dementias afflicting the patients in Dr. Rankin’s study, just do not get it when someone says during a hurricane, “Nice weather we’re having.”

“A lot of the social cognition we take for granted and learn through childhood, the ability to appreciate that someone else is being ironic or sarcastic or angry — the so-called theory of mind that allows us to get inside someone else’s head — is characteristically lost very early in the course of frontotemporal dementia,” said Dr. Bradley F. Boeve, a behavioral neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

“It’s very disturbing for family members, but neurologists haven’t had good tools for measuring it,” he went on. “That’s why I found this study by Kate Rankin and her group so fascinating.”

Dr. Rankin, a neuropsychologist and assistant professor in the Memory and Aging Center at the University of California, San Francisco, used an innovative test developed in 2002, the Awareness of Social Inference Test, or Tasit. It incorporates videotaped examples of exchanges in which a person’s words seem straightforward enough on paper, but are delivered in a sarcastic style so ridiculously obvious to the able-brained that they seem lifted from a sitcom.

“I was testing people’s ability to detect sarcasm based entirely on paralinguistic cues, the manner of expression,” Dr. Rankin said.

In one videotaped exchange, a man walks into the room of a colleague named Ruth to tell her that he cannot take a class of hers that he had previously promised to take. “Don’t be silly, you shouldn’t feel bad about it,” she replies, hitting the kind of high and low registers of a voice usually reserved for talking to toddlers. “I know you’re busy — it probably wasn’t fair to expect you to squeeze it in,” she says, her lips curled in derision.

Although people with mild Alzheimer’s disease perceived the sarcasm as well as anyone, it went over the heads of many of those with semantic dementia, a progressive brain disease in which people forget words and their meanings.

“You would think that because they lose language, they would pay close attention to the paralinguistic elements of the communication,” Dr. Rankin said.

To her surprise, though, the magnetic resonance scans revealed that the part of the brain lost among those who failed to perceive sarcasm was not in the left hemisphere of the brain, which specializes in language and social interactions, but in a part of the right hemisphere previously identified as important only to detecting contextual background changes in visual tests.

“The right parahippocampal gyrus must be involved in detecting more than just visual context — it perceives social context as well,” Dr. Rankin said.

The discovery fits with an increasingly nuanced view of the right hemisphere’s role, said Dr. Anjan Chatterjee, an associate professor in the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania.

“The left hemisphere does language in the narrow sense, understanding of individual words and sentences,” Dr. Chatterjee said. “But it’s now thought that the appreciation of humor and language that is not literal, puns and jokes, requires the right hemisphere.”

Dr. Boeve, at the Mayo Clinic, said that beyond the curiosity factor of mapping the cognitive tasks of the brain’s ridges and furrows, the study offered hope that a test like Tasit could help in the diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia.

“These people normally do perfectly well on traditional neuropsychological tests early in the course of their disease,” he said. “The family will say the person has changed dramatically, but even neurologists will often just shrug them off as having a midlife crisis.”

Short of giving such a test, he said, the best way to diagnose such problems is by talking with family members about how the person has changed over time.

After a presentation of her findings at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in April, Dr. Rankin was asked whether even those with intact brains might have differences in brain areas that explain how well they pick up on sarcasm.

“We all have strengths and weaknesses in our cognitive abilities, including our ability to detect social cues,” she said. “There may be volume-based differences in certain regions that explain variations in all sorts of cognitive abilities.”

So is it possible that Jon Stewart, who wields sarcasm like a machete on “The Daily Show,” has an unusually large right parahippocampal gyrus?

“His is probably just normal,” Dr. Rankin said. “The right parahippocampal gyrus is involved in detecting sarcasm, not being sarcastic.”

But, she quickly added, “I bet Jon Stewart has a huge right frontal lobe; that’s where the sense of humor is detected on M.R.I.”

A spokesman for Mr. Stewart said he would have no comment — not that a big-shot television star like Jon Stewart would care about the size of his neuroanatomy.

Spirit Review - St. Peter's English Ale

2008-05-09T19:01:00.003-04:00

Alive in Concert Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

This amber - to - coppery-brown ale features "organically grown hops & barley," and is brewed at St. Peter's brewery in Suffolk, U.K..

A mild, nutty sweetness is finished with a heady dry hoppiness, the bitterness of which was the perfect accompaniment to a piece of ginger bread. Really - I recommend this coupling.

Next, I switched to a thin slice of aged cheddar, and this brought the bitter hops to the fore, but overall the ale still retained a balance of smoothness.

Bottom Line: a symmetrical ale, balancing sweet with bitter and finishing dry and crisp. Very much an "even-handed" ale -- not too heavy, but you'll know you've had a pint. Should be just dandy with an English Roast, or a bacon cheeseburger.

$4.99 for 1 pint, 0.9 Fluid Ounces at my local purveyor of fine spirits.

New Music Review: The Black Crowes -- Warpaint

2008-05-09T11:19:00.003-04:00

Alive in Concert Rating: 9.0 / 10.0

The Faces. The Rolling Stones. Jimi Hendrix. Led Zeppelin. The Band. Dr. John.

The Black Crowes have always worn their influences on their chests, and have proven time and again that not only are they fans but, in a musical sense, they understand their heroes. Chris Robinson and Co. are neither a novelty act nor a museum piece. They have produced consistently vital rock and soul music, and their latest effort, "Warpaint" may be the best so far.

On one hand, I sometimes feel guilty comparing musical artists to other musical artists. I mean, the Black Crowes stand on their own without having to make unfair comparisons to the Rolling Stones, right? On the other hand, they DO often sound like the Stones, and what's wrong with that? Would the Crowes really mind if anyone said so?

Besides, I think such comparisons are inevitable and unavoidable. What other way should we talk about music than to show its connectivity to tradition? And certain musical forms are more rooted in generational traditions than others -- like Jazz and Blues, for instances. One really shouldn't discuss the Rolling Stones without mentioning Howlin' Wolf or Muddy Waters. Laying out such landmarks for reference points gives credit to the source and also lends credence to the artist for proving worthy of being mentioned in the same breath. Ultimately, it allows for a broader commonality of rich musical language that we can all converse in, once sufficiently enlightened.

So, with that out of the way, let's go through this album for my second listen, and put down some random thoughts concerning musical guideposts.

Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution

This playful sense of rhythm - simultaneously loose and tight, sloppy but disciplined - is a 100% nod to The Faces. But the Crowes have now made this sound their own - it is now the "classic" Black Crowes sound. Wonderful slide guitar work.

Walk Believer Walk

Starts with a riff I can only describe as AC/DC, but soon turns into AC/DC heavy gospel dirge. More tasty slide work. I love the bass during the refrain. A little solo vocal chanting, a la Black Dog.

Oh Josephine

Almost everything about this cut sounds like Rolling Stones circa 1973: the opening acoustic sound, the soft wah filter on the lead guitar, the Keith Richards harmonies, the Nicky Hopkins-like piano, and Chris Robinson's lead vocal. If he wanted to embark upon a career as the Mick Jagger Experience, this would be a good demo. Really a beautiful song. Wonderful instrumental ending with a lovely little modal vamp line.

Evergreen

Heavy introduction - sublime dissonant intervals on guitar riff -- strong musty whiffs of Manic Depression -- more perfect organ work - C. Robinson in fine full sonority. Guitar solo = more shades of Hendrix. Who is this drummer? Note: must learn more about the drummer - he is extraordinary.

Wee Who See the Deep

Drum intro: Cripple Creek? Guitar riff: a graft of 25 or 6 to 4 with the turnaround lick from Hey Joe. Glorious and unexpected harmonies on the Chorus. I love the guitar solo, and now want to touch the hem of the drummer's garment. Outro features a breakdown to piano, vocal and slide guitar. Nice.

Locust Street

Mandolin intro - piano entry at chorus is absolutely spot-on gorgeous. I'm wishing they could have gotten hooked up with Emmylou Harris for this one. Beautiful chorus melody like a long lost child of Graham Parsons. This one is pure Americana.

Movin On Down the Line

It's all right sisters, It's all right brothers. Is that a mellotron? (Led Zep - No Quarter) Intro vocal chant build up and build up until it sounds like an outro instead, then the rock kicks in. Turns into some kinda New Orleans / Dr. John funk for a few lines. Main lick sounds like a little piece of Beatles' I Feel Fine riff. Instrumental breakdown section in funky 7/8 time with sweet harmonica soloing. Rhythm section is making me ruin my underpants.

Wounded Bird

Chordal intro -- The Seeker? After the first verse, song enters a beautiful and totally unexpected melody for the chorus -- it's grabbing me hard. Is this my favorite of the album? Could be.

God's Got It

Swamp stomp. Heavy. Think: Buddy Guy's "Sweet Tea" album.

There's Gold in Them Hills

Lyrically, a variation on Bob Dylan's Isis? Musically -- stunning. Just Brilliant. Chris Robinson's full talents as a singer are on display here -- excellent phrasing -- inspired melodies. Also, the Crowe's combined talents as an ENSEMBLE unit shine and shine and shine here. The honky-tonk section of this track is worth the price of the entire album. Random associative thought: the movie, "McCabe and Mrs. Miller."

Whoa Mule

Lyrically and musically, a perfect follow up to the previous track. The B.C.'s show off some folk roots, with this Irish / English-style jig transplanted to American soil. Wistful and innocent, it proves to be an effective way to cap this rootsy and soulful album.

So what else can I say? If you have even the tiniest inkling that you might enjoy this album, then by all means go buy it today. . . Now! I didn't think they made 'em like this anymore, so get it while it's hot.