In Appreciation: Bea Arthur

(May 13th, 1922—April 25th, 2009)

In the final season of The Golden Girls, it is revealed that Rose’s (Betty White) husband Charlie may have slept with Blanche (Rue McClanahan). The news horrifies Rose but Blanche produces records that keep track of her ‘social’ activities to ease any fears. Rose then asks her if she didn’t sleep with all the men why is it that the books are labelled B.E.D. Blanche replies that it stands for her initials—Blanche Elizabeth Devereaux. Dorothy (Bea Arthur) who has been watching this interplay then quips a deadpan yet classic line, ‘your initials spell B.E.D?’ and gives the audience a kind of half-winking look and you can’t help but erupting with laughter.

Bea Arthur was to elicit such smart and tart-tongued dialogue over the thirty-eight years she spent doing comedy. The Golden Girls series itself was not the start of her immense relevance as a comedienne but rather a continuance. Her deep voice and imposing height had prevented her from landing the classical feminine roles on and off Broadway but were the very tools that landed her fame on television, a medium she was initially skeptical of.

In 1971, her friend and All in the Family producer Norman Lear asked her to guest-star in an episode as Maude Findlay, Edith Bunker’s (Jean Stapleton) cousin. Lear wanted the character to be the direct opposite of Archie Bunker (Carroll O’Connor), hence modern, feminist and loud in intent. Arthur, who was near fifty at the time—an age where most careers have already peaked, proved to be a smash and the following year landed her a series of her own simply called Maude.

The rest, as they say, is history but the success of the show is deserving of real analysis and not just clichés. Maude was the first real outspoken female lead character on American television. She was several-times divorced, spoke back to her husband and the intimacy of the conversations was at times shocking. Of course, Lear’s savvy as a producer was to mimic the wider popular culture and foment subtle change through the writing and his characters. Arthur fleshed out Maude as a real woman, not the stereo-types that dominated the screen in the 1950s. Maude was not the model housewife nor always had dinner waiting for Walter (Bill Macy) and would often threaten him with the catch-phrase, ‘God’ll getcha for that, Walter’. Through Maude, Arthur connected to an audience of people, mostly older women and feminists who felt due representation of their issues had finally captured real interest. It’s most definitive moment though came when Maude had television’s first abortion (November 1972), a mere two months before the landmark Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision. Arthur, in subsequent interviews, exclaimed surprise at the heated reaction of the letters she received from fans for and against the decision. It showed though that television didn’t operate in a vacuum but helped to foment a conversation among individuals. Through it all the show was a hit in the ratings and she won an Emmy for her lead performance in 1977. Watching the episodes on YouTube, one senses that Arthur was being led unwillingly into the type of celebrity that the stage hadn’t prepared her for. She hadn’t expected to have a real impact on lives but more so the reverse; drawing inspiration from the lives of others to help shape her character. Never one to overstay her welcome, Arthur left Maude in 1978 after six years, thus ending the series. She hoped to get back on stage and never expected to do another series again.

All that changed in 1985 when NBC had an idea for a series with four older women living together in Miami and the role of Dorothy Zbornak was being floated around as a ‘Bea Arthur type’. The role proved to be a pivotal one; the character being the lynchpin for everyone else. Dorothy was level-headed, harsh yet fair and good in a crisis. Her daughter-mother relationship with Sophia (the late Estelle Getty) is among the most revered in television still and her dealings with her ex-husband Stan (the late Herb Edelman) garnered many guffaws. Dorothy’s relationships with these two characters are so realistically portrayed that it allowed the series to defy the odds of success. I doubt now that the show, or Maude for that matter, could thrive in the Neilson ratings without Arthur’s presence being able to command a slight awe yet grasp on comedic timing. Her one-liners are priceless: telling Rose that her daughter moves faster than Marcus Allen after sleeping with her son (Michael) after knowing him for one day. Intimating that Blanche had landed on her back more than the American Gladiators. Telling the girls how Stan surprised her with a wedding ring in a wine glass and it turned up three days later…on the Home Shopping Network when Rose’s naiveté presses the issue. The caustic wit with which these lines are delivered and her serious expressions remain the true legacy of her work and she was honoured with another Emmy in 1988. As in the case of Maude, she left the show feeling it had explored all its avenues and couldn’t possibly top itself.

The influence of The Golden Girls is palpable enough, from the several American spin-off shows and global affiliates it spawned. It remains in syndication long after it ended and shows like Sex in the City and Desperate Housewives wouldn’t have been possible without the success of The Golden Girls and the topics discussed. The fan base of the show has expanded to more than just women over fifty but also purists of good comedic writing and gay men in particular, for whom Bea Arthur is an icon. One can see the clear correlation between Dorothy and a character such as Miranda (SITC) and Lynette (DH).

Thirty-eight years after introducing a smart, feminist type to television audiences, Bea Arthur leaves the stage knowing that her legacy has secured the continuity of such strong-willed female characters. Bea Arthur died of cancer-related illness and was eighty-six (86) years old.

“The Fat of the Band”

No Line on the Horizon (U2) (2009)


As I sat to write this, I remembered when former Observer critic Marlon James said that the reason U2 was failing as a band (circa 1997) was because the group ‘never rocked to begin with’. I’ve had time to assess such a statement with each release after Achtung Baby and, not surprisingly, came to the same conclusion. Apparently, so too did the band because they have spent the ensuing years tinkering with a sound that has never been known to settle for uniformity. It took guts to follow up War with the experimental The Unforgettable Fire then bridge both ideas with the master-stroke that was The Joshua Tree, and for that U2 had my respect. No other band sounded more vital in the 80s nor had the grasp on crowds that turned up to be a part of the arena-rawk movement that the band had help foment in Europe.

Then a new decade came and kids were expressing rage through grunge by listening to Nirvana and the burgeoning college-rock scene exploded with voices like Michael Stipe (R.E.M) and Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins). It’s not that U2 panicked but more like they tried to buy into a scene that they could never fit into with arty collage efforts like Zooropa and Pop. Suddenly U2 were everywhere, at the drop of a pin, snatching every conceivable popular culture moment while ignoring their music. Thus they stopped being the ‘best band’ in music and became the ‘biggest band’. I’m not sure what such a label means though because Radiohead is undeniably the best rock band out there---stop kidding yourselves and agree already---and Coldplay the biggest selling (out?!) band, then where does that leave a dinosaur like U2?

So, now what does Bono do…he goes back to the drawing-board and regurgitates. That means Brian Eno is present to sweep sonic gloss over No Line on the Horizon and the band queues up and dole out exactly what is expected of them. The title track opens things up fairly enough but by track two---the uneven Magnificent—Bono is already crooning that he was here to sing for us and he couldn’t help it if he tried. As if. Then there is Get on your Boots where Bono deigns to remind us, albeit briefly, that he still considers himself a rock star. As if. The album ender, the numbing Cedars of Lebanon, if not pretentiously-titled already, has Bono’s vocal wrap slumbering over such hash like, ‘This shitty world sometimes produces a rose/ The scent of it lingers and then it just goes’. Lyrically, the track tackles the very issues that the band is dealing with but it’s devoid of any passion or sense of direction. Not surprisingly, the band fares better when the lyrical focus is on Bono particularly. Breathe succeeds in at least firing them up in an almost religious fervor. Bono’s sonorous approach doesn’t harm as much as it placates.

The album however trips under its own deep-rooted good intentions far too often. This is not surprising as given the halo of irreverence that surrounds Bono; it was always likely that the band would eventually nosedive under its own excess. Not only is White as Snow terribly boring but a line like ‘Who can forgive forgiveness where forgiveness is not’ serves as a test to the resolve of even the most diehard fans (and there are many, trust me). Fez takes forever to start up and until it really gets going I feared some type of (gulp!) Sting-like train wreck best suited for mid-level business managers at the end of a stressful work day. Stand Up Comedy is embarrassing enough with clunky lines like, ‘The DNA lotto may have left you smart/ but can you stand up to beauty?’ Moment of Surrender is the worst offender though in terms of pure verbiage. Here is Bono, sounding as if on a cross himself, draining all energy out of an already lacking song.

The biggest problem with U2’s music however is one of direction or the lack thereof. Back in the late 80s they helped to define and amplify a movement that preferred their rock stars front and centre on stage and not generic dispensers of isms. It’s not that the music here is totally horrid but for a band that used to evocate loss and sadness on a grand scale, a track like Unknown Caller simply pales in comparison. Nothing sticks thematically except Bono’s nauseating goodwill. War had its Irish politics to frame protest from and The Joshua Tree suffused loss in a myriad of unforgettable ways but what keeps die-hard fans from openly admitting how terribly uneven No Line on the Horizon is framed , is really beyond my comprehension.

The most stunning thing about the average U2 fan though is how clueless their music appreciation is. They praise the ground U2 walks upon yet conveniently ignore Radiohead, the band Bono is desperately copying with each record. Ironically, these fans do not listen to Radiohead and would sooner recite the fifty states that make up the USA than come up with any three songs from that band. Nothing is wrong with adapting ideas though and using them ruthlessly for your own schemes, I mean look how fabulous Paper Planes turned out for M.I.A and now everyone loves her even though they wouldn’t give her the time of day initially. When U2 pillage on this record though the effect is a type of sappy sentimentality that I always suspected Bono of. There is a deep insularity to No Line on the Horizon as if its own reward was upon completion. Of course this threat of gratuity looms as the years pass for each band, especially one as celebrated as U2. Bono has been accepted by every cultural indicator that we mark as a sign of someone who has achieved importance and in that inner-peace zone we all idealize. The trouble is, like Sting (ugh!) it is precisely at that point where the insistence and hunger to record music wane significantly. Twenty-five years ago when the future was unsecured and in front of the demanding crowd Bono then was an effective lead singer, railing on the hopes of those who couldn’t be up there with him. That is, essentially what rock and roll is, but whose pain is he eviscerating now? Even worse, Bono has forgotten what he is: a rock musician. His music has stopped influencing his politics and the reverse is true, thus making his statements less than the sum of their parts. Now, U2 is too neat, too concerned with saying all the right things, too flawless to make a beautiful yet flawed piece of art.

I never took that Bono statement at face value when he said it but the mere fact that he felt the need to reapply for vitality meant that on a very deep level he understood the predicament that surrounded him. His failure though is in clinging to a safety zone that is boring at this point, instead of opening up his band to newer possibilities. That, in a nutshell, sums up No Line on the Horizon, an album that toils hard at its insides and still, for all its labor, comes up empty and well short. Heading into a fourth decade, it is clear that those great, relevant days are behind U2 and we are all witness to what Marlon James calls, to borrow another quote from him, ‘talent leaving the talented’.

RATING: 4/10

“Swedish Smorgasbord”

Fever Ray (Fever Ray) /Hardships! (Jenny Wilson) (2009)


Though it is a Sri-Lankan born revisionist who currently jangles the keys of popular music, there can be no doubt which country is generating the most buzz to keep pace with her; Sweden. While the UK posse (Duffy, Adele and the prodigious Laura Marling) has greater visibility, the Swedes have permeated North American dance- floors with a swathe of bonafide hits. Sure, you probably can’t spell or pronounce any of their last names but their infectious beats are what you’re currently listening to without realizing it. There’s Robyn, the art-pop boss whose most recent gem, the self-titled Robyn shows just how much Pink has run out of ideas…and that album was originally released three years ago. Lykke Li’s debut last year showed spurts of promise with great dance tracks like Dance, Dance, Dance and I’m Good, I’m Gone.

No such cache could be complete however without mention of Karin Dreijer Andersson and Jenny Wilson. Both women share more than just the same year of birth but Wilson was famously the only other act signed to Andersson’s label, Rabid Records. Andersson is more popularly known as one-half of The Knife, the critically acclaimed duo she formed with her brother ten years ago. Their 2006 album Silent Shout featured prominently on many year-end lists, with critics marveling that not since the emergence of Bjork in the mid-nineties had non-American electronic music been presented so innovatively.

Her solo debut, Fever Ray starts off harmlessly enough with If I Had a Heart but as that track fades away we come upon the album’s highlight, When I Grow Up. Here Andersson’s beats are sparer than usual but a wicked dancehall groove is dropped midway and her vocals soar above the din while remaining emotionally unattached. There’s lyrical poison here but Karin understands that in music less is more even if you’re telling tales. Seven and Triangle Walks are intangibles that somehow work but by time she reaches to Concrete Walls, the album has already been enveloped into a sense of Knife déjà-vu. Andersson retreads into her safety zone and only I’m Not Done shows any real need to tinker with a sound that has been hers to dispense. This is understandable in most cases as record labels do tend to wean new or exotic acts slowly and as carefully structured as they can. But Andersson is, after all, releasing Fever Ray on her own label and, pardon my slight frustration, but it’s widely known among their fan base that there will be no new Knife material until 2010.

Andersson’s glacial pop beats are a canvass from which she can explore such varied ideas as homoerotic longing (Pass This On) and subtle swipes at Bjork (We Share Our Mother’s Health) but that’s when she’s one-half of The Knife. What eventually comes to differentiate her role in The Knife and as Fever Ray is personality. Her identity dominates totally the Fever Ray project and Karin falls slightly into the trap of back-story; thinking that somehow her fans need re-introduction to her life and music career. That scope narrows the fun she could have had on this solo project, which is admittedly admirable but surely could have skimmed the top off its seriousness to let its guard down a bit. Just like TV on the Radio’s much hyped Dear Science last year, the album is a tad pedantic and sacrifices fun for statement too much for my liking.

Whereas Andersson remains stoically in character, Wilson isn’t able to sit still for too long. She throws in just about everything to enliven her tracks, including jazzy textures and carefully-aligned multiple vocal work—the latter which supremely lifts the closing minutes of We Had Everything. It is fair to say that she’s been leading the Swedish avant-garde movement and look no further than Strings of Grass, a track that unfurls her many stylistic tricks without missing a beat, to prove such a point.

The first three tracks on Hardships! alone virtually guarantee Wilson her retainer fee however. The Path sounds like a cross between retro white pop and early-Bjork, thus making it one of the best songs the year has revealed so far. Like a Fading Rainbow is a pas de deux that she alone inhabits. Along with Clattering Hooves she sounds eerily similar to Camille’s animated expressions on Music Hole last year. On the shrilly Pass Me the Salt and Only Here for One Night, she recalls the playful vibe of Cansei de Ser Sexy and Roisin Murphy, which speaks volumes for her given that Wilson’s voice never registers as aggressively. Hardships! establishes itself as a moderately progressive opus due to the smooth juxtaposition of the electronic beats and associative rhythms. Anchor Made of Sand typifies this transition and if you don’t believe me then listen to her debut and hear the slight moments of disconnect that mar otherwise engaging tracks. The Wooden Chair is a huge jam that benefits from her new-found restraint. Wilson now has the ability to harness her delivery more coherently and that’s the most strikingly thing on Hardships!

Even though there’s nothing as masterful as Let My Shoes Lead Me Forward--a track from her debut that perhaps Lilly Allen should’ve heard before releasing the ridiculous It’s Not You, It’s Me mid-February—her vocal nuances are less abstract thus easier to follow. I’m glad Wilson has continued to plug away at her oeuvre so much so that she’s grown comfortable in strengthening her songs. The only issue with the album, if I had to be picky, is that while she has expanded her song length, Wilson hasn’t unearthed much about her own inner-workings. If Andersson is guilty of flooding listeners with her back-story then Wilson presents hardly any at all. The tracks where we glean something of her life tend to be the most fascinating here as her fans are well weaned on her sprite tales by now. In a sense she’s continuing a tale rather than breaking away to commence a newer one.

Both women owe a huge debt to Robyn, in whose path they are following. The transformation from Swedish dance star to global pop phenomenal isn’t one that easily comes without years of struggling to raise personality and profile. Andersson sports a mask on the rare occasion she is publicized or interviewed and the Fever Ray cover is in line with this caricature. Wilson dons a beret and arms herself with a gun, as if readying for what is to come on her album cover. If Annie ever gets to re-release Don’t Stop this year then I suspect a turf war with the lasses emerging from Norway may be next.
Fever Ray: 7.5/10 Hardships!: 8.25/10

Merriweather Post Pavillion (Animal Collective) (2009)

‘Checkmate’

Two years ago Animal Collective decided to play a little game of dare in the blogosphere and have the chips fall where they may. Both dares---the critically acclaimed Strawberry Jam and Person Pitch---were immense triumphs. Yet in the process of this revelry of sound was rooted a division that no one involved except them could foretell its outcome. Critics fell over themselves in praise of Person Pitch, hailing group member Panda Bear as the next electronic messiah in the process. Words were lavished upon its organic tone and Beach Boys-like sunny verses. In fact, this praise nearly drowned out the reception for Strawberry Jam, an album that naturally featured Panda Bear but just not on lead. This was seen as Avery Tare’s counterpunch, a stealthy directive that could only leave one leader standing. I, for one, fell for Strawberry Jam hard because it is their ‘pop’ album: a convincing juxtaposition of their hazy, water-logged sound and catchy lines. Amid this tussle though it became clear that aspiring electronic musician had a new model to emulate but still which direction would it be for them to follow?

The answer is, of course, the brilliant Merriweather Post Pavillion. This end result was always going to be the band’s to provide and instead of abandoning either ship, Animal Collective have cemented their union with the marriage of both pop and electronic sounds into one huge, larger-than-life apotheosis. One can always tell when a band has transgressed when their every release is seen and felt as a statement. As is their tradition, they gave hint of their resolve on the Water Curses EP last year but kept the real stunning stuff to themselves until now.

The album opens with the dreamy In the Flowers, a track that rumbles as if underwater with heavenly choruses being shouted out by the band. It’s the best thing here, with its potent poetry (‘if I could just leave my body for the night/ then we could be dancing/ no more missing you while I’m gone’) and seamless production matching its sombre, regretful tone. The track—indeed the entire album-- celebrates not just the restless New York energy that defines Animal Collective but also the precious memories and loved ones they’ve gathered along the way. The lucid song writing of Avery Tare and Panda Bear can claim the giddy heights of John Lennon/Paul McCarthy because what Merriweather Post Pavillion really excels at is manifesting the band’s personality; something most electronic groups cannot yet put forth on record.

This frees the band to experiment within a foiled sound that seemingly has become their own. Also Frightened overdubs itself more pointedly with each verse, with no apparent hook other than repeating its chorus and dragging its lines along to full psychedelic effect. Such audacity only comes from a band assured in its stature and not concerned with playing it safe. Even bolder is the anthem aspirations of songs like Bluish and My Girls, both swirl with heavy grooves and performed well in advance at concerts. Other tracks like Brother Sport reveal a personal side to the band with lines like, ‘I know it sucks that Daddy’s dumb/ open up your throat Matt/ support your brothers’. It’s more than poignant to hear Panda Bear address a personal issue on record like this (Brother Sport is for his brother, aimed to console for their father’s passing) but also vital to the process of life itself. Art does not stand outside of real life and Merriweather Post Pavillion triumphs by recognizing that and embracing it wholeheartedly.

Of course, it’s all very manipulative to a musical extent. Nothing about Merriweather is left to chance. Critics who may have felt the need to hesitate with the left-leaning Strawberry Jam have been buttered up into the Person Pitch comparison trap viciously thus can offer no opposition here. Hell, even Panda Bear has gone on record already to state that this is, in his view, the best thing they’ve ever assembled. As the reviews churn out expectedly greater than before (Pitchfork even went as far as to assign its mega-serious 9.6 rating) it is obvious that come year-end this opus will be highly regarded still. I call that a win for this group of friends who, rather than divide over creative styles, remain together to craft inimitable songs about their love of music. Now if only Deakin can pull himself together then the trio can become a foursome again. For now though this is a clear checkmate, a game over career move. Time for critics to unreservedly hand them their crown and a fork while they’re at it, the sooner for the band to start carving out their next fantastic sonic adventure. It may be very ealy in the year but I suspect already that a better album will not be released this year.

9.5/10

THE 50 BEST SONGS of 2008: PART TWO

Happy New Year to everyone who visits my blog. I thank you for checking it out and spreading the word. This year will see me using the blog even more to update my reviews and thoughts so please continue to read and feel free to comment.

It's taken me a while to post this second part of my list but I felt it important to do so. Though my top 10 has already been published in Bookends, this space allows me more words to express why I chose these tracks. Here goes:


Top 10 songs of 2008


1. 'Wait for the Summer' (Yeasayer):

I have put a youtube link up for this song already but if anyone who is familiar with the track will know of its majestic build-up only to be blown away by the Americana vocals that critics seem to think only Fleet Foxes used last year. The range of emotions covered by Yeasayer on the track are stunning; a clever, honest delving into a human mind, jealously guarding its love and self-conflict. But there is also obsession bordering on creepy here too, as manifested in lines like, 'it's an accidental fall/ and they won't suspect a thing at all'. Towards its end, the inevitable occurs: a lyrical murder beautifully smothered with lovely repetition.


2. 'Twinkle' (Erykah Badu):

How any serious critic could compile a top songs list last year without a Badu track is beyond me but it shows how little R&B is still thought of. Nonetheless, Badu's masterful assessment of the African-American experience shows how issues trancend generations. Writen before Obama would become the first non-white President, the track outlines how different ages view each other. When she croons, 'they say their grandfathers and grandmothers/ work hard for nothing/ and we still in this ghetto', it illustrates the economic hunger causing strain within the projects. The beauty of 'Twinkle' though is that Badu leaves it without judgment, just clear explanations on both sides. You listen to it though and the honesty of the music leaves you with only certain dread that things will never change.


3. Buriedfed (Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson):

If there was a better song of '08 that summed up those depressing days when you question existence, your friends and your sanity, then it slipped me big time. 'Buriedfed' is pessimistic, awaiting and choosing death instead of stubbornly clinging on. Robinson frames this desperation in couplets of different stories but no persona frightens more than when he shouts out, 'fuck you/ I just wanted to die'. Even up to its end, the conflicts are no less fraught with danger.

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4. 'Money Note' (Camille):

Rotating endlessly over non sequitors about Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Dolly Parton,'Money Note'is literally just that; an examination of divadom and its exclusiveness. Of course being French allows Camille to delve into the totally American concept without seeming dishonest but the smartness of the track is accompanied with her stylistic tricks that prove far more accomplished than the aformentioned superstars.


5. 'The Leash' (Xiu Xiu):

The male-to-female sexual transgression in popular music has no greater lyricist than Jamie Stewart and 'The Leash' is a brilliant stab at the resentment festered on both sides of this obsession. It is unreservedly queer--not in the way that Antony Hegary is--but Stewart can frame tunes that both sexes can recognize their foibles in. History is replete with men rejecting fellow men as lovers, denying that part of themselves that readily is seen as weakness. Stewart frames 'The Leash' from the view of the forlorn lover who is at one hurt yet understanding. 'God had made your sweetheart wrong/ born to suffer/born only to die', he croons in one couplet. Yet there is urgency to resolve too; the track ends with, 'but you cannot deny me as a woman/ oh ensign/ I was your woman'. Disturbing yet morbidly fascinating.


6. 'Alla This' (Ani DiFranco):

A vicious yet sweet anti-war, anti-branding, anti-sexist track that restores the feminine mystique only DiFranco seems to hold up, years after being out in the fields. It figures such a complex artist would not be able to do a ballad decked out with only personal views on, say, such pastoral things like the changing of the season. Not Ani, not ever. Here she swipes organized religion, George W Bush and just men on a whole. Whew!



7. 'Sincerely, Jane' (Janelle Monae):

A big part of why my trend of '08 was 'return to art' is this magnificent track by Monae, a visionary who makes the R&B flock like Ciara, Beyonce, et al look as if they really are not even trying. Whereas those musicians are still fumbling to focus on anything other than themselves, Monae's concern is the projects and spiritual upliftment. 'The way we live/ the way we die/ what a tragedy/ I'm so terrified', she laments on the chorus as the Cindy Mayweather persona who is the chronicler of the experience.




8. 'The Healer' (Erykah Badu):

I'm still grappling with the fact that cokemachineglow actually had Badu atop their year-end album list. It's unheard of that a R&B record would beat the likes of TV on the Radio and Fleet Foxes on a publication that is skewered towards rock music but that is the cool thing about Badu; her music transcends genres. That's why she can take apart hip/hop the way she does on 'The Healer' and proclaim it, ironically, its own worst enemy. History notes always that the oppressed turn around and become oppressors. This haunting middle finger is thrown yet not even she can deny that the bent other four fingers on the hand will rise up one day to claim their fame too.


9. 'DVNO' (Justice):

Following up in some huge footsteps, 'DVNO' achieves its aim easily. Justice are a tricky proposition yet juxtaposing beats and repetition is easy enough but you need real genius to get these booty-shaking results.





10. The Only Bones that Show' (Baby Dee):

Dee rasps along, guttural yet determined as is if pouring out this track is the inly thing left to do in this uncaring world.

2008: The Year’s Best Music: ALBUMS

It is testament to the diverse year popular music has enjoyed that even up to the time of writing this I wasn’t exactly sure who would land the top spot. I know that sounds weird but I had to use a near-mathematical structure just to show the degrees between the picks. Thematically, there was no one artist trending who overshadowed everyone else. Twelve months ago M.I.A’s landmark Kala topped my album list and threatened to let loose a funky, global infection of beats and matching attitude. Note that word—attitude—because maybe, just maybe, that was the signpost of the year. By the way, if you’re still fooling yourself that she isn’t the biggest music star globally then check her out on SPIN’s December cover and even the ultra-boring Grammy’s couldn’t ignore her anymore (her Paper Planes snagged a Record of the Year nomination). It is interesting though that the state of popular music has repositioned itself to a more critical bent, one I think that even conservative record labels are being forced to accept. I caught an interview on YouTube recently with the year’s best ‘find’, Janelle Monae, where she talked about her creative process and how artists now are more concerned with quality, not sales. This is a stunning about face from the music industry. Need proof: Monae is signed to Bad Boy records, a label notorious for milking every dime it can.

It is all dicey for now but this is, to borrow from a political slogan, ‘change we can believe in’. This is especially heartening because hip/hop soul is the genre headlining this change. No one played a bigger part than Erykah Badu, who returned with an album that put her contemporaries to shame. Badu is her generation’s conscience, an artist whose entire personality embodies the cyclical nature of a movement. If she resurrected soul eleven years ago with Baduism, then she filters it in stages with part one of her New Amerykah series. The aforementioned Monae—who is, in truth, part Badu, part Joi, part Lauryn Hill—is the result of such an evolutionary process. She is an assortment of influences flooding creativity. Ruling music is what Santi White is all about too. Billed as heir-apparent to M.I.A, White—who is the main entity in Santogold—spun newness over the 80’s vibe that she’s comfortable pandering to. Some were divided but that’s only because such mastery over an era we’d all like to forget is a stunning thing. So, thanks to those women American hip/hop is finding itself again. After years of obvious degradation, things are changing. Other genres are playing catch up but rock looked inward and found much tenderness. Dance music dominated early on but acts like Hot Chip still flounder for full length album consistency.

My list features, for the first time, no one album that is an immediate masterpiece. The top pick received 8.75 out of ten on my scale. There is a reason for this but for all the consistency this supports my view that it is a care-taker year. I hope next year will see an all out attack on our pop sensibilities.

Here are the 20 best albums of 2008:

1 Metropolis Suite I: The Chase EP (Janelle Monae): ‘I’m an alien from out of space/ sent to destroy you’, croons Monae on her lead single Violet Stars Happy Hunting and given her penchant for all things robotic, pardon me if I believe her. Monae is the mixed propulsion of many innovators like Outkast, Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill and even the cool weirdness of Bjork. She’s grown up listening to them and filtered them through her own dedicated lens. The aforementioned Violet Stars... is gloriously carefree with its energy. But funk aside, soul music is given the freshest spin since Aaliyah on Many Moons and Sincerely Jane. Along with the title track, the EP is stunning it the scope it explores. She’s got people believing in soul music again. Look out for her debut proper because that’s domination time. 8.75

2. New Amerykah, Pt. One: 4^th World War (Erykah Badu): Badu, at thirty-seven, has come full circle with New Amerykah, a disc that gleefully erases the frustration one feels hearing lesser artists attempt such depth. What separates her from peers is her ability to take chances while taking stock. All this while showing humour and resilience: her focus on The Healer stunningly puts hip/hop in check with the stark reality that the genre is currently, ‘bigger than religion’. No matter her politics—whether personal or controversial—Badu has finally complimented her 90’s masterpiece Baduism with an equal worthy of all the admiration my mere pen can ink on it. 8.68

3. For Emma, Forever Ago (Bon Iver): the story of Justin Vernon going off to mourn the end of his band is famous now but the question that will continue to taunt him is why hadn’t he done so earlier? If this becomes the normal result of embattled musicians then I’m all for it. For Emma, Forever Ago is a gorgeous album, best listened to early in the morning or during rainfall. There’s peacefulness, a type of resolve to tracks like Flume and Lump Sum. He could have padded the album with safe, structured songs but credit him for clenched-teeth grit of The Wolves (Act I & II), the brilliant endgame of Creature Fear and the title track swirls endlessly into the stuff of greatness. 8.66

4. Santogold (Santogold): Philly native Santi White is the residual force of this entity (John Hill runs the tweaks in the background). The album effortlessly mirrors the 80’s pop vibe she clearly fell in love with growing up, without overdoing it. Subtle tracks like Lights Out and Anne reveal a Pixies fixation that is mingled with a contemporary funk intuition. Even better, the punk-tinged You’ll Find a Way runs its heavenly chorus with remarkable skill. Not content there, she rolls out ska by numbers on Say Aha and infuses it with dub and new wave. If that hasn’t hooked you then L.E.S Artistes tags along merely for bragging rights and, as brawta, Shove It downright kicks ass. She could have comfortably fit right into ‘American M.I.A’ space critics were desperately trying to pin her down in but White’s brilliance is as stubborn as it is unique. One hell of an authoritative body of work too. 8.59

5. Dear Emily, Best Wishes, Molly (Prussia): for the most part, punk was pretty low-laying this year but no one told Prussia. These kids actually impress upon the genre their own intent: Oil wreaks itself with a type of narcissism, slick its space with lyrics that actually fits its title. Supreme Being glides over its start-stop-start terrain. There’s a wide-eyed pragmatism that Prussia blends on the album that keeps the focus steady. Even more stunning is the funkiness of their beats (Lady, Lady). It’s not all sledge here; there’s some real heart and realism in it too. Besides how does one not love a Rolling Stones-esque track like Closed Lips? 8.44

6. All Hour Cymbals (Yeasayer): released in the USA around the same time Radiohead dropped In Rainbows, Yeasayer’s debut got almost no attention. Indeed, I hadn’t even heard of them until its release in the UK this year. Good thing too because it is one hell of a debut: Sunrise opens things up with a lovely vibe but even it pales to the next track, Wait for the Summer, arguably the year’s best track. It’s a revival and big Western tent concept that swells with each couplet and it never let’s up. 2080, another epic track, features some children voices towards the end in a classy touch. These are, incidentally, the first three tracks. The rest of the album is just as fascinating with its variations of tension of emotion that the band can muster. 8.40

7. Music Hole (Camille): it’d be a pity if Music Hole is allowed to fall through the cracks this year because though it has received scant blog attention, its best tricks rivals that of any other disc released. Katie’s Tea is one of many stunning numbers that feature the chanteuse outmanoeuvring her American counterparts. These divine moments (Home is Where it Hurts/ Waves/ Kfir) uncover the true indicator of her growth: a broadened palate of influences. If that isn’t enough then check out the seven minute wonder that is Money Note, one of the great tracks this year. 8.40

8. In Ear Park (Department of Eagles): part Grizzly Bear (Daniel Rossen) and part New York air, this band builds their tracks from within a smouldering motion and recycles them through winsome experimentation. No One Does it Like You is atypical of their sound but even within such set standards they find ways to eke out brilliance: Teenagers is a daring riff and the masterpiece Waves of Rye rotates itself blissfully. Not often can folk and electronic acts find the nexus between both genres and manage such gorgeous results but DOE get away because their aspirations are always to take and never to seek permission. 8.30

9. Exit (Shugo Tokumaru): Not because every year-end list must have some vaguely-known foreign act is Tokumaru here but this is just some damn fine music by way of Japan. Parachute is a gorgeous pop number, replete with a sing-song chorus. Green Rain twitches with a fiddle a-la’ Animal Collective while Button may be the cross-over hit that could make him known in America’s pop market. The track features actual singing juxtaposed with steep instrumentals. While blogs praise American experimentalists like Deerhunter and Gang Gang Dance, they bore me because I know they can push beyond the confines they work with. Tokumaru is the best line of reasoning this year to support my view. 8.29

10. Vampire Weekend (Vampire Weekend): there will be endless comparisons to Paul Simon but unlike him VW are unrelenting in their ability to just have fun. The one-two punch of Mansard Roof to Oxford Comma is among the strongest this year. Several critics have tried to negate the feel-good aspect of the band, as if their Ivy League achievements exclude them from musical greatness. What they fail to mention is beyond the surface of all this hippy vibe, there is complexity in volumes. A-Punk throws riffs around like prized boxer. The Peter Gabriel name-check in Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa is more than a ploy, it’s an allegiance call. Lyrically, there’s some breathy stuff too: M79 and Campus are both backed up by furious twiddling and backing choruses. Conventional wisdom would have us expecting a letdown at some point but VW clearly do not pander to the idea of their music have greater significance than to themselves and, quite frankly, that will do for now. 8.27

The best of the rest:

11. Dig, Lazarus, Dig! (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds): this year’s Nick Cave apotheosis has the towering title track setting the mood for wiseacres that carry right through this blistering opus. 8.25

12 At Mount Zoomer (Wolf Parade): it’s not easy trying to follow up an immaculate debut but somehow I never doubted Wolf Parade would do it. At Mount Zoomer is a complex sophomore effort, replete with great craftsmanship. 8.24

13. Sun Giant EP (Fleet Foxes): if the ultimate aim of an EP is to whet one’s appetite for a new band then consider Sun Giant an overachiever. 8.22

14. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson (Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson): depressing as hell, especially the masterpiece Buriedfed, but seldom has a musician been able to sum up the hopeless state people can get in at times. 8.20

15. Chunk of Change EP (Passion Pit): like Of Montreal, this band has a whale of a time grinding emotional love axes. 8.13

16. Furr (Blitzen Trapper): quietly moving across its intent, Furr proves how skilful Blitzen Trapper peddles their brand of blues/pop-rock and taking risks while doing so. 8.00

17. Skeletal Lamping (Of Montreal): a thinking man’s idea, Barnes presents a portfolio that incorporates his usual eccentricities and queer vagueness. Prince is the role model here so this embodiment is sexier than before, edgier and pushing more buttons. 8.00

18. Red Letter Year (Ani DiFranco): DiFranco, an iconoclast in the middle of a career arc, proves that there’s still much left in the tank despite her hectic pace. 8.00

19. That Lucky Old Sun (Brian Wilson): or, Smile part two, Wilson continues to document his love affair with Southern California via a musical travelogue. 8.00

20. Please Mr. Boombox (The Lady Tigra): think of a sound that is reminiscent of M.I.A but without the divisive politics but with just as strong a personality. 8.00

THE 50 BEST SONGS of 2008: PART ONE

While we wait for the publication of my top 10 songs of the year (in the Bookends section of this coming Sunday Observer) here is the listing from 11-50. Last year I did a top 100 and that was the intention this time around but due to an unexpected change of my computer set up, I lost all those songs I had amassed. I'm bummed by the loss but my PC has never moved quicker so...

Many of these songs will appear on other lists and I'm not surprised because the quality of them all is unimpeachable. Quite frankly, the order at times could have been switched up and i would not have minded. Ok, here we go:


50. Run (Gnarls Barkley): the one really great rump-shaker from the sophomore album that wasn't quite a slump but not exactly mind-blowing either. This is the type of jittery blast of cool magic that Cee-Lo can accomplish in his sleep and here he does it like the ringmaster we've come to love and accept.


49. Kids (MGMT): fun stuff yes but as much as a call to arms as a return to innocence dance retreat. MGMT prove here that they are not just about airy, flimsy pretensions but skimming that surface to give a glimmer of a future....er, growing up.


48. Beat (Health, Life and Fire) (Thao and The Get Down Stay Down): a breathy, manipulative feat under the three minute mark. Thao frames her feminism mystique slowly, sweetly but ultimately to the detriment of her doomed lover.


47. What New York Used to Be (The Kills): no matter that the 'used' could drop its last letter to describe that lovely modern continuum, lead singer Alison Mosshart nails the decadence we're all hustling towards.

46. Sax Rohmer #1 (Mountain Goats): I tried hard not to like this track, I tried to classify it as too earnest, too insistent but for all its flawless traits the song hints at a type of moralistic right of way that is oddly affecting.


45. Galaxy of the Lost (Lightspeed Champion): an interesting pop/rock/country mix from this dude who most critics would have forgotten already but Lightspeed deftly proves that mashing genre boundaries can be fun yet vital.
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44. Apocalyptic Friend (Eef Barzelay): a fuzzy, one-tone social commentary aimed at getting you ready for the afterlife? Hmm...maybe Barzelay is the pop soothsayer we've been dreading all this time but it's hard to hate this pretty awesome message.


43. Skeleton Man (The Evangelicals): wispy, fragile like breath blowing in the wind, Skeleton Man treads nicely but the scary bit towards the end fantastically puts it over the top.


42. Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Helio Sequence): somehow I just knew this would end up close to the previous pick and why they remind me of each other is unclear but this yin yang effect remains vivid. It's the best track from their solid latest album because it best resonates their simplicity bordering on greatness.


41. Many Shades of Black (The Raconteurs): while I was not a fan of the last White Stripes project it wasn't because Jack White was slacking off but rather because he wasn't peeling away layers fast enough. This slow burner stops you dead in your tracks every time you think a rocker can't be tender or find tender things to say.


40. Keys to the House (Mono in VCF): a real tear-jerker of love lost, labored over and finally put away with cool professionalism.


39. Mummy Beach (Hot Lava): a luscious throw-away to a lusty past, full of recollections that seem more than just a passing fixation of the older woman.


38. Royal Flush (Big Boi featuring Andre3000 & Raekwon): hopefully this is just a tasty treat to sate us from the impatient wait for the next album from Outkast---hell who am I fooling, from either of the principals. It's another major sample project but really no one does this pastiche better.


37. Poison Dart (The Bug featuring Warrior Queen): though only non-Jamaicans will fall ape shit over the entire album, this track stands out because it doesn't try too hard to be hardcore...it just is. Warrior Queen nails the bad chick prototype and could actually teach her local counterparts a thing or too.
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36. Transitional Joint (Elzhi): hip/hop at its old school finest.


35. Santa Claus (Lee 'Scratch' Perry'): though Repentance is largely laughable fun (I mean that in a good way of course) it's good to know that the original stepper can unsheathe himself into a powder keg of power from time to time, just so you know who the boss is.


34. Snake in the Grass (Thomas Function): a joyous throw-down of punk attitude encrouching upon guitars.


33. Mercy (Duffy): if Amy Winehouse was the drunk, beaten-down Brit hope last year then here comes Duffy, shining white Chanel suit-light upon a pop landscape that was/is willing to accept her gorgeous 60s-loving ditty.


32. Down the Line (Jose Gonzales): a perfect, seamless ode to those hoping against despair and somehow managing against the odds.


31. Flowers Forever (Black Rosary): psychedelic, lush wonder.


30. I've Got Your Number (Passion Pit): a Valentine gift for a girlfriend, Michael Angelakos lays a wickedly insistent falsetto down to prove how the retro feel of electronic music can have heart and a good head for what just sounds right. You can dance to this mutha too.


29. Paper Planes (M.I.A): it had seemed too unreal for Miss Arulpragasam to land a Grammy nomination for this her American hit but lo and behold even stuffy suits are taking note. By now you've all heard about the Clash sample hijacked with cash registers and her whiny vocals so no need to beat it to death here but note the perfection of the pastiche method and creed: steal, beg, borrow, use. That is the trademark being celebrated here.
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28. Creature Fear (Bon Iver): even though the rainy season is behind us, this song--hell, the entire brilliant album--still makes me feel like a downpour of raw emotion. The breathy, desperate end is rushed but you sense of longing has never ever been better etched within a pop song.

27. He's My Man (Jean Grae): 'each morning/my man/goes downtown' croons Grae bordering on a double meaning that is as stunning as it is subversive but if Grae excels in positing a feminine level of intelligence on other songs, here she incorporates another element, something shouldering relationships and it is poignant, desperately self-involving.


26. My Manic & I (Laura Marling): the Grammy website claims that it recognizes excellence in music irrespective of album sales but if that's the case then why did Duffy and Adele land nominations and the amazing Marling did not? That's a side issue but as proved by this track, Marling's depth as a singer-songwriter runs circles around the other two.


25. Highly Suspicious (My Morning Jacket): yes, it's an excuse to imitate Prince but I'm not complaining.


24. Knots (Pete and the Pirates): not bad for a rock song trying to plug into emo a bit too much.


23. Crimewave (Crystal Castles): electro-clash deluxe...you see, this is possible with vocals.


22. Wicked Wisdom (Of Montreal): Kevin Barnes aka Georgie Fruit aka black she-male unleashes his, er...um, manifesto?


21. I'm Good, I'm Gone (Lykke Li): toe-tapping pop nugget.


20. You Cheated Me (Martha Wainwright): sister of Rufus but with this track she has supplanted him as head diva of that family. The track is the ultimate trap of male-female relationships...evolving to a type of Fatal Attraction level of letting go and all the difficulties that get entangled along the way.

19. Blind (Hercules & Love Affair): their debut is a tad overrated but with Antony Hegarty old-mail vocals soaring, this track literally sizzles, whether in the gay clubs or at your week-end treadmill work-out.

18. Gamma Ray (Beck): still locked out of his funk mansion but Beck is at least on the road searching hard and this pop jam is the perfect clue.


17. Cold Shoulder (Adele): I'm not sure what spell Chasing Pavements has worked on you but this soaring, jazzy number made me believe that this brash Scot could have something going for her after all.


16. Williams Blood (Grace Jones): sixty you say, sixty...for real?!
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15. Mr. Carter (Lil Wayne featuring Jay-Z): ho-hum, the two male power-houses of rap not named Outkast team up to assess each other as well as to flow their crank. Weezy twists his lines crisply---note the subversive use of 'parapalegic' twice---and that pussy rant will crack you up. Brilliant.


14. Divine (Sebastien Tellier): the other French pop act on the list, Tellier's Sexuality opus didn't contain enough frothy tracks like this one but who knew you could dive head first into pop and find super pop?


13. Block of Ice (The Oh Sees): screaming 'leave me alone yet play with me' at the same time, just add a touch of weirdness and, presto, here's the end result. I'm surprised I love it this much too.


12. Waves of Rye (Department of Eagles): spins so gorgeously that its beauty makes me giddy.


11. Mykonos (Fleet Foxes): if I read one more year-end list praising their debut--easily the most over-hyped album of '08---I'll literally puke but their EP contains sunny moments of raw joy and this was the most haunting track on it.

GRAMMY PREDICTIONS

I do not normally weigh in on the Grammys but seeing that I mentioned it yesterday then I might as well put in my two cents worth for the nominations (to be announced tomorrow). Now, going through the prevoius years in this decade, one realises that the nomination process is one of circuitry but every now and then a surprise sneaks in. my main grouse with the Grammys is the process. It allows music execs to push rather forcibly the mainstream acts they want to be highlighted in major categories while shutting out/restricting everyone else in minor categories (if they land a nomination). It is not for anything that some of the great innovators of modern music have not won in deserved categories.

That said, once you have been annointed with Grammy gold --think U2, Sheryl Crow, Norah Jones---it is equally difficult for you not to be nominated. This is called playing it safe and all award shows are notorious for it but it just seems like the Grammys, per capita, suffer from this nepotism to its own detriment.

This year marks a low in terms of album sales in North America and it's very ironic that in a year when the collective creativity bug hit, the financial rewards have been thinly rewarded. What accounts for this? Beats me but I think a new, dynamic way to market all viable artists could help. Music can encompass us all, not segregate into skewered categories aimed merely to forever divide.

I won't wade too deep here...just the four main categories and a smattering of others.

Record of the Year

This is the popularity contest that best shows Grammy voters trying to be hip with what sold well as well as to compromise with sentimentality. With music lovers choosing to buy/download singles instead of albums, this is tricky. Nonetheless, Coldplay's Viva la Vida has been enormously popular (not on my year-end song list, so I'm not heavily for it) and Grammy loves them to an extent so don't be surprised to hear it announced. Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl had shock value and in this post-Prop 8 vote could be seen as a controversial choice, one that would play out nicely for the cameras. Rihanna will be hard to ignore as her chart domination continued with Disturbia or even Take a Bow. Then there is Duffy's infectious Mercy, a sunny throw away to a Motown past that seems destined for a nomination. Leona Lewis has a lot behind her too so Bleeding Heart could force someone else out. I wouldn't be surprised if the sentiment is will a B.B King track ends up here or sap like I Apologize by OneRepublic.

Song of the Year

Snag one and you're almost guaranteed to land the other so all the above information applies but as that would be too predictable, the Grammys also tends to give singer-songwriters great consideration here. So, Jack Johnson could get a track here. Jon Mayer, your nomination is here. Maybe Adele, Snow Patrol, Alicia Keys and all the usual suspects.


Album of the Year

The biggest question here is if the nominating body (NARAS) feels it can avoid Tha Carter III. It's among the best selling albums of the year, as ambitious as albums come and critically loved. If Weezie doesn't get nominated then a lot of potential viewers will not tune in so I think his may be a lock. There may be room, gulp, for clunkers like E=Mc2 or Hard Candy because they sold fairly well but it seems unlikely this time around. I'm not sure if Key's As I Am is eligible or if U2 put out anything but Grammy loves them so expect anything. B.B. King could be in the runnings as well as Jack Johnson. There is Kanye West on a album-nomination roll...there is Ne-Yo consistently improving and looking to get nominated. Coldplay surely will land a nomination but which of the women will?


Best New Artist

Fairly straight-forward: Duffy seems the favourite but while Estelle, Adele and Leona Lewis could complete a quadruple sweep for British talend, word is rife whether former AR rep Santi White will have enough clout to land a nod for her outfit, Santogold. If she gets it then surely we can have hope for the year's most blogged band Vampire Weekend. Or it could be Katy Perry edging out some country act like Taylor Swift.

Now, you may read this and say gee, Neil isn't being very specific and I'm not. I have my reasons but chief among them is that I don't really care for the nomins. Now, a big 'x' factor is Radiohead's brilliant In Rainbows album as, technically, it was released this year. Given the overwhelming praise the album garnered (no.8 on my year end list for '07) it will be the perfect weather vane for Grammy change this year. Here is the biggest rock band in the world releasing arguably the best album of the year and freely distributing it online. This challenges the comfy pace NARAS treads on but here here comes a stubborn test. Last year great albums by M.I.A and Animal Collective among others were ignored for comfy artists but I suspect the time is ripe for a change. We will see in less than 24 hours.

2008 ARTIST OF THE YEAR:

"...and the winner is?"

Last year was a pickle for my choice of 'artist of the year'; sure, M.I.A had redefined world music/ hip-hop with Kala but there was Panda Bear, who was a part of two innovative records, two feats of electronic ingenuity that I couldn't ignore. That said, M.I.A won because her ideas were bound to wreak more havoc on the music scene as well as the fact that she stands alone now--by way of usurping Bjork--as the artist critics, fans and fellow musicians now think leads the way to which we all respond. That's a heavy-enough mantle for any one person and rightfully so, no one could carry the wave around without broadside help this year.

Still, it was curious who was the defining artist of the year...many names came up, names that blogs have been clamouring to put on their year-end lists. But even if you go by that count, no one person stood out definitively. But something did.....just not any one person.

Perhaps Janelle Monae said it best in a youtube interview I watched a few days ago...now, it's ok if you are asking yourself Janelle who (her music was recycled by Bad Boy records from last year) but the point is her words. Monae reiterates that the concept album is not only en vogue but here and now. And we've seen this especially in the last couple of months...Beyonce, Kanye West and Coldplay---three of music biggest names---all tried their hands at concepts that they could have eschewed in order to cash in even bigger than they are currently. This idea of a return to art is not exactly novel but it is refreshing especially for commrecial acts as those I mentioned. It is so easy for commercial success to be met only by commercial success and not exploration of art. It's not easy: too often we as listeners and critics think artists are solely in charge of their careers but there is a direct link between commercialism and the musical effort. That is a fact and it's the rare artist that can escape that with each recorded album.

Which lead us back inexorably to the outcome of this blog entry...but by now you know where I'm going with all this. This year, I choose a concept and not an artist per se as my 'artist of the year'. The concept is, simply put, the return to art. This I feel was carried over from last year and will be brought forward to the new year. Hopefully award shows like the hopeless Grammys will FINALLY recognize the trend and go with that in mind when the nominations are announced in a few days time. I'm not terribly optimistic but we will see, won't we?

Hurricane (Grace Jones) (2008)

“Yes, I Am a Witch”

I’ll admit first up that my caption for this review is lifted from a Yoko Ono remix collection released last year but given the eccentricity involved I think it fits most appropriately. If Ono is singularly the most enigmatic woman ever in pop music then Jones is the woman mostly pigeon-holed right behind her (Bjork fans don’t despair: your favorite Icelander is no doubt third).

Hurricane, her first album of new material in nineteen years, continues the interesting juxtaposition Jones presents to pop music and art. Of course, Jones hasn’t been totally gone the past two decades: twice her return was stalled for reasons unknown but also she has done odds and ends contributions. This has only whet my appetite for her however because as interestingly poised she is globally as a pop star, not many kids are growing up knowing of her actual music even in this youtube era. Let’s face it, if Patra (remember her?) hadn’t remade Pull Up to The Bumper eons ago then Jones would be only a talking point. Hurricane is only nine tracks but these are well mapped-out funk concepts. Williams’ Blood, the stand out, breaks out in hives with each couplet. All the well-tested stylistic tricks are presented by Jones in it, like a ringmaster carefully controlling our rapt attention. One could get lost in the artistry of it but it is the seemingly biographical lyrics that are stunning. Jones isn’t the first artist to hail from our shores to have revealed so much personally on record but given her oddity status it is intriguing. I’m Crying (Mother’s Tears) pays homage to maternity but it is suffused with enough multiple vocal work to pull itself off without sounding too contrite. Sunset Sunrise follows in this vein but its effect is dependent on the strength of her pastiche and its usage.

This brings me to the main kink in the album: its production, or more precisely, its deluxe production. Lead single, Corporate Cannibal is more art than song. In fact, its deftness is in its spoken word matching pace with the minimalistic beats. The video is visually arresting and it will enhance her reputation for always being ahead of the curve but her producers are treating her with the same type of gloves that she was sparring with two decades ago. At the height of her prowess, Jones’ visual oddity was backed up with aggressive vocal work and songs like My Jamaican Guy that totally simmered within its own conviction. As good as Corporate Cannibal is, it lacks the guttural juice needed to wow listeners like her earlier stuff did. Nineteen years ago, perhaps it’d be held as exotic but times have changed. The definition of cutting-edge music is perpetually changing and it’s always a bit odd to see an artist like Jones not in total command of modernistic gimmicks. Ivor Guest and Sly & Robbie are among the main handlers of her sound here so that means a technical excellence that is as consistent as it is unimpeachable. This doesn’t take into account, however, the current state of pop music. Britney Spears’ robotic utterances on Womanizer are horrific punishment on my ears, for example, but the beat is modern and oddly challenging. My point: the beat shouldn’t just thud, it should ‘sell off’, as we say locally. Hurricane is an elegant thing but it could have thawed out more or subvert itself to a more threatening existence. The last three songs are the weakest because the fit with her vocals and the beats are not as tight. They feel slightly like filler.

Artists are expected to evolve always…their sound should be tinkered with until the right combination is found. When they pause too long then that leads to trouble or, ultimately, stagnation. This is partly why Bjork has been usurped by M.I.A in the eyes of music critics as the leading exponent of pop music. Circuitry and insulation have led Tori Amos and, of all persons, PJ Harvey away from the brilliant originality that attracted audiences to them in the first place. This is why Buju just doesn’t seem quite as vital now in spite of the occasional hit. The very reason why I no longer care what Pink has to say.

When Jones’ producers throw caution away then the result is the gorgeous This Is Life, a hybrid of different Jamaican rhythms and syntax that mutates midway into shards of feedback. When Jones yells, ‘this is me/ flying the gate…’ the entire thing collapses lusciously upon itself. I don’t need a lyric sheet to tell me that the production contribution of Tricky (himself enjoying a great comeback year) manifests itself on the title track--which has been mixed around for quite some time now and is an utter delight to hear. It builds slowly and takes off when he trickles in, giving it a nice trippy vibe.
2008 has been big on legends returning with music but in almost all those cases they’ve brought nothing new to their repertoire: Madonna’s Hard Candy sticks in one’s throat rather uneasily. Q-Tip has put out something decent but it’s a sideway thrust not a forward one and even the greatest of them all, our own Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry leaves the listener baffled more than once with his art-meet-pap/pop Repentance. Grace Jones has already earned the right to be considered one of the greatest exponents of popular music and Hurricane is a reminder of that. She succeeds where those aforementioned artists fail because the control panel of her style has never been too residual within her. That’s why team Jones rises to challenges and smoothes over the blimps that limit Hurricane but simultaneously such a PR effort reveals little if anything at all of what is to come. They have however-- to use a weird culinary term—managed to take her out of the freezer but not totally sizzling in the frying pan just yet.

2008:THE YEAR IN MUSIC

Well, well, well...it's almost here: starting December 1st I will start to be publishing what I consider the best trends of the musical year. It has been an interesting year but, hey this is only the teaser for you to come back....

see you soon...