Free Week #3

Wilco:Blue Sky Blue

I know I have sung the praises of Wilco before.Their last three cd's have been most excellent.'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' is a modern masterpiece.'A Ghost Is Born',though somewhat lesser of the two cd's is brave and goes beyond the grandness of Foxtrot.Their double live cd,'Kicking Television' puts out some of the definitive versions of some of there best songs.

And boy,does Wilco have great songs.I can not imagine how joyless my life would be without knowing such great songs such as,'Jesus,Etc';Christ For President';'I Am Trying To Break Your Heart';'I Must be High';'Via Chicago';'Ashes Of American Flags';'At Least That's what She Said';'Hell Is Chrome';'Kidsmoke';'Hummingbird';'Wishful Thinking' and many many more.

Now,comes their new cd,'Blue Sky Blue'.And,like most Wilco cd's,it is not totally like any other Wilco cd.'Blue Sky Blue' is what I would call Wilco's most commercial cd to date.And I mean that in a very good way.Throughout the cd they channel 'The Eagles','The Allman Brothers Band' ,Neil Young' and other 70's icons....while still keeping it 2007 fresh and a blazing new Wilco.

Jeff Tweety and company have done themselves proud.Just listening to songs like,'Impossible Germany';'Sky Blue Sky';'Please Be Patient With Me' and 'Hate It Here',make me want to have a record listening party.

However,like most of the freshest,newest sounding music,the full affect of this cd's greatness does not hit you until after your forth or so listening.Beware,you will be caught off guard catching yourself humming and singing these tunes if you give the cd the chance to grow on you.I know with the throw-a-way music that is out there now-a-days that is asking allot.But this Wilco cd stays with you just like the music did in the good ol'days.And that is high praise,indeed.

If there were any justice,Wilco would be king of the FM radio heap.This is exactly what today's modern FM radio should sound like.

A

Jack Johnson

'Sleeping Through The Static' is one of those cd's that you almost instantly fall in love with,and want to continue playing over and over.

Sure,on first listen you are taken away by the seemingly easiness of it all...

...that is Jack Johnson for you.Whether driving the madhouse interstate or laying back on some warm tropical beach,this cd is both entertaining and soothing enough to thoroughly enjoy.

But,there is some bite to this music.Jack sings about darker subjects here than he has on earlier works.His laid back style vs. his poignant lyrics remind me somewhat of Hank Williams Sr.He gets you into an upbeat dancing rhythm all the while breaking your heart at the same time...ache enough to share,even when you are alone,I guess.

The opener,'All At Once' leads perfectly into the title track,'Sleeping Through The Static'.Both are anti-war anthems...or,perhaps,more precisely,heart break songs of giving up and giving in.The ending lyrics to 'All At Once':'Sometimes,it feels like a heart is no place to be singing from at all',pretty much says it all,and sets the tone for the whole album.

Yet,Mr.Johnson,does not leave us without,'Hope'.'It will defeat you and teach you to get back up' & 'hope you are not alone',are very powerful lines.

The very short,'Angel' is another song of contradiction,followed by argumentatively,the weakest song on the cd,'Enemy.'This song is too much of a lullaby for my taste:caution,do not operate heavy machinery or attempt to drive a vehicle while under it's influence.

Next,is the,perhaps Sufjan Stevens inspired,'If I Had Eyes'.This is probably the album's biggest jam.It is one of my favorites.

'Same Girl',is a smaller,'Sleeping Through The Static'.War on a personal level.This one gives you the feeling of making love-not war.

I love the almost marching style of drums on the more traditional J.J. song,'What You Thought You need'.'Adrift' flows nicely into one of my favorites,'Go On'.'Go On',to me is a very endearing song of passing...loving someone enough to let go.

*

'They Do,They Don't',is the glue that holds this cd into a cohesive whole,mixing both the war and personal lost & hopelessness themes together into an almost religious song(similar to:The spirit is willing but the body is weak).Ditto with the intermingling short,'While We Wait/Monsoon'(Monsooner or later).

*

'Sleeping' ends with a nice ditty called,'Losing Keys'.

A week seems like too little time to listen to this almost perfect cd.

A

FREE WEEK# 2


Taking the 'free week' concept to new levels(yes,Ms.Keys is once again on top),I actually ordered a 'free' cd to listen to.I want to give a big thank you to the great state of Louisiana for sending me this great actual 'Time-Life' cd of Cajun and Zydeco classics.

I initially wanted to review this cd last week as that was when Mardi Gras ended and Lent began(ask me about my Lent hat).But,it didn't get here in time...and besides,I am getting ahead of myself.

I first fell in love with New Orleans' Cajun influences through what I consider one of the best Tv shows of all time:'Frank's Place'.Think 'Northern Exposure' before 'Northern Exposure'.CBS really did this Tim Reid vehicle and it's viewers a grave disservice by switching this all time classic television show from one time slot to another.

I first fell in love with Zydeco music when it was featured in the,'Big Easy' movie.I immediately went out and bought the album.Pass the crayfish,gumbo and jambalaya,please.

I was very happy to get this cd in the mail.I have heard of such groups as 'Buckwheat Zydeco','Queen Ida' and 'BeauSoleil'.And of course I have heard of such classic songs as,'My Toot Toot' and 'Zydecon Gris-Gris'.But this whole compact disk rock and rolls.

Jo-El Sonnier's version of Hank William's 'Jambalya' almost HAD to be included.But I am really glad that 'Give Him Cornbread'(by Beau Jocque) was included.This song put me so much in mind of Andre' 3000 that I do believe that I could be shaking my cornbread like a Polaroid picture.

'Sugar Bee' could be a great Rod Steward cover,except that it is better than most of the things he's ever sung.

The dance crazy,'My Girl Josephine',by Queen Ida and her Zydeco Band,is more than a toe tapper...it's a body mover.

In fact,this whole shindig is a party in the making.You can hear the heavy influences of early rock and even earlier country and western.This free cd suceeds in wanting you to go to Louisiana to hear this great music live.

Nuff' said!

A

1st Free Week

...OK,second free week...But when Alicia was in her 2nd week at the top I knew Juno would be next...so I hedged my bet....

Audio Eagle Records is an Akron, Ohio-based record company owned by Patrick Carney, the drummer of the Black Keys. I like Northeastern Ohio music.I actually have quite an extensive collection(for a collector that just dabbles,anyway).So this cd and myself are a good fit.
I was expecting 'good stuff',and to hardly my surprise,this compilation of Ohio bands fit the bill.From the opening riffs of the first act,Doug Gillard's,'Four What I've Done' to the final note on the last tune,'Chalklit Phye II' by Gil Mantera's Party Dream,I got a such a wide variety of Ohio rock,that a Drew could not have been happier.

Trying to pinpoint which of these groups stoodout the most on this compilation proved much harder to do then I expected.This album did what most radio stations have forgotten to do....mix music.Songs flowed steadily from one song into the next.This cd was like a holy text to great Ohio rock and roll...not just a bunch of compiled songs.This album was much more then just a bunch of single acts,alone.It was like chapter and verse on how to listen to great music.

A example(but neither the prime example ,nor necessarily the best example) of this comes in the middle of the mix.The Buffalo Killers','The Path Before Me',leads you into the Black Key's,'Nobody But You',which then brings Hell's Information's,'Song Six' to the forefront of your attention.You keep going"!WoW!How can the next song be even better...but it is!

Yet,another great mix comes next on the playing order,
'Spanish Fly',by Deathly Fighters,flows so exactly into the excellent Seven Parts Six song,Stolen Moments,that when Brainbow's,'Secret Histories'comes on,you are,again,totally blown away.

A week hardly seems enough time to absorb all this good stuff.I am in anguish just knowing that I can't name and go into every song in this review(but I gotta mention the Heartless bastards:-).

Great album

A

Juno

In what could had been a quirky,'Afterschool Special','Juno',the movie,is a fun
filled surprise.The acting is terrific(especially the delightful Ellen Page,as the title character,Juno),the plot engrossing and the music...

...Well,I have never 'heard' a soundtrack-not a score,mind you,but a soundtrack-that fits so well within the actions of a movie.Every song more than fits.Every song fits perfectly.


What makes this movie so fresh,also makes the soundtrack so refreshing.Neither is over produced to the point of blandness.Neither feels like they are produced by a committee of generic people just for the pointless reason of make beau·coup bucks(think Opie Taylor's "The Grinch That Stole Christmas')...

...And unlike some rap videos where renting out mansions,monsterous amounts of bling,Royal Royces and a thousand party girls is considered keeping it 'real',Juno feels so true to life,that you almost wish your teenage life could have been this real:And the whole point of the film is that Juno is pregnant!

Reading the liner notes to the cd,I discovered that the music all came together when the maker of the film,Jason Reitman,asked his female lead,Ellen Page,what she thought Juno would listen to.Miss Page downloaded,'Anyone Else But You' by The Moldy Peaches and they were off.

It seems a main part of The M.P.'s is a singer-songwriter named Kimya Dawson.When contacted,she brought tons of wonderful songs that make up the back bone of the Juno soundtrack.Kimya Dawson's work rocks!Not in the 'bang your head & scream your head off' way that seems to pass for rock and roll now-a-days,but more in the 'you can tell she just loves to play music' variety.She whistles,sings off key,laughs,harmonizes with what can only be her friends or siblings...I just loved her sound.So,when I played the cd for my boys(whom had not seen the movie) I was expecting radiating joy coming from their faces.

The were not immediatly impressed.They thought the first song('All I Want Is You',by Barry Louis Polisar) hokey;'My Rollercoaster',by Kimya,pointlessly short.Though they had heard of the Kinks before(hell,they are even fans),'A Well Respected Man',seemed just OK.They liked Buddy Holly,but the 'Up The Spout' song by Mateo Messina was,to them,just another short bunch of nothing.

WoW! I wasn't expecting this.Could the very strength of this cd-that it fit so well in the context of the movie-also be it's weakness:Could it be that it fit only within the movie,and that it could not be totally appreciated without it?One comment was that 'it seemed like they were making up the songs as they went along'...

...Damn.Was this an 'American Graffitti' nostalgia type movie...meant more for forty somethings reminiscing about their teen years then a movie meant to play to today's youth?The same with the music?

Then,we got to Kimya Dawson's 'Loose Lips'.Of course,this changed their minds.It wasn't just a good chorus of 'Fuck Bush/Fuck this war' that changed their minds(I don't know what it is about the word 'fuck' in music that makes it seem so hip),it was the rest of the lyrics (if you want to burn yourself/remember that I love you/if you want to cut yourself /remember that I love you/and if you want to kill yourself/remember that I love you).They loved this song.The positiveness of the music...and then everything else somewhat,somehow made some sense to them.

Not that the cd is totally perfect.The movie played very little of Sonic Youth's version of The Carpenter's,'SuperStar',and for good reason.I agree with Juno's assessment of Sonic Youth-they're a bunch of noise(Hey!I like noise,but I have heard noise done way better than this).And I have heard ,'All The Young Dudes' a quadtrillion times too many already.But,If I wasn't a Mott the Hoople fan or if I was a teenager,I know that I would have appreciated it being on the Juno soundtrack allot more than I did.

All in all,this has been the best cd that I have had the honor to review,yet.But...if I hadn't seen the movie...I don't know.

A If you have seen the movie

C+ If you haven't