| Body Politics
Perhaps it's unfair to begrudge Mr. Lif the right to record a stinky-booty song. Every hardworking MC is entitled to a little alleged comic relief, and hip-hop has long shown an affinity for the mundane facets and pitfalls of sex. But Lif's not every MC, and his previous record, 2002's I Phantom, wasn't just any rap album. It began with Lif asking a friend for a handgun and ended with a cataclysmic landscape of fire and ash. In between, it examined the cause and effect of urban economics, from corporate-sanctioned drudgery to the realities of growing up with absentee, work-three-jobs parents. It was heady stuff, rapped with sass and confidence. Mo' Mega, by contrast, is thematically scattershot and packed with easy targets. Lif's talent with bitter-tongued lyrics and acid-poet imagery hasn't weakened, but somewhere along the way, he failed to recognize that the fullness of his previous disc's worldview elevated him above all the ego-tripping hacks who blend self-serving, undergrad-level political protest into the eternal quest for hip-hop lucre.
Critic's pick
It is impossible to overestimate the importance of Rick Rubin's creative reassembly of Johnny Cash's career and the manner with which he produced, in the last eight years of the country icon's life, some of the most absorbing music Cash ever recorded. American V differs from previous chapters, though. It was cut mostly after wife June Carter's death and in the midst of Cash's deteriorating health. Couple that with the fact American V boasts a surprisingly conservative song selection (instead of Trent Reznor and Will Oldham, we have Rod Muen and Gordon Lightfoot), one might suspect the Cash- Rubin alliance hit a wall during the singer's final days. American V dispels such concerns at the outset by transforming Help Me, a country tune by the criminally uncool Larry Gatlin, into a stunning confessional.
Zakk Wylde: We Have 'Like, 20 Songs' For Ozzy's New CD
Dan Epstein of Guitar World magazine recently conducted an interview with Black Label Society/Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow, according to Blabbermouth.net: Though he's typically produced his own records in the past, Zakk shares production credits on "Shot to Hell" with Michael Beinhorn, who's previously worked with Korn, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden and Ozzy Osbourne. "The record company said, 'We know you've produced all the records, but we want a big-name producer on this,'" Zakk said. "I told them, 'You're fuckin' high if you think I'm going to work with someone who's gonna tell me what to do.' But I'd worked with Mikey on 'Ozzmosis', and we had a blast making that record, so I told them, 'Find out what Mikey's doin'! get him down here!' .
Riffs - a Web-only column
Lemmy Kilmister is not exactly the first name you would associate with thumping, bass-driven rockabilly and exuberant R&B and blues covers, but those are precisely the sounds that influenced him in his earlier years. He returns to those sounds with his new release The Head Cat (Rock-a-Billy), a trio date with Danny B. Harvey operating as primary soloist and Slim Jim Phantom supplying the big beat fills on their versions of Buddy Holly's “Peggy Sue Got Married," “Learning The Game" and “Crying, Waiting, Hoping."
Kilmister's voice is animated and energetic, if at times a bit to the grizzled side, but he clearly understands the spirit of the sounds, even if he doesn't always exactly replicate the tone. Other numbers the threesome effectively tackle include Johnny Cash's “Big River," Carl Perkins' “Matchbox," Jimmy Reed's “You got Me Dizzy" and Lloyd Price's “Lawdy Miss Clawdy." Phantom's drumming proves ideal for the occasion, not so steady it lacks drive or impact, but still squarely in the rhythmic pocket.
Day 8 - Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, July 5, 2006
Note: Day 7 of the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal is a day of transition, with a host of free shows. It's also the day where AAJ transitions coverage, with AAJ-NY Editorial Director/Production Designer Andrey Henkin returning home and Senior Editor John Kelman picking up on day eight, July 5.
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Request elevates forces of creativity
Sometimes, all it takes for a new piece of music to be born is a suggestion. That's how the seed of Mark Grey's Elevation was planted. "I was at (London's) Barbican for a festival of John's music," Grey said, referring to longtime friend John Adams. The soloist in the Violin Concerto was Leila Josefowicz. "She seemed very interested in my musical voice, so she asked me to send her some music," Grey said. Two significant oaks have sprung from that acorn of an idea: the solo-violin San Andreas Suite and a violin concerto titled Elevation, which Josefowicz will premiere Sunday at the Colorado Music Festival. "Leila champions a lot of new music," said Grey. But not just any new music. "She's been moving away from angular stuff and more into (traditional) harmony and rhythm.
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