Beck
'Sea
Change'
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I
gotta be honest – it took a few spins before Beck’s
new album ‘Sea Change’ really grabbed me. I
mean - it’s mellow. Really mellow. And sad, too (word
has it he discovered his girlfriend of nearly a decade was
fuckin’ some other dude after he accidentally opened
an email that was meant for her)
Sucks
for Beck – yes, but it’s good for us, because
he’s turned great pain into great music. And Beck
being Beck, it’s completely unlike all the other great
music he’s done prior.
Chances
for a big MTV / radio hit? 0% (although Matt just challenged
my theory – swearing KROQ is currently playing ‘something’
off it. I wouldn’t know – I wouldn’t listen
to KROQ with a gun to my head)
So
if you happen to find yourself kickin’ back at three
in the morning, smoking a joint with a couple teenage runaways,
I definitely suggest you throw on ‘Sea Change.’
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Rolling
Stones
'Metamorphosis'
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Back
in the 70’s, the Stones released this album - a mix
of poppy Phil Spector-esque tracks, and some classic ‘Let
It Bleed’ era tunes. Due to various legal / contract-type
problems with former manager Allen Klein, the album was
a hodge podge of different styles from different eras, and
was swept under the rug with little fanfare. It has just
been released on CD for the first time.
Now
while it lacks the cohesive flow of a ‘true’
Stones album ( ‘Beggar’s Banquet,’ ‘Sticky
Fingers,’ & ‘Exile On Main Street,’
to name a few), it does feature some really bad-ass shit.
Most notably: ‘Memo To Turner.' This song alone makes
it worth your while.
So
if you’re a Stones fan, definitely check it out. And
if you’re not a huge Stones fan, and just want one
Stones record in your collection, then you gotta go with
‘Exile On Main Street.’ Trust me.
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Foo
Fighters
'One
By One'
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The
Foo Fighters put on one of the best shows I’ve ever
seen: opening for Atomic Punks, a Van Halen tribute band
at Paladino’s, a trailer trash magnet in Tarzana,
California. The show was a warm up for a run of European
festival shows they were playing.
But
they only played the first few, ‘cause drummer and
resident Brad Pitt look-alike Taylor Hawkins OD’d
after one of the shows. He wound up comatose for days, and
there was a very real chance he would never be the same,
i.e. – brain damaged, i.e.. - there was a chance the
Foo Fighters would be no more.
So
that meant the album they’d been working on prior
to the OD was put on indefinite hold. Taylor came out of
the coma and did the whole rehab thing. Dave recorded and
toured with Queens of the Stone Age, and the other guys
probably sat around waiting for their phones to ring.
So
now, a year and some change later, the album he promised
has finally been released - and it’s pretty kick ass.
It’s less poppy than their other albums, and rocks
consistently throughout. Not as good as, say, the Chili
Peppers ‘By The Way’ – but well worth
checking out.
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Rise
Above:
24
Black Flag Songs
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Me
– I’m not into feeding starving people, or saving
rain forests, or solving the third world debt crisis (sorry
Bono). I don’t give a shit about baby seals, and if
I saw Don Henley in Walden Woods, I’d kick him in
the nuts and jack his wallet.
But when I hear that there are three dudes roughly my age,
sitting in prison (one on death row) for allegedly killing
three boys in West Memphis when it's clear as day they didn't
do it, it freaks the living shit out of me. Why? Cause I’m
the same kind of idiot the system doesn’t like (the
only crime it seems these guys are actually guilty of)
So
when Henry Rollins heard their plight, he decided to do
something about it: a 24 song benefit album featuring (but
not limited to) Iggy Pop, Ice T, Chuck D, Ryan Adams, Mike
Patton, Lemmy from Motorhead, and that dude from Slayer
all doing covers of Black Flag songs.
So
how is it? Well, if you like Black Flag, you’ll like
this album. If you don’t like Black Flag, you’re
an asshole and shouldn’t be reading Publicity
Whore in the first place.
So
be a good person and GO BUY THIS ALBUM. For more info on
this injustice, check out:
www.wm3.org
Wanna
Tell Me How
Fuckin' Awesome I Am???
