Elvis Costello writes the introduction on the liner notes to Paul Simon's new CD "So Beautiful or So What," and he promised me "rock and roll surprises." And Simon delivers. I won't detail them here or they won't be surprises to you. What I will say is that this definitely goes beyond the confines of the typical rock and roll record, without getting outlandish or silly.
Paul Simon has never been afraid to search the world over for musicians, or unique musical instrumentation and vocals. Like he did with "Graceland" and "Rhythm of the Saints," Simon takes us on a journey that takes us somewhere new..in this case..down south for a little gospel, across the ocean to India, and back home again. And he does it while still maintaining his rock and roll sensibility.
Skimming the credits, I saw quite a list of musical instruments..from glockenspiel to tuned bass djembe, conga, harmonica, harp, and celeste and angklung. (A celeste is similar to a glockenspiel, and is the instrument used in Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy; an angklung is an instrument made of bamboo tubes.)Â The use of these instruments (and others) creates a very interesting record that never jumps the bridge into novelty..but just seems to work.
Simon is definitely reflective and even philosophical throughout most of the album, but he's never depressed..even in the quieter, slower ballads. As he says in the song's title tune, "Life is what we make of it, so beautiful, or so what."
Paul Simon's world is definitely beautiful, and it's a nice place to visit.
Key songs:
"The Afterlife"
"Rewrite"
So Tom Petty says he really let guitar player Mike Campbell show his stuff on the new Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album, "Mojo." He wasn't kidding.
To use descriptions my guitar-playing boyfriend Mike uses for tasty playing...he's got the chops, and tone to the bone.
That's evident throughout the album. On the first single "I Should Have Known It," it sounds like it might be Jimmy Page throwing in some of his classic licks. Other songs harken back to old school Chicago blues, like the song "U.S. 41" which seems decidedly lo-fi, and in a good way.
Another bluesy number, "Candy" has lyrics that almost poke fun at the genre..."I sure like that candy, I don't go for them turnip greens," sings Petty, over Campbell's smooth blues riffs that almost make you forget the silly lyrics.
"First Flash of Freedom" is a meandering song with a message you might expect from Crosby Stills Nash and Young, with subdued vocals and moody, atmospheric guitar that reminds me of early work from the Allman Brothers Band.
There's a bit of Mark Knopfler in "The Running Man's Bible," some excellent pedal steel in "No Reason To Cry," and an a reggae saunter in "Don't Pull Me Over." This song contains the excellent lyric "When the red light, turns to blue light, makes me feel afraid," and a guitar solo filled with some wailing wah pedal that makes you feel Petty's angst at getting a traffic ticket.
From hard rockers to country tinged ballads, the album has a little bit of everything. It was recorded "live" with minimal overdubs, and the result is an album that Tom Petty fans should embrace...and guitar players will try to emulate.
"Mojo" went on sale Tuesday, June 15, on CD, blu-ray audio DVD, and 2 album set on 180 gram vinyl.
I got a chance to listen to the new Jimi Hendrix album, Valleys of Neptune, sitting alongside one of the biggest Hendrix fans I ever met, my boyfriend Mike. We both liked it, but for different reasons.
Mike is a completionist when it comes to Hendrix. He has dozens of Hendrix CD's, albums, box sets and bootlegs. So it kind of seemed impossible to me that the archivists from the Hendrix family could find anything he hadn't heard before. And for the most part that was true.
These were studio recordings made by Jimi and the Experience shortly after Electric Ladyland, and feature a lot of songs that a lot of us have heard before, mostly in live concert recordings, or new versions of songs that appeared on other studio albums. Serious Hendrix freaks probably have a few of them on bootleg albums. But the title track and some of the other songs were new to us.
One thing we both noticed right away is that the recording quality is excellent, and that the drums are more prominent than other Hendrix recordings.
There's a beautiful melodic version of "Red House,"Â a great bluesy song called "Bleeding Heart" that was often played live, and a very strange version of "Fire" that features Noel Redding alternating vocals with Jimi. There's something just wrong about that.
Some of the songs simply fade out before the songs are finished.. probably because hey.. the songs weren't finished.  For example, even though the version of "Red House" clocks in at 8:20, it fades right as Jimi is starting the second verse.
I really liked the instrumental cover of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love." Mike had heard it before, but I hadn't. It featured a lot of different guitar effects and tones..and to me even had kind of an India feel in the middle. Very tasty.
One new song to both of us was "Ships Passing Through the Night." While the guitar playing was Jimi quality, I thought the lyrics were a bit weak. "Lay your troubles down on the chair, you gotta shake those blues outta your hair."Â Maybe the song was a work in progress.
If you buy the album at Target, you get two new songs that you don't get anywhere else. Both are instrumentals. One is called "Slower Version" and it's a slower version of the song that precedes it on the album, "Crying Blue Rain." And the last song is called "Trashman." That's the song that most impressed my guitar playing Hendrix fan boyfriend.
So what's the bottom line? If you're a huge Hendrix fan..you must buy this, and get it at Target. If you're a garden variety Hendrix fan (like me), you'd probably enjoy it, so pick it up when you get a chance. If you're a new Hendrix fan, you'd be better off buying the newly remastered Electric Ladyland or Axis Bold As Love.
If you're not a Hendrix fan, why are you reading this?
Find out what Rolling Stone had to say and preview the album here.
This morning I chatted on the air with Nick Purdy, publisher of a very cool magazine called Paste. I remember the first time I saw this magazine..I was at a bookstore and picked it up--and it had all this great music info, about all the artists I love, and a lot of the stuff we play here at Triple M. And it also included a CD with new music on it!
The recession has caused some money troubles for the magazine..so a lot of generous artists gave the magazine previously unreleased recordings that you can get a copy of when you donate to Paste. Artists include the Indigo Girls, Cowboy Junkies, Decemberists, Brandi Carlile and more.
Find out more about the magazine and how you can get in on those downloads here.
Today is World Goth Day, a day to celebrate the post-punk, anti-establishment, dark clothes-wearing subculture.
I'm pretty sure I was a Goth for at least for little while, for two reasons.
1) I almost hardly ever wear pastels.
2) I used to...
Hello to all from Nfusion. Another round of challenges has moved beyond us all. Congrats to those of us lucky enough to have survived to this point. Sad to see the others eliminated as they were all very creative and talented. Good Bye to our new friends...
This morning it seemed like just about everyone was in the mood for some Funky Cold Medina...except Kitty. This ridiculous song made it all the way to number 3 in 1989. Jonathan says any song that references advertising dogs from the 80's has got...
Madison's summer music festival season kicks off this weekend with Brat Fest at Willow Island, where there are more bands than you can shake a bratwurst at! Check out the Brat Fest website to plan your itinerary.
Next up is the Marquette...
John Fogerty is making the talk show rounds this week, stopping in to see David Letterman Tuesday and Wednesday, and the ladies of "The View" on Thursday.
He's promoting his new album, "Wrote a Song For Everyone" which comes out next Tuesday...
It's a miracle that both Jonathan and KItty wanted to hear Barry Manilow this morning. They were not alone. Plenty of Fanilow's called in to vote yes. One caller claimed to have seen Manilow in concert 25 times!
The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it is another gorgeous Monday, fit for another great show at the Crystal Corner tonight.
Through locking ourselves in the barn on Irish Lane, tossing some ideas around, as well as a few choice beverages to...
Hey everybody, we were thrown for a loop by the twist this week, but were able to make one of our "oldie but a goldie" songs fit the mold.
We have a few songs that we have played consistently over the years, and we are very happy that we will be...
Today is World Goth Day, a day to celebrate the post-punk, anti-establishment, dark clothes-wearing subculture.
I'm pretty sure I was a Goth for at least for little while, for two reasons.
1) I almost hardly ever wear pastels.
2) I used to...
Hello to all from Nfusion. Another round of challenges has moved beyond us all. Congrats to those of us lucky enough to have survived to this point. Sad to see the others eliminated as they were all very creative and talented. Good Bye to our new friends...
This morning it seemed like just about everyone was in the mood for some Funky Cold Medina...except Kitty. This ridiculous song made it all the way to number 3 in 1989. Jonathan says any song that references advertising dogs from the 80's has got...
Madison's summer music festival season kicks off this weekend with Brat Fest at Willow Island, where there are more bands than you can shake a bratwurst at! Check out the Brat Fest website to plan your itinerary.
Next up is the Marquette...
John Fogerty is making the talk show rounds this week, stopping in to see David Letterman Tuesday and Wednesday, and the ladies of "The View" on Thursday.
He's promoting his new album, "Wrote a Song For Everyone" which comes out next Tuesday...
It's a miracle that both Jonathan and KItty wanted to hear Barry Manilow this morning. They were not alone. Plenty of Fanilow's called in to vote yes. One caller claimed to have seen Manilow in concert 25 times!
The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it is another gorgeous Monday, fit for another great show at the Crystal Corner tonight.
Through locking ourselves in the barn on Irish Lane, tossing some ideas around, as well as a few choice beverages to...
Hey everybody, we were thrown for a loop by the twist this week, but were able to make one of our "oldie but a goldie" songs fit the mold.
We have a few songs that we have played consistently over the years, and we are very happy that we will be...
This morning I chatted on the air with Nick Purdy, publisher of a very cool magazine called Paste. I remember the first time I saw this magazine..I was at a bookstore and picked it up--and it had all this great music info, about all the artists I love, and a lot of the stuff we play here at Triple M. And it also included a CD with new music on it!
The recession has caused some money troubles for the magazine..so a lot of generous artists gave the magazine previously unreleased recordings that you can get a copy of when you donate to Paste. Artists include the Indigo Girls, Cowboy Junkies, Decemberists, Brandi Carlile and more.
Find out more about the magazine and how you can get in on those downloads 
