Sheffield's Own
Hey Soul Mates,
well, I just got shut out of buying tickets for the Arctic Monkeys' surprise gig at the Troubadour tonight. I was hoping to see them, because I believe they have just released the first Great Album of 2007. Their hype didn't snare me last year. Especially when we played their home turf, there was a lot of buzz. Yeah, I'd heard I Bet You Look Good... but wasn't wowed. Their new disc Favourite Worst Nightmare has bowled me for 6, as I learned from Bowieboy this week.
Track 5, Florescent Adolescent, may be the best thing I'll hear this year. And to write more about it would spoil the way I feel about it. The Wizard of Oz inspired Old Yellow Bricks features the lyric "Who wants to sleep in the city that never wakes up? Blinded by nostalgia." Wish I had written that. And I love the last stanza of Teddy Picker:
"Assuming that all things are equal
Who'd want to be men of the people
When there's people like you?"
It's always marvelous when artists as young as the Arctic Monkeys can create such sophisticated and lyrically ingenious pop tunes. Now I get why they are getting comparisons to the Beatles. They are NOT the Beatles, but there is much to love about the Monkeys. Imagine if Lennon had been into hip-hop and you get an idea. If they can keep their stuff together for a few more years, we'll look back at this moment as the coming of a legendary group.
Speaking of Bowieboy, I had a great week chauffeuring and playing tour guide for our soul mates from Sheffield. Thought that would give me good mojo to see Sheffield's Monkeys. The Smiths still brought good mojo along with my favourite flavour of Twining's and Lotus biscuits. Oi! I even took them to Amoeba to see L.A. very own Taj Mahal of Records. And Dodger Stadium, the other Taj Mahal in town. It's always refreshing to see your city through other eyes. The beauty, the madness, the traffic, the sunshine. Well, having had another taste of the North, I can't wait to get back to Yorkshire.
Here's yours truly decked out for a hot, sunny day in Los Angeles. We were outside of the real hospital used as the set for "Scrubs," which is down the street from my place. Photo by Bowieboy.
There is one other recent release that I give props to: Amy Winehouse's Back To Black. It's Motown, Wall Of Sound and Etta James fuelled by lots of alcohol, late nights and strife. It's what several Motown artists might have produced had they the chance to write their own material back in the '60s. Oddly, Winehouse is a petite but heavily tattooed, white, Jewish girl from England with a sultry voice and great tunes. Plus the arrangements and production take you straight to L.A. or Detroit 1965. It has to be heard to be believed. And then you have to see her elegantly wasted performances to get the whole artistic picture. Not oddly, Arctic Monkeys have a live cover version of Winehouse's new single You Know I'm No Good. The Brits are onto something...
To recap my favorite releases of the year so far:
1. Arctic Monkeys - Favorite Worst Nightmare
2. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
3. Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High
4. Locksley - Don't Make Me Wait
5. Elliot Yamin - s/t
6. Katherine McPhee - s/t
Plus I'm really digging Kaiser Chiefs' single Ruby and 747's Rain Kiss. A really great start to 2007 musically. And you haven't even heard the new single from Rush Hour Soul, yet!
Love, Power, Peace
well, I just got shut out of buying tickets for the Arctic Monkeys' surprise gig at the Troubadour tonight. I was hoping to see them, because I believe they have just released the first Great Album of 2007. Their hype didn't snare me last year. Especially when we played their home turf, there was a lot of buzz. Yeah, I'd heard I Bet You Look Good... but wasn't wowed. Their new disc Favourite Worst Nightmare has bowled me for 6, as I learned from Bowieboy this week.
Track 5, Florescent Adolescent, may be the best thing I'll hear this year. And to write more about it would spoil the way I feel about it. The Wizard of Oz inspired Old Yellow Bricks features the lyric "Who wants to sleep in the city that never wakes up? Blinded by nostalgia." Wish I had written that. And I love the last stanza of Teddy Picker:
"Assuming that all things are equal
Who'd want to be men of the people
When there's people like you?"
It's always marvelous when artists as young as the Arctic Monkeys can create such sophisticated and lyrically ingenious pop tunes. Now I get why they are getting comparisons to the Beatles. They are NOT the Beatles, but there is much to love about the Monkeys. Imagine if Lennon had been into hip-hop and you get an idea. If they can keep their stuff together for a few more years, we'll look back at this moment as the coming of a legendary group.
Speaking of Bowieboy, I had a great week chauffeuring and playing tour guide for our soul mates from Sheffield. Thought that would give me good mojo to see Sheffield's Monkeys. The Smiths still brought good mojo along with my favourite flavour of Twining's and Lotus biscuits. Oi! I even took them to Amoeba to see L.A. very own Taj Mahal of Records. And Dodger Stadium, the other Taj Mahal in town. It's always refreshing to see your city through other eyes. The beauty, the madness, the traffic, the sunshine. Well, having had another taste of the North, I can't wait to get back to Yorkshire.
Here's yours truly decked out for a hot, sunny day in Los Angeles. We were outside of the real hospital used as the set for "Scrubs," which is down the street from my place. Photo by Bowieboy.
There is one other recent release that I give props to: Amy Winehouse's Back To Black. It's Motown, Wall Of Sound and Etta James fuelled by lots of alcohol, late nights and strife. It's what several Motown artists might have produced had they the chance to write their own material back in the '60s. Oddly, Winehouse is a petite but heavily tattooed, white, Jewish girl from England with a sultry voice and great tunes. Plus the arrangements and production take you straight to L.A. or Detroit 1965. It has to be heard to be believed. And then you have to see her elegantly wasted performances to get the whole artistic picture. Not oddly, Arctic Monkeys have a live cover version of Winehouse's new single You Know I'm No Good. The Brits are onto something...
To recap my favorite releases of the year so far:
1. Arctic Monkeys - Favorite Worst Nightmare
2. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
3. Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High
4. Locksley - Don't Make Me Wait
5. Elliot Yamin - s/t
6. Katherine McPhee - s/t
Plus I'm really digging Kaiser Chiefs' single Ruby and 747's Rain Kiss. A really great start to 2007 musically. And you haven't even heard the new single from Rush Hour Soul, yet!
Love, Power, Peace
posted by Norman K at 1:19 PM
2 Comments:
Not to say I disagree with any of your list here, but given our musical taste in common, check out "The Evolution of Robin Thicke". Guess the name of the artist. The track with Pharrell called Wanna Love U Girl is worth the price of admission, alone. Of course, our boy PRN might want some royalty off the beat that they pilfered, but that doesn't make it a bad song, no? And the Joss Stone new drop with Raphael Saadiq producing is kickin'.
Norm, I have some more for you to take a listen to... if you haven't already.
Pharoahe Monch- A Swedish rock band that blew some folks away at Coachella
Rodrigo y Gabriela- Two of the most unassuming people you'll see live. Amazing latin guitar players. Truly something not to miss live!
JLo
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