Jay-Z and Radiohead Get the Mixtape Treatment

I don't know how badly I missed the boat on this one, but from the looks of it, this isn't too moldy. Not too long ago Minty Fresh Beats dropped a new mixtape entitled Jaydiohead featuring mashups of, you guessed it, Jay-Z and Radiohead. Look, I get that the title makes it clear what they're doing, but would a little originality have killed 'em? How about Black Rainbows? Hell, Kid Jay! But I'm here to critique the music, nothing else.

The mixtape focuses mostly on the later works of both artists (The Black Album and American Gangster for Jay-Z, OK Computer through In Rainbows for Radiohead), but takes the best selections from both and creates some wonderfully ingenious mashes. "No Karma" takes "Karma Police", arguably Radiohead's most recognizable track not named "Creep" and "No Hook", an abstract filler cut from American Gangster and gives the latter, well, a hook. The most impressive thing here is just how seamlessly everything fits in. Jay's raps and Thom Yorke's vocals on "Optimistic Moment" fit so organically that Yorke must be sitting in a room somewhere wondering why he didn't come up with this first. Admit it; no one reading this would have considered the riff from "Paranoid Android" having any similarities to that of "Dirt Off Your Shoulder". And yet when you listen, it's like the whole thing was somehow divinely planned out years ago, and us along with Minty Fresh Beats are just late to the party.

Overall the mix is brilliant. Even the mashups featuring songs I didn't really know work really well. Best of all, unlike other mixtapes that are best heard start to finish, Jaydiohead works just as well as singles as it does elsewhere. Think the Jay-Z/Linkin Park Collision Course project, just a bit more natural and focused.

Jaydiohead - No Karma

Pick up Jaydiohead here. (Thanks to A Future In Noise for posting this first)

==TJ==

Exploring the Other Side of the Rainbow: A Brief Profile of Radiohead

Music blog A Reminder astutely acknowledged that today marks the one-year anniversary of the biggest fuck-you moment any record label has ever had to endure; October 10th, 2007 was the day Radiohead released In Rainbows to the web, allowing fans and curious observers alike to name their own price. It was a brilliantly innovative thing to do, and it turned the internet upside down for about two weeks and got every music-based website to drop whatever else it might have been covering to pour on the praise every time Thom Yorke so much as covered his mouth when he coughed.

Radiohead - Reckoner [iTunes]

Those who've stuck with ¡Viva La Mainstream! for a while know that my first impression of In Rainbows was not a very good one. I thought it was the same pretentious, gratuitously artsy music I started this blog to rail against. After a couple listens and some encouragement from friends, I grew to truly enjoy In Rainbows and jumped on the Radiohead bandwagon after hearing their back catalog.

Myself and fellow music geeks Justin and Peter were discussing Radiohead's merits the other night, and Justin brought up something that just sort of sums up what can sometimes frustrate me about the band, and yet also always draws me in further; unlike other alt-rock bands which place emphasis on the lead singer and his presence, Thom Yorke treats his vocals as though they were another instrument in the band. You could listen to a Radiohead song and ingnore or flat out replace the lyrics with nonsense syllables, and you'd still have some damned good music. That's the fantastic part about it. What's frustrating is that Yorke's lyrics are so fucking great that the fact that they tend to be imcomprehensible when listening (unless you're listening while looking at the lyrics, a lesson I learned when I bought In Rainbows on CD) becomes a negative thing.

Another interesting schism as I continue listening: the band is constantly irritated by the fact that their music becomes what Thom Yorke calls "fridge buzz", which is to say ambient sound that just becomes background noise. And yet Radiohead's music is so atmospheric and lends itself to letting listeners' minds wander and just enter the world the band creates with their sound that there's a certain inevitability to the "fridge buzz" effect. I think the fact that the music has the potential to inspire me to drift into another place and time like that is a great thing. It shows a connection with the music that goes beyond just singing along to the words or something equally superficial.

Also, Radiohead albums aren't something you can listen to once and claim to have really heard. Not by a long shot. There are so many layers of meaning and substance that one listen carries with it so little that of course the average music listener (read: me this time a year ago) won't see the appeal. Peter pointed out that thematically Radiohead is brilliant; note that the beginning and ending of OK Computer are both about a car crash.

Radiohead - Airbag
Radiohead - The Tourist
OK Computer on iTunes

Again, showing that Radiohead are significantly more intelligent than so many of their contemporaries. I'm not certain I'd say their better musicians; I think that title gets tossed out too freely just becuase the band does things musically that others don't immediately think of. That's not good musicianship necessarily; that's innovation. And Radiohead has enough of that to spare.

Another interesting schism as I continue listening: the band is constantly irritated by the fact that their music becomes what Thom Yorke calls "fridge buzz", which is to say ambient sound that just becomes background noise. And yet Radiohead's music is so atmospheric and lends itself to letting listeners' minds wander and just enter the world the band creates with their sound that there's a certain inevitability to the "fridge buzz" effect. I think the fact that the music has the potential to inspire me to drift into another place and time like that is a great thing. It shows a connection with the music that goes beyond just singing along to the words or something equally superficial.

I'm trying to decide if it was fate or a clever accident that I listened to OK Computer while at work last night and came up with the idea to blog about them on the anniversary of In Rainbows. I'm not even sure if it's worth trying to explain away, so I'm just going to accept the way it was and offer one final thought. I like every single Radiohead album; even Pablo Honey. To those who claim the first two albums "aren't really Radiohead", I offer the following counterargument. Pablo Honey and The Bends needed to happen in order for the band to get to a point where they could write OK Computer and the subsequent albums. Radiohead's evolution has been a very natural one, and you can indeed sense the change in sound coming; without the early stages of that shift on The Bends, I don't think an album as great or influential as OK Computer could have existed. Metallica's James Hetfield recently said that the much-maligned St. Anger needed to happen before the far superior Death Magnetic could take shape. Same idea applies here. Sometimes you need to get the cliche and less inspired out of the way before you can do something extraordinary.

Radiohead - Anyone Can Play Guitar [iTunes]

That's all I've got.

Get all of Radiohead's albums and then some on iTunes

==TJ==

VLMTV: New Clips from Radiohead, Buckcherry

I generally avoid music videos simply because they don't interest me all that much. But two came out in the last week worth talking about, so here we go:

Since simply putting a camera on images that might have been relevant to the vision for the song would be far too pedestrian, Thom Yorke decided that the video for Radiohead's "House of Cards" should be shot using lasers (or "lasers", for those who are still Mike Myers fans). The quote from the press release has far too much techno-babble in it, but Radiohead more or less looks like one part screensaver, one part test Visual FX from White Noise. The video itself is below, and here is a link to the making-of featurette.




Radiohead - House of Cards [iTunes]

On the polar opposite end of the musical spectrum, Buckcherry put out information about the release of its new album, the follow up to 2006's 15. The new album, entitled Black Butterfly, drops September 23rd, and the lead single, "Too Drunk To Fuck", will go to radio stations in the not-too-distant future, and is available for download both on their MySpace, and at the end of this entry. The song (NOT a cover of the Dead Kennedys song) is pretty much what we've come to expect from Buckcherry; raunchy, yet fun-as-hell sleaze rock with lyrics that should make you cringe, but ultimately don't. The "viral" video (not sure what makes this a viral vid) features Buckcherry straddling the line between Aerosmith and Alice Cooper at a house party, and in addition to serving as the promotional video for Black Butterfly, also works as a backhanded Public Service Announcement advising Buckcherry fans to enjoy both alcohol and the band itself responsibly.



Buckcherry - Too Drunk To Fuck

==TJ==

Back to Work!!

Yep, computer's fixed, and I'm back to work for the blog. Hope you all didn't miss me too much in my absence, but in lieu of hugs and exclamations of how much we all missed each other this past week, let's dive right into some stuff.

-In Blog Time this dates back to right around the Civil War, but regardless, Radiohead debuted a new track at a concert last Friday. They had been out of the music news realm for about 2 weeks before that, so I guess they needed to remind fans they were still around. Haven't listened to it yet, but posting it nonetheless

Radiohead - Super Collider (Live in Dublin)

(By the way, I'm aborting that A-Z project from this entry. I'd be calling it close without losing this week, now it's damn near impossible. I shall try some other time.)

-I'm currently listening to the new Journey album (popped up online the other day, so the internal debate of whether I would cop to buying music from Wal-Mart was thankfully bypassed). Only three tracks in, so nowhere near ready for a legitimate review, but I'm posting the first single because I kind of love it...a lot. Like, more than I probably should.

Journey - Never Walk Away [Wal-Mart]

-NIN put out an EP in support of its North American tour, which as expected is free on nin.com. According to a New York Times profile, Trent Reznor is reportedly working on a Year Zero cable series. Read the report here.

-Without the computer for a week, I'm a bit backlogged on posts. The good about this is that there's plenty of blogging coming this week. The bad is that I have a huge pile of things to look at in the next 48 hours. If you emailed me with a music recommendation, I probably got the email, but am just now getting to hearing the music. Sit tight, posts about the good stuff are pending.

And one more song from an album I haven't been able to play through yet, but a song that I find myself loving a bit more every play:

MGMT - Time to Pretend [iTunes]

Yes it's gotten some love from the indie fans, but I have nothing against indie bands, just their idiot fans. Back tomorrow.

==TJ==

Weighing in on the Prince/Radiohead Clusterf--k

News of Prince's cover of Radiohead's "Creep" from Coachella this year has traveled far and wide, but somehow the controversy around it has only just now kicked up. The basic facts: Prince is ridiculously stingy about the amount footage from his concerts and his overall image on the internet (he shut down his website and declared war on eBay and YouTube over his material). Prince covered Radiohead's breakout hit. Video of said performance hit the web, as a reasonable person might expect would happen. Prince's label has squashed nearly every video of the show, citing a copyright violation.

Problem is, Prince doesn't own the rights to the song. Thom Yorke does. Based on Radiohead's attitudes toward digital content, a reasonable person would suggest that Radiohead wouldn't mind the video's existence. Thom Yorke recently said so in an interview. And yet, footage of the video is still getting stomped on by NPG. That said...



I post the video on the following grounds:
1) Prince doesn't own the rights to "Creep". Thom Yorke has more or less given the video his blessing
2) This material was filmed by a fan in attendance at the concert. Again, Prince has no grounds here.
3) It is true that Prince owns the right to his image, and if he really wants to be a dick about it, he can impose a draconian code on how that image is transmitted. But if you can watch the video above and positively identify that the man on stage is Prince and not just a guy in a bright white suit singing (the wrong lyrics to) Radiohead's "Creep", then maybe there's grounds. In my view, no video I've found gets a good enough look to tell Prince from Michael Jackson circa 1981.

(Wait...you mean people at the concert couldn't make that distinction either? Oh...)

This is a very interesting situation for all the reasons above, but there's one fatal flaw: save for the mildly interesting-but-too-long guitar solo, Prince's version sucks. It's just a subpar performance of a song that Radiohead has all but disavowed. I don't know what Prince was trying to accomplish in covering the track, but what he's done is piss off the general internet-saavy, music-enjoying public. Smooth.

If you REALLY want it, here's the MP3.

Prince - Radiohead (Live @ Coachella)

==TJ==

PS If the video goes away (as it probably will sooner or later), just search 'Prince Creep' on YouTube and another video will inevitably surface.

Thom Yorke Is Full Of Shit

Amidst all the pro-Earth hubbub America is facing this week, NBC announced that this week would be green week, and they'd be doing all sorts of events in support of green week. At the same time, Radiohead was scheduled to make an appearance on Leno tonight in support of In Rainbows.

Until last week when Thom Yorke announced it would instead be sending Leno a taped performance to play during the show. A band rep said the rationale for this was as follows:

Recorded live in London, Radiohead's performance of "House of Cards," represents an ongoing effort by the socially conscious band to act in the greenest manner possible. By opting to record this exclusive performance rather than fly over for a one-off appearance, the band - as frontman Thom Yorke notes in the introduction to their performance - avoided leaving a carbon footprint equivalent to driving one's car for a solid year.

Bullshit. I would be far more likely to accept this reasoning and be OK with Radiohead's laziness were it not for this video. And this one. This one too. Suffice it to say, we have enough videos of Radiohead performing live from the last six months. Thom Yorke might have told Leno to go YouTube the band and help save the environment by avoiding having the video mailed. Moments like this make me frustrated with my newfound liking for Radiohead.

I hope they accidentally send the wrong video and everyone watching Leno tonight hears a live version of "Creep". That's right...I said it.

Radiohead - House of Cards [iTunes]

I will be back later tonight once Trent Reznor officially posts the new single. I didn't know about this story till about 30 minutes ago, so if you want info go to NIN's site or Idolator's piece here.

==TJ==

4 Quick-ish CD Reviews; That's Right, I Bought CDs...

I'm not doing an Under The Radar post today or tomorrow, because a) I'm holding till I can get in touch with another artist for my next one, and b) I just think it's time to mix it up a bit this week. So here's something new.

It's a safe bet that any time I go home, I'm going to come back to school with some new music. This time is no different. Over the last week I bought 4 CDs, 1 digital album, and played through some stuff that hasn't been spun in awhile. Since I haven't listened to the digital album yet (it's NIN's Ghosts I-IV, and I haven't had 2.5 hours to burn on listening to it yet) and I'm gonna save the older stuff for another entry, a look at the CDs I bought, in the order I bought them:

Sixx:A.M. - The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack
I've been trying to find myself a copy of this one since my first hearing (and unexpected enjoyment) of "Life is Beautiful". The concept behind the album is really cool; a soundtrack for a book. For the most part the music is pretty good, in spite of being a bit lacking in originality. A run of the mill nu-metal band could probably write and record this album and it would come out serviceable, but something about Nikki Sixx's connection to the material and lead singer Jason Michaels delivery, along with some ridiculous guitar work from DJ Ashba puts it a cut above the rest of the pack these days. Not that hard given what the pack looks like these days (Puddle of Mudd and Seether are both atop the Rock charts right now). Reports suggest that a second album from Sixx:A.M. are unlikely and this was just a one-shot, but it doesn't cheapen the good effort from the band. Probably not a classic for the ages, but worth some iPod space.
Ruling on the Field: 7.5/10
Highlight Reel: Life Is Beautiful [iTunes]
(sorry, haven't uploaded this album yet)

Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
The last album I needed to have the full Radiohead discography, I found this at a used CD shop for 5 bucks. I'm going to do a full review of Radiohead's stuff next week, but this album was more of a mixed bag for me than any of their other stuff. On one hand, when Radiohead does something truly ear-catching, as they do on songs like "There There" and "We Suck Young Blood", the result is bloody brilliant. The problem is moments like these tend to be few and far between, and you have to listen really hard to find why people like Radiohead so much. Hail to the Thief certainly isn't a bad album, it just takes work to listen to, and I'm not always up for trying that hard to enjoy music.
Ruling on the Field: 5.5/10
Highlight Reel: There There [AmazonMP3]

Counting Crows - August and Everything After
I already had most of this album thanks to Mike Newsham, but I felt as though it was one of those ones that I needed to own, simply because it showed off the era of music so well. The debut album from Counting Crows came out the same year as Nirvana's final studio LP In Utero, and ends up being a great set to tie the angsty, heavy sounds of the grunge era and the hooky, upbeat stylings of post-grunge (see also: The Goo Goo Dolls and Collective Soul). There's rarely a bad moment on this album (except maybe the dredgy "Raining in Baltimore"), and when it's good, it's among the best in the genre, and quite frankly, Counting Crows have been for most of their career. As debut albums go, August and Everything After is one for the books.
Ruling on the Field: 9.5/10
Highlight Reel: Mr. Jones [iTunes]
(so hard to pick just one, so I went with the best-known)

Jay-Z - American Gangster
Been meaning to give this a listen since it found its way onto many (including my own) Best of '07 lists, and it helped that I saw the movie from which the album drew its inspiration. As a general rule I steer clear of rap albums, since they too often end up being the same old garbage, but Jay-Z has become one of few exceptions to that rule (his protege Kanye West is one of the others). American Gangster is a bit of an enigma as rap albums go. For starters it's a concept album, an idea usually reserved for rock music. It also simultaneously glorifies and warns against the "gangster life" that is so often the focus of rap music. Since Jay-Z seems to envision himself as a bit of a modern day Frank Lucas (minus the drug trafficking), he understands the allure of that life, but also finds it important to tell listeners that he rose above it and found success anyway. The music itself is across the board better than any rap I usually hear on the radio. "Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)..." deserved all the praise it got, and "Hello Brooklyn 2.0" is an example of Hova's ability to craft a track. Even the collaborations on the album match his skill. The album didn't sell me enough to become a fan of rap, but I certainly didn't feel bad shelling out 12 bucks for it.
Ruling on the Field: 8/10
Highlight Reel: Roc Boys (And The Winner Is)... [Amazon MP3]

And that pretty much does it for me. Back tomorrow with a Weekend WTF, and then next week it's back to business as usual.

==TJ==

Current Music: Finger Eleven - Paralyzer [iTunes]

What TJ's Listening To Now

Thanks to the help of some friends here at Arcadia and some online activity that would piss off the RIAA to no end, I now have 6 of Radiohead's 7 studio albums (only missing Hail to the Thief, which someone has already promised to let me borrow). After finally hearing what people like about In Rainbows, I decided to go back and look at the rest of their catalog, see how I felt about it. I've already listened to Pablo Honey and The Bends, and am relatively impressed, moreso with Pablo Honey (this is where I duck as all the hardcore Radiohead fans throw things at me). Expect a more thorough reflection next week once I've heard it all.

If you were to look at my last.fm stats for the last day or two, you would encounter lots of music from the following:
Radiohead (See above)
Nine Inch Nails (broke out Year Zero and Downward Spiral for another round)
Pink Floyd (long story involving a strange card game)
Pearl Jam (going through that Live at the Gorge box set)
Nirvana (currently playing through a bunch of tracks from With The Lights Out)

Clearly a very '90s alternative heavy set, and the weird stuff from that era, too. Not sure why I'm entering a premature crotchety old fart phase, listening to stuff from 15 years ago, but I am nonetheless. The question is, where is this gonna go? After I go through the Nirvana rarities, what's next? It'll probably be more Pearl Jam, as I continue trekking through the Live stuff, but I just thought my current taste has been a total reversal of what it's been in the past and worth noting.

Radiohead - Stop Whispering (AmazonMP3)
Nine Inch Nails - Heresy [iTunes]
Pearl Jam - Love Boat Captain (Live at the Gorge 9/1/05) (Not available online)
Nirvana - Polly [Demo] [iTunes]

Back tomorrow with Weekend WTF. Sneak preview; it feature one of the above bands.

==TJ==

Second (More Like 4th or 5th) Spin: Showing Up Late to the In Rainbows Party

For my just-short-of-dreadful Writing in Communications class I'm writing about the critical blowjob Radiohead got back in October for their In Rainbows marketing ploy and how it affects the RIAA (basically, it comes down to its time for the RIAA to get off its ass and do something). All the research I've been doing led me to decide that it was time to try giving In Rainbows another chance, see if maybe I hear what everyone else did when they fell in love with it. So a few weeks ago (and right now), I gave the album, the same 160-bitrate copy I downloaded on October 10th, yet another listen, to determine whether or not the album was something that needed to grow, or if it is indeed just sludgy trip-music with no coherence at all.

The first time around the only songs that had a truly positive impact on me were "Faust Arp" and "Videotape". The rest of the album I was mixed about, some of it having some cool elements to it, but largely inaccessible to me. This time around (I am indeed on my fourth or fifth time through the album) the first two tracks managed to suck me in. "15 Step" and "Bodysnatchers" are both neurotic messes in song form, reflected thusly in the lyrics. Part of the turn-off here is the fact that Thom Yorke's singing, and thus his lyrics, are very much one part of the equation that tend to get lost in Johnny Greenwood's guitars and Ed O'Briens various contributions. I've slowly learned that's what Radiohead is about in a lot of ways. They aren't the kind of rock band where the lead singer is the one delivering the message; everyone is. I can't say I necessarily agree with that tactic as a music fan, since as observed in In Rainbows, that can make things jumblefucky and turn off a lot of listeners.

After the first 8 minutes, Yorke gets his first chance to land a real blow on the listener with "Nude". As with most Radiohead songs, I couldn't tell you what the song is about without looking at the lyrics, but the sound itself is very flowy and smooth, a total shift from the opening. That concept continues in "All I Need" and "Reckoner", with the band still getting their shots in along the way (Greenwood's best moment lies in the all-too-short "Faust Arp"). By the time "Reckoner" starts playing the band has found a much better blend, and I stopped feeling like I was getting beat over the head with dischordant noise once every 3 minutes.

Lyrically, Yorke is damn near peerless in the genre. The faltering point is in the fact that the lyrics aren't always delivered well, making the words of In Rainbows better as poetry in some spots ("House of Cards" being one of them). The instrumentals still haven't sold me, but they've made serious progress since the first listen. After nearly 5 listens (the fifth listen will end by the time I finish this entry), In Rainbows will have proven that its a unique album not only for the way it was released, but in the way it grew from something sludgy and hard to swallow, to something powerful and multilayered.

In closing, yeah...I guess I am pretty impressed. Radiohead may not chart as high as the Foo Fighters or Pearl Jam in my book, but they're certainly a worthy peer.

Ruling on the field
Then: 4.5/10
Now: 9/10

Radiohead - Videotape
(Creepiest ending of an album in awhile)

Biggest Letdowns of 2007 (Some of them Anyway)

2007 had some great moments, which I talked about here. Sadly, there were some low points too. In no particular order, some of the things that sucked about the year that's nearly gone past.

Amy Lee becomes the female Axl Rose
The Evanescence frontwoman probably won't be getting Christmas presents from any of her original bandmates. Earlier this year she kicked out Rocky Gray and John LeCompt, the remaining original members of the band (Founding guitarist Ben Moody quit in 2003, more on him later). By most accounts, Amy Lee seems to kick out any member of the band that dares suggest she's wrong about what the band should be. Based on the war of words that went on after the fact (Lee more or less accused Gray and LeCompt of trying to destroy "her baby", and LeCompt joked about how he hoped we would become lyrical fodder for Lee), not much love lost here, except from the fans that miss what was once a good band becoming the Amy Lee show. As much as I love Lee, she can't carry that band on her back. The Open Door was a disappointment mostly because she released the shittiest songs as singles after "Call Me When You're Sober". At this point all we can do is hope the band quits while they're ahead, or that the band gets a backbone again.

Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober [iTunes]

(As for Ben Moody, he's spent his time writing and producing for the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Avril Lavigne. A recent report also notes he collaborated with Celine Dion on her most recent album. On the Bill Simmons Vengeance Scale, I'd say this is about a 0.7 out of 10. )

Jay-Z pulls a fast one on iTunes, revokes American Gangster
It was the most the third most anticipated rap album of the year, and had racked up millions of pre-orders on iTunes by the time American Gangster, the new Jay-Z album inspired by the movie was due to be released. But then at the last minute, Hova pulls it from iTunes, citing his desire for the album to be heard as one unit, not song-by-song. As a result all the people who preordered the album got screwed. Smooth...reaalll smooth.

Having said that, I heard a couple tracks off the album, and am duly impressed.

Jay-Z - Roc Boys (And The Winner Is...) [AmazonMP3]

Matchbox 20's "New Album"
A 6-song EP and a greatest hits collection that even the most casual fans have does not an album make, guys. Get back in the studio and give me more.

Matchbox 20 - How Far We've Come [iTunes]

Live Earth
Huge dud. But then again, pretty much what you'd expect from a concert organized by Al Gore, no? Even the Foo Fighters sounded boring in this one. And that Police/Kanye/John Mayer performance? You wanna tell me that wasn't the most scripted thing ever? Points for effort and trying to be socially conscious, but no-good on the execution.

Buy the album on iTunes if you must (can't even give you an mp3 of Linkin Park's performance)

Legally Blonde on Broadway
OK, I'll admit, the movie didn't suck nearly as much as I thought it would. This is more a rant about Broadway's apparent decision to join Hollywood in not coming up with original ideas. Between this, Young Frankenstein, and the slew of Disney musicals, the theatre is almost as bad as TV and film at this point.

...and this is the industry I'm gonna go into...*sigh*

High School Musical 2
A sin against God, man, and everything I did for four years between September 2002 and May 2006.

50 Cent hasn't retired yet...
Despite his album Curtis getting soundly beaten by Kanye West. I guess a rapper's promise doesn't mean as much as it once did. Does anyone else miss the days when a rapper would promise to pop some caps, and then shortly thereafter the news would get out about another shooting?

50 Cent - Ayo Technology [iTunes]

Radiohead release In Rainbows, get verbal blowjob from the blogosphere
I'll admit, I was among those who praised Radiohead's ingenuity when they self-released their new album. I also think I was one of the first to dismiss the music itself as trippy, directionless and overrated. Meanwhile nearly every other blog has added In Rainbows to their Best of 07 list. Just 'cause you do something ballsy doesn't mean you're automatically the best.

I think that's all I've got. The Best Songs of 2007 list will be arriving shortly.

On a random note, I had the strangest urge to listen to the Red Hot Chili Peppers earlier today. There was no reason for it whatsoever, but I'm blasting the Greatest Hits CD now, and thought I'd share that fact.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Fortune Faded [iTunes]

==TJ==

10 Awesome Things That Happened in 2007

Maybe it's just because I was paying more attention this year, but it seemed like a lot of really awesome things happened to the music world this year. And contrary to what Rolling Stone and Idolator will want you to think, not ALL of them were tied to Radiohead. Below are my top 10 awesome stories from 2007:

10. New Guns N' Roses tracks leak; proof Chinese Democracy was at some point being recorded
Ah, how could anyone forget how we all (OK, maybe it was just me) waited with bated breath for March 6th to roll around when Axl Rose announced said date as the release for the eternally anticipated Chinese Democracy album. Of course once again we/I was left hanging, but we got a few unmastered tracks from the album as consolation. Granted, only one of these was worth hearing, but it was still proof that maybe, just maybe, it* could happen.

Guns N' Roses - Better

*By "it", I actually mean democracy in China, not Chinese Democracy. Come on now, what kind of fool do I look like?

9. Radio 104.5 brings the rock back to Philly
For anyone reading outside of the greater Philadelphia area, this means almost nothing. But just know that prior to this past February, Philly was without a decent alt. rock station for just over 2 years after the demise of Y100. 104.5 (WRFF-FM) filled that hole, and Philly radio is a better place for it.

Finger Eleven - Paralyzer (Live on Radio 104.5)

8. "The Battle of Sept. 11"
It's refreshing to hear rappers talk about duels and fighting that don't involve guns. 50 Cent and Kanye West had plenty of hype, hoopla, and excitement building up to the simultaneous release of their new albums, Curtis and Graduation, respectively. 50 promised to retire from the business if Kanye sold more albums in the first week, only to then cry foul when his CD got stomped on in the charts. But in the end, when two music greats go head-to-head in the name of getting music to the fans, doesn't everybody win?

Well, except for those fools who bought Curtis. Sucks to be them.

Kanye West - Stronger

7. Guitar Hero III/Rock Band
As a college student and music lover, I feel that my life is somehow more fulfilled as a result of these games. I have yet to play Rock Band, but cannot wait to get behind the electronic drum set and go Keith Moon-style on "Learn to Fly". The rest of the track listing is damned impressive, almost better than GHIII. Speaking of which, I have played, and am thoroughly awed. As much as the wireless controllers made me nuts (stupid lag...), the gameplay is as good as ever, and the songs are classic. Words don't describe how excited I was to blast through "Paint It, Black" and "Even Flow". This year I have 2 more reasons to upgrade to an Xbox 360.

Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly
Pearl Jam - Even Flow

6. Movies + Movies = Good times for all
2007 saw a blend between music and film that hadn't been particularly strong of late. Between the biopics for Bob Dylan (I'm Not There) and Joy Division (Control), the fictional projects August Rush and Into the Wild (not actually dealing with music, but scored by the amazing Eddie Vedder), and Across the Universe, the Beatles tribute in a class all its own, moviegoers saw and heard one hell of a good experience this year. And that's all excluding the tradtional musicals (Hairspray and next month's Sweeney Todd).

The Killers - Shadowplay
Across the Universe Soundtrack - Hey Jude

5. John, Paul, George and Ringo go digital; Beatles to follow in '08?
So all of the solo work from the Beatles became available for digital download across 2007, most notably when Paul McCartney tied his new album's release to the launch of the iTunes DRM-free store. Lennon's solo catalog followed, and a few weeks ago McCartney said that the Beatles catalog could go digital by early 2008. If this happens, it will leave only Kid Rock in the stone age of major label acts without a good reason to have their music available online. I see no problem with this.

4. Year of the Reunions
2007 seemed to be the year for bands to kiss and make up, with The Police, Rage Against the Machine, Genesis, and Led Zeppelin all reuniting in some form or other for tours and/or new albums. Now that second-rate bands like Extreme are feeling the need to join the party, I think it's time to kiss the reunion train up to God, but all things considered, that's a damn good set of bands making comebacks. Now give me some new albums!!

Rage Against the Machine - Bulls on Parade
The Police - Roxanne

3. AmazonMP3
Finally someone has the balls to (seriously) take aim at the iTunes juggernaut. While it still has a ways to go to match iTunes, Amazon gave music listeners a lot of things that iTunes wasn't; good quality DRM free music from popular bands at a cheap price. The store itself is still a bit clunky and lacks the ease of use that iTunes users enjoy, but they've got the one-up in that they have the rights to the likes of Radiohead and deal exclusively in MP3s. iTunes is far from dead, but at least now there's another fish in the pond

Snow Patrol - You're All I Have (the first song I downloaded in Amazon's MP3 store)

2. Radiohead releases In Rainbows themselves, allow fans to name price
This proved to be the ultimate "Fuck You" to the record industry this year. While bloggers and journalists were wondering what to expect from Radiohead, the band was quietly putting together this little bombshell. The move was inspired; people who wanted the music decided just how badly they wanted it and no major label could touch it. It was ingenious and a move that's already being copied by other bands. The only downside is that the music itself was decidedly sub-par, and the band later admitted the self-release acted as a promotional device so people would buy the CD. Given my lack of interest in the music, I would say it backfired. But either way, any band that sticks it that hard and that fast deserves some kudos.

1. Year Zero Viral Marketing/ARG
Leave it to Trent Reznor to create the ultimate musical reality experience. Nine Inch Nails had fans foaming at the mouth for 3 months while Reznor let slip USB sticks in bathrooms at concerts, created fake forums to establish the world of the album...hell, he even went as far as to set up fake hotlines where people could call in "suspicious figures" and the like. With a concept album like Year Zero, it's essential to get a sense of what they're getting across. The Marketing campaign did exactly that, and wound up inspiring the entire entertainment industry to find new ways to market material (see also: The Dark Knight, Cloverfield). Forget about making the music sound different; make the whole experience different, make me believe what I'm hearing.

Nine Inch Nails - Survivalism

Back again this week with more 2007 madness.

==TJ==

Does this make Radiohead and NIN the Tom Glavine and Mariano Rivera of Music?

Thanks to anyone who listened on Tuesday. It was sort of a disorganized show, seeings how I was training people in the midst of doing a show. A few mixups and glitches (sorry to anyone listening during the nasty feedback), and of course the ongoing technical issues were a pain, but hopefully by next week a large majority of that will be settled.

I also ended up sitting in on the Alex, Helen, and Amanda show after they had some trouble, and let's just say, if you aren't listening to their show...you should be. Even if you aren't a fan of Top 40 stuff, just listen in for the ridiculous antics. Alex, Helen, and Amanda are on Tuesdays from 7-9 at radio.arcadia.edu. I'm admittedly not a fan of all of their stuff, but just being in the studio with them is a trip in and of itself. MP3s of some stuff they play is below.

So after much publicity and blogging, Radiohead's In Rainbows made its way onto the hard drives of fans all over the world today. I'm listening through it as I type this, and it's more or less what I expected. Weird, borderline trippy music with schizophrenic (and sometimes nonexistent) melodies that ultimately makes for OK ambient noise. A final rating to come later, but even though I'm not thrilled with it after one listen, I know I'm gonna end up playing through it a few more times. Most of what I've read about it so far seems pretty split; longtime fans seem to love the album, casual fans and others are rather indifferent. I'll let you know where I stand later.

In other stick-it-to-the-man news, Nine Inch Nails posted a message on their website in which Trent Reznor joyfully declares himself a free agent in the music world:

"Hello everyone. I've waited a LONG time to be able to make the
following announcement: as of right now Nine Inch Nails is a totally
free agent, free of any recording contract with any label. I have
been under recording contracts for 18 years and have watched the
business radically mutate from one thing to something inherently very
different and it gives me great pleasure to be able to finally have a
direct relationship with the audience as I see fit and appropriate.
Look for some announcements in the near future regarding 2008.
Exciting times, indeed."

Before we all get ornery and get ready to mark the time of death of the record label as we know it, let's remember that Radiohead and NIN have never been known for being the darlings of the recording industry. Anyone else remember the conniption that the RIAA had prior to the release of Year Zero? When bands like Fall Out Boy or Kelly Clarkson go free agent, then I'll call it.

One more thing; Dashboard Confessional frontman Chris Carrabba has been passing the time on his solo tour by blogging about his experiences on the road. Blog topics range from stories of fans he meets (good to know I'm not the only over-18 male who loves Dashboard) to lists of things he loves and hates at the moment (apparently Chris is a fan of Heroes and Battlestar Galactica). The blog is on his myspace page, and will probably go for the length of his solo tour. On another note, I ruckused The Shade of Poison Trees and made it through The Wire Tapes, the covers album I mentioned earlier. I didn't know too many of the originals, but Dashboard redoes tracks like "El Scorcho" and Regina Spektor's "Better" incredibly well. More in-depth reviews later, and definitely expect this stuff to be on the radio show next week.

That's all for now. Enjoy the MP3s, and I'll be back soon.

Timbaland - The Way I Are (As heard on Alex, Helen, and Amanda)
Fall Out Boy - The Take Over, The Break's Over (As heard on Alex, Helen, and Amanda)
Kanye West- Stronger (As heard on Alex, Helen, and Amanda)
Nine Inch Nails - Capital G
Dashboard Confessional - Better (Regina Spektor cover)

Buying music may be good karma, but Thom Yorke and Trent Reznor don't care so much...the choice is yours.

==TJ==

Jimmy Eat World's New Album a Ray of Sunshine

Following up my last entry; I just put in my order for the download of Radiohead's In Rainbows. I ended up paying 2.95 pounds, which is about 6 bucks. The download becomes available on Wednesday, and I'll try to have an update on it by week's end.

As promised, I played through Jimmy Eat World's Chase This Light over the past few days. Each of the last two full length Jimmy albums have taken several spins before I truly appreciate them. On both Jimmy Eat World (also known to most fans as Bleed American) and Futures, I'd hear some tracks that caught my ear and made me bounce around as I heard them, but then other tracks that sounded too tired and mellow and didn't really fit. As for Chase This Light, I've only played through it twice and I'm already on my way to loving it.

Jim Adkins and company open fire with the fast-paced, anthemic first single "Big Casino". From there it's 10 more trakcs showcasing what Jimmy Eat World has done best for nearly 10 years. There's the bouncy punk rock of "Electable (Give it Up)", the smoother, acoustic musings on the standout title track, and the upbeat head-bobbers of "Feeling Lucky" and the memorable closer "Dizzy". The slightly pretentious attempts at being long-winded and moody are gone on this album, and in its place is a rapid-fire, enjoyable 40 minutes of that grey area where punk, rock, and alternative converge.

I've always felt that the term 'emo' was misused when describing Jimmy Eat World. There's nothing overly brooding or self-loathing on Chase This Light. Quite the opposite; from "Big Casino"'s stellar leadoff the album is a celebration of friends, love, and everything life has to offer. And in a time when alt. rock is riddled with moody, power-chord driven lunkheads (See: Three Days Grace, Seether), Chase This Light is a breath of fresh air, and at the risk of typing a horrendous pun, a Vegas-sized neon light worth getting your hands on.
Ruling on the Field: 8.5/10
Highlight Reel: Big Casino, Chase This Light

In a slightly less wordy review, I downloaded the soundtrack to the musical Spring Awakening. If you haven't heard of it, it's written by Duncan Sheik, the guy who did that song "Barely Breathing" many years ago. It's got some definite Broadway-esque leanings to it, moreso than Rent but it's more pop-oriented than Wicked and a hell of a lot of fun. Even if you aren't a huge musical fan, give this one a shot before the inevitable movie comes out.
Ruling on the Field: 8/10

That's it. Remember to tune into radio.arcadia.edu tomorrow at 4 for the premiere of the Viva La Mainstream radio broadcast (bear in mind that due to some technical difficulties, you will only hear music from one speaker).

==TJ==

Radiohead Sticks it to "The Man"; "The Man" Remains Clueless

In what might be the most shocking announcement to the record industry all year, Radiohead announced earlier this week that their seventh studio album, entitled In Rainbows, will be released in a DRM-free digital format on October 10th (yes, of this year. Yes. that means next Wednesday), with a special edition containing bonus vinyls and a hardcover book available for a staggering $80. But that's not the coolest part.

Radiohead is allowing fans to name their own price for the digital version of the album. Save for a nominal administration charge (just under a dollar), fans could choose to pay nothing, or the full price for a normal album. Here's hoping the rest of the music world is taking notes. Not that I think that every piece of music from here on out should be released on a "donations welcome" basis, but I think allowing fans to decide how much they want the music is a brilliant move.

Which leads me to a dilemma; being at best a casual Radiohead fan, how much do I want to pay for the album? To completely blow this off seems wrong and would discourage future artists to listen to what their fans say regarding the future of the industry. But at the same time, Radiohead has always struck me as being kind of trippy and out in left field...not exactly my ideal type of music. So what's a fair price for 15 mp3s of a band I'm not a huge fan of? 5 bucks? 8? 10? Any thoughts you have on this one are appreciated.

No official release date for a traditional CD has been revealed for In Rainbows; word of a Dec. 3 release date were denied by band reps earlier today.

That's enough for now. I'll be back later this week with other stuff, including a review of the leaked Jimmy Eat World album.

Radiohead official website
HMV Errs on Radiohead release date, label [Billboard.biz]

==TJ==