15 November 2007

Radiohead vs. EMI.

It's safe to say tensions between Radiohead and their former label EMI are pretty high right now. Soon after the band snubbed EMI by self-releasing In Rainbows, the label announced it would re-release Radiohead's entire back catalog in a deluxe box set. Interestingly, it has the exact same price tag and release date as Radiohead's deluxe In Rainbows disc box. Last week, EMI's actions took an even more outrageous turn – the label placed a misleading Google advertisement for an album called "Rainbow" that re-directed to a site selling EMI's box set. EMI has since retracted the advertisement, calling it a "data source glitch" (which might be something like a wardrobe malfunction).

Radiohead - "No Surprises": (from OK Computer; 1997)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgzeqwhNTDk

Originally written for the Cavalier Daily:
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/news/2007/nov/15/the-pulse25325/

Jay-Z - American Gangster

Let's not split hairs – Jay-Z's Kingdom Come was bad. No, it wasn't awful, and yes, it did have a handful of redeeming qualities. All the same, it was bad, and as a comeback album from one of hip-hop's biggest and most talented figures, it was a huge letdown.

In large part, the album failed because Jay-Z was too comfortable. Chock full of uninspired rhymes about expensive brands, it lacked any sense of urgency and utterly failed to engage listeners. Kingdom Come may have triumphantly announced the return of one of hip-hop's most celebrated figures, but Jay-Z didn't seem to have much else to say.

Can we really hold it against him, though? His finest work has always revolved around conflict or aspiration. But with Kingdom Come, Jay-Z was totally content. Maybe he just didn't want to fake intensity where there wasn't any. Right or wrong, it's simply what he was feeling at the time.

It's no surprise, then, that American Gangster is an entirely different animal. Inspired by Ridley Scott's film of the same name, Jay-Z's latest is a concept album that loosely details the rise and fall of his fictional drug-dealing alter ego. Far from the comfy, secure themes of Kingdom Come, it sees a return to ruminations on crime and inner-city life that Jay-Z hadn't thoroughly explored since his classic 1996 debut Reasonable Doubt. Tapping into an old vein of creativity revitalizes him, lending him a legitimate, sincere reason to return to the intensity and passion that made his seminal work so compelling.


Jay-Z - "Roc Boys (And the Winner is)..."

Jigga Man's newfound vigor is evident from the get-go with the stunning album opener, "Pray." Perhaps the most emotionally resonant track on the album, it follows the childhood of Jay-Z's protagonist in the New York City projects. The song's observations are disarming in their simplicity and specificity, ranging from used needles on his classroom floor to his father leaving the house in search of his uncle's killer. When Jay-Z proclaims, "I didn't choose this life/ This life chose me," it's strangely easy to empathize with alter-Jay's decision to pursue a life of crime.

To complement his gift for vibrant imagery, Jay-Z employs some of his most vibrant, flexible rhymes to date. Jaw-dropping tracks such as "No Hook," "Ignorant Shit" and the advance single "Blue Magic" all stand among Hova's finest, effortlessly pounding out complex internal rhyme schemes and clever puns. Similarly stunning is the production work, largely handled by Diddy and the Hitmen. The samples are focused on 1970s soul, a fitting touch for an album inspired by Frank Lucas' life.

All these elements congeal into what may well be Jay-Z's best album in half a decade, which makes all the talk of corporate synergy surrounding this release frustrating. True, the fact that Universal is putting out both Jay-Z's album and the related film raises some good questions – is all this just another corporate media scheme to earn some more money?

Maybe, but let's not get caught up in the media politics of the release lest we miss out on some great music. American Gangster may not reach the same heights as his greatest work (Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint), but it rests comfortably next to The Black Album and In My Lifetime as one of Jay-Z's great second-tier albums, and one of the most resonant, accomplished hip-hop albums of 2007.

Originally written for the Cavalier Daily:
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/news/2007/nov/15/jigga-man-resurrects-his-gangster-appeal/

08 November 2007

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures & Closer

There's been a lot of hype surrounding Joy Division lately. Control, a biopic that dramatically details the sad story of frontman Ian Curtis, is burning up film festival circuits worldwide. The eponymous documentary Joy Division has also premiered recently, offering a more objective look at the band's history. And now, Rhino has decided to re-issue the group's seminal albums, Unknown Pleasures and Closer.

Not too bad for a band that's been defunct for almost 30 years.

It's anyone's guess as to where this newfound surge in popularity is coming from, but at least everybody can agree on one thing – Joy Division's legacy is a deserved one. Widely recognized as one of the influential punk bands of all time, the band's sparse, primitive stylings have been a crucial influence on bands as varied as LCD Soundsystem, The Killers and Franz Ferdinand.

In contrast to other punk groups of their day, Joy Division made the revolutionary decision to emphasize space over density, and played their music much more deliberately than their than their fast-paced peers. The resulting music was, and still is, eerily spacey and frightening, made all the more dramatic for Ian Curtis' dark imagery.

Unknown Pleasures, the first of Joy Division's tragically short two-album career, is a dark and intensely focused masterpiece. Taken as a whole, it's an album of lonely desperation – each track serves as a new dialogue, a new person trying to overcome some nameless fear. Unsurprisingly, Unknown Pleasures can be immensely depressing, but it's also awe-inspiring in its scope and creativity.

Joy Division was adept at creating an emotive atmosphere, and each band member was excellent at playing off the other. Uniquely, bassist Peter Hook usually carried the melody, while guitarist Bernard Sumner played rhythm with an occasional cathartic solo. With such a taut, expressive band to back his words, Ian Curtis' monotone vocals took on an otherworldly potency. Visceral yet deliberate, emotive yet cold, driving yet resigned, Unknown Pleasures is a work of stunning paradox.


Joy Division - "She's Lost Control"; live (???)

Follow-up Closer, which unintentionally became the group's last album, was a reflection of Joy Division's ambition. Compared to the monochromatic Unknown Pleasures, it is a vibrant explosion of textures and influences.

Though the group retained its core potency and atmosphere, the use of keyboards and fuller production allowed the band to create an album that is lusher, more confident and more powerful than its predecessor. Fantastic songs such as "Atrocity Exhibition" and "Decades" could never have been as stunning as they are without the textures that the band masterfully employed. Impossibly, Closer actually topped the legendary Unknown Pleasures in its ambitiousness, scope and accomplishment.

And then, at the height of his band's career, frontman Ian Curtis committed suicide, putting a definitive end to the Joy Division legend. His lyrics, marital problems and worsening epilepsy had long been sources of concern, but nobody is sure exactly what motivated his suicide.

Turning back to the music, it's obvious that Curtis was channeling some deeply rooted desperation and angst. Perhaps it was a creative force too powerful for him to contain. Joy Division's discography lends some credence to that theory – it is perhaps the most potent, awe-inspiring punk music ever written.

As easy as it is to get caught up in the music of our own time, these Joy Division re-issues remind us that we should always keep an open mind to the past. Some of the greatest music we will ever hear has already been written.

Originally published for the Cavalier Daily:
http://www.cavalierdaily.com/news/2007/nov/08/reliving-the-fleeting-joy/