May 2008 Archives
Kill Your Idols: The Final Three
Tags: Kill Your Idols
The Branch Davidian firestorm is about to begin, but before it does Jon Caramanica and I must discuss the second-to-last episode of the singing competition, American Idol. To say things have gotten anti-climatic would be a massive understatement. So we won't say it. Let's get it!
Sean Fennessey: Idol?
Jon Caramanica: oh yeah
JC: that show still on?
JC: i'm all about SYTYCD
SF: i'm ready, too.
SF: Cat Deeley is looking right this year.
SF: She's gigantic
JC: Lacey Schwimmer and David Cook still an item?
JC: that will be one big-foreheaded baby
SF: i think he'll get over that chick when he's playing red rocks in 2012
JC: she's a win - i'm still riding
JC: Cookie was whatevs this week
SF: it didn't matter
SF: this has been preordained for months
JC: a fait accompli
SF: he's also holding out for next week
SF: he has to cuz the Archie brigade is gonna be heavy
JC: the funny thing about Archie is that in all the footage I see of him in non-stage situations, he's actually kinda loose
JC: possibly on the way to cool
JC: not really, but you get my point
SF: I DONT GET YOUR POINT AT ALL, SORRY JON
JC: they're holding him back, son
SF: that kid is the worst
JC: let Archie live
SF: was that on Reasonable Doubt?
JC: Vol. 1
JC: sleeper classic
JC: if that kid wants to butcher Chris Brown, let it be
SF: "I really need you, boo."
JC: that was tough
JC: i was like, you don't mean that, lil homie
SF: he shoulda done "Poppin"
SF: that's the one
JC: "Kiss Kiss"
JC: IN THE SPIDER SEATS, YOU NEVER SEE ME!
SF: think T-Pain should be a mentor next year?
SF: holler at me Mark Harris!
JC: he'd be like, where's the beatbox kid?
JC: Mark and SFJ went in this week
SF: They did.
SF: Think they're reading?
JC: maybe
JC: i saw some AZ paper that does something like this
JC: biters
JC: we see you, AZ anonycritics
SF: John McCain bullshit
JC: Jordin Sparks bullshit
SF: I'm still getting over the Archie/Chris Brown thing
SF: that hasn't been broken down enough yet
SF: that was an enormous moment that showed the disconnect
JC: it wasn't terrible from a melody standpoint
SF: doesn't matter
JC: also showed that Breezy can sorta sing
SF: he does a certain thing
SF: which I respect
JC: Archie's headed straight for Christian/Mormon pop
JC: Sucks so bad
SF: as if you didn't hate teen adult contempo enough, let's throw a little Jesus on top!
JC: i mean, think about Zootopia this weekend - Miley, Jonas Bros, etc.
JC: up against them, he'd be slaughtered
SF: is Hudgens gonna be there?
JC: I wish
SF: I'm saying
JC: That second album can't come soon enough
SF: so many possibilities for the cover art
JC: you current with Gossip Girl?
SF: not yet!
SF: one episode behind
JC: but you caught the Hudgens/Efron joke last week?
SF: oh yeah
SF: that was fire
JC: Jenny and her crew get the best lines
SF: they're monsters
SF: we should see if the writers of that show are into A.I.
SF: maybe they can pinch hit for us from time to time
JC: or the COSTUME DESIGNER
JC: (to take my spot, obvs)
SF: all you
JC: you peep my Mary Quant game?
JC: focused
SF: wikipedia says she invented the miniskirt
SF: i'm riding
JC: as you should be
SF: how do you feel about the end of the Syesha Mercado era?
JC: I am only sad because I foolishly predicted Syesha Who I Hate for the final 2 all those weeks ago
JC: and I was hoping to dumb luck into an I-told-you-so
JC: She's just awful
SF: yeah she really lucked into Final 3
JC: i don't even remember how that happened
SF: i was shocked to see Ramiele and Michael Johns in the audience
SF: I was like "oh yeah, that was this season."
JC: She beat Castro? Brooke?
JC: a race thing?
JC: no Carly, I don't think
SF: it feels like 3 years ago
JC: seriously
JC: they've been on TMZ already
JC: so over
JC: none of these people will make a great album
JC: Cookie's got one trick
JC: (a trick I like, but still)
SF: the Switchfoot thing made a lot of sense
JC: Castro will put out a Jack Johnson album that gets music placement on the next season of The Hills
SF: he should be so lucky to get a song like that
JC: i think he will
JC: a stellar minimalist
SF: i might vote for him next week
SF: I've never voted in my life
SF: but that's how much I loathe archuleta
JC: so Cookie to win?
SF: no, I think Archie has it in the bag
JC: Cookie's beaten him on DialIdol like 3 or 4 weeks running
JC: I think he can do it
JC: him and his jowls
SF: and his combover
SF: first combover to win?
SF: not counting kelly clarkson
JC: not counting Fantasia
JC: oh man
SF: i miss you, jon
JC: i miss you too
JC: FIN
Live: Kanye West's Glow In The Dark Tour
Tags: Chris Brown, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, N*E*R*D, Rihanna
Kanye West, Rihanna, N*E*R*D, Lupe Fiasco
Glow In The Dark Tour
Madison Square Garden
May 13, 2008
Flashing Lights (Photo Credit)
At the risk of opening on an extremely obscure note, The Glow In The Dark Tour reminded me a lot of the popular Disneyland ride, Star Tours. Just getting that out of the way.
Last year Kanye West told journalists that his third album, Graduation, was a stadium album, designed to fill arenas and induce sing-alongs. He made no mention of the elaborate, at times convoluted broken spaceship/talking cyber-computer storyline that would accompany those filled arenas. But as is Kanye's way, one can almost always expect the most ridiculous extravagance. It's his shamelessness that has made him as lovable, as talked-about and as despicable--at times simultaneously--as any pop artist in recent memory. G.I.T.D. is a self-aggrandizing showcase for a musician with ego issues, but it's also a wondrously amusing visual experience, daring even. And, maybe more importantly, it's a vibrant musical accomplishment. Though the pink exploding volcanoes, flurrying stars and fluffy gray clouds that fill the screen behind West are hard to turn away from, I found myself LISTENING more than anything else throughout the show. On many of the songs, including an early set tour de force performance of "I Wonder" that lasted more than five minutes, West has fiddled with his tracks, slowing and speeding tempos, pushing vocoders up in the mix, revving the intensity where things might seem flat otherwise. "Flashing Lights," brightened and made even more enormous with a honking brass band, sounded like Outkast's "SpottieOttieDopaliscious" on steroids. Likewise for "Stronger" and "Can't Tell Me Nothin," two songs I've had a hard time understanding in the greater Kanye context in the past. They seemed like sore thumbs the first time around. But in a live setting, their magnificence feels earned and unforced. As I listened closely, to songs from Graduation particularly, I heard a terrific live album in the making, a thought I have to assume Kanye has already considered. If he hasn't, he should.
But about that running storyline: It's a bit of a mess. I give him credit for attempting to break rank with concert formula--he rarely if at all pandered to the crowd directly and never once broke character. But that character, a shipwrecked intergalactic traveler accompanied only by the female-voiced central computer named "Jane" is a mysterious and self-serving one. Not once, but twice, Kanye is called "the brightest star in the universe," by interstellar beings. I assume he wrote the script himself. The pulsating setpieces and breathtaking sounds, though, are more than enough to sell this show and Kanye need not harp on his own awesomeness, even in the confines of a faux-narrative.
Some other highlights: A raucous, downtuned "Get 'Em High" that was vocally screwed and chopped, a neat trick that 'Ye's microphone pulled off. He worked the same magic--this time he vocoderized without even changing mics--on "The Good Life," a song that sounds as thrilling and joyful live as it did last September. It is built for singalongs. I can still hear 20K people screaming "Lawry's!" The transition into "Spaceships," my favorite Kanye song ever, was the only one that made any actual literal sense in the context of the storyline and the crowd kept up with the song through the first verse, at least. And the expected "Hey Mama" tribute was softer and more yearning than a cynical dude like me might have guessed. He won the world over near set's end with the song. Also of note, no costume changes. Sigh.
Some lowlights: Very few actually, Kanye is getting to that point in his career where he can throw together a bulletproof setlist. "Gold Digger" was a bit lame, particularly the gold-embossed nu-Princess Leia hologram (there's Star Tours, again!) swiveling on the screen during the song. Also, after the "Hey Mama" performance, Kanye sat down on the shifting, raising platform he'd dashed across all night and stared off as Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" blared. A moment of reflection after a draining emotional evacuation. I understand the concept, but it's really time to put this Journey thing to bed. Not interesting anymore. Also, 'Ye, no "Gone"? "But if they flip sides like Anakin!" C'mon, B. Work that in there!
Approaching the show, I was far more interested in the opening acts, Lupe, N*E*R*D and Rihanna. They didn't disappoint. Lupe was fearless and more devilish onstage than I'd expected, racing between backup singers Matthew Santos (that guy needs a solo album on Merge) and Sarah Green (a Keyshia clone hiding behind big black shades) and bursting forward with killer renditions of "Paris to Tokyo," "Superstar" and "Daydreaming."
N*E*R*D were even more aggressive, a fierce six-piece, including two drummers apparently recruited by The Roots' ?uestlove. Pharrell's group tore through a seven-song set and the newest songs--"Spazz," "Anti," and "Everyone Nose"--sounded genius. Also, the inimitable Shay: Rapping well! I'm ready for Seeing Sounds to be my favorite album of the year.
Rihanna, an artist that will probably do a night at MSG on her own next year if things keep going well, was more confident and in command of her voice than I've ever seen her. It doesn't hurt that she's had some time to work things out, but her feline purr and dense stares are now more a weapon than a liability in her presentation. At one point she scorched through a medley of Beenie Man's "Who Am I?," M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" (which, if originally sung by Rihanna, probably would have been a mega-hit) and gasp, Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wop (That Thing)." And she killed them all, bouncing along with no pomp or circumstance. And she did well with older hits "Pon De Replay" (strange to think she's the same artist who did that song) and "SOS." "Don't Stop the Music" was also reliably buoyant, a crowd favorite. When alleged paramour Chris Brown came out at set's end for the remix of her stratospheric hit "Umbrella," the moment felt perfectly planned and off-the-cuff at the same time. The kids flipped for Breezy, bless him, and though they only shared a gentle hug at song's end, we could see the fire in their eyes. Young, famous love: It still exists.
Kanye West performing "Heard 'Em Say" at G.I.T.D.
David Banner: Loves White People?
Tags: Chris Brown, David Banner, Yung Joc
David Banner ft. Yung Joc & Chris Brown: "Get Like Me"
from the forthcoming The Greatest Story Ever Told
This video is more than a little confusing (is that Barry Bonds?) but I'm cosigning the R&B guest verse from Breezy. Easily outswags Banner.
White Soul Singer Certifies Her G
Duffy feat. The Game: "Mercy (Remix)"
"D-U-F-F-Y, he crossed over just like A.I."
Ugh. A NEXT artist in VIBE'S June issue (out now), the unassuming, blonde, Welsh soul singer Duffy is trying to get that Amy Winehouse money. Which is fine. She's got a specific shrieky texture to her voice that fits in nicely with a rising trend--the a pronounced, somewhat troubling white soul thing going on that Starbucks shoppers are clearly excited about it. Though Duffy is more Ronettes than Amy, she's very much in the same lane.
The Game is a rapper that likes referencing other famous people, particularly rappers. Though he's not averse to namedropping a ballplayer or an actor, from time to time. The Game is talented and quite famous, particularly for a post-millennial rap star. But he's remained utterly street in presentation. He scowls. When not scowling, he sulks. To my knowledge he's never made such an overtly female-centric move. I'm not entirely sure who this song is for.
Kill Your Idols: Can You Tell We Don't Care About This Season?
Tags: Kill Your Idols
Jon Caramanica and I, once again, will not be chatting this week. Mostly because we couldn't, but I suspect part of the lack of inspiration comes from the fact that neither one of us is very excited about what's left of what is likely the worst, most insipid season of the reality singing competition yet. Ratings are down a bit again this year, as has been consistently noted, and despite Ryan Seacrest's insistence that this season featured "the most talented top 24 ever," the three remaining competitors--David Cook, Syesha Mercado, and prohibitive favorite David Archuleta--are no more dazzling (likely far less) than previous top threes. There's no powerhouse like Carrie Underwood here, nor is there any Taylor Hicks-Katherine McPhee drama. Many believe Idol will go on forever, juggernauting its way through the Nielsen ratings for the next decade. But cause for alarm is higher than ever.
Also, I'm really worried about David Archuleta's father murdering him onstage during the finale if David Cook snatches the crown.
