Music Review: The Swimmers - People Are Soft

Are The Swimmers the great pop hope of 2009? It may be a little late in the year to pose such a question, but in the case of People Are Soft, it is a valid one. In the little-known rock-crit bylaws, there is a section titled “Great Pop Hopes.” Big Star inspired this rule, but they were followed by such noteworthy entrants as Cheap Trick, The Replacements, and Teenage Fanclub.

In this rarefied world, The Swimmers are a music writer’s wet dream. Even after the most cursory of listens, I have fallen victim to this syndrome. All of the caveats are necessary, because People Are Soft absolutely has me in its thrall. The Swimmers are very much of a piece with the aforementioned bands, possibly as good as the music can get.

“Shelter” opens things up, and reminds me of New Order’s “Regret,“ with Thom Yorke taking over vocal duties. A critic’s dream come true already, and we are only on track one. “A Hundred Hearts” follows, and yes, it does sound like a synth-pop variation on Springsteen’s “Hungry Heart.”

Wonderful.

But we have only really scratched the surface of obscuro rock-crit references. “Save Me (From The Brightness)” re-imagines the incredible lost band of 1994, Ivory Library. In particular the song “Liar,” from their record Parasite. “Anything Together” comes later, and features an obvious homage to one of the great (lost) pop songs of all time, “Forever Now," from The Psychedelic Furs.

The Swimmers change things up by replacing Richard Butler’s post-punk angst with shimmering harmonies. The final track “Try To Settle In,” quotes the Band Aid tune “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”

I am sorry, but I am sold. The Swimmers are ridiculously cool. In true over-hyped Rock Critic mode, I proclaim People Are Soft to be the best record of 2009. But if you disagree, please don’t shoot me. After all, I am only the piano player.

All kidding aside though, The Swimmers’ People Are Soft is a damn good record. If you like any of the bands I previously mentioned, I suggest The Swimmers. This may be the best record I have heard this year.

Music Review: Zero Set - Zero Set

The Bureau B label is rapidly becoming my favorite record label in the world. They continue to reissue some of the most provocative music ever made. Most of it comes from Germany, and is usually called Krautrock. The term is a bit of a misnomer, especially considering Zero Set, but it stands as the best shorthand available.

The self-titled Zero Set LP was originally released in 1982. While it features musicians from the Krautrock heyday of the 1970’s, it is far from the progressive extravaganzas the genre is known for. Zero Set is a record that sounds like a blueprint for the funky, percussive and proudly electronic jazz that Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis pursued to great effect in the 1980’s. It is a shame that nobody else ever heard it.

The record is a percussive extravaganza from a super-session of German experimental music pioneers. Dieter Moebius is best known for his work in Cluster; Mani Neumeier was the drumming, driving force of Guru Guru; and Conny Plank produced everyone from The Scorpions to Neu! to Kraftwerk. Zero Set comprised a trio of musicians who clearly were at the top of their game.

The heavy percussion of opening track “Speed Display” says it all. The best fusion of The Mahavishnu Orchestra only hinted at these possibilities. From there it is a short journey to “Pitch Control,” which anticipates the beat to a well-done electronic sound the song “Rockit” made so famous.

Most presciently of all is the final cut, “Search Zero.” This is a tune that prefigures everything Miles Davis made as his trademarked sound of the 1980’s. It is a sadly illuminating track. Marcus Miller always took credit for the idea of sampling Miles’ trumpet, but the whole thing is established here, five years prior.

Discovering the Kosmiche Musik roots of Miles Davis’ final era is an amazing thing. Zero Set is in no way, shape or form a jazz record though. This is the sound of pioneers in every way as adventurous as any, creating the music they wanted to.

Zero Set stands as a truly great record. Thank you Bureau B for putting it back out there for the world to hear.

Music Review: Fela Kuti - The Return Of The Black President (Deluxe Edition)

Fela Anikulapo Kuti was an amazing talent. During his approximately 20 years of active recording, he recorded nearly 50 albums, toured the globe, and single-handedly invented the genre of music known as Afro-Beat. He was also arrested over 200 times, beaten mercilessly, and spent a lot of time behind bars in his homeland of Nigeria.

Fela’s Afro-Beat was a mixture of jazz and funk, with traditional African elements thrown in at times. His songs usually stretched out well over ten minutes, and often filled a whole side of a vinyl LP. Fela’s lyrics were sung in what is known as Pidgin English, which he used so that a large part of the continent could understand what he was saying.

And what Fela had to say got him into a lot of trouble with the authorities. He grew up in the last days of English Colonialism in Nigeria, born to a middle-class family who were somewhat radicalized activists. When Fela traveled with his band to the US for the first time in 1969, he met some members of the Black Panther party. When he was deported soon after, Fela had developed something of a revolutionary spirit himself, and expressed it in his music from then on.

Fela’s Afro-Beat records were immensely popular in his homeland, which is little wonder. His music is fantastic. Many of the songs stretch way out in a groove similar to that of a James Brown or George Clinton. His bands featured up to 30 members onstage, who would take leisurely, and at times incredibly powerful solos throughout the pieces.

Fela’s lyrics were always the main point though. One of his most well-known tracks, “Zombie,” proved to be literally incendiary at one show. “Zombie” opens up with some superb sax from Fela, over a rhythm track as funky as anything Sly Stone ever did. When Fela’s lyrics, which compare the military to zombies, were played at a concert in Nigeria, the place erupted in a riot.

The new, two-disc compilation The Return Of The Black President contains 13 songs, a few of which were edited slightly, for space considerations. There is not a weak track among them. Fela’s band were as tight as any jazz or funk unit have ever been. There is so much joy in this music, it is disconcerting to read about the horrible conditions so much of it was recorded under.

A couple of my personal favorites include the track chosen to open this compilation, “Lady,” and the full 17 minute version of “Army Arrangement (Part 2).”

Knitting Factory Records have fully committed themselves to the music of Fela, and The Return Of The Black President is just the beginning. They now have the rights to all of his work, which will be released on CD and vinyl as well as digitally.

The deluxe edition of Black President includes a DVD titled A Slice Of Fela that is quite interesting. The first segment, “Music Is The Weapon,” is an excerpt from the film of the same name, made in 1982, and features him playing live in his nightclub in Nigeria.

The second segment, “Powershow,” is a furious recording of the band playing that song live at the Berlin Jazz Festival in 1978. It is about ten minutes long, and is really something to see.

The third segment, “Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense,” is excerpted from the BBC program of the same name, from 1984. This is some pretty fascinating material also, as it includes live footage from the Glastonbury Festival, and interviews with Fela.

The final portion of the DVD features interviews with two experts on Fela, Carlos Moore, the biographer who wrote Fela: This Bitch Of A Life, and director Bill T. Jones. As unlikely as it may seem, Jones is bringing Fela and Afro-Beat to Broadway, with a musical simply titled Fela! All of this material is introduced by actor Sahr Ngaujah, who plays Fela in the show.

The Return Of The Black President is an outstanding compilation of some of Fela’s greatest works. But there was so much more to the man’s life than just his music. At one point, he declared his compound in Nigeria a separate state, which resulted in an ambush that nearly killed him, and actually did result in the death of his 82 year-old mother.

In 1978, to commemorate the one year anniversary of this horrible event, Fela married 27 women in a mass wedding. He continued to record, tour, and suffer beatings from the police until the end. Fela passed away from complications of AIDS in 1997, and it was reported that his funeral was attended by over one million people.

Fela Anikulapo Kuti lived an extraordinary life, and The Return Of The Black President is just the first of what looks be an enormous amount of recognition for him. It is a fine place to start, as his mix of soul, funk, and jazz called Afro-Beat is timeless. The deluxe edition of this package, with all the live footage is well worth it, because as amazing as his records are, nothing compares to seeing the man and his band live, in full-flight.

Site Review: Gold Coins Gain

I have been interested in gold for quite some time now, what with the economic situation the US has been facing. I always wondered how to buy gold coin though.

Thanks to the website Gold Coins Gain though, I have learned quite a bit about the market. The big question I had to start with was what the difference was between gold coins and gold bullion. To buy gold bullion is simply to buy the minted coin in reference to its mass and purity rather than by its face value as money.

Simply put, to purchase gold bullion in a coin form, one would ignore the face value of the coin. A US quarter for example struck out of gold would be worth far more than it's 25-cent face value as a quarter.

I found the site extremely useful in helping me to learn how to buy bullion The Gold Coins Gain website has a ton of information for even the most novice investor. It is definitely worth checking out.

Music DVD Review: Thin Lizzy - Are You Ready?

The legend of Thin Lizzy is a glorious and ultimately tragic one, perfectly reflecting the life of the band’s founder, Phil Lynott. He was a larger than life character, both literally and symbolically. Towering at well over six feet, Lynott was of mixed-race descent, but considered himself an Irishman. Watching him lead the band on the Are You Ready? DVD, it seems as if Phil Lynott was born to be a rock star.

Many of us Yanks first heard of Thin Lizzy with their anthem “The Boys Are Back In Town” in 1976. It really seemed as if they had the world at their command in the late '70s. In 1978 they released one of the all time great double-live LPs Live And Dangerous, and in 1979 followed it with Black Rose: A Rock Legend.

Running parallel to these achievements, though, were internal struggles that eventually overpowered the unit. Besides Lynott’s uniquely poetic lyrics and singing style, a huge part of the Lizzy sound were the twin guitars of Gary Moore and Scott Gorham. Moore had left and rejoined the band a couple of times by 1981, the year Are You Ready? was filmed.

Guitarist Snowy White takes Moore’s place on Are You Ready? While the music does not suffer at all from this change in personnel, White had little of the charisma of Gary Moore. Still, the main focus of this concert remains Phil Lynott. The 19 songs that make up the nearly two-hour show are excellent and run the gamut of the band’s career.

The concert was filmed in Loreley, Germany and became the first to be shown on the legendary German TV program Rockpalast. A definite highlight is “Cowboy Song”/”The Boys Are Back In Town,” and live versions of “Chinatown,” “Jailbreak,” and “Rosalie,” stand out as well.

The only drawback in the footage is the lighting. In 1981 the kinks in filming a live concert had yet to be worked out. Consequently, there are a few instances where the entire band is washed out by the spotlights. I guess that is the price we pay for seeing such historical material, but it is a shame nonetheless.

There are no bonus features at all contained on Are You Ready? but with a nearly two-hour concert to enjoy, I have no complaint. This is a nice document of a great band, and even without Gary Moore, they put on an remarkable show. Are You Ready? is essential viewing for rock fans of all ages.

Music Review: Chickenfoot - Chickenfoot (Deluxe Limited-Edition)

The sound of “classic rock” is alive and well on Chickenfoot. Actually, the term classic rock is a little ridiculous, as it is used to describe anything from about four decades of music. Let’s just say that with Chickenfoot the mid-80’s spirit of Van Halen proudly parties on.

This would be Van Halen Mark II, with Sammy Hagar on vocals. One of the most unheralded, yet distinctive voices in rock belongs to former VH bass player Michael Anthony. His harmonizing with Hagar back in the Van Halen days were a big part of the band’s successful singles run during their period together. On the self-titled Chickenfoot debut, they repeat this formula to winning effect with “ Get It Up,” “My Kinda Girl,” and the power-ballad “Learning To Fall.”

Guitar hero Joe Satriani takes on the Eddie role, one he is well suited to. Satriani has played with numerous bands over the years, including Frank Zappa, Alice Cooper, Deep Purple, and even the almighty Spinal Tap. In the drum chair is another virtuoso musician, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. As Smith has demonstrated with his Bombastic Meatbats on their recent Meet The Meatbats, he is an amazing player.

Although the musicians in the band certainly have the capability to show-off, that was never the intention of Chickenfoot. This is a proudly commercial album, and sounds all the better for it. I have to say, I miss good old radio-rock like this.

Chickenfoot has done pretty well so far, having already been certified Gold by the RIAA. But for whatever reason, the band has released a deluxe limited-edition of the disc exclusively through Best Buy. This version includes the original 11 songs, plus a previously unreleased track titled “Bitten By The Wolf.”

There is also a one-hour long DVD included in the package, featuring a mix of live and studio versions of the Chickenfoot tunes. The highlight of the DVD for me is them doing “Bitten By The Wolf.” Although it is not the full-length song, it shows Satriani really shredding, which is always fun to see.

I recommend this edition of Chickenfoot pretty strongly to anyone who does not yet own the original version. If you do already have it, then it becomes a matter of how much one new song as well as an hour’s worth of video footage means to you. In the US, this version is only available at Best Buy, and is available in the UK and the rest of Europe from earMusic.

Book Review: Mr. Skin's Skincyclopedia by Mr. Skin

Today is a day for my fellow pervs and I to rejoice. To call us perverts is a badge of honor, because we are men who prefer our actresses to have as little clothing on as possible, every time.

The genius who calls himself Mr. Skin launched his website back in 1999, and it’s success over the past decade has been phenomenal. Frankly, I don’t know how we ever lived without it. What he does is simple, yet brilliant. Basically what Mr. Skin and now this book, the second edition of his Skincyclopedia, does is list 2009 actresses who have appeared sans clothing on film.

The actresses listed in the book are the ones "Who I find to be the most important to the onward-and-upward development of naked arts and sciences,” says Mr. Skin. By sharing these great finds with the world, Mr. Skin shows he is a true humanitarian.

But there is much more to Mr. Skin’s Skincyclopedia than a simple listing of nude or semi-nude scenes to look for. Each actress gets her own brief biography, as well as her most “SKIN-fining moment.”

For example, let’s look at Sex In The City Super-Cougar Kim Cattrall’s entry. Mr. Skin spends a couple of paragraphs talking about her nude career, which has been stellar. Her SKIN-fining moment came way back in 1982, in the masterpiece Porky’s. This is followed with a listing of all 14 films she has shown boobs, buns, or bush in, plus a separate list for television.

Talk about handy! Now you can go to the video store armed with the information that really matters. In this second, fully revised edition of Mr. Skin’s Skincyclopedia, our hero has added over 350 new actresses to the original version. The writing style is pretty funny, and some of the actresses included boggle the mind.

Did you know that Maureen (Marcia Brady) McCormick dropped top in a 1981 film titled Texas Lightning? Neither did I, but I’m renting it tonight! On a completely different note, is there anyone who ever wanted to see Miss Olive Oyl herself, Shelly Duvall naked? Now you know where to look, just find the 1974 blockbuster Thieves Like Us, forward to the 1:19 mark, and you can see what Popeye was never allowed to see.

Bonus Skincyclopedia treats include a whole section titled “69 Stars Who Need To Get Nude Soon,” featuring such party-poopers as Kelly Clarkson, Brooke Hogan, and Raquel Welch, who Mr. Skin admonishes: “It’s never two late, Rocky.”

The “Anatomy Awards” section is pretty funny too, featuring winners in categories such as: “Best Nude In Public Scene,” “Best Breasts,” and “Best Lesbian Scene.” The Awards go all the way back to Y2K itself, 2000.

Mr. Skin’s Skincyclopedia is required reading all of us proudly pervy film “buffs” in the world. It should be sold with a box of tissues though.