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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Jim Connelly's
Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Monday, January 15, 2007
Jesse Steichen's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Friday, January 12, 2007
Bill Bentley's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Anthony Carew's 13 Fave Albums Of 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
SXSW 2006: Finding Some Hope In Austin
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Letter From New Orleans
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums of 2005
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Music For Dwindling Days: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sean Fennessey's 'Best-Of' 2005
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Albums Of 2005
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings of 2005
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Michael Lach - Old Soul Songs For A New World Order
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Found In Translation — Emme Stone's Year In Music 2005
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Dave Allen's 'Best-Of' 2005
Monday, January 2, 2006
Steve Gozdecki's Favorite Albums Of 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Johnny Walker Black's Top 10 Of 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Neal Block's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Year In Review
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Jennifer Kelly's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Ben Gook's Beloved Albums Of 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Anthony Carew's Fave Albums Of 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Prince, Spoon And The Magic Of The Dead Stop
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Truth About America
Monday, September 5, 2005
Tryin' To Wash Us Away
Monday, August 1, 2005
A Psyche-Folk Heat Wave In Western Massachusetts
Monday, July 18, 2005
Soggy But Happy At Glastonbury 2005
Monday, April 4, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 3: All Together Now
Friday, April 1, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 2: Dr. Dog's Happy Chords
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 1: Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting
Friday, March 25, 2005
Final Day At SXSW's Charnel House
Monday, March 21, 2005
Day Three At SXSW
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Day Two In SXSW's Hall Of Mirrors
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Report #1: SXSW 2005 And Its Hall Of Mirrors
Monday, February 14, 2005
Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
David Howie's 'Moments' From The Year 2004
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Noah Bonaparte's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Kevin John's Fave Albums Of 2004
Friday, January 14, 2005
Music For Those Nights: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Neal Block's Top Ten Of 2004
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 10, 2005
Wayne Robins' Top Ten Of 2004
Friday, January 7, 2005
Brian Orloff's Fave Albums Of 2004
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Johnny Walker (Black)'s Top 10 Of 2004
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums (And Book) Of 2004
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Mark Mordue's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 3, 2005
Lee Templeton's Fave Recordings Of 2004
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Tuesday, August 28, 2001
Letter From Canada: Last Word On The Strokes?
Neumu's Johnny Walker (Black) writes: Dear Michael:
My my, all this fretting about The Strokes. After reading Neumu for the last week, I just had to call up my trusty Morpheus program and see what all the fuss is about (love that file-sharing technology!). My verdict? Nice bunch of lads, probably listened to the Velvet Underground box set a few times, maybe one of them even snorted a speedball once.
The singer does a nifty Lou Reed-y voice, while the band is competent, if not particularly inspired at times. However, I must say, we've already seem much better Velvets' copies in the '80s and '90s: the first album by the Dream Syndicate, The Days of Wine and Roses, for one, and just about the entire catalogue of The Feelies, which featured one of the great unsung, swingin' rock drummers of all time, Stanley Demeski, who also beat the skins for another group of Velvets-ites, Luna, who were also pretty good until Demeski left.
Needless to say, none of those (superior) bands exactly tore up the charts, so I don't know what that means for The Strokes: a rocket ride to obscurity or Top of the Pops? Most likely the former, though you never know.
But trust me on this one: whoever said that this Strokes thing is mainly a problem for A&R men and rock critics hit the nail right on the head. After listening to a bit of The Strokes, I took a late-night walk down my street, where a bunch of teenagers were having a bit of a summer beer bash on the back porch. I couldn't help but notice that they weren't listening to The Strokes, or Detroit's The White Stripes (who I like a lot, by the way), or The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. No, they were blasting hip-hopper Tupac Shakur. Judging by the impressive sales figures of Pac's latest missive from the Great Beyond, Until the End of Time,it is not Lou Reed, or Iggy Pop, or even Kurt Cobain, who fulfills the always-relevant role of rebel messiah for today's youth, but instead Mr. Shakur.
Try blasting "Ballad of A Dead Soulja," the lead-off track from his latest, REAL loud, and maybe you can see why this is. The Strokes sound awfully meek, awfully white middle-class and tame in comparison to the anger, rebellion, and pride that suffuses the best work of this ghetto supastar. Shakur sounds every moment like it's all on the line — which, in retrospect, it apparently was — like every word, every beat, every note, is crucial to him.
Yes, you could say the same thing about Raw Power or Rock 'N' Roll Animal. But those were made in the 1970s, a long time ago; Tupac's thug-hop masterpiece, All Eyez on Me, only came out in 1996. The Tupac legend is therefore still growing, while the aura of our shared rebel-rock idols from rock's golden era is starting to dissipate a bit by now. And hey, Pac repeatedly told the world to kiss his ass, went to jail, came out unrepentant, and was gunned down by his enemies in cold blood — it's gonna take a lot to top that one. "Nothing is true; everything is permitted" indeed: Cobain looks like a wuss in comparison.
Am I saying that there can't be such a thing as a rock messiah (or messiahs) ever again? No, though such a thing looks increasingly unlikely. But if it does, it ain't gonna be a nice bunch of NYC middle-class expatriates called The Strokes who fill the role — it's the kids, you see, who ain't gonna buy it.
Until next time,
JW(B)
The InsiderOne Daily
Report appears weekdays at 9 AM PST, except when it doesn't.
by Michael Goldberg
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