An album that isn't appearing on as many year-end lists as it should (including this one) is Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool," a record released Dec. 18 in the U.S. A 71-minute study of what it means to be cool, the album is an entertainingly heady examination of corporate hip-hop, fast food and poverty, the desire for fame and how it all ties into what's happening in forgotten corners of the world.
It also nicely expands Fiasco's sound.
The backdrops are heavier and darker than Fiasco's debut, "Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor," but his style is as breezy as ever. Fiasco also doesn't let the dense subject matter weigh him down. If it doesn't have the bounce of his first album, there's a laid-back, almost jazz-like groove to "The Cool," allowing Fiasco more room for his deft wordplay.
If the album had been released earlier in the year, it almost certainly would be appearing on the majority of year-end critic's lists (it did make that of the New York Times' Jon Pareles), and quite probably would have earned a Grammy nomination for best rap album.
Fiasco's "The Cool" is certainly a stronger effort than Jay-Z's "Kingdom Come" and Nas' "Hip-Hop is Dead," two somewhat disappointing efforts from the respected artists, and it's far more consistent than T.I.'s "T.I. Vs. T.I.P."
In fact, by the time nominations rolled around in December, Jay-Z had already released one of the better albums of 2007 in "American Gangster," but it won't get its nomination until December 2008. With the eligibility period based around a fiscal year rather than a calendar year (Grammy eligibility ends on Sept. 30), it not only makes the Grammys seem outdated, it risks Fiasco's "The Cool" being overshadowed by 2008's hip-hop releases.
Yes, both "Hip-Hop is Dead" and "Kingdom Come" came out at the end of 2006, but let's not forget that Nas and Jay-Z are superstar artists -- and two of the closest things hip-hop has to working, heritage acts. Anything they release will eat up Grammy votes, and one slot in the 2009 Grammys will already be occupied by "American Gangster."
There's a high probability that by missing this year's eligibility period, "The Cool" will go the way of another terrific-but-overlooked hip-hop album, "Hell Hath No Fury" by Clipse, which was released in November of last year. But here's just one reason why "The Cool" shouldn't be forgotten: "Little Weapon."
The song opens with a solemn, almost hymn-like backdrop before revealing the gripping rhythm, a sharp militaristic beat that sounds as if it's being played by a tiny toy drum. Fiasco then launches into a narrative about boy soldiers, 10-year-old rebel fighters killing for soccer balls and "shooting into heaven like they trying to kill the 'Jetsons.' "
It's in the final verse that the song becomes downright arresting. Fiasco splices in images of violence with modern video games, with slicing synthesizer sounds hammering in every one of Fiasco's verses. "Press pause for your moms," Fiasco raps, "make room silent, she don't approve of violent games." But it's not a commentary on video games, as the game controller is ultimately revealed as a symbol of modern warfare.
And like M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes," it brings a global spin to the American gangsta rap song, complete with an irresistible melody and stunning production.
It won't be until Feb. 10, 2008, that the Grammy Awards will allow us to officially say goodbye to the music of 2007, at least albums released during the eligibility period. Sorry Radiohead and Alicia Keys -- records issued in November and December of 2007 will have to wait until 2009 for their Grammy.
But for music fans, the last two months of any year are usually not the most exciting of times as releases slim down and each week is graced solely with one or two blockbuster artists. That will soon change with the coming of January, when independent and smaller artists who would get lost in the holiday shuffle will release their albums.
So as everyone overdoses on year-end lists, here's a brief look into the immediate future. The following are some January albums worth keeping an eye on. And there's plenty more where this came from, so stay tuned.
1. Magnetic Fields "Distortion" (Nonesuch). Jan. 15. By all accounts, this album comes as advertised, with all of its instrumentation wrapped in a winter-time buzz just short of feedback. From the few songs sampled, "Distortion" sees the Stephin Merritt-led group creating a sort of icy Wall of Sound, lacing what would have been lovely, '60s-inspired pop songs with darker intentions.
2. Black Mountain "In the Future" (Jagjaguwar). Jan. 22. Taking the hazy tip to more Black Sabbath proportions, the stoner, psychedelic hard rock of Black Mountain has been elevated to something a bit more epic on its second album. Check "Tyrants," with its confidently relaxed build, spooked guitar tones and standing-from-the-mountaintop vocals.
3.Times New Viking "Rip It Off" (Matador). Jan. 22. Look for plenty of hype to accompany the Matador debut from these scratchy, loud and sometimes abrasive Midwestern punky power-pop trio. Recklessness is the name of the game here, but like the Replacements, there's plenty of melody that comes to light as scrappy keyboard and guitar parts go at one another. Matador has made a song available for streaming here.
4. Cat Power "Jukebox" (Matador). Jan. 22. With her last album, "The Greatest," Cat Power went from being a celebrated underground vocalist to one who can control a room. Her sly use of Memphis soul gave her newfound swing and conviction. So while "Jukebox" isn't an album of new originals, this collection of covers, from Creedence Clearwater Revival to Bob Dylan songs, is worth a listen to see how the artist continues to develop as a singer.
5. Sons & Daughters "This Gift" (Domino) Jan. 29. A personal favorite, Sons & Daughters (pictured) has largely been overlooked in the States by more hyped labelmates Franz Ferdinand and the Arctic Monkeys. Hopefully "This Gift" will change that, as the Scottish foursome takes sleek U.K. rock and dashingly dresses it up with American Western influences. Preview plenty of songs from "This Gift" on the band's MySpace page.
As the music industry slogs into 2008, the record labels will be without one of their most famous and recognizable moguls. Rapper/entrepreneur Jay-Z has opted not to renew his contract as president of Def Jam Records. He will, however, continue to record for Roc-A-Fella, which released his popular companion to the film "American Gangster" earlier this year.
Don't, however, bet on Jay-Z staying out of the business side of the music industry for long.
His exit from Def Jam has been rumored for months. Many have predicted he would join Rick Rubin at Columbia Records. And in a recent interview with Billboard's Gail Mitchell, he hinted at developing a new label outside of the Universal Music Group system.
Said Jay-Z: "It's really about trying to invest in the future, trying to invest in maybe coming up with a new model. Because going in hard making records with artists and throwing those records into a system that's flawed is not exciting for me. It's not the music; people ingest music the same way. It's just that the model of selling CDs has changed. So doing things the typical way is not in the best interests of anyone and not exciting for me. My whole thing is, how do we invest in the future? If everyone is committed to doing that, then I'm sure there's a deal to be made."
Elsewhere in the piece, Jay-Z spoke fondly of Radiohead's pay-what-you-want model, and took a skeptical view on 360-deals, which see a label investing in all aspects of an artist's career.
The long-list for the 2008 Shortlist Music Prize includes 54 albums, ranging from releases by Arcade Fire, Bad Religion, Justice, LCD Soundsystem, M.I.A., Spoon, Eddie Vedder, Peter Bjorn and John, and Wilco, among others.
The 54 albums were chosen by five listmakers -- Snow Patrol’s Gary Lightbody, the Killers’ Ronnie Vannucci, journalist Rev. Moose, KCRW DJ Chris Douridas and the hosts of Hunnypot Internet Radio.
The list (below jump) will be narrowed to 10 artists and a winner will be crowned sometime early next year, according to a low-on-info press release.
The Shortlist began in 2001 as a sort of U.S. competition similar to Britain's Mercury Prize, which places a high emphasis on lesser-known acts and artistic achievement. This year's Mercury winner was the dance-pop of the Klaxons. The main qualifying rule for the Mercury Prize is that the winner must hail from England or Ireland.
But unlike the U.K.'s Mercury Prize, the Shortlist puts the emphasis on sales over nationality. It recognizes albums released between January and November 2007 that have yet to be certified gold by the Recording Industry Assn. of America for U.S. shipments of 500,000 units.
The 2007 Shortlist winner was singer/songwriter Cat Power for "The Greatest." The year before, the award went to Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois."
Some quick thoughts on this year's field:
The good: Looking a bit like a mix of Plug: Independent Music Awards and a year-end critic's list, there are some inspired choices up for the Shortlist. Check the Nick Cave-led Grinderman (pictured), whose self-titled debut was a scorching blues-rock effort, its songs fighting off death and kissing away youth. Also of note is one of the most tunefully experimental hard rockers around, Parts & Labor.
The bad: Lots of the usual suspects, as well as past Shortlist nominees. Wilco and Feist? They haven't won before, so it's time to move aside. As long as the Shortlist is using sales as a barometer, organizers should avoid repeat nominees, as there's plenty of small-selling acts in need of press. By that same token, if you're in a mega-selling act, such as Eddie Vedder, you should be ineligible, as should acts who have passed the 500,000 shipment mark before, a la Bad Religion. Sorry. And also, where's the hip-hop? M.I.A. and Swizz Beatz are nice, but the entire underground hip-hop field is virtually ignored this year.
Finally: As record sales keep dwindling from year to year -- 2007 sees another double-digit decline in CD sales -- will the Shortlist soon have to lower the bar? Today, shipping and/or selling more than 500,000 copies of an album brings you to near-superstar status.
Lou Reed's fine guitar scorcher "Gravity" did not make the shortlist for Oscar's Best Original Song, but the former leader of the Velvet Underground will be talking film at next year's South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas.
Reed will give the keynote at the March 12-16 conference, and screen Julian Schnabel's film "Lou Reed's Berlin." "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" director filmed Reed performing the landmark work over five nights in Brooklyn last year.
In addition to Reed, Seymour Stein, the president of the original label-home to Madonna and the Ramones, Sire Records (current acts: Against Me!, Tegan & Sara), will be the subject of an interview, as will Ticketmaster CEO Sean Moriarty and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, among others.
And those who haven't heard Reed's "Gravity" from the documentary "Nanking" should go here and listen to a snippet.
The American Assn. of Independent Music (AAIM), a trade group that represents U.S. indie labels, has put together a 15-page list documenting a number of indie releases nominated for a Grammy. You can click here to read it all, but note this will open as a PDF document.
According to AAIM, which counts Sub Pop, Epitaph,Matador and Righteous Babe among its many members, 35 of its labels this year received a total of 74 nominations, up from last year's 46 nominations.
While there's plenty of good music listed in that document, such as the Shins and Bettye LaVette (pictured), take those numbers with a grain of salt.
It does not represent all independent nominations since AAIM is only counting those labels that are members of the trade group. Additionally, many of the artists and labels listed in AAIM's document are ones that aren't typically considered independents.
See, for instance, Roadrunner Records, the label home to Nickelback, and one that's essentially owned by Warner Bros., which has a majority stake in the hard rock label.
And who can forget that little DIY-label-that-could Hear Music, which is the Starbucks imprint that launched an incredibly subtle marketing campaign for Paul McCartney's "Memory Almost Full"? Hear accounts for four nominations on AAIM's list.
But all kidding aside, it's linked here because it's still an interesting list to scroll through. It's definitely not complete -- nominated artists the Arcade Fire are not listed because Merge is not a member -- but it still serves to illustrate how artists on smaller labels tend to have a harder time getting recognized come Grammy time.
In other Grammy news:
The Recording Academy has announced that Burt Bacharach, the Band,Cab Calloway, Doris Day, Itzhak Perlman, Max Roach and Earl Scruggs will receive 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award. The recipients will be honored a day before the Grammy Awards on Feb. 9. (Photo courtesy Anti-Records)
The holiday season can always be counted upon for some overwrought, heart-string-pulling flicks -- “A Beautiful Mind,” “We Are Marshall,” “Pursuit of Happyness,” and the list goes on.
This year is no different, and two of them, “Grace is Gone” and “The Bucket List,” have employed two superstar musicians to hammer home their film's messages.
Today we size up Sheryl Crow vs. John Mayer in the battle for the holiday movie season’s most emotionally obvious tune.
First up:
Sheryl Crow's "Lullaby for Wyatt," from emotional tear-jerker "Grace is Gone." There's something clearly important going on here, as evidenced by the the minimally shot video, the distant yet soft violin strings and funeral-ready melody. Watch:
Snap judgment: The delicate melody is easy on the ears, and the acoustic strumming is mournfully inoffensive. The singing is just short of over-the-top, but it's still striving for that I'm-singing-to-stop-from-crying feel. Crow doesn't have much to offer lyrically in this song -- the main refrain: "love is letting go" -- but a sort of universal sadness is the goal here, anyway.
Next up:
John Mayer is your guy for a heartwarming film about the terminally ill. Mayer is adept like few others at being the pop music equivalent of a Hallmark card. Look at the pretty mountains:
Snap judgment: Slick acoustics and hard-to-argue with pronouncements are Mayer's stock-in-trade. For fans, he likely delivers here, declaring, "better to say too much than to never say what you need to say," a statement that actually says nothing but manages to sound deep. It's gooey, sing-songy earnestness.
Winner (in terms of the better song): Crow's "Lullaby for Wyatt."
Winner (in terms of the Holiday's most emotionally obvious tune): Mayer's "Say"
Both are simple and emotionally manipulative, but Mayer hams it up. "Say" is bigger and warmer than "Wyatt," and it hits the listener like an after-school special.
Much has been written about the eccentric characters of “Juno,” both those in front of and behind the camera.
Actress Ellen Page has won rave reviews for her portrayal of the title character, a sharp-tongued teenager who masks the emotional trials of a teen pregnancy with her quick wit and sarcastic one-liners. And the press can’t get enough of Diablo Cody, who penned the “Ghost World”-inspired story. The stripper-turned-author-turned-screenwriter just published her first EW column.
But the man who scored the Jason Reitman-directed film, Mateo Messina (right), might be even more unconventional. In composing the film, Messina turned an apple into a rhythmic instrument and experimented with the sound of water -- all this for a movie that demanded a seemingly simple indie-pop sound.
Messina, who also worked on Reitman's "Thank You for Smoking," had the difficult task of creating a score that would seamlessly coexist with “Juno’s” heavy reliance on pop music, noticeably the sweetly melancholic acoustic-strummed tunes of singer/songwriter Kimya Dawson, known primarily for her work with indie outfit the Moldy Peaches.
It’s Dawson’s semi-ironic/semi-cute songs that help define the character of Juno, with Page and actor Michael Cera (Paulie Bleeker) even performing one of Dawson’s songs in the film ("Anyone Else But You," which appeared on the Moldy Peaches' 2001 self-titled album).
Messina’s compositions manage to reflect Dawson’s work while also echoing the film’s characters. Juno may get illustrated with charmingly bouncy acoustic guitars, but other characters -- such as hipster-turned-square Mark Loring (Jason Bateman), who is set to adopt Juno’s child -- don’t get such flattering compositions.
With “Juno” on target to be the indie hit of the fall -- on just 40 screens, the Fox Searchlight film finished just outside the box office top 10 at No. 11 -- Messina took the time to share his thoughts on scoring the film. Read on, or just listen to the music.
This is such a music-heavy film, with Sonic Youth, the Kinks and Belle & Sebastian all being heard throughout. But it seems like your score really plays off Dawson’s work.
You know what’s interesting? Reitman was interested in the Moldy Peaches and Kimya Dawson after a suggestion from Ellen Page. So he and I flew up and recorded her for two days while she was on tour. He was temping her songs into some of the film, and he was realizing that when music with lyrics was going into the dialogue, it just wasn’t working.
So we ended up recording her just humming a lot of her songs.
After spending a couple days with her, and seeing her style of recording, and getting her sensibility, that was definitely a strong influence when I was writing the score. I was trying to capture the Kimya Dawson vibe.
Well, we went up and recorded Kimya before I really started writing the score. It wasn’t that I changed so much -- it was more about instrumentation.
She’s all about acoustic guitars, and my main instrument is the piano and I work with orchestras and everything. But for this it was quite obviously the acoustic guitar. You want to give it your own feel, no matter what, and I still had to write it in my own style, but I chose the same instrumentation as Kimya so the score would flow better.
And if she influenced me in any way, it was in the best way possible, which was simplicity.
This is such a character-driven film, were you thinking of different themes/melodies per character?
Yeah, but a lot of it is so subtle you probably won’t notice in the film. There’s a scene where Juno goes to visit the Lorings, and the Lorings definitely have their own theme. It’s kind of a bossa nova, and it’s almost kind of Muzak-like. It’s real vanilla.
But at one part in the cue, where we see Juno come onto screen in a van with her dad, I added some of the guitars associated with Juno. So all of a sudden you have this beautiful bossa nova with this acoustic guitar that we’ve been hearing throughout the whole movie.
I definitely go from character to character in this film. You always have to the play the scene and the emotion of the scene, but musically you’re subtly hinting at things that people will probably not notice. One of my goals is to write scores in which you don’t necessarily want the audience to hear it, but you do want the audience to feel it.
And what about the music for the character of Juno?
With Juno, she had so many dimensions to her in that she was this young, confident girl who’s rough around the ages. But she’s also a very vulnerable 16-year-old girl. So we had to find a sound for her with these jangly acoustic guitars that were filled with confidence, but also had a sweet side to them.
There’s also a bit of detachment, like the score never really dictates an emotion.
In this case, the story was so incredibly strong, so while we were adding some emotion and adding some color, we were never holding the viewer’s hand. You never had to. There was no scene we were trying to punch up. We didn’t want to lead the audience anywhere.
You mentioned Dawson inspired you to be simple. Was that a challenge for you? Did you find yourself having to pull back?
I love anything that feels organic, and I love to experiment with sounds. I like to use something that feels familiar to us, but isn’t traditional.
For instance, on some of the rhythms on this, there was one point where I was playing the grate of a fan. Then I would play a zipper at other parts in the percussion.
At one point I even played an apple. I would take water from a glass and pour it into a big giant bowl, and compare how it sounded in there versus a bucket. Then I would use that as part of the percussion.
People aren’t going to notice that it’s so different, since it sounds rhythmic and it works, but it still has such an unorthodox sound. So even though I was doing simple acoustic guitar stuff, I was still doing stuff that was out-there and wacky, especially when I was playing the apple with brushes and drumsticks.
The Grammys had its say a couple of weeks ago, and before this site becomes overloaded with Grammy prediction and analysis, it's time for every music fan and critic to chime in on the year's best albums.
The Recording Academy did not have a vote in this list, but it's worth nothing that there is one album of the year nod in my Top 20. However, a total of 10 Grammy-nominated artists are listed below.
1. Tim Fite, “Over the Counter Culture” (www.timfite.com) Fite comes off as a folksy activist masquerading as a hip-hop artist, and delivered the working man’s reaction to an increasingly confusing political and cultural climate.
2. Mavis Staples, “We’ll Never Turn Back” (Anti-) Staples’ faith never wavers, but the singer (pictured) paints a striking picture of the present by finding inspiration in the freedom songs of the ‘60s.
3. M.I.A. “Kala” (Interscope) A dance/hip-hop record that skips from continent to continent, creating an intense exploration of sound.
4. Kanye West, “Graduation” Even as he consistently challenges himself with unexpected beats, it’s West’s storytelling that makes the lasting impression.
5. LCD Soundsystem, ”Sound of Silver” (DFA/Capitol) Producer/DJ James Murphy opens his heart with a bit of punk, a whole lot of disco, and a dose of sarcasm.
6. Spoon, “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” (Merge) Ten irresistible rock ’n’ soul tunes, each deserving to be a hit.
7. Radiohead, “In Rainbows” (www.inrainbows.com) From a pure cultural standpoint, it was arguably the year’s most important album. Musically, Radiohead toned down the weirdness, and created a warmer, more personal album, and its best since 1997’s “OK Computer.”
8. Bettye LaVette, “The Scene of the Crime” (Anti-) With the Drive-By Truckers at her side, LaVette traffics in the kind of dive-bar soul that could make one hope sunrise never comes.
9. Ben Weasel & His Iron String Quartet, “These Ones are Bitter” (Mendoto Recording Co.) An absolute master at crafting a melody, Weasel created a punk rock breakup record from the point-of-view of someone who’s had a few too many breakups.
10. Miranda Lambert, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” (Columbia) “The good ones all got wedding rings, and the young ones are just too dumb.” Lambert offers plenty of such pint-raising lyrical hooks throughout her sophomore album, one that sees this scorcher of a singer coming-of-age with a love-hate relationship with rural America.
11. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, “Raising Sand’ (Rounder) Two of the music community’s greatest voices come together for a downright haunting country effort.
12. El-P, “I’ll Sleep When You're Dead” (Definitive Jux) A fascinating yet disturbing vision of the near future –- a sci-fi-infused hip-hop record that plays out like an answer to last year’s film, “Children of Men.”
13. Modest Mouse, “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank” (Epic) An even stronger record than the band’s breakthrough, 2004’s “Good News for People Who Love Bad News,” with its grand rock ’n’ roll arrangements alternating between the demented and beautiful.
14. Tori Amos, “American Doll Posse” (Epic) The pianist turns in the liveliest, most ambitious record of her career, its expansive 23 songs a worthwhile journey through musical styles and personas.
15. Jay-Z, “American Gangster” (Roc-A-Fella) An absolutely astounding achievement in terms of production, and Jay-Z returns to form by toning down the boasting and just telling stories.
16. Qui, “Loves Miracle” (Ipecac) A hardcore noise band learning that guitar experimentation isn’t everything, and finding some lovely melodies in one of the most unexpected of places: the vocals of former Jesus Lizard singer David Yow.
17. White Stripes, “Icky Thump” (Warner Bros.) Forever rooted in classic rock and blues, the White Stripes specializes in making the old sound completely new, and it’s never sounded as fresh as it does here.
18. Battles, “Mirrored” (Warp) A prog band for the digital age, where mixes of guitars and keyboards sound locked in improvisation with a host of laptops -- and the most curious vocals recorded this year.
19. The Shins, “Wincing the Night Away” (Sub Pop) A sly guitar-pop record that slowly reveals its secrets -- and one that is filled with tension and weirdness just below its seemingly pretty surface.
20. The Besnard Lakes, “The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse,” (Jagjaguwar) Transfixing harmonies and the smashing vocal work of Jace Lasek drift through a haze created by three guitarists, as the Besnard Lakes bring a slightly trippy approach to classic guitar rock.
Five more: Fall Out Boy’s “Infinity On High,” Wilco’s “Sky Blue Sky,” the Mekons’ “Natural,” Common’s “Finding Forever” and Art Brut’s “It’s a Bit Complicated.”
Amid the flurry of the Golden Globes and the Mitchell Report, it was easy to overlook that today was the day inductees were to be announced for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a $22 tourist attraction in Cleveland.
This year's inductees:
-Madonna -John Mellencamp -The Ventures -Leonard Cohen -The Dave Clark Five
I've never really seen the Rock Hall as striving to honor music forebears.
The induction ceremony will come March 10 at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel. Hey -- you expect the music biz to be troubled to go to the Midwest in the winter? Dinner will cost guests more than $2,000 a plate, and entertaining the diners is priority No. 1.
So you mix in some hard-to-argue-with past-due choices (Dave Clark Five), and add in one of today's top entertainers (Madonna), and industry suits can politely raise a glass of wine in the name of rebellion.
Madonna is the most-deserving of the bunch, an artist who rewrote what it meant to be a pop star. This year's most puzzling choice, however, is Mellencamp.
Ken Barnes over at USA Today argues that Mellencamp was an overdue no-brainer, since Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen are already in, but I would take the opposite point of view and argue that since two like-minded and superior artists are already in, there's no need to rush in Mellencamp.
Cohen is another nice but not essential artist to usher in, especially when disco leaders Chic and hip-hop pioneers the Beastie Boys were on the ballot. As for the Beasties, the Rock Hall is criminally short on hip-hop artists, as most are just now becoming eligible, and it makes no sense to ignore one of the genre's defining artists over a heartland rocker and a singer/songwriter.
But Van Halen got in last year over the Stooges, so such slights are expected. And besides, Cohen is probably a better dinner guest than the Beastie Boys' MCA.
An album that isn't appearing on as many year-end lists as it should (including this one) is Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool," a record released Dec. 18 in the U.S. A 71-minute study of what it means to be cool, the album is an entertainingly heady examination of corporate hip-hop, fast food and poverty, the desire for fame and how it all ties into what's happening in forgotten corners of the world. 
