Now playing on Phawker Radio! Tricky plays the Trocadero tonite. BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT Had my music-listening and drug-taking behaviors not been well established before the advent of Massive Attack and the subsequent solo career of Tricky, my initial thoughts on listening to Tricky’s new album, Knowle West Boy, might run deeper than recalling episodes of cheesy cable spy and con game shows, like USA’s ’90s knockoff, La Femme Nikita, and the more recent AMC series Hustle. Of course the use of trip-hop soundtracks on such shows is an outgrowth of the music’s use in stylish, gritty action films, like Face/Off […]
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INSTA-REVIEW: Duffy Rockferry
Now playing on Phawker Radio! Why? Because we love you, ya big dummy! BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT How can I review Welsh import Duffy‘s Rockferry album without getting caught up in the UK retro-pop marketing race? “If you like the sound of Amy Winehouse but are put off by the extraneous skank angle, try Duffy!” That works for me. Beside, there’s no topping Winehouse’s take on Lenny Bruce’s “Girl Singing” bit, and the cost of producing bubblegum with Sugar in the Raw is prohibitive. Duffy’s the cute, ever-so-slightly sassy good girl of swingin’ ’60s culture. She’s at her dinner […]
INSTA-REVIEW: My Morning Jacket Evil Urges
Now playing on Phawker Radio! Why? Just ‘cuz. BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT Did I miss the stunning rescue effort, in which My Morning Jacket singer Jim James was successfully lifted from a giant reverb tank? In past attempts at checking out this highly acclaimed Louisville, Kentucky band, I’ve been able to tune into the guitar interplay and loping rhythm section, but I’ve wondered what James was singing about from the depths of that reverb tank. On the band’s new album, Evil Urges, James is more or less front and center, at first goofing off in the sexy title track […]
HEAR YE: Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
Now playing on Phawker Radio! Why? Because love you, ya big dummy! BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT I dodged a bullet recently after having applied some of my tough love to the latest platter from The Raconteurs. Maybe you heard. A handful of Jack White’s biggest fans jumped me in a cubicle, took a red pencil to my draft — marking Roman at each instance of boldfaced text. “It’s my editor’s idea of a parody of a gossip column!” I pleaded, but that wouldn’t stop them. They called me names then shoved their iPods in my face, making me recite […]
HEAR YE: The Raconteurs Consolers Of The Lonely
Now playing on Phawker Radio! Why? Because we love you! BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT So The Raconteurs are back with a second album. Who woulda thought The Raconteurs would turn out to be a real band and not just a Jack White side project wank-off one-off? Not me, buddy boy. Not me. I tip my tricorn hat to the Raconteurs for kicking it old school, turning this thing around so quickly and releasing it without all the pomp and circumstance that usually precedes White Stripes release. But I just wish this album didn’t suck so bad. To wit: “Consoler […]
INSTA-REVIEW: Gnarls Barkley The Odd Couple
Now playing on Phawker Radio! Why? Because we love you! BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT Break open a bag of Funyuns! There’s a new Gnarls Barkley record! The dynamic duo of Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo kicks off their new album with “Blind Mary,” a “cute” number about stalking a blind girl named Mary. How sweet! This one has that digital approximation of the ’60s Ed Sullivan sound, which seems to be this band’s bread and butter when not doing the Night at the Roxbury party music. I’m really feeling nostalgic for that “Groove Is in the Heart” band, Lisa Stansfield, […]
INSTA-REVIEW: Cat Power Jukebox
NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO! WHY? BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU! BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT Please stay with me tonight until I fall asleep. I’m afraid I may be entering the belly of the beast. Unlike you, I’ve never gotten into Cat Power. I’ve got enough of my own troubles; I don’t need to live vicariously through hers. The sultry voice only goes so far with me. The coffee-table soul she’s been getting into over the last couple of releases is better than what she used to do, but I don’t entertain too often. Those few I do entertain want […]
TONITE: Vampire Can Mating Oven
NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO! WHY? BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU! BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT Vampire Weekend play a sold out show at First Unitarian Church tonight. If you can’t get in you’re not alone. Your parents were probably shut out too. The band’s debut album and style of music, which they cheekily refer to as “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” “Upper West Side Soweto,” “Campus,” and “Oxford Comma Riddim,” goes down easy, so easy that I’m sometimes reminded of “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).” I’m sure they get more questions about raiding their parents’ Paul Simon and Peter Gabriel record […]
INSTA-REVIEW: Real Emotional Trash
NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO! BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT I’ve been looking forward to this one for a couple of years, since a friend turned me onto Malkmus’ last album, Face the Truth. I haven’t anticipated an artist’s next release like this one for some time. My hope and optimism are bound to let me down. Here goes! “Dragonfly Pie”: I’m digging the rumbling fuzz guitars and the overall sinister vibe as this one gets underway. Wait a second! It’s getting light and airy, with falsetto singing and a cheap electric piano sound. Ah, back to the distorted, double-stop […]
INSTA-REVIEW: Raising Sand
NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT Today I set out to listen to and share my thoughts on the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss album, Raising Sand. This collaboration, which the artists have taken great pains to say is not an album of “duets,” was produced by T-Bone Burnett. I’ve been looking forward to hearing it in its entirety. I must note that unlike most of my Insta-Reviews, I couldn’t help but hear snippets of some of these songs on the artists’ recent radio interviews, but I’ll try to keep my thoughts as fresh as possible. You have […]
Get Out Of That Mothership And Fight Like A Man!
NOW PLAYING ON PHAWKER RADIO: Led Zeppelin Mothership BY ED KING ROCK EXPERT The other day I was driving around with my oldest son when Led Zeppelin’s “Good Times, Bad Times” came on the radio. I cranked it up — and then cranked it up further as the solo approached. I tried to square my jaw like Bill Cowher’s and show the boy what it means to be alone, not to care what the neighbors say. Little did I know the song was probably programmed to play at that particular time on that particular Classic Rock station to celebrate the […]