'Build Me Up Buttercup'

The Foundations:

Red Hot Chili Peppers Out with New Album, First with John Frusciante Since 2006 (VIDEO)

At the video, the band's first single from the record, "Black Summer."

Here, "‘Unlimited Love’ by the Red Hot Chili Peppers Is the Group’s Mildest Album Yet":

The 12th studio LP from the band features their classic sound but little that’s new or exciting.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have often seemed on the verge of implosion, but so far the group has always bounced back. The Los Angeles quartet, whose mix of punk and funk proved hugely influential in the 1990s and beyond, has scaled heights few current rock acts can touch—a performance at the Super Bowl in 2014, 100 million records sold. But every few years the hard-living outfit finds itself on the brink of collapse. After the massive success of the band’s 1991 breakthrough “Blood Sugar Sex Magik,” wunderkind guitarist John Frusciante left the Peppers and struggled mightily with heroin addiction. Lead singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea and drummer Chad Smith have all had their share of substance abuse issues as well.

Mr. Frusciante rejoined and then left once again after 2006’s “Stadium Arcadium” to focus on his solo work, which is strange and sometimes wonderful and has earned him a cult following. The two records without Mr. Frusciante were decidedly uneven—one poor (2011’s “I’m With You”), the other intriguing (2016’s unusually lush “The Getaway,” produced by Danger Mouse and mixed by Radiohead associate Nigel Godrich ). Yet despite all this tumult, somehow the Red Hot Chili Peppers have endured.

On “Unlimited Love” (Warner), the group’s 12th studio LP, out Friday, Mr. Frusciante returns to the fold, for the first time in 16 years, as does super-producer Rick Rubin, who was integral to the group’s earlier success but hasn’t worked with them in over a decade. With the personnel behind the band’s biggest hits all back in place, it’s not surprising that the new set feels like a deliberate return to basics. The production is ultra-simple, keeping the focus on the group’s most identifiable qualities—Flea’s percussive bass, Mr. Smith’s rock-solid backbeat and Mr. Frusciante’s minimalist guitar.

And then there’s Mr. Kiedis. Plenty of people have poked fun at the silliness of his lyrics over the years. When he’s not crooning a ballad, his primary strategy is to deliver stream-of-consciousness observations pitched somewhere between a hepcat disc jockey from the 1960s and an old-school rapper. But if he’s heard the complaints, he’s chosen to ignore them, and goofy choices abound. This is apparent from the opening track and first single on “Unlimited Love,” “Black Summer,” which finds the frontman tossing off non sequiturs such as “My Greta weighs a ton” and “platypus are few” in what sounds like an Irish brogue. But the tune’s catchy and memorable chorus—traditionally a band speciality—blots out the song’s shortcomings.

Unfortunately, with a few notable exceptions—the following “Here Ever After,” “These Are the Ways” halfway through the record—killer choruses are in disconcertingly short supply on “Unlimited Love.” The songs are well played and logically arranged but also weirdly inert. As one midtempo groove follows another, we recognize Flea’s popping bass and Mr. Smith’s steady snare, but the song constructions are rote, enlivened only by the occasional guitar excursion from Mr. Frusciante.

On the one hand, the band and Mr. Rubin show remarkable restraint—there’s no attempt to dress up the group’s sound or bring it in line with current trends, and the simple arrangements will be easy to replicate live. But many songs feel half finished. As is typical for Mr. Rubin’s productions, each instrument is loud, heavily compressed and in your face. Which is ironic given that this is easily the Peppers’ mellowest record: The tempos are mostly slow, and there’s very little in the way of power chords. Unless you’re listening closely, the songs on this lengthy album—17 tracks, 73 minutes—bleed together.

The skeletal, funk-inflected R&B of early Prince seems to be a primary influence. This sounds promising on paper, but Mr. Kiedis’s attempts at lyrics about love and companionship fall flat. He has little to say about the finer points of relationships, and on the bland “She’s a Lover”—the most obvious Prince nod here—he falls back on groan-inducing come-ons like “She’s so full of learning curves.”

Here and there, Mr. Kiedis looks back on his life in music. The third track, “Aquatic Mouth Dance,” pays tribute to some of the group’s early influences over a busy bassline while horns add a touch of color; the fifth cut, “Poster Child,” is especially nutty, as he free associates about music history with no particular point in mind (“ Steve Miller and Duran Duran / A joker dancing in the sand / Van Morrison the astral man”). Mr. Kiedis sounds like he’s having fun, but these songs don’t hold up to repeated listening.

The penultimate track, “The Heavy Wing,” is one of very few places on the record where the Peppers really rock out, but the closing “Tangelo,” yet another quiet ballad, brings them back to earth. It’s so spare, the only things that pop out are awkward lines like “the smell of your hello” and “the smile of a knife / Is seldom befriending.”

The band and Mr. Rubin have been at this far too long to make a truly awful album—these are pros who know how to get these songs to the “listenable” stage, at the very least...

Dude's a little critical, eh?

Ima listen to the record and I'll let you know.

Still more.

 

'Stay'

I've probably posted this video before, but not this version, featuring famed session guitarist Andrian Belew. (Yep. Searching the blog brings up this ten-year-old post, "'Cause You Can Never Really Tell When Somebody...", where I discuss my music blogging at the time.)

Well, I don't commute to work anymore (during the continuing state school lock-down), so my normal "drive-time" music blogging is all messed up, lol. 

I probably just hang out in my Challenger now more nowadays, and I'll just listen to songs on YouTube. (I don't have satellite radio, which my wife reminds me about constantly.) I was also listening to music on Pandora over the summer (my sister, Chris, up in Boise, plays it while she's cooking). I'm not into subscription music services, though, so if I can get fine classic rock radio, I'm good. I've been recently sampling 95.5 KLOS Los Angeles. It's been around for decades, but I never liked it as much as KMET (the "Mighty Met"), but that station's ancient history. 

In any case, more on Bowie at the Guardian U.K., "My favourite album: Our writers are picking their favourite albums. Here, Alex Needham takes a journey through 'Station to Station'."

It Ain't Over 'til It's Over

Heard just now while out for a newspaper run (I buy a daily copy of the New York Times at Gelson's market nearby).

At 93.1 Jack FM Los Angeles, Lenny Kravitz, "It Aint Over 'til Its Over."

It Aint Over Til Its Over
Lenny Kravitz
11:33am

Danger Zone
Kenny Loggins
11:30am

Obsession
ANIMOTION
11:20am

All Apologies
NIRVANA
11:16am

I Ran (So Far Away)
A Flock OF Seagulls
11:12am

Sweet Home Alabama
Lynyrd Skynyrd
11:07am

Get Lucky
Daft Punk Feat. Pharrell Williams
11:03am

No One Like You
Scorpions
11:00am

Hungry Like The Wolf
Duran Duran
10:50am

Self Esteem
OFFSPRING
10:45am

Hey Hey What Can I Do
Led Zeppelin
10:41am

Dont Stand So Close To Me
Police
10:38am

Just A Girl
NO Doubt
10:34am

Walk This Way
Run D.M.C./Aerosmith
10:31am

Words
Missing Persons
10:20am

Unforgiven
Metallica
10:14am

'Smooth'

From yesterday afternoon, when I was out to CVS and the bagel shop.

Santana, at the Sound L.A.:

Jungle Love
Steve Miller Band
2:35 PM

Rock'n Me
Steve Miller Band
2:32 PM

Abracadabra
Steve Miller Band
2:29 PM

Tush
ZZ Top
2:26 PM

Sharp Dressed Man
ZZ Top
2:22 PM

Legs (Edit Version)
ZZ Top
2:18 PM

Smooth
Santana
2:07 PM

Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen
Santana
2:02 PM

Evil Ways
Santana
1:58 PM

Bye Bye Love
The Cars
1:54 PM

Let's Go
The Cars
1:51 PM

Just What I Needed
The Cars
1:47 PM

Good Times Bad Times
Led Zeppelin
1:37 PM

Rock and Roll
Led Zeppelin
1:33 PM

D'yer Mak'er
Led Zeppelin
1:29 PM

Purple Haze
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
1:26 PM

All Along the Watchtower
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
1:22 PM

Fire
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
1:20 PM

'Wild Night'

From Van Morrison, heard during drive-time the other day at the Sound L.A., although I can't remember just when so I don't have the full playlist. (Sorry, I'll try to do better, lol.)

As you brush your shoes
Stand before the mirror
And you comb your hair
Grab your coat and hat
And you walk, wet streets
Tryin' to remember
All the wild night breezes
In your mem'ry ever

And ev'rything looks so complete
When you're walkin' out on the street
And the wind catches your feet
Sends you flyin', cryin'

Ooo-woo-wee!
Wild night is calling, alright
Oooo-ooo-wee!
Wild night is calling

And all the girls walk by
Dressed up for each other
And the boys do the boogie-woogie
On the corner of the street

And the people, passin' by
Stare in wild wonder
And the inside juke-box
Roars out just like thunder

And ev'rything looks so complete
When you walk out on the street
And the wind catches your feet
And sends you flyin', cryin'

Woo-woo-wee!
Wild night is calling
Alright

Ooo-ooo-wee!
Wild night is calling, alright

The wild night is calling
The wild night is calling

Come on out and dance
Whoa, come on out and make romance
Yes, indeed

Come on out and dance
Come on out, make romance

(Instrumental & horn solo)

The wild night is calling, alright
The wild night is calling

Come on out an dance
Yeah, come on out 'n make romance

Come on out and dance, alright...

Red Hot Chili Peppers Rock New York Super Bowl Parties

At Billboard, "Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers Rock NYC Saturday Super Bowl Concerts."

And at Rolling Stone, "Red Hot Chili Peppers Play 'One Last Blowout' Before Super Bowl":

Of all the rock'n'jock concerts capitalizing on New York City's proximity to the Super Bowl this weekend, only one had the cheerleaders of both the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks shaking their pompoms simultaneously to Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Give It Away," as balloons repping each band's team showered down on the revelers. That's because Saturday night's "Big Hello to Brooklyn," the first Chili Peppers concert in New York City since 2006, was a rock'n'jock concert put on by a company that could pull off such a feat: sports-radio station WFAN.

I'm hoping the band plays "Police Station," but then there's this, "Red Hot Chili Peppers deny band will cover Led Zeppelin at Super Bowl."

'Domino'

Yesterday I prepared my syllabi for the spring semester, which starts February 3rd. On the way to the office I was grooving to some "Domino," from Van Morrison at the Sound L.A.





Here's the playlist from the drive-time:

Roadhouse Blues
The Doors
10:42 AM

What Is Life
George Harrison
10:37 AM

Make Me Smile
Chicago
10:32 AM

Let It Rain
Eric Clapton
10:27 AM

Spirit In the Sky
Norman Greenbaum
10:23 AM

Sugar Magnolia
Grateful Dead
10:19 AM

I Heard It Through the Grapevine
Creedence Clearwater Revival
10:09 AM

Domino
Van Morrison
10:05 AM

Funk #49
James Gang
10:01 AM

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rain Dance Maggie, Coachella 2013

I can dig it.



More, "'Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie'."

Jimi Hendrix on 'American Masters'

I watched it last night. Fascinating, "Jimi Hendrix: Hear My Train A Comin’."



Also at NYT, "A Talent Whose Light Was Bright but Brief: Revisiting Jimi Hendrix on PBS’s ‘American Masters’." And LAT, "Review: Jimi Hendrix seen through a gentle purple haze."

"He didn't like being flattered [as the best guitar player in the world]. He fended it off..."

Such a humble, beautiful man.

'Blurred Lines' Makes Robin Thicke White Soul's Leader

This song was too hot for most everybody when the video was first released.

But NYT's down with it, "Yesterday’s Style, Today’s Hits":

We first met Robin Thicke about a decade ago, zipping through the streets of Manhattan on a bicycle in his debut video, Jesus mane flowing behind him, then doing some sub-“Saturday Night Fever” moves in a freight elevator. The song was “When I Get You Alone,” and it sampled Walter Murphy’s “Fifth of Beethoven,” the 1976 disco-classical fusion, a hybrid of flash and seriousness that Mr. Thicke appeared perfectly comfortable with, even if few others were: wildly out of step with the sound of the time, his single never hit the American charts.

Jump forward to “Blurred Lines,” the song that has topped the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks now, and that has elevated Mr. Thicke from white-soul curio to pop certainty. There he is in the crisp video, chipper and smug, in a beautifully cut suit, frolicking with barely clothed models (in the version where they’re wearing clothes at all, that is). He has the look of a man finally coming into the privilege he was sure was his all along.

But don’t let the video’s modernism fool you: white-soul conservatism is the order of the day, and this hit is just as nostalgic as Mr. Thicke’s first single was, under a much cooler cover. “Blurred Lines” is influenced heavily by Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up,” and even with the producer Pharrell Williams’s clean, large drums and a sizzling, naughty guest rap by T.I., Mr. Thicke can’t help himself — he loves yesterday way more than today. That’s also clear from the bulk of his new album, also called “Blurred Lines” (Star Trak/Interscope), on which his hit is one of several songs that sound helicoptered in from three or four decades ago. Mr. Thicke may be the sound of now, but he’s only passing for contemporary.

With its full-band soul arrangements that hark back to disco and before, “Blurred Lines” is a loud reminder of the fundamental conservatism of white soul. Nostalgia is a frequent hallmark of white participation in black genres, a way of signaling respect and knowledge without presuming to reshape the art form’s present. It’s a safe space, guaranteeing an audience of nostalgists and that-white-boy-can-sing true-schoolers.

Hey, if it's conservative I can dig.

Plus, those hot nude wenches at the "unrated" version are to die for, mf.

More at the link.

Damon Harris, Temptations Singer, Dead at 62

At the Baltimore Sun, "Otis ‘Damon’ Harris, Temptations singer and Baltimore native, dead at 62."

Harris is singing lead toward the end of the clip.

More here, "Damon Harris of the Temptations, RIP."

David Bowie Live on Dick Cavett Show in 1974

Via William Jacobson, who's running David Bowie clips this week for his daily videos.

'Look Around'

The Chili Peppers are playing live this summer. I'm not sure if my wife can dig it, so I'll probably hold off on getting tickets. I love the album though, so we'll see. We're all set for Van Halen, though, so that's cool. It's going to be something else. More on that later.

And check Rolling Stone in any case, for an interview with Flea:

Next year, the Red Hot Chili Peppers will turn 30 – but they’re celebrating a little early: On March 29th, they kick off a 25-city U.S. arena run in support of their 10th Album, I’m With You – their first with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer. (The tour was postponed from January due to singer Anthony Kiedis’ foot injury.) And on April 14th, bassist Flea Michael Balzary, Anthony Kiedis and drummer Chad Smith will hit Cleveland to join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “I’m excited, says Flea, checking in before a show in Barcelona. “It’s going to be a really cool, special night.”

After that, the Red Hot Chili Peppers will get back to rocking stadiums on a summer tour of Europe. “It took us a while to get solid with Josh Klinghoffer – there’s so much improvisation in our band that it’s like establishing a new vernacular,” says Flea. “But we’re fucking on fire, man!”

You’re a maniac onstage. How will you come down after tonight’s show?

I have my rituals. After I walk offstage, I’ll go to the dressing room and meditate. Then I’ll eat, go to back to my hotel and go on a 3 a.m. hour long walk through Barcelona. Then I hit the hay. I used to panic on tour, lose it and fall apart and crumble, but now I have it down to a science...

Continue reading.

'Love The Way You Lie'

And, ICYMI, the interview with Eminem, at GQ's, "Survivors Music Portfolio":

The current Mathers narrative revolves around his triumph over a nasty addiction to prescription meds. It's not a touchy subject: Within minutes, he introduces the topic, explaining how he used to drink and pop pills to get through his concerts. "I'm very much a creature of habit," he says, picking up his Red Bull. "If I'm used to waking up in the morning and having one of these, I could do it every morning for the next ten years straight until I find something else to move on to. So if I'm used to taking a Vicodin when I wake up in the morning because I'm hungover from ­drinking or taking pills..." He trails off. "The bigger the crowd, the bigger my habit got."

Mathers says you can trace the arc of his addiction by listening to his albums: He was more or less sober writing the white-trash party that was The Slim Shady LP (1999); he credits experimentation with drugs for taking his music to unexpected places on The Marshall Mathers LP (2000); with The Eminem Show (2002), he struck the perfect balance—a potent mix of punch-line raps and intensely biographical material. Then the balance tipped: His fourth album, Encore, was his weakest, and it took him two years to complete because of his addiction to pills. "Five or six songs leaked from the original version of Encore," he says. "So I had to go in and make new songs to replace them. In my head I was pissed off: 'Oh well. Songs leaked. Fuck it. I'm just going to take a bunch of fucking pills and go in there and have a party with myself.' I'm sure the more pills I took, the goofier I got."

He's a little hazy about that time, when he was taking, by his own account, somewhere between sixty and ninety pills a day, including Valium, Vicodin, Ambien, and Seroquel (used to treat schizophrenia). "Ambien," he says, "ate a hole through my brain." He thinks he went to rehab in 2005, but don't hold him to that. Like I said, it's a little hazy.

Rehab was not a safe space for Eminem. "Look," he says, "every addict in rehab feels like everyone's staring at them. With me? Everyone was staring at me. I could never be comfortable. There were people there that treated me normal. Then there were a bunch of fucking idiots who aren't even concentrating on their own sobriety because they're so worried about mine. They're stealing my hats, my books—it was chaos. Everything was drama in there. And at the time, I didn't really want to get clean. Everybody else wanted me to. And anyone will tell you: If you're not ready, nothing is going to change you. Love, nothing."

He left rehab pissed off and heavily burdened with what he calls "woe is me"—and started popping pills again. It nearly killed him. "I came to in the hospital and I didn't know what the fuck happened," he says. "Tubes in me and shit, fuckin' needles in my arms. I didn't realize I had [overdosed]. I wanted my drugs—get me the fuck outta there! I think I was clean for two weeks. I was trying so hard—I was trying to do it for my kids—but I just wasn't ready."

What finally got him clean after a second relapse wasn't his kids or his coma or even hip-hop. This time he really thought he was going to die. "I had a feeling in my arm that was weird, man," he says. "Like, it really freaked me out. So I went to some people I trust and said, 'Look, I know I need help. I'm ready now.' I got a room in the same hospital where I overdosed, and I detoxed."

More here: "The Survivors: Eminem."

'Police Station'

I've been listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' new CD, I'm with You (at Amazon here). I'm still tuning it in, basically, but I like "Police Station":

I saw you at the police station and it breaks my heart to say.
Your eyes had wandered off to something distant, cold and grey.
I guess you didn't see it coming,
Someone's gotten used to slumming.
Dreaming of the golden years,
I see you had to change careers.
Far away, but we both know it's somewhere.

I saw you on the back page of some pre press yesterday.
The drip wood in your eyes had nothing short of love for pain.
I know you from another picture,
Of someone with the most convictions.
We used to read the funny papers,
Fooled around and pulled some capers.
Not today, send a message to her.
A message that I'm coming, coming to pursue her.

Tell your country I, rest my face on your bed.
I've got you ten times over, I'll chase you down 'til you're dead.
I saw you on a TV station and it made me wanna pray.
An empty shell of loveliness is now dusted with decay.
What happened to the funny paper?
Smiling was your money maker.
Someone oughta situate her,
Find a way to educate her.
All the way, time to come and find you.
You can't hide from me girl, so never mind what I do.

Tell your country I, rest my face on your bed.
I bet my sovereign country and I, left it all for your head...

PREVIOUSLY: "'Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie'."

'Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie'

The Red Hot Chili Peppers:

From the new CD, "I'm With You," available at Amazon.

Skrillex

Some background at The Guardian UK, "Is Skrillex the most hated man in dubstep?"

And at Rolling Stone, "Skrillex Isn't Surprised By Dubstep Takeoff," and "Korn Team with Skrillex, More Dubstep Producers for New Album."

'Hard to Handle'

It took an hour to get to work yesterday. I don't mind, as long as I'm not running late (ha!). I get to listen to the radio. The Sound's playlist is below. The Black Crowes came up just as I got rolling with a cup of coffee:

8:05 - Hard To Handle by Black Crowes

8:16 - Bodhisattva by Steely Dan

8:21 - White Room by Cream

8:27 - Come Together by Aerosmith

8:30 - Jane by Jefferson Starship

8:34 - Magic Man by Heart

8:40 - More Cowbell by Christopher Walken

8:40 - Mississippi Queen by Mountain

8:49 - In The Midnight Hour by Wilson Pickett

8:51 - Move It On Over by George Thorogood

8:56 - White Wedding by Billy Idol

9:00 - Space Oddity by David Bowie

9:05 - We Just Disagree by Dave Mason

9:08 - You Really Got Me by Kinks

More blogging tonight!

Rihanna 'Man Down' Controversy

A couple of months back, my oldest son was playing Rihanna's "Man Down" 24/7, and I asked him if she had a video. She didn't. But she does now, and it's quite a sensation. See Los Angeles Times, "Rihanna, BET defend 'Man Down' video":

Rihanna had a simple response Thursday for advocacy groups condemning her latest video: She's not anyone's parent.

The singer found herself in the center of controversy this week after the premiere of her latest video, "Man Down," on BET's "106 & Park" — a video she promised in a Twitter message would have a "very strong underlying message 4 girls like me."

It's that message — which shows her killing a man who has assaulted her — that has drawn the ire of three advocacy groups that work, in part, to combat violent imagery in media.

The Parents Television Council, Industry Ears and the Enough Is Enough Campaign joined to condemn the video and urge Viacom, BET's parent company, to pull it.

BET said Thursday that it had no intention of doing so.

In a statement, Paul Porter, co-founder of Industry Ears and a former music programmer for BET, described "Man Down" as "an inexcusable, shock-only, shoot-and-kill theme song. In my 30 years of viewing BET, I have never witnessed such a cold, calculated execution of murder in prime time. Viacom's standards and practices department has reached another new low."

"If Chris Brown shot a woman in his new video and BET premiered it, the world would stop," Porter said, referring to the singer who pleaded guilty to assault in the 2009 beating of Rihanna, his then girlfriend. "Rihanna should not get a pass, and BET should know better."

The "Man Down" video, which has also been shown on Vevo, the YouTube music site, begins with the singer shooting a man as a crowd of bystanders flee. He is shown dead in a pool of blood. It then flashes back to the previous day, as the singer hangs out with friends, goes clubbing and on the way home is accosted in a dark alley by the same guy. It is implied that he sexually assaults her.

Representatives for Rihanna could not be reached for comment Thursday, but the singer took to Twitter to address the fallout.

Also at Baltimore Sun, "Rihanna's 'Man Down' Controversy Heats Up."

And check Rihanna on Twitter.

Added: At ABC News, "Rihanna Defends 'Man Down'; BET Stands by Video."

Linked at Zilla of the Resistance, "Parents: It's YOUR Job, Not Rihanna's To Be A Role Model For Your Kids!"

Plus, more at Pop Crush, "RIHANNA SPEAKS OUT ON ‘MAN DOWN’ CONTROVERSY."