OH MY GOD!!!! THE NEW BILLY BOB THORNTON IS OUT THIS WEEK!?!?!?!
*grabs car keys, power bar, and runs out the door on his way to the nearest Best Buy*

next up is Billy Bob's album of Cattle Decapitation covers. oh yea!

Cecilia Bartoli is God Incarnate.

BTW: I caught Paul the Cute One doing a new song of one of those 'fund-raising' music *marathons the other night.

Ugh.

He should retire.


* which was fucking HORRIBLE, btw

PS:

POP Culture Question:

Hey kids, what's with the black eyeliner?

After some 25 years or so, can we be done with that -- ya think?

Just wonderin'.

how do you know that al barger is wearing black eyeliner?

just wonderin'

Yet more proof that we shouldn't trust Shark for music reviews. That new McCartney song is great, and the album is getting very, very solidly positive reviews from fans and general listeners alike. I'll know for sure later today when I pick it up.

In brief (because there's a lot of great stuff this week):

The CocoRosie is great, a real step forward from their wondcefully weird debut. CocoRosie are two sisters who sing together over strange sometimes-sampled, always old-timey sounding and acoustic. They sort of create their own world, and the singing has its own tonality and sense of harmony.

There is reason for rejoicing further, and that is the fact that Sam, Beam of Iron & Wine has joined together with Calexico (one of the best, most creative rock bands out there). Just got this yesterday, and it sounds like a great match -- they played together at an outdoor show earlier this summer that I was lucky enought o catch. The hopped-up California beats of Calexico sure makes Sam's vopice a different instrument, and the songs (by Beam) sound intriguing, too.

On first (and second) listen, the Devendra sounds like a big self-indulgent sprawling mess. I think I'll probably end up loving it. This guy is bursting with talent.
Wow, good week for alt-folk fans.

The Bonnie Raitt is smart, beautiful and soulful easy-listening rock, like the last few. Too little slide for my tastes, but I won't presume to tell Bonnie Raitt what to do.

I can't wait to grab the Sigur Ros, which is getting raves, and the Super Furry Animals.

And Mr. Shark, Bartoli is indeed very beautiful, but you must listen with your ears, not your eyes. I hope this new one does for this repertoire (early 18th Century baroque oratorios) what her Gluck album did for that guy's songs, ie exposure to a new audience.

She is to be commended for using her popularity to try to stretch the bounds of the current opera house/concert repertoire. It would be easier for Bartoli to work harder at the celebrity part, and keep singing only Verdi and Rossini, the better to get that gorgeous mug on TV occasionally. But she's chosen music, which is great news for fans.

That said, please don't stop with Bartoli's interpretations. There are so many great recordings....

"...And Mr. Shark, Bartoli is indeed very beautiful, but you must listen with your ears, not your eyes... "

Ohhhhh! So that's what I was doin' wrong!

Clubhouse, I appreciate your comment, since she is extremely attractive, but I do love her for both her voice and -- as you mention -- her integrity and the committment she's made to some overlooked areas of music history, ie the Gluck and Salieri CDs -- which, btw are fantastic.

No, If I were blind, I'd still think of her as one of the Universe's great treasures.

But I'd have to start attending her recitals and participating via my newly acquired "braille" skills.

"...I do love her for both her voice..."

Oh, Sr. Shark, but there's the rub, isn't it? She just doesn't have the instrument to be thought of as a real great of the music. She's capable of interesting interpretations (sometimes pretty daring, in fact), and makes pretty, well-thought-out albums. Her vocal acuity is astounding, at times, with impressive coloratura and a real athleticism, making the tough rep she favors seem easy.

But that voice. It is just too tiny, even for the lighter spinto roles, and in the last few years, her lower range has become unreliably growly. She just doesn't produce a beautiful tone, compared to dozens of really great mezzos out there.

So nice to talk about opera here with someone who's a relater, not a hater.

"She just doesn't produce a beautiful tone, compared to dozens of really great mezzos out there."

Sir Clubhouse! You blaspheme! En Garde! [shark tosses flaccid gauntlet at Club's feet]

So who's your fave mezzo?

I'd have to say Frederica Von Strade is my number 2.

[shark ducking in anticipation of another thrust home]

"Von Stade" <-- sorry, i've got a relatively big band-aid on my "t" whackin' finger.

Yes, she is certainly huge. The beauty of FVS's tone should be quite obvious compared with CB's. Comparing a performance of hers side-by-side with Bartoli would be very illuminating.

Try some familiar Mozart aria they have both recorded.

Or even more so, try a famoulsy bigvoiced mezzo, like Christa Ludwig, or, especially, Teresa Berganza, side by side. I think you'll hear where CB comes up short.

You certainly would hear it in the house. She just doesn't project like a truly great mezzo.

Apropos of nothing, I am sure that you, Shark, would dig Ludwig's recording with Fritz Wunderlich of Das Lied von der Erde, Mahler's greatest vocal work. Klemperer conducts, and these songs will get to you.

This isn't an opera, but a set of linked songs (leider) that really represent Mahler's last symphony, although it's not really a symphony.

"CocoRosie" is in the lyrics of "Walk on Gilded Splinters" by Dr. John, it seems to me. What does it mean?

I am told the two sisters' childhood nicknames were Coco and Rosie.

But I'm not familiar with that Dr. John record. Is it cool?

Happy to report the new Switchfoot is very good. I already posted what I believe are some helpful hints on this album for iPod users.

I will be issuing a proper review real soon.

CC, "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" is all time shiznit. CLICK HERE

It's some bad juju
Roll out my coffin
Drink poison in my chalice
Pride begins to fade
Soon y'all will feel my malice

Wow. I guess my knowledge of Mac Rebennack is distressingly superficial, as I've never even heard the first Dr. John album. BTW, Dr. John looked awful playing last on that telethon, and worse, they cut him off right in the middle of "Walkin to New Orleans." Right in the middle!

Atlanta's-Own Amp Camp Moves Over 70,000 Units Through Independent Sales

I recently got a chance to talk with one of Atlanta's upstart groups, Amp Camp, a trio of artists who have been independently pushing units at a feverish pace. Amp Camp (Atlanta Music Production) has reportedly moved over 70,000 units via website and other avenues of distribution with many of the sales coming overseas.

I talked with CEO Ariel Glover who is also the vocal component and marketing whiz of the trio, and he stressed the importance of taking control over your own music as an artist. Also pointing out that new aspects of media have allowed for all good artists to sell.

"Of course the big three (major labels) are able to put big money into marketing and distributing your product but the new advances in technology have made it a wide-open market to where artists like you and me can sell large numbers provided you have a good product to offer." said Glover.

The blend of hip hop and soul is due in main part to the eclectic mix of the groups artists. Amp Camp is comprised of family members Ariel Glover, De'Kim (Producer), and G-Love (MC). The CD can be purchased online through their website and you could possibly be customer number 70,001 I guess. Glover says that Peach Bottom Girl and The Way You Do That Dance are the songs catching most peoples attention right now. The entire CD can be previewed on their website.

The group hinted that thay have been working with several undisclosed major artists in the area and that they have major plans for the future. "It's like once people see that you have something that's in demand and something that the people want then everybody wants to do business with you

I'm sure ClubhouseCancer is correct.

Anyway, I googled the lyrics, but all the ones I found end before he starts going of into incomprehensible voodoo stuff at the end. But he says sumpin that sound like that.

Gilded, not guilded.

Godoggo, on the listing for the WEA hits album at Amazon, the song title is officially listed as "I Walk On Guilded Splinters"

I've never quite known what to make of that word in that context, though I note the "archaic" meaning at dictionary.com for gilded as "Archaic. To smear with blood."

Huh. From dictionary.com it looks like both spellings can be used any of the various meanings. Didn't know that.

Googling around. FOOT-TRACK MAGIC IN THE HOODOO TRADITION. Includes Robert Johnson lyrics and whatnot. Maybe that's what it's about? Fascinating stuff, I garontee.

You forgot to add KMFDM's new album, Hau Ruck, to the list. Then again, seeing how there probably approximately 500 or so Americans who know the band exists, it's to be expected.

You forgot a great new release. She sings like Sarah Vaughn and the music is like Koop or Zero 7 or... Go check out www.gretchenmusic.com if you want to know about it or grab it at www.cdbaby.com/lieberum