Blogcritics Author: Peter Chakerian

Interview: Guitar Virtuoso Alex Skolnick of Testament

Peter Chakerian — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:26:16 EDT

A conversation with the influential, six-string whiz from Testament, AST and Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Soul legend James Brown will always be known as the “Hardest Working Man in Show Business.” But keep your eye on one guitar virtuoso's itinerary over the next few years and you’ll find yourself asking if he isn’t the hardest working man on six strings. The founding guitarist for influential thrash metal act Testament,...

Music Review: Sex and the City - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Peter Chakerian — Wed, 28 May 2008 02:13:31 EDT

Cue the air conditioning in Hades and those flying pigs. Third time's a charm for this Sex-y soundtrack.
Soundtracks are a tricky thing. Sometimes they're done very well, like a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes or a swanky Cosmo (with Grey Goose and Rose's lime juice, of course). Other times, they're tantamount to botched plastic surgery (see the latest facial alterations of Sex and the City co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris "Mr....

Interview: Dream Theater Keyboard Maestro Jordan Rudess

Peter Chakerian — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:19:28 EDT

A candid conversation with the keyboard wizard behind Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, and others...
His most ardent fans have dubbed him “The Wizard,” and not just for that white Dumbledore goatee he has sported recently. All Harry Potter and Hogwarts allusions aside, keyboard maestro Jordan Rudess was acknowledged as a musical prodigy at a very early age. By his ninth birthday, he was enrolled at the illustrious Juilliard School of...

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Concert Review: Zappa Plays Zappa 'Tour de Frank' - Cleveland Heights, OH, July 28, 2007

Peter Chakerian — Wed, 1 Aug 2007 11:51:54 EDT

There’s the right way and the wrong way to pay tribute to a musical genius on stage. There’s the trite, predictable Queen + Paul Rodgers way – a shuddering mess that went for pure fromage – and then there's the Dweezil Zappa and the Family Trust’s way. The Zappa ensemble’s multi-leg tour “Zappa Plays Zappa: Tour de Frank” features nary a slice of cheese. It's far more homage. Though it might have some of the hardcore Frankophiles, well, freaking out, the band sounds positively great and offers a wild ride through the composer’s fruitful career. It’s great to hear Frank’s songs again live; to wit, Saturday’s ZPZ:TDF performance at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights was a feast for the ears without being an assault on senses and sensibilities.The ZPZ band debuted last year, presenting a collection of the Frank’s rock compositions. Apart from Dweezil as bandleader/guitarist, last year’s rendition of the band included guest spots by Frank alums Napoleon Murphy Brock (sax, flute and vocals), Terry Bozzio (drums) and Steve Vai (guitars). This time around, vocalist/guitarist Ray White joined the band, performing in key portions of the show. Rounding out the band were Aaron Arntz (trumpet/keys), Pete Griffin (bass), Billy Hulting (percussion), Jamie Kime (guitar), Joe Travers (drums/vocals) and Scheila Gonzalez, who played just about everything else… including two saxophones simultaneously and the kitschy role of Waitress/Suzy Creamcheese. As has been done through the entire tour, Frank himself performed posthumously (via coordinated audio/video) with the band. It was done tastefully, and at the most appropriate of moments – unlike the Queen/Rodgers show, which often devolved into some Hollywood/MTV carwreck-miasma. Leaving the music to speak for it self serves the ZPZ tour extremely well (what else would one expect from the name Zappa after all?) and left most in attendance hoping for another go-around, this reviewer included.After a one-two punch of “Echidna’s Arf” and “My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama,” the band went for broke, jamming out with incredible spirit and precision. Some in the audience yelled early on that it was a little too precise. “Turn off the jukebox, Dweezil!” yelled the guy down the row from me. But the heckler was quickly silenced when a Mothers of Invention medley from the Absolutely Free came up next. The run of "Son of Suzy Creamcheese," "Brown Shoes Don't Make It" and “America Drinks & Goes Home" was wicked, offering up some great solo runs by Dweezil. He’s certainly an underrated axeslinger and a powerful guitar presence and proved it all night long. Tour guest Ray White, who was periodically in and out of Frank’s band in the 70s and 80s, was then introduced and the band riddled the audience with "City of Tiny Lites," a smashing rendition of "Pygmy Twylyte" (which recalled the version on You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 2) and a punchy rendition of “Carolina Hardcore Ecstasy,” which White belted out fervently. White would then yield to the video specter of Frank for “Dumb All Over,” the Zappa anthem warning against racism, religious zealots and holy wars. It's as true today as it was when it was first recorded.Dweezil then pulled the spotlight back to the group, shuffling through the thorny "What's New in Baltimore" before the mid-set classic "Dupree's Paradise" nearly threatened to collapse the pavilion. Each ZPZ member was featured through the 20-minute-plus reading, including keyboardist Arntz on melodica and magnificent ad hoc vocals by White. Several other audience favorites followed, leading to White’s watershed recital, "The Legend of the Illinois Enema Bandit." Dweezil evoked Frank's solo from the Zappa in New York album by utilizing heavy echo and reverb to his guitar. Super tasty. I'd like to think that Frank would have approved, at least in that instance.With an encore that included more vintage video of Frank on “Cosmik Debris,” “Muffin Man” and the stunning “G-Spot Tornado,” the 165-minute set was over as quick as it began. "G-Spot Tornado" in particular was done in an awe-inspiring arrangement, considering that FZ realized the original composition on the synclavier. In the end, this tribute was fitting, appropriate, sonically solid, exquisitely tasty and masterfully done. I’m sure Dweezil won’t keep this gig going forever – nothing this good lasts that long – but one more crack at a show this good seemed to be the call of the night. We can hope.

Peter Chakerian is the Managing Editor of CoolCleveland, a free, subscription-based "e-blast" newsletter in Northeast Ohio. His work has appeared in The Plain Dealer, Akron Beacon Journal, Northern Ohio Live, Scene Magazine, Cleveland Magazine, Sun Newspapers, and the Cleveland Free Times, among others. His blog has nothing to do with the Cavedogs.

Interview: A Conversation with Slayer's Tom Araya

Peter Chakerian — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 08:39:45 EDT

Chilean born thrash/speed metal bassist Tomás Enrique Araya Valparaíso is cool, humorous, self-effacing. He doesn’t sound like the kind of guy you’d expect fronting one of the most notorious, button-pushing metal acts ever founded. But that is exactly what he does. Alongside guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King and drummer Dave Lombardo, Tom Araya’s brute vocal force and thundering bass lines drive the American thrash metal band Slayer – a group whose 1986 watershed release Reign in Blood is considered by many to be quintessential thrash effort and "the heaviest album of all time." Credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands (along with Metallica, Anthrax, and Megadeth), Slayer’s punishing, aggressive sound and modus operandi are unmistakable; yet, their reputation as a coven of fascist, devil worshipping racists who hate everyone and everything has often overshadowed their sonic influence on the mainstream rock and metal of today. It’s been 25 years since the band arrived and people are still gripping about what the band writes about – jihad, serial killers, Satanism, religious zealotry, war – and it all makes Araya laugh. Why? “People don’t take kindly to having mirrors pointed at them,” he says. Araya, who resides in Buffalo, Texas, on a ranch with his wife and two children and pet Rottweilers, laughs about the role call of “hysteria” surrounding Slayer’s career: the lawsuits, criticism from right-wing religious groups, album (and cover) bans, the irony in God Hates Us All (released the day of the 9/11 attacks) and the general terror that a new Slayer release inspires. The band’s latest album, last year’s Christ Illusion, was no exception: the original cover featured an artist’s rendition of a dismembered Christ and naturally was censored. It all cracks Araya up. To him, “it’s good to push buttons and to have people come to realizations and think for themselves, but it’s also just another day at the office.”Araya and the rest of the band don’t see what they do as brain surgery or rocket science – Slayer just do what they do to and let the chips fall where they may. Those chips fell in the Top 5 of the Billboard chart with Christ Illusion. Their highest charting debut to date, the disc is the first featuring all four original members in a decade, it earned the band a Grammy (for the single “Eyes of the Insane”) and will keep them on the road for nearly 15 months from end to end. Checking in with Blogcritics on a windy Thursday afternoon from his ranch, Araya was asked about the last 25 years of Slayer, the band’s sound, legacy, peers, and musical traits, the 1991 Clash of the Titans tour and a new co-headlining tour with Marilyn Manson – which starts tonight in North America after a leg overseas. The conversation went like this:This last year has been big for Slayer: the original members record the first album in 15 years together, then Christ Illusion debuts in the Billboard Top 5 and wins the band its first ever Grammy for “Eyes of the Insane.” Add a 25th anniversary and that huge “Unholy Alliance” tour and it adds up to perhaps your biggest year ever. That’s what people say! (laughs). I don’t really see it that way, none of us do. The only thing new and different is that Number 5 on the Billboard chart and the Grammy. We got nominated with the last album. To me, this is just a normal record cycle for us. We don’t really celebrate like a lot of people do.Not many bands are can keep stride after 25 years. Most of them are into their second or third “greatest hits” package, playing the sheds every summer. What is it that drives Slayer to not just sit back and riding past accomplishments like other bands do?It’s no secret. We survive because we get along and because this is what we’ve always done. After all this time, we’re still talking to each other, we don’t have problems and egos, we acknowledge where each of us are as people. And we have been true to what we do from the very beginning. Nothing has moved or shaped that approach, and I think people *get* that! (laughs) We get a lot of the “How come you never really steer clear of the image part of what you do?” question. The mystique of the band comes with our interest in understanding where other people come from. The other one is “You all seem like you guys get along, you seem like you’re good friends.” Like they thought we had to stop a four-way fist fight to do a radio interview or something. Without one another, we know and accept that this would not be possible.Have you had opportunity to step back and take in all the career signposts and what has happened for the band recently?Nah. Kinda just take it as it comes, really. Business as usual. (laughs) Whenever there’s being attention paid to us, that is always news. I’ve never known the publications to write about us just to write about us! When Slayer emerged, many of the punk bands of the 80s L.A. punk scene came of age. Bands like Black Flag, Bad Religion, the Minutemen, Circle Jerks. Was there any personal connection between Slayer and those bands back then? Oh yeah, man! Totally. We’re not all too familiar with the east coast thing that was happening, but the west coast stuff we felt really connected to – mostly because of Jeff. He really was the one who was into that [sound] and would bring those bands to us and play them, at the time, on a tape player (laughs). He would jam away at anything he could get a hold of that was punk. I remember when goofed and bought us Merciful Fate’s Nuns Have No Fun to listen to, and with the record cover we were thinking “This ought to be great!” We were all like, “Whoa!” Just goes to show you, that’s how you discover everything. Early reviews of Christ Illusion suggested it was your best work since the speed metal watershed Reign in Blood – which is certainly accurate to my ears. It was incredibly heavy. But most of those compliments were backhanded by the thought that Slayer was suddenly “relevant again.” Did you ever feel irrelevant, given Slayer’s influence permeating metal? No, I never felt that way (laughs, then barking in the background). There are a lot of bands out there that wouldn’t be if not for Slayer. Slipknot, Sepultura, Korn, Killswitch Engage, Chimaira, Mastodon, everyone on the Unholy Alliance tour, Machine Head. Even Bleeding Through – who open on your new co-headlining tour with Marilyn Manson – owes a huge debt of gratitude to you. As I’m ticking through this list, I count dozens of bands who do. We get a lot of that… yeah. I don’t know what to say to them, you know? That’s cool… ya gonna blame me for that, eh? (laughs). You almost have to make fun of it, because what else are you going to do. You get that [praise] from fans a lot too. Growing up, music was something that always made me pass my day, made me sane. It was the radio and albums friends brought over, until I started buying albums from RCA record club (laughs). I’m the proud owner of some really great records that way. And I eventually paid the bill, couldn’t ruin my credit that way! (laughs) Listened to a lot of Zeppelin, Sabbath, Judas Priest, Van Halen, AC-DC. Then Kerry introduced me to modern metal heaviness. Hard not to be influenced.My first introduction to Slayer’s live show was on the Clash of the Titans tour, which was great. Regarding that tour, your feud with Dave Mustaine is legendary, almost larger than the tour you did together. Yet, Slayer is having the last laugh as the sole survivor from the Titans tour, and has outlasted Metallica and Pantera as well. And Megadeth? Well, they’re sort of like a tribute band now, really. How’s that for a come-uppance?That’s… in all honesty? I, myself, do not sit around thinking about all those things. Legacy and all that? They’re really only thought of when they’re brought up in interviews like this one. I never think about that until someone confronts me with it. I can’t explain it. We’ve never bigger than our britches about how we felt about the band. It was never about legacy, history, or coming of age… we just laid the foundation for our sound and just kept doing it, or wonder why we did it, in some cases! (laughs) We just kept doing it, put together another tour… earn a gold record…. It’s all just great, then you do it again and just keep going. Day by day. You just speak up and show up or shut up! (laughs) That’s our attitude.Talk about the creative process for the band a bit. How do you, Kerry, Jeff and Dave work together creatively and how has that changed over the years? Wow. Well, it hasn’t changed much honestly. Jeff would always show up with demos and present them to us, we’d listen to them and try to contribute to them. It’s a very open and creative process… same with Kerry and Dave. They will work on things together, demo them. Kerry pretty well likes to write his own stuff; if I can help with the melodies, or find different ways to sing the song, then that’s where I come in. Sometimes I can iron out a melody [Kerry] has, or I can just sing it the way he wants it done (laughs). It’s diplomatic compromising. That is how we write. Present the ideas and when we’re ready, let’s rehearse them, let them sit for a while, come back to them and if anything, we make adjustments then.Did having Dave back change the dynamic at all?It was like old times, like he never left. It was like, the day after he said he was leaving, it was like he showed up again and started jamming. (laughs) Felt like a pair of comfortably worn shoes.What predicates the tone and direction of your work together? Is it really as simple as 24-hour news channel sound-byte bombardment a lot of the time?We told ourselves after God Hates Us All and with what happened on 9/11, everyone was going to be writing songs about [that] so we were gonna steer clear. But you can’t help but be interested in the perspective of the other side, like there is on “Jihad.” [Kerry] was looking at the perspectives of the terrorist and said, “Hey I’ve got some ideas.” When we heard it, we were like, “Awesome! You know were gonna get shit for that!” But then we all shrugged our shoulders. (laughs) It’s going to happen anyway. We just go for a different type of song that nobody else would write. That’s why we write that way we do. We’re not here to preach, just trying to inspire some dialogue. We read a book, or see something that makes us think and we just present those ideas, saying “What do you think?” No one needs to be told how to run their life. People can do that on their own.The themes of holy wars permeate Christ Illusion. I would think that because of this, a huge outpouring of response from members of the armed forces came with this new record. There’s a lot of relevant material to them in it. Have you had any regular correspondence with vets of this current Gulf War? Or the former one? And if so, what do you tell them?We did an appearance at military bases in Germany and France – both of which were on standby, so while we were there they had drills. They were always on alert. Anyway, you hear the stories that are coming back from the battlefields and some of it, they may not have experienced firsthand, but they tell the stories from others people experience’s too. Like, they’re listening to Slayer as they were bombing or during air raids. It’s cool to know that they’re listening to metal of the time and to know that the mighty four horsemen rode in with the military troops. It’s great that music does that and is strong enough force to pull them through what they’re doing. The fact that we inspire them, to me, that is awesome. That we can do that for people in general, in an odd way, is a source of inspiration.Do you think the United States is truly poised to become as radical and fundamentalist as our media makes Islamists out to be? Or it sensationalism in both cases, and merely a case of a few bad apples rotting out the bushel like the Jerry Falwell/Ronald Reagan ‘80s, when Slayer first came out? Both? Neither?I don’t know, you can’t put that past anybody, though. There are extremists here in America. Plenty of examples, usually our government coming down on someone or somewhere they fear as a threat – and not only to the people of the US, but to the government as a whole. We’ve seen that in action with that [Branch] Davidian [David] Koresh… they said they were doing it to protect the people of the republic; I don’t know. I sincerely feel there is elite group who has control of what we do or don’t do [as a country]. Think about it: we’ve never really found out the truth about [Timothy] McVeigh, or [Terry] Nichols… both those guys knew if they talked they would die. There was a lot of stuff behind closed doors that was struck to keep everything secret. The JFK assassination is still a secret, same with RFK, Martin Luther King… that’s the best way to put fear into a republic is to assassinate someone they care about really deeply. That has a huge impact on the population. In my opinion, those three incidents scared the population of the time and that alone has controlled it for the last 43 years If you had to pay tribute to Falwell - himself a huge fan of the band before his departure - with an existing Slayer song… which would it be?(laughs) I guess the one song would be “Read Between the Lies” from South of Heaven. Yeah, definitely.You’ve gone on record as saying that perhaps the single biggest misconception about Slayer is your label as pack of devil worshipping, fascist racists who hate everyone and everything. All these years later, people are still gripping about what the band writes about – why don’t people get it? I don’t know why people don’t get it. People who understand identify with it.Is it a knowledge gap? Lack of education?With these kinds of things, you must assume that… not everybody reads (laughs). Not everyone buys books or reads newspapers, not everybody can afford the internet… a lot of people are just not involved. Does it get old to always being sucked into the “scandalous” side of Slayer and all the buttons you’ve continued to push over the years?Nah! (laughs) Like I said, when we do our stuff, it comes naturally. And the reactions are never much of a surprise in that sense. It happens all the time! (laughs)OK, so I confess that this new tour with Marilyn Manson initially threw me a bit. It seemed like a weird pairing, in that Manson is pure theater and burlesque, where you guys have always maintained this enormous sense of intensity and credibility – despite saying that your “attraction to the unknown” has always fueled your perceptions and songwriting. But it’s not really that big of a stretch, is it? No, not really. Let’s put it this way, our management had apparently offered a tour quite a few years back. Recently, that idea came back up again and would we be interested…? I thought it was interesting pair up. It’s all about that competitive thing and having fun with it.Are you guys tight with anyone in the Manson camp at all? Or is this simply a working relationship instead of a partnership? Who’s headlining this tour? Do you switch off? And how was the tour received overseas?It went really well. There’s always a question of who’s gonna close the show with these [kinds of] tours. We sorta went into it thinking it would be a 50/50 deal, because we play equal amounts of time… but he [Manson] chose to close the show. The same questions came up during the Clash of the Titans tour – we got asked a lot about why we weren’t closing, there were a lot of “rules” that were instituted on that tour. My first thought on this tour was we’ll have to close show, the same thought I had when we did Titans. But the response was “We want to rotate the bill.” OK, sure, no problem! Then they had rules, that so-and-so was never to follow so-and-so… and I thought, “This is pretty fuckin’ lame.” Anthrax got the short end of the stick every time [on Titans] because they always had to follow us. (laughs) Did not matter where we played. We opened the show at Madison Square Garden when we should have closed, but Anthrax was from New York, so, you know.So, whatever. We can go out there beat the shit out of everybody at these shows with [Marilyn Manson]. Leave him to whatever happens! (laughs) How do your crowds bode for Manson and company? Lesser bands have been brutalized by Slayer fans. I remember reading about your fans all turning their backs to the support bands and the story of Blackie Lawless from WASP being pelted with batteries, nickels and cigarette lighters, with chants of “Slayer!!” drowning out their headlining performance after you were gone. It’s metal lore now.(laughs) Well, I guess [Manson] feels that he is a big enough entity to have that audience. We’ve got broad shoulders. We take it in stride and every year, things gets bigger and better. We never went to a stadium level and then had to fall back. We’ve been almost consistently in 5000 seaters, with a consistent audience. Like I said, we get to go out there and destroy and that’s fun.What’s next for Slayer after this tour? Have you started writing new songs already? How long can Slayer continue? Another 25 years?No, I don’t think so. Not that long. Another album is gonna happen, that’s for sure. It’s something what we need to work on and discuss… and who knows, if our manager can make some cash to help underwrite what we do, then great! Whatever the new year brings, we’ll see.Slayer/Marilyn Manson North American Tour 2007July 200725 - West Palm Beach, FL - Sound Advice Amphitheatre27 - Tampa, FL - Ford Amphitheatre at State Fairgrounds28 - Atlanta, GA - HiFi Buys Amphitheatre30 - Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion31 - Cleveland, OH - Time Warner Cable Amphitheatre at Tower CityAugust 20072 - Camden, NJ - Tweeter Center at the Waterfront4 - Worcester, MA - DCU Center5 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center7 - Quebec City, Quebec - Centre de Foire8 - Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre10 - Toronto, Ontario - The Molson Amphitheatre11 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre13 - Rosemont, IL - Allstate Arena14 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center16 - Lincoln, NE - Pershing Center18 - Englewood, CO - Coors Amphitheatre21 - Marysville, CA - Sleep Train Amphitheatre23 - Concord, CA - Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord24 - Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater25 - San Diego, CA - San Diego Sports Arena27 - Phoenix, AZ - Cricket Pavilion28 - Albuquerque, NM - Journal Pavilion30 - Grand Prairie, TX - Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie31 - Houston, TX - Reliant Arena at Reliant ParkSeptember 20071 - Selma, TX - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

Music Review: Lez Zeppelin - Lez Zeppelin

Peter Chakerian — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:26:30 EDT

It’s been over 20 years since mega-producer Frank Farian’s rock lab experiment Far Corporation had their wretched claim to 15 minutes of fame – a cover of Led Zeppelin’s classic “Stairway to Heaven.” With a roster that featured members of the band Toto, few paid any credence to the act and fewer still had any love for the schmaltzy remake. But like it or not, Far Corporation kicked open a door for a glut of Zeppelin tributes. Some say they might even be responsible for the mid-1980s “tribute band phenomenon” that continues today… for better or worse... erm, well, mostly worse.Of all the musically-inclined Zeppelin mongers who have jammed the airwaves and store shelves since 1985, I think the early Dread Zeppelin took the cake. How perfect: an American band covering the songs of Zeppelin, done in a summery reggae style, and belted out by an Elvis Presley impersonator named Tortelvis – who regularly performed with a mic in one hand and a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich in the other?!? Even Zep’s Robert Plant was said to have a thing for those guys in their prime. Who could blame him?I digress. Living in a town like Cleveland, one has a difficult time getting away from Led Zeppelin altogether. But I’ve fought a valiant battle for many years, steering clear of the clubs and bars on off nights and all classic rock radio stations. Brilliant though they were, I have been comfortable with that knowledge in such a way that I could put Zeppelin to rest and listen to them occasionally. That is, until now. The NYC-based Lez Zeppelin, an all-female, all-Zeppelin quartet really does get the Led out. They’re a scary good, well-rehearsed and note-for-note accurate depiction of their idols’ prowess with blues-rock. And their self-titled debut proves it.Produced by veteran Zeppelin knob-twiddler Eddie Kramer (Kiss, AC-DC, Hendrix), the foursome burns through a dynamic run of classics including “Whole Lotta Love,” “Rock and Roll,” “Communication Breakdown” and “Kashmir.” Singer Sarah McLellan gets fiery in her delivery, channeling Plant with a fervent sense of reverence and innate sensuality. The rest of the band – Steph Paynes (guitars), Lisa Brigantino (bass/keys) and Helen Destroy (drums) – fall right in line. Their intermingling on second-tier Zeppelin tracks “On the Rocks,” “Winter Sun” and the divine “Since I’ve Been Loving You” is organic, incisive and passionate. Nothing shy of inspired.In the end, this debut is at least a real treat and at most a revelation – likely to motivate even the most “over it” Led Zeppelin fan to re-examine the originals. If there's one criticism, it's that the disc is a short one. Once you get a taste of what they’re capable of, you’ll be looking for second helpings. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait long. Though Spin Magazine has called Lez Zeppelin “the most powerful all female band in rock history” (both preposterous and presumptuous... someone buy the editors the Rolling Stone Women in Rock box set, for heaven's sake!!)...these gals definitely rock. Maybe they'll even take a stab at covering "Stairway." If anyone could pull it off... it's them.I bet even Plant himself would agree.

Music Review - Frank Black - Frank Black 93-03

Peter Chakerian — Thu, 5 Jul 2007 16:50:20 EDT

Diehard fans went into mourning in 1993, when Pixies frontman Black Francis (a.k.a. Charles Thompson) pulled the plug on the influential Beantown alt-rock band. I remember interviewing a very Frank (natch) Black a few years after the breakup, when he was doing press for his album, The Cult of Ray. He all but dismissed a Pixies reunion before he hung up on me – saying there was “no new ground to cover” and the band had “done all that it was intended to.” Two messages for Mr. Black over a decade later: One, never say never. And two, thanks for the reunion. Seriously, it felt like college all over again.Ego clashes and an opening slot on U2’s Zoo TV Tour were to blame when the Pixies’ disbanded; the reinvented bandleader quickly released his first solo album with a semi-inverted moniker and spent the next decade churning out quirky edgy alt-pop on his own. Nine albums in ten years, to be precise. To wit, reviewing a “greatest hits” package of Black’s work is as strange as using those words in the same sentence as his ever-changing name. Though not as troublesome as the last Pixies compilation, Wave of Mutilation, one has to wonder how the essentials are picked, when it all seems to be, well, essential?See, Black’s never one who cared for or about hit records. And from the sounds of Frank Black 93-03, that will seemingly never change. This two-disc compilation supports that attitude – highlighting his 10-year solo career, as well songs from the many records he fashioned with his hand-picked backing band, The Catholics. Also included also is a hidden track called “Threshold Apprehension” from his upcoming solo album Bluefinger. In the end, this sounds about as correct as any Black compilation could. But the odds are his most devout fans will dissect the selections and running order like Trekkies analyze Kirk, Spock and McCoy for many years to come. Black’s early work recalls the Pixies Trompe Le Monde, offering the insight that he never really stopped being Pixie-like, he just got tired of working with Kim Deal, Dave Lovering, and Joey Santiago for a while. And yet, there is enough diversity in this compilation to engage an introductory listener and leave longtime fans of his band wondering, “what if?”Cuts like the edgy, metallic “Los Angeles,” the Stooges-like “Ten Percenter” and dreamy-pop precision of “Headache” show Black at his best. Other lesser-known gems like “Robert Onion,” “I Want to Live on an Abstract Plain” (from the sublime Teenager of the Year) and “I Gotta Move” from the first Catholics album shows a mindful leaning toward more odd time signatures and garage punk. And “Western Star” from his album Pistolero? Well, it’s like icing on this alt-rock cake to this reviewer. Make that a two-story cake: Black offers a second disc of live material with this release, offering minor set alterations to each depending which version you buy. In the end, this portion of the compilation proves that there’s plenty of new ground to cover and that Black hasn’t done all he’s intended to yet... with or without the other three Pixies, this iconoclast has a noise in his head that will always keep you guessing. So what’s next? Beyond ten more years, it’s anyone’s guess.

Music Review: Art Brut - It's a Bit Complicated

Peter Chakerian — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:49:03 EDT

There’s something inherently fascinating about UK alt-punk-popsters Art Brut and their sanctimonious LV, Eddie Argos. He’s the unpotable quotable rock star du jour, to be sure. Fronting a self-effacing musical pony with but a single trick under its saddle, how can it be that his band’s sophomore long-player, It’s a Bit Complicated, still manages to charm? Next verse same as the first, indeed. Thing is, the first verse was pretty cool.Perhaps the late, great actor Jack Palance said it best in that cheeky Mennen’s Skin Bracer commercial from way back: “Confidence is very sexy… don’t you think?” Okay, one could have gone with the Oscar-inspired “(The Killers/Franz Ferdinand)… we crap bigger than them,” but even bringing Palance into this queasy metaphor seemed to make the point well enough. Like Palance before them, people seem to take Argos and Art Brut’s craft for granted. They’ll be revered when it’s over -- but let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet.Argos and company’s work isn’t terribly arty; it is without airs and almost strictly a matter of confident craft. But that’s what makes this second helping succeed. Complicated is lovingly prepared with the same recipe that made the first batch of tracks on Bang Bang Rock & Roll so appealing. Like Bang Bang before it, Complicated has great lyrics, mega-trashy pop hooks, meaty beats, and a snazzy attitude that’s homemade, not from a can. It takes no longer than the one-two punch of “Pump Up the Volume” and “Direct Hit” to realize you’re listening to something you don’t hear from your speakers every day. Familiar, to be sure, but totally fun -- and great for summer listening.Argos in particular doesn’t worry about the details. The Devil May Care, but you’d never know it, ‘cuz he says what he wants. Call it Voluntary Tourette's Syndrome. He strives to outclass a girlfriend’s exes in the bedroom. He asks a potential conquest to keep her heels on because she looks taller, he ponders a platonic friend's reaction to a mix tape and revels yet again in being in a band. He’s loving life, walkin' tall, living it up, and lettin' all the chips fall where they may. It's only rock and roll, but he likes it.Sounds familiar? It’s been done before, you say? Sure it has. So why does it work? Argos is disarmingly cocky, witty, arrogant and irreverent, that's why. And through it all, he is so believable and convincing that he makes Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw and Head Automatica sound like a Cub Scout struggling to earn that Webelos badge. Argos doesn’t demand attention with over-enunciating or over-modulating: he’s just a disarmingly clever guy. By the time you make your way through the watershed singles “I Will Survive” and “Sound of Summer” (which feature some great guitar work and solid musicianship), you realize that this band might just be nothing without Mr. Personality Plus. Just like The Darkness couldn’t go on without Justin Hawkins, Art Brut begins and ends with Argos. All of which begs the question: What’s the shelf life on this Art Brut anyway? In all likelihood, not much longer than Fruit Brute cereal. The band will surely buckle under the weight of popularity, if not under the dreaded UK rock mag principle of naming the band’s successor in time for the holiday shopping season. I've got 20 one-handed push-ups that says so. Truth is, confidence is very sexy. And so is It's a Bit Complicated. Longevity? Now that's really complicated. And another thing altogether.

TV Preview: All Hail the Lil' Decider - Comedy Central's Lil' Bush

Peter Chakerian — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 11:50:18 EDT

Some people may argue to the contrary, but a great deal of television programming has been lackluster and greatly uninspired over the last several of years. Sure, there are some bright exceptions – ranging from the Jack Bauer’s day-long adrenaline rushes to the now-retired Tony Soprano – but by and large, originality continues to dodge those looking for it. Televised sports coverage is now officially inspired by video gaming; commercials ranging from Quizno’s Subs pitchman “Baby Bob” to the Geico caveman characters are gaped and aped for potential TV greatness. And certainly, YouTube is ripe for the next round of potential “Sweeps” pillaging.Any idea and medium, it seems, that floats to the surface is up for grabs.Occasionally, one of these ideas stands poised to actually bare fruit. Case in point: cable juggernaut Comedy Central’s new animated series Lil Bush, which launches tonight, Wednesday, June 13 at 10:30 PM, after South Park. The show follows the rowdy doings and mischievous shenanigans of child-versions of politicos Lil’ George W. Bush and his pals Lil’ Cheney, Lil’ Condi and Lil’ Rummy (voiced by punk icon Iggy Pop). And it’s the first viral cell phone video work to make its way to TV as a regular series. This summer, viewers will see a total of six half hour episodes, each one featuring two stories a piece. And in each interstitial, the Lil’ animated politicos kick out the jams with their Lil' band – delivering a range of classic cover tunes that are part-Archies, part-Monkees, part-Banana Splits and all completely inspired by the White House of the last six-plus years. If the commercials are any indication, Lil’ Bush promises to be one of the campiest political satires on TV since Chevy Chase fell off a Christmas tree mocking former President Gerald Ford on Saturday Night Live. Can Lil’ Bush takes viral video to the big leagues? Both Pop and creator Donick Cary have high hopes that viewers will come away from the show thinking so. “What I liked was there was something really human about reducing all these powerful figures to little people,” said Pop of the concept in a recent media conference call. The leader of the Stooges, who has done voiceover work for another animated show with a political bent (American Dad) says politics is not something he relishes or claims to aspire to. It’s more of that can’t-look-away-from-a-car-accident vibe for him, as it is for many Americans. “You know, I mean if somebody puts on [Real Time with] Bill Maher,’ I’ll generally sit and watch it to the end. But I’m not flipping through the TV Guide to find out when it’s on, either. It’s something, you know, I’m in the middle somewhere. It’s kind of take it or leave it with me,” Pop said.The appeal was a little stronger to Cary when he initiated Lil’ Bush for cell phone provider Amp’d Mobile – ironically around the same time he worked on The Naked Trucker & T-Bones Show for Comedy Central. When the network showed some interest, his foot was already in the door and the political climate was perfect.“Think about what this administration is. They like to break stuff up, they dive head first into things, they refuse to follow anybody’s rules,” Cary told reporters on the media call. “They’re kind of… the first punk rock administration in a weird way. You know, you can literally – the vice president tells people to go F yourself and the president himself cuts himself up and smears himself with peanut butter whenever he tries to have lunch, you know?”What separates Lil’ Bush from other Bush Administration political satire, Cary offered, is the use of animation blended with that Muppet Babies je ne sais quois. It’s also a much different political environment than when Comedy Central’s short-lived That’s My Bush (from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone) debuted their contemptuous political lampoon.“Cartoon characters are… [they] feel a lot more harmless than live action. I mean it's always been the things that you see on The Simpsons [that] you could never do on Everybody Loves Raymond or whatever,” said Cary. “I also think that there’s so much the, you know, the tide has turned a little bit. [Bush has] 32% approval ratings… a lot of people have kind of gone ‘You know what? This guy may not be the smartest apple in the fruit basket.’ ” Cary cited Comedy Central’s gutsiness for him not shopping the Lil’ Bush concept to other networks on the cable box -- along with a surge in popularity of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report -- as for why the show was perfect for the network's wheelhouse. Both were helpful when negotiating what might stay or go in an episode, should such imperial entanglements take place in the management hierarchy. “They’re known for doing stuff that’s edgy and… taking those few risks and, you know, they do a lot of political stuff. There’s things in this that they’ve gone like, ‘Wait a minute that seems a little too edgy,’ and I can easily point out [they’ve] done something like that on South Park or The Colbert Report.” Cary added that the notes for minor changes in the writing and presentation for the show have “not been bad.”With another six episodes in development and a cranium full of other hysterical ideas, Cary suggested that viewers should expect loads of topical commentary – everything from campaign reform, Walter Reed and Hurricane Katrina, to the War in Iraq and George W. Bush’s growing tender years are prime for a send-up. And to Cary, there are plenty of political characters to focus on when the current administration comes to an end. Could there be a new Lil’ President show after this one? Perhaps.“You know, all of [the candidates] appear in the show,” Cary told the throng of reporters. “This all takes place in Washington in the White House and they all go to Beltway Elementary School, where Lil’ Hillary, Lil’ John Kerry, Lil’ Barack, you know, Lil’ Al Gore… I mean, everybody’s there. They get in rivalries, they fight over stuff, they have school elections, and, you know, compete for tables in the lunchroom.”Odds are that Cary, Pop and the animated Lil’ Bush cast won’t be stuck at the same table with “Baby Bob” and the Geico Caveman. And if they are, you can bet the Lil’ Decider will ask them to fund a war effort on lunch line Falafels and build a wall to protect the other Beltway Elementary kids from the Taco Bar.

Book Review: LeBron James - The Rise of a Star by David Lee Morgan, Jr.

Peter Chakerian — Tue, 5 Jun 2007 00:39:58 EDT

LeBron James has been called "the best high school basketball player ever." With a win last Saturday night against the NBA’s Detroit Pistons, James is inching ever closer to predicted professional greatness and destiny as well. James led the Cleveland Cavaliers through a four-game tear against the arch rival Pistons in the 2007 Eastern Conference Finals, locking up the first-ever Conference title for the Cavaliers and -- in all likelihood -- a key to the city at some point as well. Nevermind the rest of the planet... James was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a junior in high school, ESPN featured him on national television, and he inked promotional contracts worth over $100 million before he even graduated high school. Oh, and there’s that “No. 1” pick in the NBA draft after graduation, too. Everyone across the country knows to “Rise Up” as a “Witness” to his talents. But just who is he, where does he come from, and what drives him?If you’re curious, now’s as good a time as any to revisit a well-done and insightful look at James. The 2003 book LeBron James: The Rise of a Star, written by Akron Beacon-Journal sportswriter David Lee Morgan, Jr., comes courtesy of Gray & Company Publishers – a Northeast Ohio-based boutique publishing group. In it, Morgan offers up unprecedented insight and access to a young LeBron, his mother Gloria and a bevy of coaches, teammates and friends from his days at St. Vincent-St. Mary, a small parochial school in Akron, Ohio.Morgan had the same luck that another Cleveland journalist -- the sweet-and-motherly rock writer legend Jane Scott -- did. His beat was and is high school sports, specifically basketball. And the former high school and collegiate athlete was in the right place at the right time. Morgan was lucky enough to follow James up to the very moment that James was selected at the head of his NBA class. It seems that Morgan’s pedigree and approachable nature was enough to earn the trust of (and access to) the family; reading how challenging James’ life was early on, you could understand why it would take just the right person to tell the young man’s inspiring, poignant story. Born to a 16-year-old single mom without a stable home for the first decade of his life, James and his mom stayed with various friends and relatives on and off. He immersed himself in basketball; it became a wellspring from which he would draw passion, balance and enthusiasm for his life – his growing acumen, mirroring his growth as a person. Like many young people in this country with a similar experience, things weren’t exactly geared to a “rags-to-riches” outcome: there was a lot of living hand-to-mouth, sleeping in strange places, floors, couches. Despite struggling with a sort of nomadic existence, James grew up with an amazing self-assurance, strength and character – heeding the guidance of his mother. Even when his talents began to draw eyes and attentions outside of Northeast Ohio, with utterances of “phenomenon” and criticisms bandied about, he remained grounded and true to himself and those he cares about the most. It’s easy to think about James as a superstar, a Nike spokesman and the commercial face of basketball for millions around the world. It's just as easy to fall into the Michael Jordan redux - what with the man dunking high overhead sporting a #23 like his Chicago Bulls icon idol. But in the fray outside of the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Saturday night, it dawned on this reviewer that it’s also easy to forget some of the big picture stuff.Fact is, LeBron James is also a human being, with an experience far greater than the huge expectations heaped on him by an entire sport, a region, the media and the man himself. He’s still a 22-year old young man learning himself inside and out. You’ll read a lot of material in the newspapers, magazines and on the internet – scrutinizing his every move. To wit, you’ll not read anything quite like this. LeBron James: The Rise of a Star is a sharp, astute and quick read, inspiring for all ages and perfect as a pre-game warm-up for those NBA Finals. It will make you appreciate what the Chosen One can do even more.“Live from Planet Cleveland, this has been Blogcritic Peter Chakerian reporting. Back to you, Marv… and Go Cavs!”