Blogcritics Author: Tim Gonzo Gordon

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.

CD Review: Ziggy Marley Rings True with Love Is My Religion

Tim Gonzo Gordon — Tue, 8 Aug 2006 10:57:20 EDT

This is Ziggy Marley's second solo album since moving away from the Melody Makers early in the millennium. As solid as the albums with the MM were, it was time for Ziggy to take a different tack, much like Tom Petty recording an album without the Heartbreakers unit. Love is my Religion is similar to the understated but solid Dragonfly in that it mines familiar territory but doesn't limit itself to strict reggae. As Ziggy moves into his late thirties (he was born in 1968), his music moves into areas not normally associated with typical reggae, if there is such a thing as typical reggae. Just as his famous father Bob Marley did when he released Uprising at the age of 35, Ziggy's Dragonfly and now Love Is My Religion show more depth of studio artistry and experimentation. When you've been playing and recording for your entire adult life, you should know your way around a studio, and by working with creative producers you can come up with arrangements that flatter the composition. Ziggy works with Russ Hogarth on a few tunes on the new album, but essentially, Religion is self-produced. Take the title track "Love Is My Religion," a light, airy 3-chord song that bounces happily along. Just imagine a day in the park or at the beach with an energetic reggae tune and you've got the mood. And that's what music always does, it creates a mood. While some commentary I've read assail Ziggy's lyrics in this song in particular, I find that the concept and tune grow with additional listenings. My first time hearing the song was on a local radio station, and I couldn't really get a handle on it. Can anybody in one listen? A few days later I picked up the album and have been thoroughly delighted with the whole package. "Love is my religion. You can take it or leave it and you don't have to believe it..." It's digging the same vein that was so successful for John Lennon when he penned "All You Need Is Love" and "The Word," to mention a few. Reggae, more than most any other style of music, lends itself equally well to light and happy love songs and heavy political protest songs. Witness the contrast between side one and side two of the original vinyl album Exodus from Bob Marley, rightly proclaimed as album of the century by Time magazine. Bob's follow-up to Exodus was the lighter love-song oriented Kaya, and he was taken to task by many critics and fans for straying too far from the political and strident tone of his earlier albums. Kaya was followed by Survival, which had no love songs whatsoever. So reggae's true boundaries are broad. Ziggy has no album of the century here, but he's true to his sound and himself, and is a passionate craftsman at writing and performing cohesive songs that cover the fertile ground of love, music, friendship, freedom and dreams - all valid themes for reggae. "Keep On Dreamin'" grabs a laid-back upside-down reggae beat to inspire the listener to follow their own personal quest. "Blackcat" goes for a little jazzy saxophone intro and moves quickly into a light ska-flavored bounce. "Beach In Hawaii" puts you right there - except I kept wondering when I'd hear steel drums. By choosing the theme "Love Is My Religion," Ziggy stays close and explores several aspects of it. Overall Religion is solid, but with fewer memorable tunes than Dragonfly. Ziggy fans should dig right in and enjoy the banquet. Others may want to wait and see what Ziggy's next offering is, or mine his extensive library with the Melody Makers.

25+ years radio: on-air, commercial writing and production, news. Drummer from the 60s, guitarist since the 70s. Steeped in Beatles, Stones, Yardbirds and Raiders and aged in Marley, Live, Tom Petty and Steely Dan. Currently operating DigitalAudioWorld.com, TimGonzoGordon.com, PodcastingAdventuresOnline.com and PodcastProfitCaseStudies.com. And trying to raise two energetic boys to boot!

Cracker: Forever Rock 'N' Roll

Tim Gonzo Gordon — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 08:26:54 EDT

I admit it. I’m stuck in the past. My favorite musical artists remain Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Peter Gabriel...and Cracker.Cracker? At that mention, folks scrunch up their face and go, "Hmmm.”David Lowery is simply one of the finest songwriters and true-blue singers in the bidness, and Johnny Hickman proves himself the sweetest, most inventive ‘let’s-do-it-for-the-band’ guitarists this side of, well, The Band. But finding more than one or two CDs by Cracker in your local Best Buy, Borders, or Wherehouse – or even, for that matter, a cool local store like Ranch Records in Salem – is like finding a lottery ticket in the trash that’s worth ten bucks. They just seem to be too scarce.So when Cracker re-recorded a shelf full of their songs and issued them as Greatest Hits – Redux to compete against Virgin Records’ release of their Get On With It: The Best of Cracker, it was more than a spit-in-your-face to Virgin. It was proof this Cracker is an American treasure. These guys know rock and roll. And country. And twang. And shuffle. And everything in between. Lowery crafts stories that pass as songs, taking you to the end of the road and back. The remakes showed how well the songs have aged, and how polished the band is these days.If you pull out Cracker’s Forever, from 2004, and stroll through the insanity of "Guarded by Monkeys" and the identity-twisting "Miss Santa Cruz County," it simply feels like home. Sing along with "When I Win the Lottery" and you’re in for a little redneck baiting. Turn up "I Want Everything" from Kerosene Hat and dream away. And hell, just the first verse of "Ain’t Gonna Suck Itself" shows Cracker thumbing their nose at the big boys – but hey, it’s just for fun.Admittedly, it’s hard to keep up with all the releases from Cracker, especially when you have hard time finding them locally or even online. I just discovered they have a new album out: Greenland, released in June of 2006. The few reviews I’ve managed to find say it’s a damn fine set of tunes that, while never specifically mention Greenland, embody the loneliness of a large empty continent. The fact these guys have lasted as long as they have and continue to put out classic rock’n’roll should put them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.Much as I want, I can never get enough Cracker.And neither should you.