Steve Nash, New Cars and Blondie Live, Secret Machines, Allen Ginsberg, T-Pain, more - Page 2

As for Hall of Famers Blondie, their career has been marred by several instances of shooting themselves in the foot, but this purported last go-around is a chance for Deborah Harry to solidify her standing as one of rock 'n' roll’s great female frontpersons, even as she finds herself an opening act while Madonna, who followed her blueprint, headlined the Forum across town.

Of course, like the Cars, Blondie was never the most dynamic live performing act, but Debbie, awkwardly clad in a lime-green track suit that looked left over from the Elvis Vegas collection, was more effusive and emotive than she’s been in years, and while that’s not saying much, there’s always the wildly athletic Clem Burke, channeling Keith Moon, to provide the onstage focus.

The hits were all there, from “Call Me” and a wildly received “Rapture” to “One Way or Another,” as well as covers of Roxy Music’s “More Than This” and the Ramones’ “Havana Affair” (for the late Joey’s birthday) to remind you of the group’s high pop IQ. That there was a slight whiff of bittersweet sadness to the festivities was more the fault of rock’s insatiable thirst for the next big thing, and the fact it never forgets... even when it’s sometimes painful to remember.

Secret Machines, Ten Silver Drops (Reprise)

Is it just my drug-addled mind, or should this trio of Oklahoma-by-way-of-Brooklyn psychedelic rockers fronted by brothers Brandon and Ben Curtis be packing the arenas their music seems to aim for? Don’t answer that. With an edgy feel for brooding melodies that could be dubbed prog-emo, the band’s sophomore album chooses to remain relatively earthbound in its choice of topics - mostly doomed romance in the self-explanatory “Alone, Jealous and Stoned,” the look-back-in-sorrow “All at Once (It’s Not Important)” and the heightened state of “Lightning Blue Eyes,” which takes the band’s Pink Floyd acid-rock and fuses it with ’80s influences like the Cure’s foreboding and the shiny techno of the Cars.

There’s also the requisite drug-fueled paranoia of the Dark Side of the Moon-ish “Daddy’s in the Doldrums” and the dealing scenario of “I Hate Pretending.” Throw in an accordion solo by the Band’s Garth Hudson on “I Want To Know If It’s Still Possible” and you have a classic-modern hybrid of dance-trance pop-rock that stays tethered to terra firma, thanks in no small part to drummer Josh Garza’s tribal stomp anchoring the Curtis’ space-age dreamscapes.

Allen Ginsberg, Kaddish (Water)

A reissue of the original Jerry Wexler-inspired Atlantic Records 1965 release documenting the famed poet’s historic Nov. 24, 1964, performance of his epic work at Brandeis University, an extended eulogy and tribute to his beloved mother Naomi, who died in 1956. The hour-long piece incorporates elements of the Jewish Mourner’s Prayer while documenting his family life growing up in Paterson, NJ, against the backdrop of World War II, coming to terms with his homosexuality.

Article Author: Roy Trakin

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