Freedy Johnston Blue Days Black Nights (Elektra) When Freedy Johnston hit the chart jackpot in 1994 with “Bad Reputation” from his startlingly good third album, This Perfect World, no one was more surprised than he. He knew beyond a doubt that he was a good writer and performer and that…
Eight things, true and otherwise, that Jewel has said: 1. “Sure, sex sells.” I’ve never seen Jewel in person, mind you, but I have seen her on TV, in the backstage area of an awards show. She was near Fiona Apple and not too far from Marilyn Manson. Watching her,…
Limp Bizkit Significant Other (Flip/Interscope) Considering the band’s fondness for macho funk-rock rhythms and masculine posturing, it’s a mystery why the members of Jacksonville-based Limp Bizkit elected to name themselves after a flaccid foodstuff. A band with such manly aspirations should have a tough, no-nonsense tag — something with hair…
There was something in his eyes, Augustus Pablo’s inevitably reefer-blurred eyes, that was alternately haunting and sad, chilling and beautiful. In the numerous photos of the dub innovator that grace the slew of albums released during his life (which ended May18 at the age of 46 after a bout with…
The Pretenders ¡Viva el Amor! (Warner Bros.) Doing the late-night channel-surf thing recently, I stumbled across a broadcast of Hard Rock Live, the VH1 live-performance showcase featuring classic rock acts. The Pretenders were holding court, and the resulting performance was a testament to the talents of singer-songwriter Chrissie Hynde. It’s…
Gospel has been the bedrock of popular music since it was first recorded in the early 1900s. It was the first musical love of iconoclast rockers ranging from Little Richard to Elvis Presley. It has produced soul singers as dazzling and innovative as Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and…
The Chemical BrothersSurrender(Astralwerks/Virgin)At one time the Chemical Brothers were the biggest electronica band in the land. Before Fatboy Slim was heard in every commercial, before Ray of Light won a Grammy, before Prodigy had a number one record, the duo of Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands had the biggest Big…
Dr. Lonnie Smith performs with Danny Burger and the house band Friday and Saturday, July 2324, from 9:30p.m. to 2:30a.m. at O’Hara’s Jazz Cafe &Swing Street Bistro in Fort Lauderdale (722 E.Las Olas Blvd., 9545241764). They also perform there most Wednesday nights and at O’Hara’s in Hollywood (1903 Hollywood Blvd., 9549252555) most Sunday nights from 8p.m. to midnight. Admission is free to allshows. Please call to confirm specific performance dates.
Learning Curve(Higher Ground/Columbia)It’s hard to state the obvious selling point of DJ Rap, also known as Charissa Saverio, and not sound like a cad. Put it this way: She has done some topless modeling in the past and claims that she looks even better now (and certainly better than Fatboy…
Dr. Lonnie Smith performs with Danny Burger and the house band Friday and Saturday, July 2324, from 9:30p.m. to 2:30a.m. at O’Hara’s Jazz Cafe &Swing Street Bistro in Fort Lauderdale (722 E.Las Olas Blvd., 9545241764). They also perform there most Wednesday nights and at O’Hara’s in Hollywood (1903 Hollywood Blvd., 9549252555) most Sunday nights from 8p.m. to midnight. Admission is free to allshows. Please call to confirm specific performance dates.
DJ Rap Learning Curve (Higher Ground/Columbia) It’s hard to state the obvious selling point of DJ Rap, also known as Charissa Saverio, and not sound like a cad. Put it this way: She has done some topless modeling in the past and claims that she looks even better now (and…
The Chemical Brothers Surrender (Astralwerks/Virgin) At one time the Chemical Brothers were the biggest electronica band in the land. Before Fatboy Slim was heard in every commercial, before Ray of Light won a Grammy, before Prodigy had a number one record, the duo of Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands had…
Gospel has been the bedrock of popular music since it was first recorded in the early 1900s. It was the first musical love of iconoclast rockers ranging from Little Richard to Elvis Presley. It has produced soul singers as dazzling and innovative as Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and…
Rock songs can be pure lyrical magic, succinct expressions of powerful emotions. These aren’t. Still, Journey and Foreigner dealt with some weighty issues in their time, and dealt with them poetically. Here’s a brief listener’s guide. “In the morning day, yeah.” (Journey, “In the Morning Day”) “Daylight, all right.” (Foreigner,…
Red Hot Chili Peppers Californication (Warner Bros.) Apparently, reports of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ creative demise were premature. The band’s new album, Californication, is a dark, hypnotic masterwork that reminds us that alternapop needn’t be a bad word. Like most good albums, Californication is an ambitious, overreaching mess with…
Every once in a great while, I get a sensation that begins at the base of my brain, one that starts out as a mild warmth but intensifies to a searing heat. The increase in temperature is accompanied by an increase in vibration, a distinct buzzing noise that is at…
I got 18 different women/In 18 different towns/I got 18 time-tested ways/To hold my liquor down. — Chris DeAngelis, “18 Wheeler” With his straight chin-length hair and his black horn-rimmed glasses, Chris DeAngelis looks like he’d be more comfortable penning beat poems for open-mic night at a local java joint…
Alex Chilton Like Flies on Sherbert (Peabody) Virtually ignored upon its limited-edition release in 1979 but subsequently hailed as a masterpiece by critics and altrockers alike, Alex Chilton’s Like Flies on Sherbert has finally been reissued in pristine form, along with four bonus cuts, by the same tiny Memphis label…
Smash Mouth Astro Lounge (Interscope) In the world according to Smash Mouth, the ’70s never happened. The group’s infuriatingly uneven 1997 debut album, Fush Yu Mang, was a blend of ’80s-style postpunk, new wave, and reggae informed by a curious ’60s lounge sensibility. Displaying an impressive talent for reconciling disparate…
Some people call me a Teenage Idol/Some people say they envy me/I guess they got no way of knowing/How lonesome I can be. — Ricky Nelson, “Teenage Idol” Teenage angst has paid off well/Now I’m bored and old. — Kurt Cobain, “Serve the Servants” I love Britney Spears. I cherish…
T-Model Ford You Better Keep Still (Fat Possum) On his 1997 debut album, Pee-Wee Get My Gun, North Mississippi bluesman T-Model Ford defined his ragged, psychotic artistry with the aptly titled “I’m Insane,” a true story in which the seventysomething nut-job proudly boasts of “thumpin'” the asses of everyone from…
The question before the assembled members of Pillmagnet is this: When did bassist-vocalist Mike Szymanski first play in a band? Lead guitarist Justin McNeal, the whippersnapper of the group at 24 years old, blurts out his guess — “1968” — waiting a beat before adding, “with Buddy Holly.” Szymanski, outfitted…
