Liz Phair - "whitechocolatespaceegg" (LP Review)

When I last talked about Liz Phair, I was kicking around her 2003 self-titled LP, which is so universally reviled that it was a pretty cheap shot on my part. To make it more interesting -- and roughly working backwards through her discography -- I'd like to discuss her often overlooked third LP, 1998's "whitechocolatespaceegg".

This LP is frequently considered the beginning of the end -- it did not attract the commercial or critical attention that her two previous LPs did. Interestingly, whereas they featured numerous (re-recorded) songs from her Girlysound demo tapes, this LP features only two: "Shitloads of Money" and "Polyester Bride". Not coincidentally, they are two of the best songs on whitechocolatespaceegg.

Was Liz running out of ideas? As a thirty-something, was she no longer able to crank out the angst-filled anthems that came so easy when she was a twenty-something, no longer channeling her inner Corey Flood? Or, more likely, she had fallen to the bane of all female rockers: marriage & children. Seriously, that's when Pat Benatar lost her edge too. In fact, the title "whitechocolatespaceegg" is in reference to her child's head crowning during birth. Corey Flood would never use that as the title for her LP.

Whatever the reason, the song quality on this LP varies greatly. The best songs are as good as any of her earlier material, including the new material: "Girls' Room" (which perfectly captures the politics of middle school girls), "whitechocolatespaceegg" (a nice plodding song that sounds like Liz Phair meets Black Sabbath) , "Big Tall Man", "Perfect World" (how did this song not end up on Sex and the City?), "Johnny Feelgood", and "Uncle Alvarez". Only one song is really bad: "Baby Got Going" (her skiffle tribute). The rest of the seven songs are slightly boring and fail to engage, shock, or find a clever or catchy phrase / chorus. Liz (I pretend I'm on a first-name basis with her) has never been about technical proficiency; instead she writes terribly clever songs and packs them with attitude. If one or both are missing, they just don't work.

For example, "Perfect World" sets the bar pretty high:

I wanna be cool, tall, vulnerable and luscious
I would have it all if I'd only had this much
No need for Lucifer to fall, if he'd learn to keep his mouth shut
I would be involved, be involved
Be involved, be involved, I would be involved with you

She also nails it in "Girls' Room":

Here comes Tiffany, my best friend Tiffany
Wearing a size-too-small sweater
Me and Tiffany, dressing up pretty
We love to ride, we love to canter
My best friend Tiffany, she is so popular
We're going from site-to-site and pool-to-pool tonight
And we hear Terri say that Trisha's okay
But she ought to learn to shave her bikini line better
And Tauren was born, like her mother, in a storm
And Tracy's been away forever

In fairness, some of the "rejected mixes" are better than the more "radio friendly" versions that appear on the LP (this is also where the record labels start meddling with her LPs). For example, the rejected mix of "What Makes You Happy" is much better than the LP version.

So while some of the songs are great, as good as the material on her celebrated earlier releases in fact, whitechocolatespaceegg never quite comes together as a solid collection. It would have worked much better as a 30 minute EP (easily scoring a 9/10) rather than a 50 minute LP.

Standout songs: "Shitloads of Money", "Polyester Bride" (official video, 2003 live, solo version), " Girls' Room" (2010 live version), "whitechocolatespaceegg", "Big Tall Man", "Perfect World" (studio version, 1999 live version), "Johnny Feelgood" (studio version, 2010 live version), and "Uncle Alvarez".

Skip 'em songs: "Baby Got Going"

Final score: 6/10. Good, but not essential for casual fans.

Bonus Link: Liz in the studio, working on the LP.

P.S. I will eventually get to her first two LPs.

Gil Scott-Heron - "Me and the Devil" (the song remains the same)

I didn't know that much about Gil Scott-Heron; sure I knew some of his more famous spoken word stuff, like "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" & "Whitey On The Moon", but I didn't realize he was a legitimate singer.

Herbert recently turned me on to GSH's 2010 LP "I'm New Here", which is a mix of songs and spoken word tracks. I'll review the LP later (edit: it took nine years), but the center piece of the LP is GSH's version of the 1937 Robert Johnson classic "Me and the Devil Blues" (the title here is reduced to just "Me and the Devil"). Musically, instead of a standard blues arrangement, it is given the doom stomp treatment that reminds me of Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down", albeit with more of a synth/electronic sound. Vocally, GSH's leathery voice compares favorably with Robert Johnson.

As you surely know, this is Johnson's second song dealing with Faustian themes, the other being "Cross Road Blues", which is generally associated with him selling his soul for his guitar proficiency (of course, this is a great theme for musicians; see also: the 1986 film "Crossroads", Paganini, Tartini, etc.)

There have been countless covers of Johnson's song... Two more notable versions are Eric Clapton's, from his 2004 LP "Me and Mr. Johnson" and the Cowboy Junkies from their 1986 debut LP "Whites Off Earth Now!!". I'm a big Cowboy Junkies fan (even though this is their first mention here), but I think Gil Scott-Heron might have done a better version of this song.

Gil Scott-Heron: "Me and the Devil" (the official video incorporates ~1:45 of GSH's "Your Soul and Mine" from "I'm New Here")

Robert Johnson: "Me and the Devil Blues"

Eric Clapton: "Me and the Devil Blues"

Cowboy Junkies: "Me and the Devil Blues"

Air - "Cherry Blossom Girl" (LP Review)

I hadn't planned to review this, but it came up in my iTunes playlist today... I really like Air and I absolutely love Hope Sandoval, so the combination of the two can't go wrong, right? Well, that's pretty much true. "Cherry Blossom Girl" is a single from Air's 2004 LP "Talkie Walkie", one of the few Air LPs I don't have. But as much as I like Air, I bought this single because of their collaboration with Hope Sandoval.

The CD single released on Astralwerks has four versions of the "Cherry Blossom Girl": a "radio mix" by Air, a version with Hope Sandoval, a mix by Simian Mobile Disco, and a demo version by Air.

I'm not sure what differentiates the radio mix from the LP version, but it is a typically good song by Air: smooth, airy, non-offensive, pop electronica. The version with Hope Sandoval is different enough to be an entirely different song: all the electronics are stripped out and Hope turns in a typical quiet, dreamy, breathy performance.

The Simian Mobile Disco version is entirely skippable. I really like nearly all the acts on Wichita Recordings, but SMD is one of their biggest artists, along with Bloc Party, and I just haven't liked anything I've heard from either of them. As far as the demo version... it is interesting to compare it with the final version, but it is skippable too.

So, whether or not you need this single depends on if you are a Hope Sandoval completist. Obviously, I am.

Standout songs: radio mix by Air, Hope Sandoval version

Skip 'em songs: Simian Mobile Disco mix, "Fanny (cbg demo)"

Final score: 6/10. Good, but necessary only for Sandoval fans.

Foo Fighters - "Best of You" (the song remains the same)

In honor of tomorrow's quasi-national holiday, Super Bowl XLV...

"Best of You" was the first single of the Foo Fighter's highly successful 2005 LP "In Your Honor". The song is excellent: it has hooks, emotion, power -- everything you want in power pop. Dave Grohl has a great rock/punk voice: raspy, powerful, and with range.

I'm always amazed at the success and longevity of the Foo Fighters: I would not have believed you if you told me in 1994 after Kurt Cobain's death that Grohl, Nirvana's drummer (insert Spinal Tap reference here), would 1) switch to vocals & guitar, and 2) have a 15+ year run of commercial and critical success.

This story really begins with the Foos doing a cover of Prince's "Darling Nikki" on the B-side of their 2003 single "Have it All". In fact, the B-side was originally available on only foreign versions of the single (Australia & UK), but it gained some airplay in the US. The story goes that although Grohl did the cover because he was a Prince fan, Prince was not too happy that the Foos covered his song ("No! I don't like anyone covering my work. Write your own tunes!"), and Grohl later apologized and asked radio stations to stop playing their cover of "Darling Nikki".

Fast forward to 2007 and Super Bowl XLI and Prince is the halftime show. How does one of the most prolific and influential artists of our times fill a 12 minute slot? It begins with the marching band doing "We Will Rock You"; ok that's surely some kind of marching band law, so that doesn't really count. He then does two songs from the Purple Rain LP: "Let's Go Crazy" and "Baby I'm a Star". Then two covers (a medley, really) of "Proud Mary" and "All Along the Watchtower" -- covers, but so well known that they're standards.

We were watching the Super Bowl at Terry's house, and I still remember my total surprise when Prince segued from "two riders were approaching / and the wind began to howl" to "are you gone and onto someone new?" -- was Prince really singing "Best of You"?! That's a rather obscure, recent, and heavy song for a Super Bowl halftime performance. Given all the songs Prince could have chosen, using ~2:15 of a 12 minute slot to cover a Foo Fighters song was a pretty bold decision. From "Best of You", Prince closed the show with the song "Purple Rain".

Some people seemed to think Prince's cover was a dig at the Foos, but that just doesn't make sense: you don't skip over your own songs like "1999", "Little Red Corvette", "When Doves Cry", "I Would Die 4 U", etc. just to insult another artist. I prefer to think of it as a peace offering from Prince, realizing that he had been a bad sport about the whole "Darling Nikki" affair. For the record the Foo's were flattered, their reaction is covered in this story from mtv.com.

Is it too much to hope the Black Eyed Peas have a similar surprise in store? (edit: turns out it was too much to hope for -- I don't think it was the disaster that some claim, but it wasn't very good).

Foo Fighters: studio version, live version, live on Jools Holland, acoustic version

Prince: audio only version, full halftime show ("Best of You" begins at ~6:00).

"Darling Nikki" Bonus links:

Prince: studio version, "Purple Rain" movie version

Foo Fighters: studio version, live version

The Primitives - "Crash" (forgotten song)

I was driving a rental car last week and enjoying satellite radio, mostly the channel "1st Wave" which plays mildly alternatively pop music from the 70s & 80s. On came a song that I only barely recognized, so I checked the display and saw that it was "Crash" from The Primitives.

I didn't recognize the band name or even the song title, but I could just barely remember having heard the song before. But where? I can't recall hearing it on the radio or MTV (the video is not familiar either). Investigating after I returned, I discovered it was a single from their 1988 LP "Lovely" and apparently charted very well in the UK and US. 1988 would have been when I was in college, perhaps it was on the radio, or someone down the hall in the dorm, or some random party.

I did discover that a slightly tarted up version was used in the 1994 film "Dumb and Dumber", but I've only seen that film once so I doubt I'm remembering it from the movie. Although the original version came out in 1988, the sound is more like 1982.

The song itself is harmless fluff that would be at home on a soundtrack to a John Hughes film; I'm more intrigued by my partial memory of it since it is unusual for me to not remember a song's context. Do you remember "Crash"? If so, let me know.

Crash: 1988 version

Crash: 1995 version

Slowdive - "Holding Our Breath" (LP Review)

I'm a big fan of Slowdive and had thought I had the entire discography, but I recently discovered they had quite a number of singles and EPs prior to their breakthrough 1991 LP "Just for a Day". Eager to complete my collection, I recently acquired their 1991 4-song EP "Holding Our Breath". It is out of print, so I ended up purchasing the EP on iTunes since the going price for a CD is pretty steep. The EP appears to be the "Catch the Breeze" 7" single extended with two more songs.

The four songs showcase the band's sound firmly in the shoegazing genre: swirling guitar effects, dreamy vocals, slow rhythms; this EP is arguably more in the shadow of MBV than their later LPs. "Golden Hair" is a cover of a Syd Barrett song (actually a James Joyce poem Barrett set to music), "Catch the Breeze" (which appears on "Just for a Day") and "Albatross" are solid songs, but the standout is "Shine".

I love the vocal duo of Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead, but "Shine" just reinforces what I think of every time I listen to an LP from Slowdive or Mojave 3 (a post-Slowdive band featuring Goswell & Halstead): Rachel should have sang more frequently/prominently. Her voice fits the genre perfectly. Nothing against Neil, but while he seemed to be featured of the duo, it was Rachel that really defined their sound. She is the primary (only?) vocalist on "Shine" and the result is an achingly beautiful song, maybe even Slowdive's best.

Standout songs: "Shine", "Catch the Breeze" (live version 1991), "Albatross"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 7/10. "Golden Hair" is nothing special, and "Catch the Breeze" appears elsewhere. I thought about giving it a 6/10, but "Shine" elevates it to the point that a serious collection should have this EP. I hope to eventually acquire a hard copy version in the future.

Jane Siberry - "When I Was a Boy" (LP Review)

I first learned of Jane Siberry from the "Until the End of the World" soundtrack, which was released in 1991 and featured the exquisite duet with k.d. lang,"Calling All Angels". Two years later, it appeared on Siberry's LP, "When I Was a Boy". But as good as "Calling All Angels" is, it isn't even close to being the best song on this LP. This is an extraordinary, complex and mature LP. It is not quite perfect, but even the flaws are admirable: experiments and directions that just don't quite work. She sings beautifully, but has spoken word parts that remind me of Laurie Anderson. Ultimately, this LP delivers intelligent, unpretentious art-pop for adults.

The first five songs on the LP are the strongest and form a perfect sequence, covering multiple genres while retaining a sensual, spiritual feel: "Temple", "Calling All Angels", "Love is Everything", "Sail Across the Water", "All the Candles in the World". "Temple" and "Sail Across the Water" are produced by Brian Eno and are thus the strongest tracks on the LP. "Temple" and "All the Candles in the World" experiment with a dance / electronica beat, but do so without pandering.

Unfortunately, the flow is interrupted with "Sweet Incarnadine", which is the only song to skip on the entire LP. Things pick back up with "An Angel Stepped Down (And Slowly Looked Around)", but unfortunately that is the last excellent song on the LP. The remaining songs aren't bad ("The Vigil (The Sea)" is pretty good), but they fail to sustain the excellence of tracks 1-5 & 7. The LP closes with a "Harmony Version" of "Love is Everything", but the difference between the two versions is slight (and the non-harmony version is more intimate).

Speaking of different versions, there are apparently many different versions of "Temple". The discogs.com discography is incomplete, but there is a 5" promo CD lists three different versions ("Single Mix", "Alternate Single Mix", "Body and Soul Radio Remix", in addition to the LP version), and searching on the web uncovers references to an "Ambient", "Sanctuary", and "Orinoco" mixes. It is not clear if this adds up to 7 different versions or 4, but more importantly what's the point in all the different versions? Once Brian Eno has produced your song, everyone else can just go home because you're not going to do better than his version. I don't know which version is used in the video linked below, but it is greatly inferior to the stripped down, hard-hitting LP version.

Fortunately, you can download the entire LP, including the good version of "Temple", from Siberry's website. In 2006, she changed her name to Issa, sold nearly all of her possessions, and released her back catalog as MP3s. In 2009, she changed her name back but has retained the free downloads. You have to respect that, and now you have no reason to not listen to this LP.

Standout songs: "Temple" (not the good LP version!), "Calling All Angels" (live solo, studio w/o k.d. lang), "Love is Everything" (excerpt, live with band, live solo), "Sail Across the Water", "All the Candles in the World" (also not the good LP version), "An Angel Stepped Down (And Slowly Looked Around)".

Skip 'em songs: "Sweet Incarnadine".

Final score: 9/10. If Eno had stuck around for a few more tracks, this would have been an easy 10/10.

Bonus Link #1: Additional videos are on her YouTube channel, sheebatv.

Bonus Link #2: "Calling All Angels" sung by the cast of "Six Feet Under".

Bonus Link #3: "Love is Everything" cover by k.d. lang.

Bonus Link #4: Did you catch the nod to The Beatles "The End" at ~2:37 in "An Angel Stepped Down (And Slowly Looked Around)"?