05.31.06 (MusicPortal.com) The 2004 movie "Garden State" is to some of today's generation what "The Graduate" was to the baby boomer generation - a touchstone not only in its story, imagery, performances and lines of dialogue, but also its music. That movie's bittersweet yet sometimes uplifting songs provided an emotional barometer for what was happening on the screen. For fans of the award-winning film and its platinum-certified, Top 20-charting, Grammy-winning soundtrack, "The State I'm In" (Hip-O/UMe), set for release on June 13th, once again evokes the spirit of that film. A collection of a dozen songs selected for their college student melancholy and Indie vibe -- songs that just as easily could have been on the original soundtrack -- "The State I'm In" features tracks from alt-rockers Remy Zero ('Motorcycle') and Electronic popsters Frou Frou (the Top 25 Dance, Top 40 Adult Top 40 'Breathe In'), two artists who were heard in "Garden State." Also appearing is the Commodores classic 1978 #1 Pop smash 'Three Times A Lady,' quasi-featured in a pivotal scene of the film written, directed, and starring Zach Braff. In addition, the quirky lineup boasts a sense of discovery with genre-stretching bands such as The Sea And Cake ('Sound & Vision'), The All Seeing I (an electronica cover of Sonny & Cher's '60s anthem 'The Beat Goes On'), downtempo/drum 'n' bass duo Lamb ('Gabriel') and rising art-punkers the Yeah Yeah Yeahs ('Maps'). Also included are renowned yet edgy artists, groundbreaking hip-hop fusionist DJ Shadow ('Six Days') and cult hero singer-songwriter Paul Weller ('Wild Wood'), and vintage tracks from the Lou Reed-led Velvet Underground ('Sunday Morning'), Beck Pop favorite Serge Gainsbourg ('Requiem Pour Un Con') and confessional folk-pop great Cat Stevens ('The Wind'). "The State I'm In" Track Listing: 1. Sunday Morning - The Velvet Underground • 2. Breathe In - Frou Frou • 3. Requiem Pour Un Con - Serge Gainsbourg • 4. Sound And Vision - The Sea And Cake • 5. Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs • 6. Motorcycle - Remy Zero • 7. The Beat Goes On - The All Seeing I • 8. Six Days - DJ Shadow • 9. Wild Wood - Paul Weller • 10. Three Times A Lady - Commodores • 11. The Wind - Cat Stevens • 12. Gabriel - Lamb
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05.22.06 (AP) Less than 12 hours after MADONNA crucified herself on a mirrored cross, the Catholic League expressed its discontent with the concert stunt. The controversial diva wore a crown of thorns and sang while hanging from a cross during Sunday night's opener of her "Confessions" world tour at The Forum in Inglewood, California. "Knock off the Christ-bashing," Catholic League president Bill Donohue said in a statement Monday. "It's just pathetic." Though Donohue said that MADONNA "has been spicing up her act with misappropriated Christian imagery for a long time," he thought that her faith in Kabbalah might inspire new respect for religion. "I guess you really can't teach an old pop star new tricks," he said. "Poor Madonna keeps trying to shock. But all she succeeds in doing is coming across as a boring bigot." A message left with MADONNA's spokeswoman was not immediately returned. The "Confessions" tour continues through September 4th with dates throughout North America and Europe. At the show Sunday night, more than a dozen dancers had about as many costume changes as the Material Girl herself. Other highlights included moving platforms, a jungle-gym contraption lowered from the ceiling with Cirque Du Soleil-style gymnasts, and multiple massive video screens flashing images of war, world leaders, nature, and, of course, MADONNA. The production was so tightly choreographed, it left little room for spontaneity. Even when the singer flipped the crowd the bird, it felt scripted, not subversive. With so much flash and dazzle, it was like watching a made-for-TV performance. For 'Like a Virgin,' Madonna climbed onto a kinky version of a carousel horse. It raised and lowered and moved in a circle while Madonna gyrated atop it. "The show has just begun," she declared before disappearing for one of the night's half-dozen costume changes. Moving video screens obscured the stage and old-school breakdancing kept fans' eyes busy. Next, a mirrored cross carrying the singer rose slowly from the stage floor. She wore purple pants, a red blouse and a crown of thorns. Her feet rested on a tiny platform and silver cuffs held her arms in place. As she sang 'Live To Tell' from 1986's "True Blue," numbers ticked away on a screen above the stage. It was the first of the show's two overtly political displays. Just before MADONNA hoisted a Les Paul guitar to accompany herself on 'I Love New York,' images of world leaders -- from Richard Nixon to Saddam Hussein to George W. Bush -- flashed on a screen beneath bold red letters that read "Don't Speak." The guitar didn't seem organic to Madonna, but she stayed behind it for 'Ray Of Light' and switched to an acoustic for 'Drowned World.' MADONNA looked happiest when she was dancing -- microphone at her side -- as it was the only time she smiled. At times, it was also hard to tell where her singing stopped and the reverb began.

05.15.06 (MusicPortal.com) CUT CHEMIST is set to release his Warner Bros. Records debut album, "The Audience's Listening," on July 11th. The Los Angeles native recorded hundreds of songs before selecting the final 12 tracks that made it onto the LP. "They say you get as long as you need to make your first album, but the second one you get a year!" jokes Cut Chemist. Consider this as well: his songs have been built with the assistance of thousands of rare, crazy, odd, eccentric and quite often unplaceable samples from other records, a truly global library that has been amassed from his extensive travels and dates back to sometime around 1977. Throughout his life, he's honed his skills as a record hunter extraordinaire. That's a history that has built up into a varied and uplifting album that even defies his complimentary characterization as someone known to play with sound in unexpected ways. It's true that "The Audience's Listening" was a bit of a long time in the making, but imagine how relatively little time Cut Chemist has had in the laboratory. Mainly, he's toured a lot. He spent 12 years as a DJ and producer for L.A. Hip-Hop dynamos Jurassic 5. He also did five years playing the turntables backing up the Grammy-winning Latin alternative band Ozomatli, and several years releasing highly bootlegged mixtapes (such as his "Brain Freeze Original Soundtrack" collaboration with DJ Shadow in 1999, a much sought eBay delight that lead to another popular meeting of the two in 2004's "Product Placement" tour and DVD). Throughout it all, he's found the time to helm his own recurring club nights in Los Angeles (these days he can often be found on Saturday nights playing at "Funky Sole" at Hollywood lounge Star Shoes). As an in-demand DJ that's always tried to further his craft as a producer, Cut Chemist has had to juggle a lot more than beats over the years. But, after departing Ozomatli and, more recently, Jurassic 5 in late 2004, his focus is finally squarely on himself. "That's probably part of why it took me so long," he says of the album. "I had to retrain myself into seeing that I was the only one here. There's really no one else I have to clear things with." Cut Chemist met future Jurassic 5 MCs Chali 2na and Mark 7 at a park jam in Silverlake, while attending an arts-based high school in the center of Los Angeles, which boasts other famous alums such as Leonardo DiCaprio. The three were part of a... [full story]
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[Electronic News: April 2006]
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