Cover tune catastrophe: Raspberry Beret

Hindu Love Gods "Raspberry Beret" (Prince)

The Hindu Love Gods is basically R.E.M. fronted by Warren Zevon. They teamed up in 1990 for a one-off album that flopped. Their attempt to cover Prince's big 1985 hit "Raspberry Beret" sounds awful to my ears, extracting all of the joy out of this song and making it sound more like an Americal Idol audition gone horribly wrong. See what you think...

Odds and Ends

Each week I use this space to post some mini-reviews, cool tracks, random thoughts, neat news, or whatever else I damn well please.

MiniReview


Fallon Cush “Fallon Cush” – Fallon Cush is otherwise known as Steve Smith, a singer/songwriter from Australia. He and his band breeze through the 11 tracks on their eponymous debut, delivering an array of generally mellow and bright acoustic folk rock with 80s overtones. Most of the tracks don’t quite have a sharp enough hook to maintain my attention, but every once in awhile there is a needle in the haystack. For example, the upbeat drums, jamming organ, and fiery guitar solo make “Where You Been” stand out like a sore thumb among the other tracks – and that is a good thing in this case. “Where You Been” is easily my favorite track – I wish there were more songs like it. “The Great Divide” is another winner, boasting shimmering guitar tones, a memorable chorus, and effective backing vocals. “Dog Day Afternoon” and the pleasant “Over Me” are also worth a spin. Recommended if you enjoy Neil Nathan, David Mead, or Grapes of Wrath. Learn more about Fallon Cush here.

Surprise of the week
And the new lead singer for INXS is…(click here)

News
Cast is back! The legendary underground indie pop group fronted by singer John Power will return with their fifth album of new material, on the heels of the 15th anniversary of their debut. More info here.

Golden Bloom has released a new music video for "Rhyme the Reason". The song is available on Golden Bloom's latest EP, "March to the Drums".

Golden Bloom "Rhyme The Reason" from Alicia J. Rose on Vimeo.

Hope you got to see R.E.M. live while you had the chance – looks like there will be no reunion tour. Read the story.

At least there will be a new R.E.M. retrospective arriving November 15 called “Part Lies, Part Heart, Part Truth, Part Garbage, 1982 – 2011” which will contain three new songs: "A Month of Saturdays," "We All Go Back To Where We Belong," and "Hallelujah". More info here.

Tony Bennett beats a record held previously by Bob Dylan.

New Aerosmith as early as March 2012? This would be the long-awaited follow up to 2004’s “Honkin’ On Bobo”. Details here.

New Daughtry coming November 21st – “Break The Spell” will be his third album. More here.

Random iPOD song of the week
“It’s A Sin” by the Pet Shop Boys


Reminder: we’re now on Twitter! Follow us for even more updates, news, and reviews!

Odds and Ends

Each week I use this space to post some mini-reviews, cool tracks, random thoughts, neat news, or whatever else I damn well please.

MiniReview

House of Lords “Big Money” - House of Lords debuted in 1989 with the release of the self-titled album, a record which is still regarded as one of the best arena rock releases of the 80s, up there with frontrunners like Whitesnake, Deep Purple, and Van Halen. The band has a varied and spotty catalogue ever since, with frequent lineup changes and oscillating musical styles to match. Some releases are downright catchy arena rock whereas others are less melodious prog rock. This month the band will add “Big Money” to its discography, which feels like a blend of their mixed melodic and prog rock past. The trademark vocals of James Christian sound finer than ever, and he is surrounded by updated guitar sounds and pounding beats. James teamed up again on the songwriting with long-time friend and partner Mark Baker along with the other band members Jimi Bell and BJ Zampa for this release. While “Big Money” rocks through and through, several of the tunes are overly long and burdened with less than compelling riffs. Standouts include “First To Cry”, “The Next Time I Hold You”, “Run For Your Life”, and “Once Twice”. More info on House of Lords can be found here.

Surprise of the week
Motley Crue guitarist Mick Mars is recording with latest American Idol winner James Durbin. Get the scoop here.

News
R.E.M. has broken up. Hard to believe…read about it from the band member’s perspectives here.

New “best of” collection coming from Paul Simon October 24. Details and track listing here.

Get a taste of the Lou Reed and Metallica project, “Lulu” here. It’s only 30 seconds, but confirms my worst fears about this collaboration.

Love this article at Popdose about Survivor’s underrated ballad “Ever Since The World Began” (video below).

INXS have sacked their singer JD Fortune for the second time. Story here.

Where are they now? Colin Hay (Men At Work) released a new video. Check it out here.

Toto collides with Survivor – Kimball Jamison. Debut video!


Random iPOD song of the week
Survivor “Ever Since The World Began” from the album “Eye of the Tiger”


Reminder: we’re now on Twitter! Follow us for even more updates, news, and reviews!

Review: R.E.M. “Collapse Into Now”

As I predicted after hearing “Accelerate” (reviewed here), R.E.M. has finally gotten back into the groove that most fans have been longing for since “Adventures In Hi-Fi”. “Accelerate” was a solid release in my book, and a decent ramping back up to form. The band felt like they had the pedal to the metal, but weren’t 100% sure where to go. On “Collapse Into Now”, the band is on cruise control and taking the listener down the roads they know and love.

Easily the band’s most consistently good release in over a decade, “Collapse Into Now” sounds like it belongs in the strata with their best work. It is not quite a masterpiece, but definitely resurrected my affection for the band I knew and loved as a teenager and young adult. Overall, the record is upbeat and rocking, exuding more power and energy than we’d come to expect from today’s R.E.M. The ballads that are present are well done and not so cumbersome. Stipe and company come out with both guns blazing on “Discoverer”, a track that might have been a single from the “Monster” era (Patti Smith lends some vocals on this one as well as “Blue”). On “All The Best” they sure do show the kids just how it’s done. “Uberlin”, “Walk It Back”, and “Oh My Heart” bring back the classic R.E.M. folk ballad side, incorporating mandolin, piano, and/or accordion in ways not heard since “Automatic For The People”. “Mine Smell Like Honey” is generating a lot of buzz – and justifiably so, being one of the most accessible rockers on the record. I also got a kick out of the peppy “Alligator_Aviator_Autopilot_Antimatter”, which features someone named Peaches on backing vocals, and the sublime but almost too short “That Someone Is You”. Also be sure to listen for Eddie Vedder on “It Happened Today”.

Thank you R.E.M. for another terrific record – I can see myself reaching for this one as often as I reach for some of the classics. Just one word of warning – don’t stare at the inside of the digipak too long. Those black and white stripes will make you dizzy!

iPOD-worthy: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10

R.E.M. on MySpace. Official site.

Check out the video for “Oh My Heart”

Trivia Corner

1986 saw this debut release by Matthew Sweet, "Inside". "This Above All" is a track that features Aimee Mann on prominent backing vocals, fresh off the heels of her successful smash with 'Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry". Being in Athens, Sweet was also buddies with R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, which explains why Scott Litt produced and/or mixed a number of the better tracks on the record.

Review: R.E.M. "Accelerate"

I was in no rush to get my hands on "Accelerate", since R.E.M. appeared to put the brakes on writing quality alternative ROCK. It is no secret that somewhere around the time of "New Adventures in Hi-Fi" and the unfortunate loss of Bill Berry from the band, R.E.M. morphed into a lumbering, sleepy, and unmelodious snorefest.

So like many fans, I agree that "Accelerate" is the long-awaited "return to form" - the R.E.M. record we've been waiting for since "Monster" in the early 90s. I am not going to exaggerate and call this a masterpiece or perfect record, but I can honestly say that I could not be more happy with what R.E.M. has done here. By and large, the record rocks from beginning to end, and the few ballads even have a gritty or dark edge. Stipe's intelligent and poignant lyrics are still omnipresent, but finally backed by music that makes you remember the words, and thus the message.

The record opens with more of a 1-2-3 punch than any other R.E.M. release in recent memory. "Living Well is the Best Revenge" sets the stage for what is to come, and will forever be remembered as the first song ever to rhyme apostles with nostrils. Next up is the best track on the record, "Man-Sized Wreath", which features a brilliant chorus with signature harmony vocals. Most of you have heard the single by now, "Supernatural Superserious", another solid pop rock track. "Hollow Man" is notable for tricking you into thinking R.E.M. is going back to sleep, but then a change of pace with a kicking chorus brings it home and makes the song noteworthy. The CD fizzes a little in the middle, but roars back to end on a very strong note with a pair of garage rock tunes: "Horse To Water" and "I'm Gonna DJ".

Stipe sounds like he warmed up for most of these tracks by screaming for 5 minutes straight before recording, and it suits the tone of this music well. Buck's distorted guitar tones are some of the best and most modern-sounding he's recorded in a long time. "Accelerate" has put R.E.M. back on the fast track to being a band that is still relevant and not just spinning their wheels. The guys sound like they are inspired and having fun once again - finally - and you can't help but want to cheer them on.

iPOD-worthy: 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11

R.E.M. on MySpace. Official site.

Check out the video for "Hollow Man":

Review: The Connells "Weird Food & Devastation"

The Connell brothers were getting as close to the big time as they probably will in the early 90s. The Connells were enjoying 15 minutes of fame thanks to 120 Minutes generously playing likable tracks like "Slackjawed" and "'74-'75" from 1993's "Ring" CD. But their full-length follow-up, 1996's "Weird Food & Devastation," which sounds like a title inspired by an unfortunate trip to an unsanitary sushi stand, failed to keep them in the spotlight. I've recently found this one in the bargain bin and decided to investigate why.

It didn't take too many tracks to realize why The Connells could not sustain the success "Ring" had initiated. The record starts to get good around, oh, TRACK 11. What happened, gents? Things get off to a bad start with the pop grunge of "Maybe," which sounds like it was recorded with the same crap R.E.M. used to record their awful sounding "Monster" CD...probably one of the worst distorted guitar tones of all time. Checking out the linear notes, I find Scott Litt (of R.E.M.) mixed that track! If sounding as bad as "Monster" was their goal, they accomplished it.

All is not a loss, though. "Fifth Fret" and "Hang On" are pleasant enough mid-tempo nuggets, and "Back to Blue" is a rather nice ballad. My favorite is the aforementioned "Let It Go" where the Connells' finally sound inspired and their pop genius and complex harmonies are resurrected. But my smile quickly faded as the next track downshifted them into right back into the boring and bland.

iPOD-worthy: 3, 7, 8, 11

The Connells on MySpace. Official site.