Happy Holidays!

I missed this last year. They've been showing The Killers' Don't Shoot Me Santa on all of the Christmas video countdowns in the UK and I laugh everytime I see it. It's stereotypically American. --J

It Just Ain't Christmas

My friend DP just sent this to me. -K

It just ain't Christmas

...without Grace Jones in all her Jean-Paul Gaultier glory.I have never heard a better version of this song(excluding the Chet Aktins morphine-drip intrumental version). How tasteful- and merciful - of her to sing only a single verse. Even without all the brilliant gay subtext that made Pee Wee's holiday showa minor masterpiece of good-natured subversion (" I hope it's not afruitcake...." quips Pee Wee. "Sorry Grace, back in the box," he continues)this non-sequitur moment might provide an avant garde touch that wouldreduce Marcel Duchamp and Jean Cocteau to hot tears of envy.But they weren't around in the 80s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98JrWm9IMMA

Papa Roach Ex-Drummer Sues Band

The ex-drummer of Papa Roach, Dave Buckner, who quit (fired) last Christmas Eve due to substance abuse issues is now suing the band for profits he supposedly should have earned over the last year. Apparently, after he officially left the band no one did anything about the fact that he remained a partner in the various companies the band formed. Profits were made and bank loans happened, all of which he was excluded from. He wants to dissolve those companies and get the money he is owed.

There's hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake here. I'm slightly curious to know what sort of "companies" the band formed, especially after I can't seem to find out anything about them online. -K

You're So Vain - Foo Fighters

Since all I have seen is this youtube video, I don't understand the context of Foo Fighters playing a Carly Simon cover on a Grammy nominations show. Was everyone performing asked to do a cover? All I know is this was a pleasant surprise to watch over morning coffee. This past June I got obsessed with that song for the second time in my life. I like the combination of Carly Simon and Mick Jagger's vocals on it and the lyrics are classic. So on a flight from Salt Lake City to London, I put it on a playlist I've been playing quite a bit.

Dave's growl adds a certain menacing quality to the song. It's more like "You're so vain and I'm gonna make sure you don't live anymore because of it". Hahaha --J

Kings of Leon - O2 Arena

Sorry, this post probably says more about me than the band…

It’s 5:45pm and I’m on a conference call that’s running over with no signs of ending. I’ve got a train to catch to get to North Greenwich at 6:42pm and I’ve got my husband’s suit to pick up from the cleaners and a parent to call about tomorrow’s slumber party and I’ve got to stop off to dispose of the laptop. I also see someone pacing outside my office door. Something’s not right here. They are seriously killing my pre-concert buzz.

Okay, I missed the 6:42 train and missed any opening act, but did make it to the arena as they were setting up for the main attraction. The arena seemed so big for Kings of Leon, the band I saw at Pop’s just two years ago, but it truly was sold out. I started to get out some paper to write down the set list and then I made the decision to get out of task mode and just enjoy the show.

The stage was not over the top busy like some arena rock shows, but pretty simple. As usual there was not a lot of chatter with the audience. Caleb did say that when they walked into the arena that day they were blown away by the size as well.

They started the set with Closer and then Crawl and for a moment I wondered if they would play Only By the Night from start to finish. After Crawl they varied the setlist to contain tracks from all of the other records. The set was a little under two hours but with little banter, they covered a lot of ground.

Rumors circulated in the UK press a few weeks ago that the whole UK arena tour might be cancelled due to Caleb’s drinking but they laughed off reports of this a few days ago. There were no signs of such an issue on stage. He never sounded better. I have to say that the worldwide success looks to be agreeing with them. They all looked confident and looked as if they were enjoying the moment. It was such a solid set that I have a hard time picking a favorite.

As I skipped out on the last song of the encore to catch the train, there was a guy and his buddy in front of me and they were very drunk and complaining that they didn’t play California Waiting. It is one of my favorites but they played so many of my other favorites that I didn’t seem to miss it. When these two guys were figuring out where their destination was one of them kept saying “We need to get to St. Pancreas Station!” (It’s St. Pancras). Hearing the word ‘pancreas’ and seeing his nauseated face made me think of bodily functions so I moved further down the escalator to avoid his potential vomit. --J

The Loneliest Man in the World

Have you ever found yourself alone at about 3:00 in the morning sitting in the dark, the party is over, no cigarettes or booze left, and you begin questioning your life? That’s what Kanye West’s new record sounds like to me. While the music on most tracks is cold and electronic, the lyrics are pure emotion, with Kanye singing more than rapping on most songs. I think this lyric from Welcome to Heartbreak explains where Kanye’s head is at:

Chased the good life my whole life long
Look back on my life and my life gone
Where did I go wrong?

It doesn’t come off as “poor me”, maybe because of the production of the songs. What a shock to hear a hip hop record where someone is reeling off brand names but only in order to say that they aren’t making him happy. Hip hop in general is not my thing, but after seeing Kanye open for U2 in St. Louis a few years ago I have always been interested to see what he is doing. His performance was not what I expected and I think this record proves he is willing to continue going in unexpected directions. --J

This is Random

I threw out my copy of Q Magazine with Noel Gallagher's mug on the cover. I wish I still had it so I could quote him directly but a paraphrase will have to do. In the interview he made a statement, something like the UK has better fashion and music than the U.S. He was asked what music he likes and he recommended a local artist, The Jim Jones Revue. This jumped out at me since that's probably the only English artist I have seen live since my arrival in the UK a year ago. I found a video of the Jim Jones Revue on youtube that I thought I would share. If this doesn't look like an imitation of American Roots Music, I don't know what does. So is Noel trying to say that the English do American music better because this looks like an imitation, and in my opinion, not a superior one.

I'm not saying that the U.S. doesn't have its fair share of manufactured music, but I feel like I'm overloaded with it here, especially covers of good songs. I read recently that the X-Factor winner (for Americans, think American Idol) will cover Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Seriously? They are claiming it will be the number one record this Christmas. Again, seriously? Can Simon Cowell be stopped? He is the man behind this as well. Yuck.

For your amusement check out this boy band from the mid-90s that didn't make it over the pond. It's a bad cover (Cat Stevens) and it has all of the trappings of a bad boy band video. What do we do with the rest of the guys while the main guy sings the song? Let's have some of them look menacingly into the camera. How about we spend some money on crazy special effects and light up their hands?