It happened as I watched the NFL draft earlier this month. "I'm the Man," the ubiquitous hit by Aloe Blacc, was used as bumper music during the broadcast. Already weary of the song, I began to actively loathe "I'm the Man."
Burnout was inevitable. The song's blockbuster potential was immediately apparent when it popped up in December. But what about the rest of Blacc's album Lift Your Spirit?
Well, it's more of the same. The third track is a version of "Wake Me Up," the inescapable Avicii hit featuring Blacc's vocal. The shameless hooks of "Here Today" and "Can You Do This" make the biggest hits of One Direction and Ariana Grande seem likes studies in subtlety.
"Owe It All," the closing track that sounds like a late period gem by the Four Tops, is one of two or three selections that successfully seduced me. I have little doubt that several additional songs will win me over when I see Blacc perform.
I have nothing against blatantly commercial music, but Lift Your Spirit resembles a collection of expertly crafted advertising jingles.
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I reviewed Tony Bennett's concert at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts on Friday.
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Sunstroke? I saw ghosts at Union Station yesterday.
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My Brothers & Sisters' "How To Move What To Wear" was my pick of the week for KCUR's Local Listen segment. It's my favorite song from the band's Violet Music: Volume One album.
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Metatone's video for "When the Dreams Come" is excellent.
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The trailer for a 1974 music festival in Sedalia is hilarious.
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A recent edition of Barry Lee's Signal To Noise program on KKFI featured music from the collection of the late Anne Winter. (Via Tim Finn.)
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Herb Jeffries, "the bronze buckaroo," has died. (Tip via BGO.)
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Motivational Jumpsuit, the latest outburst from Guided By Voices, is unaccountably excellent. RIYL: Rubber Soul, weirdos, Robyn Hitchcock.
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Medeski Martin & Wood's collaboration with Nels Cline on The Woodstock Sessions, Vol. 2 contains plenty of fine skronk, funk and noodling. Here's a track.
(Original image by There Stands the Glass.)
3 comments:
I was not aware that Signal to Noise or KKFI shows were archived. Thanks for the link.
Hey, Bill. That M, M & W with Nels Cline link is actually a duplicate of the Guided by Voices one above. Thanks for sharing both.
Gary- Thanks for the catch. Did you determine if additional radio programs were archived?
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