thus spake drake: cheap trick

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Monday, December 27, 2010

Ear on TV: Week of 12.27.10: Live at Daryl's House

Hall & Oates - Live at Daryl's House on WGN New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve has always seemed to suffer from inflated expectations -- so much pressure on 'blowing out' the past year to welcome in the new. For those either stuck at home or taking the event in stride with more tempered expectations, there are plenty of options on TV this year to play in the background during your New Year's Eve Bridge Tournament Blowout 2011! (or whatever you're calling it).

Top of the list is the surprisingly successful monthly web series from Hall & Oate's Daryl Hall, Live from Daryl's House, which is crossing over to TV on Chicago's WGN. For the New Year's Eve special, Hall is culling together a best of from the critically acclaimed series, featuring collaborations with artists like his old buddy John Oates, legends Todd Rundgren, Smokey Robinson, Toots & the Maytals and even some younger artists like Neon Trees and Sharon Jones. Hall likens his show to a sort of response to the Elvis Costello-hosted Spectacle, a show frequently featured in this space. Said Hall recently, “I love Elvis, but his show is more like Inside the Actors Studio. My show is the exact opposite of that. There’s no audience, and it’s balls-to-the-wall craziness and chaos.” WGN will be airing the special from 11:00PM-1:00AM (EST), and if it goes well, the series may make the move to television a more permanent thing.

Your other musical options for the evening vary enough to satisfy just about any party-at-home's taste. New Year's Eve with Carson Daly, may have the more interesting lineup this year, featuring performances from Lil' Wayne and the very hot Nicki Minaj while Daly interviews Bono and The Edge about their experience on Broadway with the calamity that is Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve with Ryan Seacrest spices things up a bit with Ke$ha, Drake, Far*East Movement, Mike Posner and Avril Lavigne. MTV will play it for laughs and/or spectacle, with comedienne Whitney Cummings hosting a countdown with Snooki inside the ball this year and the rest of the cast of Jersey Shore running around Times Square. Speaking of spectacle, HBO will be running the Bette Midler special The Showgirl Must Go On.

Elsewhere this week, the winter of Paul McCartney appreciation continues with this year's Kennedy Center Honors in Washington. McCartney is honored for lifetime achievement in the arts with fellow singer/songwriter Merle Haggard, along with Oprah Winfrey, Broadway composer Jerry Herman (La Cage aux Folles, Hello Dolly!), and dancer and choreographer Bill T. Jones. Artists performing tributes to McCartney include Foo Fighter's Dave Grohl (a big Wings fan), No Doubt and, a surprising highlight of the night, Steven Tyler doing an electrifying rendition of tracks from The Beatles' Abbey Road. Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crowe and Norah Jones highlight Merle Haggard's tribute.

Finally, power pop legends Cheap Trick has been playing the rock for over 36 years now, finally garnering them a performance on the PBS concert staple Austin City Limits. The Rockford, IL quartet's 12 song set list features nearly all their hits, including favorites "Surrender" and "I Want You to Want Me." Absent is longtime drummer Bun E. Carlos, who is still in the band but taking a break as the touring drummer -- the sticks remain in the family with guitarist Rick Nielsen's son Dax beating the skins as his temporary replacement. It's not a bad way to start 2011, really, repeating the Cheap Trick mantra of, "We're all alright, we're all alright."

Watch the full episode. See more Austin City Limits.

Picks for the week
Monday, December 27
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: The Temper Trap (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Ra Ra Riot (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Jonny Lang (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Japandroids (REPEAT)
TBS: Conan: Soundgarden (REPEAT)
Tuesday, December 28
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Diddy (REPEAT)
CBS: Kennedy Center Honors: Paul McCartney, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Dave Grohl, Sheryl Crow, Steven Tyler, Norah Jones, Kid Rock, No Doubt
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Annie Lenox (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Menomena (REPEAT)
SYNDICATION: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Pink, Rascal Flatts (REPEAT)
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Ne-Yo (REPEAT)
Wednesday, December 29
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Little Big Town (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Florence and the Machine (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Robyn (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Paul McCartney (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: City and Colour (REPEAT)
TBS: Conan: Reggie Watts (REPEAT)
Thursday, December 30
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Crystal Castles (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: John Mellencamp (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Toots & the Maytals (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Los Campesinos! (REPEAT)
TBS: Conan: The 88 (REPEAT)
Friday, December 31
ABC: Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2011: La Roux, Drake, Ke$ha, Mike Posner, Avril Lavigne, Far⋆East Movement
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Rihanna (REPEAT)
HBO: Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On: Bette Midler
MTV: MTV's New Year's Bash 2011: Whitney Cummings, Flo Rida
NBC: New Year's Eve with Carson Daly: Lil' Wayne, Nicki Minaj, My Chemical Romance, U2
WGN: Live From Daryl's House: Hall & Oates, Toots & the Maytals, Todd Rundgren, Sharon Jones, Rob Thomas, Neon Trees, Train, Smokey Robinson, Eli "Paperboy" Reed, Jose Feliciano
Saturday, January 1
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Eliza Doolittle
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Rihanna (REPEAT)
PBS: Austin City Limits: Cheap Trick

Monday, August 31, 2009

Ear on TV: Week of 08.31.09: Dirty Projectors

It's been over two months since Dirty Projectors released their challenging masterpiece, Bitte Orca, and with each repeated listen, it is getting safer and safer to declare it the album of the year. Full of crisp Soweto-inspired guitar lines, three soulful voices, and the undescribable songwriting style of Dave Longstreth make it a must have for any music lover.

The New York quartet is getting ready to embark upon a massive tour in support of Bitte Orca (and a newly announced EP coming by September's end), but prior to that will be making their network television debut on Letterman, Monday night. It is sure to be an electrifying performance, likely the infectious first single "Stillness Is The Move". [In the song, vocalist Amber Coffman's impersonation of Mariah Carey is uncanny.]

Cheap Trick just released a live album, Sgt. Pepper Live!, that is a strange call back to me at nine years old. In 1978, the two albums (save K-Tel compilations) that I probably played the most were Cheap Trick's Heaven Tonight (thanks to "Surrender"), and the strange soundtrack to the movie disaster that was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (with The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton). Now, I realize Cheap Trick is paying homage to The Beatles original and not the cheesy (but fun) soundtrack. Just try telling that to my inner child. (Seriously, try -- they recently finished touring with Def Leppard and Poison, for goodness sake). I find myself listening to the album on repeat, for the same reasons you can't turn off that late night bad movie because it's got Kristy McNichol and Christopher Atkins in it.
Cheap Trick perform on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien on Tuesday night.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, August 31
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Dirty Projectors
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Dusty Rhodes and the River Band
MTV: It's On With Alexa Chung: Pitbull
NBC: The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Pitbull
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Jet
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Virgins (REPEAT)
Tuesday, September 1
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: DataRock
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Used
NBC: The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: Cheap Trick
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Michael Franti
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Method Man & Redman (REPEAT)
Wednesday, September 2
NBC: The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien: The Pretenders
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Smokey Robinson
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Wale (REPEAT)
SUNDANCE: Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...: Elvis Costello, She & Him, Jenny Lewis, Jakob Dylan (REPEAT)
Thursday, September 3
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: John Fogerty
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Peter, Bjorn & John
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Shadows Fall
Friday, September 4
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Maxwell
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Pet Shop Boys
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Ben Harper (REPEAT)
Saturday, September 5
NBC: Saturday Night Live: The Killers (REPEAT)
PBS: Austin City Limits: Foo Fighters (REPEAT)

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Now Downloading: New Releases 08.25.09

It's a so-so week on the whole, but for Seattle acts, it's a pretty good one. It sees the release of an EP from Blue Scholars, and the second album from The Maldives. Arctic Monkeys release their third, but we covered that a few weeks ago, and Matisyahu yesterday, and beyond that there's also releases from Imogen Heap, Soulsavers, Still Life Still, a great box set for Woody Guthrie, EPs from Blitzen Trapper and Asobi Seksu along with a live album from Cheap Trick.

Playlist: New Releases 08.25.09

Blue Scholars - OOF EP
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

The Blue Scholars keep getting better with each release. With the EP OOF, the hip-hop duo are stretching out their beats, mixing in new sounds with panache. "Bananas" might be the track to break them nationally (that and their distribution deal with Duck Down). To celebrate the release, Sabsi and Geologic played a series of surprise shows throughout the day, tweeting their locations in advance. It should also be mentioned that Geologic spent some of his youth in Hawaii, a place that has a wide range of Pacific Rim cultures. The title of the EP OOF, is a variant of a Samoan swear word translated as "F*ck You." Aloha!

Download: "Bananas," "Cruz"

Cheap Trick - Sgt Pepper Live
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

For a someone who's album buying experience began in the era of both Cheap Trick and the bad idea that was the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (starring the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton), this release both tickles and frightens me a bit. On the surface, it's a completely unnecessary endeavor. But when you dig a little deeper... oh, who am I kidding, it really is a waste of time. Yet, I find myself listening to it over and over... it's like the late night bad movie you can't turn off because it's got Kristy McNichol and Christopher Atkins in it.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Lost: Find me a shirt!

Finally got to see Lost (no thanks to Fisher Communications,) and noticed that the two audience proxies, Sawyer and Hurley, each get their own episode, with the premiere ("Because You Left") for the former and the second ("The Lie") for the latter. The first episode brought in more sci-fi/fantasy than you could swallow, but that was offset by things like Sawyer slapping Daniel into giving him an explanation for the time irregularities ("think of it like a record skipping"). And then Lostie fave Neil Frogurt got a flaming arrow through his chest, a further comment on the dichotomy of the show. The ultimate 'red shirt character' finally gets it (not long after giving one of his red shirts to Sawyer).

Back to the skipping record, though. What a great opening, featuring the poly-named Dharma Doc putting on Willie Nelson's Shotgun Willie LP to start the day feeding baby Chang (could this baby be Miles?). The title track plays but eventually begins to skip, repeating the lyric "you can't make a record" over and over. The rest of that line goes You can't make a record if you ain't got nothin' to say / You can't play music if you don't know nothin' to play, which I take to be Cuse and Lindelof reiterating that they have a plan and we're playing it to the end now. One of the only two 'whoah' moments comes shortly after that, when we find Farraday present in 70's Dharma world. The second comes at the end of the second episode, with the return of Ms Hawking, who just might very well be Farraday's mother (double whoah).

It's rare when Lost employs the use of songs in the plot, and it's always with purpose, so it's worth pointing out Cheap Trick's "Dream Police" playing in the gas station, which was perfect following the vision of Dream Police Officer Anna Lucia. And while we're at it, with regards to the 'I (HEART) My Shih Tzu' t-shirt, that dog is the oldest (and smallest) of the Tibetan holy dogs, which I'm sure has some meaning here. But really, I think it's writer's chuckling about Hurley's lion face, since the Shih Tzu is the 'lion faced' dog.

1. "Shotgun Willie" - Willie Nelson - Dr. Chan (AKA, Marvin Candle)
2. "Dream Police" - Cheap Trick - Hurley buys 'I (HEART) My Shih Tzu' t-shirt