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Friedman's Ear Food
By Ben Friedman
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
It's Blitz!
(Interscope - 2009)
The new release, It’s Blitz!, by New
York punk rock band The Yeah Yeah
Yeahs brings the band in a new direc
tion as it is a more electronic and
dance oriented album.
It’s Blitz has a higher production
value than the band's previous works
and consequently it is not as raw as
their earlier recordings.
The production work makes the
album less punk sounding, but also
makes the album catchier. The Yeah
Yeah Yeahs appear to have embraced
a dance-punk character and It’s Blitz!
sounds like Death From Above 1979
with female vocals.
“Zero”, the lead single on the album,
best encapsulates what The Yeah
Yeah Yeahs are dong.
The guitar parts are definitely a
punk rock base, but the addition of
electronic elements on top produce the
dance sound.
Lead singer Karen O in the music
video even looks like a combination
of Joan Jett, with her black leather
jacket, and Michael Jackson, with the
rhinestones on her jacket.
Most of the songs on the album are
pretty similar.
The basic formula is to take a gui
tar riff, layer some electronic studio
magic, and have Karen O sing on top
of it.
A few songs like “Runaway” and
“Little Shadow” break this mold by
being slower paced and featuring more
prominent vocals with and orchestral
music additions.
Because of the album’s similarities,
“Zero” is the basic litmus test for lik
ing It’s Blitz!.
If you like “Zero”, then congrats,
you will probably like the rest of It’s
Blitz! If “Zero” doesn’t cut it for you,
then you can take the shortcut, dis
miss the rest of it, and get something
else at the record store.
The production by TV on the
Radio’s Dave Sitek and studio veteran
Nick Launay is really where It’s Blitz!
shines.
The slick fabrication adds a new
layer to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs that
is much more dance friendly and not
as unrefined as previous releases like
Fever to Tell and Show Your Bones.
It’s Blitz! very well may be a turn
ing point for the band to a more radio
and club friendly sound.
Elvis Costello
Secret, Profane &
Sugarcane
(Hear Music - 2009)
Elvis Costello is best remembered
for being a skinny British youth with
glasses that would make Buddy Holly
blush and for playing aggressive and
poetic rock songs.
Elvis hasn’t been like that for the
past twenty or twenty-five years, but
the memory remains. The glasses
are still there, but the music has
changed.
Secret, Profane & Sugarcane con
tinues in the vein of many of his recent
albums such as North and II Songo.
North is the singer’s foray into jazz
ballads while II Songo is Costello’s
most recent number one album (on the
Billboard Top Classical chart).
Both are good records, but they
are not what one expects from Elvis
Costello. Secret continues this trend
by being a country album.
It is easy to see people being skepti
cal or dismissive of this venture, but
Costello deftly handles the task.
For such an unfamiliar leap,
Costello has recruited great help for
the record.
T-Bone Burnett, producer for
Counting Crows, Robert Plant &
Allison Kraus, and The Wallflow
ers, lends his talent by producing
Secret and co-writing numerous songs
with Costello. Impressively, Loretta
Lynn reunites with Costello, co-writ-
ing, “I Felt the Chill Before the Winter
Came”.
Secret has a traditional country
sound with twang on the guitar, but
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THE ISLANDER, AUGUST 3, 2009, PAGE 11
with Costello’s distinctive voice
instead of a Southern drawl.
Some songs are a little unpolished
and this is most likely a consequence
of the recording schedule. Costello
and the rest of the band made the
album over three days at Nashville’s
Sound Emporium Studio.
Some of the highlights on the
album are “Sulphur to Sugarcane”
(the album is still British enough to
use their spelling) and “Down Among
the Wines and Spirits”.
“Sulphur to Sugarcane” is vocally
most reminiscent of Costello’s work
back with The Attractions, but musi
cally is more honky-tonk.
The fusion of the different elements
with steel guitars and fiddles in the
background while Elvis croons cre
ates a great across-the-pond mixture.
“Down Among the Wines and Spir
its” has a bar room atmosphere that
reinforces Costello’s roots in British
pub-rock, but gives an impression of
what the singer could have sounded
like if only he had been born a few
thousand miles away.
The duet with Emmylou Harris
on “The Crooked Line” is another high
spot on the record.
Harris sticks in the background on
the song, but her vocals supplement
rather nicely.
Loretta Lynn’s contribution to the
album, “I Felt the Chill Before the
Winter Came”, is a great lamenting
time on the album. It is a heartfelt
song of a lover scorned and the bluer
sound makes it reminiscent of Costel
lo’s work on North.
Elvis Costello, like many other
aging rock legends, is at the point in
his career where he no longer has to
worry about making a Top 40 album
and listening to the record company
executives.
Consequently, Secret, Profane &
Sugarcane is the type of album that is
lacks all of the pressures and is really
the artist’s personal project.
Secret may not be the next Armed
Forces or This Year’s Model, but it is
still a good country album. “I
Crabbin' on SSI
Continued from Page 1
his dad said. "But he persisted so we
began to organize a marathon for
charity."
It just so happens that John works
for Don King Productions (yes, that
Don King). Through work he met
Michele Knott, the woman who heads
up a charity called Queen of Hearts
Foundation for Disabled Children,
Inc. The charity helps children with
disabilities caused by complications
arising from premature birth and
brain trauma lead a better and more
independent life.
Queen of Hearts has no paid per
sonnel. "All our staff time is donated,"
Michele said. "We do have an office
so there are expenses for that. Most
of the money is targeted for pediatric
therapy and to purchase equipment
for the children."
In organizing the crabbing mara
thon J.J. and John sent out 1,000
emails and searched the web for
available domains. Incredibly www.
crabbinforkids.com was available.
The website features a video of J.J.
telling his story, Michele Knott talk
ing about the Queen of Hearts foun
dation, information about the upcom
ing crabbing marathon, donation
information, and a link to Queen of
Hearts website (www.qofh.com).
If you can't make it to the SSI pier,
watch J.J. all day and night while he
fishes live on www.justin.tv/DONK-
INGBOX as dad, John, will video
stream the entire marathon.
J.J. already has his first corporate
sonsor. Stepping up to the plate early
is J. Smith Lanier and Company, an
insurance company headquartered in
West Point, Georgia.
Consider donating by the crab or
by the hour. Meet J.J., his parents,
brother, grandparents, aunts and
uncles on the SSI pier next week.
They will all be there supporting his
efforts.
"This (crabbing for kids) is good
for me to do," said J.J.. "I read up on
the Queen of Hearts foundation and
learned a lot about cerebral palsy and
hydrocephalus. I learned that a lot
of equipment and physical therapy
for these kids isn't covered by medi
care or regular insurance. The money
raised will help the kids a lot." □
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