Bowlful of Crickets

Mark Burnett, creator of Survivor and The Apprentice, just upped the ante- here’s a bit of the official press release for his latest show, taken from its website.

A new epic reality television series from Mark Burnett Productions – the creator of Survivor, The Apprentice and The Contender, today announced details for international auditions.

The 13-week series is embarking on a global search for the next rock ‘n’ roll sensation – male or female – who will become the lead singer of the world-famous Australian band, INXS. The series will screen in the United States on CBS in July 2005. Negotiations are currently underway with television broadcasters in international markets. Mark Burnett Productions announced that more than 20 cities worldwide across six continents will host auditions commencing in late January 2005. They include: Liverpool (England), Toronto (Canada), and 13 within the US, including Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Chicago and Boston. Sydney (Australia) will host the final audition in March.

Additional international cities are to be confirmed.

INXS. Huge band once, definitely world-famous- no Reality TV exaggeration there. The bands last album was eight years ago, in the Spring of 1997. In the Fall of 1997, the lead singer, Michael Hutchence, was found dead, "the victim of an apparent hanging", says allmusic.com.

I’m not saying I’m ruling out watching the show, but it’s still kinda sad. I truly hope this is a one-off, and we don’t see the same for Joy Divison, The Clash or -gulp- The Beatles. Then again, none of those bands were ever INXS, and I mean that as a put-down to INXS. Hey, INXS, you were fine for what you were- a commercially -focused, slightly alternative rock group- and your 15 minutes of fame expired years ago. It’s a shame you’ll only be known to the latest generation of music fans as "that reality show band", but I see nowhere on inxsrockstar.com where someone was forcing you to do this…

Best Dance Record (Single or Album Track)

Good Luck- Basement Jaxx Featuring Lisa Kekaula
Get Yourself High- The Chemical Brothers
Slow- Kylie Minogue
Comfortably Numb- Scissor Sisters
Toxic- Britney Spears
I actually give the nod of approval to all of these. First, they manage to represent alternative and Top 40 dance styles in these pics. All of these songs are pretty catch, even the Britney one. But in the end, I hope Kylie wins. Not because I think she’ll give an interesting speech, as I have used as a tiebreaker in other categories, but I would like to see her accept a Grammy. She’s easy on the eyes, y’know…

Best Electronic/Dance Album

Kish Kash- Basement Jaxx
Legion Of Boom- The Crystal Method
Creamfields- Paul Oakenfold
Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned- The Prodigy
Reflections- Paul Van Dyk
Well, I actually have no pick in this category. The only one I heard was the Basement Jaxx album, and a) it’s their weakest to date, b) I think it came out in 2003. The Prodigy album was panned in most reviews I saw, and I just really don’t get in to the style of the other three nominees. So nothing terribly wrong here, just nothing that stands out..

Best Alternative Music Album

Medulla- Björk
Franz Ferdinand- Franz Ferdinand
Uh Huh Her-PJ Harvey
Good News For People Who Love Bad News- Modest Mouse
A Ghost Is Born- Wilco
One measly category for alternative music, but at least they’ve got it right. I haven’t heard PJ Harvey’s or Modest Mouse’s albums in full, but I ‘ve heard enough to know they’re decent choices. Wilco and Björk took some real chances on their 2004 releases and are nicely rewarded for the risk, a trend I hope continues. Finally, Franz Ferdinand would get my overall nod here- a sparkling debut.

On Fire- Lloyd Banks: who? maybe I don’t know rap as well as I thought…
Just Lose It- Eminem: I wasn’t too nuts about this song last year when it was out under the title "Without Me"
99 Problems- Jay-Z: a good rockin’ rap tune
Overnight Celebrity- Twista: rode Kanye’s coattails, but still delivers the goods with his unique, lightning-fast style
Through The Wire- Kanye West: it’s Kanye’s year

Ch-Check It Out- Beastie Boys: they’re back..
Let’s Get It Started- The Black Eyed Peas: decent song, not the right category- should be in the rap/sung collaboration, where Usher would destroy it…
Don’t Say Nuthin’- The Roots: haven’t heard it…
Drop It Like It’s Hot- Snoop Dogg & Pharrell: came out later, but good to see it here
Lean Back- Terror Squad: Fat Joe & crew came up with a dance even the tall & portly could do…

Why- Jadakiss Featuring Anthony Hamilton:
Dip It Low- Christina Milian Featuring Fabolous
Slow Jamz- Twista Featuring Kanye West & Jamie Foxx
Yeah!- Usher Featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris
All Falls Down- Kanye West & Syleena Johnson
Funny, I thought there were better rap/sung song than these- and maybe they were. With the exception of the Black Eyed Peas, I’m not thinking of any. Usher and friends will win.

Drop It Like It’s Hot- Calvin Broadus, Chad Hugo, S. Thomas & Pharrell Williams, songwriters (Snoop Dogg & Pharrell)
Hey Mama- Will Adams & Anthony Henry, songwriters (The Black Eyed Peas)
Jesus Walks- C. Smith & Kanye West, songwriters (Kanye West)
Let’s Get It Started- Will Adams, Mike Fratantuno, Jaime Gomez, George Pajon, Jr., Allan Pineda & Terence Yoshiaki, songwriters (The Black Eyed Peas): How many people did it take to come up this song?!? Did one guy come up with "Let’s Get It Started", another with "in here". another with that "runnin’, runnin’" part?
99 Problems- Shawn Carter & Rick Rubin, songwriters (Jay-Z)
A little weak here- the Black Eyed Peas barely belong in the rap category, and they have 2 songs here…Kanye may win here as well, but I’ll take Snoop or Jay-Z any day…

To The 5 Boroughs- Beastie Boys
The Black Album- Jay-Z
The Definition- LL Cool J
Suit-Nelly
The College Dropout- Kanye West
LL? Come on! I’d say his nomination was so last year, but I’d really need to be saying that in 1990! Again, I think the committee went with a lot of know entities..none of these choice really knock me out. I’ll go with Kanye to win, but I’d rather listen to the Beasties…

I’m not sure if I’ll do any more categories. Jackass soda reviews are piling up in my head…

Monkey To Man- Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Take Me Out- Franz Ferdinand
American Idiot- Green Day
Somebody Told Me- The Killers
Vertigo- U2
Wow- I agree with all of these!

Megalomaniac-Incubus
Some Kind Of Monster-Metallica
Feelin’ Way Too Damn Good- Nickelback
Duality- Slipknot
Slither- Velvet Revolver
Now we’re back on track. I agree with none of these. The Grammy committee’s definition of hard rock needs refining. And any award that Nickelback is up for isn’t an award worth presenting.

Nymphetamine- Cradle Of Filth
Live For This- Hatebreed
The End Of Heartache- Killswitch
Whiplash- Motörhead
Vermilion- Slipknot
I am officially out of touch with all things metal. I’m going to have to pass on commenting here, except to say I like Motörhead, but I can’t help but think like Springsteen & Metallica, they’re here only because they’re an established name. It’s one of the Grammys’ biggest flaws- choosing the familar over the new and more challenging.

Instrumental Illness- The Allman Brothers Band
Onda- Los Lonely Boys
O Baterista- Rush
Whispering A Prayer- Steve Vai
Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow- Brian Wilson
This award was once a good idea- when there were regular instrumental hits being put out. That was 35 years ago. This award needs to go away. Until then, give it to Wilson, as he may have a goofy acceptance speech (and the album it comes from is really good.)

Next: Dance, Alternative (one whole category!) and Rap

Daughters- John Mayer
If I Ain’t Got You- Alicia Keys
Jesus Walks- C. Smith & Kanye West (winner by default- look at the other nominees. They absolutely suck.)
Live Like You Were Dying- Tim Nichols & Craig Wiseman, songwriters (Tim McGraw)
The Reason- Daniel Estrin & Douglas Robb, songwriters (Hoobastank)

Los Lonely Boys-Ay Carrumba!
Maroon5- Alright, now they’re just trying to get me worked up…
Joss Stone- Good debut EP, but her first album sounds like Alicia Keys, which in my book, ain’t so good.
Kanye West (he picked a good year to be a new artist- this is a week field)
Gretchen Wilson- Oof! One hit country novelty? Hell, Yeah! Billy Ray Cyrus in drag

Tomorrow: The Rock Category…

and the Mercury Prize Finalists were:
Amy Winehouse – Frank
Basement Jaxx – Kish Kash
Belle & Sebastian – Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
Jamelia – Thank You
Joss Stone – The Soul Sessions
Keane – Hopes and Fears
Robert Wyatt – Cuckooland
Snow Patrol – Final Straw
The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come for Free
Ty – Upwards
The Zutons – Who Killed…… The Zutons

Check out the list compiled by Information Leafblower. He asked 20 music-obsessed bloggers for their Top 10, and compiled the results. The comments that follow the resulta are preety interesting- this list really got some folks going…

1) TED LEO + PHARMACISTS- belongs- winner of my highest Timmy award last year. Returned with another solid effort this fall.
2) WILCO- Hmm. I’m going to have to say just outside of my top 10, so too high.
3) INTERPOL- Haven’t heard their newest album yet, so not enough info.
4) GUIDED BY VOICES- their place here seems like a "lifetime achievement award", as they are splitting up. I like them, but again, a little too high.
5) THE FIERY FURNACES- not enough info, but I plan on picking this up soon…
6) THE PIXIES- they’re having a successful tour, so while they’re here based on reputation, I understand it, but they don’t quite make my Top 10.
7) BRIAN WILSON- Smile is great, but I didn’t hear a lot of positive things on his album of all new material this year. Too high.
LUNA- Another "Lifetime achievement Award", as they are breaking up, too. Too high.
9) MODEST MOUSE- yet another album I’ve yet to hear, so I have to so not enough info.
10) SPOON- a band I like, but nothing new this year, so not in my top 10 right now.

So I haven’t given you a definitive 10, in order. I will do so by the time I finish the Timmys- and I will also have my Top 10 Bands Outside America Today for you real soon.

One I stumbled across recently is the blog of Largehearted Boy. Those in the know may recognize that as a Guided By Voices reference, and he is indeed a big fan of that band. Show that should state that we see at least somewhat eye to eye musically. His blog offers lots of snippets on the entertainment world, specifically music.

One of the more interesting features of this blog is the abundance of downloadable music, in two formats I had never heard of before stumbling across it here- BitTorrent (also here) and Flac. These seem to be the format of choice for the modern tape trader, and they seem to concentrate on non-commercially available material, such as concerts and demos. So no copyright laws are being broken here. The sound quality is also considered much better than that of MP3s.

While this is designed for the tape-trading community, they seem to be at least tolerant of the newbie who may not have files to trade. I’ve been able to download a Camper Van Beethoven in-store performance (from just a week prior, no less) and R.E.M.’s demos for their Green album. Largehearted Boy offers daily links to the latest and greatest available in these formats.

Russel Jones aka Ol’ Dirty Bastard aka Big Baby Jesus aka Osirus aka Unique Ason aka Dirt Dog aka Dirt McGirt- passed away on Saturday. He complained of chest pains during the day- a full autopsy is pending.

We will have some new music from him- including a cover version that sounds well worth hearing. His life had his share of troubles, but he will be remembered for his music as well.

King Moonracer- if that name didn’t seem familiar, click here.

If the name The Right Turn Clydes didn’t mean anything to you, you better check yo’self…

F.D.R. Kelly- I just thought of that one, and damn, it’s pretty good. It’s not as good as JFKFC, a punk band from the 90s. They even had an awesome logo. I’m not sure if F.D.R. Kelly’s logo should be F.D.R. pimped out, or R. Kelly in a wheelchair with a cigar. Either way, you can’t lose.

I’m sure I’ll have more soon. In the meantime, you can mess around with the band name generator- that is, if you’re done making church signs.

John Peel passed away last week at the age of 65 and was probably one of the most influential DJs of all time- you can read the BBC’s obituary here. The fact that Tony Blair was quoted should give you a better idea of Peel’s influence in his native land.

A couple of years ago, he compiled what is one of the best mix CDs I’ve ever heard. Fabriclive.07 is a mix of rock, punk, covers, oldies, reggae, dance, etc.- a very wide reaching selection of styles that somehow works from start to finish. This CD inspired me to start my own series- which I hardly gave to, or played for, anyone, yet gave me a lot of joy in compiling the six monthly volumes I made it through. His passing makes me want to try to give it another shot…

The BBC website also has a great tribute from fellow DJ Mark Radcliffe- a few lines really struck a chord with me, as I’m 37 and just now publicly sharing my thoughts on music (with a few occasional exceptions since I was 16):

People used to ask him how he kept going, but it never occurred to him to stop.

He made us realise that you did not have to mellow with age – music could continue to mean as much to us now as it always did.

He felt that there was so much music out there, you must have been able to find something you loved.