Farewell from Viva La Mainstream!

My loyal readers,

Yes, that time has come. If you hadn’t figured out from the month-long absence of bloggery on this site, I’ve been doing some thinking about the future of VLM, and myself as a writer. And after some careful thought and reflection on why I write and what VLM means to me, I’ve decided that it’s time to move on to something new.

The post you’re reading right now will the be the final one on Viva La Mainstream! But before you break out the Kleenex and wonder what you’ll read in its absence, I’m happy to tell you that a new music blog will be taking VLM’s place very soon. As I was taking time off to consider why I blogged and what I liked about it, I realized it was the demand for consistency, the perpetual search for something new while at the same time reflecting on what came before it, I realized that I enjoyed working on VLM the most during that (admittedly tiring) year when I tried to write about one album every day. So, it’s back.

Starting this Sunday, May 15, you can find me blogging away once more at One Album, One Day. Those of you who were fans of the Album A Day project will be pleased, for this new blog is an ongoing extension of that (It’s The Next Generation to the 2009 project’s Original Series, if you will). It is my sincere hope that all of you reading this right now will join my continued adventures there starting next week.

To everyone who inspired me to write about music, both the bands and the fellow bloggers whom I looked at and said, “hey, I can do that!”, to the fine folks at the PR companies who kept feeding new material, to anyone has read, commented on, or otherwise engaged with  VLM in all its incarnations over the last 4 years, I cannot thank you enough. You took a college freshman in need of a hobby and helped show him that he could, in fact, write worth a damn (even though he stubbornly chose not to sometimes) and helped lead him on a path he never would have seen coming. I hope to hear from you all over at OAOD, and of course there’s always Twitter (be advised: as of tonight my new user handle will be TJtheHeadphoned) and the Facebook page (which will remain up for a limited time: One Album, One Day’s Facebook page is here).

So fuck it, you guys want one more song, right? Here you go!

The Beatles – The End [iTunes]

Foo Fighters Begin Their Second Act With A Bang

“I look at [Foo Fighters, and their Greatest Hits album] now like it’s the end of chapter one, this is the first 15 years…”

-Dave Grohl to Time, 2009

If the prematurely released Foo Fighters Greatest Hits album marked the end of the band’s first chapter, then it would follow that Wasting Light, the band’s seventh studio album, starts chapter two. With that in mind, Foo Fighters’ second chapter begins in much the same way the first did: with a collection of fast-paced, loud as hell rock songs that rise above what most of their peers are up to.

The CliffNotes version of Wasting Light’s backstory, for those who haven’t heard; recorded in Dave Grohl’s garage on analog tape, produced by Butch Vig (who last worked with Dave Grohl on Nirvana’s Nevermind), and the first appearance by Pat Smear on a Foo album since The Colour and the Shape. And for all 48 minutes of the new album, Foo Fighters sound like they’ve gone back to basics. The only difference is now they have 15 years of experience guiding the way. Album standout “Arlandria” contains echoes of Grohl’s time spent hanging out with Josh Homme in Queens of the Stone Age and Them Crooked Vultures, while the equally tremendous “Dear Rosemary” features Husker Dü frontman Bob Mould, whom Grohl cites as an influence on Foo Fighters. And “I Should Have Known” marks the first time all three surviving members of Nirvana appear on the same song since 1994, as Krist Novoselic plays bass on the haunting, bitter track (speculated to be about Kurt Cobain).

But Wasting Light isn’t all about looking back to move forward. First single “Rope” is a huge leap forward, with Chris Shiflett unleashing one of his best solos ever and Taylor Hawkins growing dramatically as a backup vocalist. Those who suggest modern rock is nothing but loud and dumb are wrong on the latter count, proven so by this track. “Back & Forth”, meanwhile, despite it’s cheesy lyrics, is power pop bliss with a chorus worthy of a third sold-out Wembley show. And album closer “Walk” is the finest such track on any Foo Fighters album, a soaring, melodic anthem that speaks volumes to the fact that even after 16 years, Foo Fighters indeed might just be getting warmed up.

With endless layers of guitars, a tight rhythm section, and Dave Grohl’s best songwriting to date, Wasting Light could well be the quintessential Foo Fighters record. In a stretch of time when modern rock bands are doing their best to avoid looking like they’re having any fun, Wasting Light is a blast; even in its darkest moments (“I Should Have Known”, the biting “These Days”) it’s big and bouncy without sacrificing any intensity. Aspiring rockers, take note of Foo Fighters’ second chapter. There’ll be a quiz in another 15 years.

Foo Fighters – Arlandria [iTunes]

Chris Cornell @ Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA; 4/10/11

Last night Chris Cornell brought his acoustic Songbook tour into the suburbs of Philadelphia, and yours truly was there to take it in.

OK, before going further, I have to admit something; I had questions about what kind of show I was going to see. I’d heard recordings of Cornell as frontman for his multitude of bands from various stages of his career, and I was skeptical that this live performance would live up to what I had built up in my head. But playing to a predominantly older crowd (for a rock n’ roll show, anyway), Cornell came out and blasted through a 26-song career-spanning-and-then-some set that blew away any speculation about Cornell’s diminished skills as a singer over the last two decades.

After a solid opening set from Iowa folk-rocker William Elliott Whitmore (think the intersection of Johnny Cash and Bruce Springsteen), Chris Cornell came out and wasted little time diving into a collection of songs ranging from hits that radio have milked every last drop out of to lesser known solo tracks, even a few cuts from the less appreciated Scream album (sans Timbaland). Despite a seated crowd that didn’t engage with Cornell the way they might have at a different venue, Chris Cornell managed to lure the audience in with stories from all eras of his career (fact: his first solo album was supposed to be titled Euphoria Mourning, but a printing error left out the ‘u’), covers of songs that influenced his own work (notably an electric cover of Springsteen’s “State Trooper”), and a few Charlie Sheen jokes (apparently Cornell lives up the hill from Sheen, and has no problem with the drug use…until its time to put his kids to sleep and the helicopters are still buzzing his house).

Fans of Chris Cornell’s 24-year body of work probably left the show satisfied with what they saw. But fans who mostly know Cornell for Audioslave and his more recent solo work might have gone long periods of time perplexed; songs from the last Audioslave record were noticeably absent, and the second half of the main set was riddled with fan favorites from Temple of the Dog and his first solo album. But even for those that might not have recognized every song, to hear Chris Cornell belt out some of his most powerful tracks (and those of others) was a wonderful experience.

So even for those that few the current Songbook Tour as the last obstacle to a new Soundgarden album, there was plenty to enjoy, and Chris Cornell, despite age and wear and tear on his voice (face it; there’s no easy way to sing “Mind Riot”), was as good as any recording might suggest.

Setlist: Chris Cornell @ Keswick Theatre, 4/10/11

Scar on the Sky (Solo)
Ground Zero (Solo)
Be Yourself (Audioslave)
Can’t Change Me (Solo)
Two Drink Minimum (Solo)
Call Me A Dog (Temple of the Dog)
Sunshower (Solo)
Fell On Black Days (Soundgarden)
Burden in my Hand (Soundgarden)
I Am The Highway (Audioslave)
State Trooper (Bruce Springsteen Cover)
When I’m Down (Solo – accompanied by vinyl piano recording by Natasha Shneider)
Seasons (Solo)
Thank You (Solo/Led Zeppelin Cover)
All Night Thing (Temple of the Dog)
Man of Golden Words (Mother Love Bone)/Comfortably Numb
Say Hello to Heaven (Temple of the Dog)
Mind Riot (Soundgarden)
Like Suicide (Soundgarden)
Like A Stone (Audioslave)
Doesn’t Remind Me (Audioslave)
A Day in the Life (Beatles Cover)

Encore
Scream (Solo)
Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)
Imagine (John Lennon Cover)

Encore II
Billie Jean (Solo/Michael Jackson Cover)

New From Incubus – Adolescents

This past weekend Incubus announced that the follow-up to 2006′s Light Grenades is to be released this summer. If Not Now, When?, Incubus’s seventh studio album is slated to come out July 12, and today we heard the first single from the new album.

At first listen, “Adolescents” sounds like a throwback to the breezy, carefree Incubus of albums past. You’d be forgiven if you thought this was a B-side from Morning View. For most Incubus fans, who were largely put off by Light Grenades, this is probably great news. I didn’t mind Light Grenades, but this is still a marked improvement.

If Not Now, When? is out July 12. We’ll have more Incubus as it comes. Till then, listen to “Adolescents” and leave your thoughts in the comments.

Incubus – Adolescents

Panic! At The Disco Try to Create Lightning in a Bottle

It’s hard to blame the haters for not being sold on Vices & Virtues, the third studio album by Panic! At The Disco. With half the band departing to form The Young Veins (including primary lyricist Ryan Ross), alongside the questionable decision to continue on as a duo instead of replacing the wayward members, there were more than enough reasons to doubt Panic!’s ability to put out a quality album. That said, while Vices & Virtues isn’t nearly as disastrous as some might have anticipated, too often it feels like the band are trying to recapture past glory.

Let’s get this out of the way now; if you’re hoping for anything remotely close to 2007′s tremendously under-appreciated Pretty, Odd., don’t waste your time. Whatever creative input Ross and Jon Walker (Panic!’s former bassist) has that led to that album has effectively been retconned out of this album, right down to replacing the exclamation point in the band’s name. As first single “The Ballad of Mona Lisa” would suggest, Vices & Virtues picks up right where the band’s debut A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out left off. This wouldn’t be a problem if it weren’t for the fact that that album came out six years ago, and Panic!’s brand of cabaret-flavored dance punk sounds dated now. Still, “Mona Lisa” is a solid introduction, and to lead singer Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith’s credit, you wouldn’t think the band has missed a beat.

But from there the album suffers from Urie’s attempts to recreate what made Fever so good. “Hurricane” and “Let’s Kill Tonight” sound like they could have been B-sides from the debut album, left off only because they lack a great lyric or two to tie the whole thing together. Musically Vices & Virtues holds up serviceably well, but the absence of Ross’s wit is felt too strongly. No lyric on this album holds a candle to the gems scattered throughout A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out. “Ready to Go (Get Me Out of My Mind)” has more than enough beat and a big enough chorus, but again, lacks that last missing piece that superglues the song to the memory.

The two moments that shine the brightest on what is an unfortunately dim record show that, if nothing else, there’s somewhere for Panic! to go creatively when and if they’ve decided to stop remembering how awesome 2005 was. With a bit of polish, “Memories” could be this generation’s answer to “Livin’ On A Prayer”, a tale of eloping lovers who find that surviving just on love is harder than they thought. The melody is one of the strongest on the record, and what songwriting talents Urie possesses are at their peak here. Meanwhile “The Calendar” is the height of Vices & Virtues melodic pop-punk. It isn’t as big as other tracks on this album, but it’s the most balanced. If Panic! make it to album number four, these tracks would be a great place to start mining for ideas.

In short, Vices & Virtues is to Panic! At The Disco (and their debut album) as the prequels are to Star Wars. It walks like its predecessor, it sounds like its predecessor, and there will be a group of devoted fans who hold it up as being just as good, but there’s something, a spark of genius, missing from it, and that absence keeps it from being great. It might be unfair to compare this record to earlier works so much, but with Urie and Smith practically begging listeners to do it at every turn, it’s nearly impossible not to.

Panic! At The Disco – Memories [iTunes]

Childish Gambino – EP

First things first: If you’re not watching Community, the show from whence Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, gets the money to fuel his rap career, you’re doing television wrong. Easily the funniest show on television. Watch it Thursday nights (trust me, you won’t miss The Big Bang Theory) and make your life just a bit happier. Now, then.

Childish Gambino is in many ways the embodiment of all the things hip-hop has shunned in recent years. Even before getting to the allusions to The Office, Pearl Jam, and the admissions that he has no aspirations to be swimming in dollar bills, Glover’s precision as he raps shows a certain attention to detail not present in popular rap. But therein lies Childish Gambino’s conceit; he makes it perfectly clear he doesn’t want to be “rap cool”. Instead, Childish Gambino positions himself as a genuine human being who happens to make rap music about his everyday life; think of him as the Tom Hanks of hip-hop. As a result Gambino’s debut EP is an intelligent and commendable debut, despite its inability (refusal?) to appeal to a wide audience.

There are no anthemic, club-ready hooks to be found in the 20 minutes that make up this set. Opener “Be Alone” has Gambino singing a melancholy chorus behind delicate keys, until the verses start and suddenly the feelings of rage and frustration come pouring out. You might think that a TV star rapping about his problems wouldn’t resonate, but again, these aren’t a rich man’s problems. They’re the problems of a guy who likes Star Wars and doesn’t have girls falling at his feet all the time. “Freaks and Geeks”, which, yes, does hearken back to Judd Apatow’s short-lived dramedy, features some of Childish Gambino’s greatest rapping of the five songs. “Lights Turned On” is the closest thing that could pass for a single, but it also feels like the least honest of the batch.

In short, Childish Gambino is a breath of fresh air for those who are tired of the monotony of current hip-hop and rap music. It’s far from perfect, but if Donald Glover wants to keep this up in between semesters at Greendale Community College, I’d be all about it.

Childish Gambino – Freaks and Geeks

On Radiohead’s The King of Limbs

The first time I listen to a Radiohead album I hate it (that goes for every album of theirs I’ve listened to, including OK Computer). Usually by the second listen I can admit that I might just not get it. By the third or fourth listen I can start to hear something good in there, and appreciate what they did. It’s not till the fifth listen that I really feel like Radiohead’s music really makes sense to me in a way worth talking about. Well, after nearly a month and a almost a dozen listens, it’s time for a confession.

I don’t get The King of Limbs. It’s that simple. It’s hard to quantify it in terms of like and dislike, because it just didn’t come together. The King of Limbs doesn’t feel like an album. Even taking into account for the fact that this is Radiohead we’re talking about, and that expecting verse-chorus-verse style singles is out of the question, it plays more like a collection of songs, tied together by very weak threads.

Opener “Bloom” starts out with hypnotic keys (not unlike those of In Rainbows closer “Videotape”) that lead into strangely melodic drums. Phil Selway’s percussion leads the way on most of the 8 tracks. Even when Thom Yorke joins in, the multilayered drums conquer all.  Meanwhile “Feral” has an ever-present beat while sounds fade in and out around it, as close to experiencing an acid trip as many listeners will come. It makes the difficult ambience of Amnesiac sound like Teenage Dream. When the album does dare to provide something a bit more straightforward, like on “Little By Little” and “Lotus Flower” (also known as the video that spawned a thousand memes), the results are generally enjoyable, but fall far short of the twisted genius of In Rainbows.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m willing to entertain the notion that this is a failure on my part, that amidst the twisted sounds and general lack of melody, Thom Yorke is trying to make some kind of point. It’s not that Radiohead just went and decided to turn in 8 tracks of meaningless garbage. But whatever picture the band is trying to paint on their new album, it gets lost behind a pervasive weirdness that ultimately detracts from getting that message. More than likely, I’m going to come back to this album in a few months and kick myself for the things I’m saying right now, but the simple fact is that The King of Limbs misses more than it hits.

Final Score: 5.8/10

Radiohead – Little By Little

Green Day to reveal Awesome as Fuck Live Album in March

A few months back we brought you footage of Green Day performing “Cigarettes and Valentines”, the oft-talked about but never heard title track from the aborted album that eventually led to the American Idiot sessions. At that point we already knew that a live album was in the works, but now we have the actual, official video from that performance:

That performance and others will appear on Awesome as Fuck, due out on CD and DVD March 22. Live albums have never been Green Day’s forte. 2005′s Bullet in a Bible wasn’t great, and based on that trailer I’m not 100% sold on this one being much better. If anything is going to save it, it’s the tracklisting. Rather than essentially release a “Greatest Hits Live” compilation, Green Day went digging way into their back catalog to add some gems to this record. The tracklisting is as follows:

1. 21st Century Breakdown – (London, England)
2. Know Your Enemy – (Manchester, England)
3. East Jesus Nowhere – (Glasgow, Scotland)
4. Holiday – (Dublin, Ireland)
5. Gloria – (Dallas, Texas)
6. Cigarettes And Valentines – (Phoenix, Arizona)
7. Burnout – (Irvine, California)
8. Pasalaqua – (Chula Vista, California)
9. JAR – (Detroit, Michigan – August 23rd 2010)
10. Holden Caulfield – (New York, New York)
11. Geek Stink Breath – (Saitama-shi, Japan)
12. When I Come Around – (Berlin, Germany)
13. She – (Brisbane, Australia – December 8th 2009)
14. 21 Guns – (Mountain View, California)
15. American Idiot – (Montreal, QUE)
16. Wake Me Up – (Nickelsdorf, Austria)
17. Good Riddance – (Nickelsdorf, Austria)

Prediction: Before the end of 2012, we will have heard studio versions of at least one song (if not more) from Cigarettes and Valentines.

(Not Really) New Music: Lupe Fiasco – “The Show Goes On”

Wikipedia tells me I am several months behind if I’m only hearing this song now, but alas, I only heard this song in its entirety today. SportsCenter has been playing the chorus to it in some of its highlight reel, but given that when I watch SportsCenter it’s generally when I’ve been awake for less than half an hour, it took me awhile to recognize the chorus as being a riff on “Float On” by Modest Mouse.

Anyway. The story surrounding the pending release of Lupe’s third album is a long, rather unfortunate one, but Lasers is coming out March 8, and this is the first full song I heard from it. In short, wow. It might not be the most ingenious thing Lupe’s ever put his name on, but his flow on that second verse is as good as its ever been, and in general, its just the kind of thing I want to shout along to at high volumes. Listen to “The Show Goes On” for yourself below.

Lupe Fiasco – The Show Goes On [iTunes]

Foo Fighters Album Details Emerge: Wasting Light out April 12

After months of cryptic images, weeks of secret west-coast shows playing the full album front-to-back, and incalculable hours of foaming at the mouth on my part, we finally have all the details surrounding the seventh full length album by the Foo Fighters.

The album will be titled Wasting Light, and will be out April 12. As previously reported, the first official single is “Rope”, and it’ll hit radio stations next week. If you’re one of those ethical types who want to wait to purchase the song, you can do that through all the major digital outlets a week later on March 1, when pre-orders for Wasting Light commence. In the meantime, you can also check out the video for album track “White Limo” featuring Lemmy Kilmister, which I posted during my Grammys liveblog, but didn’t get to say much about.

The track is certainly a far cry from what we heard on Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. The first thing I likened it to was “FFL”, one of the B-sides from In Your Honor. I was among the folks who actually enjoyed the Foos exploration of a softer sound, but I’m just as glad to see them going full-out again. And a guest appearance by Lemmy? Done and done.

Like I’ve said, it wasn’t going to take much to get me excited for new Foo Fighters activity, but by God, April 12 can’t come soon enough.