Miers on Music by Jeff Miers

From Trent to you...

Trent Reznor, as leader of (and mastermind behind) Nine Inch Nails, has always been an industry rebel. Now a free independent artist with no major label ties, Reznor has been releasing albums at a rapid clip and making them available for a pittance. (Interestingly, as recently reported in Rolling Stone, the guy's making a killing doing so, minus the middle-man.)

Now, Reznor and NIN have outdone Radiohead - that band offered its recent "In Rainbows" on a pay-what-you-like basis to fans, via its web site - by making the new "The Slip" available to fans at no charge. That's right - a complete, high-quality DRM-free download of the whole album is yours for the taking at www.NIN.com. There, you'll also find a note from Trent, reading in part, "Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one's on me." Pretty cool.

More importantly, "The Slip" is easily the best NIN album since "The Downward Spiral". Seriously. It's bold and creative, and boasts stronger hooks than anythng Reznor's done in quite a while.

Grab the record, and share your thoughts on it here.

Holly's highest highs

Holly Cole can take a tune we all know and love and bring something new -- often, something darker and more emotionally complex -- to it. Surely, she'll be doing just that this evening during her gig at the Tralf. Here are a few examples of Cole's dark art:

"River" (Joni Mitchell) from 1997's "Dark Dear Heart"
"I Want You" (Tom Waits) from 1995's "Temptation"
"One Trick Pony" (Paul Simon) from 2000's "Romantically Helpless"
"God Only Knows" (Brian Wilson) from 2003's "Shade"
"I've Just Seen A Face" (Lennon/McCartney) from 1997's "Dark Dear Heart"
"Smile" (Charlie Chaplin) from 1992's "Blame It on My Youth"
"The Briar and the Rose" (Tom Waits) from 1995's "Temptation"
"Dedicated To the One I Love" (Lowman Pauling/Ralph Bass) from 2000's "Romantically Helpless"
"I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" (Hank Williams) from 1994's "Girl Talk"
"I Don't Wanna Grow Up" (Tom Waits) from 1995's "Temptation"

The women of country: Pure and easy

Kellie Pickler, who opens for Rascal Flats inside HSBC Arena on Friday, told The News' Elmer Ploetz she likes her country music "open and honest".

The former American Idol contestant places herself firmly inside th female country tradition with that description, for the past 50 years have seen a consistent stream of emotinal, open-hearted country music bubbling in the underground and occasionally bursting through to mainstream success.

To mark Pickjler's appearance in Buffalo, I've compiled a list of my favorite female country artists - young, old, and in some cases, no longer with us. All of these artists fill Pickler's "open and honest" bill. Plese write in with your own picks.

1) Emmylou Harris
2) Patsy Cline
3) Lucinda Williams
4) Patty Griffin
5) Allison Krauss
6) kd lang
7) Allison Moorer
8) Tie: Dolly Parton/Tammy Wynette
9) Loretta Lynn
10) Carlen Carter

The year of living not-so-dangerously

Looking back on 2007, the year in music, it's tempting to cling to a sense of possibility. After all, Radiohead gave away its brilliant new album on a "pay what you will" basis, and a host of relatively new artists -- from Arcade Fire to the National to Band of Horses to Gym Class Heroes -- released forward-looking material that managed to command an audience.

But as is ever the case with life on this mortal coil, there's the danger of letting optimism and hope blind you to some rather unpleasant realities. Here's a sobering thought: The biggest artist, in terms of sales, for 2007? None of the above-mentioned folks. In fact, if you simply crunch the numbers, then the "artist of the year" is one Josh Groban, he of the overwrought pseudo-opera dentist office pap.

The biggest-selling band? No, not some daring new group, but the Eagles, who went down to the crossroads and inked a deal with WalMart -- their souls in exchange for exclusive selling rights -- and walked away with a boat-load of cash and a new lease on life. Not that the band's "Long Road Out of Eden" is a weak album -- it's actually pretty strong. But daring, dangerous, incisive, any of the things that suggest the continued relevance of a medium? Not exactly.

We've still got a long way to go, folks. Any thoughts on how we might get there?

The 10 best "New progressive" bands

Ok, so "nu-prog," as it's being rather unfortunately called, isn't exactly lighting up the upper reaches of the charts in this country, but give it time! While we're waiting, it remains the rather broadly-defined idiom within which we can find some of the most exciting and ambitious new music being made. Here's a list of my favorite new (and relatively new) post-Tool/Rush/Radiohead/King Crimson bands. Please share some of your own favorites!

1) Coheed and Cambria
2) Opeth
3) Dungen
4) Mew
5) Secret Machines
6) Muse
7) Porcupine Tree
8) Three
9) The Mars Volta
10) Cooper Temple Clause

Some additional information on this whole "movement" can be found here.

Photo of lead singer for Coheed and Cambria, left,  by Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News at last summer's Warped Tour at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center.

My Canadian Top 100

A panel of experts put together the list for the book, "The Top 100 Canadian Albums." Just to
be annoying, I put together this list of my own favorite Canadian albums. Please write with
some of your own favorites.

   1) "Music From Big Pink," The Band

   2) "Mingus," Joni Mitchell

   3) "Harvest," Neil Young

   4) "Snakes & Arrows," Rush

   5) "Funeral," Arcade Fire

   6) "World Container," The Tragically Hip

   7) "Poses," Rufus Wainwright

   8) "Crash and Burn," The Pat Travers Band

   9) "For the Beauty of Wynona," Daniel Lanois

  10) "Whereabouts," Ron Sexsmith

  11) "You Forgot It In People," Broken Social Scene

  12) "Set Yourself on Fire," Stars

  13) "One Chord to Another," Sloan

  14) "The Philosopher Kings," The Philosopher Kings

  15) "Vostok 6," Kurt Swinghammer

  16) "Coney Hatch," Coney Hatch

  17) "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere," Neil Young

  18) "The Future," Leonard Cohen

  19) "Hemi-Vision," Big Sugar

  20) "August Everywhere," Blinker the Star

  21) "Transmission," The Tea Party

  22) "Gord's Gold," Gordon Lightfoot

  23) "You've Never Seen Everything," Bruce Cockburn

  24) "Moving Pictures," Rush

  25) "Live in Paris," Diana Krall

  26) "Let it Die," Feist

  27) "Chemical City," The Sam Roberts Band

  28) "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven," Godspeed You! Black Emperor

  29) "Neon Bible," Arcade Fire

  30) "Chemical Sounds," Ron Hawkins

  31) "Ingenue," k.d. lang

  32) "City of Fear," FM

  33) "Permanent Waves," Rush

  34) "In Violet Light," The Tragically Hip

  35) "Mahogany Rush Live," Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush

  36) "Zuma," Neil Young

  37) "Temptation," Holly Cole Trio

  38) "Night Ride Home," Joni Mitchell

  39) "The Trinity Sessions," Cowboy Junkies

  40) "Love Junk," The Pursuit of Happiness

  41) "Live! Go For What You Know," The Pat Travers Band

  42) "Shine," Joni Mitchell

  43) "Storyville," Robbie Robertson

   44) "Dirt Farmer," Levon Helm

   45) "Stage Fright," The Band

   46) "On the Beach," Neil Young

   47) "Navy Blues," Sloan

   48) "Heavy Duty," Crowbar

   49) "No Cities Left," the Dears

   50) "Live Rust," Neil Young

   51) "Signals," Rush

   52) "God Shuffled His Feet," Crash Test Dummies

   53) "Strange Universe," Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush

   54) "Raids On the Unspeakable," Gregory Hoskins & the Stickpeople

   55) "Sundown," Gordon Lightfoot

   56) "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy," Sarah McLachlan

   57) "Now and Again," the Grapes Of Wrath

   58) "Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada," Godspeed You! Black Emperor

   59) "Day For Night," the Tragically Hip

   60) "Coke Machine Glow," Gordon Downie

   61) "Wheatfield Soul," the Guess Who

   62) "Matt Mays & El Torpedo," Matt Mays & El Torpedo

   63) "2112," Rush

   64) "The Marble Index," the Marble Index

   65) "The McGarrigle Hour," Kate & Anna McGarrigle

   66) "Twin Cinema," the New Pornographers

   67) "Bedbugs," the Odds

   68) "Snow In June," the Northern Pikes

   69) "A Million Vacations," Max Webster

   70) "Caught By the Window," Pilot Speed

   71) "American Woman," the Guess Who

   72) "Melville," the Rheostatics

   73) "Road Apples," the Tragically Hip

   74) "Triptych," the Tea Party

   75) "Putting It Straight", Pat Travers

   76) "Satin Chickens," Rhinoceros

   77) "Tremendous Efforts," the Sadies

   78) "Death of A Ladies Man," Leonard Cohen

   79) "Heijira," Joni Mitchell

   80) "Worlds Apart," Saga

   81) "Monster," Steppenwolf

   82) "Too Dark Park," Skinny Puppy

   83) "All the World's A Stage," Rush

   84) "Broken Arrow," Neil Young & Crazy Horse

   85) "The Last Waltz," the Band

   86) "Faithlift," Spirit Of the West

   87) "Comes A Time," Neil Young

   88) "Dig," I Mother Earth

   89) "Phantom Power," the Tragically Hip

   90) "Tonight's the Night," Neil Young

   91) "In A Coma," Matthew Good

   92) "Contact from the Underworld of Red Boy," Robbie Robertson

   93) "Turbulent Indigo," Joni Mitchell

   94) "Retriever," Ron Sexsmith

   95) "Beautiful: A Tribute to Gordon Lightfoot," Various Artists

   96) "Live it Out," Metric

   97) "Grace Under Pressure," Rush

   98) "High Class In Borrowed Shoes," Max Webster

   99) "Action Pact," Sloan

   100) "Frantic City," Teenage Head

   

Grammys turn 50, grow old, boring and irrelevant

The nominees are in! Please try to contain your excitement. And remember, the white zone is for loading and unloading only!

On Thursday morning, the music industry dog & pony show announced the recordings it deemed worthy of honoring this year, when the Grammys turn 50 and throw a party in their own honor, to be televised on February 10th. As has been increasingly the case over the past decade, the Academy has chosen to celebrate mediocrity in the big, flashy, headline-grabbing categories, while sticking the good stuff in the obscure slots, where it's less likely to do any real damage, or point out the inherent lameness of the whole shebang.

One need look no further than the "Album of the Year" list to feel the bile rising. The Foo Fighters (average), Vince Gill (good), Herbie Hancock (outstanding), Kanye West (ridiculously over-rated), and Amy Winehouse (well-deserved), are in the running. So, how many of you out there think Herbie Hancock will take it? Don't be shy -- raise up that hand! Why the world's finest living jazz pianist is being pitted against Kanye West -- who is clearly the world's finest Kanye West, and if you don't believe me, just ask him -- is beyond me.

My guess is, it's an attempt to throw Hancock a bone, since he's far and away the boldest, most relevant musician on this list, even though he stands zero chance of winning. Whatever. Let's just cut right to the chase, shall we? "And the Grammy goes to - Kanye West!" There. Now you can channel-surf during this segment.

Here are a few of the best records to be released this year, in my opinion:
Wilco, "Sky Blue Sky" Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, "Rasing Sand"; Bruce Springsteen, "Magic"; Joni Mitchell, "Shine"; Paul McCartney, "Memory Almost Full"; Richard Hawley, "Lady's Bridge"; Wyclef Jean, "Carnival II"; Neil Young, "Chrome Dreams II"; Pinback, "Autumn Of the Seraphs"; Dwight Yoakum, "Dwight Sings Buck"; Radiohead, "In Rainbows". This is a mere fraction of the worthile stuff that hit the streets. A few of these records did make the Grammy nomination cut, but not in the "Album Of the Year" category, where they belong. Half the albums mentioned above didn't even get the "damning with faint praise" treatment. They don't show up at all.

Check out the list, then send in your thoughts on omissions, or defend the Academy's choices. And watch this space for more on the 2007 nominations between now and the February 10th broadcast.

Britney's 'Blackout'

Britney Spears is an accident waiting to happen. In the meantime, she's released a new album, "Blackout,"  which is reviewed in today's Buffalo News.

So who cares? Ok, fair enough. But please, check out this record, if simply to note how far recording technology has come.  Also, grab a gander at this video - www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3ceCMpPJgc   
and then tell me: Is this, or is this not a sign of the impending apocalypse?

And, do you think it will sell?

For what it's worth...

Now that Radiohead has opened the floodgates by offering its new album, "In Rainbows," to fans on a "pay what you like" basis, it seems fitting to scan the Billboard top 10 albums with a similar ethos in mind. What is each one of these albums worth? If given a choice in the matter, what would you pay? I'm basing my list on the projected top sellers for the week beginning this coming Monday, October 8th, according to Billboard's web site. Please write in with your own "what's it worth?" comments.

1) Bruce Springsteen, Magic: Billboard projected this morning that Springsteen and the E Street Band's new effort will debut at #1 on Monday, after selling in the area of 100,000 copies its first week. I paid $15 for the disc on its day of release. I also bought a vinyl copy, for $14. I feel quite certain I got my money's worth, and then some.

2) Keyshia Cole (shown at left), Just Like You: I received a promo copy of this album for review. I've only listened to it once. I'd pay $5 for it, no more.

3) Foo Fighters, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace: Strong record. $10.

4) Jill Scott, The Real Thing: This record's worth the asking price. Scott's got an amazing voice.

5) Kanye West, Graduation: I dumped three tracks from this onto my iPod. I guess that makes it worth $2.97 to me.

6) High School Musical 2, Soundtrack: This stuff drives me up the wall, but my 7 year-old son likes it. When I was around that age, the "Grease" soundtrack was out. I think I paid in the area of $8 for the vinyl copy of that album. So I'd pay the same for this one, as a gift for my kid.

7) Jagged Edge, Baby Makin' Project: I've never heard this record. My consumer's intuition tells me to stay away, based solely on the album title. I'm not willing to take the risk. I've been burned in the past!

8) 50 Cent, Curtis: I'd pay him what his stage name suggests I should. I dumped one tune onto my iPod, which is worth about .50 cents to me.

9) Reba McEntire, Duets: I'm not dropping a dime for this one. Duets albums are usually dreadful. I'd have to hear it first.

10) Kenny Chesney (shown at right), Just Who I Am: Haven't heard it yet, but if I was a Chesney fan, I'd take the risk. He's been consistent in his offerings. 

Super Tuesday

Today, Tuesday, is a major day for new album releases. In addition to Bruce Springsteen's "Magic," which is an absolute killer, we've got new records from Richard Hawley, John Fogerty, the Sadies, Cake, Brian Jonestown Massacre, the Cult, Annie Lennox, PJ Harvey and Depeche Mode.

Today is also a big day for reissues and box sets, with the three-disc Dylan collection, a big ol' Megadeth box, the reissue (at last) of David Bowie's "Buddha of Suburbia" soundtrack, a Ramones live collection, an expanded edition of Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs," and a solo Mick Jagger overview, hand-picked by old rubber lips himself.

If you've gotten your mitts on any of these and would like to post a short review here, please feel free.  Look for a review of the Lennox and Fogerty discs in this Friday's Gusto, and the Dylan box set in Sunday's Spotlight section.